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.In common with the local observers , Wordsworthpresents himself as a writer concerned with the accurate details of regionally speci cpractices.The common sphere of public activity is important to Wordsworth inparticular because of its difference from the bourgeois public sphere.The commonsphere provides access to essential humanity.Wordsworth s child characters areemblematic of this essential quality, and it is no surprise to nd that he often placeschildren in the common sphere in his work.Wordsworth s interests mirror closelythose of contemporary antiquarians, an aspect of his work which has been ignoredby critics, but the difference between their factual records and his reference to thefestival is seen in the sophistication with which he manipulates this material into acoherent account of the cultural value of a realm untouched by rationalization andcommercialization.For Wordsworth the common sphere is a realm which exempli estradition, essential activity and an iconic and digni ed power.What does an exploration of Wordsworth s May Day reveal? May Day is animportant subject in three of his major works: The Idle Shepherd-Boys , theIntimations Ode and The Prelude.By examining the portrait of local ritual in thesethree texts against contemporary antiquarian material, we can establish the extent towhich Wordsworth promotes an authentic vision of rural life, revealing the nature ofhis selectivity, and we can speculate on why he chose to promote a particular view ofthis cultural event.Importantly, reading these poems using the contemporary culturalinformation available provides the basis for a challenge to some of the establishedinterpretations of these works. The Idle Shepherd-Boys and the common sphereWordsworth s poetry demonstrates an interest in the authenticity of rituals whentheir enactment is indicative of the common sphere. The Idle Shepherd-Boys orDungeon-Gill Force, A Pastoral (Lyrical Ballads, 1800), includes the kind of detailwhich would appeal to popular antiquarians, and which in Wordsworth is the markerof the common, shared traditions of the peasant class.The poem is a local tale of twoboys, Walter and James, who race for their whistles on May Day, dressed in greencoronals.These coronals are hats decorated with stag-horn or fox s tail , localvarieties of moss, and are worn in honour of the occasion.23 Nature and the boys welcome in the May (l.4) together, and the children are described as being ashappy as the day (l.21).The use of the common names for the moss that decorates22 Wordsworth, Lyrical Ballads, p.344, l.38.23 Wordsworth implies that Stag-horn and Fox s Tail are two names for the sameplant.They are, in fact, two different plants.Stag s-horn, as it is usually known, is Lycopodiumclavatum, a clubmoss shaped like the branches of a stag s horns.Fox-tail is the clubmossLycopodium alopecuroides, and is less branch-like in appearance. 32 The Romantics and the May Day Traditionthe boys hats gives the story an air of authenticity, distinguishing the reference fromthe more classical allusions to garlands and coronals which appear in poems like The Oak and the Broom , which is more Spenserian: The Spring for me a garlandweaves / Of yellow owers and verdant leaves (ll.75 6).Wordsworth may have chosen the moss as part of a literary conceit dependenton knowledge of local activities.Wordsworth mentions the echoing hills aroundDungeon-Ghyll force:The valley rings with mirth and joy;Among the hills the echoes playA never never ending songTo welcome in the May (ll.1 4).The distinctiveness of the acoustics of Dungeon-Ghyll, particularly during stag-hunting, is noted in The Gentleman s Magazine (1751):The hunting of the stag here has more than ordinary music attending that sport; for theechoes reverberate the sounds in a manner not easily described, nor believed by any butthose that hear them; the whole duration of the return of one sound being only one minute,and yet the repercussions innumerable, and the variety inconceivable.24In line with this, Wordsworth s stag-horn and fox s tail suggest hunting trophies.25Walter stops the race when he realizes that he will not win, and challenges Jamesto follow him across an arched bridge of rock above the waterfall, a task whichhe suggests will keep him working half a year (l.44).When Walter reaches themiddle of the arch, he notices that a lamb, watched by its distressed mother fromabove, is trapped in the dark plunge pool of the ghyll.They gladly defer their task ofcrossing the dangerous bridge and rescue the lamb with the aid of a poet.The poet,in religious vein, brings the lamb forth into the light (l.90).Local observers of theregion note that foxes usually hide in ghylls:The most typical covert in Cumberland is the ghyll (the north country de nition of awoody ravine) planted on both sides, with a stream as a rule running through the bottom.These ghylls form a very snug shelter for a fox and nearly always hold one.In a run theseghylls are our most formidable obstacles and generally cause a great delay for the eld, asthere is probably only one practicable path through it, and a good many are left behind.26The hats point to the thrill of the hunt and the expectation of trophies, but in this casethe shepherd boys are put off from seizing a quarry, endeavouring to preserve ratherthan destroy the animal hidden in the ghyll.At the end of the poem, the adult gentlyupbraids the children, And bade them better mind their trade (l.99).24 The Gentleman s Magazine cited in Hutchinson, II, 184.25 Hunting in the Lake District both of deer, fox and hare is of great antiquity , withrecords dating back to the thirteenth century.James Wilson, The Victoria History of theCounties of England: Cumberland, 2 vols (London: Archibald Constable, 1905), II, 421.26 Wilson, The Victoria History of the Counties of England, II, 426. Precious rites and customs 33The message of The Idle Shepherd-Boys is located in the image at the beginningof the poem of the mountain raven s youngling brood which has left the mother andthe nest and gone rambling (l.6).The young ravens are meant to be searching forfood, but they are diverted into play and through the glittering vapours dart / In verywantonness of heart (ll.9 10).Like the younglings, the boys are distracted fromtheir task, giving themselves up to the joyfulness of spring and May Day customsinstead of performing a chore.They are ostensibly taught the lesson that they shouldbe more careful, but the action and imagery of the poem imply that the excitementof being neglectful of duties is an important part of being young, and is a legitimateresponse to the joy of spring.The boys happiness, piping, play and hat decorationmakes them emblems of the culture of the region, and of a simpler world.Wordsworth presents these May Day customs in contrast to the truly public natureof the bourgeois sphere [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.In common with the local observers , Wordsworthpresents himself as a writer concerned with the accurate details of regionally speci cpractices.The common sphere of public activity is important to Wordsworth inparticular because of its difference from the bourgeois public sphere.The commonsphere provides access to essential humanity.Wordsworth s child characters areemblematic of this essential quality, and it is no surprise to nd that he often placeschildren in the common sphere in his work.Wordsworth s interests mirror closelythose of contemporary antiquarians, an aspect of his work which has been ignoredby critics, but the difference between their factual records and his reference to thefestival is seen in the sophistication with which he manipulates this material into acoherent account of the cultural value of a realm untouched by rationalization andcommercialization.For Wordsworth the common sphere is a realm which exempli estradition, essential activity and an iconic and digni ed power.What does an exploration of Wordsworth s May Day reveal? May Day is animportant subject in three of his major works: The Idle Shepherd-Boys , theIntimations Ode and The Prelude.By examining the portrait of local ritual in thesethree texts against contemporary antiquarian material, we can establish the extent towhich Wordsworth promotes an authentic vision of rural life, revealing the nature ofhis selectivity, and we can speculate on why he chose to promote a particular view ofthis cultural event.Importantly, reading these poems using the contemporary culturalinformation available provides the basis for a challenge to some of the establishedinterpretations of these works. The Idle Shepherd-Boys and the common sphereWordsworth s poetry demonstrates an interest in the authenticity of rituals whentheir enactment is indicative of the common sphere. The Idle Shepherd-Boys orDungeon-Gill Force, A Pastoral (Lyrical Ballads, 1800), includes the kind of detailwhich would appeal to popular antiquarians, and which in Wordsworth is the markerof the common, shared traditions of the peasant class.The poem is a local tale of twoboys, Walter and James, who race for their whistles on May Day, dressed in greencoronals.These coronals are hats decorated with stag-horn or fox s tail , localvarieties of moss, and are worn in honour of the occasion.23 Nature and the boys welcome in the May (l.4) together, and the children are described as being ashappy as the day (l.21).The use of the common names for the moss that decorates22 Wordsworth, Lyrical Ballads, p.344, l.38.23 Wordsworth implies that Stag-horn and Fox s Tail are two names for the sameplant.They are, in fact, two different plants.Stag s-horn, as it is usually known, is Lycopodiumclavatum, a clubmoss shaped like the branches of a stag s horns.Fox-tail is the clubmossLycopodium alopecuroides, and is less branch-like in appearance. 32 The Romantics and the May Day Traditionthe boys hats gives the story an air of authenticity, distinguishing the reference fromthe more classical allusions to garlands and coronals which appear in poems like The Oak and the Broom , which is more Spenserian: The Spring for me a garlandweaves / Of yellow owers and verdant leaves (ll.75 6).Wordsworth may have chosen the moss as part of a literary conceit dependenton knowledge of local activities.Wordsworth mentions the echoing hills aroundDungeon-Ghyll force:The valley rings with mirth and joy;Among the hills the echoes playA never never ending songTo welcome in the May (ll.1 4).The distinctiveness of the acoustics of Dungeon-Ghyll, particularly during stag-hunting, is noted in The Gentleman s Magazine (1751):The hunting of the stag here has more than ordinary music attending that sport; for theechoes reverberate the sounds in a manner not easily described, nor believed by any butthose that hear them; the whole duration of the return of one sound being only one minute,and yet the repercussions innumerable, and the variety inconceivable.24In line with this, Wordsworth s stag-horn and fox s tail suggest hunting trophies.25Walter stops the race when he realizes that he will not win, and challenges Jamesto follow him across an arched bridge of rock above the waterfall, a task whichhe suggests will keep him working half a year (l.44).When Walter reaches themiddle of the arch, he notices that a lamb, watched by its distressed mother fromabove, is trapped in the dark plunge pool of the ghyll.They gladly defer their task ofcrossing the dangerous bridge and rescue the lamb with the aid of a poet.The poet,in religious vein, brings the lamb forth into the light (l.90).Local observers of theregion note that foxes usually hide in ghylls:The most typical covert in Cumberland is the ghyll (the north country de nition of awoody ravine) planted on both sides, with a stream as a rule running through the bottom.These ghylls form a very snug shelter for a fox and nearly always hold one.In a run theseghylls are our most formidable obstacles and generally cause a great delay for the eld, asthere is probably only one practicable path through it, and a good many are left behind.26The hats point to the thrill of the hunt and the expectation of trophies, but in this casethe shepherd boys are put off from seizing a quarry, endeavouring to preserve ratherthan destroy the animal hidden in the ghyll.At the end of the poem, the adult gentlyupbraids the children, And bade them better mind their trade (l.99).24 The Gentleman s Magazine cited in Hutchinson, II, 184.25 Hunting in the Lake District both of deer, fox and hare is of great antiquity , withrecords dating back to the thirteenth century.James Wilson, The Victoria History of theCounties of England: Cumberland, 2 vols (London: Archibald Constable, 1905), II, 421.26 Wilson, The Victoria History of the Counties of England, II, 426. Precious rites and customs 33The message of The Idle Shepherd-Boys is located in the image at the beginningof the poem of the mountain raven s youngling brood which has left the mother andthe nest and gone rambling (l.6).The young ravens are meant to be searching forfood, but they are diverted into play and through the glittering vapours dart / In verywantonness of heart (ll.9 10).Like the younglings, the boys are distracted fromtheir task, giving themselves up to the joyfulness of spring and May Day customsinstead of performing a chore.They are ostensibly taught the lesson that they shouldbe more careful, but the action and imagery of the poem imply that the excitementof being neglectful of duties is an important part of being young, and is a legitimateresponse to the joy of spring.The boys happiness, piping, play and hat decorationmakes them emblems of the culture of the region, and of a simpler world.Wordsworth presents these May Day customs in contrast to the truly public natureof the bourgeois sphere [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]