William Wordsworth Writing Exercise

William Wordsworth Writing Exercise

"Poetry is a strong emotion recollected in tranquility." Wordsworth

1. Read "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" : it concisely encapsulates Wordsworth's method of "re-visioning" the past as a vital subject in his poetry ("They flash upon that inward eye/ That is the bliss of solitude.")

2. Recall an experience of happiness or joy. This memory must be at least five years old.

3. In solitude, return to the setting of that experience by doing one of the following:

A. physically revisiting it.

B. looking at a an old photograph of it

C. re-imagining it in your mind

5. Finally, find a quiet place and write a poem about this experience. Try to imitate the form of "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" (iambic pentameter, four stanzas, ababcc rhyme scheme) or "Tintern Abbey" (iambic pentameter, blank verse, at least 30 lines) as the structure of your poem.