In examining this poem through the lens of my creative project, it becomes evident that Wordsworth has both a poet-self and an editor-self. In accordance with Wordsworth’s Preface: poetry is but the “spontaneous overflow” of emotions recollected in tranquility (Wordsworth 2). These transcendental, spontaneous experiences represent the poet-self ,while the abstracted, recollected tranquility represents the editor-self. In the realm of Wordsworthian poetic creation, one cannot exist without the other. As such, the editor-self carries the inspiration back to the conscious, where he interacts with it, and is eventually assimilated by it, thereby enriching, expanding, and improving it into written form. The poet-self is representative of childhood, the unconscious, and nature; the editor-self is representative of adulthood, the conscious, and the mechanical process of writing. Wordsworth’s spontaneous process of contemplating and contending with nature and comprehending and assimilating it with his inner eye in the present moment melts away fear, doubt, and inadequacy to create something new, something outside of the boundaries of the existing. To understand this separation, I found the example of a well to be helpful. The poet-self serves as the well itself, housing the inspiration that stems from the unconscious and remains untainted. The editor-self, then, must retrieve the water (inspiration) piece by piece as though it draws the water from the well with a bucket, translating it from the unconscious to the conscious to give it form. In terms of the poem, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” the poet-self is the one who surrenders to experience the daffodil field to the fullest with a childhood-like innocence and without restraint, and the editor-self is the one who writes the actual poem. Each time Wordsworth is in his “vacant or in pensive mood” and revisits the memory, the editor revises the poem to achieve its polished final state (Wordsworth 20). This creative energy is further dissipated by the sharing of the poem, where readers assimilate what is being shared and acquired with some extent the poet-self’s experiences. It is only through the editor’s multitude of revisions that Wordsworth is able to achieve a simple diction, flawlessly bestowing his unparalleled creation layer by layer with a complex depth of meaning.
My multi-medium artwork—wherein I incorporated hand-drawn images and graphics and a collage—is my original interpretation of Wordsworth’s source of inspiration and his two selves. Divided up into five distinct sections, with each part representing a different aspect of Wordsworth’s poetic process. As the center of the piece, the inner eye draws the audience’s attention to it. The images of “a host, of golden daffodils” (Wordsworth 4), “hills” (Wordsworth 2), and “clouds” (Wordsworth 1) compose the eye and “flash upon that inward eye,” as clear as a photograph (Wordsworth 21). The hyperrealistic collage represents the clarity with which Wordsworth experiences the memories and his ability to return to the field in his mind. His hyperrealistic and vivid experiences in the moment with nature becomes creative energy as the poet encounters, interacts with, and challenges his emotions. Moving clockwise to the upper right, there is a graphic abstract representation of Wordsworth’s surrender to his senses. Wordsworth focuses specifically on the visuals—the “golden” color of the daffodil (Wordsworth 4)—and the movement—the daffodils “fluttering and dancing” in the wind—abandoning himself to feelings and allowing himself to indulge purely with his senses (Wordsworth 6). At this moment, Wordsworth is his poet-self that experiences nature through the five senses depicted in this section: eyes, mouth, nose, ears, and hands. The bottom right corner represents the innocence of the poet-self and the childlike perspective through which he views the world. The little boy, slightly blurred as if he exists as a faded memory, is the image of Wordsworth’s childhood, where views are untainted and unaffected by the rational. This idea is further cemented by the rose watercolor featured on top of the boy—symbolizing rose-colored glasses, a common euphemism for uncorrupted view. By the edges of these sections, the blue from the other sections can be seen bleeding through the edges of the image of childhood. This is representative of how the unconscious is intertwined with childhood and the poet-self. The section directly to the left focuses on the unconscious itself. Bathed in blue, a color that often represents the depth of the unconscious, a hand reaches out toward a water ripple. This hand represents the editor-self reaching to the unconscious, or the water, and pulling inspiration from it. The last section of my project is a representation of “I wandered lonely as a cloud / That floats on high o'er vales and hills” that symbolizes the state of solitude that the editor-self needs to carry out his task (Wordsworth 1-2).
In class, Dr. Dawkins created a graph detailing level of emotion on the y-axis and time that passes on the x-axis. In this graph, the level of emotion spikes after Wordsworth experiences the daffodil field, decreases after an indeterminable amount of time, and rises once again when he begins to write the poem. In my interpretation, however, this graph differs greatly. Instead of decreasing after the daffodil field, the level of emotion plateaus, remaining stable until after the poem is finished. This is because the editor-self is constantly revisiting this moment, bringing back the emotions before they can diminish again. The cycle continues until the editor-self has revised the poem to his liking, ultimately crafting the poem we know and love, and proclaimed that there is a kind of primitive nature, which is immortalized in a cosmic universe that contains all beings and where all events are sacred.
ella_blanco--project_2.jpg |