"A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School" by William Wordsworth

Not to be graded: This poem was fabulous.

To be graded:

William Wordsworth's "A Poet!" masterfully exemplifies a Petrarchan Sonnet. From the rhyme scheme to the deliberate division between octave (describing the problem) and sestet (describing the solution), Wordsworth utilizes the sonnet's format to expose the contrived poetry of fearful "grovelers." The octave voices Wordsworth's discontent with such poets, whereas the sestet praises nature's solution to this problem. Further dividing the two types of poetry--contrived (art) and natural (Art)--are the images of stagnation in the former and "vitality" in the latter. "Scorn," "fear," "grave," and "stagnant" describe the position of the critic-controlled poet. He "sips" the "stagnant pool" of his art, whereas the natural poet "the live current quaffs."

The poet Wordsworth describes in the octave only emotes on cue, following the "precepts" of his art. (Note the lowercase "a.") He relies on the rules of the Critics for security, eternally propped on the "staff/Which art hath lodged within his hand." Somewhat comically, Wordsworth writes that this poet fears death by the Critics' displeasure. This humor furthers the readers understanding of the poet's selfish and superficial purpose in writing.

The sestet brings in an image of beauty and freedom with the aid of nature imagery. The irony lies in nature's victory over the weary poet. Though simplistic, the flower's Art is "bold" and "divine," two traits which, Wordsworth holds, arise only out of freedom from the "roots" upward. Wordsworth juxtaposes the images of "free" and "divine vitality"  with the poet's "stagnant pool" to communicate his disdain for the man or woman who chooses to forgo his or her "own" Art for the sake of another's art.