16 LITERARY REVIEW
THE FOUNDER January 2022
Lyrical Ballads By William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge LIAM ANTHONY ELVISH | LITERARY REVIEW EDITOR
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ordsworth and Coleridge’s portmanteau of poetic verse, first published in 1798, has been hailed as a ‘manifesto’ of the English Romantic movement. The collection marks the beginning of a significant turning-point in literary history, bringing together the initial works of two relatively young poets whose friendship secured a working partnership which lasted for decades well into the ensuing century. The poets’ obsessive love for the Lake District provides the basis for much of the content, their writings adapting many of the ‘incidents and situations from common life’ they observed whilst residing in that part of the country. The pieces are unpolished, experimental, often imperfect, but that is precisely what makes them so fascinating to read in historical hindsight; the poets were freeing themselves from the shackles of traditional rules on metre and form, seeking instead the explore the written effects of heightened sensory experience.
The reader should not be mistaken in assuming that the quaint rural backdrops may wither the potential for being emotionally moving consider the dramatic impact of such narrative verses as ‘Goody Blake and Harry Gill’, ‘The Last of the Flock’ and ‘The Mad Mother’; these are pastoral epic tales beautifully condensed into the space of a few simple pages.
Two of Coleridge’s most famous works, ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ and ‘The Nightingale’ received acclaim from both his collaborator and wider literary circles in English society, as well other poems from his pen which sought to challenge conventional norms in poetry. Nonetheless, it is Wordsworth who is very much the master of the moment here; as editor of the collection and author of the majority of the poems within, he constructs a unique, miscellaneous anthology of broad themes and varied approaches. Whilst not as bold nor ambitious in setting and scope as his partner, it is Wordsworth’s many untitled ‘Lines’ which offer the greatest poetic impact, and whose stanzas flow with ease and emotive power.
Who could possibly fail to relate to that state of bittersweet melancholy which nostalgia arouses in – ‘I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sat reclined,
Lyrical Ballads is both modest and ambitious, spiritual and poignant, crafted by two pioneers who held new, bolder visions for the creative possibilities of the human state.
Wordsworth revised the In that sweet mood collection in both 1800 and when pleasant thoughts 1802, including additional Bring sad thoughts to the mind’ poems which were inserted for the purpose of embellishing -whilst gazing down upon the original edition. the page, semi-dreamlike, in contemplation of former happier moments? These are poems for spring and early summer days while resting idly on the grass, the reader receiving the warmth of the afternoon rays while allowing the lines to transport the mind back two centuries – absorb the intricacies of expression from a period when the sheer range and breadth of the English language was advancing at a breath-taking scale. Source: British Library
Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits by Laila Lalami GRACE FROST | CONTENT WRITER
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oroccan author Laila Lalami’s 2005 novel Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits documents the thoughts and experiences of four Moroccans: Murad, Faten, Halima and Aziz as they attempt to illegally immigrate to Spain in search of a new life and a new beginning.
Each one carries their own personal struggle or fantasy for the life that is awaiting them across the water which is revealed in the novel’s prologue, ‘The Trip’. Murad is determined to make something of himself and is driven by self-worth and pride; Faten is a highly religious woman in search of a job after being expelled from university; Halima is a mother traveling with her young children; and Aziz is a mechanic who leaves behind his wife in search of a job to provide for her. The prologue begins in the shadows of night as the characters board the boat that will take them across the Strait of Gibraltar into Spain, although the seemingly straight forward journey is not the one awaiting them.
Following the prologue during which the characters leave behind their pasts in Morocco, the narrative is split into two parts, Before and After, and each contain one chapter from each of the character’s perspectives, all written with third person voice. This symmetrical structure results in the novel also reading as interconnecting short stories, by taking the two accounts from each character or from reading the four accounts in each section. The first part, Before, shines a light on the character’s backgrounds and what caused them to make the decision to immigrate. This is followed by After, which acts as a conclusion rounding off where the characters are in their progression to finding that new beginning and home that the opening of the novel introduces. Perhaps surprisingly to the reader, the expected or anticipated outcome is not necessarily the one that results in the happiest life.
