London,1802 Ode to Duty By William Wordsworth

1. 1.London,1802
2.Ode to Duty
By William Wordsworth
Romantic Literature.
Prepared by Divya Sheta.
divyasheta@gmail.com

2. London 1802
● Dedicated to John Milton by William Wordsworth.
● Composed in 1802, "London, 1802" was published for the first
time in “Poems, in Two Volumes.(1807)”
● Addresses the soul of the dead poet John Milton.

3. About the Sonnet
● saying that he should be alive at this moment in history, for
England needs him.
● “she is a fen” - he shows that without the spirit of Milton's, the
whole kingdom become a mud or like dirty.
● England, the speaker says, is stagnant and selfish, and Milton
could raise her up again

4. About the Sonnet
● the altar (representing religion)
● the sword (representing the military)
● the pen (representing literature)
● the fireside (representing the home)has lost touch with “inward
happiness,”

5. About the Sonnet
● Milton could give England “manners, virtue, freedom, power,”
● For his soul was like a star, his voice had a sound as pure as
the sea,
● He moved through the world with “cheerful godliness,”

6. About the Sonnet
" The lowliest duties on herself did lay."
● Last line described the humble nature of Milton,that how's pure
Milton's heart was.
To know about more, CLICK HERE.

7. Ode to Duty
What is Ode:
● According to Merriam Webster dictionary,"a lyric poem usually
marked by exaltation of feeling and style, varying length of line, and
complexity of stanza forms"

8. Ode to Duty
● included in the second edition of Lyrical Ballad.
● Published in 1800.
● Seven stanzas in eight lines in ABABCCDD rhyme scheme.

9. Ode to Duty
● Duty is called the stern daughter of the Voice of God.
● The poet compares duty to the light that shows the right path to
human beings.
● Duty readily extends her arms around them and saves them.

10. Ode to Duty
● Duty cautioned him when he(poet)was about to err, and he
abstained himself from going that way.
● The poet willingly accepts the command of Duty and pays
obeisance to her.
● The poet prays to Duty that she may grant him the spirit of self-
sacrifice and instill in his mind the desire to rely on reason. He
wishes to live like her slave for the rest of his life.

11. Ode to Duty
● To the poet, Duty is a stern monitor, yet she wears a kind and
graceful look.
● The poet prays to Duty that she may grant him the spirit of self-
sacrifice and instill in his mind the desire to rely on reason. He
wishes to live like her slave for the rest of his life.

12. Ode to Duty
● “Ode to Duty” is an appeal to the principle of morality for
guidance and support.
● It represents in a measure a recantation of Wordsworth's earlier
faith in the spontaneous and unguided impulses of the heart.

13. Ode to Duty
● According to Wordsworth's own statement, the “Ode to Duty”
was modeled on Thomas Gray's “Hymn to Adversity,” which in
turn was imitated from Horace's “Ode to Fortune.”
● This poem demonstrates how a prosaic theme can be
approached with a Romantic vision.

14. Sources :
● Blog
● Definition
● Ode to Duty
● London,1802

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