William Wordsworth

• He was a master poet who lived between 1770 – 1850.

• He wrote poems mostly about the industrial revolution and nature.

• English society changed rapidly during this period providing and apt background for his poem “Mutability”

The poem itself

From low to high doth dissolution climb, And sink from high to low, along a scale Of awful notes, whose concord shall not fail; A musical but melancholy chime, Which they can hear who meddle not with crime, 5Nor avarice, nor over-anxious care. Truth fails not; but her outward forms that bear The longest date do melt like frosty rime, That in the morning whiten'd hill and plain And is no more; drop like the tower sublime 10Of yesterday, which royally did wear His crown of weeds, but could not even sustain Some casual shout that broke the silent air, Or the unimaginable touch of Time.

Mutability – A material part of Ecclestial Sketches

In 1812 Wordsworth published "Ecclestial Sketches“.

A sequence of over a hundred sonnets (one of which was "Mutability").

Ecclestial Sketches was prompted by the Catholic Emancipation.

The introduction progress and operation of the church before and after the reformation was reviewed by William Wordsworth in his Ecclestial sketches.

Mutability is among the third part of the Ecclestial sketches which deals with the period of Catholic Emancipation

Some Word Definitions:Mutability - Capable of or subject to change or alteration

Dissolution (line 1) - Decomposition into fragments or parts

Concord (line 2) - Harmony or agreement of interests or feelings

Melancholy (line 4) - Sadness or depression of the spirits

Meddle (line 5) - To intrude into other people's affairs or business

Avarice (line 6) - Immoderate desire for wealth

Sublime (line 10) - Characterized by nobility

Poem form and structure

Mutability,” a traditional sonnet of fourteen lines in iambic pentameter.

Something that is mutable is able to shift, alter, and adapt itself

. Mutability is William Wordsworth’s speculation on change and transformation.

The poet places his reflections on the impermanence of false side by side with the permanence of Truth

Rhyme scheme From low to high doth dissolution climb, A

And sink from high to low, along a scale BOf awful notes, whose concord shall not fail; BA musical but melancholy chime, CWhich they can hear who meddle not with crime, CNor avarice, nor over-anxious care. DTruth fails not; but her outward forms that bear DThe longest date do melt like frosty rime, AThat in the morning whiten'd hill and plain EAnd is no more; drop like the tower sublime AOf yesterday, which royally did wear DHis crown of weeds, but could not even sustain ESome casual shout that broke the silent air, DOr the unimaginable touch of Time. A

ABBCCDDAEADEDA

Mutability-Outer theme

• The first part is a musical metaphor.

“From low to high doth dissolution climb, And sink from high to low, along a scale Of awful notes, whose concord shall not fail; A musical but melancholy chime,

nor avarice, nor over-anxious care. Truth fails not; ”

William Wordsworth is trying to convey the idea of how society has changed because of the industrial revolution. He is saying that societies morals and values have changed for worse as people are living and working in terrible conditions.

• The second part the change in society is illustrated in nature. Along with the personification of time and a tower.

“;but her outward forms that bear The longest date do melt like frosty rime, That in the morning whiten'd hill and plain And is no more; drop like the tower sublime 10Of yesterday, which royally did wear His crown of weeds, but could not even sustain Some casual shout that broke the silent air, Or the unimaginable touch of Time.”

William Wordsworth uses nature to convey the overall theme of change in society from something beautiful to something ugly. He portrays frosty landscape, white, and blissful which over time turn into slush. He is saying that our core values are still there but the peripheral is deteriorating.

Mutability-Inner theme• William Wordsworth’s poem “Mutability” makes multiple references to the

crucifixion of Christ.

• The first few lines about climbing dissolution seem to reference periods of religious controversy.

• In this case, the word “awful” might mean filled with or displaying reverence, instead of the more common definition meaning terrible.

• Those who "hear the musical but melancholy chime," or are fully aware of these lapses and swells in religious fervor, are Christians.

• This is evidenced by the fact that Wordsworth says they “meddle not with crime, not avarice, not over-anxious crime,” or in other words they are trying to lead lives without sin.

• The line “drop like the tower sublime of yesterday” compares Jesus Christ, as a sublime figure, to a watchtower that guards over a kingdom.

• “Which royally did wear his crown of weeds” directly references the crown of thorns that Jesus wore when he was crucified.

• The words “royally” and “crown” recall images of a king with a great land empire and royal subjects, drawing parallels to Jesus, the Christian empire, and his devoted followers.

• However, the incarnation of God as Jesus Christ was impermanent like the dew (rime) on the grassy hill.

• Mutability, the title of the poem, draws parallels between the ever-changing nature of the world and God changing shape to take on the bodily form of Jesus Christ, and then leaving the world as quickly as he arrived.

• Wordsworth’s conclusion seems to be that God, although he may change shape or form, is always present, and that although Jesus died and there is constant questioning of religion, his legacy lives on (“truth fails not”), like that of a great ruler.

• On a side note, it was interesting the particular words that Wordsworth used because, if the poem was being read out loud, many of them could be confused for their similar-sounding homonyms.

Dissolution, meaning breaking into fragments, sounds eerily similar to disillusion, meaning freeing from false belief or illusions, which would also make sense within the context. Rime, meaning dew, could easily be confused with rhyme, which would follow with the line talking about music and a scale and chime. Wordsworth seems to be toying with the mutability of the words as well.

Symbolism and Imagery.

Symbolism- The tower is a symbol for Jesus Christ.

Imagery- ‘which royally did wear/His crown of weeds’ personification tower being Jesus and the crown of thorns.

Feelings and Themes

Themes:• The powerful leaders all fall some time? (can’t withstand

time) E.g. Saddam Hussein, Hitler, fall of empires (Rome, Egypt) – ‘but could not even sustain … the touch of time.’

• Change in society shown in nature.

Poem was shared by other romanticist poets.

• "Mutability" (1816), a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley ("We are as clouds that veil the midnight moon…").

• "Mutability" (1821), a poem by William Wordsworth.

Thank You

The Catholic Emancipation

The Catholics have been repressed since Queen Elizabeth I’ s time until the middle of the eighteenth century in England.

In return for the recognition of the English Royal Family by the Pope certain rights of the Catholics were recognized in England.

This was known as the Catholic Emancipation.

The Catholic Relief act 1829 was passed by the parliament of Great Britain and was the culmination of the process of Catholic Emancipation

Mutability by Percy Brysshe Shelley

We are as clouds that veil the midnight moon; How restlessly they speed, and gleam, and quiver, Streaking the darkness radiantly! -yet soon Night closes round, and they are lost for ever:

Or like forgotten lyres, whose dissonant strings Give various response to each varying blast, To whose frail frame no second motion brings One mood or modulation like the last.

We rest.—A dream has power to poison sleep; We rise.—One wandering thought pollutes the day; We feel, conceive or reason, laugh or weep; Embrace fond woe, or cast our cares away:

It is the same!—For, be it joy or sorrow, The path of its departure still is free: Man’s yesterday may ne’er be like his morrow; Nought may endure but Mutablilty.