The Romantics＇ relationship with Alexander Pope and his literary authority was a complicated one, and William Wordsworth＇s opinion of Pope oscillated between reverence and disdain throughout his life. This paper see...The Romantics＇ relationship with Alexander Pope and his literary authority was a complicated one, and William Wordsworth＇s opinion of Pope oscillated between reverence and disdain throughout his life. This paper seeks to explore the underlying emotions embedded in Wordsworth＇s borrowing of Alexander Pope＇s expression, the ＂language of the heart,＂ in the poem Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour （1798）. The author traces Pope＇s use of the ＂heart＂ to refer to his literary predecessor Abraham Cowley in The First Epistle of the Second Book of Horace, Imitated （Pope＇s Epistle to Augustus） （1737） and to his father in An Epistle to Arbuthnot （1735）. In focusing on Pope＇s attribution of the ＂language of the heart＂ to his father and Wordsworth＇s reference using Pope＇s phrase to his sister Dorothy, the author demonstrates how the poets express at once fondness towards a beloved family member and a desire for detachment from the kin who is no match for the poet with regards to such qualities as erudition and ambition. Through these examinations, the author shows that the connection between Pope and his father and between Wordsworth and his sister, through the common adage of＂language of the heart,＂ is in fact representative of Wordsworth＇s own bearing with Pope.展开更多
文摘The Romantics＇ relationship with Alexander Pope and his literary authority was a complicated one, and William Wordsworth＇s opinion of Pope oscillated between reverence and disdain throughout his life. This paper seeks to explore the underlying emotions embedded in Wordsworth＇s borrowing of Alexander Pope＇s expression, the ＂language of the heart,＂ in the poem Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour （1798）. The author traces Pope＇s use of the ＂heart＂ to refer to his literary predecessor Abraham Cowley in The First Epistle of the Second Book of Horace, Imitated （Pope＇s Epistle to Augustus） （1737） and to his father in An Epistle to Arbuthnot （1735）. In focusing on Pope＇s attribution of the ＂language of the heart＂ to his father and Wordsworth＇s reference using Pope＇s phrase to his sister Dorothy, the author demonstrates how the poets express at once fondness towards a beloved family member and a desire for detachment from the kin who is no match for the poet with regards to such qualities as erudition and ambition. Through these examinations, the author shows that the connection between Pope and his father and between Wordsworth and his sister, through the common adage of＂language of the heart,＂ is in fact representative of Wordsworth＇s own bearing with Pope.
