Last but not least!
Finally, the last text I want to review is a poem written in 1801 by William Wordsworth called To A Butterfly. First of all, many would consider Wordsworth’s work to be wonderful and vibrant. I personally think he’s a little wish-washy and I generally don’t enjoy reading his work. That being said, my opinion is only influenced by the cultural context that I am living in. In the 1800s, the sort of language that he uses in his work was commonplace and widely respected, so I can overlook that aspect of it quite easily.
The poem is quite short, a seemingly simple ode to a butterfly as it visits his garden. Wordsworth observes the butterfly as it rests on a flower and he ponders it’s existence. He offers his garden as a sanctuary for when the butterfly is weary, a guardian if in need.
Wordsworth was never one to write about such simple things though. If we look past face value and investigate some possible deeper meanings of the text, we can see that the poem may not be to a butterfly after all.
First of all, what is a butterfly? On a denotative level, it is just a flying insect with colourful markings on it’s wings. What do Butterflies signify though? A beautiful, elegant being floating with the wind. It connotes a peaceful existence, something delicate and something to behold. Surely most of these things could also be found in a pretty girl.
So with this semiotic analysis, we could assume that the Butterfly represents a love interest. Wordsworth offers his abode as a place of sanctuary to her, watching her as she peacefully sleeps. By happenstance, she finds herself with him as the winds of fate carry her. They share the plot of Orchard together as he offers his undying devotion to her, promising no wrong. He offers opportunity of happiness if she will take his hand, talking of bright summer days and elated relaxation. The poem could be a declaration of love and longing.
This is most probably the case as William Wordsworth was and still is regarded as a very popular Romanticist. Wordsworth uses an element of personification to give the butterfly character, a wandering, spontaneous soul ready to be swept away by a charming gentleman such as himself.
Another interpretation could be the loss of his childhood. Upon seeing the butterfly, Wordsworth reminisces about his life, realising the fragility that it has. The butterfly represents the final stage in life. There is the inherent metamorphosis of starting life as a caterpillar, cocooning in a self-reflective phase and emerging as a complete being in beautiful brilliance. Perhaps Wordsworth reflects on his childhood, time squandered or missed and wishing he could take it back. This is especially prevalent in the last stanza, specifically referring to his childhood and joyous times gone by. This is very much up to interpretation because the butterfly is silenced. The narration from the poet’s point of view leaves a gap that must be filled by the reader.
Another thing I considered was when the poem was written. Wordsworth published this poem towards the end of his career, which solidifies my theory that he knows time is fleeting. He no longer has his whole life ahead of him and the wants the butterfly (representing his childhood) to stay.
Overall I think the poem was an excellent stimulate for self-reflection. Whether the poem was about a love interest or the natural progression of life, it is up to the individual to decide. Personally I prefer the love interest theory as it fits within his character of writing in the Romantic genre.
It is still interesting to note how the same poem can be interpreted in different ways and thus hold completely different meanings, as I have pointed out. That’s the fantastic thing about poetry; there is no right or wrong answer, everything is up to interpretation. It just depends on how far down you want to dig.
Bibliography
Finally, just a quick Bibliography of the texts that i referred to for literary techniques and the texts themselves! Moon and Berger were great sources for the different analysis elements. They helped refresh my memory from high school English classes and reminded me of some elements that i missed when i was first reviewing the texts. It was hard to try and cover all the techniques over the three reviews due to the low word count for each text, so i tried to balance them out over all three instead.
Berger, Arthur Asa. (2005). Chapter 1: Semiotic Analysis in Berger, Arthur Asa, Media analysis techniques, Thousand Oaks: SAGE, pp.3-37.
Mellor, Bronwyn et al. (2000). Chapter 2 : Reading Positions and Readings in Mellor, Bronwyn et al, Reading fictions : applying literary theory to short stories, Urbana: National Council of Teachers of English, pp.17-38.
Moon, Brian. (1990). Chapter 1: What is Literature? in Moon, Brian, Studying literature : theory and practice for senior students, Scarborough, WA: Chalkface Press, pp.5-23.
Weller, A. (1990). Stolen Car in Davis, J. Muecke, S. Narogin, M. Shoemaker, Paperbark: A collection of black australian writings, St. Lucia, Qld.: Uni of Qld Press, pp.128-140.