ENGL 3622: The Grasmere and Alfoxden Journals
Friday, Jan 7th, 3 PM: Begun reading DW’s Journals. Book has standard -- boring -- Oxford design. Cover ill. not particularly captivating. Opening pages brought feelings of melancholy &c. DW seems to cry a lot, not entirely sure why.
3:15 PM: Noticed half book is notes, timelines, context &c. Actual journals take up little comp. space.
3:30 PM: Distracted by internet. Checked e-mail – noted expected e-mail from Dr. J has arrived. Must remember to add other student blogs to sidebar – later. For now, web comics.
Ethan makes me laugh – also
Order of Stick. Neither relevant in least.
4:00 PM: Set book aside; went to McD’s with J. Ate two hamburgers, talked about the Welsh. Snapped at cashier in store for trying to charge $2 for $1 can of pepsi; immediately felt bad for snapping – must be tired.
J. left for DnD. I returned to read more.
5:15 PM: Time goes slowly – only through ten pages. Text so thick – brain threatens to seize, though not nearly as bad as Ch18 of Ulysses. So far, highly uninteresting, though Marxist in me finds John Fisher’s musings on p3 intriguing. Notes at back indicate Fisher was proven right – heartening, in depressing kind of way. Also, journal seems to touch upon poverty often, with beggars & the like – I sense typical 18th C. attitude of irritated condescension toward poor. Also typical in 21st C, but that is neither here nor there.
Moving on – more melancholy & birds &c. DW needs new material.
5:40 PM: As often as not, DW opens each passage with a comment about the weather. She often engages engages in pathetic fallacy, describing the natural world as “solemn” or “melancholy”. Pope (I think it was Pope) would have strung DW out for it, but Pope was a bit of a hard-ass &c. anyway.
Set book aside again. I need some Eugene O’Neill to break monotony. I will begin reading “Emperor Jones.”
8:30 PM: Done O’Neill. Back to DW. I noticed my reading hiccups every time I come across her use of “sate.” Got used to reading Middle Eng.; will get used to this too, no doubt.
DW seems to suffer from headaches very often. Also, I have trouble picturing a “bread pie,” & I’m quite sure my mental picture of a “pot-house” is quite diff. than what DW intended.
9:00 PM: Lots of letter-writing going back & forth. Not surprising to me; already did page on
18th C. Post. Must remember to offer link to said page on blog.
10:10 PM: Last time read journal like this, got to see Pepys bludgeoned to death with own book; wonder if I will get to see same happen to DW.
10:40 PM: Am reminded of scene in
Pandaemonium, which follows something like:
DW & WW walking across grassy field under blue sky & next to beach &c. WW swishing cane side to side against grass. WW looks up thoughtfully & muses aloud:
WW: “I wandered lonely as a cow.”
DW: “Perhaps cloud would work better there, dear William.”
I still laugh at that scene each time. Wish this journal were as funny.
11:10 PM: Must give DW credit; she was very attentive to outside world. Also knowledgeable about roots & herbs &c. Looking out window, notice only snow & darkness & lights in other windows. Man walking by with little dog on leash, carrying bag of stuff fr. corner store. Not very interesting. I maybe lack a poet’s perspective, but then urban life very diff. from rural England circa 1800.
Stepped outside briefly; a cold evening.
11:40 PM: Finished reading for now. Tomorrow, will check other student blogs to look for interesting comments. Still only 40 pages in; must redouble my efforts on the morrow.
Saturday, Jan 8th, 3:00 PM: Did internet browsing & downloading this afternoon. Also wrote e-mails to AA & BR. No new e-mails save for a single spam message promising me greater home equity or somesuch nonsense.
Back to reading.
5:20 PM: Cooked myself some supper; had to go to the store to buy some beef & no-name cola, though. Made some curry ramen with garlic beef & eggs. Never tried that mix before; quite filling & tasty, though I’m normally not too crazy about curry. Still, experimentation is important for any would-be cook.
Read a few pages while I cooked.
7:45: Let Soc. out to play; fed him his usual yogurt drop treat.
I am beginning to get the idea that DW was often a mother-figure of sorts for those in her life, particularly WW, Col., &c. Anytime they are sick she makes mention of it & seems to imply that she took care of them somehow. When she is sick, conversely – & this happens often – she never mentions anyone else taking care of her. She pretty much managed Wm’s life for him, & enabled him to live his life as a poet. Especially interesting considering the theories out there that claim DW actually wrote some of Wm’s better poems for him. A very active woman.
10:30 PM: Talked briefly with R on MSN; convinced her to watch
Harold & Kumar. My taste in movies is proven exemplary once more.
11:30 PM: Checked out the course & related blogs to look for any comments thus far. Rather slim pickings. Still, might as well use the material given by Dr. J:
Was DW a writer? Yes. However, this journal is not art, & therefore cannot be used to claim any status as artist for her. A journal – unless fictionalized – is an historical anecdote & little else. Interesting as a glimpse into the surrounding culture & offers insight into the life of important figures – possibly even artistic – but lacks any literary merit in & of itself. I doubt she would have tried to claim otherwise herself, anyway, given that she never intended for the journals to be published.
DW might still qualify as an artist – not entirely sure. But if she does it has nothing to do with these journals.
As an aside, it’s obvious when DW gets excited about something she writes, because her normally stilted & condensed prose style suddenly uses more complete sentences – much like this entry here – though the use of dashes is not in any way diminished – as one might expect from a writer just coming out of the 18th C.
12:45 AM: Took a brief break to write a short bit about superhero conventions – a welcome diversion. Growing extremely exhausted, and only reached p96 – may have to do with incomplete reading to allow time for editing this blog entry. Will attempt to read more tomorrow, though I must also read a portion of Butler’s “Gender Trouble,” so it may be difficult. Overall, I must rate this entry as long and not particularly insightful – though, hopefully, it will qualify in some peoples’ minds as somewhat clever.
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