Wordsworth was the son of Lord Lonsdale who was the main property owner of a beautiful yet isolated region. He shared a very special bond with his sister Dorothy, which he lived with for a large portion of his life. Wordsworth devoted himself to his poetry which caused him to fall out of favor with the people of his time. His conservative political views also bothered some critics but he was appointed Poet Laureate in 1843. (196) For me Wordsworth was much easier to read than Blake. He was much more straightfoward with his ideas and although his writings were very powerful I felt alot more comfortable with my understanding of what he was really trying to say.
His poem entitled Micheal tells a story about a shepard who lost everything he had gained his in life because he had to guarantee a bad loan. In an attempt to save his land Micheal asked Luke to reach out to a wealthy relative for help.
"Our Luke shall leave us, Isabel; the land shall not go from us, and it shall be free; He shall possess it, free as is the wind that passes over it. We have thou knowest, another kinsman, he will be our friend in this distress." (223)
All Micheal had was his family and his property and as soon as he died he lost both. The land that he had hoped would be taken by his son Luke was instead sold off to a stranger. "At Isabels death the estate was sold, and went into a stranger's hand." (227) The main point that can be received from this is although Micheal might not have had alot, he was proud of what he had. He was extremely proud of his son for going to his wealthy relative for help to pay their debt and was proud of the land he had acquired through his life. This shows that happiness can be found in all situations. Micheal found his happiness through the simple things in life such as family and property. He was by no means wealthy yet he was able to appreciate what he had, while he had it. He did not complain about the misfortune that he faced, he simply tried to find a way to overcome the difficulties.
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Jeremy,
Good to see you focusing on a specific poem by Wordsworth. I think it would be OK to skip the summary at the beginning of the posting, and get straight to analyzing the poem.
"Michael" is challenging, I think, because it resists a clear happy ending or neat consolation for the reader. In your discussion you talk about Michael's pride and happiness in his land and son; at the end of the poem, though, he dies of grief and the son and land are both irretrievably lost. I would have liked your discussion to address some of the difficulties of the poem, rather than trying to make it fit into a more conventional box.
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