The Nightingale opens with a description of the setting. In particular, the speaker describes an "old mossy Bridge" (line 4). These three words will be the focus of my post this week.Oxford English Dictionary offers a number of definitions for the word bridge. Generally, the purpose of a bridge is to fill a gap between two location that are otherwise difficult to travel between. And while this bridge probably served that function at one point, in describing it as old and mossy, Wordsworth conveys to the reader that this may no longer is the case. Instead, nature has taken its toll on this edifice. The author is trying to communicate to the reader that even that which does not live can still age. It is a really profound thought and an excellent personification.
One major part of the text is a diatribe by the speaker regarding other poet's understanding of the singing of nightingales. The speaker is especially frustrated by the fact that poets describe the "melancholy" of their song instead of simply enjoying the music of nature. I believe the bridge also functions as a metaphorical bridge for other poets, bridging the gap between their mindset and that of the speaker. And just as the man-made bridge can have human characteristics, so too can the other "misguided" poets escape their unnatural descriptions of the nightingale's song and join the speaker on the other side of the bridge, where the nightingales perform daily.
Evan -
ReplyDeleteI like your focus here. You make the particular line you are discussing clear from the outset and set forth some ideas about the significance of the setting. The bridge on which we are to imagine the speaker resting can indeed be an important image--it is a liminal, or border, space from which the poet can perceive the natural world. You are getting toward that sort of discussion with your thoughts on crossing the gap between Coleridge and other poets' cliches. I'm not sure that pointing us in the direction of a definition does much for your argument, since you don't suggest any alternate meaning for the word. And since the speaker is sitting on it, your suggestion that it no longer serves its intended purpose is also questionable. Old doesn't necessarily mean decrepit.