Personification: occurs when the poet imbues a non-human feature of their text with human characteristics.
Throughout this poem, the poet makes use of several literary devices. Here, the poet uses an anapest, two unstressed syllable’s followed by one stressed syllable, and then two iambs. This line contains ten syllables, making it an example of iambic pentameter.
For example, in line three, the poet writes (with the stresses highlighted): But, he does not arrange them in a specific metrical pattern ( iambic pentameter, iambic trimeter, etc). Generally, Wordsworth uses iambs throughout this poem. There are some examples of half-rhyme within this text, for example, the “EE” rhyme which includes the words “spring” and “suffering.” Some of the many perfect rhymes in this poem include “bright” and “sight” at the ends of lines one and two, as well as “find” and “behind” in lines five and six. ‘Splendour in the Grass’ by William Wordsworth is a fourteen-line poem that follows a rhyme scheme of AABBCCDDEEFG. Although these thoughts can cause mourning, Wordsworth implies that it is important to maintain an optimistic outlook and remember all the sources from which one can gain strength. He is growing older and has been forced to reconcile the images of life he maintained in his youth with the reality he’s now facing. He compares these moments to a shining, brilliant sun. It is, by far, the most important theme of this excerpt from the longer poem ‘ Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood.’ In the first lines, the speaker, who is commonly considered to be the poet himself, looks back on his life and the radiant moments of his youth. Throughout ‘ Splendour in the Grass,’ William Wordsworth engages with the theme of aging. But, one can still seek to enjoy the “philosophic mind” that can only develop in old age. The poet compares the light of youth with the flourishing of a glorious flower or the splendor of a single blade of grass. The meaning of ‘ Splendour in the Grass’ is that despite the loss of youth and beauty, there is still a great deal one can appreciate and take comfort in as one ages. He reminds readers of the development of a “philosophic mind” that is only possible to attain as one ages and the importance of maintaining one’s faith in the face of death. In the next lines, he provides readers with reasons to maintain their strength despite suffering and because of it. It is a radiance that is incredibly temporary, like the splendor of grass and the glory of a flower. In the poem’s first lines, the poet begins by describing the “radiance” that he, and all human beings, lose as they age.
‘Splendour in the Grass’ by William Wordsworth is a short excerpt from a longer work in which Wordsworth reminds readers that there are sources of happiness in one’s old age.