Today we discussed 'On Imagination' by Phillis Wheatley. It is neoclassic in form, however it is very emotional. The thoughts are very long and are much more abstract than the other poems (imagination). There is a lot of personification, which connects the abstract to the concrete. There is a progression of mood from positive at the beginning and dark at the end. We discussed that "WINTER" is a powerful force, and "fancy" is a pretty, airy and light version of imagination ("flight of fancy"= thinking whimsically, daydreaming). Romantics believed that imagination had power, and that imagination is the gateway to reality. To Romantics, artists were godlike becaues they could create. However, Romanticism comes into conflict with reality.
Wheatley is neoclasic, however her writing in the poem has a pre-romantic nature. The winter is the force clamping down on imagination. Imagination is combating winter. The Romantics thought that by writing about Spring and warmth, it would turn into Spring by the power of imagination. However, when you let imagination become reality, nothing happens.
The last stanza shows Wheatley's intelect because the last line does not rhyme. This shows she is giving up (her imagination is giving up), it shows surrender and disruption. It shows the end of a perfect vision which fails, as well as the poem
-Sammi
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1 comment:
I think that the fact that Wheatley plays around with the structure at the end and uses this experimentation to make an effective point illustrates that this poem is both a masterpiece of form and content.
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