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Daniele Maier Introduction to Literature Vanessa Bentz 09. November 2013 Poetry analysis of Steamboats, Viaducts and Railways William Wordworths poem Steamboats, Viaducts and Railways, written in 1833, deals with the increasing permeation of technology in the society of the 19th century. The lyrical I is torn between embracing these new Motions and means (1) and rejecting them. Wordsworths poem is structured as a sonnet consisting of fourteen lines, which are broken up into three stanzas. As opposed to the classical English or Shakespearean Sonnet, Steamboats is written as a Petrarchan or Italian Sonnet, which in turn consists of two quatrains and one sestet. Both quatrains use envelope rhymes (abba/cddc) as rhyme schemes, while the sestets rhyme scheme is a variation on a tail rhyme (efgfeg). Typically, in Petrarchan Sonnets, the two quatrains introduce a problem or a theme and the sestet offers a solution for the problem. In that respect, this poem is no different: The quatrains discuss the rivalry between nature and technology and the possible consequences for the human mind (56), while the sestet sees nature embracing technology, because it is an offspring of nature (1011). Wordsworth uses the iambic pentameter, which consists of five feet and sums up to a total of ten syllables and is also a meter typically used in both Shakespearean and Petrarchan Sonnets. Apart from one dactyl (Motions and), the entire sonnet is written in the aforementioned iambic pentameter. One of the stylistic features is an alliteration used in the first line of the poem (Motions and means). The Nature is also personified by Wordsworth, as seen in lines ten to thirteen (Nature doth embrace), as well as the technological advancement, which he often directly speaks to, as seen in lines three and four (Shall ye, by poets even, Nor shall your presence). This gives the impression of two competing rivals, who are pitted against each other by William Wordsworth. He even goes so far as to

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attribute human qualities to the technology: In line eight he ascribes a soul to these new motions and means. Particularly Wordsworths use of the word sublime is interesting, as this word was formerly only used to describe nature. This only furthers the aforesaid impression of two human adversaries. The entire poem features ten enjambments (fr. enjamber; to step over), which give the impression of never-ending sentences. This might allude to the never-ending Industrial Revolution or the seemingly ceaseless advancement of technology in the society. Wordsworth doesnt completely rule out a propitiation of nature and technology, but declares in the first two lines that Motions and means, on land and sea at war / With old poetic feeling. As a poet, Wordsworth obviously fears the perpetual advancement of technology, but as an admirer of nature and all of which that stems from nature he cant help but feel sympathetic towards the gradual changes. He also aims to judge these motions and means fairly, as one can read in line three (Shall ye, by Poets even, ne judged amiss!). After researching his previous poems, which included a poem titled Outrage done to Nature with an obviously adverse reaction to the Industrial Revolution, Wordsworth seems to have had a change of mind. Wordsworth embodies the dilemma of a poet of the romanticism, which was partially a reaction to the Industrial Revolution. Romanticism reached back to medieval times in order to escape the industrialized and urbanized world, and instead embrace the exotic and unfamiliar. Wordsworths sonnet was written only three years after the first public railway of England, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, was opened. By 1833, the first photograph had already been taken and the first electric motor as well as the first sewing machine had been invented. Wordsworth discovered that, instead of rejecting technological progress, one can embrace it, as technology is a spawn of humankind, who in turn are a spawn of nature. Hence, technology is a derivate of nature and must be embraced by nature-lovers. Even Aristotle said, that All men by nature desire to know. One can deviate from this quote, that technological progress was only a natural process and was thousands of years in the making.

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Personally, I find Wordsworths change of mind remarkable. It is admirable, that he discovered that loving one does not exclude him from admiring the other.