The Character Analysis Of “To The Cuckoo” By William Wordsworth
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ISSN: 2302-920X
Jurnal Humanis, Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Unud
Vol 16.1 Juli 2016: 252– 256
The Character Analysis Of “To The Cuckoo” By William Wordsworth
Putu Ayu Tresna Dewi1*, Ni Ketut Alit Ida Setianingsih2, Ni Made Ayu Widiastuti3
123Jurusan Sastra Inggris Fakultas Sastra dan Budaya, Universitas Udayana 1[[email protected]] 2[[email protected]] 3[[email protected]] *
Corresponding Author
ABSTRAK
Dalam studi ini dibicarakan tentang bagaimana Wordsworth mempercayai bahwa alam selalu memberikan kegembiraan pada hati manusia bahkan ia
menganggap alam merupakan tempat latihan yang bisa menyembuhkan hati manusia yang sedih atau menderita. Ada dua teori yang diaplikasikan dalam membahas dan menganalisis puisi To the Cuckoo yaitu pertama, Knickerbocker and Reninger (1963) yang menulis Intrepreting Literature dan yang kedua, adalah teori pendekatan biografi dari Wellek dan Warren dalam bukunya Theory of Literature di mana teori melakukan pendekatan ekstrinsik untuk mendapatkan hubungan antara kehidupan si penulis dan isi puisinya yang ditulis.
Pembahasan dalam studi ini berfokus pada latar belakang William Wordsworth sebagai penulis To the Cuckoo dan pembahasan puisinya dilihat dari pesan yang ada dalam puisi tersebut dan pengalaman hidup dari Wordsworth.
Akhirnya dapat disimpulkan bahwa pesan yang disampaikan oleh Wordsworth dalam To the Cuckoo merupakan ungkapan pengharapan dan keyakinan manusia tanpa adanya rasa ragu-ragu dan khawatir.
Kata kunci: cuckoo, nature, Romanticism
As a poet of Nature, Wordsworth stands supreme. He is a worshipper of Nature, Nature’s devotee or high-priest. His love of Nature was probably truer, and more tender, than that of any other English poet, before or since. Nature comes to occupy in his poem a separate or independent status and is not treated in a casual or passing manner as by poets before him. Wordsworth had a full-fledged philosophy, a new and original view of Nature. Three points in his creed of Nature may be noted:
Wordsworth believed that the company of Nature gives joy to the human heart and he looked upon Nature as exercising a healing influence on sorrow-stricken hearts.
Wordsworth believed that people can learn more of man and of moral, of evil and good from Nature than from all the philosophies. In his eyes, Nature is a teacher whose wisdom we can learn, and without which any human life is vain and incomplete. He believed in the education of man by Nature. In this he was somewhat influenced by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a philosopher who contended that man is essentially good when in the "state of nature", and that good people are made unhappy and corrupted by their experiences in society. He viewed society as "artificial" and "corrupt" and that the furthering of society results in the continuing unhappiness of man. This inter-relation of Nature and man is very important in considering Wordsworth’s view of both.
To the Cuckoo shows Wordsworth's view that nature can bring back memories. He uses the Cuckoo that he hears as a man and it reminds him of when he was a schoolboy trying to search for it. The cuckoo brought back so many memories to the Wordsworth that he could think of them for hours.
In this study, William Wordsworth’s poem is analysed. The title of the poem is To the Cuckoo. In this poem of Wordsworth is welcoming the spring in the most elegant way. He says that when the spring starts, a bird, which he later named as cuckoo starts singing in the most rejoicing manner. He says that he is in search of the bird, and he is unable to find it. He says that when he was
a school boy he used to search for this bird all round the clock. He says that the voice of the cuckoo is like a mystery. He also says that he hears that pleasure some voice through the woods and where ever there is greenery. In the end Wordsworth says that he shall listen to this sound while he lays there on the green plains. A deeper understanding about this poem is discussed by looking at Wordsworth’s biography.
Through highlighting, there are two problems which need to be discussed; they are formulated as follows:
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1. What is the message in To the Cuckoo that the poet intended to deliver to the readers?
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2. How does Wordsworth’s biography help the readers to understand the poem?
This study is intended to fulfil three aims: the general, specific, and academic aims.
The general aim of this writing is to apply theories related to poetry in order to get better understanding of the poems of William Wordsworth entitled To the Cuckoo.
Meanwhile the specific aim of this writing is to find out the critical estimate of the poem and what message the poet wants to convey.
The last is an academic aim that is to apply the theory of literature studied in the English Department to write a scientific work which gives contribution to this department, so this writing can be used as reference to help the student who takes the same topics.
The method that is used in collecting the data in this study is observation method. In this study observation was done by observing the data
source. In observing the data source, the poem is read repeatedly and carefully to be able to find the ideas used in the poem.
The analysis of the poem is related to the theoretical basis in order to be able to find message conveyed in the poem and to determine their meanings through an interpretation. The analysis of the data is presented descriptively.
This chapter discusses about the biographical approach to the study of literature, which in principle tries to find the interrelation between the life of the author and his works. The concepts which are related to the features of literature and biography of the author are also presented in this chapter.
The most obvious cause of a work of art is its creator, the author; and hence an explanation in terms of the personality and the life of the poet has been one of the oldest and best established methods of literary study because the biography itself can explain and illuminate the actual production of poetry
which directly advocates the intrinsic interest of biography and shifts the centre of attention to human personality. Biography can even provide materials for a science, especially which is connected with the psychology of artistic creation (Warren and Wellek, 1962: 75).
To the Cuckoo by Wordsworth is poem of joy and happy memories. The little song-bird, cuckoo comes to England in early spring. Wordsworth hears the twofold shout of the cuckoo and looks around but the bird is nowhere
to be seen. He rejoices to hear the old familiar cry of joy that passes from hill to hill. It casts a spell over him and he is back in his childhood. It was the period of joy, wonder and innocence. In those days the songs of the cuckoo fascinated him. He wandered through greens and woods to catch a glimpse of the bird. He looked for the cuckoo in tree, bushes and in open skies. But it was never seen by the poet. Even now when he is hearing it talk to the valley, he cannot see it. He wonders whether this is a real bird or only a wandering voice. This wandering voice still makes him forget everything and enter the world of
imagination. The everyday world turns into a fairyland, and he becomes a child once again full of joy and wonder.
In this poem, Wordsworth is welcoming the spring in the most elegant way. He says that when the spring starts, a bird, which he later named as cuckoo starts singing in the most rejoicing manner. He says that he is in search of the bird, and he is unable to find it. He says that when he was a school boy he used to search for this bird all round the clock. He says that the voice of the cuckoo is like a mystery. HE also says that he hears that pleasure some voice through the woods and where ever there is greenery. In the end the poet says that he will listen to this sound while he lays there on the green plains.
In this poem, there is an element of nostalgia that makes Wordsworth feel warmed from hearing the Cuckoo´s voice "I hear thee and rejoice" (Line 2) Wordsworth describes the bird as a "wandering voice" (Line 3) and this creates a sense of freedom in the birds independent nature "wandering" gives the sense of going forward in life, cautiously, but at no particular aim.
Wordsworth uses an extended metaphor to portray how he wants to find the bird "still longed for but never seen" which is almost like he is trying to find his freedom. 255
This brings him back to the time when he was a child, "the golden time again" (Line 28) where he is young, innocent and most importantly evident in this poem, free.
The end of the poem offers a revelation promising, the “unsubstantial, fairy place” (Line 31) that is the counterpart of the day-to-day life in the world we generally inhabit.
It can be concluded the To the Cuckoo is an expression of hope, faith, and not of fear and doubt.
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