Rhetorical analysis of poem

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Defining Life without Fear
The reality of death is a tough and emotional concept to grasp for any human being. Humans from as far as the records show were fascinated with life and death. People wonder about the meaning of life and how to properly exist on earth without worries. William Wordsworth in his poem Ode: Intimations of Immortality attempts to understand mortality through the natural geography of his homeland, England. He reminisces on death through a stream of consciousness where he is at some instance happy and at times, sad. He enjoys the sun, the landscape, and the animals but finds himself thinking that there is no glory on earth (18); he believes that life has no meaning. He goes back and forth contemplating on mortality until he concludes that life is precious. The poem uses three distinctive rhetoric elements namely patterns of development, diction, and figurative language to explore the instances of uncertainty for the author.
Wordsworth explores the various instances of doubt through an elaborate pattern of development. He uses a comparison and contrast mode in which he shows support for a happy existence before he starts to describe the vanity of everything on earth. The first and second stanza describe a person who sees beautiful and amazing things around but shows signs of depression. For example, he feels sad because the glory has passed away from the earth” (18). Strangely enough, the third and fourth stanza suggests that the gushing winds and mountain landscape gives him strength.

He goes further to imply that depression will not cloud his judgement. Stanza four reaffirms that the persona wishes to enjoy the joy of the morning. The next stanza (stanza five) takes the reader back to the sad, contemplative mood. An interesting comment “our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting” (59) makes the reader know that the persona is still tormented. Such a gothic comment relays the deep darkened tone from the first and second stanzas. He completes the stanzas with a conclusion about the essence of mortality (207). He suggests that death makes him appreciate the time he has on earth.
The author applies diction to explore the depth of his doubt for both sides of the argument. He applies connotative language to express his emotions for certain facts he uncovers. A good example is the application of ‘birth’ in the “The sunshine is a glorious birth” (16). The contextual meaning is that the light from the sun came into being and not the literal reproductive meaning. The figurative expression implies that he was extremely glad and happy about what he saw that morning. More so, the reference to God has our home (64) refers to the emotional comfort of a home and not the direct meaning of God being a housing structure. The choices of words here indicate that he has recognition of life after death. He shows signs of appreciation of nature. Secondly, the words used are informal because they explore ideas through exaggeration. Formal language is direct and gives a denotative meaning in almost all instances. The poem compares mortality with the “meanest flower” (207) and cataracts as objects capable of blowing trumpets (25). The author at this instance accepts mortality and decides to validate everything. The diction allows readers to get a better understanding of the emotional struggle within the poem.
Thirdly, the author shows various instances of the figurative language to emphasize the struggle within. Personification and symbolism are the two highly evident elements present in the poem. For instance, he uses the word “light” to imply knowledge or realization of great truth. “Appareled in celestial light” (4) refers to the insight from nature and the knowledge of the quality of life. The author explains that this ‘light’ is now gone. He gives a hint about what the poem is about by stating that he sees no meaning in life. He later described the decline in imagination and joy as a person grows up with deterioration of light. As such, light is a symbol for insight. The metaphor explores the negative side of the argument where life loses values because everyone dies in the end. Personification is another figurative language where the rainbow is given the power to come and go (19). This explores the unstable nature of things. The joy of existence is explored through the comparison of earth as gay (29). These instances of uncertainty give clear proof that the author is looking forward to understanding mortality.
Wordsworth is an individual intrigued with death and joy in life. He explores the two sides of the argument by showing that there are some things that make him happy. Nonetheless, he feels sad because a person moves away from heaven as he lives and ends up dying afterwards. He uses a pattern of development where he shows positive aspects of live followed by sad moments. He concludes that he should appreciate life and nature. The use of diction which applies connotative words allows the readers to understand the magnitude of his emotions. The informal language used as well as the figurative elements emphasise the severity of both sides. The last stanzas acted as a conclusion to the debate about whether to be happy or not with the life; he chooses joy.

Works Cited
BIBLIOGRAPHY l 1033 Wordsworth, Willaim. Ode: Intimations of Immortality. Recollections of Early Childhood. 1770 – 1850. Print.