Critical – Dorothy’s journal is REAL. It is direct, straightforward and paints a feelingful picture! William’s poem is FORCED AND FAKE. It might be vibrant and energetic, but it is too pushy! Whose side of the argument are you on? Make a case.

Upon having studied numerous poems written by Coleridge, Wordsworth and other Romantic poets within the realm of 19th Century literature, it is refreshing to note that there was still informal writing styles within this era.

Wordsworth lyrically dances and fantasises his encounter with the daffodils in a spacey, vacant narration. Whereas, Dorothy paints a picture rather than a feeling which enables her to encapsulate both the event of seeing the daffodils and its consequent affect on the others around her.

I admire Dorothy’s ability to capture the essence of the entire  landscape and the feelings attached to it, rather than just an individual male’s view on a lonesome walk. Dorothy’s recount of spending time with her friends and happening upon these flowers, to me, is representative of the Age of Discovery which further allows Dorothy to be intimate with her audience, reflecting life’s smallest moments. This is seen through the truncated sentence, “I never saw daffodils so beautiful.” These 6 words accurately describe the entire feeling of joy these flowers have brought in an innocent and loving way. In contrast to the 4 stanzas that Wordsworth would have re-written and slaved over to achieve the same feeling.  Dorothy’s use of simple yet gravitational language to describe such a moment in time, makes me wonder whether Dorothy knew that her writing was of equal value within the male dominated industry, as it is informally presented as a diary entry. Dorothy’s diary entry style of writing makes it more personal as the audience is looking into the life and thoughts of this young lady, experiencing the same experiences as her. This is opposite to Wordsworth who only  published his perfected works and thus looses the intimate connection that Dorothy achieves.

I believe that Dorothy’s piece of writing is more authentic than Wordsworth as they recount the same scenario, however I did enjoy reading and dissecting them equally.