Wordsworth, Baudelaire, and the Limits of Poetic Insight

Quentin Bailey

doi:10.1215/00104124-1590119

Bailey, Quentin

2012-03-20 00:00:00

This essay traces Wordsworth's and Baudelaire's attempts to see into the lives of the unknown beggars they encountered on the streets of London and Paris and identifies those occasions on which both writers sought to appropriate the lives of the poor and vagrant for political ends. The essay argues that it is ultimately in those fleeting moments when the ability of the poet to enter into the lives of others is thwarted that the limits of a Romantic poetics can be established. In particular, the essay focuses on those occasions, in the work of both writers, when the process of identification with beggars — so sincerely wished for on account of its socio-political or aesthetic consequences — is interrupted, and the poet is exposed to an almost disabling moment of uncertainty. For Wordsworth, the essay contends, such moments occurred primarily when he moved out of the rural byways of England and into the crowded streets of London; for Baudelaire, they occurred when the “ineffable orgy” of the crowd failed to generate insights into the face of the stranger. For both writers, this failure of the poetic imagination on the streets of the metropolis, evident, for instance, in Wordsworth's encounter with the blind beggar in The Prelude and Baudelaire's with the old man in Les Sept Vieillards , marked the limit of a poetic activity based on identity, recognition, and empathy. The essay suggests that, while these moments were occasional and transitory, they delineate an imaginative terrain whose contours are visible in writers as diverse as Thomas De Quincey and T.S. Eliot. CiteULike Connotea Delicious Digg Facebook Google+ Reddit Technorati Twitter What's this? « Previous | Next Article » Table of Contents This Article doi: 10.1215/00104124-1590119 Comparative Literature 2012 Volume 64, Number 2: 150-168 » Abstract Full Text (PDF) References Classifications Article Services Email this article to a colleague Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Download to citation manager Citing Articles Load citing article information Citing articles via Web of Science Google Scholar Articles by Bailey, Q. Related Content Load related web page information Social Bookmarking CiteULike Connotea Delicious Digg Facebook Google+ Reddit Technorati Twitter What's this? Current Issue Winter 2012, 64 (1) Alert me to new issues of Comparative Literature Duke University Press Journals ONLINE About the Journal Editorial Board Submission Guidelines Permissions Advertising Indexing / Abstracting Privacy Policy Subscriptions Library Resource Center Activation / Acct. Mgr. E-mail Alerts Help Feedback © 2012 by University of Oregon Print ISSN: 0010-4124 Online ISSN: 1945-8517 var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-5666725-1"); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}

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$This essay traces Wordsworth's and Baudelaire's attempts to see into the lives of the unknown beggars they encountered on the streets of London and Paris and identifies those occasions on which both writers sought to appropriate the lives of the poor and vagrant for political ends. The essay argues that it is ultimately in those fleeting moments when the ability of the poet to enter into the lives of others is thwarted that the limits of a Romantic poetics can be established. In particular, the essay focuses on those occasions, in the work of both writers, when the process of identification with beggars — so sincerely wished for on account of its socio-political or aesthetic consequences — is interrupted, and the poet is exposed to an almost disabling moment of uncertainty. For Wordsworth, the essay contends, such moments occurred primarily when he moved out of the rural byways of England and into the crowded streets of London; for Baudelaire, they occurred when the “ineffable orgy” of the crowd failed to generate insights into the face of the stranger. For both writers, this failure of the poetic imagination on the streets of the metropolis, evident, for instance, in Wordsworth's encounter with the blind beggar in The Prelude and Baudelaire's with the old man in Les Sept Vieillards , marked the limit of a poetic activity based on identity, recognition, and empathy. The essay suggests that, while these moments were occasional and transitory, they delineate an imaginative terrain whose contours are visible in writers as diverse as Thomas De Quincey and T.S. Eliot. CiteULike Connotea Delicious Digg Facebook Google+ Reddit Technorati Twitter What's this? « Previous | Next Article » Table of Contents This Article doi: 10.1215/00104124-1590119 Comparative Literature 2012 Volume 64, Number 2: 150-168 » Abstract Full Text (PDF) References Classifications Article Services Email this article to a colleague Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Download to citation manager Citing Articles Load citing article information Citing articles via Web of Science Google Scholar Articles by Bailey, Q. Related Content Load related web page information Social Bookmarking CiteULike Connotea Delicious Digg Facebook Google+ Reddit Technorati Twitter What's this? Current Issue Winter 2012, 64 (1) Alert me to new issues of Comparative Literature Duke University Press Journals ONLINE About the Journal Editorial Board Submission Guidelines Permissions Advertising Indexing / Abstracting Privacy Policy Subscriptions Library Resource Center Activation / Acct. Mgr. E-mail Alerts Help Feedback © 2012 by University of Oregon Print ISSN: 0010-4124 Online ISSN: 1945-8517 var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-5666725-1"); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}$

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Wordsworth, Baudelaire, and the Limits of Poetic Insight

Wordsworth, Baudelaire, and the Limits of Poetic Insight

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Wordsworth, Baudelaire, and the Limits of Poetic Insight

Wordsworth, Baudelaire, and the Limits of Poetic Insight

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