“Of Unremembered Pleasure” In comparison of a romantic work, Lines by William Wordsworth, and a modernist work, The Mark on the Wall by Virginia Woolf, many period-central themes can be distinguished though analysis. Of the many values that distinguish these periods, I will discuss; imagination versus reality, the role of nature, the mind upon reflection, and the concept of a “fall into experience.” Lines and The Mark on the Wall reveal that reflection upon a memory can be used as a means of relaxation, but also realization of a reality that creates distance from the imagination through the “fall into experience” concept. The first comparison that can be made lies in the method of writing. Both of the works are monologues. They describe the writer’s surroundings, both imaginary and real. And with the
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Wordsworth’s poem has hints of such imaginative thinking as well, specifically as he looks upon the woods and wonders, “With some uncertain notice, as might seem / Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods, / Or of some Hermit 's cave, where by his fire / The Hermit sits alone” (19-23). This imaginative thinking reflects a conscious thought beyond his surroundings – a characteristic that Woolf’s work is known for. “…my eye lodged for a moment upon the burning coals [of a cigarette], and that old fancy of the crimson flag flapping from the castle tower came into my mind, and I thought of the cavalcade of red knights riding up the side of the black rock” (Woolf 2145). To compare the reality of a burning cigarette and envision the knights riding up the side of a black rock requires not only imagination, but also a memory to draw upon in constructing the imagery she describes. This idea of memory is critical to each piece as they were both written long after the event takes
Wordsworth’s poem has hints of such imaginative thinking as well, specifically as he looks upon the woods and wonders, “With some uncertain notice, as might seem / Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods, / Or of some Hermit 's cave, where by his fire / The Hermit sits alone” (19-23). This imaginative thinking reflects a conscious thought beyond his surroundings – a characteristic that Woolf’s work is known for. “…my eye lodged for a moment upon the burning coals [of a cigarette], and that old fancy of the crimson flag flapping from the castle tower came into my mind, and I thought of the cavalcade of red knights riding up the side of the black rock” (Woolf 2145). To compare the reality of a burning cigarette and envision the knights riding up the side of a black rock requires not only imagination, but also a memory to draw upon in constructing the imagery she describes. This idea of memory is critical to each piece as they were both written long after the event takes