Moral Courage Found In London 1802 And Douglass

In the two poems, “London, 1802” and “Douglass,” examples of moral courage can be found. The first poem, written to the deceased John Milton, tells of the man himself having moral courage by exhibiting cheerful, godly behavior during trying times. He also humbled himself by doing lowly deeds. It would also be a sign of moral courage to call out the people of England for being selfish in their endeavors of relinquishing their ancient history of happiness through power and pride for their country. The poet also calls out to John Milton by saying, “Give us manners, virtue, freedom, power…” (Wordsworth, line 8). This tells of a lack of morality, which, in turn, also signifies a lack of moral courage by the people of England. Wordsworth is …show more content…
In the second line of the poem “London, 1802,” the author used figurative language in saying “She is a fen..” (Wordsworth, line 2). This is a metaphor in which he directly states calls England a fen, or a marsh. In the next line, he finishes this thought by saying “... of stagnant waters...” William Wordsworth, here, is saying that England is somewhat stuck in her ways. Again, in the ninth line of the poem, the author uses an example of figurative language when he says, “... thy soul like a star, dwelt apart.”(Wordsworth, line 9). He is speaking of John Milton and is saying Milton’s soul dwells away from the rest; his soul is set apart. This could refer to the fact that he has died, or that he was far wiser than any other. Another example of figurative language that is evident in the poem is found when the author says, “Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea…”(Wordsworth, line 10). The author uses this phrase to convey a message of power. This quotation from the poem tells that Milton had a strong voice that people would listen to. A conclusive example of figurative language that is found in the first poem is “Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free…” (Wordsworth, line 11). This is referencing the voice of John Milton and could be interpreted as meaning that he spoke with a certain eloquence that begged it’s audience to keep listening. This example in the poem could also mean that the people who heard John Milton speak took heed to his words because they were pure, heavenly, or God-centered. In the poem “Douglass,” figurative language is used when saying “... the awful tide that battled to and fro; we ride amid a tempest of dispraise…”(Dunbar, line 7-8). The former half of the statement speaks of a battle of sorts, some back and forth action that goes from one alternative to the other. The latter half of the quotation is about being subjected to a storm of criticism.