Dorothy Wordsworth

"I thought of Nature's loveliest scenes;
And with Memory I was there."
-Wordsworth pg 294 (from Thoughts on My Sick-bed)

I find Dorothy's works to be slightly dark and rightfully so. She seems to keep a happy side to her writings, but her pain is still evident. She wrote at her brother's request and I wonder if she wrote less due to feeling inadequate in comparison. I find their words to be very similar at times. I do not think this is soley due to their experiencing similar things, but also due to them being very similar. I think that the two were probably very much alike in actions as well as words. Address to a Child is my favorite in the Lit book. This poem is very much like a nursery rhyme, but deeper and with better language. I am tempted to say that it is darker, but then I remember that a lot of nursery rhymes are very dark. The poem is very comforting and I think she loses that innocent quality in her later poems. In Thoughts on My Sick-bed, her feelings for William are echoed throughout. She pains from her illness, but longs for their early years with nature. I think she is very thankful that he is always there, like her rock. She doesn't seem to like being alone at all. In the first entry in The Grasmere Journals, she seems happy for William and John, but very scared to be alone. She also seems to fear the boredom. This causes the opening to be dark, cheerful, and sad all at once. Throughout the journal and her poems, it is clear that Dorothy is a sweet person much like her brother. Her writings in the journal are echoed in his poems. I know that in their time it was customary for a brother to care for his unwed sister, but I wonder if they remained so close due to the loss of their mother. I almost sense anxiety in Dorothy's words which may have also been caused by being separated from her brothers at such an early age. I know that if I had been separated from my brother and mother like that, I would never leave them again. I think their relationship is remarkable and I love that it shows in their writing. I enjoyed William's work more than Dorothy's, but I like that the comparison is availiable.