
Sonnets, if written correctly, can change a person’s perspective on something such as religion or a feeling. William Wordsworth is the type of author who enjoyed writing simplistic lines that have multiple, deep meanings the more you analyze them. He pulls you into his writing with his creative writing style and unique usage of symbolism and repetition. The poem, “Nuns Fret not at Their Covent’s Narrow Room” is a great example of this. The three building blocks for his Sonnet are repetition of words that share similar meanings, the repetition of religious words, and the incorporation of negative and positive connotation. By repeating these three things, he builds the feelings of structure in his poem.

The first building block that Wordsworth uses is repetition of words that share similar meanings. He does not repeat his words very often but when he does, it is important that the words have similar meanings or promote similar feelings. Each line, one through five, describes the person as being happy and content with the job they are meant to have. He does this through the use of different words that share similar meanings. These words strengthen the symbolism he creates through his writing. The words strengthen the symbolism because, like structure, they support the idea that when you are where you are supposed to be, everything runs smoothly. Each of these lines gives you a sense of structure since all of the people mentioned have their specific jobs. The words “content, happy, blithe, and contented” are used in the poem to express the meaning that the symbolic meaning that structure can be very positive to a society.

He then moves on to the next building block, religious words. Religion can be seen as a refined and structured section of society. Wordsworth implements these religious aspects into his writings. The words such as nuns, citadels, foxglove bells, and Furness-fells, a religious area in England, are some of the words that he uses to incorporate religion. During his life, Wordsworth grew fond of Furness fells and grew to have a religious connection to it. That connection could have influenced his structured style writing. I believe he implemented the foxglove bells into his writing because it resembles hanging church bells at a chapel or citadel. He states, “murmur by the hour in foxglove bells” (7) to make another connection to religion, because church bells chime every hour to tell the time. By using the word “nuns” in his writing, Wordsworth has ultimately strengthened his work due to the fact that nuns are very rooted in tradition, and they are not very open to change. These nuns are essentially the human form of the religious building block of this poem since they usually only speak using words that would please God.

His final building block is the use of specific connotation, whether it be positive or negative, as seen in the darker shift in lines eight through thirteen. The words prison, doom, and scanty all have this negative connotation associated with them. He describes that the prison we all are going to put ourselves in one day as not being like any other prison. This can be interpreted as being doomed to a life without structure since most real prisons have rules and a solid structure to them. He then states that the writing is diverse in context even though he describes its plot as scanty. Using the positive word sundry and the negative word scanty to describe the sonnet itself strengthens the meaning behind the poem. These words promote the meaning that with diversity you can find structure in any amount of plot or in life in general, so you are encouraged to go and find it. The change back to negatively connotated words express the feeling of having “too much liberty” (13) one will sooner or later receive by not having structure. Wordsworth states that these people “should find brief solace there,” (14).  I believe that this is meant to describe a peaceful and structured place such as a citadel or the place that he has a personal religious attachment to, Furness Fells.

William Wordsworth is a very deep, thoughtful writer. He can take you on a trip of any idea he is writing about through the use of symbolism and repetition. He has a very structured style of writing in this sonnet. His use of negative and positive connotation can be clearly seen and understood. Even though Wordsworth did not think of God as being a humanly figure, but rather more of nature itself, he was very passionate about how he expressed his love for the place he grew fond of. Overall, he is very invested in his writing and the way he composes his writing. With all of this said, Wordsworth finally combined all the aforementioned building blocks to create the complete sonnet you see today.