As a child you were probably told to choose your words wisely. The things you say and do reflect on who you are as a person. Through life, people further apprehend the values of using an expansive vocabulary to alter and define the meaning of a phrase or sentence. The importance of word choice translates into writing as well. In fact, word choice in writing is far more essential because there are limited ways to accurately express a tone of voice. Perhaps the most difficult writing, when it comes to word, choice is poetry. “Nuns Fret Not at Their Convent’s Narrow Room” by William Wordsworth is a sonnet where word choice is key to the reader’s analysis of the text. Wordsworth was a successful poet in the 18th and 19th centuries. He wrote more than 500 sonnets in his career dealing with political and philosophical issues with everything in between (Wordsworth 64). Wordsworth construes the word “prison” in line 8 of “Nuns Fret Not at Their Convent’s Narrow Room” to reflect personal choice, clarity towards daily life, and existentialism.

A prison is a place where people are trapped and are restricted to a routine. In Wordsworth’s sonnet, a prison is what we choose for ourselves. Consider “students with their pensive citadels”(3), or “Maids at the wheel, the weaver at his loom”(4). They chose their respective jobs and in turn there is an opportunity cost. The student, maid, and weaver are free to do as much as their job allows. Wordsworth expresses the message of job restriction in the line, “‘twas pastime to be bound Within the Sonnet’s scanty plot of ground”(10-11). By restraining oneself, a lot of unanswered questions and curiosities are cut out of life. While curiosity and discovery is essential for growth, it is one’s personal choice to chain themselves to their duty in order to carve a path in life.

Having a path in life allows people to focus on tasks with a clear mind. On the surface, clarity is not associated with the word prison. Prison has so many negative connotations tied together like a knot, and it is difficult to follow the line of prison’s intended purpose in the text. Prison is supposed to help people find clarity. Now in the innocent sense of the word prison, such as being trapped in a routine, clarity is still obtained. One’s daily routine takes care of the basic necessities such as sleeping, eating, and other instinctual commodities. It has to be a sustainable routine. Sustainable in this sense refers to a balance of happiness, well-being, and work. With those basic commodities taken care of through a consistent routine, one can reflect and enjoy what he or she does. “Sit blithe and happy; bees that soar for bloom”(5). Bees are in the prison of their hive. Each bee has a responsibility that they cannot break. However, as Wordsworth may be inferring, these bees enjoy pollinating the flowers every season. It is fair to say that he recommends you sit blithe and happy to enjoy whatever prison you are bound to. The prison creates a barrier that kicks out possible confusion and a lack of stability, making life clearer than before. 

In fourteen lines, all containing ten syllables, William Wordsworth forges a path towards existentialism. Existentialism is the idea of finding your inner self and obtaining full mental autonomy of your life. The sonnet starts with several examples of holds on life. Next, there is clarity in the definition of prison. And finally, through each individual’s prison, a meaning in life is found. Wordsworth masterfully ordered the sonnet to lead to existentialism. With clarity and time to appreciate the routine you chose, you would find a purpose and truly know why you chose the life you live. This cannot be achieved if the lesser, yet more imminent, demands in life were not already taken care of. Wordsworth ponders this idea in the last two lines of the sonnet saying, “Who have felt the weight of too much liberty, Should find brief solace there, as I have found”(13-14). Sometimes, too much freedom is dangerous because one could find his or herself in stagnation. A life of stagnation is dull because there is no time and effort put forth in sculpting your legacy. William Wordsworth’s prison is his career as a poet. It was his personal choice to allow poetry to bring him towards clarity and help him find existentialism. For most, a path is necessary for success, and a prison, in Wordsworth’s metaphorical sense, is necessary for true existentialism. 

William Wordsworth chose to use the word “prison” in “Nuns Fret Not at Their Convent’s Narrow Room” for the reader to ponder his choice. The word presses a negative primary reading. However, challenging us to think about why “prison” relates to the poem makes our analysis much stronger. It was placed in the middle on lines eight and nine to catch the reader’s eye. Also, prison is the only negative word in the poem, which can cause the reader to relate each line to the single outlier. Think about your own job through the word prison. To an extent one will find clarity and existentialism through the path he or she has chosen. Strategically placed so that the reader believes he or she knows how the poem will turn out, “prison” trips the reader into a negative mindset, only to realize that Wordsworth had intentions of clarity and existentialism in his masterful prose. 
