Prison. It usually has a negative connotation to it, but author William Wordsworth took a different approach to the word in his poem “Nuns Fret Not at Their Convent’s Narrow Room.” In the poem, Wordsworth talks about different people and their own unique prisons, such as students at their school or nuns in their convents, as is the title of the poem. Wordsworth argues that we create our own prisons, and instead of resenting our cells we come to find solace and peace there. It becomes our daily lifestyles that we are comfortable with, rather than a dark, depressing prison that we are constantly trying to get out of. The message Wordsworth is trying to get across is to find meaning and purpose within these prisons that we create for ourselves.

To begin, Wordsworth starts off the poem with, “Nuns fret not at their convent’s narrow room” (Wordsworth 65). The reason he began the poem talking about the nuns is because a convent seems like such a bland, boring lifestyle. The nuns do the same things each day, with nothing out of the ordinary ever happening. Most people would want nothing more than to leave, but instead the nuns choose to stay. This is because they chose that life. It has become their lifestyle and gives them purpose. While it may be a difficult lifestyle to live, they chose it because that is how they find fulfillment in life.

The next example Wordsworth used was a hermit. Hermits have nothing but their own small homes, but they “are contented with their cells” (Wordsworth 65) despite having nothing. Hermits live by themselves and have virtually nothing, but just as the nuns chose their life, the hermits chose theirs as well. They find peace being by themselves and doing the same thing each day. Wordsworth listed the hermits second because while they are similar to the nuns, they have a very different lifestyle. Hermits are completely isolated, but they still find comfort in being by themselves. Once again, this group of people has created their own prison, but has found peace, meaning, and joy in it. 

The third example of people that Wordsworth lists are students in schools. Just like the nuns have their convents and the hermits have their cells, the “students [have] their pensive citadels” (Wordsworth 65). Students can feel overwhelmed and trapped by school at times, but that school becomes their home. At the time this poem was written, schools were much different from those of today. They were stricter and required a whole lot more out of their students, to the point where they could be compared to the hermits and the nuns on their limitations. However, just like the hermits and the nuns, they, too, found meaning in their work and studies. It brought them inner peace, which is the exact message Wordsworth is trying to portray in this poem.

At another point in the poem, Wordsworth mentions “bees that soar for bloom” (Wordsworth 65). He makes an analogy between the bees that in nature perform the necessary task of pollinating the foxglove flowers to the nuns who serve, the students who learn, the maids at the wheel, and the weaver at his loom. Every living creature has a purpose in life, and like the bee, each is fulfilling their life’s purpose. 

In referencing the bees, Wordsworth talks about them soaring to “the highest Peak of Furness-fells,” (Wordsworth 65) which is a reference to Furness Abbey. Furness Abbey was a place in England that visited and wrote other poems about. In these poems, he talks about having your life’s purpose and carrying it out dutifully. An abbey is a place of religious worship, a place where many people go to find peace. Wordsworth spent a lot of time in abbeys, and he wrote another poem called “At Furness Abbey” (Poetry Cat), in which he talks about how “all seem to feel the spirit of the place,” and how people go there to find inner peace and purpose in life. This connects a central theme with “Nuns Fret Not at Their Convent’s Narrow Room.” The reason this theme can be seen in a number of Wordsworth’s poems is because of what was expected of him as a writer at the time. Sonnets were expected of poets during this time, despite being very difficult to write. Even though it was difficult, he found joy in it. He is a living example of what his poems were trying to get across. In his prison, he found joy and meaning in his work.

At the end of the poem, Wordsworth talks about feeling “the weight of too much liberty” (Wordsworth 65). When he says this, he seems to be asking the reader if having more liberties is what they really want. As children grow up, all they can think of is having more of their own liberties and becoming more independent. When Wordsworth talks on having too much liberty, he is referring to when it becomes a bad thing. If one has too much liberty, then they have no purpose in life. They can’t take joy in the things they do because nothing is expected of them. This is just another way Wordsworth shows having your own prison to find joy and meaning in should be how to live your life.

In conclusion, Wordsworth clearly makes his point that people should find their specific role in life. This purpose will at times seem like a prison, when actually they find fulfillment and happiness in these tasks. They go through their daily lives carrying out their jobs, and it gives each person the sense of purpose that they all crave. Whether you are a nun, hermit, student, maid, or poet, your life’s work equates to who you are as a human being.
