1
IT IS A BEAUTEOUS EVENING, CALM AND FREE
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
‘It is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free’, expresses Wordsworth's reverence for natural
beauty while also hinting at his belief that children have a special relationship and faith in
God.
This belief has ancient roots in Christianity and other traditions. The Bible, for example,
says that ‘strength’ and "praise" come ‘from the mouths of babes’. Wordsworth wrote ‘It is a
Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free’ not long after the end of the French Revolution, which
he witnessed while living in France from 1791-1793.
During those years, he met and fell in love with Annette Vallon, and in 1792, she gave birth
to their daughter Caroline. Soon afterward, wartime upheaval and money problems forced
Wordsworth to return to England. In 1802, during a break in political tensions between
England and France, he journeyed to Calais, France to visit Caroline (whom he had never
met) and inform Annette of his plans to marry another woman. ‘It is a Beauteous Evening,
Calm and Free’, the speaker (a stand-in for the poet) describes walking on the shore with a
‘dear Girl’ at sunset.
@Juffrou_Ansie
, 2
The poem implies that the child is his but leaves some ambiguity on this point. In 18th and
19th-century England, having a child out of wedlock was considered scandalous, so
Wordsworth concealed this element of his personal history from the public. Wordsworth
died in 1850.
Type and form
The rhyme scheme in the octave is not a traditional Petrarchan sonnet rhyme scheme of
abbaabba, however, it is still classified as a Petrarchan sonnet.
The lines are divided into an eight-line subsection (called an octave) followed by a six-line
subsection (called a sestet). The octave follows a rhyme scheme of ABBA ACCA. The rhyme
scheme in the sestet is DEFDFE.
An Italian sonnet has 14 lines and a set rhyme scheme…
The speaker addresses his daughter in the sestet.
He tells her that if she does not seem captivated by this beautiful setting, it is not because
she is less spiritual by nature: it is because, unlike adults, she feels divine comfort and
God’s presence all the time.
Themes
@Juffrou_Ansie
IT IS A BEAUTEOUS EVENING, CALM AND FREE
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
‘It is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free’, expresses Wordsworth's reverence for natural
beauty while also hinting at his belief that children have a special relationship and faith in
God.
This belief has ancient roots in Christianity and other traditions. The Bible, for example,
says that ‘strength’ and "praise" come ‘from the mouths of babes’. Wordsworth wrote ‘It is a
Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free’ not long after the end of the French Revolution, which
he witnessed while living in France from 1791-1793.
During those years, he met and fell in love with Annette Vallon, and in 1792, she gave birth
to their daughter Caroline. Soon afterward, wartime upheaval and money problems forced
Wordsworth to return to England. In 1802, during a break in political tensions between
England and France, he journeyed to Calais, France to visit Caroline (whom he had never
met) and inform Annette of his plans to marry another woman. ‘It is a Beauteous Evening,
Calm and Free’, the speaker (a stand-in for the poet) describes walking on the shore with a
‘dear Girl’ at sunset.
@Juffrou_Ansie
, 2
The poem implies that the child is his but leaves some ambiguity on this point. In 18th and
19th-century England, having a child out of wedlock was considered scandalous, so
Wordsworth concealed this element of his personal history from the public. Wordsworth
died in 1850.
Type and form
The rhyme scheme in the octave is not a traditional Petrarchan sonnet rhyme scheme of
abbaabba, however, it is still classified as a Petrarchan sonnet.
The lines are divided into an eight-line subsection (called an octave) followed by a six-line
subsection (called a sestet). The octave follows a rhyme scheme of ABBA ACCA. The rhyme
scheme in the sestet is DEFDFE.
An Italian sonnet has 14 lines and a set rhyme scheme…
The speaker addresses his daughter in the sestet.
He tells her that if she does not seem captivated by this beautiful setting, it is not because
she is less spiritual by nature: it is because, unlike adults, she feels divine comfort and
God’s presence all the time.
Themes
@Juffrou_Ansie
