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CQ8 – Laura Ribeiro

“Nuns Fret Not at Their Convent’s Narrow Room”, by William Wordsworth, is a


Petrarchan sonnet that follows the ABBAABBACDDCCD rhyming scheme. It was written in 14
lines, presenting, in its seven first lines, a series of contrasting situations that will serve as the
main argument for the theme of this poem: “Nuns fret not at their convent’s narrow room; /
And hermits are contented with their cells; / And students with their pensive citadels;”. The
speaker, through the structure of a sonnet, seems to value the bounds and restrains in which
we put ourselves in, comparing the contentment of hermits in their cells, for example, with the
solace found inside a well-defined structure such as the one of the sonnets.

Although the speaker reinforces the value of the rules and bounds, this sonnet’s turn
comes at the beginning of its eight line, followed, then, by an enjambement from the eight to
ninth line, breaking the formation of an octet and sestet, as it would be expected from a
traditional Petrarchan sonnet. The lines: “In truth the prison, into which we doom / Ourselves,
no prison is: and hence for me,” mark the change on the poem’s tone, shifting from the situation
being presented to the argument of the speaker. He, the speaker, who may embody the poet’s
voice, uses the last lines to focus on how having boundaries (to work with) helped him deal with
the weight of excessive liberty, thus reinforcing how both the importance of clearly defined
structures and self-imposed restrictions may be, contrary to common-belief, freeing.

My question for this poem would be in regards to the speaker’s willingness in breaking
the rules of a traditional sonnet whilst valuing its boundaries as a way to help creation.
Considering the use of the word “brief” in the last line, and how this sonnet seems to have its
own form, would it be possible to say that, for the speaker, the solace offered by these rules
works only as a temporary suspension of the difficulties found in creating without directions?
Or would this transgression of the sonnet’s form in this poem work as a statement that, while
boundaries do offer some safety, it’s not enough for one, such as the speaker, who wants to
create?

Nuns Fret Not at Their Convent’s Narrow Room


Nuns fret not at their convent’s narrow room;
And hermits are contented with their cells;
And students with their pensive citadels;
Maids at the wheel, the weaver at his loom,
Sit blithe and happy; bees that soar for bloom,
High as the highest Peak of Furness-fells,
Will murmur by the hour in foxglove bells:
In truth the prison, into which we doom
Ourselves, no prison is: and hence for me,
In sundry moods, ’twas pastime to be bound
Within the Sonnet’s scanty plot of ground;
Pleased if some Souls (for such there needs must be)
Who have felt the weight of too much liberty,
Should find brief solace there, as I have found.

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