Wordsworth Again

Recently, I was leafing through Hologram: an Homage to P.K. Page¹, when to my delight, the passionate words of Kate Braid leapt up from the opening lines of “Tree Song”. They reminded me of Wordsworth’s first reference in Lyrical Ballads to poetry as a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”. I loved the energy of Braid’s quest, particularly apt at my own time of life:

               May I be forgiven, may I forgive
               myself this endless search for someone, some
               thing to explain, give the reason we’re here
               and what lies after and if there’s a plan
               (or even better) Planner…..

I had never felt happy with Wordsworth’s subsequently toned-down elaboration of poetry as “emotion recollected in tranquility”. How could the two energies coexist, one seeming to cancel the other? As I read further, Braid began to reflect

               …..Plants and insects don’t bother counting days
               and naked trees extend their complicated praise.....
then
               .....Perhaps this is my fascination with birds
               who fly above, rest lightly on each moment,
               small prayers to the beginning and end of day.
               And after all, how can it matter that I get the story right
               Or wrong?......

As she moved into her final lines, I realized. Braid was achieving Wordsworthian passion and tranquility both in a single poem.

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1. Kate Braid, “Tree Song”, Hologram: an Homage to P.K. Page (Qualicum Beach, B.C.: Caitlin Press, 2023), pp. 57-58.