Sincerity vs. Insincerity

While reading through the fifth chapter in HTRAP, I began thinking about the connection between sincerity and experience in a poets’ life. The poet does not necessarily have to feel something or see something to write a sincere poem about it. As Eagleton states, “sincerity and insincerity in poetry are qualities of language, not moral virtues.” This got me thinking about the authenticity of the poem and how at first, I was taken aback by how easily a poet can trick his reader into making them believe his sincerity in experience. However, the beauty of poetry is just that. The beauty is that a poet can use the language, tone, mood and pitch to create sincere meanings whether or not he actually experienced what he is writing about. This reminded me of a poem that I read in High School that is very applicable to what Eagleton discusses in chapter 5 of HTRAP. The poem is I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud by William Wordsworth. I copied the poem below so that if you wanted to read it and respond to it you could. Enjoy.

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed--and gazed--but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.