"Anecdote for Fathers" (full title: "Anecdote for Fathers, Shewing how the practice of Lying may be taught" ) is a poem by William Wordsworth first published in his 1798 collection titled Lyrical Ballads, which was co-authored by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. A later version of the poem from 1845 contains a Latin epigraph from Praeparatio evangelica: "Retine vim istam, falsa enim dicam, si coges,"Ramsey 1976, p. 248. which translates as "Restrain that force, for I will tell lies if you compel me."Wolfson 1978, p. 551.
Synopsis The poem assumes the point of view of a father who recalls taking a walk with his five-year-old son, Edward, at Lyswin farm. During the walk the man contemplates his two favourite locations—the Liswyn farm and Kilve's shore—and his current emotions.Wordsworth 1798, stanzas 1 to 4. Later, the narrator asks Edward whether he prefers Liswyn or Kilve.Wordsworth 1798, stanza 7. Having received “Kilve” as an answer with no further explanation, he continuously presses the child for more details.Wordsworth 1798, stanza 12. The boy justifies his preference by the absence of a weathervane in Kilve.Wordsworth 1798, stanza 14.
Background Five-year-old Edward from “Anecdote for Fathers”, as stated by Wordsworth himself, was based on a boy named Basil—the son of Wordsworth's friend, Basil Montagu. Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy, looked after little Basil, who at the time of writing “Anecdote for Fathers” “had now been with the Wordsworths for three years”.Quoted in Blank 1995, p. 120. Despite Wordsworth's explicit identification of the boy as Basil Montagu's son, and many critics promoting that reading,Little 1977, p. 80.Manly 2007, p. 148. Simpson suggests that the inspiration for the figure of Edward may have come from Caroline, the poet's daughter with a French woman named Annette Vallon.Quoted in Thompson 2012, page.Everett, Glenn. "William Wordsworth: Biography", The Victorian Web, July 2000. Retrieved 16 December 2020. Thompson makes use of Simpson's analogy concerning the children's age and puts forward a theory that Edward was modelled on Maria, the child of John Thelwall—another one of Wordsworth's friends. Wordsworth possibly learned about Maria from Thelwall's poems and letters and got inspired by her connection with the rural region as described by Thelwall in his writings.Thompson 2012, page. Thelwall's relationship with Wordsworth is also thought to be the inspiration behind the nature of the conversation in the poem.Thompson 2012, page. Due to his radical views, John Thelwall was sentenced for treason and later acquitted."John Thelwall" Online Library of Liberty. Retrieved 16 December 2020. Wordsworth mentions Thelwall's trial in his commentary on the setting of the poem given to Isabella Fenwick.Wordsworth 2007, p. 44. The interrogations that occurred right after it may be reflected in the poem, as it introduces the atmosphere of control and repression.Thompson 2012, page. Little Edward becomes there "a defendant being grilled by an aggressive prosecutor".Bugg 2014, p. 158. The locations mentioned in "Anecdote for Fathers" cause disagreement among the scholars. Although many claim "that 'Kilve' (…) refers to Racedown and 'Liswyn farm' to Alfoxden"Quoted in Little 1977, p. 80. (both Racedown and Alfoxden being residences of the Worthsworths,Blank 1995, p. 98. which they occupied with little Basil MontaguWordsworth 2007, p. 44.), there is evidence for the name 'Lyswin farm' emerging from Llyswen, where John Thelwall retired.Little 1977 p. 80.
Structure Verse form "Anecdote for Fathers" consists of fifteen quatrains. The rhyme scheme is regular throughout the whole text (ABAB) and accompanied by "a ballad meter of three tetrameters and a trimeter",Berman 1982, p. 30. which varies a bit from the typical ballad stanza by incorporating some of the elements of Long Meter.O'Donnell 1989, pp. 38-39.
Language and narration The language in "Anecdote for Fathers" is not very figurative, although some simple metaphors appear ("then did the boy his tongue unlock", "his limbs were cast in beauty's mould").Austin 1989, pp. 51-52. The style of the poem has been characterized as repetitive, and as such conveying the ineffectiveness of the father's questions and the meaninglessness of the child's answers, which in turn renders their dialogue pointless and the communication between the two impossible.Mellown 1973, p. 165. Another way in which the problematic nature of the father and the son's communication is conveyed in the poem is through the use of a multitude of polar oppositions which are the foundation for the structure of the poem, such as adult and child, nature and culture, presence and absence, intuition and reason.Bernstein 1979, pp. 339-341. Some critics believe that "Anecdote for Fathers", although formally a dialogue, is in fact monologic in character,Richardson 2004, p. 69.Larkin 1989, p. 107. which makes the interaction between the father and his son resemble an "interrogation"Larkin 1989, p. 110. or "coercion".Bugg 2014, p. 160. The narration is predominantly generated by the questions uttered and repeated by the father.Larkin 1989, p. 107. However, despite the circumstances, little Edward is able to shield himself from the oppression by using "agential language", which is "the art of lying", as implied by the title of the poem.Bugg 2014, p. 160.
Main themes Parent vs child The primary opposition presented in the poem is one between an adult (parent) and a child, with the former being nervous and obstinate and the latter—calmer and more withdrawn.Wolfson 1978, p. 548.Buchen 1970, p. 133. The father seems to be central to his narration, focusing mainly on his own emotions and experiences,Glen 1983, p. 241. as well as asserting his dominance and authority over Edward.Bialostosky 1982, pp. 229-232. The juxtaposition of the two characters depicts the gap between adults and children as conceptualized in the Romantic period.Wolfson 1978, p. 552. The forced exchange between the father and the son may be read as moralistic, especially considering the subtitle and the epigraph of the poem. They outline the author's critique of parental oppression and pedagogical approach to upbringing.Richardson 1989, pp. 858-859.Natov 2006, pp. 23-24. The poem "question[s] the deep-rooted contemporary assumption that the correct adult stance toward the child should be one of guidance and 'instruction'".Glen 1983, p. 244. It also demonstrates two types of paternal abuse—verbal and physical—that this kind of coercive approach may involve.Richardson 1989, p. 657. The last stanza, in which the father states that he is able to learn from his son more than he could ever teach him, may suggest that the situation described in the poem makes him realize his mistake and draw a lesson from it. Thus, the subtitle and the epigraph express that moral understood by the father in the course of the poem.Wolfson 1978, p. 551.Bialostosky 1982, pp. 229-230. However, the concluding stanza of "Anecdote for Fathers" has also been read as incompatible with such a message of the whole poem. The sudden shift of the father's attitude and his enlightenment has been seen as unconvincing and potentially superficial.Bialostosky 1982, p. 230. Following this line of interpretation, the father may be read as not learning a lesson from his inefficient small talk; instead, he decides to stay comfortably in his predetermined set of reasonable truths and principles.Bialostosky 1982, pp. 229-234. In fact, him regarding Edward's answer as a lie—just as the readers are prompted to do by the subtitle and the epigraph—might be improper, as it is not a lie for the child itself; it is simply the effect of his parents' urgency in the quest for logic.Wolfson 1978, pp. 550-552.
Nature vs culture Another polar opposition in the poem is that of nature and culture. This is a very common trait in Wordsworth's poetry.Bernstein 1979, p. 339. Nature is assigned to Edward, who is a "noble savage[ ]" with a "mentalit[y] rooted in a transcendentalized nature".Richardson 2004, pp. 71-72. He is often described in words evoking natural imagery, such as a "fair and fresh" face, or "rustic dress".Bernstein 1979, p. 341. Him choosing Kilve is another manifestation of his connection to nature, since the place is situated on the coast and, unlike the "well-husbanded setting of Liswyn Farm" is characterized by "natural wildness and lack of civilisation".Peterfreund 1978, p. 389. It is also associated by the father with previous positive experiences. Even though for him they belong to the past and he prefers to be focused on here and now, Edward is not so distanced from those memories and is still able to unconsciously appreciate "Kilve's delightful shore".Bernstein 1979, p. 341. The father, on the other hand, is closer to the cultural extreme.Bernstein 1979, p. 341. This results from his age and experience of loss, demonstrated in the poem through his recollection of "former pleasures".Peterfreund 1978, p. 389. The symbolism of the "weather-cock" is said to further support the above opposition.Peterfreund 1978, p. 389. Bernstein calls the object on the roof a "totem" as it mediates between the artificial and the natural, being a product of civilisation that, nonetheless, imitates an animal and is moved by the wind.Bernstein 1979, p. 341.
Thought vs feeling The opposition between thought and feeling is combined with another one—past (absence) versus present (presence). This is manifested through the figure of the father who creates a "familiar schemata (…), comparing everything either explicitly or implicitly to other experiences, past or potential".Glen 1983, p. 241. The only actual sensation that can be ascribed to him is that of nostalgia, and this is what somehow connects him with his son.Ramsey 1976, p. 246. Contrary to the man's intellectual capacity, the son relies on intuitive thinking to answer his father's persistent questions. He is not concerned with the prosaic, material objects and able to exceed his parents' analytical thinking.Hiers 1969, p. 9. Although the parent forces Edward to apply logic and justification to his words, they are based on his inner feeling and characterized by spontaneity and lack of constraints.Ramsey 1976, p. 246. The father is also criticized for being detached from his childhood memories and instincts, which also prevents him from getting along with his son.Blank 1995, p. 121.
Connection with "We Are Seven" "We Are Seven" is one of Wordsworth's poems repeatedly mentioned alongside "Anecdote for Fathers".Bernstein 1979, pp. 339-343.Bialostosky 1982, pp. 227-243. The two poems are placed one after the other in all editions of Lyrical Ballads.Blank 1995, p. 120. They both introduce child figures who are believed to have been inspired by the children Wordsworth met in his life—Basil Montagu and a girl from the Goodrich Castle.Natov 2006, p. 22. The main similarity between the poems is their structure built upon various polar oppositions, with the nature-culture one in the centre.Bernstein 1979, pp. 339-340. Both texts express this opposition through the conflicted figures of an adult and a child, whose miscommunication and "alienation" are triggered by the adult speaker's seemingly simple question.Mellown 1973, p. 165. In each case, the readers feel more empathetic towards the children.Berman 1982, p. 30. The speakers are presented as the ones being oppressive and nagging, whereas the children attempt to defend themselves through acts most natural to them. The initial dialogue, then, transforms into an interrogative monologue.Richardson 1989, pp. 857-859.