Anecdote for Fathers" taken from Wordsworth's hugely influential "Lyrical Ballads" is a touching rendition of the relationship between father and son. It is a beautiful, simple and uplifting poem representative of the style used throughout Wordsworth's famous collection of poems first published in 1798.
The poem features at its heart a conversation from father to son during a walk one day in the glorious Lake District. It immediately opens in a touching and sentimental manner:
I have a boy of five years old,
His face is fair and fresh to see;
His limbs are cast in beauties mould,
And dearly he loves me.
The simpleness in these lines is immediately apparent. The form and structure of the piece, the light and jovial use of rhyme easily conveys the emotion of gentle and honest love.
In the next few lines of the poem he mentions the "dry walk" and the fact that his house is coming into view, which not only sets the scene but is of significance later in the poem. The subtitle for the poem "showing how the art of lying may be taught" starts to become significant in the next verse which is to become one of the main talking points in the poem.
The narrator starts to look back over the house which the family used to live in a year ago, or as he says "A long, long year before" and he thinks about the happiness that they had there. He dwells upon their current home and asks his boy Edward which home he prefers, "My little boy, which like you more?" He looks back at his father and confesses that he would rather be at Kilve, their old home, than at their present Liswyn farm. The reaction to this which the father gives could be taken for one of mild surprise and even gentle hurt as expressed in the next part:
"Now, little Edward, say why so;
My little Edward, tell me why;"
"I cannot tell, I do not know."
"Why this is strange," said I.
The father (who is never named) presses the question as to why Edward prefers their old home, but Edward doesn't wish to reply and does nothing but to look at the ground. The father presses the question again "five times did I say to him,/"Why? Edward, tell me why?" However his young son still does not reply.
Then in the next lines we reach an understanding of this heart warming poem and its softness shines through. Edward by chance catches sight of the weather vane upon their home and replies:
"At Lilve there was no weather-cock,
"And that's the reason why."
It is upon these lines that we realise the boy didn't want to hurt his father's feelings by expressing the real reason he prefers his old home, instead he lies in order to protect his father's feelings. Though it is to last stanza which the real wisdom is to be found in the poem aside of intimate moments between the boy and his father.
Oh dearest, dearest boy! My heart
For better lore would seldom yearn,
Could I but teach the hundredth part
Of what from thee I learn.
Here we have the father realising too that his boy has lied in order to protect his feelingsand the father is as touched as we are. He then muses on the wisdom to be found in the innocence and natural wonder of youth. His boy is but five years of age though is able to teach him a great deal about humanity.
This poem is a true representation of the type of poems to be found in the "Lyrical Ballads" both in subject theme and in the simplistic nature of its construction. It is not by a long way the best or most recognised piece in the collection, but is nevertheless a strong early poem which expresses much that Wordsworth was concerned with.
In the wider scheme of things it shows how the Romantic writers were keen on expressing the power of innocence, partly as a reaction against what they saw as the repressive nature of the Industrial Revolution, as well as the power of individuality over conformity. Adults' learning from the innocence of the child is something which is found throughout the Romantic poets, but especially in Wordsworth and Blake. The child can also be taken as a symbolic representation of hope, hope in what must have been seen as a troubling time for lovers of the natural world and the old ways of living.
Above all "Anecdote for Father's" despite its simplistic tone, or indeed because of its simple, child-like construction, is able to convey to the reader a heartfelt moment in the relationship between parent and child. Wordsworth therefore helps to remind us of those little precious moments in our lives by allowing us a brief glimpse into his world, which he captures so effortlessly in this delicate but enduring poem.