Home > Wordsworth “Its Enclosure”
I particularly like what Wordsworth is saying about the freedom of having constraints-you know exactly what is expected and needed.
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, unto 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.


July 9th, 2010 at 7:48 am
Constraints can provide a sense of liberty. Especially if they align with our “design.” Look at jazz where we see tremendous improvisation around an agreed upon constaint of basic rhythm, key and chord structure. Ornette Coleman tried to shed such constraint but few found it musical. Some have argued that the 10 commandments offer a similar liberation through constraint. I guess the maybe the key is (to the extent possible) to choose your constraints wisely!