A Complaint

• "consecrated fount"


  *continues the conceit (extended metaphor) of the fountain

  *religious imagery could reinforce how sacred he viewed his friendship: it was a blessing from God
• "A fountain at my fond hearts door"


  *Love compared to fountain : love is beautiful and dynamic

  *status of wealth and high class (bourgeoisie)

  *fountains provide water which is essential for survival : friendship is paramount in life
• "I am poor;"


  *double entendre : emotionally and physically poor

  *opens the poem with a sombre tone which could foreshadow the pessimism throughout
• CONTEXT

  *Friend relationship deteriorated because of drugs

  *Ironic : defies conventional poetry

  *Lack of family

  *Suicide : bleak mood

  *Pathetic fallacy

  *Romantic Era
• THEMES

  fountain

  loss

  joy

  water imagery

  religion
• "What have I ? Shall I dare to tell?"


  *repetition of rhetorical questions implies that the reader is questioning if the separation was the right idea
• "hath made me poor"


  *cyclical narrative

  *Wordsworth is trapped in an inescapable cycle of misery