Charlotte Smith’s “Beachy Head” as a Space of Contrasts

Abstract

This study concerns itself with the analysis of "Beachy Head" by Smith from the respect of prevalent contradicting forces such as Nature and culture or the historical time and the mythical past in the poem. The long narrative structure of the poem enables to present different voices reflecting the poet's ideological stance towards the contemporary issues in her time and exemplifies the excluding attitude of the ones representing the Neoclassical values. The study, in this regard, tries to clarify the functionality of the contrasts in the poem and their influence on the possible meanings of the text. The tension and the Sublime in the poem appear in the way that the speaker observes Nature and her surroundings in order to grasp the circulations in the natural world and her private sphere. Accordingly, the concepts of time and place lead to alternative spatial and temporal experiences for the poetic persona. Then, the text also turns into a space in which the persona confronts not only the bloody history of humanity but also the consoling past experiences she has lost by integrating into the cultural world. The study concludes that "Beachy Head" goes beyond its geographical and natural qualities by offering both a corporeal journey and visionary progress for the poetic persona through certain dichotomies constructed and deconstructed throughout the text.