A Complaint (Edexcel GCSE English Literature)
Revision Note
A Complaint
Each GCSE poetry anthology contains 15 poems, and in your exam question you will be given one poem – printed in full – and asked to compare this printed poem to another. The exam is closed-book which means you will not have access to the second poem. This does not mean you need to remember every line from memory, but you do need to understand and remember aspects of the poem. Understanding four things will enable you to produce a top-grade response:
The meaning of the poem
The ideas and messages of the poet
How the poet conveys these ideas through their methods
How these ideas compare and contrast with the ideas of other poets in the anthology
Below is a guide to William Wordsworth’s poem 'A Complaint' from the Relationships anthology. It includes:
Overview: a breakdown of the poem, including its possible meanings and interpretations
Writer’s methods: an exploration of the poet’s techniques and methods
Context: an exploration of the context of the poem, relevant to its themes
What to compare it to: ideas about which poems to compare it to in the exam
Examiner Tips and Tricks
As part of the Relationships anthology, 'A Complaint' examines themes related to intimate love and loss. The exam question asks you to compare the way such ideas are presented in two anthology poems.
It is therefore as important that you learn how 'A Complaint' compares and contrasts with other poems in the anthology rather than understanding the poem in isolation. See the section below on ‘What to compare it to’ for detailed comparisons of A Complaint and other poems in the anthology.
Overview
In order to answer an essay question on any poem it is vital that you understand what it is about. This section includes:
The poem in a nutshell
A ‘translation’ of the poem, section-by-section
A commentary of each of these sections, outlining William Wordsworth’s intention and message
'A Complaint' in a nutshell
A Complaint is a poem written by the Romantic poet William Wordsworth in 1807. The poem has been interpreted as a reflection on lost friendship but it can be seen as an exploration of lost love generally.
'A Complaint' overview
Lines 1–2
“There is a change—and I am poor;
Your love hath been, nor long ago,”
Translation
The poem begins describing a change in an individual’s circumstances:
The connotations of “poor” suggest a less rich and happy life without love rather than a change in economic circumstances
The speaker says “Your love hath been”, meaning the speaker’s love has gone away:
They add that it was not “long ago”
Poet's intention
Wordsworth’s poem immediately implies a lost love causes a damaging change in the speaker’s life
Lines 3–6
“A fountain at my fond heart's door,
Whose only business was to flow;
And flow it did; not taking heed
Of its own bounty, or my need.”
Translation
These lines describe the relationship as plentiful and generous
The speaker compares the relationship to a “fountain” at their “heart’s door”, suggesting an outpouring of love
The love does not take “heed” (pay attention) to limits or selfish needs
Poet's intention
Wordsworth describes the relationship as endlessly loving with rich imagery
Repetition of the word “flow” emphasises the love’s many benefits
Lines 7–8
“What happy moments did I count!
Blest was I then all bliss above!”
Translation
The speaker remembers their past when the pair were together and exclaims how happy they were
The speaker says they were blessed with happiness (“bliss”) from above (perhaps heaven)
Poet's intention
Wordsworth uses hyperbolic language and exclamations to present the strong emotions as the speaker reflects on their relationship
This emphasises not only the joy the love brought but also the pain they are in now
Lines 9–12
“Now, for that consecrated fount
Of murmuring, sparkling, living love,
What have I? shall I dare to tell?
A comfortless and hidden well.”
Translation
The poem returns from a memory to the present, marked by the word “Now”
The speaker contrasts their life with metaphorical imagery:
The once holy or “consecrated” fountain of their love that was “sparkling” with life is now a “comfortless” well
The speaker alludes to being isolated with the adjective “hidden”
Poet's intention
Wordsworth draws attention to the stark loss in an individual’s life when they lose a loved one
This is emphasised with a juxtaposition between a “sparkling”, flowing fountain and a dark, uncomfortable well to convey feelings of hopelessness
Lines 13–16
“A well of love—it may be deep—
I trust it is,—and never dry:
What matter? if the waters sleep
In silence and obscurity.”
Translation
The speaker returns to describing the well to convey their intense emotions:
They believe the well they feel they are in may be “deep” and full of water but nothing matters if the water is silent and hidden (in “obscurity”)
Poet's intention
Wordsworth highlights the speaker’s sense of isolation and grief by developing the metaphorical image of a well
The speaker’s recollections break and their tone implies frustration and resignation
Lines 17–18
“—Such change, and at the very door
Of my fond heart, hath made me poor.”
Translation
The poem’s conclusion begins with a pause that may suggest a breakdown in the speaker’s emotions
They return to the same ideas mentioned in the poem’s first lines:
The speaker says that as the change affects his heart this has made him poor
Poet's intention
Wordsworth’s poem has a cyclical structure that reflects an unresolved ending for the speaker
Their bleak future is implied in the speaker’s distressing conclusions
Examiner Tips and Tricks
The exam question will ask you to compare how the given poem presents a key theme with another one from the anthology. It is always worth starting your answer using the wording of the question, summarising the key theme in the poem. This demonstrates to the examiner that you have understood what the question is asking of you, but also that you have a good understanding of the poems themselves. For example, "'A Complaint' explores the key themes of love and loss. This theme can be linked to…” . See the section ‘What to compare it to’ for further suggestions.
Writer’s methods
Although this section is organised into three separate sections – form, structure and language – it is important to take an integrated approach, focusing on the main themes and ideas of the poem and then evaluating how Wordsworth’s choices of language, structure and form contribute to these ideas. In essence, how and why the poet has made the choices they have, in relation to their intentions and message.
Focusing on the poet’s main ideas, rather than individual poetic techniques, will gain you far more marks. In the below sections, all analysis is arranged by theme, and includes Wordsworth’s intentions behind his choices in terms of:
Form
Structure
Language
Examiner Tips and Tricks
To gain the highest marks in this question, your use of subject terminology should be judicious. This means it is best to judge what evidence to use. Therefore, try to choose relevant evidence (which may include quotations and usually includes a language or subject term) to support your analysis.
The last thing examiners want to see is what they call “technique spotting”, where a student identifies the use of a metaphor without any analysis about how the poet’s choice to use such a technique contributes to their overall message.
Form
The poem’s form reflects an individual who speaks intimately to a lost loved one. Wordsworth shows that the speaker is unable to come to terms with the changes brought by the end of the relationship.
Theme | Evidence | Poet's intention |
Loss and acceptance | The poem is a first-person reflection that takes the form of a conversation to a silent listener:
| Wordsworth’s depiction of a conversation creates an intimate tone and reinforces the close bond shared |
The poem consists of three stanzas of six lines or sestets:
| The regular form indicates a speaker who is attempting to discipline their thoughts despite strong emotions as they reflect on their loss | |
However, the poem ends as it begins:
| The cyclical structure represents the unresolved feelings of the speaker after their reflection | |
Wordsworth shows the hopelessness felt by an individual who reflects on the impact of a loving relationship | ||
Structure
The structure of the poem indicates that the speaker attempts to control their emotions, yet a melancholic and resigned tone with outbursts of emotion present an individual’s deep feelings of love and loss.
Theme | Evidence | Poet's intention |
Memory of love
| The poem’s rhythm is in a regular iambic tetrameter:
| The speaker in the poem is presented as depressed about their new life without love:
|
Each stanza of the poem follows an ababcc rhyme scheme which creates a repetitive rhythm | This is suggestive of repeated similarly painful reflections and conversations | |
Enjambment is used sparingly to create a slower pace:
| The speaker’s unstable voice as he reflects to himself (and speaks silently to his loved one) shows the depth of love they shared together | |
Wordsworth presents the mixed emotions of an individual remembering the happiness of a relationship and mourning its loss | ||
Language
The poem, although believed to be about the friendship between William Wordsworth and fellow Romantic poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, speaks about the benefits of a relationship and the many riches love can bring.
Theme | Evidence | Poet's intention |
Relationships and love
| Emphasis is placed on the generous bounty of the relationship using alliteration:
| Wordsworth draws attention to rich imagery to convey the happiness in the relationship |
Metaphorical language represents love as a fountain:
| Wordsworth’s imagery presents love as vital and ceaseless | |
However, the poem contrasts the “fountain of love” with a darker image:
| Wordsworth ends the poem with imagery evoking a dark, hidden well to represent the huge change the loved one’s absence brings | |
Wordsworth conveys love as vital to happiness while exploring the emptiness experienced when it is lost | ||
Context
Examiners are clear that context should not be written about separately. It is therefore important that you do not write about context separately, or include irrelevant biographical information about William Wordsworth or the Romantic era. The best way to include context is to start with the key themes and ideas in the poem, and then include an exploration of why the writer may have chosen to address these themes and ideas. This section has therefore been divided into two relevant themes that Wordsworth explores:
Loss and acceptance
Memory of love
Loss and acceptance
In 1795 William Wordsworth met fellow Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge
They began a collaborative friendship, with Coleridge acting as mentor
In 1798, guided by Coleridge, Wordsworth published his famous collection, “Lyrical Ballads”
This collection is considered pivotal in the development of Romantic poetry because of the way it deals with the emotional experiences of the everyday person
However, the relationship between the poets became conflicted:
Coleridge developed an addiction to opium and fell in love with Wordworth’s sister-in-law, Sara Hutchinson
Coleridge left England and the friendship came to an end
His later collection “Poems, Volume 2”, includes the poem A Complaint:
'A Complaint' is often considered to be about Wordsworth's sense of loss at the ending of this friendship
The metaphor of a fountain in the poem may symbolise the lessons Wordsworth learned under Coleridge's guidance
It may also allude to the collaborative and inspiring friendship
Memory of love
William Wordsworth, a leading Romantic poet, was born 7 April 1770 in the Lake District
Wordsworth’s life may be reflected in his poetry, which covers themes of joy and sorrow in pastoral settings
'A Complaint' is an introspective poem that examines the speaker's inner world, typical of Romantic poetry
His poetry explores the feelings and thoughts of everyday people to accentuate the poignancy of everyday experiences
Wordsworth is famous for Romantic poetry that uses the language of the average person rather than the heightened sophistication of traditional poetry:
'A Complaint' uses simple imagery, such as doors to symbolise love entering and leaving his life
The poem uses simple language, such as “fond heart”
Nevertheless, the unresolved ending deviates from conventional Romantic poetry, which usually offers a solution or epiphany (often found in nature):
In this poem the epiphany comes, but it is a tragic one
The speaker repeats how “poor” they feel and the poem ends as it begins
The poem emphasises the cyclical nature of grief unhealed by nature or reflection
What to compare it to
The essay you are required to write in your exam is a comparison of the ideas and themes explored in two of your anthology poems. It is therefore essential that you revise the poems together, in pairs, to understand how each poet presents ideas about love or relationships, in comparison to other poets in the anthology. Given that 'A Complaint' explores the ideas of romantic love and loss, the following comparisons are the most appropriate:
'A Complaint' and 'Love's Dog'
'A Complaint' and 'Neutral Tones'
'A Complaint' and 'The Manhunt'
For each pair of poems, you will find:
The comparison in a nutshell
Similarities between the ideas presented in each poem
Differences between the ideas presented in each poem
Evidence and analysis of these similarities and differences
Examiner Tips and Tricks
You will be expected to explore the poem(s) in depth and make perceptive comments about the way themes are presented and conveyed by language, form and structure. It is therefore important that you have a thorough knowledge of key ideas, such as perspective, form, imagery or structure in all of the poems, rather than just memorising a series of quotations. It is also essential that you not only write about the named poem, but compare it to one other in the anthology. Only writing about the poem given on the paper will severely limit your marks.
'A Complaint' and 'Love's Dog'
Comparison in a nutshell:
Both William Wordsworth’s 'A Complaint' and Jen Hadfield’s 'Love's Dog' present relationships as contradictory in nature. Yet the speakers also describe love’s power. Nevertheless, while Wordsworth portrays a melancholic and intimate conversation in a Romantic poem, Hadfield’s poem is an unconventional and confident post-modern reflection.
Similarities:
Topic sentence | Both speakers describe their relationships’ powerful impact in their lives | |
Evidence and analysis | 'A Complaint' | 'Love's Dog' |
Wordsworth’s imagery represents love as a powerful force:
| Hadfield’s imagery relates love to magical treasure to show a similar idea:
| |
Wordsworth’s poem emphasises the comfort the relationship brings:
| Hadfield’s metaphorical imagery connotes to nurturing relationships:
| |
The poets both present love as exciting and vital as well as comforting | ||
Topic sentence | Both poets convey the pain and loss resulting from a conflicted relationship | |
Evidence and analysis | 'A Complaint' | 'Love's Dog' |
Wordsworth uses contrasting imagery to represent the difference in the speaker’s life as a result of love shared and lost:
| Similarly, Hadfield uses a metaphor that conveys the complex emotions love can bring:
| |
Wordsworth uses sibilance to highlight the speaker’s dark mood as a result of lost love:
| Hadfield uses imagery, highlighted by alliteration, to present love’s darker elements:
| |
Both poems conjure vivid allusions to present the conflicting elements of relationships | ||
Differences:
Topic sentence | Wordsworth portrays a melancholy and intimate conversation in a Romantic poem, whereas Hadfield’s poem is an unconventional and informal assessment of love | |
Evidence and analysis | 'A Complaint' | 'Love's Dog' |
Wordworth’s first-person poem is an intimate conversation that reflects sadly on a relationship:
| However, Hadfield presents a first-person personal reflection that conveys a confident, matter-of-fact voice:
| |
Wordsworth’s poem maintains a slow pace with pauses at line-ends and with caesurae:
| Hadfield’s unconventional poem does not use punctuation:
| |
While Wordsworth’s sombre poem reflects the inner thoughts of a lonely speaker, Harding’s is a light-hearted and informal presentation of love | ||
Examiner Tips and Tricks
It is a good idea to outline your choice of second poem in your introduction to your response, with a clear overview of the overarching themes within both poems. You can then use the theme to move between both poems to provide the substance to illustrate your arguments. However, this does not mean that you cannot focus on one poem first, and then the other, linking ideas back to the main poem. You should choose whichever structure suits you best, as long as comparison is embedded and ideas for both texts are well-developed.
'A Complaint' and 'Neutral Tones'
Comparison in a nutshell:
This is an effective comparative choice to explore the presentation of relationships and loss across the Relationships poems. However, while Wordsworth’s poem is a melancholic reflection, Hardy’s poem depicts the bitterness of lost love.
Similarities:
Topic sentence | Both poems portray how the loss of love brings sadness | |
Evidence and analysis | 'A Complaint' | 'Neutral Tones' |
Wordsworth’s speaker laments the change that comes with lost love: “There is a change—and I am poor” | Similarly, 'Neutral Tones' focuses on emotional detachment and the decay of a relationship:
| |
Wordsworth maintains a regular rhythm but uses short lines to emphasise the speaker’s sad tone | In Hardy’s poem, too, the rhythm remains consistent throughout the poem to reflect the speaker’s repressed melancholy | |
Wordsworth uses a metaphor to describe the loss of love as bleak and lonely: “A comfortless and hidden well” where “waters sleep/In silence and obscurity” | Hardy also employs visual and sensory imagery to create a bleak atmosphere: The leaves have “fallen from an ash” and are “gray” | |
| The poems both reflect the sense of overwhelming isolation that comes from losing a loved one | |
Topic sentence | Both poems offer personal perspectives on their relationships | |
Evidence and analysis | 'A Complaint' | 'Neutral Tones' |
Wordsworth’s poem is a personal reflection that expresses the first-person speaker’s perspectives on their relationship | Hardy’s poem is also narrated in the first person and the voice is introspective and reflective | |
The speaker in 'A Complaint' refers fondly to memories of their loved one: “Blest was I then” | Hardy’s poem also presents personal observations and reflections on their past:
| |
Wordsworth’s speaker’s frustration is conveyed with rhetorical questions to suggest feelings of emptiness:
| Hardy’s poem maintains a nonchalant tone to suggest repressed pain:
| |
| The poets convey the powerlessness that comes with the ending of a relationship | |
Differences:
Topic sentence | While Wordsworth portrays the frustration of grief, Hardy presents bitterness at the end of a broken relationship | |
Evidence and analysis | 'A Complaint' | 'Neutral Tones' |
The poem’s speaker is emotional in Wordsworth’s poem:
| Hardy’s speaker, however, is resentful:
| |
Wordsworth ends with an emotional outpouring with enjambment and a rhyming couplet: ”—Such change, and at the very door/Of my fond heart, hath made me poor.” | However, Hardy’s poem ends with a bitter conclusion that implies a bleak future: “and the God curst sun, and a tree,/And a pond edged with grayish leaves.” | |
Wordsworth uses alliteration to emphasise the love they shared: “A fountain at my fond heart's door” | In contrast, oxymoron presents discontent between the pair: “The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing” | |
Wordsworth’s poem is a lamentation of loneliness and grief, whereas Hardy’s poem is a cynical comment on ending relationships | ||
'A Complaint' and 'The Manhunt'
Comparison in a nutshell:
This is an effective comparative choice to explore the presentation of relationships and loss across the Relationships poems. However, while Wordsworth’s poem depicts the loneliness of a lost relationship, Armitage portrays an intimate reflection on emotional distance.
Similarities:
Topic sentence | Both poems portray how the loss of love brings sadness | |
Evidence and analysis | 'A Complaint' | 'The Manhunt' |
Wordsworth’s speaker grieves the change that comes with lost love:
| Armitage’s speaker, too, suggests a change: “After the first phase,/after passionate nights and intimate days” | |
Wordsworth maintains a regular rhythm but uses short lines to emphasise the speaker’s sad tone | Similarly, Armitage maintains couplets throughout the poem to present a melancholic tone:
| |
Wordsworth uses a metaphor to describe the loss of love as bleak and lonely: “A comfortless and hidden well” where “waters sleep/In silence and obscurity” | Armitage uses metaphorical imagery to convey loss and pain, such as a “frozen river” and a “fractured rudder” | |
| The poems both reflect the sense of overwhelming sadness that comes from loss of some kind within a relationship | |
Topic sentence | Both poems offer personal perspectives on their relationships | |
Evidence and analysis | 'A Complaint' | 'The Manhunt' |
Wordsworth’s poem is a silent address to a loved one but the first-person speaker is introspective | Armitage presents a similarly introspective poem as a speaker describes their thoughts about their loved one | |
Wordsworth represents the love in the relationship as alive:
| Similarly, Armitage depicts the care and tenderness of the relationship with a pattern of verbs to present its physical nature:
| |
Both poets convey intimate and tender reflections on relationships | ||
Differences:
Topic sentence | While Wordsworth portrays the powerlessness of grief, Armitage conveys a relationship attempting to bridge emotional distance | |
Evidence and analysis | 'A Complaint' | 'The Manhunt' |
In 'A Complaint', the speaker’s frustration is conveyed with rhetorical questions to suggest feelings of emptiness:
| Armitage repeats the phrase “only then” to reflect the rebuilding of intimacy | |
Hardy’s speaker is emotional:
| Armitage, however, creates a calm tone with repeated couplets and enjambment | |
Wordsworth ends with a bleak conclusion that creates a cyclical structure: ”—Such change, and at the very door/Of my fond heart, hath made me poor.” | However, Armitage closes his poem on a hopeful note with the speaker’s enthusiastic: “Then, and only then, did I come close.” | |
Wordsworth’s poem is a lamentation of frustrated loneliness while Armitage conveys the hope of regaining lost love | ||
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Choose whichever poem you are able to make the most in-depth comparisons with in the exam. For example, you could choose to compare the presentation of conflicted relationships in 'A Complaint' and 'Love's Dog'. Or you might wish to explore the idea of loss of love in 'A Complaint' and 'Neutral Tones'. What is important is that you view the poems thematically, with a clear emphasis on relationships. This will give you a better framework in which to write your response in the exam.
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