Sonnet On Being Cautioned Against Walking On An Headland Overlooking The Sea

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In the poems, “Sonnet: On Being Cautioned Against Walking on an Headland Overlooking the Sea, Because It Was Frequented by a Lunatic”, “Huge Vapours Brood above the Clifted Shore”, and, “Beachy Head”, by Charlotte Smith, she explores the relationship between society and those who chose to separate themselves from society. Through use of multiplex symbolism, likening society to water and headlands to outsiders, she is able to recount and enumerate the complex aspects of their relationship, concluding that society has trouble understanding outsiders and this leads them to simply repudiate and ridicule them. Perhaps this described aloof behavior mastered by society is reflective of the lack of individuality that is able to be sustained as a result of society's strict and exclusive norms.

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The description portrays the man standing atop, “a tall cliff,” (2). To picture a man standing above the ocean, close to the edge of a headland or, “narrow piece of land that projects from a coastline into the sea,” (OED) overlooking rolling waves would be a fairly accurate perception of the setting of this poem. Through seeing this scenery and picturing the setting of this poem, it can be seen that the speaker, in the first eight lines, is standing below the man who stands on the, “tall cliff,” (2). In many ways, this imagery contradicts the language in the poem. This seems to be a constant reoccurring theme throughout the poetry of Charlotte Smith and helps in constructing advanced symbols such as this one. In this case, the fact that the speaker, who stands below or under the man, is depicted as conveying empowerment and authority over the man, despite the fact that he literally stands over or above them, reveals the complexity of this

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