Pre-Existence

Barry Cornwall's Pre-Existence

Barry Cornwall was a contemporary of Romantic poets such as William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and John Keats. The Romantic movement, which flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, emphasized emotion, imagination, and a deep connection to nature. Pre-Existence exemplifies these Romantic ideals, particularly in its focus on the individual’s relationship with the natural world and its exploration of the transcendent.

The poem also reflects the 19th century’s growing interest in geology, archaeology, and the concept of deep time. The reference to “pre-Pelasgian hands” situates the speaker in a time before recorded history, evoking the ancient Pelasgians, a people often associated with the pre-Hellenic Aegean world. This allusion suggests a fascination with humanity’s primordial past, a theme that resonated with the era’s intellectual currents, including the work of geologists like Charles Lyell, who posited that the Earth’s history stretched far beyond biblical timelines.

Literary Devices and Imagery

Cornwall employs a range of literary devices to create a dreamlike, meditative tone. The poem’s imagery is particularly striking, drawing on the sensory experiences of the shore—the sound of waves, the warmth of the sun, the texture of pebbles and sand. These details ground the poem in the physical world while simultaneously evoking a sense of timelessness.

The waves, a central motif, are described as “great,” “thundering,” and “gay,” suggesting both their power and their joyous, eternal rhythm. This duality mirrors the poem’s broader exploration of the tension between the ephemeral and the eternal. The waves’ cyclical motion—coming up and going down—becomes a metaphor for the recurring nature of existence, a theme reinforced by the speaker’s dream of having lived before.

The pebbles and sand are imbued with symbolic significance. The pebbles, “smooth and round / And warm upon my hands,” are likened to “little people,” personifying them and suggesting a connection between the speaker and the natural world. The sand, “shining-small” and running “soft through my fingers,” evokes the passage of time, its granularity a reminder of life’s fleeting moments. Yet, the warmth of the sun and the tactile pleasure of the sand and pebbles also suggest comfort and continuity.

The poem’s language is simple yet evocative, with a rhythmic cadence that mirrors the ebb and flow of the waves. This musicality enhances the poem’s meditative quality, drawing the reader into the speaker’s reverie.

Themes

1. Time and Eternity

The poem’s central theme is the interplay between time and eternity. The speaker’s dream of having lived before—“How all of this had been before”—suggests a cyclical view of existence, where the present is but one iteration of an eternal pattern. This idea is reinforced by the waves, which “came shining up the sands, / As here today they shine,” and by the sun, which “shone down / As still it shines today.” These natural elements, unchanging yet ever-moving, symbolize the constancy of the eternal within the flux of time.

The reference to “pre-Pelasgian hands” further underscores this theme, situating the speaker in a time before recorded history and suggesting that human experience is part of a vast, unbroken continuum. The poem thus invites readers to consider their own place within this continuum, connecting the personal to the universal.

2. Memory and Identity

The speaker’s dream raises questions about memory and identity. The lines “I have forgotten whence I came, / Or what my home might be” suggest a loss of individual memory, yet this forgetting is not portrayed as tragic. Instead, it is part of a larger, more profound connection to the eternal. The speaker’s identity becomes fluid, merging with the natural world and the cycles of time.

This theme resonates with the Romantic emphasis on the sublime, where the individual’s sense of self is both diminished and exalted by the vastness of nature and time. The poem suggests that forgetting one’s specific origins can be a form of liberation, allowing the individual to experience a deeper, more universal connection to existence.

3. The Natural World as a Source of Meaning

The poem celebrates the natural world as a source of meaning and solace. The shore, with its waves, pebbles, and sand, becomes a liminal space where the boundaries between the self and the world blur. The speaker’s tactile engagement with the pebbles and sand—described in vivid, sensory detail—suggests a profound intimacy with nature.

This theme reflects the Romantic belief in nature as a source of spiritual and emotional renewal. The poem’s closing lines, with their emphasis on the sun and the pebbles, convey a sense of peace and acceptance, suggesting that meaning can be found in the simple, enduring elements of the natural world.

Emotional Impact

The poem’s emotional power lies in its ability to evoke a sense of wonder and tranquility. The speaker’s dream of pre-existence is not presented as a fantastical escape but as a natural, almost inevitable extension of their experience on the shore. This blurring of the boundaries between dream and reality creates a sense of continuity and connection, inviting readers to reflect on their own relationship with time and nature.

The poem’s tone is contemplative rather than melancholic, suggesting that the passage of time and the loss of individual memory are not to be feared but embraced as part of a larger, more beautiful pattern. The warmth of the sun, the smoothness of the pebbles, and the softness of the sand all contribute to a sense of comfort and belonging, reinforcing the idea that the individual is part of something greater.

Scholarly Interpretation

From a scholarly perspective, Pre-Existence can be read as a response to the existential questions raised by the Romantic era’s engagement with science and philosophy. The poem’s exploration of deep time and prehistory reflects the era’s fascination with the newly discovered vastness of geological time, while its emphasis on the individual’s connection to the eternal speaks to the Romantic search for meaning in a rapidly changing world.

The poem’s structure, with its repetitive imagery and cyclical themes, mirrors the natural processes it describes, creating a sense of harmony and balance. This formal unity reinforces the poem’s thematic concerns, suggesting that art, like nature, can provide a sense of order and meaning in the face of life’s transience.

Conclusion

Barry Cornwall’s Pre-Existence is a masterful exploration of time, memory, and the natural world. Its vivid imagery, meditative tone, and profound themes make it a quintessentially Romantic poem, while its engagement with deep time and prehistory reflects the intellectual currents of its era. The poem’s emotional impact lies in its ability to evoke a sense of wonder and connection, inviting readers to contemplate their own place within the vast, eternal cycles of existence.

In its celebration of the natural world and its exploration of the interplay between the ephemeral and the eternal, Pre-Existence speaks to the enduring power of poetry to illuminate the human condition. It reminds us that, even in the face of life’s transience, we are part of something greater—a timeless, ever-renewing pattern that connects us to the past, the present, and the future.