Romanticism Assignment 4: The Ropewalk

This poem is about a workers producing rope in a large somewhat dreary building. This seems to be a very tiring and dull job. However the writers mind is elsewhere, thinking of the places his rope will be taken and the uses it will be put to. The imagery of the school boy flying his kite "gleaming in a sky of light" and the ships rigging, "rejoicing in the breeze", particularly stand out to me. This is an example of Romanticism because he transcends the dull factory walls and repetitive task of ropemaking; while nothing has changed around him he is miles away in the haven of his thoughts.