Samar Nattagh
He seems (uncursed with reason) not to know
The depth or duration of his woe.
Charlotte Smith’s “On Being Cautioned against Walking on a Headland Overlooking the Sea, Because It Was Frequented by a Lunatic” is a) one of my favorite poems and b) about being oblivious to what others think of you and the freedom it can afford you. However, Smith hints at the end that it can also bring you misery. The “lunatic” is only called a lunatic because he does not keep up appearances, “he has no nice felicities”. He does not care if others see him talk to the sea. This state of indifference is an idea that the speaker flirts with and says she sees “more with envy than with fear” but ends by acknowledging the pain that goes along with the release. The general conceit of the poem is that we should all strive to be like the lunatic in some way, by taking creative liberties and indulging our inner madness. Reason is a curse that must be cast off, at least temporarily, so that we may do this. But the extent to which we indulge our lunacy will affect the “depth and duration of [our] woe”.
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