Ode: Intimations on Immortality

What though the radiance which was once so bright

Be now for ever taken from my sight,

Though nothing can bring back the hour

Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;

We will grieve not, rather find

Strength in what remains behind...

 

Splendor in the Grass, directed by Elia Kazan in 1961 and starring Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty, is my favorite film. Of all time. Hands down.  The title of the film is derived from Wordsworth's poem Ode: Intimations on Immortality. I always liked it for it's intimate portrayal of gender roles in the Midwest just prior to and during the Great Depression. But, after reading Northrop Frye, I realized how profound loss of innocence is and can be. 

 

In the film, Deanie and Bud (played by Wood and Beatty, respectively) are teenagers and madly in love with one another. For a variety of reasons, they're told they shouldn't sleep together (nice girls don't want/do that, what if she gets pregnant?, etc.). They both have mental breakdowns and go their separate ways after graduation. The viewer can see how completely different both characters are. Deanie realizes it's okay to want and enjoy sex and Bud comes to understand that it's not okay to deny yourself access to someone you love. Frye mentions the connection in the poem and Man's Fall in the Garden of Eden. One can clearly see that parallel in Splendor in the Grass.