Wordsworth As a Poet of Nature ma english uos part 2

Wordsworth As a Poet of Nature

1. Introduction

2. Nature is a Living Being

     Wordsworth conceives of Nature as a living personality. He believes that there is a divine spirit pervading all the objects of Nature. This belief called Pantheism finds a complete expression in the "Tintern Abbey" when he tells us that he has felt the presence of a sublime spirit in the setting sun, the round ocean, the living air, the blue sky, the mind of man etc. This spirit, he say, rolls through all things:

A motion and a spirit, that impels

All thinking things, all objects of all thought, 

And rolls through all things.

3. Nature is a Teacher 

     Wordsworth considers Nature to be our best and truest teacher. Like the senior Duke in "As You Like It" by Shakespeare, he too finds --

Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 

Sermons in stones, and good in everything. (Act II, Scene I)

In Wordsworth's words --

One impulse from a vernal wood

May teach you more of man, 

Of moral evil and of good, 

                                        Than all the sages can.     (The Tables Turned) 

4. Nature is a Healer

     Nature is "the balm of hurt minds", Wordsworth discovered when he was in the grip of great spiritual crisis. England's declaration of war against France was a great shock to Wordsworth. The crisis deepened when Napoleon betrayed the French Revolution by entering upon a career of military aggression. All his hopes for the betterment of humanity collapsed. He was filled with gloom and despair. From his mood he was rescued by the influence of his sister Dorothy. And she was able to to this by directing him to his first love - Nature of Lake District of England. Wordsworth came back from Germany. The lovely hills, stormy winds, murmuring fountains, meandering rivers, and the mighty mountains of the beautiful Lake District brought peace and solace to his subjected soul. 

5. Man is a Part of Nature

     Rather than placing Man and Nature in opposition, Wordsworth views them as complementary elements of a whole, recognizing Man as a part of Nature. He perceives that there is a harmony between the soul and Nature and the soul of Man. This harmony is everlasting if Man's soul is unsophisticated. He relates in "The Prelude" how shepherds of the Lake hills had been seen by him as part of the wild scenery in which he lived and he mixed up their lives with the grandeur of Nature and came to honour them as part of its being. Indeed, many of Wordsworth men and women are felt to be the incarnations of the different moods of Nature. Lucy and the Highland Girl seem to embody the spirit of joy in Nature: Ruth, Margaret and the Leech-gatherer are incarnations of its more grave aspects. 

7. A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever

     The beautiful sights and melodious sounds in the world of nature have a permanent place in Wordsworth's heart. These never sink into oblivion. And, when recollected, these render him great joy in his pensive hours. In his poem "Daffodils", Wordsworth says how the beautiful scene of the daffodil flowers dancing in the gentle breeze is painted on screen of his mind, never to be wiped out. It flashes upon his inward eye and fills his heart with pleasure. It is the "bliss of solitude". Similarly, the sweet music of the solitary reaper in "The Solitary Reaper" is stored in his memory as a source of joy and inspiration. In short, this is Wordsworth's theory of "emotion recollected in tranquility". 

8. Nature is a Source of Comfort and Strength

9. Absence of Ugly Side of Nature

     Wordsworth celebrates the beauty, harmony and sublimity of Nature, he is fortified by its calm and unbroken order, 'the holy plan' of Nature. But Nature is not all a May-day. She has a harsh and terrifying sight, of which Wordsworth was apparently oblivious. He loses sight of Nature "red in tooth and claw with rapine". He is silent as to her mysterious disorders of pain, cruelty and death. Nature is cruel and careless of the happiness of her millions of subjects. The scenes where the poet found pleasure and solace are battlefield and slaughter-house for other creatures. Pain, fear and bloodshed are a part of the law of life. Thus "Wordsworth's eyes avert their kin from half of human fate", it has been said. To this extent his poetry of Nature has been considered partial and incomplete.