The Romantic VS. the Victorian
In the world of poetry, there are several viewpoints on every single topic that can be thought of. One major topic is that of Nature. When it comes to William Wordsworth and Lord Alfred Tennyson there is an immense amount of differentiation on their interpretations of the subject because they wrote in separate eras. The Romantic age it characterized by a strong belief in finding truth in nature, while the Victorian age is narrow minded and finds the opposite. This allows for a complete separation of ideas between the eras. So, when comparing Wordsworth’s view of nature to Tennyson’s it is idealistic and highly romanticized.
William Wordsworth is known for being vastly inspired by the beauty of Nature. When readers
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He was its ultimate worshipper and he wanted to share his admiration with others, so they could see its greatness. It is not unusual to see this as he was a part of the Romantic age. There was a focus on the human being, and this also went along with the idea of trying to reconnect with the outside world. Much of this was an inspiration to Wordsworth, except sometimes he would make it seem as if there was no other option, but than to turn to the outdoors. He made good points of course, by showing that it helps when wanting to find serenity. There were also times where he showed that it was like finding someone to go back to when help was needed, but to say that it was the only way to reconnect with one’s self comes off as idealistic and highly romanticized to many. “The mind of Wordsworth was singularly narrow; his range peculiarly limited; the object he proposed to himself unusually distinct” (Jump). The counteraction to this was the Victorian age. The poets from that age believed that there should be more of a focus on …show more content…
He believed what he said was too perfectionist. Tennyson is also known for being more close minded, so he wrote what he felt. For example, in Mariana, he showed that instead of being healing, Nature was deteriorating. He showed the contrasting side of what had been mainly prominent in the Romantic era. “Where Wordsworth saw the bountiful lavishness of Nature in the leafy forest gemmed with life, the meadow starred with daffodils, Tennyson found material for dark and troubled thought in the desperate waste of Nature” (Benson). Most romantics tried to treat the Natural world, as a higher deity, but the Victorians like Tennyson showed that it wasn’t so godly. He proved that the natural world could bring feelings of sorrow and death. It wasn’t always restorative, it could also make one feel like they have nothing in life worth living for, much like the young woman in Mariana, waiting for her long lost lover. Whatever solemn characteristics he could find to put in poems, he made sure he exposed them and this made Wordsworth’s poems seem
William Wordsworth’s view on imagination can easily be seen in the two poems Expostulation & Reply and The Tables Turned. In these two short poems Wordsworth gives respect to the sciences; he does not look down on them. However, he does argue that ignoring nature, and by extension, imagination, would be to ignore part of what it means to be human. Another poem, I wandered lonely as a cloud, shows Wordsworth’s appreciation for imagination, as he reflects on the joy of being able to look inward and see the beauty of nature as he sees it, not as science does.
Kroeber, Karl. Romantic Landscape Vision: Constable and Wordsworth. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1975.
In Muir’s essay his tone remains calm and happy as he explains the struggles he faced while looking for the Calypso. He talks about the control the Calypso has over him as he states at one point in his essay, “It seems wonderful that so frail and lovely a plant has such power over human hearts.” In this statement Muir is describing to his audience that the Calypso has a strong controller over his feelings because of its beauty. Wordsworth also uses various positive tones when describing his relationship with nature. In Wordsworth's poem he states that his “heart with pleasure fills” at the sight of the daffodils. This statement shows the audience that the sight of the daffodils makes Wordsworth’s heart fill with pleasure and delight as he examines their beauty. The audience is also shown how Wordsworth’s tone changes when he is separated from the daffodils, as it quickly changes from being joyous to being depressing. This quick shift in tone can be seen in the first stanza when Wordsworth says, “I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o'er vales and hills,” this statement allows the audience to see that Wordsworth is sad and depressed when he is not accompanied by the daffodils, which shows that Wordsworth has a codependent relationship with
William Wordsworth, like Blake, was linked with Romanticism. In fact, he was one of the very founders of Romanticism. He wrote poems are about nature, freedom and emotion. He was open about how he felt about life and what his life was like. Also, Wordsworth wrote poems about the events going on around him ? for instance the French Revolution. Mainly, Wordsworth wrote about nature, however, rarely used simple descriptions in his work. Instead, Wordsworth wrote complexly, for example in his poem ?Daffodils?.
clearly distinguished from nature. Reading the poems of both Wordsworth and Coleridge, one immediately notes a difference in the common surroundings presented by Wordsworth and the bizarre creations. of the Coleridge. Thus they develop their individual attitudes towards life. It is a good I will look at differences and similarities concerning people.
Rush, Tayna. "The Prelude: William Wordsworth - Summary and Critical Analysis." BachelorandMaster.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. .
By the end of the eighteenth century, thought gradually moved towards a new trend called Romanticism. If the Age of Enlightenment was a period of reasoning, rational thinking and a study of the material world where natural laws were realized then Romanticism is its opposite. Romanticism emphasized the individual, the subjective, the irrational, the imaginative, the personal, the spontaneous, the emotional, the visionary, and the transcendental (Forsyth, Romanticism). It began in Germany and England in the eighteenth century and by the late 1820s swept through Europe and then swiftly made its way to the Western world. The romantics overthrew the philosophical ways of thinking during the Enlightenment, they felt that reason and rationality were too harsh and instead focused on the imagination. Romantics believed in freedom and spontaneous creativity rather than order and imitation, they believed people should think for themselves instead of being bound to the fixed set of beliefs of the Enlightenment.
Tennyson's poetry has stood the test of time because it successfully paints a time and place and reflects the feelings of the people in it. His ability to capture the feelings of uncertainty and loss that were characteristic of this time period, through his use of descriptions, diction, and pathetic fallacy made his poetry not only pleasing to the ear, but also historically important. He surpassed Wordsworth and other poets of his generation as Poet Laureate because his poems capture the important social issues of the Victorian Age such as the shift in religious belief as a result of science, the confusion surrounding women's roles in society, and the isolation that came as a result of the rapid social and economical changes that occurred.
When a man becomes old and has nothing to look forward to he will always look back, back to what are called the good old days. These days were full of young innocence, and no worries. Wordsworth describes these childhood days by saying that "A single Field which I have looked upon, / Both of them speak of something that is gone: The Pansy at my feet Doth the same tale repeat: Whither is fled the visionary gleam? Where is it now, the glory and the dream?"(190) Another example of how Wordsworth uses nature as a way of dwelling on his past childhood experiences is when he writes "O joy! That in our embers / Is something that doth live, / That nature yet remembers / What was so fugitive!" (192) Here an ember represents our fading years through life and nature is remembering the childhood that has escaped over the years. As far as Wordsworth and his moods go I think he is very touched by nature. I can picture him seeing life and feeling it in every flower, ant, and piece of grass that crosses his path. The emotion he feels is strongly suggested in this line "To me the meanest flower that blows can give / Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." (193) Not only is this showi...
The Victorian age and the Modern Literature era are two very different times for the literature world. Each era had a big impact through literature, politics, and economics. The Victorian era was a time of change during the reign of Queen Victoria between 1837 to 1901. The Modern Literature era also known as the Twentieth Century and After increased popularity in literature due to the rise of industrialization and globalization from roughly about the 1910 's to the 1990 's. Even though, both of these eras made an impact towards the way people see literature, their literature work is very different in terms of themes, subjects, purposes, and techniques.
In William Wordsworth’s poems, the role of nature plays a more reassuring and pivotal r ole within them. To Wordsworth’s poetry, interacting with nature represents the forces of the natural world. Throughout the three poems, Resolution and Independence, Tintern Abbey, and Michael, which will be discussed in this essay, nature is seen prominently as an everlasting- individual figure, which gives his audience as well as Wordsworth, himself, a sense of console. In all three poems, Wordsworth views nature and human beings as complementary elements of a sum of a whole, recognizing that humans are a sum of nature. Therefore, looking at the world as a soothing being of which he is a part of, Wordsworth looks at nature and sees the benevolence of the divinity aspects behind them.
During Wordsworth time as a poet he made it his mission to have poetry be read by not only the aristocrats but also now the common man something that has never been done. In both poems Wordsworth makes his poems relatable by incorporating themes that everyone can relate to even if they haven’t personally had that experience, although both poems do differ when it comes down to structure and form but also when trying to convey a message, these poems are important because these ideas have never been done before and now even the average Joe can finally participate in a conversation about poetry and this brings two world together.
Through the poems of Blake and Wordsworth, the meaning of nature expands far beyond the earlier century's definition of nature. "The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom." The passion and imagination portrayal manifest this period unquestionably, as the Romantic Era. Nature is a place of solace where the imagination is free to roam. Wordsworth contrasts the material world to the innocent beauty of nature that is easily forgotten, or overlooked due to our insensitivities by our complete devotion to the trivial world. “But yet I know, where’er I go, that there hath passed away a glory from the earth.
"The Poetry of William Wordsworth." SIRS Renaissance 20 May 2004: n.p. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 06 February 2010.
It is obvious that through this perception Wordsworth is generally speaking of past experiences. Wordsworth believed that nature played a key role in spiritual understanding and stressed the role of memory in capturing the experiences of childhood.