Nature of the Mind

Romantic poets have a deep appreciation for the nature that surrounds them and are able to see passed the superficial parts of life in order to see what nature has to offer. The poem “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey” by William Wordsworth is a prime example of romanticism. Wordsworth uses this poem to express to deep love for nature and how nature was able to completely change his life for the better. He uses love of nature, spontaneity and freedom, importance of commonplace, and supernatural forces to help the reader better understand nature. Nature is a major key to writing a romantic poem.

Finally, Gioia uses the concept of the sublime in his poetry to the extent that nature becomes dangerous to humans. Many English Romantic poets have written about the innocent and purity that can be found in nature. In Wordsworth's "Nutting," he comments on the beauty of the innocence of an "unvisited" nook his character discovers. Wordsworth writes, "Unvisited, where not a broken bough / Drooped with its withered leaves, ungracious sign / Of devastation; but the hazels rose / tall and erect, with tempting clusters hung, / A virgin scene!" (Ln17-31) Wordsworth is commenting on the innocence and beauty of nature without human intrusion.

Therefore, William Wordsworth uses figurative language and syntax and form throughout the poem to express to the readers the peace and beauty of nature, and to symbolize the adventures that occurred in his mental journey. Figurative language is used by William Wordsworth to show the exchange between man and nature. The poet uses various examples of personification throughout the poem. When the poet says:”I wandered lonely as a cloud” (line 1),”when all at once I saw a crowd” (line 3), and “fluttering and dancing in the breeze” (line 6) shows the exchange between the poet and nature since the poet compares himself to a cloud, and compares the daffodils to humans. Moreover, humans connect with God through nature, so the exchange between the speaker and nature led to the connection with God.

As Robert DiYanni says in his book, “with much of Wordsworth’s poetry, this lyric reflects his deep love of nature, his vision of a unified world, and his celebration of the power of memory and imagination.” In “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” William Wordsworth uses various natural phenomena, such as clouds, daffodils and waves, as devices to characterize his speaker’s different stages of emotion and feeling. The first few lines of the poem showed us the speaker’s initial emotion. His mind is directionless, but also alienated and isolated in the universe. “I wandered lonely as a cloud, that floats on high o’er vales and hills,” the speaker is described as a “cloud,” lonely, aimless, and cruising quickly and lightly through “vales” and “hills.” A vision of the daffodils moved him to a state of being connected to something, as the poet wrote, “When all at once I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils.” The concord and harmony of the “dancing daffodils” replaced his feeling of loneliness; he is no longer a “lonely cloud.” As the twinkling stars in the milky way, and the sparkling dancing waves appeared in the second stanz... ... middle of paper ... ... Lonely as a Cloud” is a masterpiece of work from William Wordsworth. He implicated nature with human actions and feelings, bringing the daffodils, the waves and other aspects of nature to life.

To do so Blake exploits the traditional poetic conventions of persona, form, language, tone and atmosphere. The persona of both 'Laughing Song and 'London'; is Blake himself. However he is writing in two opposing states of mind. 'Laughing Song'; comes from the Songs of Innocence, a collection of celebratory poems, offering a view of the world with the 'voice of joy' though perhaps through rose-coloured glasses. Blake is simply enjoying nature, and through this is therefore praising God.

These two works are also similar in that they use a storyteller frame to both deliver and reinforce these ideas. In order for the reader to fully appreciate the representation of nature in these two particular poems, it is necessary to supply a little background on each poet. Wordsworth reigns supreme in the nature tradition. His poetry makes tribute to nature in conjunction with examining the human state, while maintaining that the relationship between the two is unbreakable. In his book English Poetry of the Romantic Period, critic J.R. Watson claims “the finest of Wordsworth’s nature poetry explores the relationship between [man and the world seen in the spirit of love], in the attempt to demonstrate the power of nature in the rescuing of the individual mind from degradation, materialism, selfishness, and despair” (114).

... ... middle of paper ... ...and emotions and by that they are able to express what no others can and by making these expressions the set the guidelines for all human expression. While the message of these two poets is clearly similar, their style and way of writing and composing their thoughts are vastly different. Wordsworth is more of a reflective and lyrical poet, who reflects upon the revitalizing power of nature but also respects it because he truly views it as god’s power on earth. Shelley on the other had with his bold verse and stunning visual imagery he creates with his wild vocabulary and outstanding word choice creates a powerful expression of the cryptic and undoubtedly divine influence that nature has on man. Which helps him to become a powerful poet to express his feelings in ways no common man could this is also helped by his belief that poets are of great importance to society.

CHAPTER ONE WILLIAM WORDSWORTH AS A POET OF NATURE English Romanticism turns to external nature for inspiration and renewal. Whereas from the classical ages of Greece and Rome through the eighteenth century, the term nature generally referred to some universal system of order found throughout man and the universe, during the time of the Romantics, Nature increasingly meant external nature, scenery, particularly that characterized by wildness and ruggedness: mountains, oceans, deserts, virgin forests. ‘Nature’ could be defined in an array of ways as according to the Romantics. It was frequently presented as a work of art, created by a heavenly imagination, in exemplary language. While exacting viewpoint concerning nature varied considerably--nature as a healing power, nature as a foundation of subject and image, nature as a sanctuary from the artificial constructs of civilization, including artificial language--the customary views accorded nature the status of an organically unified whole.

Comparing Wordsworth and Keats’ Romantic Poetry. Both Wordsworth and Keats are romantic Poets, they express ideas on nature and send us the message to respect it. They say we have to admire the beauty of nature in different ways. Wordsworh uses simpler language in his poems wether to express simple or complex ideas, by which we understand he aimed his poems to lower classes. Keats instead, uses much more complex language to describe and express his ideas, so we know he aimed his poems to the educated.

Even though Wordsworth is very much into nature he still keeps his identity as human. He is a great romantic writer because his writings reflect characteristics of the movement. As a poet, he wrote numerous poems and odes—Lyric poems in the form of an address to a particular subject, meant to be sung—. In this part you are going to be introduced to one of his famous odes, Ode: Intimations of Immortality. This poem is long and complicated but shows the Wordsworth connection to nature and how he makes an ef... ... middle of paper ... ...orth for he always pay attention to the details of all that is physical around him Lamartine in The Lake implores time to stop.