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William wordsworth Intimations
Literature in the romantic period
William wordsworth Intimations
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Amanda Erikson ETS 114: Survey of British Literature, 1789-Present Professor Mike Goode 24 September 2014 Essay Assignment #1 The two sonnets, “The World Is Too Much With Us” by William Wordsworth and “The Sea View” by Charlotte Smith, were both written during the romantic period in Britain, in response to the Industrial Revolution and advanced industrial production. Both poems present a problem in the octave followed by a solution in the sestet. Wordsworth has an angry tone; he is frustrated with society because there is no longer a connection to nature in people. The focus of people is solely on materialism, and not what Wordsworth regards in upmost importance, nature and divinity. Smith’s poem starts in a much different direction than …show more content…
In their poetry, Wordsworth and Smith both instilled the point that humanity has lost the connection to the beauty of nature; thus a detachment to divinity, because of the need for destruction in society. Wordsworth is plagued by societies inability to conform to his beliefs on nature, in “The World is Too Much With Us”. In the octave of the poem he states, “late and soon / Getting and spending, we lay waste to our powers (ll. 1-2)”. Wordsworth has given up hope, giving that society has “powers (l. 2)”, that are not being put into effect and most likely never will be. The focus of society has been drawn further away from nature and has been put on “getting and spending”, the self-centered acts of materialism. He states that is what has been happening and will continue to happen, “late and soon (l. 1)”. With the acts of spending, comes the ownership of the object that is being bought but that cannot be done in nature. A part of nature cannot be called one’s own, “Little we see in Nature that is ours (l. 3)”. Since no one can own any part of nature, it is of no interest to humanity. Nature should not exclusively be appreciated because of
The World Is Too Much with Us, written by William Wordsworth in 1807 is a warning to his generation, that they are losing sight of what is truly important in this world: nature and God. To some, they are one in the same. As if lacking appreciation for the natural gifts of God is not sin enough, we add to it the insult of pride for our rape of His land. Wordsworth makes this poetic message immortal with his powerful and emotional words. Let us study his powerful style: The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! (Lines 1 - 4) Materialism, wasteful selfishness, prostitution! These are the images that these lines bring to me! Yet, is it not more true today than in Wordsworth’s time, that we are a culture of people who simply consume and waste?
When thinking about nature, Hans Christian Andersen wrote, “Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” John Muir and William Wordsworth both expressed through their writings that nature brought them great joy and satisfaction, as it did Andersen. Each author’s text conveyed very similar messages and represented similar experiences but, the writing style and wording used were significantly different. Wordsworth and Muir express their positive and emotional relationships with nature using diction and imagery.
Step 3: Woodsworth embodies the image of an environmentalist as he conveyed a liking of nature rather than the creations of mankind. His poem grieves at the loss of nature in society. Modern Society is so caught up in “getting and spending” money in business and enterprises that it ignores all the glory and pristine within nature. This theme remains as an important theme in the world today as people are held up with worldwide affairs pertaining to money that it disables one’s ability to come across what really matters. Humanity’s fixation on material substances has been a problem in the past and will continue to be a problem for generations to come.
It is clear that modern man is setting the stage for his own demise due to the careless wasting of the Earth and its natural resources, this fact has been evident for several hundreds of years. Many Romantic Era poets used “nature vs industrialism” as a theme of their poetry in attempt to shed light onto respect for nature. Robert Burns, William Wordsworth, and Lord Bryon (George Gordon) are all good examples of Romantic Era poets who saw the connection between nature and humanity was distancing itself from. They used their works in attempt to influence readers to make a change in the path we humans, as a whole, were going down.
In the churchyard of Grassmere’s Saint Oswald’s Church, lies a simple tombstone laid in reverence to William Wordsworth; now one of the most visited literary shrines in the world. “The World is Too Much With Us” is one of many excellent poems written by William Wordsworth during the early 1800’s. The poem’s theme revolves directly upon the material inclination of the world, and the tragic result of human kind losing sight of all things truly meaningful. When reading such texts based upon such controversial (and at that time) revolutionary ideals, especially when expressed in such remorse and disgust; one can begin to wonder on what authority the poet stands to address all humankind in such manner, diminishing practically all but himself. What right does he have, and what value should we place on his opinion? Oxford Dictionary defines the term ‘value’ as: ‘how useful or important something is’. Today renowned as a great poet, William Wordsworth biographically experienced more than his fair share of lows; including orphaned by the age of 13. Culturally he was exposed to one of the largest spread of Christianity & bore witness to the Industrial revolution. Considering the circumstances the poet has experienced gives more understanding to what influenced such ideals & writings. It seems all William Wordsworth had gained and more so lost; allowed him to see life in more perspective than what others did, resulting in essence a more prioritised life; these priorities of the correct manner. Reading poems with a context of biographical & cultural knowledge adds value to our view of the poet (Wordsworth), to their poems & to the ideals they represent in them.
Stephen Crane and William Wordsworth are two authors who base many works of theirs on the idea of Naturalism. Naturalism is a literary movement in the nineteenth century that suggests the environment shapes human character. Wordsworth’s and Crane’s literary works contrast to prove that an individual’s viewpoint on the natural world depends on their own experiences with naturalism. Wordsworth sustains an optimistic tone within the compilation of his poems he has written. Two primary examples of his poetry would be: “I wandered lonely as a cloud” and “The world is too much with us.” In these, he briefly discusses how comforting parts of nature are, and how he feels less alone when in the midst of the natural world. He also states that nature
"The world has enough for everyone's needs, but not everyone's greed" -Mahatma Gandhi. In the eighteenth century, people began to rapidly change the way one lives their life. The Industrial Revolution caused the environment to being less appreciated, which lead to the first environmentalist to form. People began to become stressed because society was rapidly growing, class structures changed. Thus, many felt life was dull. People of this time were unhappy, stressed, and cared about the superficiality of life. Many sought refuge in spiritual reform and introspection to find a moral compass. In the poems, “The World is Too Much With Us” by William Wordsworth and “God’s Grandeur” by Gerard Hopkins Hopkins both explore the confusion of the Romantic
As many a tree hugger might say, “Please, please save a tree today!” whilst the rich man slaves away with his third-world deforestation millions as the general populous abuse paper everyday. Maybe, for instance, a farmer might say, “Save my beautiful fields from an oil deal!” whilst the riggers have plunged deep because gas is not a luxury most can keenly keep. Lastly, a hipster might say, “take a picture because I know that island is going away!” whilst the natives attempting to find solid ground in an eroding town. These are all examples of the power in the poetry of May Sarton, Jane Hirshfield, and William Wordsworth. Although May Sarton and Jane Hirshfield are rather contemporary to William Wordsworth their poems, “December Moon”, “Tree”, and Wordsworth’s “The World Is Too Much With Us” all carry the same preceding tone when it comes to nature: the human race is not enjoying and caring for it.
Blazing details, deep emotions, and meanings that can change a person, are all at the core of poetry. Both “This World Is Too Much with Us” and “It Is a Beauteous Evening, Clam and Free” are prime examples of all these attributes. The meaning of these poems is exquisite and the literary techniques used are simply intriguing! These two poems by William Wordsworth are both amazing examples of Romantic era poetry.
To begin, Wordsworth shows fear of mortality throughout the lines in the poem The World is too Much with Us. He explains that we continue to waste our lives by only being concerned with material things. Once we start caring more about money, we are lost! The speaker claims that our obsession with "getting and spending" has made us insensible to the beauties of nature. "Getting and spending" refers to the consumer culture accompanying the Industrial Revolution that was the devil incarnate for Wordsworth .(Shmoop Editorial Team) We lose our chances to do better and accomplish things when we give away our hearts because we become enthralled with love. Soon we become blind from what really matters in life and drift away from Nature. We take for granted the little things in life and become out of tune.
To begin, Wordsworth appreciated the Nature in the world, revealing why he capitalizes nature in the poem. He reveals that many people will just look past nature as a whole, and not really see the beauty in it. He also connects the idea of the two boxes, in one box is the beauty of nature, in the other is the energy that nature has. In the first stanza he explains all the things he loves about this place. He uses his five senses to get the whole feel; taste, smell, touch, hear, and see. In lines 5-9 he says, “Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs, which on a wild secluded scene impress thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect the landscape with the quiet of the sky. The day is come when I again repose.” These lines can almost make you feel like you are there...
He is writing the poem as if he were an object of the earth, and what it is like to once live and then die only to be reborn. On the other hand, Wordsworth takes images of meadows, fields, and birds and uses them to show what gives him life. Life being whatever a person needs to move on, and without those objects, they can't have life. Wordsworth does not compare himself to these things like Shelley, but instead uses them as an example of how he feels about the stages of living. Starting from an infant to a young boy into a man, a man who knows death is coming and can do nothing about it because it's part of life.
William Wordsworth has respect and has great admiration for nature. This is quite evident in all three of his poems; the Resolution and Independence, Tintern Abbey and Michael in that, his philosophy on the divinity, immortality and innocence of humans are elucidated in his connection with nature. For Wordsworth, himself, nature has a spirit, a soul of its own, and to know is to experience nature with all of your senses. In all three of his poems there are many references to seeing, hearing and feeling his surroundings. He speaks of hills, the woods, the rivers and streams, and the fields. Wordsworth comprehends, in each of us, that there is a natural resemblance to ourselves and the background of nature.
Nature inspires Wordsworth poetically. Nature gives a landscape of seclusion that implies a deepening of the mood of seclusion in Wordsworth's mind.
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.