William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth and The Concept of Nature
The English
literature shifted considerably at the end of the 18th century. This
change was brought by a movement called ‘Romanticism’. When earlier the focus
of literature was on critiquing social injustices and depicting the poor state
of the people, Romantic poets made the English Literature more imaginative,
lively and free. Poetry was treated as an outlet for individual expression.
Special place was given to nature in the English Literature. Romantic poets
thought that Nature was a part of human existence, so they debunked the idea of
traditional literacy and welcomed imagination. Logic and reason were put to the
side and nature was used a source of imagination for all writers
William
Wordsworth is a famous English poet from the Romantic Era. He is also known as
the father of English romantic poetry
The lyrical
ballads written by Wordworth and co-authored by Samuel Taylor- Coleridge
are a good example of his use of Nature in his poems. The lyrical ballads were
first published in 1798 and last published in 1802 (Wordsworth, 1852). The poems in this collection are
concerned with nature as they are dedicated to shepherds who spend most of
their time looking after the beings of nature- their flocks and in nature- the
country side. Similarly, the language used by Wordsworth describes the
simplicity of nature. Thus, all the ballads in this collection talks about
Nature before anything else.
Woodsworth
expresses Nature by making a connection between Nature and spirit. Like other
poets, Woodsworth expressed nature as a landscape, a display of beauty. But in
addition to that, he also regarded nature as a living component. Nature was
able to sympathize and teach men
Wordsworth
treats nature as a source of beauty. Nature gives life to the existence of
human beings. Without a connection with nature, life for Wordsworth is empty
and hollow. In his book ‘The Prelude’, Wordsworth says that it is due to the
love of nature that the man can love another man (Wordsworth, 1852). He is able to sympathize with
unfortunate, poor and weak humans when he is able to love the grass, the sky
and the rivers. This is why he enjoys nature and treats it like another man. In
his poem ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’, he uses illustrative examples
of nature (Wordsworth, 2008). He treats daffodils as a group of
people who are dancing on an isolated island. These daffodils are happy because
they are dancing against any adversity. It is due to the happiness of the
daffodils that he is happy too. The speaker was lonely and sad in the starting
verses, he felt like a cloud who was far from the world above. But when he saw
the daffodils that resembled the stars in the Milky Way galaxy, the speaker was
happy and contended. Wordsworth uses personification to describe the beauty-
internal and external- of the nature.
For Wordsworth,
nature is not only for enjoyment and beauty. He believes that nature gives
lessons to men and hence men should treat nature like a teacher (Cop, 2014). If
one believes and ponders, he can get knowledge and information from it.
Nature has a
moral influence on mankind. Like a mother or a guardian, nature nurtures man.
Wordsworth has regarded nature as a spiritual being, capable of fulfilling the
roles of: a mother, teacher, nurse, and a guardian. Lyrical Ballads (Wordsworth,
Coleridge, & Roe, 2013) talks about the joy in nature. Nature has a
plan that all the elements of nature follow. But mankind has been debarred from
such joy and celebration because of their deeds against themselves and nature.
Wordworth says (p10),
“Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?”
Wordsworth
wants mankind to participate in such celebrations and this makes him condemn
the evil ways of life. For example, he uses his poems to contradict the
materialistic lifestyle
He has used his
poems to send good messages to people. He has encouraged the people to take
care of the nature because our existence is only possible through the existence
of nature. It is the duty of mankind to look after the land we live in. Islam
teaches man to take care of their environment, to plant trees and look after
the animals.
In his poems,
Wordsworth expresses his profound love for nature. His love for nature is
highly religious. Wordsworth is a passionate pagan. A spiritual relationship
between the mankind and nature is extremely significant for Wordsworth. He is
entranced by the beauty of nature and its mysteries. He would rather explore
the mystical then the predictable modern life.
Wordsworth has
associated nature again and again to the spirits and angels. Since he is a
naturalistic, he rarely makes a clear association. But there are instances in
his poems that indicate nature as a spiritual entity. Like the use of the
phrase ‘heavenly host’ to indicate the angels and the phrase ‘sprightly’ to
indicate the spirits’ or the group of flowers being blessed souls
William
Wordsworth believes that God is everywhere and in everything, which is why man
is always in His company. This provides an optimistic understanding in his
poems. The evil exists to make good superior and worthy. By the eradication of
evil can good be attained. This concept of
Wordsworth lacks common sense. If God is everywhere, then the existence of God
in filth and dirt is also possible. This is why the paganist belief of
Wordsworth is against Islam because Islam proposes that God is above everything,
beyond the seven skies but He sees and knows all (The Qur’an, 15:23).
Hence, like any other poet, Wordsworth has used nature as a source
of inspiration. He has used nature to create verses, enjoy the beauty present
in it as well as to teach lessons. Even though the worship of nature and the
concept of God being everywhere is condemned in Islam, the idea of creating
bond with nature is very appreciative. Nature is a creation of Allah. By making
passionate relationship with nature, man can understand the purpose of creation
and the might of Allah, the All-Mighty.
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