Wordsworth and Coleridge, within ‘I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud’ and ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ respectively, explore similar themes through the invocation of nature. This is most apparent in the focus on the natural by Wordsworth, contrasted with the supernatural within ‘Mariner’. Coleridge’s use of the spiritual indicates that religion is the source of natural power, whereas Wordsworth argues that nature is unaided. However, Wordsworth and Coleridge also promote a similar necessity of a relationship with the natural world. Overall, Wordsworth's preference for nature as a substitute for religion contrasts with Coleridge's belief that God bridges the relationship between humanity and nature. Comparably, Wordsworth and Coleridge approach …show more content…
Wordsworth and Coleridge emphasise similar aspects of Burke’s sublime in their use of natural imagery. Coleridge focuses on the element of infinity through his depiction of the ocean (Twitchell 90). This can be equated to the use of the daffodils by Wordsworth (Brennan 141), which presents nature as the source of the sublime effect. This does not appear to be comparable with the supernatural imagery present within ‘Mariner’, as Coleridge relies on the fantastic rather than the real. As a result, it is argued that Wordsworth portrays an “authentic moment in nature”, whereas Coleridge’s sublime is “radically fictive” (Sandner 59). Certainly, ‘Lonely’, unlike ‘Mariner’, relies entirely on the natural world to produce sublime effect. However, Coleridge uses the link between the natural and the supernatural in order to reveal the spiritual to the speaker (Fulford 819). This is similar to the ambiguity of nature in ‘Lonely’. The natural world is simultaneously real and fantastic through metaphoric likening to “never-ending … stars”. (Wordsworth 7-9) Wordsworth often used natural imagery to portray the physical world, along with the “immanent and transcendent” beyond it (Sandner 59). This stresses that Wordsworth and Coleridge held similar views on the ability of nature to reveal the sublime. While these authors consider similar aspects of the sublime, different techniques are used to do …show more content…
As discussed, both authors regard nature as a source of the sublime. This is complimented by their shared interest in the effect of imagination. In ‘Lonely’, Wordsworth juxtaposes the “sad and solitary poet” with the “joyful” natural world (Pope 139). This is coupled with the use of a structure that separates the “immediate experience” with the “subsequent memory” of it (Pope 139). This hints at the importance placed upon internalised experience by Wordsworth. The “true value” of the daffodils, which “metonymically [represent] nature”, is not evident until the speaker engages in imaginative reflection (Bennett 209). Wordsworth’s organisation of the text highlights how imagination can reveal the sublime in nature. It could be argued that Coleridge and Wordsworth share this position. This is supported by their joint work, ‘Lyrical Ballads’, in which “both the fantastic and the natural” are the “revelation of the … sublime” (Sandner 60). ‘Mariner’, which first appeared in this collection, uses imagination as part of the eponymous character’s development. The unconscious blessing of the water snakes in Part IV “symbolises the importance of imagination” (Pedrini & Pedrini 77). Through this act, a “sense of communion with Nature” is provided to the sailor, and the albatross, symbolic of guilt, falls from his neck (Pedrini & Pedrini 77). This intuitive
“The power of imagination makes us infinite.” (John Muir). Both John Muir and William Wordsworth demonstrate this through their use of language as they describe nature scenes. John Muir studies nature and in his essay about locating the Calypso Borealis he uses scientific descriptions to grab his reader’s attention and to portray his excitement at finding the rare flower. William Wordsworth on the other hand shows his appreciation for the beauty of nature and its effect on a person’s emotions in the vivid visual descriptions that he gives of the daffodils in his poem ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud.’ Wordsworth with his appreciation of beauty and Muir through scientific descriptions provide an indication of the influence that nature has had on them as they capture their reader’s attention both emotionally and visually through their personal and unique use of tone, diction, syntax and vocabulary.
While Romantics did seek inspiration in solitude and the grandeur of nature, it is difficult to say whether there is only one Romantic notion of the sublime. It is doubtful that the sublime we encounter in Shelley’s ‘Ode to the West Wind’ is the same as the sublime of ‘Tintern Abbey’. Wordsworth tells us how “… in lonely rooms, and ’mid the din / Of towns and cities” he has received “tranquil restoration” from the memory of nature, and how this has sometimes led to the realization of a gift of “aspect more sublime”, which is a trance-like state, a “classical religious meditation” (Wlecke, 158) in which he can “see into the life of things” (lines 36-49). This seems to be a notion of the sublime that gradually reveals itself through the interaction between the human mind and the objects of its contemplation. Moreover, this philosophical gift is “abundant recompense” (line 89) for something that he has lost – the ability to be moved at a level below that of thought, by the sublime aspect of nature. At the time of his visit five years before, he had been “more like a man ...
(ll. 19-24) Wordsworth’s famous and simple poem, “I wandered lonely as a cloud,” expresses the Romantic Age’s appreciation for the beauty and truth that can be found in a setting as ordinary as a field of daffodils. With this final stanza, Wordsworth writes of the mind’s ability to carry those memories of nature’s beauty into any setting, whether city or country. His belief in the power of the imagination and the effect it can have on nature, and vice a versa, is evident in most of his work. This small
He has simply gained something in return: looking at nature, not in thoughtless ways but seeing its true meaning and beauty; hearing the sad music of humanity. The “Frost at Midnight” and “Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey” contain different understandings of these two speakers; Wordsworth and Coleridge. Wordsworth is raised in a simple countryside and he views his childhood as a time when his relationship with nature was at its greatest; he revisits his childhood memories to relieve his feelings and encourage his imagination.
Wordsworth desires nature only because of his separateness, and the more isolated he feels the mor...
---- "The Sublime and the Beautiful." The Prose Works of William Wordsworth, Vol. II. Ed. W. J. B. Owen and Jane Worthington Smyser. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1974. 349-360.
William Wordsworth existed in a time when society and its functions were beginning to rapidly pick up. The poem that he 'Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye', gave him a chance to reflect upon his quick paced life by taking a moment to slow down and absorb the beauty of nature that allows one to 'see into the life of things'; (line 49). Wordsworth's 'Tintern Abbey'; takes you on a series of emotional states by trying to sway 'readers and himself, that the loss of innocence and intensity over time is compensated by an accumulation of knowledge and insight.'; Wordsworth accomplishes to prove that although time was lost along with his innocence, he in turn was able to gain an appreciation for the aesthetics that consoled him by incorporating all together, the wonders of nature, his past experiences, and his present mature perception of life.
In "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey," William Wordsworth explains the impact of Nature from Tintern Abbey in his every day life. "Tintern Abbey" shows the great importance of nature to Wordsworth in his writings, love for life, and religion. The memories he has of Tintern Abbey make even the darkest days full of light.
In “I wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” William Wordsworth accomplishes his ideal of nature by using personification, alliteration, and simile within his poem to convey to the reader how nature’s beauty uplifts his spirits and takes him away from his boring daily routine. Wordsworth relates himself in solidarity to that of a cloud wandering alone, “I wandered lonely as a cloud” (line 1). Comparing the cloud and himself to that of a lonely human in low spirits of isolation, simultaneously the author compares the daffodils he comes across as he “floats on high o’er vales and hills” (line 2) to that of a crowd of people dancing (lines 3-6 and again in 12). Watching and admiring the dancing daffodils as he floats on by relating them to various beauties of
The poems, “Above Tintern Abbey” and “Intimations of Immortality written by the poet, William Wordsworth, pertain to a common theme of natural beauty. Relaying his history and inspirations within his works, Wordsworth reflects these events in each poem. The recurring theme of natural beauty is analogous to his experiences and travels.
relationship to nature in poems by Coleridge and Wordsworth such as: ? The Ancient Mariner?,?Kubla Khan?,?The Nightingale? ? Lucy? The?Tintern Abbey,? There was a boy?
Cosgrove, Brian. “Review: Wordsworth, Reality, and the ‘Absolute Self’.” “Reviewed works: The Prose Works of William Wordsworth”. An Irish Quarterly Review, 64 (1975) 49-58. JSTOR. Web. 21 Mar. 2010
"The Poetry of William Wordsworth." SIRS Renaissance 20 May 2004: n.p. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 06 February 2010.
The poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth is about the poet’s mental journey in nature where he remembers the daffodils that give him joy when he is lonely and bored. The poet is overwhelmed by nature’s beauty where he thought of it while lying alone on his couch. The poem shows the relationship between nature and the poet, and how nature’s motion and beauty influences the poet’s feelings and behaviors for the good. Moreover, the process that the speaker goes through is recollected that shows that he isolated from society, and is mentally in nature while he is physically lying on his couch. 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.
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.