Comparing The Works Of Wordsworth And Muir

468 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Nature and the poet

“Tossing their heads in a sprightly dance.” said William Wordsworth. “It seems wonderful that so frail and lovely a plant has such power over human hearts.” said John Muir. Why did they say this? What does it mean? These were said in writing to describe their experience with something remarkable. Wordsworth and Muir used tone and syntax to show their appreciation for nature and how they are truly connected to it. John Muir was affected so greatly by encountering this flower, that he kept this one memory for many years, even though he went on many more expeditions afterwards. In his essay, he states “This Calypso meeting happened some forty-five years ago, and it was more memorable and impressive than any of my meetings with human beings.” Muir remembers his run-in with the flower so fondly and being in such awe. Even though it took him forty-five years before he wrote the essay, Muir still has that feeling of love for the flower when he thinks of it. He shows us this in his tone. When reading the essay, it makes us feel happy. Muir was fascinated by the Calypso and perhaps overwhelmed by the emotions he felt. He shows us this by what words he chose to use, or his word …show more content…

Like Muir, William Wordsworth shows how much seeing the flowers affected him. He shows this in the final stanza of his poem. Simply put, he says that whenever he feels down or gloomy, he reflects on his day with the flowers and it cheers him up. He used tone to communicate his mood and feelings for when he was with the flowers or thought of them. It also shows his immense gratitude for nature. Wordsworth also states “A poet could not but be gay, in such a jocund company”. This is an example of word choice. Using words such as “gay” and “jocund” express how much he treasured nature. Also, by describing the flowers in human terms, such as dancing, he shows how wonderful flowers, or just nature in general, can

Show More
Related

  • Free Essays - Analysis of I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

    434 Words  | 1 Pages

    I chose the poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth because I like the imagery in it of dancing daffodils. Upon closer examination, I realized that most of this imagery is created by the many metaphors and similes Wordsworth uses. In the first line, Wordsworth says "I wandered lonely as a cloud." This is a simile comparing the wondering of a man to a cloud drifting through the sky. I suppose the wandering cloud is lonely because there is nothing up there that high in the sky besides it. It can pass by unnoticed, touching nothing. Also, the image of a cloud brings to mind a light, carefree sort of wandering. The cloud is not bound by any obstacle, but can go wherever the whim of the wind takes it. The next line of poem says "I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils." Here Wordsworth is using a metaphor to compare the daffodils to a crowd of people and a host of angels. The word crowd brings to mind an image of the daffodils chattering amongst one another, leaning their heads near each other in the wind. The word host makes them seem like their golden petals are shimmering like golden halos on angels. It is interesting to note that daffodils do have a circular rim of petals in the middle that could look like a halo. Later in the poem Wordsworth uses another simile, saying the dancing of daffodils in the wind is "continuous as the stars that shine and twinkle on the milky way." This line creates the image of the wind blowing the tops of random daffodils up and down in a haphazard matter, so they appear to glint momentarily as their faces catch the sun. This goes along with the next metaphor of the daffodils "tossing their heads in sprightly dance." Comparing their movement to a dance also makes me think of swirling, swishing yellow skirts moving in harmony.

    Read More

  • Individualism In Walt Whitman's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

    424 Words  | 1 Pages

    This demonstrates that individuals are related to nature because he will turn into the grass when he dies, the poet proves it by illustrating the importance of the human's soul like the depth of nature. This signifies that he shows the importance of nature and life, valued by transcendentalists like the poet

    Read More

  • Dorothy & William Wordsworth Analysis

    1832 Words  | 4 Pages

    ‘It is often suggested that the source for many of William Wordsworth’s poems lies in the pages of Dorothy Wordsworth’s journal. Quite frequently, Dorothy describes an incident in her journal, and William writes a poem about the same incident, often around two years later.’ It is a common observation that whilst Dorothy is a recorder – ‘her face was excessively brown’ – William is a transformer – ‘Her skin was of Egyptian brown’ . The intertextuality between The Grasmere and Alfoxden Journals and ‘I wandered lonely as a Cloud’ allows both Dorothy and William to write about the same event, being equally as descriptive, but in very differing ways. Dorothy writes in a realist ‘log-book’ like style, whereas William writes in a romantic ballad style. This can be very misleading, as it gives William’s work more emotional attachment even though his work is drawn upon Dorothy’s diary, which in its turn is very detached, including little personal revelation. When read in conjunction with William’s poetry, Dorothy’s journal seems to be a set of notes written especially for him by her. In fact, from the very beginning of the journals Dorothy has made it quite clear that she was writing them for William’s ‘pleasure’ . This ties in with many of the diary entries in which she has described taking care of William in a physical sense. In a way this depicts the manner in which William uses his sister’s journal to acquire the subject of his poetry, which makes it seem as though Dorothy is his inspiration.

    Read More

  • Wordsworth's Poetry

    1494 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wordsworth's Poetry A lot of literature has been written about motherhood. Wordsworth is a well known English poet who mentions motherhood and female strength in several of his poems, including the Mad Mother, The Thorn, and The Complaint of a Forsaken Indian Woman. This leads some critics to assume that these poems reflect Wordsworth's view of females. Wordsworth portrays women as dependent on motherhood for happiness, yet he also emphasizes female strength.

    Read More

  • I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

    732 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wordsworth and Hopkins both present the reader with a poem conveying the theme of nature. Nature in its variety be it from something as simple as streaked or multicolored skies, long fields and valleys, to things more complex like animals, are all gifts we take for granted. Some never realize the truth of what they are missing by keeping themselves indoors fixating on the loneliness and vacancy of their lives and not on what beauty currently surrounds them. Others tend to relate themselves more to the fact that these lovely gifts are from God and should be praised because of the way his gifts have uplifted our human spirit. Each writer gives us their own ideals as how to find and appreciate nature’s true gifts.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Female Figures In Wordsworth

    770 Words  | 2 Pages

    Two things about Lucy are made clear, the first being that she is beautiful. This is seen in nature’s speech in “Three Years She Grew” when nature declares that “‘A lovelier flower/ On earth was never sown” (l. 2-3). Secondly, it is evident that because of Lucy’s beauty and purity nature will absorb her into itself, which both gives her life and restrains her. In “A Slumber did my Spirit Seal” Lucy is “a thing that could not feel/ The touch of earthly years” (l. 3-4) and is thus rendered insensate by nature, yet she continues to “[roll] round in earth’s diurnal course” (l. 7). However, that is the extent of Lucy’s activity or revealed characteristics in these poems. In this way Lucy consistently enters into a relationship with nature that effectively robs her of any human identity apart from what qualities Wordsworth believes nature will give her. It is true that nature appears to be this benevolent keeper who will take Lucy’s beauty in exchange for a life lived purely because it is so aligned with nature, but Lucy herself is evidently nothing more to the poet than someone whom he can idealize as nature’s mistress. Because he holds nature in such high regard, it is understandable that Wordsworth would seek out his ultimate female

    Read More

  • Lines Composed A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey

    558 Words  | 2 Pages

    Additionally, it incorporates the Romantic theme of sublimity. The theme of sublimity is all about the sensatioanl experiences, which William has with nature, “sensations sweet, felt in the blood, and in the heart; And passing even into my purer mind,” (27-29) is just one example of how nature effects

    Read More

  • The Emotion, Imagination and Complexity of Wordsworth and Coleridge

    2326 Words  | 5 Pages

    Poetry should be understandable to anybody living in the world. Wordsworth eschews the use of lofty, poetic diction, which in his mind is not related to the language of real life. He sees poetry as acting like Nature, which touches all living things and inspires and delights them. Wordsworth calls for poetry to be written in the language of the "common man," and the subjects of the poems should also be accessible to all individuals regardless of class or position. Wordsworth also makes the points that "poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility" (151). These two points form the basis for Wordsworth's explanation of the process of writing poetry. First, some experience triggers a transcendent moment, an instance of the sublime. The senses are overwhelmed by this experience; the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" leaves an individual incapable of articulating the true nature and beauty of the event.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud By William Wordsworth

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the poem, the poet presents an overall meaning. The main meaning is that nature can bring happiness when it’s needed and that its beauty should be appreciated. The speaker of this poem makes a heaven out of a windy day and a bunch of daffodils. When he felt lonely, the daffodils around him, gave him a boost of joy. The poet is implying that people have become blind to the beauty of nature that is easily accessed, which is why he focused on the visual descriptions of the daffodils. Wordsworth wanted to emphasize the importance of

    Read More

  • How Did The Romantic Period Influence Modern Day Poetry?

    767 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rather than simply saying the daffodils were moving with the breeze or that lake water was moving, Wordsworth uses personification to describe the daffodils as “fluttering and dancing in the breeze” and as being “stretched in never-ending line / Along the margin of a bay” with the lake water dancing beside them” (6, 9-10). This technique gives human-like qualities to non-human entities and allows Wordsworth to describe the scene in an unusual fashion all while additionally using vernacular

    Read More

  • It Is A Beauteous Evening Cam And Free Summary

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    While William Wordsworth was engaged to Mary Hutchinson, he journeyed to France to meet his daughter, Caroline, for the first time. That visit with her and her mother, Annette Vallon, inspired his poem “It is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free.” This poem addresses how divinity can be seen and confirmed in an earthly world. Wordsworth uses his understanding of the beauty of nature to confirm God’s existence. He attributes the nature of the sea and the sun and the waves to a mighty Being while including his daughter as another reason of the divine. He sees children as being closer to heaven, to God and, therefore, exempt from needing to see divinity in nature since they have their own connection to the divine.

    Read More

  • William Wordsworth's Use of Nature

    1393 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wordsworth is deeply involved with the complexities of nature and human reaction to it. To Wordsworth nature is the revelation of god through viewing everything that is harmonious or beautiful in nature. Man’s true character is then formed and developed through participation in this balance. Wordsworth had the view that people are at their best when they are closest to nature. Being close creates harmony and order. He thought that the people of his time were getting away from that.

    Read More

  • Nature in "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    To conclude, William Wordsworth uses form and syntax and figurative language to stress on his mental journey, and to symbolize the importance of the beauty and peace of nature. In my opinion, the poet might have written this poem to show his appreciation towards nature. The poem has a happy mood especially when the poet is discussing the daffodils. In this poem the daffodils are characterized as more than flowers, but as humans “fluttering and dancing in the breeze” (line 6). In addition, the poet mentioned himself to be part of nature since nature inspires him to write and think. Therefore, the reason that the poet wrote this poem was to express the feeling of happiness in his mental journey in nature.

    Read More

  • Comparison of the Use of Nature by Shelley and Wordsworth

    1194 Words  | 3 Pages

    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." Not only is this showing the kind of fulfillment he receives from nature, but also the power that nature possesses in his mind.... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

  • The Role of Nature in the poetry of William Wordsworth

    1355 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Comparing The Works Of Wordsworth And Muir

Open Document