Wordsworth

In late 18th century Europe an artistic movement, which would later be identified as Romanticism, was taking root. Europe was experiencing several changes in terms of revolution, war, economics, and threats to their social structure (Norton 2). These changes sparked many writers to shift their literary focus towards a style that emphasized the glorification of the ordinary, spontaneity, the personal “I” of individuality, Nature as a living being, and an interest in the supernatural and exotic. One such writer was William Wordsworth. Born in 1770, his writing career began to take hold in the peak of this literary period. He would later become one of the most quintessential examples of a Romantic author. Writing poetry that focused on the spontaneous overflow of emotions and accentuated his love of the natural world, Wordsworth created a style that would become a basis for both criticism and comparison for years to come. Two poems that seem to emphasize the ideal qualities of Wordsworth’s work are Expostulation and Reply and The Tables Turned, both published in 1798 as components of Lyrical Ballads. According to Wordsworth, the two pieces originated in a conversation with a friend that resulted in a bit of a debate over differences in learning styles (Norton 250).

The first poem in the pair is Expostulation and Reply, in which the opening stanza sets up the ensuing disagreement:

Why, William, on that old grey stone,

Thus for the length of half a day,

Why, William, sit you thus alone,

And dream your time away? (lines 1-4).

Wordsworth’s friend is enquiring as to why he is wasting away his day sitting on a rock and dreaming his time away when he could be learning and gaining an enlightened mind. The friend follows by asking “w...

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... provides undeniable truth, peace, and tranquility in a way that men never could.

Wordsworth concludes this back and forth poetic debate with this final stanza:

Enough of Science and of Art;

Close up those barren leaves’

Come forth, and bring with you a heart

That watches and receives (lines 29-32).

Here we see Wordsworth’s final argument calling for his friend to come to terms with learning from the natural world. Not only does Wordsworth want him to accept this behavior, but he wants him to try it and experience all that it has to offer.

Together, these two poems exemplify what Wordsworth is all about. His life is a series of encounters with environment and his poems depict how these experiences have shaped his life and character. Wordsworth is a romantic in every sense of the word, and this back and forth exchange serves to better enforce this concept.