Wordsworth and Malouf
William Wordsworth and David Malouf offer views on humanity's relationship with the natural world that have many similarities in some areas, and contrast in other areas. David Malouf, in his novel "An Imaginary Life" emphasises the importance of being at one and in harmony with the natural world, the wild. He believes that by finding our identity in nature, we devolve back to a state of childhood innocence and in this state only can we find true happiness. Wordsworth goes to the next level. He agrees with Malouf that nature is a universal teacher, but believes also that nature is deified. The natural world that he speaks of is the tamed wild of the English countryside whereas Malouf writes about Ovid's journey to Tomis which is a much wilder, harsher and untamed natural world. It is therefore through a deep understanding of the composer's perspectives, we gain an insight into the values and attitudes the composers see as important in life.The are four main areas that have to be dealt with in order to understand the similarities and differences in the composer's mentalities. The context in which they deal is important, but also leads on to the comparison between their views on nature and the wild. The catalysts that Mal
In the poem "Strange Fits of Passion Have I Known" details Wordsworth's journey to a place of fulfillment. Malouf's is the real, barbaric wild, Wordsworth's wild is much tamer. This is why Malouf signposts Ovid's journey with rhetoric questions and internal monologue, to show us how far Ovid has come on his inner journey. After this, he is forced into the wild so like it or not, he must deal with nature. Ovid wonders whether or not The Child can ever know what his fate is to be as he knows little of his heritage, background, etc. It is through the way we live our lives that our fate or destiny can often be determined. Both composers use catalysts as a sort of time sequence to help the flow of the texts. The reaper's song is eternal and happy as she has immersed herself in nature and has a positive interaction with it. The natural world that he speaks is more tame wild than Tomis which is a wilder, harsher and untamed natural world. This is because the intensely personal perspectives on nature detailing the respective values and attitudes of the composers makes it easier for us to apply to our own lives. The strongest similarity perhaps then is the technique of juxtaposition. His catalyst is the industrial revolution and is not as direct as the catalysts employed by Malouf. This represents a clash in values and attitudes of the composers.
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