Wordsworth and Eastern Thought
William Wordsworth is considered the greatest poet of the Romantic period in British literature, and one of the greatest poets to ever write in the English language. His friend and contemporary, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, hailed him as "the best poet of the age". At first, however, the public did not openly embrace Wordsworth's poetry. The subject matter of the poems and the language it was written in was so revolutionary that his contemporaries did not know how to react to it. His poetry relied heavily on his experiences in nature and the lives of common people, and he explained in his Preface to the Lyrical Ballads that he wanted to represent "incidents and situations from common life" (Stillinger 446). Throughout his poetry, the effect that nature had on his understanding of life, and the way he looked to nature for comfort can be seen. Wordsworth's deep connection with nature and the natural processes of life make for an interesting comparison to the basic tenets of Buddhist doctrine. Comparing Wordsworth's view of nature and life to the basic Buddhist views of both offers an interesting insight on some of the commonalities between the two. Seeing the connections between Wordsworth, a central figure in the Western Tradit
This selection also explains that many men miss this connection. In the Preface to Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth writes that he is "almost ashamed to have spoken of the feeble effort with which I have endeavored to counteract [the effect of society on the mind]" (Stillinger 447). In his Preface, Wordsworth points to why people "imagine trivial things to be vital to life": "a multitude of causes, unknown to former times, are now acting with the combined force to blunt the discriminating powers of the mind" (Stillinger 447). Liu explains that Wordsworth "directs his anger. This call for social reform, with its concern for the poverty-stricken and less fortunate, mirrors the Buddha's call for right action and right occupation as parts of the Eightfold Path. This poem is important because it gives Wordsworth's view of how nature affected and influenced his mental development. In "Tintern Abbey," Wordsworth refers to the sublime. The main tenets of Buddhism are the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. This connection can be seen in Wordsworth's Prospectus to The Recluse: "How exquisitely the individual Mind (And the progressive powers perhaps no less Of the whole species) to the external World Is fitted: - and how exquisitely, too- Theme this but little heard of men- The external world is fitted to the Mind; And the creation (by no lower name Can it be called) which they with blended might Accomplish: - this is our high argument. His compassion for the rest of humanity shines throughout his poetry. The Buddha speaks of missed connection: "The deluded, imagine trivial things to be vital to life, [and] follow their vain fancies and never attain the highest knowledge" (qtd. By following the Eightfold Path, the Buddha wanted people to see the truth about the relationship between life and nature. At first, the experimental poems received bad reviews because critics did not understand what Wordsworth was attempting to accomplish with his poetry. The scenes have, "in hours of weariness," helped him to get through rough times, so these scenes have had "no slight or trivial influence/ On that best portion of a good man's life" (lines 27, 32-3). This comparison shows the significance of The Dhammapada to the Buddhist faith.
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