Wordsworth
William Wordsworth uses the romantic trademark of nature and innocence to criticize how the human species feels, thinks and acts. While he doesn't directly say how that is, he insinuates to the reader that it is shameful when compared to the way nature works. At first glance, you would not expect such a powerful statement from a poem called, "Lines Written in Early Spring". The title itself is vague, but it gives the impression of renewed life and beauty. Indeed, there are some vivid references to the sounds, sights, and emotions of nature in the springtime; however, this is just used as a way to compare and contrast society and nature. One might wonder when reading, "I heard a thousand blended notes/While in a grove I sate reclined"(1-2), how the words, "it griev'd my heart", could be associated in the same poem. In the first stanza we get a satisfying feeling of sitting among the trees and hearing the musical rhythmic sounds of nature. A relaxed, peaceful tone is set with the words, "sweet mood"(3), and "pleasant thoughts" (3) in the first stanza, but then destroyed in the same stanza with, "Bring sad tho
The last stanza asks the question, after the comparisons have been made, "If I these thoughts may not prevent,/If such be of my creed the plan,/Have I not reason to lament/What man has mad of man?"(21-24). If you look at the aspects of nature he chose to describe in the third stanza, there is an underlying theme. Basically, "To her fair works did nature link/The human soul that through me ran"(5). Even for the speaker, being human, it is hard to believe without a conscious effort "I must think, do all I can" that such an ordinary task or movement can bring such "pleasure"(20). "(17-18) Unlike man, nature knows to cherish these small freedoms rather than to naively take them for granted, for nature is conscious of the fact that destruction by its own hand is always at bay. It can be believed that the gifts or privileges afforded to members of society all have a price and are not given freely to everyone. This is a very poetic way to plead with the reader to ask, if you believe what I have stated about the divine offerings of nature, shouldn't this give you motive to mourn or complain about what man has caused society to become?. Wordsworth elaborates on the give and take concept of nature by stating how happy the animals appeared by the way they "hopp'd and play'd"(13). " They seemed so genuinely pleased with their very existence, "I cannot measure"(14). "Through primrose-tufts, in that sweet bower,/The periwinkle trail'd its wreathes"(9-10), illustrates nature's power to heal with its open offering of healing herbs ("primrose) intertwined and draping like loving gifts on an arbor ("sweet bower"). Man tends to take the small pleasures for granted, such as, "The budding twigs spread out their fan,/To catch the breezy air. (5) The speaker is "griev'd"(7) when he sees the purity of nature and compares it to the not so pure society in which he lives. Not only does Wordsworth explain the offering and power of nature, but he also that he believes nature takes pleasure in this appearance or "Enjoys the air"(12). It is human nature to see something beautiful and be reminded of something ugly; in this case the ugly is imbedded in "the human soul".
Common topics in this essay:
Written Spring,
William Wordsworth,
offering power,
human soul,
contrast society,
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