![]() As man moves further and further away from humanity he seems to be losing more and more of his soul. One of Wordsworth's greatest worries is the descent of humanity. In "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey" Wordsworth is comforted by the thought that he will live on after his death, because his sister Dorothy will remember him lovingly. ![]() The little girl seems not to understand death throughout the poem, but in the end the reader learns that she may have a clearer understanding than the speaker. In "We are Seven" Wordsworth looks at a young girl who had six siblings but now lives at home with only her mother, because two of her siblings have died and the others have moved away. ![]() In "Three years she grew" Wordsworth creates a fanciful rationale for her death: Nature became entranced by her and promised to give her an incredible life, but once all of her promises were fulfilled Lucy had to die. ![]() In "She dwelt among the untrodden ways" he focuses on the unexpectedness of her death, and the unpredictability of life and death in general. Wordsworth looks at the event from several angles. The Lucy Poems, for instance, are a series of poems about a young girl who may or may not have been a figment of Wordsworth's imagination, and who ultimately dies. Wordsworth's fascination with death frequently shows up in his poetry. Wordsworth is especially heartened to know that his sister Dorothy, with whom he spent countless hours, will remember him fondly, carrying him with her wherever she goes. Once he has returned to the daily gloom of the city, he will be able to remember the time he spent among nature and make himself happy again: "And then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils."Īs Wordsworth begins to consider his own mortality memory is again a huge comfort, because he realizes that even after he has died he will be able to live on in the memory of his family and friends, just as those who have passed on before him are in his memory. For instance, in poems like "Line Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey" and "I wandered lonely as a cloud" Wordsworth is in nature (his favorite place to be) and he is happy, but he becomes even happier when he realizes that he never actually has to leave his memories behind. The most important use of memory, however, is to maintain connections. In several of his poems he begins in a negative or depressed mood, and then slowly becomes more positive. Memoryįor Wordsworth, the power of the human mind is extremely important. Form past experience Wordsworth knows that spending time in nature is a gift to his future self, because later, when he is alone, tired and frustrated in the busy, dirty city, he will be able to look back on a field of daffodils he once spent time in and be happy again. Nature also gives Wordsworth hope for the future. In the end, however, he often decides that it is wrong to be sad while in nature: "A poet could not but be gay, / In such jocund company."Ģ. Wordsworth wonders how they could possibly revive their spirits. This is usually because, even as he relishes in his connection with nature, he worries about the rest of humanity, most of who live in cites completely apart from nature. Even though it is intensely beautiful and peaceful, nature often causes Wordsworth to feel melancholy or sad. Nature fills two major roles in Wordsworth's poetry:ġ. For Wordsworth, nature is a kind of religion in which he has the utmost faith. Nature and its connection to humanity makes an appearance in the vast majority of Wordsworth's poetry, often holding a poem's focus, and has become the cornerstone of the Romantic Movement primarily because of him. "Come forth into the light of things, / Let Nature be your Teacher." No discussion on Wordsworth would be complete without mention of nature.
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