Since time immemorial human relations with nature have defined the development of whole civilizations. Viewed as the source of life and the inspiration for progress, nature represents an enormous mystery for people to solve. Initially interpreting nature as a resource for satisfying the basic human needs in nutrition and accommodation, humankind acquired deep knowledge and understanding of nature within such spheres as, inter alia chemistry, physics, biology and astronomy. The information retrieved within those sciences has provided an invaluable basis for further development and complication of relations between people and nature.
And yet, in spite of all the vast knowledge of and indestructible bonds to nature, people demonstrate a striking instability in their treatment of nature. On the one hand, multiple organizations are established in support and protection of nature, fighting for preservation of natural resources and introducing principles of sustainable development in all spheres of human live from building techniques to overall organization of the Olympics. On the other hand, careless negligence in treatment nature can still be observed when the situation is concentrated around the business interests of influential tycoons. Among all these discrepancies, there exist a number of people whose treatment of nature is guided neither by ambitions of fame and popularity, nor by financial interests: those people are poets, reverently praising the nature as the source of creative inspiration and a wise mentor for vehement seekers of the ultimate divine truth. The number of poets glorifying nature in their works is indeed incalculable, thus it appears reasonable to focus the present paper on one of them. The father of English romanticism in poetry, William Wordsworth is distinguished by his deep and thoughtful veneration of nature, reflected in his works that are permeated with the idea of nature being the bearer of the ultimate truth and beauty.
Throughout his life, Wordsworth observed the English nature in his walks through native landscapes and pondered upon it not necessarily at the moment of direct perception but more often at times of solitude. An instance of this can be found in one of Wordsworth’s most renowned poems, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” (more popular under the title “Daffodils”), which was written by the poet two long years after he had actually seen the flowers that inspired the poetic response. Wordsworth recollects a bright spring day when he undertook a walk with his sister Dorothy along a lake shore at Grasmere, Cumbria County, and unexpectedly encountered a whole “crowd, a host of golden daffodils” (474). So vivid were the flowers that the poet describes them as sun rays dancing and swerving in the gentle breeze; in their shiny mass, the daffodils appear to Wordsworth a reflection of the celestial phenomenon, the Milky Way with its trillions of bright stars scattered upon the velvet darkness of the sky. Thus the English romantic communicates the idea of overall interconnection of everything in the universe; and in these words a careful reader is able to discover the message of necessity for thoughtful and wise treatment of nature, since intruding into one aspect of it which people could consider minor and irrelevant, they could cause irreversible damage to some vital part of the nature.
Continuing the idea of interconnection in the nature, Wordsworth demonstrates the situation of competition between the dancing daffodils and the “sparkling waves” of the lake — all of them are characterized by the poet as gleeful, with daffodils even outperforming the waves in their exultation (474). In that instance one can observe the ultimate joy and delight which are inherent in any phenomenon of the nature: not only the living plants but also the inanimate water expresses a positive impulse of a force so great that the poet cannot forget it years afterwards. In “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” Wordsworth emphasizes the harmonizing and curing effect of nature on the human beings; he utters a confession that recollecting the cheerfulness of once seen daffodils brings delight to his heart which “…with pleasure fills, / And dances with the daffodils” (474). Moreover, the poet bitterly remarks on the mistake people commit when they fail to notice and appreciate the wonders of natural beauty engrossed by the problems of the day: “I gazed—and gazed—but little thought / What wealth the show to me had brought” (Wordsworth 474). But despite this inattention, the nature in its almightiness appears capable of thriving without human reaction to it — an idea that is hardly relevant to the present environmental situation, since within two centuries that have passed since Wordsworth’s memorable walk humankind has managed to intrude into the natural course of events so severely that restoration is possible only on condition of people’s considered and balanced actions.
Another instance of the poet’s worship of nature is found in “It Is a Beauteous Evening”, a poem Wordsworth wrote reflecting a walk with his daughter he had not seen for ten years. The calm hour of sunset is compared by the poet to “a nun / Breathless with adoration” and thus appears a holy time of quiet pray and observation of God’s grace (Wordsworth 475). Everything in the nature is still and enigmatic in its sacred entity that embraces the whole world in one enormous breath of the universe. Wordsworth employs a powerful contrast to deliver the message of the nature’s greatness: the overall stillness of the nature is at the same time a powerful breath of “the mighty Being”, the universal body that continues its “eternal motion” at any moment of time (475). Thus even if human beings do not notice the “solemn thought” of the nature, it embraces them anyway with all the divine love and care: “God being with thee when we know it not” (Wordsworth 475). Nature, equaled by the poet to the omnipotent and omniscient God, is everywhere and all the time, whether people notice it or not; and therefore it is advantageous and wholesome for humankind to consider nature as a kind patron and mentor for the benefit of both people and their divine origin.
One of the deepest meditations on nature and its properties is Wordsworth’s “Ode: Intimations of Immortality”. Tracing his own thoughts and ideas of nature, the poet confesses that he used to view nature and “every common sight” as divine glorious (Wordsworth 475). However, with the course of time the glee of natural objects is gone in his perception, though they are still fair and lovely: “there hath past away a glory from the earth” (Wordsworth 475). In his search for the faded happiness, Wordsworth arrives at the conclusion that all human is transient and short-lived, while the natural proceeds to exist in its glory; the solution to the problem is found by the poet in the idea that one should treat life philosophically, and along with preserving the knowledge of human mortality, still comprehend the grandeur of the nature as an unprecedented source of inspiration for mind and soul.
The poet’s eye can often look far beyond the daily wants and vanity. In his poems William Wordsworth demonstrates the perception of nature as a universal essence that in its greatness embraces the whole world of interrelated things and teaches people a lesson of beauty, joy and glory. Such view of nature is especially relevant in the modern context of environmental protection since a constructive perspective appears to be the most consistent way of treating environmental issues.
Works Cited
Wordsworth, William. “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.” Literature: A Pocket Anthology. 3rd ed. Ed. R. S. Gwynn. White Plains, NY: Longman, 2007. 474. Print.
—. “It Is a Beauteous Evening.” Literature: A Pocket Anthology. 3rd ed. Ed. R. S. Gwynn. White Plains, NY: Longman, 2007. 475. Print.
—. “Ode: Intimations of Immortality.” Literature: A Pocket Anthology. 3rd ed. Ed. R. S. Gwynn. White Plains, NY: Longman, 2007. 475. Print.