William Wordsworth: The influential Romantic Poet

 

 

Dr. Ruwan M Jayatunge
 

William Wordsworth, one of the most influential romantic poets in Western literature, was deeply influenced by his love for nature which inspired him since his childhood. Wordsworth presented a magnificent picture of the relationship between human beings and the natural world. For him, nothing was wonderful or mysterious other than nature. He introduced himself as a Nature’s child.

Wordsworth made an explicit connection between poetic diction and the appropriate relationship between nature and society. His poetry often rejoices the beauty and spiritual values of the natural world. Wordsworth’s poems add sunshine to the human heart. William Wordsworth saw man as a part of the natural world but felt disturbed when Industrialization broke the innate bond and created a more artificial world away from his dreams.

Strange emotions

With a melancholic feeling, he accepted the consequences of the Industrial Revolution that changed the air and terrain. Wordsworth was not against the achievements of science and technology but obviously felt gloomy when nature was replaced by man-made artificial cities. Then he wrote

The world is too much with us, late and soon

Getting and spending we lay waste our powers

Little we see in Nature that is ours

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon

This sea that bares her bosom to the moon

The winds that will be howling at all hours

And are up gathered not like sleeping flowers

Wordsworth was a factual Romantic thinker. He revolutionized poetry by writing in simple, straightforward language. His verse represents the ideas he carried from the eighteenth century to the Victorian age. His entire life was an explosion of creative talent.

His poetry recounts the philosophy of life. Wordsworth defined poetry as the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings,” intense “emotion recollected in tranquility.”

He often said, “Poetry is the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge; it is the impassioned expression which is in the countenance of all Science.” As a poet, he blends his metaphysics with pictures of life and scenery. He used external symbols to speak to the human heart.

Energy and passion

Wordsworth continued to write poetry with energy and passion. Some of his poetry had radical origins. Wordsworth’s interest in both poetry and politics was exceptional. He believed in a rationalistic model of human behavior and formulated his own theory of human nature. Wordsworth grasped Rousseau’s expression: “Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains and his illustrious slogan “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.”

Wordsworth came into contact with the French Revolution while living in France and was fascinated by the revolutionary activities. Revolutionary Paris boosted his young spirit. He had hailed the French Revolution with feelings of enthusiastic admiration. There was a rebel inside him. He composed many ideas on justice and morality. William was better at writing philosophical ideas in verse.

Wordsworth adopted radical intellectual and political stances. He used his inner thoughts to process the ideas of freedom and independence admiring nature and pronouncing man’s innate connection with it. He saw nothing loftier than human hopes, nothing deeper than the human heart nothing more valuable than nature, and nothing more negotiable than human freedom.

Inspiration

Even though the French Revolution gave him a glimpse of hope in the early stages soon he realized human freedom was not at a reachable point. The Reign of Terror connected with the French Revolution made him discontent.

The key representative of English Romanticism was against revolutionary republicanism which promoted violence.

Although he embraced the radical faith when he witnessed terror Wordsworth became a conservative public man. He was disappointed when the blossom of human freedom faded. Wordsworth lost his trust in immediate social reform. Then he devoted himself to study in seclusion. But the influence of the French Revolution on this part of his life cannot be undervalued.

His poem Guilt and Sorrow (or Incidents on Salisbury Plain) could be the testimony of his feelings. As a dejected man, he converted his personal experiences and tragedies into verse. Wordsworth explored a wider spectrum of nature and the human heart. He was one of the prominent Romantic thinkers of all time. He does not belong to one country or to one culture. William Wordsworth was a universal man who believed in human freedom, aspirations, and man’s exceptional bond with nature.