Dec 20, 2023
Prof.(Dr.) Asghar Ali Ansari
School of Languages, Literature &Society,
Jaipur National University, Jaipur, India
Do you know what the relationship between William Wordsworth and the Nature was? William Wordsworth was one of the greatest Romantic poets of Nature. As a poet of Nature, he stands supreme. For him Nature was his guide, friend, nurse and, in short, everything. In his poems, Wordsworth does not treat Nature casually or in a passing manner like other poets. He considered Nature as a living personality having divine power. Being the greatest poet of Nature, Wordsworth worshipped the Nature. Throughout his poetic career, Wordsworth remained devoted to Nature. He developed a new and full-fledged philosophy of Nature which we find in his poems. In this blog we will explore his philosophy of Nature.
Wordsworth’s Philosophy of Nature:
• Wordsworth has personified the Nature. He considered Nature as a living personality.
• He believed that there is a divine spirit in all the objects of Nature and so they have healing power.
• This philosophy of Nature has been well expressed in his famous poems like Tintern Abbey and in Book II of The Prelude.
• Wordsworth believed that the company of Nature gives us joy. Since Nature has healing divine power, it relieves the sorrow- stricken hearts.
• Wordsworth spiritualized Nature and considered her as a great teacher, best mother, guardian, and nurse of man. He believed that there is a spiritual communication between nature and human beings.
. • He believed that between man and Nature there is mutual consciousness, spiritual communion or ‘mystic intercourse’. He initiates his readers into the secret of the soul’s communion with Nature.
• According to Wordsworth, a person who grows up in the lap of Nature is a perfect man in every respect.
• Wordsworth believed in the education of Nature. He believed that a man can learn a lot of things about moral evil and good from Nature.
• For him Nature is the best teacher and guide.
Development of His Love for Nature:
Wordsworth childhood was spent in close proximity of Nature. So, since his childhood, he developed a love for Nature. As a child, he enjoyed all the objects of Nature from flowing rivers, dancing flowers, green trees to huge beautiful mountains and thus he fell in love with Nature. In the poem, Tintern Abbey, Wordsworth traces the development of his love for Nature. Fist nature was a playground for him when he was a child, later on in his youth, he was attracted towards Nature for its sensuous beauty, and finally in his later life, his love for Nature acquired a spiritual and intellectual character and played the role of a teacher and guide in his life. In The Prelude, he records dozens of these natural scenes, not for themselves but for what his mind could learn through. In the Immortality Ode he tells us that as a boy his love for Nature was a thoughtless passion but that when he grew up, the ob¬jects of Nature took a sober colouring from his eyes and gave rise to profound thoughts in his mind because he had witnessed the suffer¬ings of humanity:
Conclusion:
Thus we see that Wordsworth’s love for Nature is totally different from other poets. He did not prefer the wild and stormy aspects of Nature like Lord Byron or Shelley. He also did not love Nature for its sensuousness like John Keats. He loved Nature for its ordinary, familiar and everyday moods. He did not recognize the ugly side of Nature but stressed only upon the moral influence of Nature. In short we can say that Nature was the source of all joy for Wordsworth. Nature for him was a living personality just like a teacher, a guide and a nurse.
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