William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth, the most influential of the Romantics, sought to do more than create beautiful poetry. Wordsworth truly desired to be understood by using everyday language to explore the complexity of human experience. By bringing poetry down from the level of complex clauses and useless imagery, he was able to dive deeper into the significant relationships between the mind and nature, and because his language was simple and straightforward, such conclusions could be understood by a wide variety of readers. 

An example of Wordsworth exploring the connection between mind and nature can be seen in his Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey. In this poem, Wordsworth is writing of his return to Tintern Abbey with his sister and of the many effects these natural scenes seem to have on him. The sights of nature allow him to embark into a deep meditation: "I behold these steep and lofty cliffs which on a wild secluded scene impress thoughts of more deep seclusion" (202). As Wordsworth describes this familiar scene depicted in front of him, his imagination runs wild as he attempts to predict the origin of the "wreaths of smoke" he witnesses and whether they arose "of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods, or of some hermit's cave"(203).

Wordsworth then describes the effect that these scenes have on him when he is away from them. He writes that when he is "in lonely rooms, and mid the din of towns and cities," the nature has brought him "sensations sweet/tranquil restoration/unremembered pleasure" (203). He further credits such memory for allowing him to reach a significant spiritual state where he can become a "living soul" and "see into the life of things" (203). In such a mental state, Wordsworth claims that the weight of the "unintelligible world is lighten'd" (203). He then admits that his belief may be "vain," but he continues to turn to such a release when in a "fretful stir...of the world"(203). In these stanzas, Wordsworth emphasizes that the scenes of nature observed by the mind can become an eternal escape from the world by way of one's memory. Therefore, nature is should not just be admired, but should also be appreciated for the thoughts it provokes in the mind and the imprint it leaves there. In this way, the mind and nature can become intimately and significantly conjoined. 

Wordsworth goes on to explore how his relationship with nature has matured and the consequences that have arose from such a change. As he revives these former memories, the experience feels bittersweet. He reflects on his communion with nature as a child: "when I first came among the hills; when like a roe I bounded o'er the mountains/For nature then...to me was all in all" (204). Wordsworth reflects that in these days nature was his love, but upon reflection of these days he will "nor mourn nor murmur" because the "gifts" he has attained since his childhood have compensated for the intimacy that he lost (204). He has regained something that is "far more deeply infused" for now he can "look on nature" and "hear human music" (204). These quotes mean that now he could now understand the relationship that these coveted scenes had on human life. When he was a child, he enjoyed and loved nature, but as he grew older and lost this communion, he gained the ability to be aware of the effect that these scenes had on him. For these reasons, Wordsworth declared "Therefore am I still a lover of the meadows and the woods, and the mountains..." (204). He ends content with knowing the experiences he had that day would provide him and his sister with wonderful memories to which they could escape. 

Personally, I am thankful that Wordsworth found it important to be readily understood. I found his all of his works to be beautiful and easy to understand. Of the Romantics, Wordsworth and his sister were like a breath of fresh air that I could enjoy and not stress over when analyzing.