Ashley HendersonOctober 18, 2009Eng 343/HuntWeek 4 Response Paper

A Response to the Poetry of Wordsworth

The term Romanticism tends to be defined as a return to nature, which is evident in

William Wordsworth’s poetry. “Lines written in early spring” (393-394), is a great example of

Wordsworth’s adoration of nature, and exultation of it over the world of man. While Rousseau

argues that the wild man lived a higher quality life than civilized man, Wordsworth goes further

and argues that nature has intrinsic beauty and deep emotions, debatably more advanced than

man. “Lines written in early spring,” points to the folly of man, how man hurts other men, “And

much it griev’d my heart to think / What man has made of man” (Wordsworth 393). Nature is

presented in a pristine and innocent form “And ‘tis my faith that every flower / Enjoys the air it

breathes” (Wordsworth 393). “The Thorn” (Wordsworth 394-400) presents a strikingly beautiful

object of nature thats glory is hidden by the distraction of humanity. Humanity is represented by

a mad, raving woman, hinting to the insanity of the human race. The repetition of the lines “Oh

misery! oh misery! Oh woe is me! oh misery!” (395, 396, 399, 400) highlight the misery of the

human race while Wordsworth describes the natural word as peaceful, beautiful, and serene. In

“Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey,” Wordsworth laments in a melancholy fashion

on the despair he find in the human race, “For I have learned / To look on nature, not as in the

hour / Of thoughtless youth, but hearing oftentimes / The still, sad music of humanity” (406).

Wordsworth never tries to argue with the reader about nature vs. man and civilization but he

paints lyrical pictures of the world he sees, which cry out for further analysis and reflection.

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Work Cited

Wordsworth, William. “Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey,” The Longman

Anthology of British Literature: Volume A. David Damrosch and Kevin J. H.

Dettmar. Pearson Education, Inc., 2006. 404-408.

Wordsworth, William. “Lines written in early spring.” The Longman Anthology of British

Literature: Volume A. David Damrosch and Kevin J. H. Dettmar. Pearson Education,

Inc., 2006. 393-394.

Wordsworth, William. “The Thorn” The Longman Anthology of British Literature: Volume A.

David Damrosch and Kevin J. H. Dettmar. Pearson Education, Inc., 2006. 394-400.

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