Preview

Coleridge and Wordsworth

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
476 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Coleridge and Wordsworth
A beacon of hope
Nature is a precious gift. It is a beacon of hope, a shimmering star of all that is good and innocent in the world. Some have the ability to truly appreciate this beacon of hope, while others take for granted the beauty and innocence.
The innocence and serenity of nature often make people feel at home and relaxed. Both Coleridge and Wordsworth found this same serenity in nature. Watching the beautiful flowers blow in the wind gave Wordsworth a sense of peacefulness, one that could not be compared to any manmade object. He describes a sense of ultimate joyfulness, where one could not but be happy while watching the majestic flowers dance. Wordsworth has opened his mind to the beauty of nature, allowing it to be saved in his mind. Coleridge finds this ultimate joyfulness watching nature as well. He writes of a man watching nature do its daily chores, bees buzzing around, Birds flapping their wings. While watching nature for a split second the speaker sees a glimpse of ultimate joyfulness. The speaker finds nature to be so beautiful that he actually questions what beauty is.
Wordsworth appreciates the beauty of nature so much that when he is feeling lonely he instantly is uplifted when he remembers the majestic daffodils. In an instant he is filled with overwhelming joy as he is remembers the beauty of the flowers dancing in the sunlight. Wordsworth directly relates the relationship between man and nature, making his joyous memories etched in his mind forever. Coleridge does not find this same appreciation in nature, he is able to see the beauty that nature possesses but he does not truly appreciate it. Coleridge is blinded by his lack of success and self-esteem. He believes that he can’t truly see beauty because of his own lack of success. He has lost all hope in nature and chooses to ignore the beauty all around him. Shielded by his own woes he will forever be ungrateful of the beautiful gifts that nature presents.
Coleridge

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The poem follows the narrator’s internal monologue as he revisits a place of nostalgia that ignited his love of nature. His fears that the picturesque scene of his childhood has been idealized are quieted as he sees the place for the first time in five years, falling in love with the environment all over again. He even credits nature as “The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse,/The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul/Of all my moral being” (Wordsworth LL. 109-111). His ecological thinking recharges his soul and makes him feel joyful about life once again. Nature also connects the narrator to his sister, who he sees himself in because of their love of the countryside. He acknowledges his sister the first time in the poem as his “dear, dear Friend; and in thy voice I catch/The language of my former heart, and read/My former pleasures in the shooting lights/Of thy wild eyes” (Wordsworth LL.…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Do you ever forget about the impact nature has on you? Although people do not like to admit it, nature is something many people forget about and, as a result, neglect. Not only does nature keep everyone alive, but it also typically brightens the days of many just by being outside their windows. In the anthology Colors of Nature: Culture, Identity, and the Natural World, essays by authors such as Nalini Nadkarni, Al Young, and Jennifer Oladipo explore the importance of nature and growth in human beings. These authors share a common interest in nature, portraying similar messages about nature. In particular, Nadkarni, Young, and Oladipo stress the importance nature has on individuals in their pieces. From reading the essays “A Tapestry of Browns and Greens,” “Silent Parrot Blues,” and “Porphyrin Rings,” we watch the authors grow as people. Through their insight and experiences with nature, the authors show readers how connected people and nature truly are.…

    • 3390 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    “, the sight of what is beautiful in nature... could always interest my heart.” – VF was (he is recollecting his childhood, here) a Romantic. Now, he has gone against nature and created something unnatural, P.114…

    • 1652 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In these lines Wordsworth writes about when he was younger and the memories he has which he can never replicate. He's haunted by the beauty of the the rocks, the mountains and the woods. He thinks about the charms of the scenery, how it looks at the time, how it looked in the past and it’s gifts. He gains pleasure from the scenery and reminisces about how nature inspired him even in his younger days, how it what he was looking at would possibly inspire him in later days.…

    • 343 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Muir and Wordsworth

    • 791 Words
    • 2 Pages

    While both poets Muir and Wordsworth wrote about the happy feelings that they have towards nature the beautiful outdoors or what some people may say Mother Nature, some of which the feelings are the same and some that are different as they speak of the different plants.…

    • 791 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Nature- to Build a Fire

    • 1826 Words
    • 8 Pages

    From the bitter, cold winters in Antarctica to the blazing, hot summers in Africa and from the ugly, thick swamplands of Louisiana to the beautiful, clean coasts of Hawaii, nature plays a pivotal role in life on this wonderful planet. Nature is extremely dangerous but it is also a beautiful component of the earth. People view nature in unique ways that are displayed through actions and words. Jack London, author of “To Build a Fire”, and Henry David Thoreau, author of Walden, both value nature and view it in a unique way that is translated to their works of literature. These two authors apply a unique perspective of how nature can apply to everyday life. The aspects of interacting with nature and human emotions analyzed and examined in the works of Jack London and Henry David Thoreau.…

    • 1826 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Romanticism emerged against a time of increased urbanisation and industrialisation, where people sought instead an immersion in nature instead. Coleridge’s poem exemplifies many of the feelings which the contemporaries of the time had towards nature, including impressions of its richness, its superiority to the city and the power of the divine reflected in nature. The countryside (nature) is portrayed as more valuable than the city, with Coleridge claiming that Charles “hunger’d after Nature, many a year, in the great City pent”, comparing the city to a prison, whilst nature is something to be desired. Using colourful descriptions such as “and that walnut-tree was richly ting’d” and “ye purple heath flowers”, Coleridge stimulates the richness and beauty of nature in the reader’s mind. Nature is given a sense of grandeur, vibrancy and vitality, reflecting the elevation of nature common to the time, with even the simple rook becoming a thing of momentary glory as it “cross’d the mighty Orb’s dilated glory”. Unlike in the Augustan age, where nature existed as something to be tamed by mankind, here nature exists in its own right. In fact, it is even seen to be raised up to a religious level, with Coleridge using the vocative terms “thou” and “ye” in reference to the Sun and clouds, essentially lifting them to the level of a deity. Hence they are able to partake in the majesty of God.…

    • 1047 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The reason Wordsworth wrote this poem was to express the beauty of all nature and how we take its beauty for granted. He is wishing to convey that we should acknowledge nature because we are nature and nature is in all of use. Also that we should admire its beauty before the image is gone and it’s too late.…

    • 799 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The world around us is changing, and not for the better. Pollution litters our lakes and our oceans, forests are being chopped down by the mile, and hunting has pushed some of the most beautiful creatures to have ever existed to bring of extinction. Our species lost has lost our respect for the world around us and authors such as Annie DIllard and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Authors such as those attempt to reinstate the lost concept of respect for the natural world through pieces, such as “Living Like Weasels” and “Nature” respectively. From these pieces we learn the value of nature and why we should respect it. Although both pieces attempt to explain this concept in very different ways, both contain valuable information on the respecting of nature.…

    • 427 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the 1800s era Williams wordsworth wrote the poem “this world is too much with us”. He uses the individual reference of romanticism to describe and exaggerate on how he feels. In the first stanza Wordsworth says “The world is too much with us; late and soon Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers”. What he means is that people have lost connection to nature,they have lost the meaning to life and they lost themselves. Moving on to the second stanza Wordsworth states “Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!”.…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ralph Waldo Emerson

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Ralph Waldo Emerson’s attitude towards nature is very explicit in this passage. He not only lets the reader see that he is awed and delighted by it, but that he also enjoys it. He explores the differences between how adults see nature and the way children view it. Finally, he once again states his love of nature. Ralph Waldo Emerson was not only an excited writer of nature, but an enjoyer of its wonderful aspects as well.…

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Beauty of the Trees

    • 279 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Imagine a place with giant trees, tall bluffs overlooking the ocean, and green water lapping on the rocks below. The wind is cool and moist, the aroma of sea foam and grass fill the air, and water as far as the eye can see. Imagine this place and you have the Pacific Northwest, the home of Chief Dan George and the setting for his poem “The Beauty of the Trees. “ Chief Dan George was a leader of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, a band of the Salish Indians located near coastal Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He was an Indian Chief, actor, writer, and poet. “The Beauty of the Trees,” one of his most famous poems, has an underlying theme that the simple things in nature should be appreciated. The title of the poem suggests the poem will be about trees or the forest; however, it is about more than that. George presents a speaker who emphasizes the connection between him and nature, and he wants the reader to feel the same passion he does. The reader imagines a simple life, a man cooking fresh salmon over a fire as the sun sets with the trees whispering in the distance. In the final verse, the line “and the life that never goes away, they speak to me” (lines 16 and 17) the reader connects nature and the speaker to the circle of life and knows it will all happen tomorrow as nature is reliable. The last line “and my heart soars” (line 18) implies the speaker is content with life because nature is beautiful, connected to his heart, and will be the same…

    • 279 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In this colorful and passionate essay, "Down the River", Edward Abbey depicts nature as a mysterious and majestic place in order to encourage his open-minded readers to embrace all that it has to offer. He also expresses how both nature and our everyday lives are very similar in that they are mysterious and only understandable in small fractions. His tone of admiration leads the reader to recognize that we as humans tend to not see the reflection of mankind in nature; therefore we stunt our ability to fully appreciate and experience its mystery and beauty. His use of parallel structure and imagery provide the reader with a multitude of reasons to appreciate and adore nature.…

    • 373 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The child’s imagination allows them to form an intense bond with nature. In Tintern Abbey, Wordsworth has several boyish encounters where his emotions are prime as opposed to intellectual endeavours. As a boy, he thought of and imagined the mountains and woods. Their appearance manifested to him as “an appetite” or “a feeling and a love” (line 80). These raw emotions, which Wordsworth experiences is not due to external influences but because of the child’s imagination. Having “no need of a remoter charm” (line 81), nature appears to Wordsworth solely based on his youthful imagination and senses. It is an ecstatic exchange, in which all of nature seems holy and sacred to Wordsworth. This allows him to immerse himself in nature and truly become one with it.…

    • 695 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    People can often get lost in their hectic lives and forget how just being in the presence of nature can affect them greatly. The romantic poems are called The Tide Rises The Tide Falls, The First Snowfall, and The Chambered Nautilus. The Tide Rises The Tide Falls, Written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, is about how nature will always go on no matter what happens to people. The First Snowfall is written by James Russell Lowell. It is about a father who is dealing with the passing of his daughter. The Chambered Nautilus, written by Oliver Wendell Holmes, talks about how a person was inspired by a simple shell. The value of nature is how it can help people during sad events, heal them after unhappy incidents , and inspire them.…

    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays