a one-page response to william wordsworth's poetry
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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.
Henderson 1
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.
Henderson 2
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