The type of landscape in Cockermouth, Lake

District.

Biography: William Wordsworth was born on the 7th of

April 1770, in Cockermouth, England also known as the Lake District. Cockermouth was a Bucolic style town with vast green fields, with numerous forests and was situated right next to the river Derwent. Wordsworth spent much of his childhood in the Lake District surrounded nature. Wordsworth’s parents died while he was young which led him spending a lot of time at boarding school where he studied the arts and sciences at St Johns College. He grew a deep interest in the arts, although he was very talented in the sci-ences, he was drawn to poetry. He later, trav-elled to France where he lived for many years, he met a lady named Annette Vallon whom he Married and had a daughter to. While living in France, there was a revolution, the poor people of France uprose against the rich. Also throughout Europe and much of the world there was an Industrial Revolution, which led to major materialism. The events and social situation during Wordsworth’s life greatly influenced the themes and ideas and what he protested.

William Wordsworth “Nature never did betray the heart that loved her”. 

During the Victorian Era that Wordsworth grew and

lived he despised the class separation, the gigantic gap

between rich and poor. The poor people lived in very

filthy and unsanitary conditions, this was worsened by

the building of factories. He believed the poor were

treated like a pest by the rich and he saw the power the

poor held when they worked together, as he saw in

France. Wordsworth believed that all people were equal

and they should be treated no differently. This was one

of the major protest of Wordsworth’s poems the other

was Materialism and the disconnection with the natural

world. The industrial revolution had introduced mass

produced goods and the destruction of much of the

worlds natural beauty. Through this people loss connec-

tion with what was truly important, the natural world.

Wordsworth believed that as a child the connection with

nature was strong and was truly understood, but as we

age this strong connection with nature fade, but memo-

ries can still influence us. We attempt to fill this memory

with unnatural materials and we unknowingly start de-

stroying the natural world without thought or respect.

This is another major protest of Wordsworth’s Poems.

The Protest 

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” - Wordsworth

Comparison The comparison between William Wordsworth and Mary Oliver shows that they both have very similar ide-als about the importance of human connection with na-ture but differ very much in writing style. Mary Oliver was an American poet born in 1935 and wrote poems all of her life. Oliver how ever heavily protests the protec-tion of nature and materialism, this protest bases it self around the depletion of natural resources and destruction of natural beauty. Mary Oliver’s style of writing is far more direct and powerful in making her point heard, with lots of rhetorical questions, questioning whether or not you have been consumed by the materialistic world. An example of this is in the poem The Sun where at the end she writes “have you too gone crazy for power, for

things?” She uses more modern words to reach out to her audience, compared to Wordsworth who uses old English for example “The Hare is running races in her mirth”. The similarities in their writing styles are that they both have similar structure such as the length of the lines. These two poets both write about similar topics but obliviously differ in style, but Oliver has seen hu-mans disregard of nature accumulate to the dissa-pearence of many of the worlds natural beauties. Where-as, Wordsworth’s protest was almost a precursor to what was to come..

In this section we will analyze and discuss two poems

called “Tintern Abbey” and ‘Protest Against The Bal-

lot”.

“Tintern Abbey” -

The poem “Tintern abbey” protests the importance of

the connection with nature. It conveys the message that

nature holds a strong power in a persons life, it influ-

ences and frees your mind to think freely without evil

along with acts of kindness and love. The memory of

this scene in the poem affects you wherever you are

even when your surrounded by man-made objects. These

ideas are conveyed by a single speaker who describes a

nature scene and his absence from it for five years, the

tone is non aggressive and precedes to describe the natu-

ral beauty. He compares it with his life while he was in

the city saying this memory helped him, kept him alive,

the speaker continues to explain how this scene influ-

ences his everyday life. This made me think that a strong

connection will always be with you no matter what and

with nature it influences you to be a better person.

“Protest Against The Ballot” -

The poem “Protest Against The Ballot” is very pro-

Chartism, in a radical sense. The poem talks about a

ballot in 1838 where only the rich could take part in vot-

ing in members of parliament. The Chartism act would

bring in equal voting for all including the poor, which

Wordsworth was very for a form of equal rights. The

ending of the poem suggests that when the poor do gain

a sense of power they will take over, spreading like a

pest as Wordsworth wrote. This poem uses commas to

break up the lines to make a beat and lets the words flow

easier. The author uses rhymes in lines to make his de-

scription more predominant and use of connotations to

let the reader believe what the writer believes. I found

this poem difficult to understand without background

information and the situation in 1838, it flows well and

the words go together creating a harmony making ir easy

to read. All though however once understood it provides

an importance stance on equal rights for the poor.

In the next section I will attempt to create my own poem

based on the styling's and themes of William Words-

worth.

 

 

 

Wordsworth’s Poetry .   

I gaze, upon a field of flowers

Such a beauteous view; that I see from afar

Colors, that can only be seen, in a rainbow

But as I focus, it was not what I could imagine

There alone, a daffodil lays, squashed

Into thy dirt; of no return

Surrounded, by roses which stand tall above

Looking down, upon you, judging

Without thought, or emotion

But together , thy aren't so small

You can be as large, as those around you

So I say, rise, rise above those who judge

This will be the only way to become equal

Within the garden, so there is no blemish

No mark, equally beautiful for all to see.

Inspired by William Wordsworth

The Flower Garden