Wordsworth's Concept of Nature

Wordsworth's Concept of Nature Wordsworth, the “highest priest of Nature,” has a great devotion in Nature, the mother of mankind. According to him, “Nature is the best teacher for mankind.” He is one of the most world’s loving thoughtful poets of Nature. It has become now, a common–place of criticism to call Wordsworth as a poet of Nature, indeed, there is no other word which can more comprehensively expresses the inspiration and spirit of his poetry. The spirit of nature has an individuality of Wordsworth’s own, its own conscious will and mind. He calls the nature as: ‘’Wisdom and spirit of the Universe, Thou soul that art the Eternity of thought.’’ Many a poetic-souls, before and since Wordsworth, has fallen under the spell of nature’s charm and beauty. Spenser, Milton, Shakespeare, Keats, Shelley, and Byron, to name only a few about Wordsworth’s originality, Compton Rickett points out: “It was Wordsworth’s aim as a poet to seek for beauty in meadow; woodland and the mountain and to interpret this beauty in spiritual terms. He is ever spiritualizing in the moods of Nature, and winning from them a moral consolation.” This spiritual conception of nature however did not come at once. As the poet himself, tells us that there are four stages in the development of his love of the other world. Wordsworth, himself, has given an elaborate account of variously stages of this development in poems like: Tintern Abbey; Exurision and The Prelude, which may be regarded as his spiritual autobiography. As a boy, Wordsworth drank in the glory of nature. He wandered among the hills and valleys, the meadows and streams. He was like a child of nature, what he descibes in one of his Lucy poems about the education of Lucy by nature, seems to be true of himself. Nature moulded Lucy. The stately clouds, the flowers, the stars, the streams and all other lovely forms of nature, gave of their best: ‘’The floating clouds their state shall land, To her, for her, the willows bend. Nor shall she fail to see Even in the motion of the storm.’’ Wordsworth’s two popular poems: The Tables Turned and Education of Nature are the fine example of his love for Nature. According to this poem, nature is ‘an ideal teacher’ which can lead to all round development of human personality and character. In The Tables Turned, Wordsworth tells the scholar that books are useless and they would surely make them (scholars) double. They should, therefore, leave up them and let nature be their teacher: ‘’Books! ‘tis a dull and endless strife : Come, hear the woodland Linnet, How sweet his music! On my life, There’s more of wisdom in it. x x x One impulse from a vernal wood May teach you more of man Of moral evil and of good, Than all the sages can... For Wordsworth, nature is not only alive, but has personality of her own. It is animated by soul or an universal spirit which runs through all things. For him, nature possessed three special characteristics: joy, quietude and harmony. Wordsworth has a profound affection and faith in nature. According to him, one can get rest or comfort in the lap of nature. He says that we should not reject the beautiful sights of nature. He says that we should not pass our time in the company of money or physical object. Wordsworth wants to bring a shine future for everyone. He, therefore, rejects all the materialism objects and wants to receive the bless of Mother Nature. Thus, his poetry records his mystic-vision when he feels the presence of this soul in nature. Wordsworth’s treatment of nature is original and unique. For him, Nature is a living and moral entity. It has personality, a life of its own. He believes that nature is not only alive but also endowed with a personality. But outwardly this personality of nature is divided into countless forms, such as a flower, a hill, etc. And everything, the flower, the valley, the hill, the stream, etc, has its separate life outwardly. But inwardly it is the soul of nature which manifests itself in everything, whether animate of inanimate. In his poems, Wordsworth implies that if a creature lives in harmony with nature, it may get three blessings. First of all, it will get joy at particular occasions. For instance the fawn gets “wild with a glee” and runs “across the lawn.” The flowers enjoy the air they breathe. The daffodils dance in the breeze and the waves dances beside them too. Second, there is deep calm of the heart of nature. In the poem The Daffodils, he sings: ‘’I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o’er vales and hills, When all at ones I saw a crowd, A host of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.’’ The beautiful scenes of nature gives peace to the soul of man. When man lives out of the company of nature, he is much too uneasy and miserable. This is the theme of the sonnet; The World is too much with Us. The third blessing of nature is that she excites a feeling of love and sympathy. Plants, flowers, animals, hills, etc., love one another. In the spring-time, the whole world gives and receives joy and pleasure: “Love now an universal birth From heart to heat it is stealing. From earth to man, from man to earth; It is the hour of feeling.’’ To Wordsworth, nature appears as a great formative influence. To a child, she is both “law and impulse.” She educates the senses and the mind of a child through impulsion and repulsion. The objects of nature give the child such impressions. She educates and brings up Lucy till the girl is a young lady. Nature’s influence develops both Lucy’s body and mind. To sum up, Wordsworth worships nature as the essential power of God, and his poetry is a record of his love and worship of nature.