The Human Mind and Nature
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- Date Submitted: 12/14/2010 07:20 PM
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The Human Mind and Nature:
As Described by William Wordsworth
Nature and the human mind are often topics that are written about in poetry. William Wordsworth is a nature poet who discusses the relationship between nature and the human mind in numerous poems. Wordsworth develops the idea that as time goes on, a person starts to lose the connection that they feel with nature. He also suggests that though we admire nature, humans as a whole do not treasure it the way that we should.
In Wordsworth’s poem, Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood, the poet discusses that as children grow older, they lose the ability to feel the excitement and fulfillment when looking at nature, that they experienced when they were younger. The first stanza of this poem discusses that when he was younger, everything in nature seemed dreamlike to him, but that as time passed he lost the ability to see the things he once loved. By saying “The things which I have seen, I now can see no more,” (9) Wordsworth relates to the idea that nature no longer has the same affect on him as it did when he was a boy.
Further on in the poem, Wordsworth explains that he still sees the rainbow, the rose and other wonders of nature, but that the glory of it all has left the earth. This stanza suggests that he is trying to see the joy in things around him again, but when he says that the glory has left the earth, you realize how important his childhood perception of the world was to him.
The next stanza makes it seem like after he grieved for a short period of time everything goes back to normal again. This idea continues through into the fourth stanza. At first glance it seems as though his childhood view of the world has returned, however, at a closer look, you
realize that that is not the case. When he says “I feel- I feel it all,” (41) and “I hear, I hear, with
joy I hear,” (50) you realize through repetition that the speaker almost sounds doubtful, and...
As Described by William Wordsworth
Nature and the human mind are often topics that are written about in poetry. William Wordsworth is a nature poet who discusses the relationship between nature and the human mind in numerous poems. Wordsworth develops the idea that as time goes on, a person starts to lose the connection that they feel with nature. He also suggests that though we admire nature, humans as a whole do not treasure it the way that we should.
In Wordsworth’s poem, Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood, the poet discusses that as children grow older, they lose the ability to feel the excitement and fulfillment when looking at nature, that they experienced when they were younger. The first stanza of this poem discusses that when he was younger, everything in nature seemed dreamlike to him, but that as time passed he lost the ability to see the things he once loved. By saying “The things which I have seen, I now can see no more,” (9) Wordsworth relates to the idea that nature no longer has the same affect on him as it did when he was a boy.
Further on in the poem, Wordsworth explains that he still sees the rainbow, the rose and other wonders of nature, but that the glory of it all has left the earth. This stanza suggests that he is trying to see the joy in things around him again, but when he says that the glory has left the earth, you realize how important his childhood perception of the world was to him.
The next stanza makes it seem like after he grieved for a short period of time everything goes back to normal again. This idea continues through into the fourth stanza. At first glance it seems as though his childhood view of the world has returned, however, at a closer look, you
realize that that is not the case. When he says “I feel- I feel it all,” (41) and “I hear, I hear, with
joy I hear,” (50) you realize through repetition that the speaker almost sounds doubtful, and...