Who doesn’t know the father figure of Romantic literature? Undoubtedly, he is the asset of Romanticism who always talks about nature, beauty and love when England was facing urbanisation and the loss of rural values in the era of mechanical development.
He always celebrates the spirit of a man living in a natural environment, away from the so- called development of London because for him, the true sense of development is the development of the inner mind. Most of his poetry incorporates the theme of pantheism as he believes that God resides in many things including nature. In his lifetime, he collaborated with another gem of this period, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and published Lyrical Ballads in 1800. In this article, we’ll focus on a few of his offbeat creations. So, let’s know them in detail –
The Prelude or Growth of a Poet’s Mind
This poem, originally titled as A Poem on the Growth of an Individual Mind is an autobiographical work which is concerned with the psychology of the human being. In this poem, the poet talks about his search for awareness and understanding which he believes only nature can provide him. Remembrance of the passing time can be discussed as the major theme of this poem. The creation of this poem continued so long throughout his life. The opening lines are mentioned below –
‘ _was it for this / That one, the fairest of all Rivers, lov’d…my dreams?
Ode: Intimation of Immortality
In this poem, Wordsworth regards the child as the only source of wisdom and truth. For him the child is the only symbol of purity.
‘Thou best philosopher, who yet dost keep/ Thy heritage, thou Eye among the blind…’
The World is Too Much with Us
In this poem Wordsworth presents an England which has totally changed because of the ongoing materialism and it has lost its nature and essence as the result of the Industrial Revolution. This poem also deals with pagan philosophy as he invokes Greek Gods like Proteus and Old Triton (who had shell which he blows like a trumpet). We would definitely like to talk about the famous lines –
‘The world is too much with us; late and soon,/ Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; -
In his lifetime he has praised the great Renaissance man, John Milton in his poem London 1802. This is how he enriched the past and the present of English literature.
