Harmonious Nature

In the Romantic period, "nature" has become the hottest issue numerous writers chased to work on. On the influence of social factors in that time, nature has been given terribly rich denotation. In the eyes of those Romantic poets, nature contains sentiments and spirituality. At that time, a great number of works about nature were put out. Among those works, the poetry of Wordsworth is quite attractive for its deep and unique understanding of nature.No doubt Wordsworth is one of the closest to nature in the middle of many Romantic poets. As for nature, he is not only a single observer or admirer, but also a man who puts his own feeling into it. Nature is the emotional necessity for the poet, and the basis of his spiritual life. Using his complete and deep viewpoint of nature, Wordsworth keeps thinking of the relationship between nature and human beings, which is an unchanging topic. The poet presents his consideration about nature and humans successfully in his works, which leaves more room for the later to study and learn. Upon this reason, on the basis of analyzing the poems of Wordsworth, this paper discusses what the poet highly calls for. That is to say:the harmony of nature, as well as the harmony of humans and the cohesion of them.The introduction is mainly composed of two parts. The first part is a brief literature review of various critics'or writers'opinions about Wordsworth. Analyzing that criticism in order of the historical development is helpful for people to know and distinguish those different reviews. Besides, the criticism from those professors itself is quite useful for people to study Wordsworth and his works as well. As for the second part, this paper gives a brief account of the term "nature", which is a kev word for the theme. Nature is a comprehensive concept. Possibly it varies from time to time. In different periods and different poems. Wordsworth's concept of nature is different. Therefore, it is necessary to have a full picture about Wordsworth's viewpoint of nature. With the multitude aspects of nature in mind. Wordsworth portrays the benefits he got from nature.The main body of this thesis is divided into the following three parts. In the first two parts, the writer analyzes the harmonious nature in Wordsworth's poetry carefully and thoroughly. The idea is supported by two aspects:one is nature as the refreshing force and the other is nature as the soothing force. This paper explores the refreshing force of nature concretely in the first part. Firstly, nature is the source of people's inner joy. When discussing the influence of nature upon people's happiness, some of the poet's own living experience is concluded. Wordsworth's personal experience affects his concept of nature directly and deeply. Through some of the poet's representative works, such as I wandered lonely as a cloud. My Heart Leaps up When I Behold, Lines Written in Early Spring, Expostulation and Reply as well as To the Daisy, it is well presented that nature is the fountain of people's joy and thought.In the second part, the soothing force of nature is well elaborated from two angles. At the beginning, nature is introduced as people's supporter and sustainer. Wordsworth's well-known poem Tintern Abbey is exemplified for such powerful nature. Nature is "the anchor, the nurse, the guide as well as the guardian" (111-113) for human beings. What is more. The Old Cumberland Beggar, The Solitary Reaper etc. are also good examples to show that there exists the harmonious sound in nature which is capable to communicate and support to human spirit. In the second branch, the paper focuses on nature's consolation for the poor, the low-class and the unhealthy. In the story of the poor shepherd Michael, when he faced with the loss of land and his son, it is nature that gives him comfort. After the innocent Ruth being cheated, nature provides her with spiritual peacefulness and strength. Other works such as The Idiot Boy and Peter Bell also show that by returning to the harmonious nature, people could improve themselves and get more spiritual power.As for the third part, the theme of this paper is deepened on the foundation of former analysis. Wordsworth calls for the coexistence of man and nature. As a separate part, it is better for elaborating on this idea. And this part also consists of two branches. In the first branch, this paper gives a relatively complete account of the term "harmony", which is a key word for the theme. In this branch, the writer emphasizes the origin of the word "harmony" as well as its connotation and development. The meaning of harmony is enriched as the development of the time. It represents a kind of structure and order primarily. Later it is associated with social justice and music. Until now, it is well accepted that harmony is vital in the processes of the world changes and it is also the most important feature of establishing the world order. This section is necessary for ensuring people's understanding of the meaning of harmony. Apart from that, it is a good theoretical base for the whole analysis of the harmony in Wordsworth's works. As for the second branch, the focus is on the relation between human and nature which presented in Wordsworth's poems. The interaction within them is emphasized:by their "half creation" people could find more beauty in nature; meanwhile nature could nourish people positively responding to their harmonious relationship. Nature is a big universe, every species including humans should be accord with nature for they are mutually reflected and sustain with each other.The conclusion part gives a summary of the importance of nature in Wordsworth's personal life as well as his works. It also points out, in the poet's viewpoint; people should transcend the material comforts offered by nature, instead of learning to appreciate nature's sublime and doing more spiritual communication with nature. By the harmonious coexistence with nature, man derives nutrition from nature, and reaches happiness of life.