Wordsworth’s ideas about the relationship between man and nature.docx

麦君恒1306British and American Poetry15th Dec, 2015Wordsworths ideas about the relationship between man and natureWordsworth is an outstanding romantic poet as well as a delegate of nature. Many of his works eulogize the beauty of nature, through which we can learn that Wordsworth holds the opinion of getting along with nature harmoniously. Wordsworth also states that men should never get profit and money at the expense of natural recourses and environment.Wordsworth thinks that nature is source of happiness. Nature and human beings are intimate friends, and human can get happiness through getting closer to nature. In one day of 1802, on the way back of from visiting a friend, Wordsworth saw a sea of golden daffodils that were dancing in the breeze. He was deeply touched by such wonderful scenery, and wrote down “I wandered Lonely as a Cloud”. In this poem, Wordsworth compared himself to a cloud, wandering lonely and suddenly encounter clusters of daffodils that impressed him. The daffodils are compared to the spirits that bring happiness to human beings. Wordsworth use personification when describing the daffodils to express how charming they are, still less the nature. When one is in a circumstance that is full of beautiful flowers, enjoying the mild breeze, it is impossible to be. As Wordsworth mentioned in the last three lines “The flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills,And dances with the daffodils.” It is obvious that Wordsworth has already indulged himself with the daffodils as well as the nature. Via Wordsworths experience, we can not only learn the association of human mood and the mood of nature, but also the growth of human spirit should be from communication with nature. Nature is so powerful and beautiful that human beings can obtain knowledge as well as happiness, growth in spirit and so on via feeling it with your heart. From late 18th century to middle 19th century, with the development of capitalist industrialization, the only thing men paid attention to was money and profit, thus, the natural environment was ruined ruthlessly. With the impulse of profit, human exploited natural resources crazily and immoderately. The original harmonious relationship between men and nature was damaged, and in the meanwhile, under the temptation of money, human discarded traditional merits and all were in pursuit of money and mechanization. Men were getting farther and farther from spiritual home-nature, and Wordsworth worried about this distorted relationship between man and nature. From “Line Written in the Early Spring”, on the one hand, Wordsworth depicted us a beautiful picture of nature, and on the other hand, he also condemned the overexploitation of nature. “I heard a thousand blended notes, While in a grove I sate reclined, In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts Bring sad thoughts to the mind.” In the first, Wordsworth enjoyed the tranquility in the valley, which showed the poets sincere love to nature. However, pleasant thoughts mingled with sad thoughts, and the sad thoughts came from the humans overdue spoiling of nature. “If this belief from heaven be sentIf such be Natures holy plan,Have I not reason to lamentWhatmanhas made of man?”At the end of the poem, Wordsworth used a passive tone to show his disappointment, worry and anger. He condemned those who got benefit from nature eventually becoming the damager of nature by asking “What man has made of man?”. Through this poem, Wordsworth conveys that man and nature are intimate friends, and spoiling the nature for profit and money is the evilest behavior. As far as Wordsworth concerns, men should be grateful to nature and regard nature as our mother. What men should do is to respect nature and to stop exploiting nature inordinately. When recalling past, Wordsworth commemorated the days spent harmoniously with nature. In the old times, men were curious about the miraculous power of nature and respected nature sincerely. Nature is what can save human beings from suffering. Actually, Wordsworth thinks nature is the reincarnation of truth, kindness and beauty, through which we can get self-satisfaction and self-realization. Nature has many clear definitions in Wordsworths work. Nature is universe, country, sense, emotion, material, all of which has a strong association with human beings. It means men can never live without the sustenance of nature. As it was depicted in the “The Solitary Reaper”, “I saw her singing at her work, And oer the sickle bending; I listened, motionless and still; And, as I mounted up the hill, The music in my heart I bore, Long after it was heard no more.” These six lines pictured a woman working hard on the field. She got a harvest from nature, which can relate to material (as a kind of sustenance), emotion (happy and satisfactory after harvesting). All of these state that human is just an accessory of nature, and men are dependent on nature, so, there is no reason to exploit nature for more profit. Men should associate themselves with nature, or, men will one day assume all the pain as a revenge from nature, besides, he deems that the crisis of humanity comes from industrial mass production, which deepens his affection and sincere love to nature. It is easy to discover that Wordsworth expresses his desire of treating nature well as well as his condemn of destructing nature for money and sake. Some of his works such as “I Wander Lonely as A Cloud”, or “Line Written in the Early Spring” shows his ecological awareness of loving and respecting nature. However, some of his works condemn human beings for their inappropriate behavior. Human beings who perform infinite authority are certain to afford the tragedy, which relates to their existence. Both nature and man are essential part of universe, so, caring about nature is caring about man, which requires us to care about present situation of nature and stop robbing from nature. Wordsworth insists that human and nature should be an integration, and require