Poetry and Nature
Bringing a deeper meaning to life, poems have been inspiring people and have been showing humankind the richness and depth of their language. One might say, poetry is a view on mankind and a way to express the innermost emotions of the soul: every poet has different opinions and styles. (Avoid vague openings; get to your point right away.) By comparing and contrasting Wordsworth's different styles of poetry, one can depict the theme, rhetorical shift and the figurative language of these unique poems.
William Wordsworth loved nature and based many of his poems on it (avoid ending with "it.") He believed that "nature was mankind's best moral teacher". In "The world is too much with us", Wordsworth portrays that mankind is losing sight of what is actually important in this world. The theme of the poem is starvation of the soul in order to reap material blessing and the human ignorance of natural beauty. On a different note, in "I wandered lonely as a cloud", Wordsworth is simply trying to get across what one can get just by being alone with nature. Alternatively, one can depict that the theme is the company of nature when one is in solitude. In "The Solitary Reaper" the theme can be depicted as the yearning for the knowledge of the unknown. This is a beautiful poem (No opinions) thats intertwines the beauty of a woman's song with the beauty of nature. Wordsworth found beauty in everything he wrote about.
In his poems, Wordsworth uses rhetorical shifts to change the attitude or tone in the poem. In "The world is too much with us", In lines 1-9 the tone is one of admiring the magnificence of nature while having a hint of anger and sarcasm but then in lines 9-14, the tone shifts into one of longing for justice and the ability to appreciate that magnificence. The tone speaks to peoples feelings about the materialistic precedence in todays modern society. On the other hand, in "I wandered lonely as a cloud," in lines 1-18 the tone joyous because of all the nature dancing around him but in lines 19-24 the tone shifts to one of discontent because of the speaker life in solitude. Unlike the tone in "The world is too much for us" in "The Solitary Reaper," in lines 1-18 the tone and atmosphere is very calm, emotional and peaceful. But in lines 19-32, the tone shifts to a complacent, melancholy one. He imagines that the song is about some unhappy incident or about some battles fought long ago. In all of Wordsworth's poems, at first he is awed by the beauty of nature and his surroundings but then the tone shifts to one of skepticism and the underlying sadness or the loss that accompanies.
Wordsworth uses imagery throughout all of his poems to help give the reader a better understanding of what he want the reader to see. He helps them to visualize the scenes through the abundant use of figurative language. In "The world is too much with us," personification is used to portray that the sea "bares her bosom to the moon" or that there are such things as "sleeping flowers." Likewise, in "I wandered lonely as a cloud," personification is used to portray that cloud can wander lonely and stars can "toss their heads in sprightly dance." Alternatively in "The Solitary Reaper," you cannot hear a nightingale in the Arabian sands, and you cannot hear a cuckoo-bird in the Hebrides. This comparison is used by the poet to explain to the readers, how beautiful the singing is. Figurative language is used to enhance the meaning of the poems and enrich the content that the words contained have to offer.
Ultimately, it is apparent that Wordsworth communicates his love of nature in a style that is not terribly difficult to understand. He writes about the beauty of nature and brings a deeper meaning to life. These poems have been inspiring people and have been showing humankind the richness that poetry can bring to their language. Wordsworth has left his immortal work as a message for all of humankind: "Never forget nature."
