Compare And Contrast Essay: The Importance Of Nature

The concept of “nature” has an abounding quantity of meanings and, even though none of them has to be taken as characteristic of Romanticism, its importance cannot be denied.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, nature is “all the animals, plants, rocks, etc. in the world and all the features, forces, and processes that happen or exist independently of people, such as the weather, the sea, mountains, the production of young animals or plants, and growth”. However, Marcel Isnard stated in Nature (1992) that “nature also means the principle or power that animates or even creates the objects of nature, and we speak of the laws of nature, sometimes spelt Nature.” (p. 185). Marcel continues with the idea that the interest of the Romantics in

It was full of elementary beings, close to us, visible or invisible, and even the things in it were constantly changing. The landscapes that seemed most stable were continually changing with leaves trembling in the wind, birds singing, light changing. It was a source of endless and renewed wonder. Inhabited by all those lives, nature itself seemed alive. [...] (Romantics) were thankful to nature for that soothing action. Unlike poets who revolted against it because it did not echo their love experiences, Romantic artist paid tribute to the maternal and consoling quality of nature. (p. 38).

In order to analyze the importance of nature on William Wordsworth, this theoretical introduction will be followed by a description of the author’s understanding of the matter through his life as stated in The Prelude. Besides, the sonnet The World Is Too Much with Us will be interpreted in pursuance of the ultimate cogitation about nature.

2.1. William Wordsworth and

The author went on a journey on foot through France and the Alps during the summer vacation of his third year in Cambridge, on the anniversary of the French Revolution. In The Prelude 6, where this expedition is narrated, he conveys the feeling that he is on equal terms with nature, nature teaches and he is receptive to the teaching. He describes in some detail a specific instance of how experience of nature educates him and modifies his perception of reality. The scenes of country life, such as small birds co-existing with eagles, a reaper at work in the fields and the threat of winter in the autumn sunshine are all experienced as edifying.

Upon completing his course at Cambridge, Wordsworth set off another walking tour through Wales and then went back to France. He says in The Prelude 13 that the strength of nature lies in the fact that it can deliver moods of emotional excitement as well as of