A. Wordsworth's poetry as expressions of his love of nature, his transcendentalism, and his pantheism.
A. Wordsworth's commitment to nature's significance as result of his life experience and his desire to rebel against scientific world-view.
1. Desire to go beyond life's suffering
2. Love of nature's mysteries and wonders
3. Criticism of poet's evasion of pain
4. Nature as means to higher realm
7. Man/nature, mind/heart relationship
1. Debate over Wordsworth's pantheism
B. Serenity and tranquillity as basis of poetry
C. Actual spiritual experience vs. dogmatism
This study will examine the ideas and works of William Wordsworth in terms of his status as a nature-lover, a pantheist, and a transcendentalist.
As we read in Bush's piece in Kumar, Wordsworth's commitment to the significance of nature in man's life and specifically in his approach to God and immortality is both "a natural sequel to that (experience) of his childhood and youth (and) . . . a strong and conscious revolt against the scientific view of man and his world . . . Wordsworth . . . saw the universe and man as enveloped and interpenetrated by mystery and by the all-comprehending unity of spirit: 'Our destiny, our being's heart and home,/ Is with infinitude, and only there'" (Kumar 33).
The transcendent element of Wordsworth's philosophy of life and poetry is to be found in his desire to go beyond the world of pain and suffering and to do so by appreciation of and immersion in nature's mysteries and wonders:
In other words, the poet's trust in nature, his trust in feeling, his hopefulness and joy, grew out of a temperament and out of circumstances which slighted the darker and grimmer elements in life, the miseries that flesh and mind are heir to, the high proportion of unhappiness in human existence (Kumar 35).
While some critics argue that Wordsworth tried to ignore rather than transcend the more grim par...