{"id":108,"date":"2023-02-07T01:53:05","date_gmt":"2023-02-07T01:53:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/?p=108"},"modified":"2023-02-07T19:50:28","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T19:50:28","slug":"nature-vs-man-in-lines-written-in-early-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/2023\/02\/07\/nature-vs-man-in-lines-written-in-early-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"Nature vs Man in “Lines Written in Early Spring”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0In his poem \u201cLines Written in Early Spring\u201d, Wordsworth contrasts the natural world\u2019s serenity with mankind\u2019s conflict to grapple with the disconnect between humans and Nature. Despite recognizing the inherent \u201clink\u201d between humans and Nature, Wordsworth contrasts his \u201csweet mood\u201d and \u201cpleasant thoughts\u201d toward nature with his \u201csad thoughts\u201d toward mankind (l. 3-5). To explain these \u201cpleasant thoughts\u201d, Wordsworth articulates the beauty in the natural world through written imagery and description, but he also emphasizes this beauty through the poem\u2019s meter and rhyme scheme. Each of the six stanzas in this poem includes four lines that follow an ABAB rhyme scheme; each stanza also includes a combination of iambic tetrameter and\u00a0 iambic trimeter, which perpetuates a natural rhythm comparable to a heartbeat or a breath. The combination of a consistent rhyme scheme and iambic meter, then, affects the sound of the poem so that it emulates the same fluidity and beauty as the natural world. Wordsworth uses his own figurative language to depict the pleasures of the natural world, but also using poetic structure and sound to do so invites the reader to experience these pleasures as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Wordsworth explicitly describes some of the beautiful and enjoyable aspects of nature, such as the blossoming flowers and singing birds, and refers to these pleasures as being \u201cheaven\u2026 sent\u201d and a part of \u201cNature\u2019s holy plan\u201d (l. 21-22). By including religious allusions in his understanding of Nature, Wordsworth implies the natural world\u2019s spiritual importance. Nature is not just an environment, then, but rather a transcendental feeling and experience of great tranquility, beauty, and pleasure. The beauty and spirituality of Nature, however, does not align with the material world and \u201cwhat man has made of man\u201d (l. 8). Although Wordsworth never directly explains \u201cwhat man has made of man\u201d, the historical context of his poem makes it likely that this line refers to the negative consequences of the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. The French Revolution showed humankind\u2019s ability to harm each other, while the Industrial Revolution showed humankind\u2019s ability to harm Nature. Both events showed a great contrast between Nature\u2019s intrinsic pleasurability and humankind\u2019s violence. Wordsworth does not criticize this dichotomy between nature and humans, however. Instead, he ends the poem questioning if he even <\/span>can<\/span><\/i> \u201clament\u201d the actions and effects of humankind while living as a part of \u201cNature\u2019s holy plan\u201d (l. 21-24). This rhetorical question shows that, even at the end of the poem, he continues to grapple with the meaning of Nature and humanity\u2019s role within it. Whether or not the spiritual aspects of Nature are strong enough to overcome the laments of humanity, then, remains up to the reader to decide.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n


**Note- referenced poem from https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poems\/51001\/lines-written-in-early-spring, so it is NOT the original edition as seen in the Penguin Book of Romantic Poetry<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0In his poem \u201cLines Written in Early Spring\u201d, Wordsworth contrasts the natural world\u2019s serenity with mankind\u2019s conflict to grapple with the disconnect between humans and Nature. Despite recognizing the inherent \u201clink\u201d between humans and Nature, Wordsworth contrasts his \u201csweet mood\u201d and \u201cpleasant thoughts\u201d toward nature with his \u201csad thoughts\u201d toward mankind (l. 3-5). … Continue reading Nature vs Man in “Lines Written in Early Spring”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4793,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spring-2023"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4793"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}