Wordsworth continually focuses on the idea of nature being its own, its permanent, free, growing, and moving, on its own. At the beginning of The Prelude Book First Wordsworth describes the nature of nature, and the nature of himself as a child, and choosing a guide.
The earth is before me- with a heart
Joyous, nor scared at its own liberty,
I look about, and should the guide I chuse
Be nothing better than a wandering cloud
I cannot miss my way. I breathe again- …
Long months of ease and undisturbed delight
Are mine is prospect. Whither shall I turn
By road or pathway, or through open field,
Or shall a twig or any floating thing
Upon the river point me out my course? (Wordsworth, 356)
This passage contains an ironic mixture of simplicity and complexity within not only the changing lives of humans, but also through the revelation of the Romantic Period.
First off this passage shows the beauty and simplicity in nature, with the statement of “a wandering cloud” brings to mind the serenity of a day out in nature, no boundary’s for containment. The idea of nature as free, and choosing no path represents the ideas of the Romantic period; simply connecting with nature and not focusing on the time or your personal being within societies crazy construct.
The idea also that children are less a part of societies construct also stands out in this passage. Wordsworth reflects continually on his childhood and how the only guide he needed in life was the “road or pathway”, walking through “open field”, or using a “twig or any floating thing upon the river” to guide him. The childlike innocence and absence from society seems to allow a stronger connection with nature.
Back in the Romantic Period, what was the difference between a child’s connection and an adults connection to nature?
How about now-a-days?
Is using nature a smart guide for life and choices?
Wordsworth, William. The 1805 Prelude Book First. Greenblatt, Stephen, gen. ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume D The Romantic Period 9th ed. 6 vols. New York: NY, 2012. Print.