Ministry of higher education, science and innovations termiz state pedagogical institute the faculty of foreign language and literature

4. Considered Nature as a Great Teacher of Mankind
Reminiscent to the ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates and Aristotle, Wordsworth, too, believed that nature is the greatest teacher for mankind, and promoted this perspective thoroughly in his works. In one of his famous works, The Table Turned, Wordsworth says,
“And hark! how blithe the throstle sings!He, too, is no mean preacher:Come forth into the light of things,Let Nature be your teacher.One impulse from a vernal wood,May teach you more of man,Of moral evil and of good,Than all the sages can.”
These verses clearly show how much emphasis Wordsworth puts on learning from nature. He even goes on to state that nature can teach us the difference between moralities of good and evil better than sages, a statement which was quite bold at the time it was made.
After studying all of these things, one gets a glimpse into the immense depth in Wordsworth’s poetry, particularly for nature and the love for it, which forms the core basis of Romanticism. The biggest contribution William Wordsworth made to romantic poetry, is to give perceptions of seeing, observing, and understanding nature, and its innumerable secrets. Therefore, Wordsworth is rightly credited to be the Poet of Nature by his admirers and critics alike.
In fact, if closely observed, we may also find that Wordsworth propagated simple living, away from the hustle and bustle of cities. This way of thinking took a strong position in the works of the later generation romantic poets, not only in the United Kingdom, but also throughout Europe, and the Americas. In this way, it wouldn’t be wrong if we say that William Wordsworth is the father of Romanticism.
William Wordsworth’ Take on Human Life
After his death in 1850, Wordsworth’s wife, Mary Hutchinson published his semi-autobiography, The Prelude, a poetic collection of 14 books, which discussed his life in detail. In The Prelude, considered to be a masterpiece in English literature, William Wordsworth draws his life experiences, right from his childhood in the Lake District, to his days studying at the University of Cambridge, and so on.
Through his poems, Wordsworth speaks about how being around nature and engaging in natural sports like fishing, boating, swimming, etc. influenced his personality. He, therefore, advocated people to return to a natural some of life, which has faded away in the big cities like London. Further, he discussed his life at the university, where he felt loneliness in the big city, and how boring life had become. He also mentions his experiences while travelling through Europe extensively, in countries like France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, etc. Wordsworth explains how his travels had a great influence on him, and make for an integral part in his formative years. All of this shows how Wordsworth kept learning from his natural experiences, getting taught by the Soul of Nature.
Wordsworth also discussed human relationships in detail. He discusses his lifelong affiliation and compassion with his sister, Dorothy Wordsworth, who appears at several places in his works. Other important figures in his works are his childhood friend and wife, Mary Hutchinson, his estranged French girlfriend, Annette Vallon, from whom he had a daughter named Anne Caroline. Through these relationships, Wordsworth discusses the intimacies, happiness, and tragedies of life, which are universal, and hence, an integral part of nature.
On his visit to France in 1791, Wordsworth met and fell in love with Annette Vallon, but had to return England due to financial and political tensions a year after Anne Caroline was born. This duration, until his marriage with Mary Hutchinson, was a tragic period for him. In 1802, just before his marriage, Wordsworth visited France along with his sister Dorothy, where they met Vallon, to inform her about the proposed marriage. On this visit, Wordsworth also met, for the first time in nine years, his daughter Anne, who was nine years old at the time. He beautifully captured the time spent with little Anne, in his sonnet, “It is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free”.
While describing all of these moments of tragedies and joy, Wordsworth captured emotions distinctively, personifying them with various elements of nature, making each of them purely romantic. In fact, the artistry with which he encapsulated emotions left readers, and also his contemporaries, in awe. This way he contributed to the romantic age, the subtle art of capturing strong and intense emotions like remorse, regret, guilt, tragedy, separation, etc. with great beauty and flamboyance.
“Lyrical Ballads” is undisputedly one of the greatest collections of poems, not only of the romantic age but of all time. The collection was anonymously published in the year 1798, and the second edition was published under Wordsworth’s name in 1800, the third in 1802, and the fourth edition in 1805. The second edition came to be known as the “Preface to Lyrical Ballads”, as he also wrote a preface for it.
Factually, Lyrical Ballads was a compilation of the works of William Wordsworth, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. However, the fame which Wordsworth got after the launch was immense, and remains unmatched even today. The poems which were later discovered to be written by Wordsworth have went on to become the epitomes of romantic poetry, especially in terms of their expression, structure, style, conceptualization, and emotions.
Lyrical Ballads, in fact, inspired a generation of poets to write romantic poetry, and consequently, the glorification of nature, emotions, human relationships, and spirituality, which are found extensively in Wordsworth’s works, is heavily found in the works of other poets of the romantic era. Though poets like PB Shelly and Lord Byron took a different approach to romanticism, they also seem to be inspired by Wordsworth, as their works, too, revolve around nature, albeit in distinctive styles.
The effect of “Lyrical Ballads” was such that it paved way for the rise of romantic poetry itself, which speaks volumes of the influence Wordsworth had, and contributions he made to this particular genre.