Reading William Wordworth’s poems reminded me both about the stories I have indulged myself in, and also the world around us, despite being written over 200 years ago. Wordsworth, a leader in the romantic poetry movement that filled the 19th century, was an avid fan of nature, its beauty, and its importance to us. As such, many of his poems, including “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey”, “Composed upon Westminster Bridge”, “The World is too Much with Us”. The major similarity of these works is their subject of nature, especially through the eyes of humans, and it’s underrated beauty that is usually taken for granted.
In the poem “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey”, Wordsworth reminisces the beautiful scenery of the abbey as he revisits it for the first time in years. This connects to a story I read recently, which featured a theme about making memories and sharing them with the ones that you love. The story, “Stone Ocean” has a scene in which a major character dies. In the scene, she tells the protagonist, Jolyne, that she doesn’t have any regrets in terms of her death, was happy to have shared so many great memories with her, and that a life without memories isn’t a life at all. This connects to the way Wordsworth talks about the memories he has made and is currently making with his sister, hoping that she will have those memories too once he’s gone, “When these wild ecstasies shall be matured Into a sober pleasure; when thy mind shall be a mansion for all lovely forms, Thy memory be as a dwelling-place for all sweet sounds and harmonies”(353).
The poem “Composed upon Westminster Bridge” features a heavy emphasis on the beauty that anything, be it a wondrous view as was the case in the story, or any other event, can bring into our lives. I can connect through this personally, with the discovery of new music or other forms of media and stories, that have moved me in an emotionally powerful way. A recent example I can think of was my discovery of Kid Cudi, in which I listened to his first album that was released a decade ago, “Man on the Moon”. Listening to the album, being able to relate heavily with the subject matter presented in it, has moved me in quite the same way Wordsworth was moved by the beautiful view of London, “Earth has not anything to show more fair: Dull of soul who could pass by a sight so touching in its majesty” (359).
The final poem, “The World is Too Much with Us”, again heavily features nature, and this time also warns us about the effect that humanity’s greed has and will cause to it. This connects very easily to what is going on in the world right now, with climate change starting to showcase various effects, and the wealthy politicians and CEOs that refuse to do anything about it. One such example that occurred recently is the burning of the Amazon Rainforest, which have had devastating effects that are worldwide in its reach. The burning of the forest was also completely man made, fueled by the greed of the people who stand to profit from this, such as the current President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, and even CEOs from America, to name a few, which Wordsworth has warned his reader of, “Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours”(359).
