Group 1: William Wordsworth

After carefully reading some of Wordsworth’s writing, it has become clear to me that he enjoys glorifying the common things in life and reflecting on these little things with his emotions. His lyrical ballads in “Lines Written in Early Spring” are very emphatic on the little details of nature. For example in the first stanza, he says “I heard a thousand blended notes, While in a grove I sate reclined, In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts, Bring sad thoughts to the mind.” I believe this is talking about the sound of birds and little insects chirping as he sits comfortably kicked back, thinking critically about how beautiful and natural nature. But that’s not all he feels. The “sweet mood” brought by the beautiful sounds of nature also bring contrary sad thoughts to mind. In the next stanza, it becomes clear that Wordsworth is describing mother nature to mankind. In the second stanza, I believe Wordsworth was trying to convey the message that nature has done its duty of being itself and giving humanity something beautiful to work with, but it pains Wordsworth to think about what mankind has turned itself into. The line “What man has made of man.” conveys this message. Throughout the rest of the poem, he continues to carefully take note of the other beautiful little things in nature that make it such an elegant phenomenon. but he repeats that specific line “What man has made of man.” again. I think it becomes even more clear that he emphasized this line by writing it twice because its one of the primary messages he wants the reader to take with him/her. I feel strongly about Wordsworth writing’s too. When I used to skateboard and go on little trips to places to practice this hobby, much of the time would not be spent skateboarding, but rather sitting and resting in between. But those moments where we sat and rested, I’ve thought about what Wordsworth felt. With the strong rays of the sun beaming down on me, and the insects in the grass humming and chirping, it’s truly a beautiful world. But when I think about going back to the city, where my community/society thrives, it pains me to think that much of the world is a very toxic place. I don’t mean to sound like a pessimist but human beings, even from the beginning of humanity, have really turned something so simple and beautiful to something so complex and hateful. The social and political conflicts that exist throughout the world, the ridiculous laws in place to control human beings because human beings cannot control themselves, it’s actually very sad.