In The Wild Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

In The Wild - Essay Example The narrative in both cases stems from the values and belief-systems that characterized the time period in which they were created. Thus for a proper understanding of the respective texts the contexts in which they were written as well as read must be taken into account. William Wordsworth is one of the foremost Romantic poets. The early 1790s found him in France where he imbibed much of the spirit of the revolution, which characterized much of his early writing. His work also shows the influence of the great French thinker Rousseau, who believed that those living closest to nature, were superior to those living in the heart of the jungle that is civilization. Wordsworth appears to have the same bent of thought as is evident in his idealization of nature and belief in the presumed innocence of rural life as opposed to the corruption and moral decay of urban society. His views are clearly outlined in The Prelude, (1850), " the close and overcrowded haunts of the cities where the human heart is sick." An important theme in his Solitary Reaper is Man's communion with and ultimate oneness with nature. The rusticity of the surroundings constitutes an idyllic setting for the poet, unblemished by the organized chaos of the city. Here Man exists with "The W ild" in a sublime if momentary state of purity and ecstasy. The lines, "Oh listen! For the Vale profound/ Is overflowing with the sound", reveals that the Reaper's music has intermingled with the core of Nature thus making them one. Wordsworth finds in Nature a means of escape from the mundane and vulgar realities of life. His poetry is inspired by the emotions Nature evokes in him which allows him glimpses past the opaque curtain of life that clouds one's vision of the mysterious and promising world beyond.Thus he endorses the view that through Nature, it is possible to transcend the unrewarding nitty-gritty of everyday life and soar exultantly through the realms of the universe as an essential part of it. Wordsworth reiterates the timeless and universality of the reaper's song by indicating that it appears to "have no ending" and by saying that it takes up residence in his heart, "long after it was heard no more."