In comparing Romantic writers such as William Blake, Robert Burns, and William Wordsworth, one realizes that, while Nature is a common element found in all three of these writers’ works, it is represented in quite different ways. This article will summarize how these writers choose to display to the reading audience grandeur of Nature and its scheme in the world.
Blake uses Nature to illustrate its direct connection to both man and the Creator of all–God. Nature plays its role as such a vehicle in strikingly so as is seen in Blake’s 1789 poem The Lamb.
Little lamb who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Little lamb I”ll tell thee,
[…]
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb;
[…]
I a child & thou a lamb,
We are called by his name. (83-84)
In these lines we see Blake evoking the realization that God created Nature, and in that sense, both mankind and the rest of the animal kingdom. It is interesting to note that Blake uses the Lamb not only to depict one of God’s creations, but God himself. In this way, God is being viewed as not only a part of Nature, but a representation of purity and innocence, for the literal lamb evokes such qualities. Therefore, it begs to be brought to the forefront, too, that man is also being seen as inherently “pure and innocent,” for Blake refers to the reader as a “child” (84). In this view of Nature, one therefore realizes that Blake is conveying to the reader that living creatures are not only created by God, but that they must also be created in his image, for as elements of Nature, “we are called by his name” (84). Essentially, this evokes in the reader’s mind that if “we” (collectively the child and the lamb) are called by his name, “we” have been therefore been created in His image. To extrapolate this theory one step further, one can then assume that, if “we” are part of Nature, then all of Nature must have been created in God’s image. Therefore, Nature itself is not only a creation of God, but a direct reflection of God.
Burns’ 1785 piece To a Mouse seems to reflect a viewpoint that illustrates man’s society has erroneously lost its innate ties with Nature.
I’m truly sorry Man’s dominion
Has broken Nature’s social union,
An justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle,
At me thy poor, earth-born companion,
An’ fellow mortal! (135)
This stanza suggests a number of things about Burn’s perspective on Nature. Principally, that man is no less a part of Nature than the mouse is plays an important role in how the narrator views his relationship to the mouse. As is seen here, the man and the mouse share the primary element of being common “mortals” (135). Furthermore, the man’s preeminence over the mouse has come not necessarily because of Nature’s dictation, but because of man’s “dominance” as it has arisen through living out of harmony with the mouse and all other mortal creatures on earth (135). In this sense, the mouse is no more lowly a creature than man is and, therefore, it thus becomes imperative that man reconcile this realization by remembering that, in Nature, all creatures great and small can only be classified not as “superior” or “inferior,” but as one, for all are mortal.
Wordsworth’s Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey recognizes another aspect of Nature, and that comes in the form of Nature’s picturesque beauty and its unifying bond with mankind.
I came upon these hills; when like a roe
I bounded o’er the mountains, by the sides
Of the deep rivers, and the lonely streams,
Wherever nature led…
[…]
For I have learned
To look on nature, not as in the hour
Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes
The still, sad music of humanity,
Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power
To chasten and subdue. (260)
These lines link Wordsworth and mankind to Nature in such a way so as to convey to the reader the realization that man’s existence in this world is not separate from nature, but very much a part of it. Therefore, the implication is that Man and Nature are inextricably one. It is the lines such as those included above where one can see that Wordsworth views nature and all of its parts as essential to human life. Why is it that the speaker “bounded o’er the mountains” just “like a roe”? (260). Because through its connection to Nature, mankind can relate to experiencing such earthly bliss not only in our human form, but in the form of any of Nature’s creatures. That roe did not chart a random path, but that which “nature led” (260). In such a way then, Wordsworth’s perspective as seen in this poem is that, as does that roe, so, too, does man follow the path of Nature. Nature, then, as expressed in this poem, need not be an element that we look upon as observers, but rather one we live and breath and connect with on a very intimate level in every dimension of human life.
In these three poets, we see Nature play a central role, but in different ways indeed. While Blake uses Nature more to illustrate God and His glory, Burns utilizes Nature to show the glaring disparities between mankind and other creatures, and Wordsworth illustrates Nature as a realm in which mankind can both reveal itself and live as one with the world in myriad ways. While all the writers realize that man and Nature are interrelated parts, the three writers choose to reflect this notion in strikingly various forms. Blake indicates that Nature is one entity that has been clearly created by God. This Creation of God’s is seen not as separate elements, but as one in which all creatures and life forms literally and figuratively reflect God’s purity and beauty. because we share the common element of being both God’s creation and because we reside amongst each other as reflection of God in Nature, all aspects of Nature are therefore connected as one entity.
Burns chose to use Nature to indeed remind the reader that mankind is connected to the rest of the animal kingdom, but only inherently. As Burns’ view suggests, mankind no longer recognizes that man and mouse (and all other creatures and elements of Nature) are share a common “union” (135). Therefore, until man acknowledges its innate oneness with the rest of Nature, we can never realize what it is like to experience actually living in Nature.
Wordsworth’s views do seem to suggest an active recognition of Nature in that man can not only directly correlate with Nature, but that, as seen in Tintern Abbey, the speaker can feel the direct connection between himself, humanity, and Nature. Yet, as does Blake, Wordsworth also can see the pure beauty of Nature. This evocation of beauty and pureness is less physical in Burns’ work, for beauty is less aesthetic and more metaphorical as it relates to the “beauty,” so to speak, of man’s innate connection with the mouse and other creatures.
All in all, then, while Nature is a key component of all three writers’ philosophies and poems, it is displayed in myriad forms. This, however, is quite appropriate, for as dynamic and diverse as the writer’s views on Nature are, so is Nature itself.
Works Cited:
Blake, William. The Lamb.” The Norton Anthology: English Literature. General Editor Stephen Greenblatt. 8th ed. New York: Norton, 2006. 83-84.
Burns, Robert. “To a Mouse.” The Norton Anthology: English Literature. General Editor Stephen Greenblatt. 8th ed. New York: Norton, 2006. 135-136.
Wordsworth, William. “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey.” The Norton Anthology: English Literature. General Editor Stephen Greenblatt. 8th ed. New York: Norton, 2006. 258-262.
