Religion And Nature In Wordsworth's Works

“Wordsworth observed natural scenes closely, mediated on them deeply, and from his earliest boyhood drew from nature a sense of exaltation that was almost religious” (Inglis and Spear 350). In Perkins’ description of the construction of the ‘romantic’ he emphases that during this movement of thought, poetic applications were those of adjective in the nineteenth-century to texts whose contexts were exotic, idealised, naturalised, irrational, or wonderful (130). This way of thinking is what Hartman describes Wordsworth’s faith in nature as “that double generosity of Nature toward man and man toward Nature, always present in the impassioned [poet]” (Diehl 34). Due to Wordsworth’s infatuation with the beauty of the naturalist perspective of the time, I will go on to analyse this connection with religion across his work, primarily arguing that Wordsworth regards nature as a religion and through his mention, or lack there of, of religious elements this thought becomes apparent. Focusing on his Ode: Imitations of Immorality from Recollections of Early Childhood, while comparing the findings to The Tables Turned from Lyrical Ballads, with brief mention to some of his earlier poems, I aim to portray how Wordsworth uses various religious images and how this is linked to nature and mankind, across both of these poems.

Following Lionel Trilling’s views on Ode: Intimations of Immorality, the naturalism that Wordsworth creates, in addition to assuming that religious references are figurative and not to be considered as a contributing factor to meaning, helps solidify the idea that the poet accredits nature with a higher status than the religious spaces and figures he discusses here (Vendler 66-67). The capitalisation of the word “Nature” upon its repetition throughout the poem initially suggests and supports Trilling’s ideas about Wordsworth’s connection to nature throughout his work. This capitalisation, in addition to that of “Fountains, Meadows, Hills and Groves” (187), personifies the natural surrounding, which as well is done during the discussion of religion throughout the poem.

Thomas Raysor, however, is quick to contradict the significance of nature specifically in Ode, when viewing the occasional references to Christian vocabulary as central to the poem, while furthering this thought with the idea that ‘Wordsworth’s “philosophic mind” is that of a Christian philosopher’ (869). When considering some of Wordsworth’s earlier works, an example being Tintern Abbey, the clarity of the natural surroundings as a central force throughout the human life begins to become more apparent. The description of nature in Tintern Abbey is as follows: “the anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse, / the guide, the guardian of my heart and soul / of all my moral being”(111-113). This pantheistic perspective that is presented here is mirrored and indicated in Ode by a number of features. A semantic field of nature is apparent, with the depiction of “birds” (19) and “young lambs” (20) as sights of “apparelled in celestial light” (4). More specifically, the earth is anthropomorphised as a “homely nurse [to the] foster-child of her inmate man” (81-82). Despite such guardianship, Wordsworth considers the journey from childhood to adulthood to be an incredibly corrupting experience, with children closest to nature being seen as “blessed” (114), where after, this relationship will fade into adulthood and Wordsworth forms a more pessimistic view of human life: “there hath passed away a glory from this earth” (18).

Focusing in on nature as a “blessing” during childhood, The Tables Turned mirrors this theme, with the interest of childhood growth as a result of nature, opposed to physical educating, being one, which centres throughout the poem. Kantarcioglu illustrates that in “Wordsworth’s aesthetics a work of art is an organic whole having the dynamic structure nature has as well as it recreates the oneness and the multiplicity of God in the medium of art” (Hincks 292). The support towards this point comes with the emphasis on education being nothing in comparison to the importance of nature in the development of a persons life: “Books! ‘tis a dull and endless strife, / Come, hear the woodland linnet, / How sweet his music! On my lif’, / There’s more of wisdom in it” (9-12). In addition to this, it is possible to suggest that the nature being represented in the poem is a reflection on God and his teaching, showing his wisdom by his decoration of earth with such natural elements, and the observation of this environment by man creating a mirror for Gods wisdom which can then be passed on to those in view.

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The differences between Wordsworth’s depictions of religion become apparent when looking closer into the form and structure of both poems. When looking at Ode, it becomes apparent that the structure of the stanzas seem to develop erratically as the poem progresses. The first two stanzas are both nine lines long with an iambic metre and relatively consistent ABAB rhyme scheme; the ninth stanza, however, is thirty-nine lines long, with variations in metre such as the trochaic “Blank misgivings of creature” (147). As well as this, the rhyme scheme becomes less predictable, switching from a consistent use of rhyming couplets to AAA, for instance, when describing “… those obstinate questionings / of sense and outward things, / fallings from us vanishings” (144-6), which possibly could reflect the disturbing effect of such questions about mankind. These irregularities reflect the gradual loss of “new-born blisses” (85), occurring in tandem with the poem’s descriptions of the increasingly disjointed connection with nature. Alongside mirroring the message of the poem, these structural features present implications of how Wordsworth’s religious views are suppressed by his views about poetic form while stating that “[he] does not think that great poems can be cast in a mould” (Wordsworth and Wordsworth 352). Due to his beliefs on the restriction of poetry writing, it is possible to suggest that, Wordsworth’s caution to fully invest himself in a religious viewpoint and rather passing off these thoughts in relation to nature comes from his belief that poetry conventions are supposed to be challenged, in line with the idea that religion is as malleable as that of poetry.

Wordsworth’s conclusions regarding the overall morale of the poem continue to come across as unclear, even with the consistent strong rhyme being used in the final stanza, almost entirely of iambic pentameter, ultimately, the uncertainty that is presented throughout the poem causes such an outcome for a reader. Throughout the poem the feeling of uncertainty is overwhelming, with references to “questionings” (144), “vanishings” (146), “misgivings” (147) and “shadowy recollections” (151), with this irresolution of events being presented alongside the final image of the “clouds that gather round the setting sun” (199) contrasting with the “innocent brightness of a new-born day” (197). This specific metaphor suggests a possible alternative meaning of the poem in relation to its structure. The rising and setting of the sun is simultaneously finite and cyclical, human life, as well is finite in an individual sense and cyclical if viewed in relation to nature and pantheistic. If looking at the poem in this way, Wordsworth is acknowledging a gap between his perspective, assuming Wordsworth as speaker, and the “soul’s immensity” (109) in regards to his dismissal of doubts along the journey of the poem: “be they what they may” (153) (Wu 411-17). In this way, the poem is emphasising the virtues of pantheism, engaging with this gap and the connection with nature in association with the innocent perspective of childhood centring the course of the poem. Here, again, we can see how Wordsworth views religion as a support to nature and his intense personal feelings towards the natural world that surrounds us.

Similarly, within The Tables Turned, there is a structural focus that helps understand Wordsworth’s relationship and beliefs about religion throughout the poem. Being entirely the opposite of the structure Wordsworth employs across Ode, it could be argued that the regularity of the form and rhyme scheme is what indicates the poet’s religious beliefs in this instance. Sticking to the previous interpretation of Wordsworth’s belief in nature as a religion, the organised style of the poem supports this idea. The poem is broken down into eight four-line stanzas with the rhyme scheme following an interlocking rhyme pattern of ABAB. The subtle references to religion can be found in the middle of the poem, almost creating the body of this work and the main argument for the entire poem: “Come forth into the light of things, / let Nature be your teacher” (15-16) and “May teach you more of man, / of moral evil and of good, / than all the sages can” (21-24). It is the mention of “light” and “evil and of good,” that creates this understanding of a higher power and what lies beyond nature that is helping “teach you more of man.” Therefore, the implications of Heaven and its inhabitants and oppositions help Wordsworth’s views on religion take shape across the poem due to this framing of ideas in the centre of the work. It could be argued, in addition, that the initial image presented in a readers mind, given from the poem, is associated with these same feelings about nature and a force from above which is much grander than the natural power in which Wordsworth is alluding to. Beginning the poem with “Up! Up!” (1/3) followed by repetition of this word, could possibly symbolise the growth of nature, in addition to something higher up being more powerful and possibly overlooked in comparison to the subject: that being religion. The lack of mention of any religious figures or spaces in the poem, could conclude that Wordsworth is representing nature as a religion due to, as mentioned previously, his want to push the boundaries of the conventions of poetry and thus personifying Nature as a God-like figure is his way of countering stereotypes while keeping the regularity of structure throughout this poem. The differences in form and structure between both Ode and The Tables Turned leaves readers with the same uneasy feeling across Wordsworth’s work of a lack of clarity regarding the message of his poems. It is with the regularity and rhythmic order that is presented in The Tables Turned, contrasting with the subtlety and uncertainty of the supernatural which creates such a confusion in relation to Wordsworth’s moral for the poem, which could probably be the impression he is trying to leave on a reader. The intertwining feelings of religion and nature result in the two subjects becoming muddled across his work, therefore causing an overlap of ideas and meaning.

Ultimately, it is the subtle style, in which Wordsworth writes which causes an association between religion and nature. The lack of focus on religious figures throughout the analysed poems creates a vague idea of the poet’s views around religion and as a result of this, causes conclusions to be drawn around his feeling of nature as superior to that of religion and religious figures. It is Wordsworth’s infatuation with nature and the natural world and the abilities it has in developing mankind, that are ultimately favoured in comparison to religion throughout his poems. In addition to this, it is clear that Wordsworth’s lack of regular form across his poetry mirrors his lack of clarity with religious elements and his inability to accurately articulate his beliefs around the topic without bringing in nature to subdue his views. From this understanding about religion, Wordsworth proposes, instead, a natural religion characterised by mystical insight into the profound meaning of human nature (Downey 4). He views nature as a religion and therefore deems it superior to all other forces and forms of teaching, finally seeing man, nature and God as an intertwined collection of ideas that are discussed in unison with one another throughout his poems.