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Romanticism And Symbolism In William Wordsworth's Poetry

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William Wordsworth thrived in the early 1800’s with his poems rich in meaning. This is partly because he was a Romantic poet, the most popular form in poetry in Europe during the time. Wordsworth created many masterpieces including The Prelude, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, and Ode: Intimations of Immortality. Wordsworth experienced many tragedies throughout his life such as the death of his mother and father before the age of thirteen, and the death of his two children that inspired and molded his poems. Wordsworth utilizes nature as a common motif, as evidenced through his Romantic style, to express his ambivalent feelings for society because of humanity’s missing connection with nature; however, nature continues to give Wordsworth hope. Nearly all Wordworth’s poems have the motif of nature. For example, in I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud Wordsworth uses vivid imagery and personification to describe nature throughout the poem. In the first stanza Wordsworth states, “A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze” (Wordsworth 4-6). He uses nature to express his message. Wordsworth uses nature in nearly all his poems, mainly because he is a Romantic writer. In Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, Wordsworth says, “Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs, That on a wild secluded scene impress” (Wordsworth 4-5). This poem is primarily about a specific place and the description of it, including the nature

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