Siblings of Nature (ANALYSIS/ESSAY)

Painting by Juliet Whitworth

Siblings of Nature

William and Dorothy Wordsworth are two of the most influential writers in the romantic period. The artistic siblings spent a great deal of time in nature according to their  poetry and journals. William Wordsworth wrote and published poems of the images he and his sister saw while taking walks through the country, while Dorothy recorded her thoughts in notes and journals. To them, nature was a place of wonder and beauty as recorded in their writing; it was a place for them to enjoy together. Nature to the two siblings was a powerful place of healing and spiritual exploration, although in two different ways. William also differs from Dorothy in the way he treats the people in his poems. William speaks down to Dorothy and the country folk in his poetry rather than speaking highly of them the way Dorothy does. William often speaks in a way that makes it seem like nature is more important to him. 

 William Wordsworth’s thoughts on nature go beyond beauty. In his poem Lines written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, he describes nature as a more holy place: 

“A worshipper of Nature, hither came,

Unwearied in that service: rather say

With warmer love, oh! With far deeper zeal 

Of holier love.” (Lines 153-157,Wordsworth, 1798)

He sees nature as a place of worship and religious value; Wordsworth nature is a sacred and beautiful place. Nature is a spiritual and physical healer of those in need of it. This belief is very important to Wordsworth as it is discussed in many of his poems. To both him and his sister, the loneliness of urban life is replaced by joy and wonder as they move to the countryside to live together. A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey describes that anyone of any class can feel the spiritual healing of nature that people would not find in normal city life. 

“These forms of beauty have not been to me

As is a landscape to a blind man’s eye:

But oft, in lonely rooms, and ‘mid the din

Of towns and cities, I have owed to them, 

In hours of weariness, sensations sweet, 

Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart,

And passing even into my purer mind” (Lines 24-30, W.Wordsworth, 1798) 

It is obvious to see in these lines that even though he is surrounded by people in the city, it remains to him a lonely and sad place. He longs for the holy enriching beauty of nature that he left behind in his childhood. William feels at home and at peace amongst nature and the beings that dwell in nature. It mends the lonely and tired parts of his heart damaged by urban living. Also by looking through this lense it might be assumed that being around people and urban living makes William unhappy because he does not enjoy people the way Dorothy does. 

Dorothy Wordsworth shares his sentiment about a longing to be in nature. In Dorothy’s journals of her life in the country she seems to see nature as more of a collective living thing rather than a religion as her brother does. She often personifies the things she sees in nature and describes them as ‘nature spirits’. “I never saw daffodils so beautiful. They grew about the mossy stones about and about them, some rested their heads upon these stones as on a pillow for weariness and the rest tossed and reeled and danced and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew upon them over the lake.” (D. Wordsworth, April 15,1802). Nature to her is almost childlike and playful. It dances and moves care-free. 

It can be noted that when Dorothy describes people in her journals, she describes them as far more ragged and less beautiful than the nature she sees, almost as if she is more connected personally to nature itself rather than the people around her. Although she seems to care a great deal more about people when compared to her brother who hardly mentions the country folk in his poetry. “He was seventy-five years of age, had a freshish colour in his cheeks, grey hair, a decent hat with binding round the edge, the hat worn brown and glossy,” (D.Wordsworth, December 22, 1801). Her description of a person is much less thrilling and elegant compared to how she describes nature in the same journal. Her descriptions of most of the people she encounters are very similar, they lack the vibrance and excitement that her descriptions of the moon or of flowers holds. “O the unutterable darkness of the sky and the earth below the moon! And the glorious brightness of the moon itself!” (D. Wordsworth, March 18,1801) 

Both William and Dorothy see something beyond them in nature, an elegant spirit that could be worshipped or befriended, William approaches the idea with pure wonder and surrenders himself to the holiness of nature while Dorothy seems to observe and catalogue the things she sees rather than submit herself to it.

To William nature is a deity to be worshipped, a guardian and a guide as he describes here: 

“The anchor of my purest thoughts/ the nurse, 

The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul

Of all my moral being.” (Lines 110-113, W.Wordsworth,1798)

He sees nature as the guardian to his soul, and a healer. His feelings towards nature are intense and deeply rooted in religion. William’s strong beliefs towards nature being a loving god over us is very direct and found in many of his works, drawing on the idea of reconnecting with nature and withdrawing from the cities and towns to enjoy a country life.

Dorothy, while just as direct with her belief in nature being something intense and powerful, doesn't seem to feel the holiness and religion as deeply as her brother. In her journals she more describes the wonders she seems on her walks as something to be marvelled at and loved but not worshipped. Her descriptions of nature, while still beautiful, lack the whimsical and devotional weight that her brother carries in his works and poetry.

Dorothy’s relationship with people differs from her brother whereas he does not speak of them often in his poetry; Dorothy does. Dorothy speaks often in her journals of her relationships with the people in her small town. But when compared to how Dorothy speaks about nature it is obvious she cares a great deal more about the natural world around her. For example when Dorothy speaks of people she often brushes off describing them: “A sweet mild rainy morning. Grundy the carpet man called. I paid him £1: 10s. Went to the blind man's for plants. I got such a load that I was obliged to leave my basket in the road, and send Molly for it…” (D.Wordsworth, May 31, 1800). When she describes nature however it is in great detail: “We amused ourselves for a long time in watching the breezes, some as if they came from the bottom of the lake, spread in a circle, brushing along the surface of the water, and growing more delicate as it were thinner, and of a paler colour till they died away. Others spread out like a peacock's tail, and some went right forward this way and that in all directions. The lake was still where these breezes were not, but they made it all alive. I found a strawberry blossom in a rock. The little slender flower had more courage than the green leaves, for they were but half expanded and half grown, but the blossom was spread full out.” (D.Wordsworth, January 31, 1802). 

William on the other hand does not speak often of people in his poetry. He speaks solely of the scenery around him rather than the people. When he speaks of people in “Tintern Abbey” he has a condescending manner of speaking; even when he speaks of his sister Dorothy. He uses nature as a way to relieve the loneliness that he feels amongst people. 

“Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes

The still sad music of humanity,

Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power

To chasten and subdue.—And I have felt

A presence that disturbs me with the joy” (W.Wordsworth, Tintern Abbey). 

He expresses his loneliness and worries through poetry through poetry while his sister seems to have plenty of people to speak to (even if she is still incredibly attached to nature). 

Despite their difference in beliefs on whether nature is a deity or a powerful force of spirit or how they feel towards the people in the town around them, the two siblings share their strong moral belief in that nature is a healer. Both Dorothy and her brother William find escape in their walks through the rural parts of their home. They see beauty in the natural world around them. Their works sing with powerful images of animals, flowers, and moonlight, making everyday scenery seem like a mystic landscape. Whether they agreed or not spiritually is far less important in comparison to the deeply riveting feeling of love between this brother and sister that is expressed through their work and through their views on nature.  

Works Cited

Wordsworth, W. (1798). Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey.

Wordsworth, D. (1801). The Grasmere Journal.

Black, J., & Acheson, K. O. (2014). The Broadview anthology of British literature: Concise edition. Peterborough, Ontario, Canada: Broadview Press.