Mont Blanc by Percy Shelly and Prelude by William Wordsworth - Book Report/Review Example

TMA04 and Section # of William Wordsworth is considered as one of the greatest poems inthe history of English literature. Wordsworth was a lover of nature and most of his poems like 'The Daffodils' reflect his liking for the beauty of nature. Wordsworth's longest poem is 'The prelude' which is an autobiographical or a philosophical poem and could be called as the magnum opus of his works. Percy Bysshe Shelley is another of those writers who has shown wonder at the beauty of the nature through his poems. Both of the works were written during the era of Romanticism which could be called as the epitome of perfection and liberalism in the history of English literature. The theme of beauty and nature is common in the works produced during the Romantic era; however each author has given their own voice to the description of nature. Even though Wordsworth and Shelly seem to be running on the same theme of nature, Shelly's perspective of nature is quite different to that of Wordsworth. This essay would compare and contrast the ways in which nature is described in Shelly's famous poem 'Mont Blanc' and Wordsworth's 'Prelude'. Shelly's Mont Blanc is a natural ode, composed of 144 lines divided into five stanzas. Mont Blanc is actually a soliloquy of the poet in which he seems to be wondered by the vast mountain; he perceives it as a combination of a multitude of elemental forces and connects his mind and imagination with it. Through his poem, he wants to bridge the gap between the understandings of the human mind and the power of the nature. Like Wordsworth, Shelly holds the beauty of nature in deep esteem; however Shelly is aware of the nature's power or the wilder side of nature. Through Mont Blanc we are able to see that Shelly views nature's power as not truly positive; she believes that Nature is as much a bane as it is a boon. Therefore unlike other romantic poets especially Wordsworth, Shelly's delight in nature is lessened due to her awareness and acknowledgement of the dark side of nature. Within the poem is a contrast seen in the attributes of nature. He compares the nature in quite a unique way in which the beauty of nature runs parallel to the fear and wonder it inspires in the beholder. He contemplates it as the 'Power' of nature which exists separately from the usual activities of life, acknowledges its ominous destructiveness and portrays it as a fearsome beauty. (Bygrave) Shelly begins the poem with a litany of descriptive and regenerative images to describe a landscape that is sublime in the way that it represents both gloom and splendor and frightens and fascinates the observer, The everlasting universe of things Flows through the mind, and rolls its rapid waves A similarity could be traced between Shelly's and Wordsworth's perception of nature that both discern the connection of human mind to the nature and the great influence it has on it. However a more vivid is the difference in the mountain and indirectly nature is viewed by the poets. Shelly celebrates and expresses wonder and fear at the beauty of the mountain while Wordsworth is apparently grieved by the beautiful scenery because the seemed to have been thoroughly different from the image of the scenery he had formed up in his mind. "That day we first Beheld the summit of Mount Blanc, and grieved." (452-3) The dialectical imagery of death and birth in the lines of the fourth stanza points towards the destructive forces of nature paired with the regenerative ones -is not reconciled, as it would be in Wordsworth, but is catalogued and represented as a part of natural process. Shelly's view of the Mont Blanc is that would live till the end of times, inspiring a sense of nature's presence in its beholders. Shelly views both sides of the mountain in his poem. On one hand, he seems to be awed by the size and beauty of the mountain while on the other hand he is humbled by the coldness and the inaccessibility of the mountain which terrifies the viewer. It is often misunderstood that Mont Blanc focuses only on the wilder side of nature; however Shelly does not form her own opinions about nature, rather acknowledges the truth and wrote it in her poetry which other writers so ostensibly denied. She does not only talk of beauty or destructiveness of nature but in her poetry both the themes are intermittently linked. She shows destruction in the nature and then life rising out of that destruction, for example. Even after the Earthquake and fiery flood, and hurricane, there are still future leaves and flowers that want to leap from the detested trance. The poet is aware of and is therefore forced to seek what is present beyond the bounds of the imagination in spite of the tempting urge to mythologize or allegorize. Unlike Shelly's Mont Blanc, Wordsworth's Prelude is a very long autobiographical poem, written in blank verse. Throughout the Prelude, Wordsworth constantly makes reference to the nature however Wordsworth looks upon as something familiar like a teacher or a friend. Wordsworth learns from nature and takes pleasure in its presence. He seems to be a keen observer of the nature, constantly trying to unveil or unfold its secrets so that he can revel in its beauty. This could be easily seen from the lines 452-6 about his experience of the Mont Blanc, through which he learnt and modified his view of reality. Quite unlike Shelly's Mont Blanc, even when he is disappointed by his vision of the Mountain he quickly gets fascinated by the landscape because of his love for nature which makes him see beauty even in the most fearsome form of nature. ". . . make rich amends, And reconcil'd us to realities." (460-1) Throughout his journey, Wordsworth looks upon his experience as one of learning new and different things of nature though there is a marked difference between Shelly's and Wordsworth's view of nature. Shelly looks at both aspects of nature while Wordsworth is quite oblivious to the terrifying aspect and only sees the beauty and learns from it. Before our eyes, we could not chuse but read A frequent lesson of sound tenderness, The universal reason of mankind, The truth of Young and Old (473-7) The point of culmination in Wordsworth's prelude could be seen in the lines 500 to 525 because this is where Wordsworth had unknowingly completed his journey of crossing the Alps to see the mountains. When he came to know of his achievement, the most prominent element in the poetry is them of surprise and gloom because Wordsworth had higher expectations from nature and he was surprised when his expectations were crushed in the form of reality. Both of these things seem to happen to Wordsworth though it played a very major role in his poetry because this was the event from where Wordsworth learnt to 'reconcile' nature to reality and this was where he learnt to determine the true beauty of nature. This makes Wordsworth find peace and comfort in himself and he tries to see beauty in nature even if the reality is different from it.This is what makes another of the key differences between Shelly's Mont Blanc and Wordsworth's Prelude; Shelly knows the reality and understands it when it comes to get influenced by nature but Wordsworth has higher expectations from nature and his great love with it clouds him from the reality for a great part of his poem. (Owens) The Prelude is actually the portrayal of the growth of Wordsworth's imagination with particular emphasis on the love and importance of nature, which has always remained the favorite subject in Wordsworth's writings. As mentioned above, Shelly's writings report the truths and facts of the nature of nature while Wordsworth draws upon his imagination when he writes about nature. Wordsworth's prelude thus appears to be more friendly and understandable as everyone 'wants' to believe that the nature is beautiful while Shelly's Mont Blanc is the author's monologue and deals on all aspects of nature which somewhat alienates the reader. The Prelude is a continuous account of Wordsworth's experiences of his life, however Wordsworth seems to hold a biased view towards nature while Shelly's poem shows the dissent which the poet feels towards Wordsworth's attitude towards nature in which his love for the beauty of nature has clouded his vision to grasp the true picture of it. (Farnell, 1999) Both the poets, Percy Shelly and William Wordsworth were the writers of the romantic era and this is the reason why both the poetries seem to bear a striking resemblance when it comes to the theme of the poems. Shelly and Wordsworth explicitly describe nature and marvel its beauty, however the personal views of the poets come into their poetry and this is what makes the works of both the poets so different. Shelly's Mont Blanc and Wordsworth's Prelude are still widely read and compared and it would not be wrong to call these poems as the masterpieces of the romantic poetry. Works cited Bygrave, S. Approaching literature Romantic writings. Farnell, G. (1999, February 13). Wordsworth's The Prelude as Autobiography of An Orphan. Retrieved June 7, 2009, from Romanticism on the net: http://www.erudit.org/revue/ron/1999/v/n13/005847ar.html Owens, W. Approaching Literature Romantic Writings: An Anthology. Read More