Nature and Meditation in Romantic Poetry - Essay Example

Nature and Meditation in Romantic Poetry Poetry came much before prose in human history. The Ramayana in Sanskrit, by the great Indian sage poet Valmiki , the Iliad and the Odyssey, by the Greek poet Homer are some of the earliest pieces of poetry still read and enjoyed. It was easier for the ancient people to remember something in verse form , with rhythm and rhyme than to remember something prosaic .Man has expressed his deepest thoughts and longings through poetry. It is through poetry that he has been able to convey the inexpressible, which is beyond the capacity of prose. The Bible , which contains some of the most beautiful poetry, the Quran, with its verses and the Song Celestial of the Hindus still have a profound effect on the followers. Thus poetry is the vehicle for the spiritual elevation of humankind. In the Western world, the Romantic Poets express their spiritual feelings through descriptions of nature .Although deeply religious, they see God through nature , unlike their predecessors for whom religion was a stern affair. English Romanticism ,in particular, presented a break with the tradition by its individualism and encouragement of the imagination .The Romantic poets experienced the most sublime through nature. Romanticism emerged in the late eighteenth century as an inevitable reaction against the empirical thinking and stern reasoning that was in vogue earlier. Philosophers like Rousseau(1712-1778)urged that only in nature that mankind could find freedom of spirit. The American Revolution and the French Revolution acted as catalysts for the Romantic Movement .William Wordsworth (1770-1850) and John Keats(1795-1821)were two of the greatest English Romantic poets who found inspiration in nature . In their poetry they use descriptions of nature to raise the mind to mystic heights. William Wordsworth, one of the foremost Romantic poets, brings out the feeling of "passionate meditation" in his famous poem, Tintern Abbey. The poem conveys a feeling of deep silence and meditation attained through connecting with nature. That on a wild secluded scene impress Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect The landscape with the quiet of the sky. (6,7,8) (Wordsworth 1798) According to Geoffrey Hartman, for Wordsworth nature is "not something to be worshipped and consumed, but always a guide, leading beyond itself."(Hartman,290)We see this even when he is at his most exuberant, describing daffodils in "I wandered lonely as a cloud" I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. (1-6)(Wordsworth 1803) The poet's heart sings at the eternal spectacle of nature "Lonely as a cloud" suggests the solitude needed for meditation, while,in contrast, "crowd, a host " expresses the feeling of multitudes. .He experiences a feeling akin to meditation which recurs whenever he is "in a pensive mood" , when the multitude of daffodils "flash upon the inward eye" with the ensuing "Bliss of solitude". "Tintern Abbey" is the outstanding work of Wordsworth published in 1798,and it shows how he developed a vivid and personal approach which connects meditation to sensation in a unique way. In this poem, the brilliant lyric is transcendental; the theme is exalted by the underlying love for his sister. The emotions compliment the visual scene, the memories enrich the moral ideas. Here he feels the presence which encourages him to meditate on the oneness of all things in nature. He rhapsodizes, And I have felt A presence that disturbs me with the joy Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime Of something far more deeply interfused, Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, And the round ocean and the living air, And the blue sky, and in the mind of man; A motion and a spirit that impels All thinking things, all objects of all thought, And rolls through all things. (93-102) (Wordsworth 1798) He is describing the nearness to the universal soul that he experiences .He goes on to explain his great love for nature , his love for" the meadows and the woods" . For Wordsworth, joy is the central principle of the universe, which can be experienced by the appreciation of nature through senses. Nature, and human life are related, which leads to the love of all humanity and all things in nature .In "Tintern Abbey", he evokes the sense of the sublime in nature and relationship between the divine and the human. His descriptions of the scenery inspires a sense of awe in the reader, because he invokes the unity of nature and time- thus contemplating the infinite. "The solitary reaper", on the other hand, is a more down-to-earth poem in which Wordsworth combines quiet precision of composition with the sense of hearing. He describes the highland lass who is doing her chores and singing all the while. The music stays with the hearer at all times. Although there is not much description of nature in this poem , it is significant because of the sensuous elegance and an almost trance-like quality it has. Whate'er the theme the Maiden sang As if her song could have no ending, I saw her singing at her work, And o'er the sickle bending,- I listened , motionless and still, And, as I mounted up the hill The music in my heart I bore, Long after it was heard no more. (25-32) (Wordsworth 1803) While Wordsworth interpreted nature through the senses of sight and hearing, John Keats was a "Romantic" who enthusiastically relished all his sensations. Some of his contemporaries did not like his style which resulted in severe criticism of his work, but Keats' brilliance ,his mastery of the language, his youthful enthusiasm have made his poetry some of the greatest in English literature. The story of Keats' life is a list of many great friendships he made in his short but brilliant life. He was born in 1795 in London, the eldest of five children. His father died when he was eight, and he was brought by his grandparents, who sent him to school in Middlesex. His school days were happy, and later he studied to become a surgeon. For some time he was apprenticed to an apothecary, for which he was later ridiculed by his detractors. He died at the early age of twenty six of tuberculosis, after writing some of the most glorious verses in English literature. "O Solitude" was Keats' first published poem, printed in the "Examiner" in 1816.He quickly improved and his poems attained maturity and a rare brilliance . His decision to abandon his medical career in favour of a literary one was in accordance with his character. He was able to use words with exquisite grace. Being sensitive , he was able to understand the essence of people, places and ideas, which made his poetry so intensely moving and evocative. While Wordsworth wrote reams of poetry some of which was mediocre, Keats' output was much less , but extremely elegant. He had a splendour of vision unparalleled amongst his contemporaries. He had an impressive vocabulary and he uses words of great strength and tone. Keats was always in sympathy with nature. His poetry evokes "passionate meditation". In the "Ode to a Nightingale"' he says, I cannot see what flowers are at my feet, Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs, But, in embalmed darkness, guess each sweet Wherewith the seasonable month endows The grass, the thicket, and the fruit tree wild- White hawthorn, and the pastoral elegantine; Fast fading violets covered up in leaves; And mid-May's eldest child, The coming musk -rose, full of dewy wine, The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves. (41-50) (Keats 1819) These poignantly sensitive lines evoke a feeling of contemplation in the reader; the exquisite poetry inspires a sensuous rapture The description of nature which the poet cannot see lying in his "embalmed darkness" brings a sense of despair. The nightingale's song is a symbol of the timeless infinity, inspiring meditation on the eternity. Keats talks about the sufferings of humanity that the eternal bird never experiences. "The weariness, the fever, and the fret" make him feel full of sorrow , and he almost longs for death-"I have been half in love with easeful Death", he says. He thinks it would be "rich to die" and be freed of all pain when the bird is singing so ecstatically. Keats has a forceful and distinct vocabulary which he developed through his reading as well as through real life. His emotions soared in the presence of nature as was the case with most of the Romantic poets. In Keats' work we see pure celebration of all the senses While for Wordsworth nature was the conduit to the divine, Keats rhapsodizes about beauty in nature. In the opening lines of "Endymion", Keats says those immortal words, which prove to be his central philosophy of life, "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever." In his treatment of nature, he brings the same passion for beauty . For him nature was lovely and fulfilling by itself. To quote "On the Grasshopper and Cricket", (Keats 1819) The poetry of earth is ceasing never: On a lone winter evening, when the frost Has wrought a silence, from the stove there shrills The cricket's song, in warmth increasing ever, And seems to one in drowsiness half lost, The grasshopper's among some grassy hills.(9-14) The verse is typical of Keats' writings, richly sensual and has a picture-quality. The silence and drowsiness of a winter evening draws the mind towards contemplation. The symbolism of the cricket- the home bound soul and the free spirit of the grasshopper "among some grassy hills" is well brought out. Keats , besides describing the sensuous beauty of nature, also tells us about the joy it can bring. In his "Ode to Autumn", he describes the sights, sounds and smells of autumn, making the reader experience autumn. To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells With a sweet kernel ;to set budding more, And still more, later flowers for the bees, Until they think warm days will never cease, For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells. (Keats 1819) One can only venerate such poetry which is so rich in sensuousness. Keats stimulates all one's senses by his poetry. The bees' clammy cells evokes a strong feeling of the sense of touch, and the sweet kernel of the hazel nut besides over brimming honey excite one's taste buds. "The fume of poppies" brings the strong scent of poppies among us. The twitter of the swallows in the sky is matched by the "wailful choir of the small gnats" and the loud bleating of the lambs .The imagery is so picturesque that one could actually experience the English autumn sitting in Antarctica! There is a higher import to the poem than mere sensuousness- it speaks about the timelessness of nature-the eternal cycle of seasons .Keats fills this poem with joy and passionate exuberance. Romantic poetry of Wordsworth and Keats have a marked difference. While the poetry of Wordsworth relies on the sensations of sight and sound, the poetry of Keats appeals to all the senses. For Wordsworth , the highest levels of the human mind can be attained through nature, whereas for Keats, the central principle for existence is beauty. Wordsworth believed that man could have communion with the universal spirit through nature, and Keats thought that "Beauty is truth, truth beauty". They both used vivid and evocative descriptions of nature in their poetry. Thus, while Wordsworth leads us to meditation by his love for nature, Keats does so by his passionate love of beauty. References Hartman, Geoffrey H. (1970)"The Romance of Nature and the Negative Way".Romanticism andConciousness:Essays in Criticism Ed.Harold Bloom, New York. W.W.Norton & Company Inc,1970 .287-305. Keats,John."Endymion" (1818) The Poetical Works of John Keats Ed.W.S.Scott,New York. Macmillan Company 1903 Keats, John. "Ode to a Nightingale", "Ode to Autumn"' "On the Grasshopper and Cricket" .Half Hours with the Best Poets ed. Frank J. Finamore New York. Gramercy Books. Random House 1999 ISBN 0-517-20431-2 Wordsworth, William. "Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey", "I wandered lonely as a cloud", "The Solitary Reaper" Selected Poetry of William Wordsworth Ed. Mark Van Doren, New York. The Modern Library 2002 ISBN 0-375-75941-7 Read More