Nature In William Wordsworth And Robert Frost: A Comparative Study

Abstract

While separated by distance, decades and a shift in the literary tradition, these two poets share an affinity for nature that is studied in this comparative study of their poetry. Unlike the prototypical English Romantic Wordsworth, who saw nature as spiritual comfort and a source of moral instruction, Frost lifted his view of nature from American transcendentalism, transforming it with a modernist sensibility into a more pragmatic, if often conflicted, concept. By analyzing their key works, this study finds Wordsworth saw the natural world as a sacred force of restoration and illumination for humanity, while Frost saw nature as a self-sufficient, often apathetic force that was primarily metaphor for human inner turmoil. While separated in time and culture by over a century, both poets used nature and rural settings as excellent vehicles to expose and explore the core issues of what it means to be human. The differences in their philosophic approaches are profound in that Wordsworth's pantheistic reverence stands in stark contrast to Frost's realistic depiction of the often harsh and unforgiving aspects of the natural world, yet both Poets illustrate the important way nature serves, as either a Imaginative or Observational lens through which to interpret both human experience and the nature of consciousness itself.