'Lines' opens with a celebration of natural life and its exuberance, 'the red breast sings from its great larch'. Here, the singing blackbird is represented metonymically, giving the impression that it is something accessible and familiar to ordinary people. The song “red breast” and “great larch” are two symbols of joy and renewal, linked by the idea that nature is a constant source of vitality. This idea is especially true when placed in the context of spring, "the first mild day of March", as it represents the start of the fertile year and embodies growth and rebirth. Birds had metaphorical significance for Romantic poets ("the Nightingale", the albatross in "Rime" and the wood linnet in "Turned Tables") because they symbolize freedom through their flight and offer perspectives that humans are unable to achieve. Through the contemplation of natural forms, Wordsworth and Coleridge believed, one could tune into a quasi-religious transcendental experience and achieve a sense of joyful accomplishment, which might be considered exuberant. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay In this way, nature releases a force in the human mind allowing us to achieve a state of euphoria and heightened awareness of “life in things”. '. Later in the poem, Wordsworth states: “A moment now can give us more than fifty years of reason; our spirits will drink the spirit of the season from every pore. » The collective pronouns "we" and "our" suggest a unity between Wordsworth and the reader and invite a feeling of agreement. Outwardly, Wordsworth seems to celebrate the exuberance that nature offers and this is intensified by the rhyme which synthesizes the ideas of “reason”, nature and “season”. The first two lines of the stanza are a reaction against conventional "reason" in the form of empirical, perhaps Newtonian, science (as represented in "Anecdote for the Fathers", "We Are Seven", and "Expostulation and answer "). The quatrain thus becomes both a celebration of life, nature and exuberance, but also a veiled attack on the rationality of science. Wordsworth believed that the idea of ​​“feeling,” as opposed to thinking, was paramount in absorbing this aforementioned “spirit.” The conflict between reason and feeling is also clearly presented in the poem "We Are Seven" in which the speaker and a little girl's views on life and death are juxtaposed. The little girl offers what she believes to be quantifiable proof to the speaker of her siblings' continued presence in her life, after death: "Their graves are green, you can see them... Twelve paces or more away from my mother's door. The modifier “green” is frequently associated with vitality and growth, therefore life itself. Furthermore, the number of steps is counted and emphasized by the internal rhyme as if to challenge, in a scientific manner, each aspect of the man's argument. Wordsworth may be trying to show the new perspective that children bring to life and how they are not hindered by adults' rational view of mortality. In doing so, the poem highlights the speaker's cynicism and exasperation: "But they are dead, these two are dead!" and his inability to impose his rational point of view on the child's natural innocence. Thus, the child is presented as being pure of thought, in a state of grace and optimism close to nature. This conflict comes to represent broader contrasts inthe anthology, such as innocence and experience (recalling Blake), age and youth, and science and imagination. What Wordsworth saw as the true understanding found in nature is at the heart of “Pictures.” Turned' and also echoes some of the sentiments expressed in 'Lines'. Wordsworth argues that a joyful and sincere lifestyle must come first and foremost from an appreciation of nature which is itself constantly living and changing: “Come and hear the sound of the woods.linnet…There is more wisdom there- inside. The simple rhyme scheme of the ballad reflects the joyous tone of the poem (a reaction against the complex Augustan use of form and structure?). Wordsworth's argument is an attack on the jaded and indirect experience found in the "Books!" and contrasts with the life-affirming joys found in nature. Later in the poem he speaks of the "merry...accelerator" as being "a non-wicked preacher." The modifiers “wicked” and “merry” are juxtaposed, showing the exuberance of natural life compared to the artificial, learned life of a preacher. It is perhaps also a reflection on the changing nature of religion which was undermined by the science of the Enlightenment (the Age of Reason), with the Romantics now seeking to rediscover a sense, perhaps heretical, of religion through nature (recalling Francis of Assisi). It is clear that Wordsworth believes that conventional religious ideas imposed on man are not conducive to a spontaneous and spiritual lifestyle. Similarly, in the poem "Lines", Wordsworth also encourages disregard for man's calendar in "Lines" in favor of a "living" one. ' one, governed by changes in nature rather than by man's fallacious idea of ​​time and season (perhaps anti-reductionist). This rejection of routine in favor of spontaneity, even limited, could be linked to the idea of ​​revolution. Wordsworth challenges social conventions in the hope that this will lead to a more fulfilling and exuberant lifestyle already implicit in natural forms. Wordsworth questions conventional routine for the desensitizing effect it has on the mind, urging his sister Dorothy to interrupt her monotonous "morning task." ' in favor of spontaneity, suggesting instead: 'For this day// We will give in to idleness'. Wordsworth presents spontaneity almost as an antidote to monotony, in which the constraints of work are happily abandoned in favor of more natural activities. It is interesting to note, however, that the determiner “one” (day) further limits Wordworth’s proposed rebellion against such a convention. This contrasts with the “yew” which speaks of a total devotion to solipsistic idleness. “Lines Left on a Seat in a Yew Tree” presents the limitations of an exuberant lifestyle. It is also a remarkable poem because it is set in a barren and desolate natural context, "No sparkling streams...those barren branches which the bee does not love." The description is largely negative. Additionally, the awkward syntactic structure suggests dysfunction and is emphasized by alliterative and plosive “b” sounds. Bees often carry the symbolic value of community and government that is absent for the solitary protagonist and allows him to engage in his quasi-solipsistic behavior without regulation. Previously, nature and children (although largely ignored) were symbols of an exuberant sense of life. However, the symbolic importance of the yew tree is in complete contradiction to this. Its connotations of death are largely due to the poison contained in its berries and leaves, which are often considered fatal by consumption. Furthermore, the traditionhistory of making longbows from yew wood is well known and therefore also has these deadly associations. Finally, yew trees were often found in cemeteries and linked to the underworld in Latin poetry and therefore seen as inextricably linked to the individual's eventual demise. Instead of using nature to nourish him towards a higher state of spiritual being, as in the previous poems, the protagonist abuses it, to complacently "feed" his "morbid pleasure" and "sad joy" vicariously. The landscape seems to have arisen from the unhappy feelings of the protagonist, almost an extended pathetic fallacy and the natural world he immerses himself in is anything but exuberant and so the only monument to his passing is a 'solitary' yew tree. Here, Wordsworth inverts the vitality of nature even though in doing so, ironically, he still highlights the power of nature through its very absence. In the poem "Goody Blake and Harry Gill", this absence of natural joy is presented in a context of social injustice. Wordsworth reverses the idea of ​​exuberance by subjecting Goody Blake to a figure that we usually consider to be an example of physical exuberance: "vigorous... large limbs... the cheeks were red as ruddy clover... the voice was like the voice.” of three”. Harry Gill is the physical embodiment of youth and vitality (and a metaphor for the emerging middle classes?). Her description contrasts with that of Goody Blake, symbol of the aged proletariat and the abandoned woman (see The Female Vagrant, The Thorn, Mad Mother - perhaps reflecting her troubled affair with Annette Vallon). Blake is described as "old and poor...malfed...scantily clad" and the descriptions are stark in their unadorned simplicity. It becomes clear that his inability to lead a joyful life is limited by his old age, poverty and the harsh winter, compounded by Gill's selfish actions. His attempts to prevent him from taking wood for his fire reveal his lack of altruism and are represented by the onomatopoeic refrain of his chattering teeth: "always more his teeth chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter again". Wordsworth focuses on the physical implications for Gill's health and the repetition of "chatter" is almost a feverish manifestation of his lack of spirituality. heat. Interestingly, as in the Yew, this idea is represented through the natural environment - although here from a more seasonal perspective - with the poem moving away from the abundance of summer, where l he exuberance is implied, towards the cold austerity of winter. This seasonal metaphor connects all the thematic material of the poem and is used as a transformative device causing a change within the poem and altering the nature from a life-giving force to a destructive antipathetic force. Although the treatment of exuberant nature in "The Yew" and "Harry Gill and Goody Blake" is unconventional, in "The Dungeon" (a parallel to the Bastille?) nature is completely absent. This is clearly shown in the line: “Every natural pore and outlet has shriveled.” The word “pore” has a living quality, although this is completely weakened in the context of the dry and lifeless word “shrivelled”. The opening sentence: “And this place that our ancestors created for man? is almost entirely unpoetic, in its incredulous response to the sight of the dungeon. It is an almost hellish vision in its complete absence of anything natural or joyful. Coleridge's personal expression of outrage "God merciful" is quickly followed by images of overall spiritual and social degeneration. Negative images associated with the effects of imprisonment accumulate on each other and their impact »'.