Essay on Romanticism In Literature

Romanticism Literature was first introduced in the mid-eighteenth century, lasting roughly until the mid-nineteenth century. Several characteristic attitudes make up the literature for Romanticism. One attitude that strongly stood out to me in different pieces of work was a deepened appreciation of the beauties of nature. Two Romanticism works that portray this attitude are by William Wordsworth, “The World Is Too Much With Us” and “Nutting”. With Wordsworth having a strong connection with nature I felt both of his works would portray this attitude remarkably. 

William Wordsworth’s poem, “The World is Too Much with Us”, is a tremendous example to use when discussing an attitude portraying nature appreciation. This poem is a Sonnet that expounds on modern-day life, along with ignorance of the beauty of nature. It tends to recognize the power of nature which is why this poem was my top work when realizing which piece of work portrays the appreciation of nature’s beauty attitude. The second piece of work that fits this attitude is “Nutting”, this poem is about a young boy who realizes the beauty that nature has to offer even though he may have realized this when it is too late. This poem tells the story of a young boy encountering nature and the life shared between Wordsworth and the outer world. This poem portrays the young boy’s journey through the woods along with the emotions, amusement and rage he experiences during his journey. 

“The World is Too Much with Us”, has several reasons why the attitude of nature appreciation best fits this work. One example is the beginning phrase, “The world is too much with us: late and soon” this means we as humans don’t appreciate what the world has to offer us. We should take more notice of the good in the world like nature’s beauty and focus less on the bad that occurs every day around us. Then the poem states “little we see in nature that is ours” this means we don’t realize what nature, or the world even has to offer us because we are to focus on money and buying things we want and don’t need. We buy those things and later don’t appreciate them when we could enjoy what nature has to offer every one of us. In all honesty, nature is probably better than anything we could ever buy. The poem mentions beautiful details that people take for granted about nature which makes people realize what they are missing out on. For example, “the wind that will be howling at all hours” the ocean, and the flowers. Each of these is a part of what nature has to offer us that we take for granted. My favorite part is when it mentions how the moon gets reflected on the ocean and being peaceful to hear the wind during this time. It stated, “this sea that bares her bosom to the moon” which means the moon is reflected at the bottom of the ocean. This statement best describes Wordsworth’s attitude and characteristics of how important nature’s beauty is. Another way I look at “the world is too much” is that the world has so much to offer early in life and later but sometimes people notice what the world offers everyone when it’s a little too late. 

The next Romanticism work of literature that portrays the attitude of a deepened appreciation of nature is “Nutting”, by William Wordsworth. This whole poem is about enjoying what nature has to offer the ones who take the time to notice the little details. The young boy loves nature when the poem states “of power to smile at thorns”. I say this due to the lack of joy thorns give off to any ordinary person, but to a nature lover, they enjoy any detail that the beauty of nature holds. Thorns tend to hurt people who don’t handle the stem with care, but a nature lover would be gentle, so they don’t harm it. This just goes to show that the young boy is innocent and enjoys the simple things in life. Later on, it mentions “among the flowers, and with the flowers, I sat” this gives detail to the reader that shows the author enjoys sitting peacefully surround by flowers to soak up the beauty within nature. It seems as if he is enjoying every aspect along his way through the woods and just had to stop to take a minute to recognize it all because there is too much to enjoy with just one look. He also may think it’s calming to rest there. As he breaks a limb he then started to be overwhelmed with the feeling of regret and guilt due to the line “I felt a sense of pain when beheld”. It was as if he felt terrible for destroying a piece of nature instead of cherishing what God has created, and he realized it was too late to take back what he had done. This poem stands out to be a writer by an individual who genuinely appreciate nature, which also is a work of literature that portrays this attitude. 

In conclusion, Romanticism is known for having work that portrays a strong attitude that catches the reader’s attention. Wordsworth’s poems have an attitude that happens to be a deepened appreciation of nature which fits him as a writer with him being known as an author of nature poems. Both of his works, “The World is Too Much with Us” and “Nutting, portray the appreciation of nature which makes them a part of Romanticism literature. It seems as if William Wordsworth looks upon nature and simply enjoys the presence of joy and satisfaction that it gives him just by being surrounded by it. Wordsworth’s poems have a strong appreciation of nature which brings out his characteristics.