William Wordsworth’s poetry presents a key juxtaposition between two stages in life — childhood against adulthood. In fact, this juxtaposition of youth versus age presents a recurring tension in Wordsworth’s works, from “Tintern Abbey” to “Ode: Intimations of Immortality,” due to their contradictory depictions. There is the constant questioning by the reader of which state Wordsworth presents as the more of the two stages in life. Ultimately, Wordsworth’s poetry depicts adulthood as better than childhood because adults acquire a special consciousness of their surroundings, they attain sympathy for their past, and they possess a goodness that children have not yet acquired.
Some would argue that Wordsworth’s poetry actually depicts childhood as better than adulthood, because it’s a time in which people are …show more content…
The “goodness” that is referred to is, of course, not defined by a singular trait, but instead encompasses a range of qualities that are attained and refined throughout adulthood, such as self-discipline, appreciation of the natural world, virtue, etc. On the other hand, children have not yet polished the qualities that craft a good person. For instance, in “Nutting,” a child serves as a destructive force in the world. The speaker, a young boy, sullies a formerly serene, virgin scene of nature — “…Then up I rose, / And dragged to earth both branch and bough, with crash / And merciless ravage…” (Nutting 43-45). Lured by his temptation of the beautiful scene, he ravishes the bower, without inferring what necessitates him to do so. The boy is subject to what Wordsworth’s narrator had referred to as “thoughtless youth” in “Tintern Abbey,” which manifested in the bower scene as action without reason. The thoughtlessness of youth lends itself to inconsiderateness of nature and actions prompted by
Some would argue that Wordsworth’s poetry actually depicts childhood as better than adulthood, because it’s a time in which people are …show more content…
The “goodness” that is referred to is, of course, not defined by a singular trait, but instead encompasses a range of qualities that are attained and refined throughout adulthood, such as self-discipline, appreciation of the natural world, virtue, etc. On the other hand, children have not yet polished the qualities that craft a good person. For instance, in “Nutting,” a child serves as a destructive force in the world. The speaker, a young boy, sullies a formerly serene, virgin scene of nature — “…Then up I rose, / And dragged to earth both branch and bough, with crash / And merciless ravage…” (Nutting 43-45). Lured by his temptation of the beautiful scene, he ravishes the bower, without inferring what necessitates him to do so. The boy is subject to what Wordsworth’s narrator had referred to as “thoughtless youth” in “Tintern Abbey,” which manifested in the bower scene as action without reason. The thoughtlessness of youth lends itself to inconsiderateness of nature and actions prompted by