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Carrie Griffin
Dr. Riley
British Literature II
31 March 2014
Wordsworths Resolution and Independence
In William Wordsworths poems there is a theme overall of the beauty and the importance
of nature in his life. While walking through the countryside, the narrator, in the poem
Resolution and Independence, is thinking about the many occurrences of nature and the many
changes he can see in the area around him. He enjoys the beauty of nature and not having to
think of anything else. This nature shows the beauty and innocence of the youthful mind. The
moor represents the ugly things of the mind that Wordsworth is trying so hard to fight against
and to not let it overcome him. The nature all around him is able to make him see the beauty of
the world and is a way of hiding from the ugliness of the world. In Resolution and
Independence, Wordsworth is showing how nature can represent hope through the use of the
harmonious place, the poets that have fallen before him, the occupation of an old man, and the
old mans hardworking perseverance in his work.
Wordsworth represents the feeling of peace through his images of nature as a harmonious
place. When the traveler is first going on his walk through the forest, he examines the beauty of
the nature around him after the rain fell on the ground. Nature is able to make him happier and
forget all the problems all around him as he is enjoying the beauty all around him. This
represents the hope in his life that he is able to act on when he sees this beauty and reflects on it.
He does not think about all the problems of life and is in serenity, with just walking through
nature All things that love the sun are out of doors; the sky rejoices in the mornings birth; the

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grass is bright with rain-drops (lines 8-10). Nature is the beautiful thing in his life that he is
able to admire, without thoughts of anything other than the beauty. The fear of what to come is
what caused him to get out of the mindset of nature all around him. Nature was able to make him
forget the troubles of the world all around him and just go along with the innocence of a child.
Nature is a way of pacifying Wordsworths speaker until he is able to think on unhappier
times in his life and of others. He represents the ideas of the fallen poets to show what could
happen to a persons life if you think on these depressing thoughts or of too much pride, We
poets in our youth being in gladness; but thereof come in the end of despondency and madness
(48-49). Within this quote Wordsworth is showing how many poets have met their end. In the
youth of ones life they are happy and have an innocence that is eventually met by the thinking
mind that does not let them enjoy the beauty anymore. The beginning of the poem represented
this because he was able to just enjoy the nature around him and had a childlike innocence. This
represents the hope that he is able to feel through the nature all around. When he starts thinking
though the innocence goes away and all that is left is the misery of knowing that his life may be
destined like these other young poets before him. This symbolizes his loss of hope in his future.
He shows through this change in nature that he is afraid of following in their footsteps. As he
moves on through the moor his feelings change drastically. Focusing on the beauty all around
him, he wants to keep his mind on the happier ways of life and not fall into this path of his own
undoing.
The old man that Wordsworth meets represents another way of Wordsworth showing
misery and his loss of hope. Wordsworth, during his walk by the moor comes across an old man
gathering leeches in the muddy water. When asking him what he does, the old man says that he is
gathering leeches because he cannot find another job. The job was hard on the man and the

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traveler keeps asking him why he would chose such a difficult and demanding job, Employment
hazardous and wearisome. And he had many hardships to endure: From pond to pond he roamed,
from moor to moor (101-103). This man represents a hardworking man that at first the traveler
does not understand. The traveler asks the old man why he would do such a job and live in such a
place. This as the old man explains is the only thing he is able to do. Wordsworth feels horrible
for this man as he watches him. Nature changes from the beauty of the freshly fallen rain to the
ugliness of the moor. The old man represents the misery the traveler is feeling when thinking
about the poets fate and represents this change in nature.
Wordsworth uses the old man as a symbol of hope for the traveler as he goes on in his
life. While he is talking to the old man, Wordsworths speaker, the traveler seems to learn about
himself. He says that he feels like he met the man in a dream. He questions the old man yet
again and the old man says something that sticks with the traveler, Once I could meet with them
on every side; but they have dwindled long by slow decay; yet still I persevere, and find them
where I may, (124-125). This line shows that even though his work may be miserable and he is
in the worst case scenario, he still moves on to find more leeches. He will continue on because he
has hope that what he is doing with greatly impact his life. Wordsworth focuses so much on this
character of the leech-gather because he brings him some hope. This man perseveres even in this
muddy water and in a job of gathering up leeches. When Wordsworth says, Ill think of the
Leech-gather on the lonely moor! (140) it can be seen that this man is very important to his
ideas of nature and of hope. When the worst possible thing is happening he wants to think of the
old man and he knows that he will not have it as bad as his. Even if he does though, he will still
have hope to move on no matter what.

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Another one of Wordsworths poems that represents the idea of nature representing
innocence and hope is Lines Written in Early Spring. Within this poem, Wordsworth is
explaining again the beauty of nature all around him. This beauty and the happenings of nature
all around the speaker can be seen as a child playing around. The birds around me hopped and
played their thoughts I cannot measure: but the least motion which they made, it seemed a thrill
of pleasure (9-12). The personification of the grove around him and of the birds acting like
children shows the beauty he saw in nature. This beauty can be seen throughout all of
Wordsworths pieces and is very similar to the beauty he is describing in Resolution and
Independence. He does not have to think on the bad things or the hard times of life when
walking in the forest. This personification of nature as a child can be seen as the hope and belief
that he has in himself. He is not able to see the horrible parts of life when around this beauty.
With this childlike innocence he is able to think of what nature means to him and nothing else.
Within Lines Written in Early Spring Wordsworth, shows this personification again as
being part of Gods plan, but also the misery of others not realizing this aspect. Nature is
supposed to be seen as beautiful, as Wordsworth shows. He believes that God meant for the
pleasure of nature to be noticed by everyone (21). Everyone in his mind should believe this and
he does not want to question what he knows to be right. He does believe though that man may
not realize what he believes is right What man has made of man (24). He wants everyone to be
able to believe in nature the way he does but know this is not possible because people make
themselves the way they are. This afterthought represents the loss of hope in society that is not
able to enjoy the beauty of nature that he is able to enjoy. He believes happiness is what God
wanted with nature but still feels misery in knowing that that is not what others feel and that they
make him feel this way.

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In his poem, She dwelt among the untrodden ways, Wordsworth represents a feeling of
misery that was similar to feelings that the traveler feels in Resolution and Independence. The
feeling of misery is brought on misery is brought on by a loss of the hope he had when she was
around him. This poem represents the loneliness of a girl who feels that she is all in the world
and the speaker is the only one who cares for her. He shows her death through the beauty of
nature around him comparing her to the beauty all around. The speaker has a certain misery in
her death that he feels; especially since hardly anybody knew that she was dead. Lucy represents
a different kind of misery that can be represented by losing a loved one. She represents the
feeling of an unbearable loneliness in herself but also for the speaker that mirrors the loneliness
that the old man seems to feel by living on the moor. She lived unknown, and few could know
when Lucy ceased to be; but she is in her grave, and, oh, the difference to me! (9-12). She has
made a difference in this speakers life just like the old man had made a difference to the traveler
Wordsworths vision of nature as a symbol of hope is in the piece Ode, Intimations of
Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood In this poem there is again a vision of the
beauty of nature all around the speaker. He compares nature to a celestial light, making it seem
almost godlike to his younger self (4-5). His words on nature show a symbolic way of looking at
the sun as a vision of hope, Our birth is but a sleep and forgetting: soul that rises with us, our
lifes Star, hath had elsewhere its setting, and cometh from afar: not in entire forgetfulness and
not in utter nakedness, but trailing clouds of glory do we come from god, who is our home: (5865). The sun represents a home in nature that mirrors his Revolution when talking about
nature in the first few stanzas. Nature is a home to both speakers, which brings them utmost
happiness when they are thinking on the beauty. God as he states in the above quote sent them to

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earth with the sun to enjoy the beauty of everything around them. This beauty is reflected in each
of Wordsworths poems to represent his hope.
In Ode, Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood Wordsworth
is representing innocence that nature all around him has that he saw in his childhood. This
innocence represents his belief that nature should be seen as important in your everyday life. He
wants people to look on nature like he does for its beauty and what it can do to your mind, I
only have relinquished one delight to live beneath your more habitual sway. The innocent
brightness of a new-born day is lovely yet (190-195). In these lines Wordsworth is representing
how a newborn day can be the most beautiful thing. The delight of the new day is enough for
him to talk about. There is enough joy and happiness in the new day that brings him so much
happiness in his life. He goes on to describe how one flower can affect anyones emotions (203).
This shows that even the most little part of nature can bring happiness. This innocence that these
pieces of nature hold can bring emotions to a person even if they are thought of as so small.
Through his poetry, William Wordsworth represents a feeling of overall hope in the
beauty of nature all around him. In his poem, Revolution and Independence, he uses the
traveler as someone contemplating the miseries in his life and having nature and the old man as a
symbol of hope for him. This use of nature as a reliever of misery can be seen in his other poems.
Nature is very important in Wordsworths poetry but also in his life. It has brought him happiness
in a way that he is trying to encourage his readers to feel. Looking at nature for its beauty even in
the smallest flower is very important to a fulfilling life, To me the meanest flower that blows
can give thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears. (202-204). In his poem Revolution and
Independence, Wordsworth shows the misery that life can hold but also how nature can bring
great hope in those times of misery.

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Works Cited
Wordsworth, William. Lines Written in Early Spring. The Norton Anthology of English
Literature, 9th edition, v. 2. Eds. Stephen Greenblatt, et al. New York: Norton, 2012.
280. Print.
Ode, Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early
Childhood. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 9th edition, v. 2. Eds. Stephen
Greenblatt, et al. New York: Norton, 2012. 337-341. Print.
Resolution and Independence. The Norton Anthology of English
Literature, 9th edition, v. 2. Eds. Stephen Greenblatt, et al. New York: Norton, 2012.
330-334. Print.
She dwelt among the untrodden ways. The Norton Anthology of
English Literature, 9th edition, v. 2. Eds. Stephen Greenblatt, et al. New York: Norton, 2012.
305-306. Print.