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Comparison/contrast and analysis of romantic writers (Wordsworth and Coleridge) and
discuss romantic poetry in relation to nature
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Introduction
From a general perspective, Coleridge and Wordsworth were highly renowned poets in
the romantic period. Their poetry was highly inspired by nature which brings about sudden
peaceful but powerful feelings as a result of the poets using visual perception, though Coleridge
was also inspired by superior auditory powers (Wordsworth and Samuel). Many of
Wordsworth’s works echo relaxation with use of simple and clear to understand language while
Coleridge used a language that had obscured meaning (InfoRefuge). It can however be agreed
that their poems, the Tintern Abbey and the Mariner, were as a result of ordinary life lived from
day to day, though they were presented in an unusual way. Most of the themes they worked on
include human suffering, deranged characters, interest in nature, and religion. Analyzing one of
each of their works; the mariner and the Tintern Abbey, these masterpieces have differences and
similarities and they both upheld the notion that nature was a pertinent aspect to human
existence.
Poetry and nature in the romantic era
Even though Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth were peers in the romantic era,
they had different poetic styles and philosophical views, but one thing is evident: they both
appreciated nature in their poems. Like Coleridge and Wordsworth, many artists came to
appreciate natural landscapes like moonlight, free flowing streams, mountains, turbulent
waterfalls and ocean currents which highly influenced their works (Waldegrave). People felt free
and safe in this different environment which was now the new pleasure of every individual in
Europe. They enjoyed viewing and relaxing in mountains and deep woods which were once seen
as hazardous to human existence. Turbulent storms in water bodies came to be highly
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appreciated and inspired untold number of paintings, sculptures, songs and poems among
renowned artists of the time (Waldegrave). Before the romantic period, Europeans saw nature as
an opposite force that they could never live in harmony with. Sometimes nature was seen as an
evil force which dehumanized people (InfoRefuge)
An overview of the two poems
Tintern Abbey
Written by the renowned poet Wordsworth, the poem Tintern abbey was used to define
himself and the human race at large. He denotes that through the eye of nature, an individual is
likely to understand who he really is and predict his future. The audience is given an overview of
an unworthy and unkempt environment in the city, and later treated to a recollection moment in
an environment where there is a lot of calmness. The phrase “five years have passed, five
summers, with the length of five long winters!” (Wordsworth and Samuel) show that the poem is
a recollection. In this poem, Wordsworth writes about the things that happened in the past.
Probably, things that he holds precious in his life and would dare not forget them because they
define who he really is. He goes on to include nature in his poem “These waters, rolling from
their mountain- springs/ With a sweet inland murmur." (Wordsworth and Samuel).
The ancient mariner
The ancient mariner is a contribution of the two poets, Coleridge and Wordsworth, whose
first version defied the first romantic tradition of writing poems (Byatt). In the poem “Ancient
Mariner”, the poet used a simple literary device to demonstrate images he wanted his audience to
experience. The audience is treated to phrases like birds which hoped and played and the twigs
of trees that caught the breezy air (Wordsworth and Samuel). Wordsworth used these phrases to
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educate the reader on the environment. In the “mariner”, nature has been given immense praise
and this is the main among many characteristic that define poems written in the romantic period.
Most poems written in the romantic period always gave nature power over humans (Puchner,
Suzanne and Wiekbe). For instance, in the mariner, the ancient mariner is painted to be at the
mercies of the high waters of the ocean thus very helpless and vulnerable because he killed a
friendly innocent bird which is supposed to be a symbol of good luck. The poem entails that, for
humans to be at peace with God, they have to be friendly and respect nature.
Similarities and differences between the mariner and Tintern Abbey
The two poems highly hold nature to be a very important aspect to human existence.
Coleridge and Wordsworth held the thought that poetry was a vehicle which human beings could
see the life in the environment that surrounded them. Their poems brought about powerful
feelings to their audience. They both had an essence of protecting the environment. The mariner
is compelled to tell the story to the wedding guest in Coleridge’s poem, while Wordsworth tells
it to his younger sister, probably so that they can ease themselves from the guilt they are feeling
as a result of their past life. The two poems had tragedy, though in Tintern Abbey, it is not so
vivid. Tragedy in the mariner can be seen in the way the sailor had to look at the rest of the
crew’s dead bodies, the thirst he had to endure and the heat, while in Tintern Abbey,
Wordsworth speaks of the filthy, dirty cities with no proper sewer systems, and were
overcrowded (Wordsworth and Samuel). In all these poems, the authors tend to educate their
audience on the importance of nature. At first, they both take nature for granted but later, the
mariner discovers that nature is so powerful, while in Tintern Abbey, Wordsworth discovers how
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beautiful nature is and takes time to just appreciate it as he tries to capture every moment which
he highly treasured.
Both poems are a recollection of what had taken place before and they are telling stories
of their experience to the audience. For instance, note how Coleridge begins writing the Ancient
mariner
“It is an ancient Mariner,
And he stoppeth one of three.
'By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,
Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?” (Wordsworth and Samuel).
Analyzing this phrase, the mariner has a deep desire to tell a story he remembers to his
audience and he goes deep into a recollection moment. The two poems bring nature to be the
central message. The mariner poem manifests itself in the sea where there are immense scenes of
nature which have been used to dig deeper into the aspects that define human identity. In his
poem, the author believes that human beings are only understood through the eye of nature.
Unlike Wordsworth, his poetry mainly exhibited psychological contraries of passion and which
were as a result of immediate impulses and voluntary purposes.
Conclusion
It is therefore evident that the two poets had a lot in common as they both upheld nature
to be an important aspect in their works. The two poems are as a result of the recollection of
things that happened in real life. They also have many similarities in their works probably
because they existed in the same time period when the main theme in most works was the
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importance of nature to human existence. Though they have different philosophical views and
their styles of writing are different, they had the same message to deliver to their audience.
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References
Byatt, Scott. Unruly times. England: Vintage, 1997.Print
InfoRefuge. February 2014. web.9 November 2014.
Puchner, Martin, Akbari Suzanne and Denecke Wiekbe. The nortion anthology of western
literature. London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2014.
Waldegrave, Katie. The poet's daughters. London: Windmill books, 2014.
Wordsworth, William and Taylor Coleridge Samuel. Lyrical Ballads & Other Poems. London:
Wordsworth editions, 2002.