Contents

Question. 1 Biography of William Wordsworth...................................................................................1

Introduction.......................................................................................................................................1
Education..........................................................................................................................................1
Most famous work............................................................................................................................1
Other main works..............................................................................................................................1
Question.2 Ode: Intimations of immortality.........................................................................................1
Background Information Ode:..........................................................................................................1
Structure............................................................................................................................................1
Summary...........................................................................................................................................2
Setting and Imagery:.........................................................................................................................2
Themes..............................................................................................................................................2
Soul’s Immortality........................................................................................................................2
Lose of Divine with growth..........................................................................................................3
Figurative Analysis...........................................................................................................................3
Question. 3 What is Romanticism and its elements?............................................................................4
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................4
Romantic Poetry...............................................................................................................................4
Notable Romantic Poets....................................................................................................................4
Question.4 What is Pantheism? Discuss William Wordsworth’s Pantheistic approach towards
poetry....................................................................................................................................................5
Etymology.........................................................................................................................................5
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................5
Pantheist............................................................................................................................................5
Pantheism vs monotheisms...............................................................................................................5
William Wordsworth’s Philosophy of Pantheism in English Literature..........................................5
The Divine Presence in Nature.....................................................................................................5
Unity and Interconnectedness.......................................................................................................5
The Role of Imagination and Perception......................................................................................6
Nature as a Source of Spiritual Healing........................................................................................6
Question. William Wordsworth as the poet of nature..........................................................................6
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................6
Characteristics...................................................................................................................................6
Quotes from his Poetry about Nature:..............................................................................................6
Question. 1 Biography of William Wordsworth
Introduction
➢ William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was the greatest poet of the Romantic period. The credit of
originating the Romantic Movement goes to him.
➢ He refused to abide by (obey) any poetic convention and rules, and forged (created, formed) his
own way in the realm of poetry. He stood against many generations of great poets and critics, like
Dryden, Pope and Johnson, and made way for a new type of poetry.
➢ His poetry is known for its focus on nature, ordinary people, the beauty of countryside, and
significance of emotions.
Education
➢ William Wordsworth received his early education mainly at home from his mother, and after her
death, he was admitted in Hawkshead Grammar School in Lancashire (Now in Cumbria). He then
attended St. John’s College, Cambridge, where he received his Bachelor degree in 1791.
Most famous work
➢ His most famous work is “Lyrical Ballads”, which he co-authored with Samuel Taylor Coleridge
in 1798 and was published anonymously. This collection is considered a landmark in English
literature and is often regarded as the beginning of the Romantic movement.
Other main works
➢ The prelude: (1850) It is a semi-autobiographical poem of his early years that he revised and
expanded a number of times. It was posthumously titled and published by his wife in the year of his
death, before which it was generally known as "the poem to Coleridge".
➢ I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud: This poem, also known as “Daffodils”, reflects his connection
with nature and the power of memory and imagination.
➢ Ode: Imitation of immortality from the Recollection of Childhood: In this poem, Wordsworth
reflects on the loss of childhood innocence and wonder, and the idea that children possess special
insight into divine.
➢ Lines a Few Miles Written above the Tintern Abbey: This poem reflects on the power of
memory, the passage of time, and the restorative influence of nature.
➢ The Solitary Reaper : It portrays a solitary Highland girl reaping and singing in the field. She
captivates the poet with her melancholic and enchanting song as he passes by. The poem explores
themes of longing, beauty, and the power of music.

These poems exemplify Wordsworth's poetic genius, his deep affinity for nature, and his exploration
of the human condition.
Question.2 Ode: Intimations of immortality
Background Information Ode:
➢ Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood" (also known as "Ode",
"Immortality Ode" or "Great Ode") is a poem by William Wordsworth, which was completed in
1804 and published in “Poems, in Two Volumes” (1807).
➢ The poem was completed in two parts. The first part of the poem, consisting of 4 stanzas, was
completed in 1802 and the second part, consisting of 7 stanzas, was written in early 1804.
➢ The poem was first printed as "Ode" in 1807, but in 1815, it was edited and reworked to the
version that is currently known, "Ode: Intimations of Immortality".
Structure
➢ The poem is composed of 204 lines, and eleven stanzas, each varying from one another.
➢ The poem is a free verse, as there is no specific rhyme scheme and poetic meter. However, little
bit consistency can be found in the first part, which follows the ABAB rhyme scheme with iambic
pentameter, but as the poem further proceeds, the rhyming and rhythmic patterns become
inconsistent. Such inconsistency is due to the change of the mode from different moments in the
poem.
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Summary
➢The ode begins by contrasting the narrator's view of the world as a child and as a man, with what
was once a life interconnected to the divine fading away:
There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
The earth, and every common sight,
To me did seem
Apparelled in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream.
It is not now as it hath been of yore;—
Turn wheresoe'er I may,
By night or day,
The things which I have seen I now can see no more. (lines 1–9)
In the second and third stanzas, the narrator continues by describing his surroundings and various
aspects of nature that he is no longer able to feel. In stanza IV, the narrator feels like there is
"something that is gone", and as the stanza ends, the narrator asks two different questions to end the
first movement of the poem:
Whither is fled the visionary gleam?
Where is it now, the glory and the dream?
In the next four stanzas, the narrator gives answers to these questions. He contemplates how age
causes man to lose sight of the divine.
The last three stanzas contain a positive response. The narrators suggests that he may have forgotten
the divinity, but still he has childhood memories in his heart which will allow him to enjoy and
interconnect the rest of his life with nature and divinity.
Setting and Imagery:
The setting of this vast poem is probably the English countryside in the season of Spring. There are
numerous images helping readers to join the captivating memories of the poet. The images may
include like:
> The Rainbow comes and goes,
> Now, while the birds thus sing a joyous song,
And while the young lambs bound As to the tabor's sound,
>The cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep; (stanza 3, 25 line)
> The Winds come to me from the fields of sleep,
>Earth fills her lap with pleasures of her own;
> Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
>The Clouds that gather round the setting sun
Do take a sober colouring from an eye
That hath kept watch o'er man's mortality;
Themes
This is a large poem. So, it carries a variety of themes. Some of them are given.
Soul’s Immortality
➢ Since the poem is about the topic of immortality, the first and obvious theme is the soul's
immortality.
➢ The speaker has a firm belief in the immortality of the human soul. He believes that the soul
exists before the body. When someone is born, the soul comes to Earth with him and when he dies,
his soul returns back to its eternal place.
➢ The poet reflects on his belief that at our birth, human carries soul of heavens that becomes the
light in human’s life. For a brief moment, children, whose souls are newly arrived, remain pure just
like a whitepaper.
➢The children enjoy the light of heaven, and feel happiness in whatever they do. They have no
sadness, and the only thing that they feel is the happiness, filling their minds. They see the
meadowland, grove, stream ‘apparelled in celestial fire’ and feel the world alive with all the
freshness of a dream.
Lose of Divine with growth
➢ The second main theme of this poem is the painful growth that takes the heavenly pleasures
away.
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➢ Wordsworth says as children, who see everything appareled in celestial fire, grow up, the shades
of adulthood close in upon its dreams.
➢ Surely, the charm is still there for an adult but a child finds everything more colorful than a
grown-up. As soon as the speaker grew up, he could not find "celestial" joy in the beauty of Nature.
Divinity of nature:
➢ The third yet concluding theme of this ode is the divinity of Nature that is linked to a person's
memory.
➢ The poet wants to suggest that surely, one cannot relish (enjoy) the childish divinity of Nature
when one grows up. But he can still keep the divinity of Nature alive by remembering the exact joy
he used to claim when he was a child.
➢ He gives thanks that he is able to gain the divinity once again like childhood even though he has
lost his vision of the joy in the world.
Figurative Analysis
The poem carries a variety of literary devices (Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Anaphora,
symbolism, imagery, Alliteration, Assonance, consonance) and figurative language to increase its
impression upon its readers.
➢ There are various places in which the poet has used enjambments. An enjambment is the
continuation of a poetic line on multiple lines. For instance,
"To me the meanest flower blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears"
➢The poet has used different metaphors to heighten the poetic excellence of the poem. The
metaphor of travelling from the east ends on the west. Similarly, the rising of the sun is a metaphor
for the beginning of life whereas sunset in the West is a metaphor for death.
➢ There are some instances of personification in the poem. For example, when the speaker calls
earth as mother and nurse, he is using personification.
Or
➢ The poem carries a variety of literary devices and figurative language to increase its impression
upon the readers.
➢ There are various places in which the poet has used literary devices. Some examples are given
below
Enjambments An enjambment is the continuation of a poetic line on multiple lines.
For instance,
1. Waters on a starry night
Are beautiful and fair; (line 14-15)
2. Ye blessèd creatures, I have heard the call
Ye to each other make; I see
The heavens laugh with you in your jubilee; (lines 36-38)
3 But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home: (lines 64-65)
4 Shades of the prison-house begin to close
Upon the growing Boy, (67-68)
5 "To me the meanest flower blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears"
Metaphors
A metaphor is literary figure that makes a direct and close comparison between two things that are
seemingly unrelated. For example,
>The sunshine is a glorious birth; (line 16)
>Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: (line 58)
>The Youth, who daily farther from the east
Must travel, still is Nature's Priest,
And by the vision splendid Is on his way attended; (72-75)
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Personification
A personification is a literary figure in which we give human attributes to inanimate things or
animals. For instance,
>Earth fills her lap with pleasures of her own;
Yearnings she hath in her own natural kind,… (full 6 stanza)
th
In 6 stanza of the poem, the narrator uses many words, such as mother, and nurse, to personify
earth.
>The cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep; (stanza 3, 25 line)
Simile
It is a literary figure that makes a comparison between two unlike things, using the words “like and
as”.
>Thou, over whom thy Immortality
Broods (hovers) like the Day, a Master o'er a Slave, (stanza 8, line 119-120)
>Full soon thy Soul shall have her earthly freight,
And custom lie upon thee with a weight,
Heavy as frost, and deep almost as life! (last 3 lines of stanza 8)
(Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Anaphora, symbolism, imagery, Alliteration, Assonance,
consonance)
Question. 3 What is Romanticism and its elements?
Introduction
Romanticism (1798-1837) was a literary movement that started (emerged) in 1798 with the
publication of Lyrical Ballads and flourished in the early to mid-nineteenth century. It was
characterized by its emphasis on Emotion, imagination, Appreciation of nature, individualism,
the sublime, subjectivity, and reverence for common men.
Romantic Poetry
It is a literary genre that emphasizes the expression of emotions, the beauty of nature,
individualism, and the imagination, often as a reaction, challenging the conventional forms and
themes prevalent in earlier literature.
Notable Romantic Poets
1. William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
He is known for his focus on nature, ordinary people, and significance of emotions.
2. Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)
His poetry, such as “Kubla Khan” and “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, explores super natural
elements, the power of imagination, and the connection between nature and the human mind.
3. John Keats (1795-1821)
He is celebrated for his sensual imagery, exploration of beauty, mortality, and odes such as “Ode
to a Nightingale” and “Ode on a Grecian Urn”.
4. Lord Baryn (1788-1824)
His poetry, including works like “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” and “Don Juan”, often reflects
themes of heroism, passion, and rebellion against societal norms.
5. Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)
His poetry, such as “Ozymandios”, “Ode to the West Wind”, “To a Skylark”, dicusses radical
themes, social criticism, and idealism etc.
6. William Blake (1757-1827)
Blake’s works like “Songs of Innocence and Experience”, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell”
explores themes of spirituality, imagination, and social injustice.
Question.4 What is Pantheism? Discuss William Wordsworth’s Pantheistic
approach towards poetry.
Etymology
The term “Pantheism” comes from the Greek words “pan”, meaning all, and “Theos”, meaning
“god or divine”.
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 Or
The term pantheism was developed in the eighteenth century from the Greek roots ‘pan’, meaning
all, and ‘Theos’, meaning God. Pantheists see God's presence throughout the world. While some
kinds of pantheism are rooted in religion, others can be traced to philosophic, scientific, or poetic
perspectives.
Introduction
Pantheism is a philosophical and religious belief that the universe, reality, and nature are identical
(similar) to divinity or a supreme entity. The physical universe is thus understood as an immanent
(permanent) deity, still expanding and creating, which has existed since the beginning of time.
(Wikipedia)
Or
Pantheism is the belief that God and the universe are the same things rather than separate things. In
other words, 'God is all, and all is God. (study.com)
Or
Pantheism is a philosophical viewpoint that regards the universe, or nature as equivalent to God or
the divine. It emphasizes the immanent nature of the divine, seeing God in everything and everyone
rather than perceiving a transcendent deity. Pantheism posits (place, assume, suggest) that the
universe itself is the ultimate source of spirituality, and all things within it are interconnected.
(source: teacher’s lecture)
Pantheist
The term pantheist designates (classify, nominate) one who holds (support, believe) both that
everything constitutes a unity and that this unity is divine, consisting of an all-encompassing,
manifested (obvious, evident, apparent) god or goddess. All astronomical (physical) objects are
thence (from source previously mentioned) viewed as parts of a sole entity. (source: Wikipedia)
Pantheism vs monotheisms
There are two major differences between monotheistic religions and Pantheism, which highlight
Pantheism's beliefs. The first is the removal of transcendence (supremacy, superiority). In
Pantheistic religions, God is present in all things. God does not exist beyond our realm of reality.
The second is the dismissal of God
William Wordsworth’s Philosophy of Pantheism in English Literature
William Wordsworth possessed a unique perspective on spirituality and the interconnectedness
of all things. His philosophy, often categorized as pantheism, centered around the belief that the
natural world holds divine qualities.
The key tenets (principle, belief) of Wordsworth’s pantheistic philosophy are:
The Divine Presence in Nature
➢ Nature, for Wordsworth, was not merely a backdrop but a living entity with its own spirit and
vitality(importance). He often personified nature, attributing human qualities to natural
elements.
➢ In his eyes, every element of nature, from the grandest mountains to the tiniest flower,
contained a spark of divinity.
Unity and Interconnectedness
➢ Wordsworth’s pantheistic philosophy emphasized the interconnectedness of all living beings
in the universe and nature. He saw a unity between humanity, the natural world, and the divine,
emphasizing that they were all part of a larger, harmonious whole.
➢ According to Wordsworth, it was essential to embrace and recognize this interconnectedness
for leading a meaningful life.
The Role of Imagination and Perception
➢ Wordsworth believed that perceiving and interpreting (explaining) the natural world through
the lens of imagination was crucial to understanding its spiritual dimensions. He emphasized
the importance of a childlike sense of wonder, unburdened by societal constraints, in
perceiving the divine in nature.
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➢ In his poem, Daffodils, he describes how a simple encounter with nature can ignite the
imagination and elevate the spirit.
Nature as a Source of Spiritual Healing
➢ Wordsworth saw nature as a healing force for the soul. He believed that spending time in
natural surroundings could restore one's sense of harmony and peace, soothing the emotional
and spiritual wounds inflicted by the trials and tribulations of life.
➢ In his poem “The Tables Turned”, he encourages his readers to leave their books and engage
directly with nature, suggesting that it can offer a deeper and more meaningful understanding
of life and the divine.
Question. William Wordsworth as the poet of nature.
Introduction
William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was the greatest poet of the Romantic period. The credit of originating
the Romantic movement goes to him. His poetic career is deeply rooted in his love for nature. He believed
that communion with nature was essential for spiritual and emotional nourishment.
Origin of the title (poet of nature)
The title of “poet of nature”, for William Wordsworth, was first used by P. B. Shelley. Wordsworth, too,
called himself “A worshiper of nature”. The title of "Naturalist Poet" is attributed to him due to his deep
immersion in nature and his belief in its transformative and spiritual power. He sought to depict nature as a
source of solace, inspiration, and moral guidance for humanity.
Characteristics
Some main features, which make him a poet of nature, in his poetry are:
➢ Nature, for Wordsworth, was not merely a backdrop but a living entity with its own spirit and
Vitality (importance). He often personified nature, attributing human qualities to natural
elements.
➢ His poetry frequently reflects his reverence for the beauty and tranquility of the natural world.
➢ Wordsworth found solace, inspiration, and moral lessons in nature. He believed that it had the
power to heal, console, and instruct humanity, serving as a teacher and a source of wisdom.
➢ His nature poetry often evokes a sense of wonder and awe, and invites readers to contemplate the
sublime and the transcendent through the observation of natural phenomena.
Or
His works shows several characteristics which are related to naturalism. Some main features are:
 Nature as a living entity.
 Nature as healer, having the power to heal human spirit.
 Nature as a teacher and a source of wisdom
 Reverence for the beauty and tranquility of natural world.
 Evokes a sense of awe and wonder through natural phenomena.
Quotes from his Poetry about Nature:
a. "Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher."
b. Nature’s holy plan- When she, too mighty for our small attachment, In her magnificence expired and left-
The world to us and went herself to rest.
c. "I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A
host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze."
d. "To me the meanest flower that blows can give Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears."
e. "Nature never did betray the heart that loved her."

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