Comparison between Wordsworth and Robert Frost as a Nature Poet to Develop a Human Behavior

Exploring the Influence of Nature on Human Understanding

by Rekha Goel*, Dr. Ankit Gandhi,

- Published in Journal of Advances and Scholarly Researches in Allied Education, E-ISSN: 2230-7540

Volume 19, Issue No. 6, Dec 2022, Pages 530 - 534 (5)

Published by: Ignited Minds Journals


ABSTRACT

Everyone agrees that William Wordsworth is the greatest poet of Nature. Wordsworth is widely regarded as one of the greatest philosopher-poets of all time, and his ultimate concern was not only Nature but the human soul as well. And in the hands of man, poetry advanced as swiftly as Nature's own. Robert Frost, on the other hand, is an excellent poet of both Nature and humanity. All of his sceneries include people in them. Frost once said that he seldom (if ever) wrote a poem that did not include a person. He has written extensively on a wide range of topics. He has shed light on the natural (a sleeping bird chirping) and the 'mechanistic' (a factory worker's protest) the mundane (a woodpile) and the extraordinary (a Prehistoric pebble). One of literature's most popular recurring topics is the natural world. For the Romantics, escaping the bustle of urban life was a cause for rejoicing. On the other side, we can see how modern poets have reworked this theme to highlight the sobering truths and weighty obligations of being human. In this essay, we'll look at how nature poets Wordsworth and Robert Frost stack up against one another. It examines the role that nature plays in enriching human understanding. A human knowledge model is the goal of the investigation. The analysts directed the investigation using in-depth knowledge of nature gained through the application of human cognition, the use of remarkable medicines to enhance the understanding of human instinct, and the application of high moral standards in relation to the natural world.

KEYWORD

Wordsworth, Robert Frost, Nature poet, Human behavior, Nature, Human soul, Poetry, Sceneries, Literature, Romantics

INTRODUCTION

Writing about nature is important because it provides inspiration and entertainment for sentimental people, who often turn to the outdoors as a way to escape the stresses of urban living. William Wordsworth was a pastor, an expert on nature, and a nature lover. His love of the outdoors shone through in his writing like no other English author before or after. In his sonnets, nature is not treated with the same casualness as it had been in the works of previous artists. Wordsworth had a unique and unrepeatable method of seeing the natural world. However, Robert Frost used nature to convey his thoughts on humanity, and the specificity of his descriptions makes his poetry engaging and easy to picture in our minds. Both William Wordsworth and Robert Frost frequently and routinely used "Nature" as the subject of their sonnets, but their respective "medicines" of a similar subject have striking differences in dealing with different themes, leading to the development of two artists who are both world-famous and yet utterly unique and monumental in scale. This study demonstrates how nature is often referenced in sonnets. The primary objective is to highlight how studying the natural world may help people become smarter. There are similarities across the poems, although the writers' perspectives on Nature are distinct. Wordsworth is unparalleled as a poet of the natural world. He is a high priest or devoted follower of Nature. He has developed a whole philosophical system, a fresh perspective on the natural world. In contrast, Frost does not value Nature in and of itself. He doesn't find nature to be a source of inspiration or happiness or moral well-being as Wordsworth did. Nature provides the same inspiration for both writers, but in very different forms. Frost writes with detached aesthetic observation, but Wordsworth's involvement in the themes of his poems is obvious. Frost seems simple but is really rather complicated compared to Wordsworth. Frost is an anti-romantic realist with a global perspective. Wordsworth, on the other hand, is mystical, romantic, and a transcendentalist. Frost's poetry starts out joyful and finishes with insight, whereas Wordsworth's does the opposite. In his opinion, a poem "has its birth from sensation remembered in stillness," and William Wordsworth where he can take in his environment, reflect on his emotions, and organize his thoughts. As a result, future-thinkers like Henry David Thoreau were able to do so in works like his sonnet "Tribute on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood." The Romantics made two distinct kinds of links between the natural world and the human soul. One view said that nature could sense and respond to man's emotions because it was an extension of his own personality. However, just as humans are containers for spirit, so is nature; God's breath permeates both humans and the planet. Rural life and the simple pleasures of an untouched environment were often celebrated in literature. This sentiment is often accompanied by a general feeling of romantic melancholy, a fear of change, and a worry that rural life is in danger. It is often agreed that William Wordsworth is the "Father of English sentimental verse." He took a careful look at the outside. William Wordsworth, like with many other English romantic artists of his day and the generations that followed, saw nature as a notion of great significance. When it comes to English poetry, nature is more important and more remarkable to English sentimentalism. Wordsworth and his friend Coleridge made history in 1798 when they became known for their empathetic approach to nature and their innovative use of expressive music. As was previously said, the time, place, topic, and audience all play a role in how nature and its repercussions are understood and portrayed in any given work. The recollected sonnets celebrate nature for its ability to give one's thoughts a new focus. These sonnets were either delivered or sung by shepherds, who have a special bond with nature. In the wild, outlying areas of England, shepherds spend more time caring for their flocks. Nature's inherent straightforwardness was reflected in the book's language. When asked who should educate them, Wordsworth said, "Let nature be your teacher." Many of Wordsworth's fellow romantic writers have tried to channel his laid-back demeanor by writing across the gender divide. Many poets and authors credit Wordsworth as a key influence. Robert Frost's outlook on nature stands in stark contrast to that of English sentimental artists, and this is only one example of how his worldview differed from theirs. Because his view on nature is so different from that of other English romantic writers of the time, Frost's sonnet Halting by Woods on a Snowy Eveningis an evocative ideal. Ralf Waldo Emerson sparked the inspiration for Ice's fantastical design. Things with ties to frost are one-of-a-kind curiosities with ties to paranormal occurrences. Such an outlook is in keeping with the 1840s' conception of Transcendentalism's role in bolstering personal pride.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Francisco, California. He's a famous contemporary poet nowadays. He is revered as an intellectual, poet, and educator. Many people in the United States are familiar with not just his name, but also the titles and lines of his most famous poems, as well as his face and voice. Four times he was honored with the Pulitzer Prize. Although Frost is often portrayed as a farmer-turned-poet, the 10 years after his grandfather's death were the only ones he spent actively farming; he also taught for the last five of those years due to financial need. Rashid, Md.Harun & Husain, Haider & Islam, Jahirul & Döngül, Dr & Hui, Wang (2021) Robert Frost's poetry is at its best when it reflects nature. Frost feels really strongly for animals, and this feeling is mutual. But Frost's poetry isn't really about the old-fashioned country life. Frost thinks a lot about how the natural world has had to endure great struggles. Nature is often the jumping-off point for his poetry, which then go on to explore the human psyche. Frost argues that the beauty and wonder of the natural world serve as a catalyst for human creativity and insight. His poetry advocates for a philosophical upbringing, with Nature serving as a protagonist rather than a setting. Alvi, Amatulhafeez & Vengadasamy, Ravichandran & Abdul Majid, Amrah (2019) This dissertation compares and contrasts the ecocriticism of two prominent English and Malaysian poets who have a deep appreciation for the natural world: William Wordsworth and Ghulam Sarwar Yousuf. Both poets have written works that encourage a deeper connection between humans and the natural world. While their nature poetry has been analyzed from a variety of vantage points, none have compared and contrasted their respective styles from an ecocritical stance. The purpose of this research is to examine two poets' respective philosophies of nature by examining their respective bodies of work, drawing attention to the rich creative and aesthetic characteristics present in both poets' works. The research shows how the poets' awareness of the natural world evolved through three distinct stages, from the physical to the intellectual to the metaphysical. The research takes a comparative stylistic approach to examine the linguistic and literary portrayal of nature in the chosen poems, using important ecocritical ideas like ecocentrism, symbiotic interdependence, and ecological awareness. It compares and contrasts the two poets, noting their shared and unique approaches to nature despite vast variations in time, geography, culture, language, and style. The current research addresses the pressing need for a cross-cultural, cross-linguistic examination of leitmotifs of nature in literature as a method of fostering ecological awareness and concern. and the 20th-century American poet Robert Frost depict the fragility and instability that modernity has brought into people's lives. One of the main goals of this study is to investigate the numerous facets of the crises that are a part of contemporary life. The purpose of this comparison is to establish whether or not the two poets have significant parallels or contrasts in their depiction of contemporary human nature in their poems. Due to the theoretical character of this investigation, a thorough literature search is essential. Both poets, while coming from different time periods, have a strikingly contemporary sensibility in their poetry. Modern themes of alienation, pessimism, uncertainty, isolation, self-centeredness, and so forth permeate their poetry. The poets also take a new tack in how they approach nature and how they frame the realities of contemporary life. In the end, this study aims to highlight the elements of modern life's instability and fragility that are still reflected in current society. Latif, Aneeqa & Ajmal, Muhammad & Maqbool, Saira & Khan, (2022) The focus of this study is to examine Robert Frost's chosen poems from a stylistic angle. Both the semantic and phonological layers of language are included in this research. Alliteration, consonance, and assonance, all phonological devices, are employed to emphasize key words in the poetry. Semantically, the poem conveys its meaning via the use of metaphor, symbolism, and images. Battle and connection in the human existence are conveyed via the interconnected linguistic elements in chosen poems by Robert Frost. In linguistics, stylistic analysis is used to deconstruct poetry into their component parts and extract the message hidden within. This examination of selected poems by Robert Frost is both insightful and original. It shows the fundamental distinction between everyday speech and the language of poetry. This depicts the stylistic distinction and the effect that it has on the reader. Robert Frost's poetry stands out from the crowd because to his adaptable writing style and the novel linguistic devices he employs. He finds the wild to be full of surprises. He has shown the conflicting sides of human nature. Nature is both a source of joy and solace for humans and apathetic toward them.

NATURE IN WILLIAM WORDSWORTH AND ROBERT FROST: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

As a poet who focuses on the natural world, William Wordsworth (1770-1850) is unparalleled. He has a revered position among those who worship Nature. His devotion to the natural world was unparalleled among English poets, both then and now. His poems give nature its own identity, elevating it beyond the casual, transitory attention it had received from previous poets. Wordsworth had a fully developed philosophy, a fresh perspective on Mother Nature. Robert Frost (1874-1963), on the other hand, makes use of the natural world to both convey his thoughts on human frequently use "Nature" as the subject of their poems, but it is notable that their individual treatments of the same subject have uniqueness in handling various themes, which ultimately make these two world famous poets stylistically distinct and significant. The overarching goal of this research is to demonstrate how "Nature" is used as a theme in the poetry of two poets from the English and American zones, one from the Romantic period and the other from the Modern era. Moreover, the paper's overarching goal is to demonstrate unique approaches to addressing the key themes shared by different facets of the same topic. This article relies heavily on the "observation method" because of the importance of the issue and the need of the research. Works by many literary critics and talks by various scholars on the identical themes have been examined as the fundamental inputs for this article in order to construct the hypothesis of the study, followed by a unique conclusion. And thus, in this analysis, we have discussed the ways in which the two poets of this research utilize the term "Nature" differently.

Humanity and the Natural World Coexist in Poetry Robert Frost and William Wordsworth

Poetically, William Wordsworth added a new depth to the English language. His lyrical career spans more than six decades, and few poets can hold a candle to him when it comes to the mass of their work. Robert Frost, on the other hand, is widely regarded as a pioneering figure in the development of American modern poetry, demonstrating considerable skill and deep passion in the process. The love of Nature, if it comes to any man at all, is considered to be secondary to the fundamental affections. In Wordsworth's case, though, love of Nature came first, and even when love of man did come, it was influenced by Nature. Frost believes that his admiration for the natural world surpasses that of Wordsworth because it is more multifaceted and all-encompassing. Wordsworth favored depicting solely the pristine beauty of springtime Nature, or what Coleridge termed "Nature in the grove," while Frost is able to appreciate both the joyful and terrible aspects of the natural world with equal aplomb. Wordsworth, on the other hand, is in a category of his own. What sets Wordsworth apart from other nature poets is his view of the natural world as a sentient being. All things in Nature have their own unique awareness because of the guiding hand of Nature's guiding spirit. To every natural form, rock, fruit and flower, Even the loose stones that cover the highway I gave a moral life: I saw them feel One of the things that has made Frost's nature poetry so beloved is the new views of natural beauty ―Oh, that is the Paradise-in-bloom, I said, And truly it was fair enough for flower.‖ The main reason of universal ideology is what brought Man and Nature, Mind and the external universe together, as stated by Wordsworth. They have a chain reaction that results in an unlimited variety of suffering and joy. Wordsworth sees the harmonious coexistence of "Mind and Nature" as the pinnacle of poetic subject matter. On the other hand, humankind is Frost's primary focus in his poems. His poetry has a special vitality because it captures the essence of real people. Humans have been the subject of other poets' works. Robert Frost's poetry, however, are the people; they toil and stroll and chatter and tell their stories in the open.

ROBERT FROST'S POEMS AND THEIR REALISM

Poetry is an echo of every sensitive man's experience and his limits, making Robert Frost one of the few poets in English literature who will never become obsolete. The hopelessness of the human condition is a recurring topic in his poems. Robert Frost has often made the attempt to convey the idea that the pursuit of pleasure and love of one's fellow man is the ultimate goal of life. Robert Frost is mostly interested in humanity. His poems center on the experiences and emotions of man in his environment. Robert Frost's poetry tells a great deal about his worldview and understanding of objective reality. But what exactly does he value the most? What defines or reflects man's place in the cosmos are his thoughts, feelings, and actions. In such a desolate world, what does man do, and how does he feel? For Robert Frost, it is the big question. Robert Frost's view that man has severe constraints provides a big part of the solution. Man's cognitive abilities and his sphere of perception are finite. His outlook on the cosmos is unique. His mind and brainpower are unlike anybody else's.

The Role of Nature in the poetry of William Wordsworth

The role of nature is more comforting and central in the poetry of William Wordsworth. The natural world's powers are reflected in Wordsworth's poetry via his characters' interactions with the natural world. This article will analyze three poems by William Wordsworth: Resolution and Independence, Tintern Abbey, and Michael. Throughout these poems, Wordsworth portrays nature as a timeless, unique character that provides comfort to both his readers and himself. Wordsworth sees humanity and the natural world as complimentary parts of the same totality in all three poems. Therefore, Wordsworth views the universe as a calming entity of which he is a part, and he attributes this calming quality to the divine parts of nature. For Wordsworth, the earth in all its splendor is

CONCLUSION

Both English poet William Wordsworth and American poet Robert Frost might be considered poets of both man and nature. According to Frost, man has always been and always will be an outsider in this universe. Irrelevant to the discussion is whether the English Romantic William Wordsworth imagined a future personality like Robert Frost or whether the Modern American Robert Frost was influenced by Wordsworth; what is relevant is that they both proved their talent in using the common subject "Nature" along with its every possible small detail to have a mind-blowing effect among the generations of reads. Although both Wordsworth and Frost praised nature and placed it at the top of their list of priorities, it's possible to deduce that they had somewhat different perspectives on the subject.

REFERENCES

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Corresponding Author Rekha Goel*

Research Scholar, University Of Technology, Jaipur, Rajasthan.