Appraisal of the Legacy of Romantics in the Twenty-first Century:

A Cross-Disciplinary Analysis of Sustainable Development and Man’s

Relation to Nature

In this era of global ecological crisis, where we are facing severe sufferings from
modern chaos there is need of introducing research in respect to environmental
literature. We need to understand the Man’s relation with Nature. The planet, earth is
awfully eroding away its living crust due to extreme exploitation of natural world and
beyond with that man is also taking away the goodness of humanity. The present
research makes a foray into the dynamics of cause and effect in the works of the
Romantic poets. It aspires to throw more light onto the hitherto unexplored areas in
sustainable living and linking modern civilization to Nature. Thus, it’s high time to
feast ardour of Romanticism, must be nourished on the people of 21st century to
revive again the essence of better living in the lap of nature , returning to simplicity of
rural life and fixing the modern chaos through understanding the vital need of
Sustainable living and meaning life , leaving aside the material life .

Keywords : Pre-Romanticism ,Early Romantic Poets , Romanticism , Romantic

Ecology, Eco criticism , Sustainable Development , Nature , Pastoral Life, Humanity ,
Modern chaos.
Introduction

In the late eighteen century and early nineteenth century, Industrial Revolution had a
significant effect on the poets of Romantic age, for they serve as direct anti- thesis to
the subject. Not only this, Industrialism led to destruction of rural areas, exploitation
of nature, abuse of children, and eroding of decent living. In addition, urbanization
was fostering more to migrate people to towns and cities which led to pamper the
spirit of rural folks. The unfolding picture of huge devastation of nature and rural life
can be read in few prominent poems of Romantic Poets - Oscar Goldsmith
“Deserted Village” , or in the poem of William Collin’s “Ode to Evening” ,
further in the poems of James Thompson “The Seasons” , William Cowper’s
“The Task” ; Robert Burns “My Hearts in Highland” , Wordworth “Prelude ”
,Keat’s “Ode to Autumn” , William Blake “ Songs of Innocence” and London

These romantic poets rejected the everyday life of contemporary civilized society as
drab and prosaic. They mostly dwell on vivid natural scenes and were fascinated by
art.

Romanticism : An Overview

Romanticism was an international artistic , philosophical movement that flourished in

the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century against Enlightenment age.

In the most general and wide sense of the term, it can be defined as follows:

“Romanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the
second half of the 18th century in Western Europe and gained strength during the Industrial
Revolution. It was partly a revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of
Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature, and was
embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature.” (Wiki Answers)
The romantic period is perhaps one of the brilliant literary periods in the eighteenth and
nineteenth century ; for number of poets have influenced the world in bringing the nature
closer to people ; in breaking the pseudo classicism in the name of reason and intellect ; for
no rules , or traditions or customs is higher other than emotions.

Rene Wellek states that “The spirit of age rejects the neo classical , not necessarily the
classical or texts of antiquity”. It proceeds to show how there is something even more telling
more truly characteristics , and self-defining , albeit more varied”.

It is romanticism which gave birth to passionate individualism and chauvinistic nationalism.

It should be noted that Romantic era was a great period of great change and emancipation.
The works of the Romantic era also differed from preceding works in that they spoke to
“common” people. Romantics strove towards literature , and arts that there were for
everyone , not just wealthy aristocracy.

The three basic aims of Romanticism were :

 Reverence and Return to Nature

 Belief in the goodness of Humanity
 Restoring the pastoral living traditions

Romanticism explains the vital need of emotions in the poetry and nature in the life of man.
William Wordsworth defines theory of poetry “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of
powerful feelings; it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity; the emotion is
contemplation , is gradually produced , and does itself actually exist in the mind.”

In this following definition he tries to explain the aim of poet , in his view to correct men’s
feelings , to render these feelings more constant with eternal nature. It is the poet who provide
us with spiritual exercises in order to give us new feelings and make our feelings sane and
pure. “The Romantic spirit can be defined as an accentuated predominance of emotional
life, provoked or directed by the exercise of imaginative vision, and in its turn stimulating
or directing such exercise. Intense emotion coupled with an intense display of imagery,
such is the frame of mind which supports and feeds the new literature.”(Legouis and
Cazamian, 1995:997)
The Romantics give a high place to the poet: they endow him with the ability to speak to
other men . Wordsworth asserts : “He , the poet is a man speaking to men; a man . it is true,
endowed with more lively sensibility , more enthusiasm and tenderness, who has a greater
knowledge of human nature , and a comprehensive soul than are supposed to be common
mankind”.

Since we know that nature is the inspiration of all the Romantic poets since the
beginning of eighteenth century, it can be sketched in the early Romantic poets. One
can understand how Nature savours the elemental simplicities of life and the poetry
has depicted the sincere love without harbouring any prejudice against anything or
anyone. To quote Goodman:

“The Romantic poets had a deep and sincere love for Nature. Wordsworth is the greatest
nature poet in English literature. He gave to Nature a high status and an independent subject
for poetry and developed a full-fledged philosophy regarding her. This is his chief
contribution to romantic poetry.” (Goodman, 2006:25)

The four core principles of Romanticism :

1) Imagination 2) Nature 3) Individualism 4) Emotion.

 Imagination : Imagination is the centre of all things in Romanticism. One of the

major aspects in Romanticism were emphasis on the motion of the imagination
.Wordsworth quotes “ Under pressures of modernization , the national imagination
had become melodramatic insensitive to the subtle nuances of language and feeling ,
and responsive only to gaudy and insane phraseology and gross and violent
stimulants” .For Romantics, imagination was the primary vehicle for creation of art
and fosters towards understanding of creativity.

As Legious and Cazamian observes in their book “History of English Literature regarding
imagination in the Romantic poetry :
“The personality of poet has a characteristic place in romanticism because sensibility and
imagination are the very essence of individuality while intelligence tends to be general .” It is
the power of imagination which allows romantic poets to weave a beautiful verse around
them and get emotionally connected while expressing a powerful thought in their nature
poems.

 Nature : For Romantics , Nature was a product of imagination distinct from , but
related to the entities that existed in the physical world .Because it was the product
of imagination , nature meant different things to different Romantic poets.
Nature could be :
 A dwelling place for divine
 A subject or an image
 A healing powers

Some Romantics argued that it is a way of harness of civilization and the

industrialized world .We need realize that it is nature that bestows equality and freedom
on everyone. It provides a tranquillity and peace while flashing the truths in the souls of
man. The reason why the poets of romantic age took their poetry to the lap of nature was
because Nature was a huge inspiration for them.

Shelley believes that Nature exercises a healing influence on man's personality He

finds solace and comfort in nature . He believed that Nature was the outward
manifestation of the inner , divine beauty.

One can finely observes in the works of Lake School poets , that nature was the principal
theme in their poetry, celebrating the natural world , mystical landscape , and evoking human
aspirations and feelings among the common man.

 Individualism : Individualism is one of the major characteristics of English Romantic

theory. Romanticism calls strictly for the individual, independent spirit, and the
personal view that flows out from the poet's character. One aspects of romanticism ,
such as the sense of disparity and lofty ideals and everyday life , the idealization of
phenomena remote from the everyday existence , the emphasis on individualism in
perceiving the world.
  Emotions : The second-generation Romantics follows the preference for feeling over
reason. Feeling, they believe, is the mainspring of Romantic art. Wordsworth defines
poetry as -the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings. The spontaneity, and the
overflow of emotion are frequently emphasized by the second-generation Romantic
poets. The delicate sense of emotions and feelings were firmly practice in these ideals
established in the romanticism. They strove to express the emotional intensity ; for
such an expression , intellect and reason are of no avail. In the mystic natural
surroundings , romantic poets caught incidents from common life , stirred powerful
feelings in them , which moved them to utterances in the form of melodious poems.

Pre-Romanticism and Early Romantic Poets : At Glance

Encyclopaedia Britannica provides the following definition of pre-romanticism, which

precisely depicts not only attributes of the pre-romantic literature, but also the atmosphere in
which the movement originated: … a shift in public taste away from the grandeur, austerity,
nobility, idealization, and elevated sentiments of Neoclassicism or Classicism toward
simpler, sincerer, and more natural forms of expression. This new emphasis partly reflected
the tastes of the growing middle class, who found the refined and elegant art forms
patronized by aristocratic society to be artificial and overly sophisticated; the bourgeoisie
favoured more realistic artistic vehicles that were more emotionally accessible. (“Pre-
Romanticism”)
The most important characteristics of Pre-Romanticism are: primitivism, individualism,
simplicity, sentimentality, exaltation of imaginative power, and spontaneity, natural religion,
the taste for the sublime, exaltation of Classics, and originality. The contemplative poets of
Pre-Romanticism are: James Thomson , William Collins, William Cowper and Robert
Burns. These poets showed a great interest in natural landscape and pastoral life , showing
deep desire for the natural beauties and longing for sense of belonging they lived; to some
extent expressing strong patriotism.

James Thomson (1700-1748) : He was a Scottish poet and playwright , known for his
masterpiece “ The Seasons”. He was one of the Poet who took deep interest in Nature.
Nevertheless, he was one of the early Romantic poets who also evoked the interest in the
processes of nature. He is a poet who is described as “a poet of pictorial landscape” .

One of his most celebrated poems of Thompson “The Season” . where he was able to
connect the fine interaction between man and Nature. It celebrates the magnificence and
harmony of Nature as supreme philosophy. The poem “The Season” embodies literary,
philosophical , and theological idea of the eighteenth century . Indeed, the following lines of
the poem remind us of Wordsworth :

Now the soft Hour

Of Walking comes from him who lonely loves

To seek the distant Hills, and there converse

With nature, there to harmonize his Heart,

And in pathetic Song of breathe around

The harmony of Others.

(‘The Seasons” , II, 1379-84”)

William Collins (1721-1759) : He was a poet of Pre-Romantic age and regarded as the
most skilled eighteenth-century lyric poet . His poems were infused with Romantic flavour
and was able to depict the fine lines on new spirit of romanticism and new way of
versification .

He was a poet with a deep thought which have exercised pervasive influence on almost all the
Romantic poets. He finds that landscape evokes ideas and emotions. He particularly loves
Nature at twilight. His “ Ode to Evening” is the forerunner of Keat’s “Ode to Autumn”.
Romantic tendencies such s a return to the past and anti-intellectualism.

William Collins is a Pre-Romantic poet, whose Odes on Several Descriptive and Allegorical
Subject heralds the future forthcoming of nineteenth-century romanticism. In these

odes “Collins returns to Pindar's regularity of structure. But the originality of the Odes lies
in their intensity of vision, which risks obscurity in quest of the sublime” (Norton 2870).

Collins shows a strong interest in folklore and its relation to literature. In the poem Ode to
Evening , which is a melancholy poetry, the poet speaks to return to simplicities of rural life.
He talks about his longing for mountain life and village side which has been destructed and
marred due to urbanisation. He yearns for natural beauty in the world. Therefore, through this
poem “Ode to Evening” he tries to recapture the moment he lived in the lap of nature and
gives a reminder call to return to the simplicity of life in order to fix the chaos of modern
civilization generated due to urbanization.

To make Collins’s romantic tendencies crystal clear, one can quote the great Romantic poet,
Coleridge, who says Collins “has inspired and whirled me along with greater agitations of
enthusiasm than any the most impassioned scene in Schiller or Shakespeare” (Norton 2870)

William Cowper : (1731- 1800) : was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most
popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th century nature poetry by
writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside. In many ways, he was one of
the forerunners of Romantic poetry. Samuel Taylor Coleridge called him "the best modern
poet", whilst William Wordsworth particularly admired his poem Yardley-Oak. ( Wiki)

He is yet another precursor of romanticism. According to Robert Southey , he was one of

the most well-liked poets of his generation. For him , love of nature and religious worship
are co related. He believes that contemplation in the midst of Nature will bestow wisdom . He
desires the beauty of the countryside ,and thus portrays Nature in his poems. Hence , he was
one of the such poet in which Wordsworth too developed the same idea. Cowper anticipated
the romantic generation in his political liberalism , in his humanitarianism , and most of all
his sympathetic and faithful rendering of external nature”. Contrasting the pastoral life with
the urban scene , he wrote one of the most popular poems “The Task”, in six volumes
published states :

“God made the country , and man made the town ,

What wonder then that health and virtue, gifts

That can alone make the sweet the bitter draught

That life holds out to all , should most abound

And least be threatn’d in the fields and groves?”

(The Task Book 1.11.749-753)

Robert Burns ( 1759 -1796) : Burns is the most beloved poet of the Scots; he is also a
symbol of their national spirit . He was one of the Scottish poets who voice for Nature; and
was later considered essentially romantic tendencies. He has stepped in Scottish folklore; he
respected the common man . Though Burns’ poetry is based on local people and situations,
he is definitely not a regional poet in any narrow sense. He stresses the elemental , universal ,
and permanent moods and thoughts in all humanity . His use of lowly subjects and simple
diction was worthwhile example to Wordsworth and to other Romantic Poets.

In addition , Burns poem titled “My Hearts in the Highland” written in 1789 is a beautiful
poem and song shows his great love for Nature. His desire for countryside has never been
reduced and therefore he prettily portrays his feeling in this poem when he stresses on “My
heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here”. He says that where ever he goes , in any
part , in any corner of the world , his heart will be always in the Highland and he will always
love . he is quite fed up with the hustle and bustle of the city and yearns for wild forest. The
poem expresses the strong sense of belonging to the place he lived and admiration of natural
beauties as well as regretting for leaving Highland ;expressing through vivid and descriptive
language using natural aspects. Nature stands for the idea of homeland here.
The song was written in 1789 as a reaction to Burns’ tours in the Highlands which was his
first encounter with the wild beauty of Scottish mountain ranges dominating the region
(“Robert Burns: Works Written in 1789”). The most important companion on the tour was
the scenery of uncultivated grandeur, and the magnificence of nature influenced the poem.

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,

My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;

Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,

My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go. (Burns, “My Heart's in the Highlands”)

The Romantic Period poets : a quick review

“The romantic poets of the first generation – Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey and Scott –
began as revolutionaries. The second generation of poets against the exception of Keats, who
lived in an ivory tower of his own, carried on a revolt against the social structure, kings and
priests and unjust laws. Byron had a grudge against society, and without knowing much of it,
he satirized bourgeois life. He had a real passion for liberty and his heart moved with rage
against tyrants and despots. Shelley was a rebel against society. He believed that a new
world will arise in future. He was against kings and priests.” (Mundra and Mundra,
1992:269)

One of the striking features about Romantic poets and Romantic poems were all about
admiration of nature and defining the ideals of Romanticism which involves
imagination, emotions, individuality, symbolism, and escape from reality. Poets like
Blake, Byron, Keats, Shelley and Coleridge all were heavily doped with the essence of
 Romanticism. Since the height of Romantic period was marked by a brilliant flowering
of poetry of William Wordsworth nature poems, “Tintern Abbey”. Amongst English
Romantics it is Wordsworth who insists most forcibly on the relationship between
nature and poetry. In Lines written above Tintern Abbey [1. 107-112], according to
him, nature teaches men moral values and may help mold their character to some
degree:
both what they half-create,
And what perceive; well pleased to recognize
In nature and the language of the sense,
The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse,
The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul
Of all my moral being.

Keats poetry may be described as a hymn to the world’s beauty and to the splendour of
human natural. Keats’s quotes that Poetry should come “as naturally as the leaves of the
tree”. Blake thought Poetry comes from inspiration , vision and prophecy . Shelley “Defence
of Poetry states “ Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world”. Like Wordsworth
Shelley spent a good deal of time in the contemplation of natural phenomena. He called the
inner reality , “Light” , Beauty” , “Of Sustaining Love” and he tried to identify himself with
this. He believed that mankind can be made perfect : tyranny can be abolished , freedom can
flourish in all walks of life; he was indeed an idealist.

It is Light and Sound that deeply attracted him. His own aspirations , his own poetic fervour
is like the skylark which soars above the ground. It is the skylark’s songs which inspire him
more : ode to Skylark

Such harmonious madness

From my lips would flow

The World should listen then.

Coleridge decided to keep his child in the midst of nature . He quotes ….

Thou my babe, shall wander like a breeze

By lakes and sandy shores , beneath the crags

Of ancient mountain and beneath the clouds

It was the influence of Wordsworth and romantic age which made him think nature was the
fountain of grand forms and of eternity.

Romanticism and ecology

One can decisively approve that French Revolution was the prodigious source of
Romanticism, then that is used to be called “Return to Nature.” Critic Mc Gann argues that
traditional view of Romantics return to nature is a form of escapism. The beginning of
romanticism can be traced from the poems of William Wordsworth , one of the greatest
British poets who defined the new era in writing nature poems and perceiving human from a
very different angle. He quotes “the best portion of man’s life , his little , nameless ,
unremembered acts of love and kindness”. This shows the temperament of the Romantic age
and his idealism while writing poems on nature and goodness of man. The Prelude is
considered to be one of the best poem crowning in the achievement of Romanticism.
However , there are many poems which have been widely read and discuss on framing the
concept of Nature , as an inspiration and healing elements of world. In other words, there is
closer connection between William Wordsworth and Nature. His poems not only inspired the
entire poets of the Romantic age but all those authors who still admire the beauty of Nature
and seeks peace and harmony . As William J. Long remarks : “The essence of romanticism
must be remembered that literature must reflect all that is spontaneous and be free to follow
its own fancy in its own way”

Romantic Ecology : Notion of Green world

Romantic ecology can be demarcated as a theory to examine the essence of Romantic

nature poems , to boost the level of level of harmony and reverence for nature and
articulating a meaningful human relation within the natural world. In short , Romantic
ecology is an inter disciplinary subject Romanticism and Ecology about praising the beauty
of nature and pastoral traditions along with articulating a meaningful human relation within
the natural world.

Jonathan Bate through his book published in 1991 ; revived the modern literary theory of
ecology through his edition :Romantic Ecology and presented the green picture of Romantic
poets especially representing Wordworth poems .

Bate revived the dominant nineteenth-century perception of the crucial Romantic poet
William Wordsworth as a ‘poet of nature’ whose work forms a coherent protest against
the dominant ideologies of ‘political economy’ and industrialism. Bate’s book is subtitled
Wordsworth and the Environmental Tradition. ( Clark , Introduction to Literature and
Environment; Cambridge ch1; Romantic ecology; pg 16). Romantic ecology is a theory of
ecosystem and unalienated labour firmly rooted not in idealist and elitist text, but in pragmatic
and populist ‘s text of the time .Bate (10). In his book it is clearly mentioned that “Romantic
Ecology” reverences the green earth because it recognises neither physically nor
psychologically we live without green things; it proclaims that there is one life within us and
abroad, that the earth is a single ecosystem which we destabilize at our peril. In sharp contrast
to Romantic ideology , romantic ecology deal directly with material world , from history to
society – it is an attempt to enable mankind the better to live in the modern world by entering
into harmony with the environment.
Ideologically speaking , the main purpose of romantic ecology is to give importance to nature,
to rural life , Green world , the notion of ecology in the contemporary world and diverting
people towards green politics. Bate argues that Wordworth is using pastoral traditions to
critique both the form and ideal of Romantic ecology. He situates Wordsworth in the Ecological
subconscious environment of both nineteenth century and twentieth first century.

Bate’s ‘Romantic ecology’ reaffirms the importance of the natural world as a topic for literary
criticism, but at the risk of over-idealising premodern and capitalist ways of life. . In fact, the
late eighteenth century had also seen a revolution in attitudes to animals and non-human
suffering, something prominent in the work of Robert Burns.(19). Robert Burn poem “To a
Mouse” deals with the issue of nature at human’s mercy and aims at drawing the attention to
the necessity of respecting all living creatures. In this poem the poet interconnects his
humanitarian views as well as his opinion on difficulties of human life.”

In Romantic Ecology, however, the claims of the non-human appear primarily as helping to
realise forms of a less exploitative, more ‘natural’ human society.(19) ;Clark , Introduction to
Literature and Environment; Cambridge .

Nature as stimulus for Romantic Poems

Romantic poetry , no doubt is primarily about nature and secondarily about man .
However, it critics like Bate claimed that Romantic poetry is more about nature
because nature is the measure of all thing and both the medium and object of the
search. Those neo classical poets had high standard urban society embellished into
intellectuals but romantic poets of early eighteenth century and nineteenth century
replaced it with mystical landscape , clouds , flowers, valleys , mountains , skylark ,
daffodils , Grecian Urn , Autumn , garden , Rosebud , Highlands ,Birds chirping etc,
Romantic poets played a vital role in depicting nature in Romantic poetry overseen
by imagination and emotion which gets motivated by natural surroundings. It is
during Romantic period nature is in its physical arrival emerged as the privileged
material for voicing human relations with the environment emancipated from natural
margins of religion and society and expressing profound depth of the soul.
John Keats', "To Autumn", and Percy Shelley's, "Ode to the West Wind", are both poems that
use the Romantic element of nature to describe human feelings. They use the seasons to portray
their views of life.
Keats is one of the greatest lover and admirer of nature. He expresses the beauty of both real
and artistic forms of nature. Everything in nature for him is full of wonder and mystery-the
rising sun, the moving cloud, the growing bud and the swimming fish. His love for nature is
purely sensuous and he loves the beautiful sights and scenes of nature for their own sake. He
believes that "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever'. (20)
He looks with child-like delight at the objects of nature. In his poem ode to a Nightingale, he
writes:
My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pain
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains

Treatment of Nature in William Wordsworth’s Prelude

The Prelude is a landmark poem in history of the English literature. William

Wordsworth worked for more than forty years to give full last touch .The prelude is
about the poet himself; it is an autobiographical poem . but it is also about the nature
and function of the human mind; so, it is psychological ; it gives certain definite
moral conclusion; so, it is didactic; it is about the infinite power and harmony of
nature; so, it is spiritual ; it is an attempt to define the role and potentiality of
imagination, and so it is intellectual. The Prelude no doubt , talks about social
relevance , its relation to historical time and divine scheme.

However , the Prelude is remembered as a poem of self-consciousness and search for

identity written at time when entire Europe , was reeling under the nightmare of
Napoleonic onslaughts , looking for stable identity , a solid value system. In this
sense, Prelude is the most representative work not only for English Romanticism but
also for concomitant romantic idealism. W.J. .Harvey states that , “the world of
Prelude is not just the world of the mind communing with Nature ; it is also the world
of the University , the metropolis and the arena of politics.”.

The Prelude is Humanity’s last and most ardent attempt to discover pure joy in life.
Though it is very difficult to categorize , this lofty poem embodies the history of
humanity standing on the crossroad of selfishness and humanism , science and
imagination, adventure and utilitarianism , materialism and spiritualism. The poet has
absorbed all his new ideas and experiences , therefore the poem sub -titles “Growth
of a Poet’s Mind”.

The poem opens with a note of joy. The wind suggests cam and peace and is matched
by corresponding mild creative breeze within which becomes a storm and breaking
the frost , invokes the spring. In the very beginning the theme is announced : the
discovery of Nature’s beauty and discovery of man’s true self. Few charming
passages in the Prelude captivate the reader’s attention endorsing the Wordsworth
Philosophy of life and nature

Oh there is blessing in this gentle breeze,

A visitant that while it fans my cheek

Doth seem half conscious of the joy it brings

From the green fields , and from the yon azure sky

Whatever its mission , the soft breeze can come

To none more grateful than to me ; escaped

From the vast city, where I long had pined’

A discontented sojourner ; now free,

Free as a bird to settle where I will.

(The Prelude ;Line 1- 10 )

 Through the following passage , Wordsworth claims that no one can be more grateful
other than poet because he himself has finally found a soothing shelter in the lap of
nature. As he is quite disappointed with vast city ; its cruel fetters chained him and he
criticises for being a slave of manners and customs , conventions and hypocrisies but
now he feels free as bird that can fly in the sky at its will, to search for harmony
between man and nature. In one sense it is a typical romantic view of the nature.

Thanks to the means……as best might suit her aim.

(Lines 351 -356)

Wordsworth thanked the nature for applying her methods when necessary. He says
Nature is man’s true and most dependable , most sympathetic guardian . The poet
explains how nature keeps man on the right track. Wordsworth romanticism lies in
this mystical approach to nature, but he describes his personal experience with such a
force as to give it universal validity and appeal. .Everywhere in the poem it is nature
imagery; images drawn from the world of nature, water , mountains , valleys, breezes,
etc; and everything is literal , true , to object as it is. On reading the entire poem we
could weave the philosophical man-nature relationship. The experience of his early
life remained stored in his mind , and thus realised the most fundamental truths of life
and formulated his philosophy of nature.

In his youth Wordworth was inspired by the ideas of Voltaire, Rousseau that led to
revolutionary movement in France. He welcomed rich humanism which made him quite
sympathetic to the suffering of humanity in an age of when industrialism made the difference
between rich and poor . He heard the still sad music of humanity and claimed that “what man
has made of man”. Through his poems , Wordsworth always tried to show man the right path
and this made much of his poetry didactic. Apart from deep emotional concern for humanity ,
his approach towards understanding of nature as an inspiration and healing power is certainly
commendable. He quotes “ Nature never did betray the heart that loved her. If one goes to
Nature with an open heart , nature gives one everything, especially strength to face and
overcome all sorrows and sufferings of life”. Therefore, The Prelude is an outstanding
verse of William Wordsworth which suggests “Love of Nature leads to Love of Mankind”
and both are co related to each other.

Assessment of Sustainable Living in the Romantic age

The romantic age was, to some extent a reaction to industrial revolution which was a
practical expression of technology garner during the Enlightenment age .

Romantics played a significant role in launching the conservation movement on multiple

fronts .Crash upon on natural land , spoiling rural life , villages were a precursor of the
conservation movement . Industrialism led to destruction of rural areas around the Great
Britain and Europe , there was major exploitation of nature , this led to many poets to recall
the time before urbanisation and industrialisation

The poets of romantic age like , Lawrence , Blake , Wordworth , Southey , Collins, Cowper ,
Coleridge , Keat’s , Oscar Goldsmith , W.B. Yeats , were some of them who were uniquely
capable of commutating with the beauties of nature and were enormously sensitive to
environmental changes. Wordsworth was one of them who tried to express a view point of
nature and push harder to escape himself from the consequences of industrialism and
urbanisation . and eroding of green villages and countryside and widely talked about the
man’s relation with nature. . In the poem , Deserted Village by Oliver Goldsmith , published
in 1770, condemn the rural depopulation and destroying the pastoral living traditions.

Keats’ Ode to Nightingale shows how the speaker envy simplicity as opposed to the cramped
, ever changing pace of Urbanisation. He expresses admiration for the natural world and
portray nature as a means od escaping the troubles of modern life” (Caroll)

Altogether it could be noted that Romantic poets felt chafed with the tyranny , immortality
and ugliness of materialistic life of the age. To avoid such desertification ,they sought an
escape through their poetry. .They rebel against unhappy reality that beautiful world is
turning into an ugly place , because of growing hatred and narrow-minded outlook.
Wordworth in his famous poem “Tintern Abbey” recounts the love of nature and human kind
on three stages :

 Sensuous passion
 Moral influence
 Mystical communion

In Wordsworth’s theory of Poetry , he proclaims that “rustic and humble life is better suited
for essential passions of the heart”. He believes that emotions of rural people are simpler
, purer, and perhaps better than those of the city dweller. He also thought the people
living in the midst of nature have a better moral attitude , and they become part od
sense od divinity present in nature. Indeed ,Wordsworth is enough to influence the modern
thinking on the natural goodness of humanity , the moral value of simple living ,
preservation of natural world , restoring pastoral ethnicities , and taking cues from the nature
which is the inspiration and healing powers for modern chaos, Wordsworth translate this
following into action both in his and his work the principle “Simple living and High
thinking”.

More philosophically , Romanticists like Lawrence , Blake , Wordworth , Southey , Collins,

Cowper , Coleridge , Keat’s , and Shelley , nature poems can evoke silent breathing life and
discern a grandeur world again in the 21st century . It is Romantic ardour , the resolution to
modern society for transforming life into peace and harmony. It is a golden theory to heals
the evils of modern civilizations. “The Romantics poet believed in a hidden reality based on
their poetry , they made different use of it ,to depict the real world in the age of Romanticism
Thus , Romantics dreamt of a better and happier world to come on which build “Utopias of
the Future “. They glorified both the Soul and Senses .
 Eco criticism as a tool to Literature and environment

To be very specific , Eco criticism is the study of literature and the environment from an inter
disciplinary point of view , where literature scholars analyse the text that illustrate
environmental concerns and examine the various ways literature treats the subject of nature.
(Wiki)

The term ‘Eco-criticism’ (Greek oikos and kritis) is interpreted as ‘house judge’
by William Howarth. He says: “the oikos is nature, a place Edward Hoagland
calls ‘our widest home,’ and the kritos is an arbiter of taste”.

It has given new wings in the branch of humanities and is a modern literary theory
which deals with beauty and healing power of nature. In addition , Eco criticism
attempts to drawn insights from the two different study –“Literature” and “
Environment”. No doubt eighteenth and nineteenth century have witnessed the close
relationship between literature and environment through the works of Romantic poets
.today , in the 21st century , age of tech and science, “eco criticism is going to play a
crucial role in analysing the relationship between natural and social world. It evokes
new knowledge toward literary approach , towards green politics and towards
reverence for green world , which is a solution to global crisis like global warming
and climate change. William Rueckert, who in a 1978 essay titled “Literature and
Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism” wrote that ecocriticism entailed
“application of ecology and ecological concepts to the study of literature”. To simply
put , Eco criticism is a tool to the study of literature and environmental studies.

“Ecocriticism gives a new meaning to place, setting, and environment. Eco critics in
their study want an ecological perception of nature to change the ways humans
inhabit the Earth. Ecocriticism is a rapidly changing theoretical approach, which is
different from the traditional approach to literature. Here the critic explores the local
or global, the material or physical, or the historical or natural history in the context
of a work of art. An ecocritical approach to literature is often interdisciplinary, citing
knowledge of environmental studies, the natural sciences, and cultural and social
studies.”

--Roots of ecocriticism: an exploration of the history of

ecocriticism, a literary theory of the post-modern world
Dr..Vathana Fenn

Modern environmental criticism often continues these older traditions of anti-

industrial argument ,deploying concepts of‘ nature’ as a moral and psychic norm. A
continuity of Romantic ideas can be traced through elements of the texts of
Wordsworth. We need to focus our study in the eco centred humanism rather tech
centred study . In such a scenario , we would realize the potential of nature in shaping
the human minds towards the deep connection of natural world which is inevitable to
be protected and hence , eco criticism allow scholars to examine that potential of in
the works of Romantic age literature. According to Glen Love Ecocriticism focuses on
the “inter connections between the material world and human culture, specifically the
cultural artefacts language and literature” (196)

Eco criticism . therefore, emerged as a modern approach to study eco logical literature
and has been widely accepted by many critics like , Glotfelty, Cheryll and Harold
Fromm. Ed; Glen A, Love; Buell Lawrence . et.al, as vital method to deal the modern
crisis related to nature and environment. In addition , Eco criticism give emphasis om
the “Harmony of Humanity and Nature” as well.
Conclusion :

Unquestionably, it is the treatment of nature that we find in the poetry of Romantic age poets
which brought a new relation in literature in the 18th and 19th century and now it is the right
time to implement the same in the 21st century modern age. The peculiar quality of
Romanticism lies in this which is apparently detaching us from the real world , thus we need
to explore the unknown possibilities of creativity and emotions to restore us to modern reality
at a higher point. By connecting single sensible experiences with some undefinable superior
order of things , The Romantics have enriched our appreciation of the familiar world and
awakened a new a new wonder at us. Thus , Romanticism in the 21st century must be adhered
in to the modern civilization.

Eco criticism will try to re -outline the culture which is stubbornly being followed in the
name of high tech world recklessly destroying the planet. Frederick rightly says that,
“Ecocriticism gives human beings a better understanding of nature” (134). Ecocriticism is a
necessary part of literary scholarship because literature cannot separate characters from
nature and that they domesticate either destructively or productively. Simple Living and High
thinking

According to Wikipedia definition ; “Sustainable living is fundamentally the application of

sustainability to lifestyle choice and decisions. One conception of sustainable living expresses
what it means in triple-bottom-line terms as meeting present ecological, societal, and
economical needs without compromising these factors for future generations”.(wiki)

This social change has affected the thoughts of people in the Romantic era , need to be
brought in the 21st century which is the possible solution to fix the modern chaos and
therefore introduce the new scholars towards the variety of Romanticism and
Romantic poets which is going to influence , impress , imprint and induce them with a
philosophy of harmony in nature and humanity.

The entire agenda of this research article is to make everyone grasp about moving towards
“Common Future” ; deriving its roots in Romanticism movement and in the Legacy of
Romantic Poets.

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