The Finality Of Death In William Wordsworth's Poetry

Is death final with no hope of an afterlife? Is loss of naivety a death each person faces as one matures? Death is a subject pondered by many but understood by few. Poetry is rich in meaning and contains in depth thoughts and ideas. Poetry in its simplest form still contains great value and often has a hidden meaning that is not initially apparent. One subject that plagues many poets is death. Death is viewed in a negative manner and very rarely has any aspect of hope. Furthermore, poets treat death with different values and viewpoints. William Wordsworth is one poet who focuses about death in many of his poems. Wordsworth treats death in his poems differently to evoke different feelings among his audiences and Wordsworth uses death to call into question his own feelings on the subject. First, Wordsworth addresses the finality of death differently in his poems. In

Wordsworth uses nature to exemplify peaceful attitudes in “It is a Beauteous Evening” for example, “the broad sun / is sinking down in its tranquility; / the gentleness of heaven broods o’er the Sea” (3-5). Although, Wordsworth is describing the death of his daughter he describes a calm and luxurious evening that is filled with peace and understanding. This poem is different from the nature in “Three Years She Grew” in that nature is what takes Lucy away from the narrator of the poem. Wordsworth writes “Thus Nauture spake- the work was done- / How soon my Lucy’s race was run! / She died” (37-39). Nature is the force that inflicts death upon Lucy; furthermore, nature is used to portray a negative mood in the poem. Wordsworth writes “The Girl, in rock and plain” (9). The words chosen in this poem gives a cold a dreary connotation, which foreshadows the future death of Lucy in the poem. Wordsworth uses nature in both poems, but he uses different aspects of nature to influence variant emotions upon the