Wordsworth's influence on Emerson
Wordsworth was a mighty influence on Emerson. In two paragraphs, show Wordsworth's influence on Emerson as a thinker. Compare texts by using quotes and put those quotes into conversation between Emerson and Wordsworth. Post in the comments section below.
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Wordsworth’s influence on Emerson can be found within each authors’ focus on the importance of and personal gain from solitude. The “Bliss of Solitude”(Wordsworth) as referred to by Wordsworth can be seen throughout Emerson’s writing. In both cases, each author focuses on the ability to ponder as well as the ability to discover and reflect on the simplicity of nature. Thus, Emerson reveals that such discoveries “are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world”(Emerson) and Wordsworth describes these discoveries to be found “in vacant or in pensive mood” as “they flash upon that inward eye”(Wordsworth) Both authors expand upon the hidden knowledge that can only be found in solitude.
Extending off of the idea of solitude, Wordsworth reveals the strength in such individuality. He claims that those who are bold enough to venture off on their own and discover that particular knowledge associated with solitude will evidently be more successful and simply “let the groveler sip his stagnant pool”(Wordsworth) similar to Emerson in his emphasis on the importance “to believe that what is true in your private heart is true for all men”(Emerson). Thus both authors focus on the importance to think for oneself and to simply ignore those who prevent him of her from doing so. Evidently Emerson took the basis of Wordsworth’s theory of solitude and expanded upon the importance of it.
From Wordsworth, Emerson embraced the concept of solitude, and how solitude promotes freedom for individuality and personal happiness. Emerson and Wordsworth both elaborate how individuality is vital and that it can be reached in solitude when one realizes what he/she truly wants. For instance, Emerson writes that “to believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men— that is genius. Speak your latest conviction, and it shall be the universal sense.” This was drawn from Wordsworth’s idea that “thy Art be Nature; the live current quaff, and let the groveler sip his stagnant pool.” Both writers are explaining that believing self-truth is crucial, and that those who do not embrace their self-truth are “sipping from a stagnant pool,” or they are not taking advantage of their ideas.
While Emerson’s took Wordsworth’s example in discussing the concept of freedom and individuality, he also incorporated the usage of naturist language, just as Wordsworth did. Emerson wrote “what pretty oracles nature yields us on this text, in the face and behavior of children.” Emerson’s idea that children are free because they are natural in their behavior directly relates to Wordsworth’s writing about flowers: “because the lovely little flower is free. Down to its root, and, in that freedom: bold.” Emerson was able to compare a child to a little flower, showing how both are free and natural in behavior and action. Through writing about nature and using imagery, Emerson is able to draw on Wordsworth’s influence and articulate the importance of natural freedom and individuality.
Woodsworth’s influence on Emerson is seen through the concept of individuality. Both authors stress the importance of giving yourself the right amount of separation from society in order to be an independent and free thinker. Emerson and Woodsworth claim that by being free of the conventions from society you are able to have happiness, freedom, and individuality. Wordsworth says the only way to be true to yourself is by being independent. “the lovely little flower is free Down to its root, and, in that freedom, bold.” (Woodsworth) From this claim of Woodsworth, Emerson writes about the concept of solitude, “It is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” (Emerson, 23) Both authors say the human race needs to rely on the beauty of nature to express ourselves and find our true identity.
Expanding on the idea of nature, Woodsworth and Emerson both make a point in their writings that all that is natural or raw from nature is completely happy in solitude. Woodsworth writes, “In vacant or pensive mood, they flash upon that inward eye which is the bliss of solitude.” (Woodsworth) Emerson makes the same point through a metaphor about the innocence of a young child. “The nonchalance of boys who are sure of a dinner, and would disdain as much as a lord to do or say aught to conciliate one, is the healthy attitude of human nature. “ (Emerson, 21) Emerson believes that as a young child we are more easy going and more free rather than worried constantly about the conventions of society. Woodsworth’s ideas influenced Emerson by talking about the concept of individuality and being free with nature.
Wordsworth’s influence on Emerson’s views can be see through his focus on solitude—but most importantly, the idea that solitude is natural, seen through the “inward eye,” and therefore can only be truly experienced in nature. In the first line of Wordsworth’s poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” which is both the title and the first verse verbatim, takes on a wistful—not solemn—tone, accompanied by imagery of golden daffodils dancing by the lake under the trees. Usually the idea of “loneness” has a negative connotation, but in Wordsworth’s poem, he introduces it as a deeply natural and good thing. In Emerson, this notion can be seen when he reveals that being in solitude is the only way to listen to your inner voice—or natural self—saying “these are voices which we hear in solitude, but grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world,” (E) where convention act as infiltrating voices that cloud out the your true thoughts. This loneliness, the “bliss of solitude,” is freeing: “The little lovely flower is free down to its roots, and, in that freedom, bold” (W). This conception is reflected in Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” when he assures, “A boy is in the parlor what the pit is in the playhouse; independent, irresponsible…” (E). Lastly, the two authors agree that the inherentness of this freeing solitude is celestial—does the flower bloom because convention dictates it to? No, it does so “from its own divine vitality” (W), and just so, we humans who are also creatures of nature like the flower, must “accept the place the divine providence has found for you” (E).
William Wordsworth expresses fairly dense facts of life through the light and gentle poetry he writes. For example, when Woodworth writes: “And let the groveler sip his stagnant pool, In fear that else, when Critics grave and cool Have killed him, Scorn should write his epitaph,” in his Poem “A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School”, he presents the harsh reality that people are scared to displease others because of how they will be judged. Ralph Waldo Emerson displays the same message by saying “… the eyes of others have no other data for computing our orbit than our past acts, and we loath to disappoint them,” (24); he is conveying a similar idea, but in a more straightforward way. They both realize the influence of the society around them, and I believe that they both want for others to stray away from letting the people in their society affect their thinking & their actions as well as them as people.
I think that Wordsworth really inspired Emerson because he was able to say things without directly offending the public and society, but Emerson felt as though society still wasn’t comprehending the message that Wordsworth was trying to convey, so Emerson made his points more clear and easier for the general public to understand. I think that they both wanted for the public to be aware of things that were wrong or that seemed to be injustices in everyday life, but Wordsworth might have thought more highly of the general public because he thought that they could extract the true meaning of his hidden messages. On the opposite side, I think Emerson thought poorly of the general public and he wanted to convey Wordsworth’s message so much so that he had to speak in a way that a young child could even understand, with his/her creativity involved.
Emerson and Wordsworth share ideas so parallel there is no doubt that Wordsworth must have had some kind of influence over Emerson, being that Wordsworth was prior to Emerson. Besides both having an immense admiration for Transcendentalism and Romanticism, Emerson and Wordsworth are very similar ideologically, primarily in that both authors emphasize the importance of nonconformity. For instance Wordsworth describes how "the lovely little flower is free down to its root, and in that freedom bold". Emerson notes the same idea how "to believe your own thought...is true for all men-that is genius”. Both authors embellish nonconformity and promote it to their audiences. Furthermore, it is evident that Wordsworth's words shaped the way Emerson felt about nonconformity, which can be shown in how Wordsworth illustrated nonconformity as a beautiful and essential thing in his poems such as "A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School" and "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" while Emerson elaborated off of these influential ideas by elucidating the importance of nonconformity and its consequences in “Self-Reliance”.
Wordsworth writes “in vacant or pensive mood they flash upon that inward eye…the bliss of solitude”. Meanwhile, Emerson asserts how such voices similar to the ones mentioned in Wordsworth’s poems “are the voices which we hear in solitude but…grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world”. Emerson is writing the reality of the individual depicted “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” –their voices are muted in a society filled with conventions, making adherence to nonconformity a difficult thing. Moreover, Wordsworth writes how “the grandeur of the forest-tree comes not by casting in a formal mould”, emphasizing how growth and strength are not results of convention-which Emerson supports when he writes “…the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude”. However, besides supporting Wordsworth’s argument, Emerson broaches the consequences of not “casting in a formal mould”. Ralph Waldo Emerson insightfully shares with his readers what nonconformists like Jesus, Socrates, Confucius, Luther, Galileo and Newton all have in common: they were misunderstood. RWE writes “to be great is to be misunderstood” and “for nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure”: realistic consequences of this nonconformity Wordsworth promotes. William Wordsworth calls his readers to step away from tradition; Emerson, supporting and branching off this poet’s ideas, reminds his readers that doing so isn’t easy but still essential.
When comparing William Wordworth’s work along side Ralph Waldo Emerson’s, one can see that Wordsworth had quite a bit of influence on Emerson especially through their similar views on individuality and solitude. In Wordsworth’s “A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School”, he stresses that reaching one’s full potential “comes not by casting in a formal mould but from its own divine vitality”(Wordsworth). Similarly, in Emerson’s Self-Reliance and Other Essays, Emerson argues that in order to become a genius, one needs “to believe your [his or her] own thought” and “to believe that what is true for you [him or her] in your [his or her] private heart is true for all men”(Emerson). Both Wordsworth and Emerson emphasize the idea that in order to be considered a truly great intellect, one must strongly support, not be afraid to own, and fearlessly publicize one’s own unique beliefs. A truly great intellect is one who does not let the thoughts and criticisms of others change what he or she believes in; and definitely does not try to be someone that society wants him or her to be.
Aside from individual freedom, Wordsworth and Emerson share similar views on solitude. In Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, Wordsworth expresses that when one “flash[es] upon that inward eye, which is the bliss of solitude; then my[one’s] heart with pleasure fills”(Wordsworth). Similarly, Emerson expresses that “the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude”(Emerson). Both convey the idea that spending time in solitude allows the mind to have time for deep thoughts and pondering, which ultimately leads to happiness and greatness. When allowing oneself time to just sit and think, the individuals lets their mind either relax or profoundly reflect.
Through the writings of William Wordsworth, Emerson embraced the concept of true inconsolable happiness through solitude brought forth by nature as well as sheer individuality. Nature is an infinite aspect of life that emits an effortless sense of serenity. The elegance of the “stars that shine and the twinkle on the milky way” (Wordsworth), is an facet of nature that will never fade but will continue to embrace those who choose to embrace it. Freedom is discovered in one’s natural way of expressing oneself, not through conventional, unspoken rules set forth by the “Critics” (Wordsworth). Similar to Wordsworth, Emerson accentuates the “…endless combination and repetition of very few laws” (Emerson 6) set forth by the natural world. Both Wordsworth and Emerson elaborate the idea that inevitability of nature is a pure example of freedom. When individuals fall into the trap that society has presented, nature becomes a lost cause; this represents the underlying importance of being unveiling one’s own truths from with in, not allowing the influence of others to coerce he or she in any way.
Individuality is a crucial point to both Wordsworth and Emerson’s writings. Wordsworth claims that independence originates from “…down [in the] roots…” (Wordsworth). Expanding on this idea that originality comes from within; Emerson conveys, “the true poem is the poet’s minds” (Emerson 7). Creativity is a scarce quality found in individuals, but it is one that separates those who are fully aware of their truth and those who are apprehensive of their opinions. Unmistakably, Wordsworth greatly influenced Emerson’s writings in that the focus is mainly on the significance brought upon by nature and the substance resulting in originality.
Wordsworth and Emerson are both captivated by Romanticism and Transcendentalism. Wordsworth thought outside the box of societal views. His thoughts could be seen as immature and foolish because he is so heavily influenced by the idea of individuality, and in that individuality, freedom and boldness. His romantic views are evident through his work through his references to nature - daffodils, stars, clouds, and Meadow-flowers, and his personification of them. His poem I Wandered Lonely as Cloud has a dreamy, and surreal feel to it. Wordsworth appreciates being alone and states, “they flash upon that inward eye, Which is this bliss of solitude” while Emerson also says that “these are the voice which we hear in solitude, but they grown faint and inaudible as we went into the world.” Both express the idea that solitude is where our inner-self really comes out and without solitude we end up conforming to society and we become just like everyone else. In modern day terms, solitude allows one to stand out in the crowd rather than blend in.
Emerson also expresses that having freedom and boldness, just as a child, is a good thing when he says “great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age.” We see a parallel between Emerson's and how it stems from Wordsworth’s idea, “because the lovely little flower is free, down to its root, and, in that freedom, bold.” Both also touch upon the idea of a divine force or being (this is where Transcendentalism comes into play) and Emerson says “accept the place the divine providence has found you” not only talking about a divine force, but individuality, and Wordsworth, while talking about where the best thoughts and ideas come from, says “comes not by casting in a formal mould, but from its own divine vitality.” Wordsworth really stepped outside of the formal mould of his time by believing that an accomplished, original individual does not “shed tears by rule,” rather he does things how he wants to — in a natural way. There is no rule book to be followed, it all comes from within. That idea really influenced Emerson to also believe that “nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your mind” because each individual mind is unique and different. They all produce different thoughts and those are more valuable than everyone thinking the same thing. Wordsworth’s idea of solitude being a good thing, not a bad thing, really impacted Emerson to the point where he too believed that solitude and individuality is the best thing for oneself and one’s mind.
There are two reasons as to why we deny our self-reliance: we fear social displeasure and what will happen if we don’t conform, and we don’t trust ourselves because we don’t take the time to know ourselves. In Self-Reliance, Emerson says that “for nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure. And therefore a man must know how to estimate a sour face.” Emerson realizes that for those who disagree with the thoughts and truths of others are misunderstood, and when they are misunderstood, they must know how to handle it. When one doesn’t conform, they are seen as a difference in the world, but it is that difference that makes them able to live their own truth. In A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School, Wordsworth says, “And let the groveller sip his stagnant pool, in feat that else, when critics grave and cool have killed him. Scorn should write his epitaph.” The critics that Wordsworth refers to are the people who have whipped others with their displeasure. But, those who have been whipped by the world, although being ridiculed and sneered at, are the ones who live by their own truth and thought. They both also agree that it is our solitude in nature where one’s truth can be discovered. Wordsworth’s influence on Emerson also shows when Emerson says “The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows when that is what that is which he can do, now does he know until he has tried,” while Wordsworth says, “In vacant or pensive mood, they flash upon my eye which is the bliss of solitude.” Both statements express that only in nature, which is our solitude, can we find our truth and our meaning, it is where we are free to think and explore our thoughts, until we find what our truth is, and live it.
We see Wordsworth’s influence on Emerson because both he and Emerson felt nonconformity was a good sign, it meant that one broke free from the typical ideals and stuck to more radical ones. It didn’t matter to them that society was against them. Both explain the importance of sticking to one’s own truth, and although it may be hard to do so, it is better than taking someone’s truth as your own, because as Emerson said, “imitation is suicide,” and what we really need to do is live our own way, not copy another’s and take it as our own. They also championed the fact that one must be in solitude in order to know oneself. Emerson and Wordsworth were not alone in their fight against conformity, many of the greatest minds were those who were misunderstood. Writers including, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Stein, Eliot and many others from the Lost Generation are those who wrote about sticking to your own truth and not buying into the the false truths, the truths you think that are yours but are really someones else’s. Although they were misunderstood, they are now some of the greatest writers in our history, and their writings help us realize what our truth is why it is important to follow our truth.
When reading Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self- Reliance and poetry by William Wordsworth, it is evident that Emerson drew a great amount of inspiration from Wordsworth’s transcendentalism work. In Wordsworth’s I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, he speaks of the “bliss of solitude”, which then leads to his heart being “pleasure filled”. Emerson takes this one step further when he details the importance of men coming to term with their true self rather than being an imposter, deriving from Wordsworth’s acknowledgement of the importance of being in tune with yourself. Emerson also explains that the strength people feel in solitude fades when they “enter the real world”, explaining how a busy life can affect a person who at one point had inner harmony. Emerson speaks of “harmonious actions” in nature, an apparent aspect to Wordsworth’s poem, illustrated in the lines, “continuous as the stars shine and twinkle on the milky way.” Emerson drew from Wordsworth the importance of harmony with nature and with an inner self, which greatly affected his writings of Self- Reliance. Wordsworth speaks in A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School that “critics” had “killed” the poet. He concludes that instead of looking for approval from others, men should focus on themselves. This is also reflected in Emerson’s Self- Reliance when Emerson states that “man is timid and apologetic” not strong and independent. He explains that men worry too much and do not live in the moment, which Wordsworth illustrates through explaining how the poet killed himself with criticism. After the great writing of William Wordsworth, Ralph Waldo Emerson drew many inspirations that took action in his great work, Self- Reliance.
Ralph Waldo Emerson clearly shows the influence William Wordsworth has had on him in his essay “Self-Reliance.” Emerson uses some of the inspiring and worthwhile lines from Wordsworth’s poems to inspire him to write his essays. There is almost a hidden conversation going on between Emerson and Wordsworth in their different works. When Emerson claims “power which resides in him is new in nature, and none be he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he known until he has tried,” he is trying to prove a point that Wordsworth uses in his poem “I wandered as lonely as a cloud” (Emerson 20). He is proving Wordsworth point about solitude that he makes in his poem in the lines where he writes “In vacant and pensive mood, they flash upon the inward eye, which is a bliss of solitude” (20-22). Emerson responds and proves Wordsworth’s point in that solitude is the only way that ‘man’ can find his truth and himself. Wordsworth uses the “bliss of solitude” as a reference to the man in the poem finding his truth and happiness and Emerson works off that line to talk about how we cannot find ourselves unless we are in solitude and we try to find ourselves. Both writers have a view that individualism is important that that it can only be achieved through solitude and simplicity of life.
Emerson also shows signs of influence from Wordsworth in two other parts of his “Self-Reliance” essay. Emerson tells us to “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries the connection of events” (Emerson 20). Wordsworth uses his poem “A poet!—He hath put his heart to school” to show that society cannot form a mold for us to follow. Wordsworth describes the “grandeur of the Forest-tree, comes not by casting in a formal mould, but from its own divine vitality” (12-14). Wordsworth is starting a conversation by using a metaphor of a tree that does not follow a mold. In reality, the tree (a person) is growing and should not be growing into a mold because we have to be individuals. That is Emerson’s response to the conversation; it is that we need to trust ourselves and live with the decisions we make and be an individual because that is how Wordsworth described it, through nature and its simplicity.
William Wordsworth work has influence on Ralph Waldo Emerson in that the individual can attain self-truth through internal experiences in seclusion. Solitude and nature are in conjunction with one another along with convention. Often times we are dependent on others experiences that we fail to notice our own voices. Convention is following other’s truths and not following the deep experiences from within. Fear of displeasing other’s conformity makes us dependent on continuity, and as Wordsworth mentions, “scorn should write his epitaph” if one does not conform to society’s truth. In order to attain “the bliss of solitude” (Wordsworth) one must be aware that through nature, silence, and solitude, knowledge of what is around us can truly be seen. A complete balance must be kept in order to contain self-interest and reason, Emerson states, “nothing is last sacred but the integrity of your own mind” (Emerson 21) this displays that one can truly be filled with pleasure when they are aware of their own thoughts.
Wordsworth’s writing along with concepts of the individual and solitude also has themes of nature that are present in Emerson’s work. Nature keeps individuals from concentrating on the fabrication of society, and allows them to focus on the beauty of seclusion. Emerson idea of nature displays that one cannot understand ones capabilities without the power of nature and knowledge of self-trust. Both individuals focus on the individual’s ability to find their truth through nature and solitude.
In A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School, Woodsworth wrote, “the grandeur of the Forest tree comes not by casting in a formal mould, but from its own divine vitality” (Woodsworth, 12-14) and in Self-Reliance, Emerson said, “to be great is to be misunderstood” (Emerson, 25). Both writers emphasize the idea that excellence is not a measure of how well one fits into the mold of society’s standards; rather it is a matter of individuality and originality, both of which come with being understood. Originality, in its essence, is standing out from the mold of society. When people break from that mold, it is inevitable that much of society will misunderstand them, because acting with originality is acting in a way that conventional society is not used to. Emerson is clearly influenced by Woodsworth’s idea that splendor comes from individuality, because it is that originality—that shape that does not fit the mold—that brings the misunderstanding of greatness.
Woodsworth emphasizes the value of solitude in his work, particularly in I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud. It is in “the bliss of solitude” when “my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils” (Woodsworth, 22-24). Pensive solitude allows for joy among the beauty that exists in the world. Similarly, according to Emerson, “it is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude” (Emerson, 23). The joy of solitude that is emphasized in Woodsworth is similarly represented in Emerson. Emerson takes the idea further, expressing that it is easy to live within the parameters of societal standards and it is easy to live in solitude alone, but the greatest of them all is he who lives in the joy of solitude while simultaneously living amidst everyone else.
Woodsworth’s influence on Emerson is displayed through the idea of solitude and the certain knowledge and happiness gained from being in solitude. Wordsworth states that although striving to be an individual, one lives, “in fear that else, when critics grave and cool,” but in the end, the desire to develop one’s thoughts from being in solitude is achieved despite one’s surroundings and an individual is able to overcome outside influences. Emerson agrees by stating, “for nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure” (Emerson 24) showing that society and one’s surroundings will display discontent when one goes against previously formed ideas, but it takes a true individual to know who one is in order to defy conformity.
Both authors demonstrate advantages of being an individual by being to be truly free of the surrounding world and focus on oneself. Wordsworth states, “Because the lovely little flower is free, down to its roots, and, in that freedom, bold” (lines 11-12), showing that when an individual is free from conventions and pressures of society, one can truly thrive. Similarly, Emerson expresses, “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist” (Emerson 21), demonstrating that an individual who does not conform, is a man who has gained knowledge and an understanding within himself. By this deep understanding, “which is the bliss of solitude; and then my heart with pleasure fills”, Wordsworth acknowledges the joy and knowledge gained from being in solitude with oneself is something that cannot be gained without the sense of true solitude. Emerson states, “It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude” (Emerson 23) displaying that although it may not always be the easiest to remain in solitude when surrounded by society, but by being able to achieve this, one has gained perfect sweetness.
Wordsworth’s influence on Emerson can be found in each author’s emphasis on individuality. Both authors focus on the importance of being your own person and forming your ideas. Through this vital form of individuality, an individual will be able to stand out amongst others very boldly. “A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best, but what he has said or done otherwise, shall give him no peace..trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has done for you” (Emerson 20). According to Emerson, the individual can not reach full greatness without truly accepting who they are. In order for them to really be proud of their accomplishments, they have to accept everyone of their challenges and work to overcome them. It is that hard work that will pay of in the end and help them achieve that point of proudness in themselves.
Wordsworth also believes the idea of only being able to stand out in a crowd if you are unique and your true self. In A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School, by William Wordsworth, he refers to this idea of individuality through a little flower. “Because the lovely little flower is free Down to its root, and, in that freedom, bold; And so the grandeur of the Forest-tree Comes not by casting in a formal mould, But from its own divine vitality” (Wordsworth). Especially in this quote Wordsworth stresses that in order to live a truly bold and unique life, you must follow your heart and dig down deep into your roots to find yourself before you can be able to stand out or even be completely yourself.
Wordsworth and Emerson both understand being alone to be a very positive thing because in this natural state, we are free. This is evident in Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” in which he writes, “For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude.” The pronoun ‘they’ is referring to the “golden daffodils…fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” When we simplify ourselves to our natural state of solitude in our minds, we gain the freedom to meander in thought about the world around us. Emerson recognizes the importance of this ability and writes about it in his work, Self-Reliance.
Emerson’s main philosophy is self-reliance, and it is very complex. Simplified, the problem is that we don’t trust ourselves. This is because we like affirmation so we conform, we don’t like changing our minds or contradicting ourselves, and it’s hard to hear our own thoughts sometimes. There can be connections drawn between these themes and Wordsworth’s poems because Wordsworth influenced Emerson as a thinker. For example, in Wordsworth’s “A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School,” he writes, “In fear that else, when Critics grave and cool Have killed him, Scorn should write his epitaph.” In parallel, Emerson writes in Self-Reliance, “For nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure. And therefore a man must know how to estimate a sour face,” (24). These lines strike at the issue of being afraid of others’ opinions of our unique and personal thoughts. A poet, whose work is natural and free, can still be restrained by the chains of convention in fear that breaking with them may not lead to success. In this same way, we, in our own free and personal web of thoughts, are afraid of breaking with convention because we don’t want to be criticized or ostracized. Both Wordsworth and Emerson encourage conquering this fear. Wordsworth inspires poets not to conform, but instead to grow by their own consciences because “the grandeur of the Forest-tree Comes not by casting in a formal mould, But from its own divine vitality.” Similarly, Emerson says to “trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events,” (20). We must “let the groveller sip his stagnant pool” (Wordsworth) because “to be great is to be misunderstood,” (Emerson 25). Growth doesn’t come with conformity; it comes with confidence, risk, and our natural liberation of self-reliance.
The transcendentalist ideas presented in Wordsworth’s poetry are clearly reflected in Emerson’s “Self-Reliance.” In Wordsworth’s poem, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” he writes, “In vacant or in pensive mood, / They flash upon that inward eye, / Which is the bliss of solitude.” Wordsworth is saying that being alone with nature is a positive experience because we have time to reflect and ponder freely without the influence of conventions. This is the bliss of solitude. When we connect with nature, we appreciate its wealth and simplicity while we gain knowledge from the ability to think freely. This knowledge that we gain while in solitude is an important theme in Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” as well. He writes, “These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world.” When we are away from conventions we truly have time to think for ourselves and discover our inner truth. This is what Emerson is referring to when he mentions the voices we hear when we are in solitude. However, we can’t connect with our thoughts and our truth when we enter the artificial world. Both Emerson and Wordsworth comment on the importance of being in solitude with nature in order to think freely and discover our own truths.
Wordsworth and Emerson also both comment on man’s state of nature. Wordsworth believes that nature’s greatness comes from its own strength, not from a mold that was put in place for it to grow. Wordsworth translates this belief to man. In his poem, “A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School,” he writes, “And so the grandeur of the Forest-tree / Comes not by casting in a formal mould, / But from its own divine vitality.” This means that one’s own strength is a result of discovering one’s truth and growing according to that truth, rather than growing according to conventions put in place by society. These exact sentiments are reflected in Emerson’s “Self-Reliance.” Wordsworth’s influence is clearly displayed when Emerson writes, “Accept the place the divine providence has found you.” Emerson is advising his readers to accept their state of nature because it has a divine quality, which is what Wordsworth believed as well. Emerson believed man should live according to his own truth, and not change because of conventions. It is clear that Wordsworth greatly influenced Emerson’s writings.
William Wordsworth a famous poet for his sense of individuality influences the way that Ralph Waldo Emerson creates the beliefs of whatever you want to believe and to always stick to your own truth. In Emerson’s famous essays, he demonstrates how everyone has the ability to know there own truth, for example, “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of you contemporaries, the connection of events. “ (Emerson, 20) Emerson describes how you have to find yourself, and when you find yourself then you can see how everything that you do is supposed to be your truth in life. Emerson got his idea from Wordsworth poems, to write about being free and doing whatever feels is the right thing to so. Wordsworth states, “Because the lovely little flower is free, Down to its root, and, in the that freedom, bold.” (Wordsworth, 10-11) He infers that everyone, like the flower has their own plan in life to do what is set up for them to do.
Wordsworth and Emerson are two incredible writers who describe how life has a plan and a truth for everyone. In Emerson’s writings it is noticed that Wordsworth had much influence on him and his writing. In the poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by Wordsworth, he states “I wandered lonely as a cloud” and “They flash a bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills.” (Wordsworth) He describes that if you are alone you have to make the best of it and believe that it was your plan. A connection from Wordsworth’s poems to Emerson’s essays is when Emerson states, “My life is for itself and not for a spectacle.” (Emerson 22) He describes how life is meant to live for a reason and not for show to be shown to the world.
What Wordsworth captures elegantly in a poem, Emerson delves us further into in both scrutinizing detail and abstraction. In even just the three small samples of Emerson’s and Wordsworth’s work we examined (Self Reliance and Wordsworth’s two poems) the connections between central ideas of the two writers are almost palpable. When broken down to its very core idea, Self Reliance is about the call of man to be true to his own self and his own truth. Emerson says that “to believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men” is “genius” (Emerson 19). This sentiment echoes back most poignantly to Wordsworth’s A Poet! in which he nearly admonishes those poets who follow convention and dare not have an original thought; Wordsworth exclaims that “art be nature!…because [it] is free.” Wordsworth finds human value in the solitude of nature—we should take after it, that is where our value lies! Emerson goes so far to say that, yes, nature is a model of the freedom and the self-assurance we should have; but where our value lies, where our truth lies, is in our own nature.
Both authors are in many ways ‘ground breaking’—they are the poster-child advocates of counter culturalism. Because, essentially what they are asking us to do is to defy convention, defy society if it is the means by which you reach true value. And for each writer, that true value lies in the freedom of self-assurance, and its product is wealth, true wealth. Wealth is not of monetary substance, but it is of joy; both authors echo back to this: “the secret of fortune is joy in our hands” (Emerson) and Wordsworth supplying the model in I Wandered Lonely by commenting that being in “such a jocund company” had brought him “wealth.” So then, is it that what we are truly striving toward is joy, and its means is by following our own thoughts, our own truths? Wordsworth seems to find great value and capability of joy in the presence of nature, and perhaps this is because nature permits us to live with pensive abandonment.
William Wordsworth played a great role in shaping Ralph Waldo Emerson’s profession as a Transcendentalist writer and romantic. Having had such a large influence upon Emerson’s thinking as a previous and successful Transcendentalist writer himself, Wordsworth’s rational was absorbed and is very present within Emerson’s writings, like “Self-Reliance.” When comparing both Emerson's and Wordsworth's writings side by side, it is not only evident that both authors challenge similar problems but also that Emerson’s compositions complete Wordsworth's in a very complementary manner. Both passionately agree that being one’s true self “Comes not by casting in a formal mould,” (Wordsworth) but rather by creating one’s own mold and living out his or her own personal truth. “It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude,” (Emerson 23). Hence, comparing the texts, Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” and Wordsworth’s “A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School,” easily portrays the significant amount of inspiration Emerson drew from his interest in Wordsworth’s poetry and perspective of the world to form his own way of thinking and define his own truth as a Transcendentalist romantic writer.
Wordsworth’s influence on Emerson’s ideas is easily conveyed in his emphasis on individual development. They both mention how crucial it is for individuals to develop into the person they want to be, because they’re so focused on pleasing others. “Let the groveler sip his stagnant pool, in fear that else, when critics grave and cool have killed him, scorn should write his epitaph (Wordsworth).” As stated in his poem, he’s trying to convey the message that since people fear to be themselves, no individual will ever be unique in their own way. Emerson also displays a similar message when he states, “He has once acted or spoken… he is a committed person watched by the sympathy or hatred of hundreds, whose affections must now enter in account, (Emerson),” talking about an individual who must now take into consideration what people think about him. These two authors recognize how difficult it is for people to dismiss society’s opinion and how people should evolve from that.
Given that, Emerson and Wordsworth both agree on the importance of individuality. “We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents (Emerson).” He believes that individuals are afraid to be true to themselves, which is a shame, because each and every one of us brings something different into this world. Wordsworth conveys the same idea, but with a metaphor of a tree, “the lovely little flower is free down to its root, and in that freedom, bold; and so the grandeur of the Forest-tree comes not by casting in a formal mould, but from its own divine vitality (Wordsworth).” He conveys that individuals don’t fully develop if they follow the crowd and acknowledge society’s judgments.
William Wordsworth shows his impact on Emerson through his writing in Self Reliance. Similar points are made in Self Reliance; Emerson talks about people’s fear of not pleasing people around them and how we measure decisions based on the amount of people who agree or approve of it. He tells us that, “for nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure and therefore a man must know how to estimate a sour face (Emerson, 24). Similarly Wordsworth mentions how that those who allow this fear to control them cannot move forward but are stuck in a “stagnant pool, in fear that else when critics grave and tool have killed him, scorn should write his epitaph.” Both authors analyze the choices of people and how they are affected by people around them and cause people to make choices that are not their own; people try too hard to please other people out of fear and do not look within themselves to find the answer. Emerson and Wordsworth emphasize that solitude allows people’s minds to find their own truths that are not impacted by the outside world and it lead people to happiness; some knowledge can only be found within solitude while some of it is hidden within nature.
In Wordsworth’s poem, he stresses how in nature, “the lovely little flower is free down to its roots.” It is only free because it is allowed to do what it truly desires without being held back by the conventional world. The flower is not made in a mold but is allowed to grow and develop freely, that is something that can only be found in nature; this hidden knowledge in nature is something that humans are growing farther away from. Emerson likewise, mentions how nature has something that we are missing, but as the little flower is young just like a child they have their own truths that are not tied down, but unlike the flower children grow up and become tethered to other people’s approval and opinions. Emerson mentions how great people are misunderstood because they follow their own beliefs and are not greatly influenced by the conventional, outside world; humans are nature, but the people who are greatly misconceived are the ones who are living freely.
Emerson and Wordsworth were both writers who were intrigued by Transcendentalism. It it evident that Emerson was extremely inspired by Wordsworth and his work, and even used some of Wordsworth's ideas in his own essay "Self-Reliance". Both believed that being an individual was just that, an individual. Individualism was a new idea during Wordsworth's time. Most people did not really believe in this idea because it was so new, but it started a revolution. Emerson took Wordsworth's belief one-step further. He went into more detail about finding your personal truth, which is important when you are trying to find out who you are. In Wordsworth's poem A Poet! he relates freedom and individualism to nature, which Emerson also does. "Because the lovely little flower is free down to its root, and, in that freedom, bold" (Wordsworth). The little flower represents the individual finding their truth. "No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature" (Emerson 21-22). This quote from Emerson's "Self-Reliance", Emerson shows that relation to Wordsworth's poem A Poet!, by relating freedom to nature. Both of these individuals are able to find freedom and solitude through nature.
When comparing Wordsworth’s poems with Emerson’s “Self-Reliance”, it is evident that Emerson was influenced by some of Wordsworth’s ideas presented in his poems. Wordsworth, in “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, uses imagery in nature to convey that loneliness and solitude is a place of discovery rather than a place of depression and sadness. Wordsworth believes that through examining nature attentively by ourselves, we will find genuine happiness. This is apparent when he says, “in vacant or in pensive mood, they flash upon that inward eye which is the bliss of solitude” (Wordsworth, 20-22). Emerson believes that society clouds our judgment and decisions. Similar to Wordsworth ideas, Emerson believes that in order to break free from what society thinks and does, we must live and think in solitude. “These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world” (Emerson, 21). Both Emerson and Wordsworth encourage living a life of solitude in order for the individual to grow.
Apart from living a life of solitude, both Wordsworth and Emerson agree that humans do not follow their true paths because we get trapped in societies’ views and traditions. Emerson says, “for nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure” (Emerson, 24) expressing that we are afraid of being misunderstood so we do not go outside of the social norms. Likewise, Wordsworth writes, “in fear that else, when Critics grave and cool have killed him, Scorn should write his epitaph” (Wordsworth, 7-8) explaining that fear of not conforming influences our ideas and decisions.
As a Romantic poet, Wordsworth highlighted the need to break convention as well as the significance of solitude to a thinker. These two central ideas are present in later Transcendentalist Emerson’s essay, “Self-Reliance.” In his poem, “A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School”, Wordsworth claimed that a poet “must laugh by precept only, and shed tears by rule,” (Wordsworth) pointing out that poets are bounded by the precepts and rules that are set for writing poetry and expressing themselves. However, “the grandeur of the Forest-tree comes not by casting in a formal mould” in which the formal mould represents the convention. And this theme of the need for nonconformity is paralleled by Emerson as he stated “a man is to carry himself in the presence of opposition”(Emerson) even “for nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure” (Emerson).
On the path of nonconformity, it is often inevitable to walk in solitude. In addition to nonconformity, Wordsworth also influenced Emerson’s work with his concept of solitude. Wordsworth’s impact can be seen in the titles of their writings; while his poem is titled “I wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, Emerson’s essay is titled “Self-Reliance”, both emphasizing the idea of solitude and self. Emerson asserted, “we must go alone” (Emerson) on the path of seeking for the internal knowledge that wouldn’t be found otherwise. This “flash upon that inward eye”(Wordsworth) brings “the bliss of solitude” (Wordsworth) because it contains the treasure no one else can find and is unique to oneself. Solitude naturally leads one ponder, as Emerson indicated, “I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching. “ (Emerson) Moreover, for the conclusion of both writings, the two writers each emphasized that solitude and self is what people really need to be content as Wordsworth claimed that his “heart with pleasure fills” (Wordsworth) after he found “the bliss of solitude” (Wordsworth) and Emerson affirmed that “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” (Emerson).
Transcendentalism is the nineteenth century philosophical and social movement that was influenced by the preceding romanticism movement. Romantics like William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge supported the idea of the individual being more important than the community and fostered a belief in the validity of individual thought over the conventions of society. In transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance”, these romantic ideas can be spotted, proving the influence that romanticism has had on Emerson’s transcendentalist work.
William Wordsworth’s poem, “A Poet! He Hath Put His Heart to School” and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay, “Self-Reliance” both note how an institution or societal convention is detrimental to an individual’s pure insight, or truth. In Wordsworth’s poem, he claims that the tree does not grow from a “formal mould, but from its own divine vitality” (Wordsworth). The tree growing from its own energy rather than a mould is supposed to mirror how an individual should grow—not in society’s mould, but in his or her own self. A very similar statement was made in Emerson’s essay, “your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing” (Emerson 26). Emerson’s main point in his essay is that those who are true to themselves are the ones who are self-reliant amongst society. In making this point he also makes the claim that conformity is not beneficial and can be detrimental, as presented in his quote. Comparing the two examples from Wordsworth and Emerson, a conclusion is made that Wordsworth influenced Emerson’s view on an individual in society, because both authors believe that an individual who conforms to society’s conventions is a false or not self-reliant individual.
Emerson’s essay Self-Reliance discusses the theme of nonconformity, inspired by Wordsworth’s poem A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School. The poem depicts the lack of creativity in formal studies of poetry. Wordsworth uses the metaphor of a tree, mentioning that the “grandeur of the Forest-tree comes not by casting in a formal mould, but from its own divine vitality.” The tree’s freedom and greatness doesn’t come from the influence of its environment, similar to Emerson’s symbol of a child to represent nonconformity. He compares a child to a man, as a child “cumbers himself never about consequences, about interests: he gives an independent, genuine verdict.” As children are still impressionable and have not yet been “molded” to societies standards, they only contain the knowledge of their own being and only express the truths that they hold. Emerson’s reflection on the importance originality in society corresponds to themes illustrated in Wordsworth’s poem, displaying the influence of Wordsworth’s ideas on Emerson’s thinking.
Wordsworth’s idealization of solitude in his poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, is also reflected in Emerson’s essay Self-Reliance. Wordsworth’s poem expresses the knowledge accessed through solitude in the presence of nature. As the narrator of the poem begins to think about the happiness he reaps from nature, the daffodils he previously observed “flash upon that inward eye, which is the bliss of solitude.” Wordsworth conveys that occasional seclusion into the natural world can stimulate inward thoughts, not touched by human influence. Emerson elaborates on Wordsworth’s idea as he writes that “the voices which we hear in solitude… grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world.” The ability one has to create their own truth is hindered by the constant outside influence found in the presence of others. Both Wordsworth and Emerson praise the essence of solitude, for its inspiration of thoughts from within.
Both Ralph Waldo Emerson and William Wordsworth generally expose the truth in nature within every human being. They similarly indicate that the effects of convention in society influences a human’s potential to think, see, or speak a certain way. In Wordsworth’s poem of “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” he makes a point regarding to the “bliss of solitude" (Wordsworth) which reveals the impact on Emerson’s, “but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude" (Emerson, 23). Wordsworth personifies nature and finds glee and cheerfulness that brings him a rich, marvelous experience. Thus articulating that human’s “inward eye" (Wordsworth), or inner voice is the bliss of solitude, that brings him great happiness. This loneliness is positive as it is a peaceful place where one cannot be distracted, but be able to seek, be perceptive and open to nature in order to pursue one's true-self and therefore, personal truths. On the same side, Emerson also implies this point by stating that it is easier for people to live in solitude after their own, but someone who stays away from the conventions of the crowd and instead focuses on their independence alone are far greater people. Both clarify that solidarity is therefore a jubilant method of exposing the reality of their nature through deep observations.
Through many ways both Emerson and Wordsworth identify how in the conventions of nature, humans tend to get lost and become easily captured through society’s rules that becomes the heart of their belief by confining to it. Because of this tendency, people become less of themselves, thus showing that the concept of individuality within a person’s “inward eye" (Wordsworth) can be pleasantly and truthfully found with the help of peaceful solitude.
It is very obvious that William Wordsworth is influenced by Ralph Emerson’s Self-Reliance. They both have the same idea that being alone is not a negative thing; actually being alone should be positive thing, since it also means be with your true self and close to nature. Just like what Emerson states: “These are the voices that we need heard in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter to the world” (Emerson 21). In Wordsworth’s poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, he has the similar idea about solitude: “They flash upon that inward eye, which is the bliss of solitude” (Wordsworth 21-22). When we are in solitude, we are not influenced by the outside word, but only your nature.
Emerson and Wordsworth both think that in solitude, people realize the beauty of our nature, and find out our true self, which is without convention. In Self-reliance, Emerson says: “He cannot be happy and strong until he too loves with nature in the present, above time” (Emerson 26) Wordsworth agree with Emerson in his poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, “I wander lonely as a cloud, that floats on high o’er vales and hills”. (Wordsworth 1-2) They both agree that nature is positive and also brings happy. Moreover, besides the attitude of solitude and nature, Emerson and Wordsworth even have the same idea that the world is full of critics. Emerson describes the world as “For nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure. And therefore a man must know how to estimate a sour face,” (Emerson 24). Similar to Emerson, in the poem A Poet! He Hath Put is Heart to School, Wordsworth says “In fear that else, when Critics grave and cool/ Have killed him, Scorn should write his epitaph.” (Wordsworth 7-8) These sentences are about the issue that people always judged by others so become afraid to have their unique thoughts, which others might not agree with. Emerson and Wordsworth know that the world will bring convention, which will let people lose their self. Therefore, they call on people to be confident and follow their hearts, “rust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events” (Emerson 20); Wordsworth states “And so the grandeur of the Forest-tree/ Comes not by casting in a formal would/ But from its own divine vitality” (Wordsworth 11-13). Your heart will let you to self-reliance.
William Wordsworth was one of the significant influences on Emerson’s ideas, and some evidence is shown in Wordsworth’s poems, A Poet! He Hath Put His Heart to School and I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud. Both Wordsworth and Emerson use metaphors about the purity of things that are not easily touched by convention. Wordsworth uses the metaphor of a flower, natural and free, comparing it to a person who is one with nature. Similarly, Emerson uses a metaphor of a child, with an open mind and full of uniqueness. They both convey that being natural and untouched by convention is lovely. There is evidence that Emerson received inspiration from Wordsworth because of their similar ideas about society’s discomfort with nonconformity. Emerson explains, “for nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure.” Wordsworth has a comparable claim that “when critics grave and cool have killed him, scorn should write his epitaph.” Wordsworth is explaining that imitation is suicide and Emerson believes that there are comfortable social advantages to conformity because people naturally seek the affection and approval of others. Both authors admit that a natural self can only be found when being alone. Wordsworth writes that, “[the most natural self] comes not from casting in a formal mould, but from its own divine vitality.” He believes that breaking away form the convention is a way to reach one’s “own vitality”. Emerson also shows his similar ideas about the importance of solitude when he states, “we must go alone”. Both realize that discovering nature and the natural self in solitude is necessary.
Philosopher William Wordsworth speaks in his poems, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” and “A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School,” of a realization of the self and its inherent connection with nature. Profoundly influenced by this thought, Ralph Waldo Emerson continues this analysis to another degree by inferring the need for humanity to develop confidence and a self-reliant perspective, fostering a counter-cultural way of thought. Illustrating the daffodils “fluttering and dancing in the breeze,” Wordsworth shows how nature acts freely and of its own accord, not influenced by other variables around it. In a similar manner, Emerson reveals how in a “forced smile…the muscles, not spontaneously moved, but moved by a low usurping willfulness, grow tight about the outline of the face with the most disagreeable sensation.” He implies that false actions such as these essentially go against the natural course of nature as a person is forcing a strained look upon his or her face. In turn, as humanity is a part of nature, we should imitate a similar mentality of the golden flowers: one of independence and tranquility. The life of the flower is beautiful and innocent, and the philosophers believed in humanity’s connection with nature and its capacity to live like the flower.
The thinkers again share a similar point of view concerning the act of conforming to another’s opinions. Wordsworth depicts that when we conceal our ideas with the fear of being wrong, and “When Critics grave and cool have killed him, Scorn should write his epitaph.” Conformity is negatively portrayed throughout his writing as against nature because people are depending upon another and not upon themselves. Likewise, Emerson expresses the frustration and crushing sensation when we are “forced to take with shame our own opinion from another.” In response, Emerson stresses the importance of valuing ourselves with a favorable self-opinion so we will be able to see the worth of our own judgments. The messages that the scholars leave behind is significant for everyone as they inspire all to embrace the blissful essence of nature and live unencumbered by confining forces.
The ideals of solitude, freedom, and an individuals unity with nature that which Woodsworth presented in his poems “A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School” and “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” can be seen as an influencing factor of Emerson’s ideals in “Self-Reliance”. In “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, Woodsworth states, “They flash upon that inward eye which is the bliss of solitude”. Here he is exemplifying solitude as a positive thing and thus does Emerson, “These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world” (21). Once we enter the world we focus more on trying to “fit in” to convention and we lose sight of our Truth and the things we, ourselves, believe in. The inward eye Woodsworth talks about is the same as the voices Emerson references. As we become more connected with our inward eye and the voices we experience in solitude we are allowed to hear OUR voice and see through OUR eyes instead of CONVENTION’S voice and CONVENTION’S eyes.
The ideals of solitude, freedom, and an individuals unity with nature that which Woodsworth presented in his poems “A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School” and “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” can be seen as an influencing factor of Emerson’s ideals in “Self-Reliance”. In “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, Woodsworth states, “They flash upon that inward eye which is the bliss of solitude”. Here he is exemplifying solitude as a positive thing and thus does Emerson, “These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world” (21). Once we enter the world we focus more on trying to “fit in” to convention and we lose sight of our Truth and the things we, ourselves, believe in. The inward eye Woodsworth talks about is the same as the voices Emerson references. As we become more connected with our inward eye and the voices we experience in solitude we are allowed to hear OUR voice and see through OUR eyes instead of CONVENTION’S voice and CONVENTION’S eyes.
Woodsworth expresses the idea the freedom needed to find your Truth and be yourself comes not by casting in a formal mould, but from its own divine vitality”. In order to obtain that level of freeness you must break from conforming yourself to convention and learn to trust yourself and let in the voices of solitude even amidst the crowd of convention- that is when you are able to bloom in your meaning, purpose, and Truth. When you attach yourself and depend on society you are fed with not your own thoughts but the conventional thoughts society feeds you and therefore you bury the parts of you that would not be “accepted” by convention or as Emerson says, “We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea each of us represents”. Both Wordsworth and Emerson discuss an individuals need to put into action their own divine vitality instead of pushing it aside as it wouldn’t nurture your growth as an individual but instead keeps you from growing into yourself because you are bound into this relationship with convention and are never able possess the freedom needed to become a part of nature instead of an observer of nature.
Wordsworth's influence on Emerson's writing can be found in the way that they both focus on personal gain and following one's own true path. Both of these authors are from the Romantic era, and in their writings can be found a profound focus on the individual and the individual's wants, needs and desires. When Wordsworth says "Let the groveler sip his stagnant pool, in fear that else, when critics grave and cool have killed him, scorn should write his epitaph" (W), he is showing that it is important for the individual to not follow convention and for the individual to discover himself in the midst of conventional society. This same notion is seen when Emerson says "these are voices which we hear in solitude, but grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world” (E). What Emerson is getting at is that the individual's own thoughts and desires, while extremely audible in public, are hindered and shushed by convention and society when the individual steps outside the door of his own little world.
While Wordsworth shares his ideas through poetry, Emerson writes a much longer essay that delves deeper into what it actually means to go against conventional society. Both philosophers blatantly state that when the individual is forced to follow convention, it is noticeable, as Emerson states "forced smile…the muscles, not spontaneously moved, but moved by a low usurping willfulness, grow tight about the outline of the face with the most disagreeable sensation” (E) and Wordsworth discusses in his poem, I Wandered Lonely as A Cloud, how nature itself moves freely, without the hindrance of convention. Overall, both philosophers make the point in their work to say that the individual will only be truly happy if he or she follows his or her own desires and refuses to follow the ideals of contemporary society just because it is the "norm" to do so.
Ralph Waldo Emerson and William Wordsworth share transcendentalist ideas so parallel that there is no doubt that Wordsworth had an influence on Emerson. Both authors are very similar in their emphasize on nonconformity and nature. In Emerson’s Self-Reliance and Other Essays, he states “The objection to conforming to usages that have become dead to you… blurs the impression of your character” (Emerson 23). Similarly, Wordsworth states in “A Poet! He Hath Put his Hand to School,” “must laugh--by precet only, and shed tears by rule” (Wordsworth). Wordsworth refers to the rules to cry and laugh as the defining lines for conventional society. Wordsworth opens his poem with the theme of a forced way of writing in order to emphasize the strictness of the world around him. If we conform to society, we are not laughing and crying as we please but rather we become like a parrot in a cage in which we are told what to say and do. This is where Emerson emphasizes that conforming to society, “blurs your character.” Both of these transcendentalist thinkers believe that if we let ourselves surrender to society, we ruin the inner voice we have. We become less self-reliant and more of a people pleaser. Yet, Emerson states that “imitation is suicide” (Emerson 20) but that “for nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure.” (Emerson 24). This is where I think nature comes in to play. Nature is very balanced and always changing. We may imitate to conform or imitate to please our self interest. Whatever the reason, Emerson and Wordsworth believe we must find more of a balance of things.
This balance is not easily attained. Through the references to nature by both Wordsworth and Emerson, we see that our balance is changing. Wordsworth states “And so the grandeur of the Forest-tree comes not by casting in a formal mould, but from its own vitality.” This allows us to see that the true beauty is not the conventional mould but the vitality and life behind each individual person. Therefore by not conforming, we are able to live out our inner truth and inner vitality. Similarly, Emerson states “Society is a wave. The wave moves onward” (Emerson 37). This symbolism of society as a wave is important. It shows that society is only going in one direction and we have a choice: to conform or not to conform. Emerson and Wordsworth both believe that we must not conform so that we can find that inner vitality like the one found in nature.
Emerson say’s “the power which resides in him is new nature”, then Wordsworth says, “ what wealth the show to me had brought” there is a relation where Emerson thinking about us being pure nature comes from Wordsworth about us going to nature and identify ourselves without, even thought there is differences of the meaning about us and nature, between those though there is connection where both thinkers are right and if we put those thoughts together it makes sense, As Emerson say to find ourselves inside because we are nature, since we are as nature as the nature outside of us, we identify with the worlds nature, that helps us to find ourselves inside of us when we connect to nature.
Emerson say’s “ The civilized man is supported on crutches, but lacks so much support of muscle, then in the other hand we have Wordsworth that say’s “nor dares to move unpropped upon the staff which art hath lodged within his hand. The connection between both thinkers is that even thought you the support of other people, at then end you still have to stand for yourself, with your own strength.
William Wordsworth has enormous influence on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s literature, especially through their ideas of inherent goodness of human nature. Wordsworth’s view about individuality and how people lose themselves in the society has been reflected in Emerson’s Self-Reliance considerably. In Wordsworth’s poem, “A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School”, he points out that poets easily forgo their own art for the sake of authority’s comments and ideas. Poets are servile to the “school” (Wordsworth), because they are afraid of the discontent and criticism from the society. They choose convention, because they don’t want to “laugh by precept” and “shed tears by rules”(Wordsworth). The society whips people with its unhappiness, and therefore, kills people’s inner deep thoughts. In Self-Reliance, Emerson reveals that “most men have bound their eyes with one or another handkerchief, and attached themselves to some one of these communities of opinion” (Emerson, 23). They do everything to cater to the rules of society, so they won’t be noticed by other people. Both Wordsworth and Emerson criticize the people who blindly follow other’s path. “Their truth is not quite true” because it is not their own voices (Emerson). People mistakenly borrow other ideas and impose others’ ideas on their own minds. These people cannot develop, which is pointed out by Wordsworth from the line “the groveller sip his stagnant pool”(Wordsworth).
Aside from criticism of the darkness and chaos of the majority, Wordsworth and Emerson shares the similar ideas about the sweetness of independence. Emerson used child as metaphor, indicating that a human nature should be “unaffected, unbiased, unbribable, unaffrighted” like a child (Emerson, 21). Child-like nonconformity is pure and very direct, which lead people to see their real self and explore their own truth. In Wordsworth’s poem, he uses “flower” as metaphor to compare the natural expressed ideas. The “root” is people’s inner self; the fruit of our own nature is vivid and divine. They both extol the natural-formed voices. On the other hand, they both state the solitude is necessary for individuality. In Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, he compares “cloud” to the thinker, who is in a state of peace and undistracted, and lonely. On the way to the truth, individuals are all alone to explore our own explanation of the world. “There are the voice which we hear in solitude”, Emerson explained (Emerson, 21). Our own opinions can only be clear in solitude.
Wordsworth had influenced Emerson deeply as a thinker. As he said he “wandered lonely as a cloud,” (Wordsworth) Wordsworth was a transcendentalist who thinks that the virtue of life is to be alone. He describes loneliness as solitude of peace and undistracted state. Being “lonely as a cloud” seems the superiority on the first paragraph of the poem; “wandering lonely as a cloud,” the narrator is over the crowd, able to see above them in one scene. Emerson, influenced by this idea, contends that “we must go alone” (Emerson). Both insist that the truth is found only in solitude. They value the solitude as the virtue to retrieve the own truth.
Both Wordsworth and Emerson value the state of nature by comparing it to a flower and infancy respectively. State of nature is the state of loneliness, solitude, undistracted, and nonconformity. “Flower is free down to its root, and, in that freedom, bold” (Wordsworth). Similarly, “infancy conforms to nobody” (Emerson). Flower and infancy symbolize the state of nature in which the inner voice is heard without any restraint of the society. Boldness of the flower and the nonconformity of the child are the self-reliance to acquire the truth. Influenced by Wordsworth’s idea demonstrated through the flower metaphor, Emerson builds his own comparison of state of nature to the infancy.
By Emerson’s self-reliance and Wordsworth’s poems, it can be clearly showed that Emerson is influenced by Wordsworth. Wordsworth writes “I wandered lonely as a cloud, that floats on high o’er vales and hills…”, this is the first line of his poem and also the title. Usually, the word “lonely” gives a sad hint, but the feeling of the poem when reading it does not give a sad feeling but a surprise and light feeling. He makes “lonely” a good thing and that the golden daffodils are enjoying the moment of solitude and are able to enjoy and listen to the nature without any distractions. Towards the end of the poem, Wordsworth’s “inward eyes” is the inner voice, if we are not in solitude but on the couch, we cannot connect ourselves to Nature. Emerson also showed this “These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world”, When we are lonely, enjoying the solitude, we can hear the voice that we usually don’t, because that is the only time that we can talk to ourselves without any outside distractions. As we leave the moment of solitude, we will be influenced by society because we want to be accepted and so we lose what we hear when we are alone.
Also, Wordsworth writes, “How does the Meadow-flower its bloom unfold? Because the lovely little flower is free”. The little flowers are free because they are blooming in their own nature and not following by the rules. They can grow with how they like and that they do not need to be constrained. Just as what Emerson states, “Their (children) mind being whole, their eye is as yet unconquered, and when we look in their faces, we are disconcerted. (Emerson 20)” Children do not fully understand the world yet and that their mind are not influenced by the society; they believe what they believe. Children are the most innocent people; they have no doubt to what they think and that it is actually easier for them to stay in their solitude. Children are too young to understand what the society do to the people; it judges people and whips with displeasure that makes people afraid of thinking in their own way, but this does not happen to the children, because they are in their purest stage in life that they do not need to care about what others think. These two examples really showed that Emerson is influenced by Wordsworth ideas because what he writes includes part of Wordsworth’s idea.
Comparing with the literatures between William Wordsworth and Ralph Waldo Emerson, Wordsworth makes a big influence on the idea of the nature of truth and the sense of individuality towards Emerson. Through out William Wordsworth’s poems, he associates the “mind of man” with divinity as that which supersedes Nature, “Because the lovely little flower is free, Down to its root, and, in that freedom, bold” (Wordsworth, 10-11). From his poem, he describes how to live in your own truth but not others. Everyone live for themselves with their own plan and their own truth. Nature plays as important role in Emerson’s work, and he was affected on the idea of individualism from Wordsworth. Based on his idea, Emerson develops the beliefs of the turn from nature. In Emerson’s famous essay “Self-Reliance” reveals that nature is ruled by a natural low of flourishing, which directs the natural object to its appropriately ordered end. “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of you contemporaries, the connection of events” (Emerson, 20) Man is a natural object, and therefore has within him a natural inclination or impulse toward his own perfection.
However, pursuing the idea of independence is often inevitable to relate with the word of “solitude”. We can find “solitude” from both the title “I wandered Lovely as a Cloud” of the poem by Wordsworth and “Self-Reliance” by Emerson. As Emerson says, “We must go alone” (Emerson). To emphasize the idea of solitude and self, “These are the voices that we heard in solitude, but they grow taint and inaudible as we enter into the world” (Emerson, 22).
Wordsworth, a Romanticist, and Emerson, a Transcendentalist, share common beliefs regarding individuality. This is due to the fact that Wordsworth himself influenced Emerson’s thoughts. The traces of inspiration can be observed in comparison of the two men’s works—Emerson’s Self-Reliance and Wordworth’s multitude of poems. Both writers place emphasis on the importance of individuality, particularly learning to discern one’s own thoughts and voice. Emerson says, “learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within” (19) and similarly Wordsworth talks about the, “flash upon the inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude”. Emerson pulls from Wordsworth the idea that individuality is a “flash” or a “gleam”, that is therefore enlightening and euphoric.
Although Wordsworth and Emerson regard individuality as holding high importance, both are aware of the reasons why people often do not stick to their individuality and instead conform. Yet they still do not support this. Wordsworth says, “let the groveller sip his stagnant pool, In fear that else, when Critics grave and cool, Have killed him”. He demonstrates that the reason why grovelers grovel is because they wish for acceptance and reinforcement by others, and fear criticism. Yet to grovel has a bad connotation, and the groveller becomes “stagnant” or static in life—his seeking out of reinforcement from others kills him. Similarly, Emerson says that “for nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure” (24), but, “imitation is suicide” (20). It very much the same idea that although the world may look at one with scorn for their lack of conformity, imitation is suicide because one then loses their true self. It is undoubted that Wordsworth had a great influence on Emerson’s thoughts and writings.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was heavily influenced by William Wordsworth ideas and thoughts, as shown through the focus on both of their works on the idea of individualism and non conformity. Wordsworth asks in A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School, the question of how “the Meadow-flower its bloom unfold?” (Wordsworth). He questions why this flower can be so independent by itself, and what causes it to be like that. Emerson embraces Wordsworth’s ideas into his own text by comparing that flower to a child. As Wordsworth puts it, “the lovely little flower is free, down to its root, and in that freedom, bold” (Wordsworth), and so is the child as Emerson describes a child as a being living in “nonchalance” (Emerson) and not caring to the society it lives within because it ultimately doesn’t comprehend the intricacies of what conformity is. In other words, “infancy conforms to nobody” (Emerson). A child is free and bold like that flower, because of it’s age and nonchalance of the discomforts it gives to mature adults.
This idea of nonconformity is also evident when Wordsworth talks about how poets and writers often conform to what critics want to hear, which evidently then “Kill[s] him” (Wordsworth). This can be paralleled to Emerson stating that “imitation is suicide” as we follow the convention of society. “There are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world” (Emerson), and out of that solitude rings the voices of the conformist, and from that, we lose that “bliss of solitude” that “my heart with pleasure fills” (Wordsworth). As a transcendentalist thinker, Emerson takes much of his thoughts from romantics such as William Wordsworth to build on opinion. Both authors are particularly focused on the idea of how solitude and innocence is a beautiful thing that shields from the conformists, and as a result, both writings are seen to be cause and effect of one another.
Wordsworths ideals about truth are exhibited through his poems, A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School, and, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud. Through our study of Emerson, it is clear that Emerson’s writing is inspired by Wordsworth’s. Wordsworth’s poems exhibit poetically describe the issues of dependence on society, natural experiences, solitude, and freedom. Emerson’s ideals expressed through Self-Reliance take the ideas of Wordsworth and expand on them. Emerson manages to go more in depth about the topics states above.
In Emerson’s Self-Reliance, he writes about society and how it, “[teaches] us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good humored inflexibility” (Emerson 20). Through this quote, Emerson is addressing the issue of society and how it has so much control over how people act. In Wordsworth's A Poet!, he states that we, “must laugh by precept only, and shed tears by rule.” (Wordsworth) In both quotes, the same issue is presented—society controls our feelings through convention. Emerson also constantly talks about solitude and how sometimes, “we must go alone” in order to be able to hear our own truths. Wordsworth’s I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud is all about solitude and how it is beneficial if one is to truly be free. Both men had a strong belief in freedom through nature, and it is clear—because Wordsworth came first—that Emerson must have studied Wordsworth so that he could later expand on his ideals and make them into his own truth.
William Wordsworth’s poetry definitely influenced Ralph Emerson in the middle of the nineteenth century. Emerson built his philosophy off of Wordsworth because both shared the same beliefs. Emerson believed people are constantly lost in society due to the conventional surroundings and influences. Wordsworth shares this believe in his poem, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, by expressing that happiness is found in solitude because of nature. Both transcendentalists believe in the importance of the individual and the act of non-conforming to society. As a result of this, people seek other’s approval while losing the ultimate truth along the way. Emerson and Wordsworth understand the significance of uncovering the peace, solitude, and own divine vitality in nature.
Individuality can be seen in a child. Both Emerson and Wordsworth use a child to illustrate the freedom that they carry in society. Wordsworth demonstrates a worthiness of a child in the poem, A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School. A child is bold, and ultimately exhibits the freedom from convention. A child does not grow from imitation because “imitation creates suicide” (Emerson). “How does the Meadow-flower its bloom unfold? Because the lovely little flower is free” (Wordsworth). Freedom and individuality can be found in a child but essentially in nature. Wordsmith was an influential figure in the development of Emerson’s beliefs. Both transcendentalists share the belief that nature will forever save us from the convention present in society.
William Wordsworth, a romanticist poet, had a large influence on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s transcendentalist ideals. In the poem, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, Wordsworth is closely observing nature as he becomes separated from the conventional world. He dwells upon the “bliss of solitude (Wordsworth Line 22)” that nature brings him. Transcendentalism believes that there is a certain knowledge that can only be obtained by gazing at nature. Towards the end of the poem, Wordsworth is stocked with that knowledge and he is fulfilled. Emerson agrees with this concept and incorporates it into his Self Reliance essay. Emerson states that we hear our inner voice in solitude, but as we enter the conventional world, “they grow faint and inaudible (Emerson 21).” Both poets realize that there is a certain power found in nature and until it is attained, we are ignorant and only half a human being. Wordsworth explains, in his poem entitled A Poet! He Hath put his Heart to School, that society has “killed him, scorn should write his epitaph (Wordsworth Line 8)” and this ideal is shown also through Emerson’s Self Reliance because “For nonconformity the world whips you with it’s displeasure (Emerson 24).” In society, our voice is diminished by conventions, but in nature, our truth is found and free.
After reading and analyzing William Wordsworth’s poems, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud and A Poet! He Hath Put His Heart to School, it was very apparent that those two works inspired Emerson. These two writers share many of the same ideas and truths, which are displayed throughout their works. William Wordsworth wrote, “How does the meadow-flower its bloom unfold? Because the lovely little flower is free down to its root, and, in that freedom, bold…(Wordsworth, lines 9, 10, 11)” This quote connects back to the child metaphor that Emerson writes about in Self-Reliance, stating that, “infancy conforms to nobody (Emerson 22).” Children are not aware of society’s pressures, therefore they are not afraid of others opinions and don’t strive to please people. As a result, they have no fear to state their own truths and beliefs. Just like the flower, this gives them the opportunity to grow and be free, without worrying about saying the right thing.
Those that conform to convention and do not have genuine truths are holding themselves back from advancement and prosperity and weakening their inner voice. When does not formulate their own beliefs and truths, the mind erodes. One has to go through the process in order to reach their truth so that the inner voice is challenged and cultivated. There is a certain kind of knowledge that can only be obtained by looking at nature, which many individuals are ignorant of. In order to discover this deeper knowledge, one has to abandon convention and find comfort in the unexplored parts of nature
Wordsworth and Emerson share similar principles in their writing regarding individuality and how the full potential of the individual is reached. These principles instruct the reader on how to achieve individual fulfillment. Emerson and Wordsworth both elaborate how individuality is vital and that the individual’s truth can be realized by following the instincts of oneself. Following ones instincts is more easily done when away from society and convention, in solitude.
The freedom in solitude is illustrated by both Emerson and Wordsworth: the daffodils “fluttering and dancing in the breeze,” Wordsworth shows how nature acts freely and of its own accord, not influenced by other variables around it. Similarly, Emerson writes that in a “forced smile…the muscles, not spontaneously moved, but moved by a low usurping willfulness, grow tight about the outline of the face with the most disagreeable sensation.” Both employ the use of nature or natural movement to illustrate their ideas, which is supported by their Transcendentalist ideals. They also both use the idea of a divine force inside every individual: Wordsworth writes “comes not by casting in a formal mould, but from its own divine vitality” and Emerson says “accept the place the divine providence has found you.”
Both Emerson and Wordsworth were bold and sometimes-controversial thinkers and authors. They were willing to share their thoughts with the public in hope of inspiring others, this is what happened with Emerson, who got many ideas from the writings of Wordsworth. Through reading both Emerson’s and Wordsworth’s writings, it is evident that both writers share similar mindsets. It is also clear that Emerson gained insight and a point of view from Wordsworth’s writings. Emerson took Wordsworth’s innovative and daring ideas, and turned them into his essay, Self Reliance.
One idea that they both share is the idea of ones, “own divine vitality” (Wordsworth). Both authors express the concept that every living is divine, and it should not be afraid or ashamed of the “divine idea which each of us represents” (Emerson). Both authors expressed that to find one’s divine vitality, or to accept oneself in nature one must be alone. They also encouraged individualism, and even mentioned how society does not accept irregularity, “for unconformity the world whips you with its displeasure” (Emerson), but install the idea that nature is better than convention.
William Wordsworth and Ralph Waldo Emmerson, two accomplished transcendentalist thinkers, exemplify similar language and ideas in some of their 19th century work. Emmerson presumably influenced the train of thought as expressed by Wordsworth. In Emmerson’s Self Reliance and Wordsworth’s I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud both use the similar image of nature to convey their perspective on individuality and the genuine self. In Emmerson’s work, he introduces his text with a quote from Epilogue to Beaumont…, in it, the central theme has to do with one’s genuine self being as free and as pure as nature. The kind of vocabulary used to depict such an image includes: star, light, angels, and shadows. These words are specifically chosen to convey a sense of light, goodness, and sincerity, one that cannot be imitate or mimicked—similar to one’s true self. Similarly, Wordsworth seems to take this idea of nature and pure-life and transcribes it into the central theme of a poem. In I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, he uses the same ‘stars’ and similarly describes light with words such as ‘flash’ ‘sparkling’ and ‘twinkle’. Wordsworth seems to be in conversation with Emmerson because his text presumably responds and elaborates on the nature-esc feel that Emmerson sought to portray. Both philosophers are successful in this approach because they both convey what it means to be truly self reliant, being as close to nature as you can. Not ‘close’ as in proximity, but being as free and natural as possible, avoiding all the inauthentic external voices that try to curb you from being who you truly are: self reliant.
William Wordsworth greatly influenced Ralph Emerson. With his poem, "A Poet!," he showed his readers that it is better to ignore the judgment of other people so they do not influence your decisions. This belief is expressed by Emerson, and is one of the key components of being a truly self-reliant person. Wordsworth also expressed the importance of not following convention. Emerson agreed with this belief and explored it in "Self-Reliance."
"In fear that else, when Critics grave and cool have killed him, Scorn should write his epitaph" (Wordsworth). Wordsworth is explaining how people live in constant fear of what other people will think. He wants his readers to understand that this way of living life does not follow "The Art of Nature." Emerson takes Wordsworth's advice and says, "What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think" (Emerson). Emerson really admires what Wordsworth has to say, and, as a result, uses some of his ideas and opinions in his explanation to be a self-reliant person.
William Wordsworth, a Romantic poet, greatly influenced countless transcendentalists - people who believe that divinity pervades all nature and humanity. Wordsworth’s influence on transcendentalist poets is clearly seen within the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson, specifically in his essay, “Self-Reliance”. Throughout his essay, Emerson’s view on solitude parallels and builds off of Wordsworth’s positive attitude towards solitude in his poem, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”. Loneliness is not considered a negative thing, as it is usually perceived to be in society, within Emerson and Wordsworth’s pieces. Usually loneliness has a negative connotation but, in Wordsworth’s poem, he describes solitude with the word “bliss” - perfect happiness. One definition of the verb “bliss” is to be oblivious of everything else around you. This thought is carried on within Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” when he states, “but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude” (Emerson 23). Once again, “solitude” is described with a pleasurable connotation when Emerson uses the word “sweet” to communicate his perspective of solitude. The idea of the word bliss meaning being oblivious of one’s surroundings is continued into Emerson’s work when he firmly states, “speak what you think now in hard words” (Emerson 24), suggesting confidence in one’s beliefs. Both Wordsworth and Emerson strongly express their opinions that solitude is a positive thing and that one must be confident in themselves to live in solitude.
Another aspect of both Wordsworth and Emerson’s work is the fact that Emerson builds off of Wordsworth discussion of conformity. In another of Wordsworth’s famous poems, “A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School”, Wordsworth expresses his opinions on conformity when he communicates, “in fear that else, when Critics grave and cool have killed him, scorn should write his epitaph”. Wordsworth is discussing how disgusted he is with a poet who sticks to the “rules and regulations” of poetry and its construction just to be accepted by his critics. Wordsworth expresses that restriction of poetry is conformity, and that conformity kills individuality and imagination. He uses the word “killed” quite literally to convey this message. Emerson, clearly influenced by Wordsworth, argues that conformity kills your “genuine actions” (Emerson 25) and intentions. Emerson strongly states, “your conformity explains nothing” (Emerson 25). This idea is a continuation of Wordsworth’s opinions because he too communicates that when one conforms, one’s original intentions and thoughts become nonexistent and does not allow any sense of individuality.
William Wordsworth’s ideals expressed in his poems “A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School” and “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” had an evident influence on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s work, “Self-Reliance.” Though Wordsworth was a romantic poet, the themes of solitude and nature found in his work influenced the transcendentalist Emerson, as his work also embodied the very similar themes of solitude and nature. “The forest-tree comes not by casting in a formal mould, But its own divine vitality” (Wordsworth, “A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School”) can be paralleled with Emerson’s “Your genuine action will explain itself… Your conformity explains nothing” (Emerson, 25). Both focus on individuality, but more specifically how individuality comes from nonconformity. The mention of a forest-tree follows Wordsworth’s the pattern of the parts of his poem: first starting with the poet, then art, and finally nature. Nature, in essence, is meant to symbolize the human being - a human being whose inward eye is opened up, not clouded by convention, or “casted in a formal mould” (Wordsworth). By not conforming to the infamous mould, vitality and a force that is found within oneself can be discovered and thus used to fulfill the truths of the individual. In the same way, Emerson’s work reveals that conformity only leads to the desire of conventional affirmation that never seems to be enough and thus the loss of one’s essential truths.
Nature in both Wordsworth and Emerson’s work, is a major theme. With the “little flower” in Wordsworth and the “little child” in Emerson, these two symbols seem to represent the freedom that is not laced with convention, and the inward vitality that allows them to grow. However, it is easier said than done. Wordsworth’s ideals pose questions for our technological society today that deal with the possible blindness one who doesn’t gaze at nature might have. With this blindness, one cannot open the inward eye that allows the discovery for one’s truths. Emerson’s ideals essentially pose the same questions, but the questions for his ideals are more developed. These questions include the fact that sometimes we don’t even hear our own voice, or the fact that we’re scared of the unknown because no one else has followed our same path. Through these examples and many more, it is obvious that Wordsworth’s thinking and ideals regarding how to live human life provide a foundation for Emerson’s own ideals and work.
One of Emerson’s main ideas in his essay on philosophy, Self-Reliance, is that man should not be fixed in his ways, but open to change and new ideas. He believes that man needs to listen to his inner voice only to become truly self-reliant and not be confined by society’s rules and routine. These same ideas are also reflected through Wordsworth’s poems, A Poet! He has Put his Heart to School and I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.
Emerson claims “the other terror that scares us from self-trust is our consistency” (Emerson 24). Routine is a result of rules of society. People want to be normal and fit in, so they fall into a common rut of motions that society deems as acceptable, like having a steady job, going to church every Sunday, etc. When people fall into routine they are judged by their “past acts” (Emerson 24). As a result, people lose their inner voices and focus on how they are received by others based off of how they were perceived in the past. Losing sight of the inner voice and self-reliance can also translate in losing creativity and the ability to have flickers of genius. Wordsworth comments on the loss of creativity to set ways when he writes about school, another fixed activity. Poets, known for their unique and freeing takes on life, have the creativity beat out of them in school until their ideas are supported by the immovable “staff” (A Poet) and come from the “stagnant pool” (A Poet). These poets lose their inner voice during school, which teaches techniques, styles, and devices that impose limits just as the individual loses his or her inner voice to the constraints of society. Both writers come to similar conclusions on how to fix the problem—one must take inspiration from nature and be free. Wordsworth concludes that a poet needs to be free like a “lovely little flower” (A Poet) that forms “its own divine vitality” (A Poet) and also dance “with the daffodils” (I Wandered). Wordsworth draws lessons from nature and the independent flower, which grows and moves on its own, independent from the surrounding plants and elements. It grows its own roots and takes its own form. Emerson takes inspiration from the child and its pure, fearless, and unadulterated thoughts. Since Emerson is a transcendentalist and believes that humans are apart of nature, relying on the child as an example is by definition an example of nature. He also challenges people to “speak what you think now in hard words, and tomorrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day” (Emerson 24). Speak fearlessly like the child and live freely like the flower and life will no longer be static, but dynamic, and free up the inner voice.
The transcendentalists, highly influenced by the Romantics of the 19th century, embrace and reinforce ideas that the world disapproves of nonconformity and there is freedom of self in nature. 19th century romanticist, William Wordsworth, in his poem “A Poet! He Hath Put his Hand to School” writes “Thy Art be Nature; the live current quaff, and le the groveler sip, his stagnant pool, In fear that else, when Critics grave and cool have killed him, scorn should write his epigraph” (Wordsworth). Wordsworth reveals that true art is often altered and restricted in its beauty because the artist conforms to the beliefs of the critics and society. Similarly, Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Transcendentalist, argues “for nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure.” (Emerson 24). Emerson discuses the influence of society on art and self as he reveals that nonconformity is unacceptable in society and for that reason we alter our own identities, and similarly in Wordsworth’s idea that critics in society place restrictions on potential.
Both Wordsworth and Emerson highlight the importance of discovering and understanding one self in nature. In his poem “I wandered Lonely as a Cloud” Wordsworth “my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils” (Wordsworth). In the last stanza of this poem Wordsworth discusses how he, a poet can do more than just observe nature, but be one with the daffodils and one with himself. Wordsworth also writes in “A Poet! He Hath Put his Hand to School”, “How does the Meadow-flower its bloom unfold? Because the lovely little flower is free” revealing that in nature a blooming flower can be free and grow into itself (Wordsworth). Likewise, Emerson argues that “infancy conforms to nobody” (Emerson 26). Both Emerson and Wordsworth thus reveal that not only in a state of nature can freedom and one self be found, but also in the purity of infancy there is no conformity and one self can exist.
The ideas of William Wordsworth expressed in his poems “A Poet He Hath Put his Heart to School” and I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” greatly influenced the transcendentalist Ralph Emerson. The themes of conformity and nature are seen in Wordsworth poems as they are also seen in the writings of Emerson. The first parallel I see between the two bodies of work pertains to the idea of conformity. Wordsworth exclaims, “And so the grandeur of the Forest-tree Comes not by casting in a formal mold, But from its own divine vitality” (Wordsworth, 12-14). In comparison to Emerson, that line parallels “Not for nothing one face, one character, one fact, makes much impression on him, and another none”(Emerson, 20). The common idea between these two lines is the idea of conformity. Wordsworth states that the tree did not reach its height and its social state from a family member before it but reached and gained its success all by itself. The tree did not simply follow the rules and ways of society to achieve his success, he did it his own way, not by casting a formal mold but from its own divine vitality. This is quite similar to the message being expressed in Emerson’s work. When talking about a man, Emerson states that nothing will affect that man; not a face, not a character, nothing. This expresses the idea of conformity as well. The man that Emerson is talking about lives the life he wants to live based on the decisions he himself makes, not by the decisions that society around him makes. The idea of conformity is expressed in Wordsworth’s poems and does influence the work of Emerson as conformity is expressed in his work as well.
Another theme expressed in both Wordsworth and Emerson is that of nature pertaining to the “little flower”(Wordsworth) and the “little child” (Emerson). Those two components of nature embodies the idea of freedom, freedom of conformity. When one is young, or little in this case, he or she is innocent and not affected by conformity because he or she is too little to partake in that social aspect of life, so, they are free from conformity. “Society whips us with its displeasure” (Emerson), but the young children in society have the pleasure of not feeling the displeasure from society, yet. The flower in Wordsworth unfolds its bloom “Because the lovely little flower is free Down to its root, and, in that freedom, bold…” (10-11). The little flower is able to express itself in Wordsworth’s poem because it is young a free and like the child, has the freedom from society whipping it with displeasure. The idea of nature in the sense that young children and flowers are free from the conformity of society is evident in both pieces of work done by Wordsworth and Emerson.
Both Ralph Waldo Emerson and William Wordsworth were both profound authors who have similar ideas of thinking and seeing the world. Although they are very similar authors whom like to publish their principals, Emerson gathered many of his ideas from Wordsworth. For example, Wordsworth writes, “ …must laugh by precept only, and shed tears by rule.” From this line Emerson came up with his own principal, “ They teach us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good humored inflexibility, then most when the whole cry of voices is on the other side.”
These two principals teach us the idea of the consequences we should face if we abide by the rules of society. Both Wordsworth and Emerson teach us to be independent. They would like us to find our inner-self. To find our inner-self, we need to connect with earth and perform a lot of self-meditation. In the end, both authors and/or philosophers make the assumption of not following convention will help find our inner-self , which will eventually make us truly happy.
There can be parallels made between Emerson’s Self-Reliance and Wordsworth’s poetry. These are both transcendentalist works, and it is clear that the work of Wordsworth had greatly influences the ideas of Emerson. Both authors share the idea that people must be open to changing and exploring new ideas, and that people must listen to themselves to be self-reliant, so they should not allow themselves to be confined or restricted by their society. One parallel that can be made in the poems is the idea of infancy. Wordsworth’s take on the topic is found in his poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” and it reads, “How does the meadow-flower its bloom unfold? Because the lovely little flower is free” (I Wandered). Both Wordsworth and Emerson share the ideas that the infant has the most freedom. Emerson presents this idea in a more forward way by saying, “infancy conforms to nobody” (Emerson 20). Another example of a parallel between the writers is the general idea about conformity. Emerson’s Self-Reliance states, “For nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure. And therefore a man must know how to estimate a sour face” (Emerson 24). Similarly, In Wordsworth’s “A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School,” he says, “In fear that else, when Critics grave and cool Have killed him, Scorn should write his epitaph” (A Poet!). Though Emerson and Wordsworth have the same philosophical ideas, they wrote them differently; Emerson was more realistic and literal in his wording. Both writers clearly make the point that nature and self-reliance is the keys to finding an individual’s truth.
When comparing works from Wordsworth and Emerson, it is evident that the two share similar beliefs with regard to individuality. Both writers highlight the boldness of children, and their ability to freely think without the concern of others. For example, Wordsworth writes, “the lovely little flower is free…in that freedom, bold” (A Poet!), which parallels with Emerson’s “[children’s] minds being whole, their eye is yet unconquered” (Self Reliance). Although Wordsworth shows the ability of children to be free, Emerson takes it a step further, stating their minds are then considered “whole” because their thoughts have not been tampered by outside societal thoughts. The two similarly blame society for the lack self-reliance due to restrictions on uncommon beliefs. Wordsworth hits this point when writing, “when Critics grave and cool have killed him” (A Poet!) and Emerson supports this idea of society being a negative effect: “society whips us with displeasure” (Self Reliance). It is evident that the two understand human’s desire for acceptance within society, however both recognize the harm this causes. The parallels seen between Wordsworth and Emerson strongly suggests that Emerson used Wordsworth’s works as a foundation of his own beliefs, and used them to strengthen his own argument of self-reliance.
William Wordsworth, through his poems, “A Poet He Hath Put his Heart to School” and “I wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” influenced Ralph Emerson, an important 19th century transcendentalist. Two important themes that are seen in both the works of Emerson and Wordsworth are nature and conformity. Wordsworth writes, “The grandeur of the Forest-tree Comes not by casting in a formal mold, but from its own divine vitality” (Wordsworth, 12-14). Similarly, Emerson states, “not for nothing one face, one character one fact, makes much impression on him, and another none” (Emerson 20). Not only is conformity a large part of both the works of Emerson and Wordsworth, but nature is equally as important and emphasized. The two men stress the importance of coming to self-realization and understanding oneself in nature. Wordsworth explains in his poem, “my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils” (Wordsworth). In comparison to Wordsworth’s use of the flower, Emerson uses the idea of a “little child” (Emerson) to insist that it is necessary to find oneself in nature. Emerson explains that the child is incredibly pure and true to himself or herself and find an individual’s meaning in life. These beliefs are similar to the belief that “there are only two important days in your life, the day you’re born, and the day you find out why.” They believe that the goal is to discover who you are and your true self.
Undoubtedly William Wordsworth’s works had a heavy influence over Ralph Waldo Emerson and his development and analysis of human behavior. Wordsworth’s expresses his transcendentalist views through poetry and Emerson’s work “Self Reliance” expands these ideas along with additional, person beliefs. The concepts of nature and conformity are popular transcendentalist themes that are addressed in both of the two author’s works. Wordsworth uses the term “little flower” while Emerson uses “little child” and “infancy” to represent a lack of convention and breaking from conformity, while still involving items of nature. Both these objects are young and have time to grow. At their ‘young’ state, they are uninfluenced by societal conventions and are free to make decisions without influence and concern of social acceptance. Wordsworth addresses the possibility that society is too caught up in recreational affairs, possibly technology in today’s society, and we forget to open “the inward eye” that give us the opportunity to discover truths about ourselves through a reflection of nature. Emerson advances this thought by including questions about our fear of the unknown.
Additionally, Wordsworth’s poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” brings up the issue of solidarity or loneliness. While many people would perceive solitude to be a negative thing, it is described in his poem as “bliss”, which is defined as perfect happiness. Emerson agrees with this in “Self-Reliance” by saying “the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” Solitude has again has a pleasing connotation. Emerson furthers analysis of loneliness because he feels that solitude can help one reveal and discover their true, inner path. Through the commonality of transcendentalism, Emerson expands upon Wordsworth original ideas.
Both of Words worth’s poems, "A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School” and “I wandered Lonely as a Cloud” have influenced Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay, “Self Reliance.” The “little flower” in Wordsworth’s “A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School" influenced Emerson when he mentioned, “the little child” in his essay. Both the child and the flower represent the innocence and simplicity of the young. Wordsworth says, “because the little flower is free” which is the point Emerson is trying to get across when he talks about the child. Emerson thinks the child does not have to deal with convention and that all of the child’s thoughts and actions are natural which is what Emerson thinks adults need to find their truth or their happiness. Emerson even says, "great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age.” He is saying that the truly happy people who have found their truth have done so by releasing their inner child and living in a nonconventional way. Embracing your inner child means to live the way you are supposed to live and not in response to the actions of the people around you.
Another example proving that Emerson was influenced by Wordsworth is in Wordsworth’s poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.” He speaks of the “bliss of solitude”, when he “dances with the daffodils” leading to his heart and mind being “pleasure filled”. Emerson elaborates on this statement and touched on the importance of people being who they are meant to be. When Wordsworth “danced with the daffodils," he experienced the wealth and happiness that comes with emptying your mind of convention and living in the now which is one of Emerson’s main arguments.
The influences of 19th century Romanticist William Wordsworth can be observed in many of the ideals of the American Transcendentalists, namely Ralph Waldo Emerson. In “A Poet! He Hath Put His Heart to School,” Wordsworth condemns convention, stating that one who has given in to convention “must laugh by precept only, and shed tears by rule.” The transcendentalist image of the child speaks to this, depicting the child as one who has not yet been exposed to or influenced by conventional ideals. Emerson writes that a child’s “mind [is] whole, their eye is as yet unconquered.” Additionally, the romantic image of nature speaks to the same, unaffected, transcendentalist image of the child. In “A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School,” Wordsworth contrasts nature with convention, indicating that nature’s beauty stems from its “own divine vitality,” while a conventional poet is concerned with what “critics” say of him. Emerson’s view of self-reliance directly relates to this contrast, that nature is beautiful because it is self-reliant, just as a child’s voice is “sufficiently clear and emphatic” because he has not been affected by convention.
The notion of independence is another ideal that Emerson and Wordsworth share. Wordsworth writes that "the grandeur of the Forest-tree comes not by casting in a formal mould, but from its own divine vitality.” This quote speaks to Emerson’s notion of “self-reliance,” that everyone must think for himself in order to become fully functioning members of society. Just as Wordsworth spoke of the “grandeur of the forest-tree,” Emerson says: “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, — that is genius” (Emerson 19). Additionally, in “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” Wordsworth expresses loneliness as the “bliss of solitude,” which creates a contrast between the usual negative connotation of the word lonely, with Wordsworth’s “blissful” connotation.
Wordsworth and Emerson put independent thought on a pillar, disapproving of those who seek public acceptance, demonstrated through Wordsworth’s A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School and Emerson’s Self Reliance. Emerson was hugely influenced by the works of Wordsworth, eminent through the connections between the two thinker’s arguments. Both these thinkers explain that merely imitating your peers is fraud, and unique thought without worrying about conforming to society is the sole way to find an individual’s truth. One similarity comes through their acceptance of consequence. Wordsworth explains the power of the “Critics” who are able to ‘kill’ the spirits of those who “sip the stagnant pool”. Similarly, Emerson explains “for nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure” (Self Reliance) but that “imitation is suicidal”.
Wordsworth’s ideas of natural thought, one that induces “freedom” and the ability to be “bold”. He explains these thoughts through the imagery of a blooming of the Meadow-flower, which will always possess uninfluenced roots by outside conventions. Emerson goes on to explain how your innermost thoughts get shutdown by society as “the voices which we hear in solitude” grow “faint and inaudible as we enter into the world”. Innovation as oppose to “casting in a formal mould” (Wordsworth) is the underlying message extended from the works of Wordsworth into those of Emerson’s Self Reliance.
Transcendentalism taught that divinity pervades all nature and humanity, and its members held progressive views on feminism and communal living. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were central figures. In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” he discusses that nature follows its own truth and just grows, so we should too because as humans, we are also natural objects. Transcendentalism and romanticism uses the child as the greatest metaphor because they have pure, simple, and innocent outlooks on life. Emerson says “the power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried” (Emerson 20). Here he discusses how man has total control over himself and how he too is nature. He should take his natural path and not be persuaded by anything else. In comparison, Wordsworth says, “in vacant or pensive mood, they flash upon my eye which is the bliss of solitude” (Wordsworth). Both quotes by these writers express how in our solitude and nature, we are able to find our truths and meaning. Here is where we freely have the ability to explore our own thoughts without judgment. Wordsworth’s influence on Emerson is evident because both writers believe in the self and not being forced to conform to the rest of a society. They broke free from the central thought that in order to prosper, you had to listen to everything society imposed upon us by writing about how we are nature , therefore we must take our natural courses of doing what we want as well, just as any other natural thing is expected to do.
Wordsworth believed that there is something in nature which can cause a person to feel whole and, therefore, become self-reliant— because a person cannot become self-reliant if supported by the crutch of convention. In Wordsworth's poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” without realization, the narrator's experience gazing at the daffodils brought him wealth and riches. Times after the narrator can recall his encounter with nature and feel joy as identifies with nature and he no longer feels alone, despite if he is in solitude: “For oft, when on my couch I lie in vacant or in pensive mood, they flash upon that inward eye which is the bliss of solitude; and then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils,” (Wordsworth).
Wordsworth's value in nature heavily influenced Emerson’s idea that a person “cannot be happy and strong until he, too, lives with nature in the present above time,” (Emerson). Nature and its components have the ability to grow and thrive because they are free and do so on their own terms. Emerson emphasizes Wordsworth’s idea that a prosperous life “comes not by casting in a formal mould, but from its own divine vitality,” (Wordsworth).
Wordsworth believed that there is something in nature which can cause a person to feel whole and, therefore, become self-reliant— because a person cannot become self-reliant if supported by the crutch of convention. In Wordsworth's poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” without realization, the narrator's experience gazing at the daffodils brought him wealth and riches. Times after, the narrator can recall his encounter with nature and feel joy as he identifies with nature and he no longer feels alone, despite if he is in solitude: “For oft, when on my couch I lie in vacant or in pensive mood, they flash upon that inward eye which is the bliss of solitude; and then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils,” (Wordsworth).
Wordsworth's value in nature heavily influenced Emerson’s idea that a person “cannot be happy and strong until he, too, lives with nature in the present above time,” (Emerson). Nature and its components have the ability to grow and thrive because they are free and do so on their own terms. Emerson emphasizes Wordsworth’s idea that a prosperous life “comes not by casting in a formal mould, but from its own divine vitality,” (Wordsworth).
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