The Value of Nature

Wordsworth emphasizes the virtues of nature in order to propose the idea that nature should be viewed as a valuable source of knowledge and wisdom.

One of the primary ways the speaker underscores the value of nature is through positive natural imagery. For example, in the second stanza they describe the “freshening lustre” and “sweet evening yellow” of the sun’s light shining upon the long green fields (6, 8). This image of natural light is repeated later in the fourth stanza, wherein the speaker says “come forth into the light of things” (15). As a result, the reader develops a positive connotation with sunlight, as the light of nature. The emphasis on light also represents a more organic form of enlightenment that nature is capable of providing humanity. By entering into nature, the speaker seems to say, one both literally enters into the light of...