In "Tintern Abbey", Wordsworth recalls revisiting a beautiful area below Tintern Abbey, where he felt one with nature. He talks of the first time he was in this spot and the great affect it had on him. He carried it with him afterwards as a way to recall purity amidst a world lacking it. In his travels, he thinks back on his visit there and "oft, in lonely rooms, and mid the din / Of towns and cities, I have owed to them, / In hours of weariness, sensations sweet, / Felt in the blood, and felt along the hear, / And passing even into my purer mind / With tranquil restoration" (26 - 31). Clearly Wordsworth's outlook on nature is that it holds something more pure and good then cities and other parts of the world. Emerson is similar in this way in that nature to him speaks to the soul. In his essay, "Nature", he claims that "Every natural face is a symbol of some spiritual fact." He believes fully in the connection man has to nature.
Though both lovers of nature, I believe that Wordsworth and Emerson approach the way in which they share their love for it in their writings. Wordsworth wants to spread the love of nature but makes it more personal within "Tintern Abbey" by expressing his hope that his sister will have the same experiences in nature as he has, "Knowing that Nature never did betray / The heart that loved her; 'tis her privilege, / Through all the years of this our life, to lead / From joy to joy." It's important to him that she can carry the memory of the natural world when she is away from it. In this way, Wordsworth presents to the world how important nature is without demanding his audience have the same experience as him.
Emerson's approach is different in this matter in that he asks a lot of his audience. In "Self Reliance", he is making the case that it is up to us to seclude ourselves in nature and find that higher state of mind but all the while suggesting that we're wrong if we don't do that. Overall, he is directly asking his readers to go out into nature and those who don't are blind. Emerson is pretentious in his delivery of his theories, which is a sense I don't get when reading Wordsworth.
I think another aspect of Emerson's pretentious delivery is the way that Emerson, whether on purpose or not, presents himself as a master of nature, whereas Wordsworth presents himself as a much more humble "worshipper" of nature. Wordsworth's description of nature also lends itself to the reader seeing great potential to enjoy nature, viewing time in nature as opportunity. Emerson's approach that being in nature is only important in the context of avoiding being blind, makes nature seem like it is a mandatory class. Despite the fact that the result is the same, both Emerson and Wordsworth seem to encourage time in nature, Wordsworth's approach makes nature far more accessible and thus his encouragement is far more likely to be followed.
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