Williams Wordsworth wrote beautiful poems with vivid imagery. He also wrote about the trappings of society. In his poem “The World is Too Much With Us”, he wrote about the people of his time turning away from God and the nature he created. I feel there is a tie between this and his poem “Tranquility”. Wordsworth, laments that as infants in a cradle we are at peace. Soon after infancy, we do not see peace until we reach heaven. The pull of worldly desires destroys our innocence and tranquility.
When reading “The world is too much for us” and “Tranquility”, I found a cause and effect. Because the world is too much for us, we lose our tranquility. In the poem “The world is too much for us” we find the cause for our loss. “Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in nature that is ours;” (Line 2 – 3). People moved to the city and away from the countryside. Nature cannot be appreciated while living in the city. “The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; The Winds that will be howling at all hours and are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; for this we are out of tune” (Line 5 – 8). Nature has a rhythm; Wordsworth is saying we fall out of sync when we don’t stop to appreciate it.
We see the effect in the poem “Tranquility”. “In this tumultuous sphere, for thee unfit,” (line 1). Wordsworth is speaking to tranquility and telling her that the only place she has in this world is at the beginning and end of life. “By the low cradles, thou delight’st to sit, Of sleeping infants – watching the soft breath, and bidding the sweet slumberers easy lie’ Or sometimes hanging o’er the bed of death, Where the poor languid sufferer – hope to die” (Line 4 – 8). There is no place for her in-between new life and death. We cannot find tranquility because we are out of tune with nature.
Wordsworth seemed to crave peace and tranquility. In the poem “Tranquility”, he begs the sister of halcyon peace (tranquility) to resign his anguish. “Oh! Beauteous sister of halcyon peace!! I sure shall find thee in that heavenly scene Where care and anguish shall their power resign;” (Line 9 – 11). He wanted a blessed interval of calm and adversity. Haven’t we all needed halcyon peace at some point in our lives? In today’s society, we are always going. As adults, we are shuttling our kids to their commitments, or trying to jettison ourselves up the corporate ladder, or both. We see the fast food window more than our kitchen table. That is our society. Wordsworth is as relevant today as he was in 1802.
