Wordsworth and Nutting

          In "Preface to Lyrical Ballads," William Wordsworth writes of Romantic Era poetry, "the manners of rural life germinate from those elementary feelings; and, from the necessary character of rural occupations, are most easily comprehended, and are more durable; and lastly, because in that condition the passions of men are incorporated with the beautiful and permanent forms of nature" (148). While the poems that we analyzed certainly seem to follow the Romantic Era's respect of nature and natural life, Nutting seems to contradict that.
          While reading the "Preface," it became apparent that Wordsworth and the poets he chose to contribute to "Lyrical Ballads" held nature in a high regard. They looked upon nature and all it's beauty and seemed almost jealous of those living rural life. He mentions the respect that he holds for those who work in nature because of their closeness to it (148). If that is the case, then Wordsworth's poetry choices for "Lyrical Ballads" makes complete sense. The poets who contributed appear to be awed by nature itself, even going so far as to make the tale of a young girl's drowning, in Lucy Gray, feel less heart-wrenching than it should by not only adding a rhyme and meter that pleases the reader, but by also implying that Lucy Gray, though she be physically dead, lives on in the nature that surrounds them as a beautiful spirit who whistles to passersby (156-57).
          Nutting does the opposite of this. It takes a situation that is relatively mild, in terms of heartbreak, and creates possibly on of the most depressing poems ever read. In Nutting, the narrator of the poem goes out on a beautiful day to collect hazelnuts and finds a grove of hazelnut trees that had, until then, been undiscovered. There he collects the hazelnuts from the trees with his nutting stick, but in doing so destroys the very trees whose beauty he adored. This poem is a great representation of the power that men have over the nature that they love so very much and rely so completely on. The narrator destroys the hazelnuts trees without a thought, only regretting his actions after seeing what he had done, a regret he holds even during his narration. Wordsworth speaks of a reverence of nature, and Nutting shows the very lack of that, but perhaps, Nutting was simply a lesson to be told. The narrator seems to be saying, "Be careful not to destroy the very nature that you hold dear." In fact, the last stanza of the poem says almost that: "Then, dearest Maiden! move along these shades / In gentleness of heart with gentle hand / Touch--for there is a Spirit in the woods." So, perhaps Wordsworth placed this poem with extreme care and a wise eye; because, rather than contradict Wordsworth's ideals and those of the Romantic Era, this poem actually reinforces them.