Bradford Academy - Chimes Yearbook (Haverhill, MA)

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ANNALS grasses to fade? Then you can better understand lVordsworth's view- point. Thus he formed a world about himself, all his own, and placed a barrier that no stranger might enter in. Then to his friends he would ' return, elevated and refreshed. Sometimes, however, these thoughts gave place to superficial pastimes. Forced labor and indeeision in regard to his future vocation in life at times took the joy from these moments of solitude, and he would join with his fellow students, either in reading trivial books, or in harmless pastimes, idling away his time. Imagination slept but not completely, for he could not tread the same pathways which generations of illustrious men had walked without being influenced, though perhaps uneonsciously,by the ennobling atmosphere of Cambridge, the poets' university. An explanation may be found in the fact that Wordsyvorth had been brought up in daily intercourse with the mountains and the hills and he was ill-prepared for the captivity of college life. Books! 'tis a dull and endless strife. Come, hear the woodland linnet- How sweet his music! on my life, There's more of wisdom in it. TVe must not get the idea, however, that Wordsworth did not love and appreciate the good in literature. He himself says that all the strength and beauty of character which man is capable of, is derived first from Nature, which is the breath of God, then from the works of such men as Homer, Milton and Shakespeare. It is the endless pouring over books without ever looking up to learn the lessons in the world about one, which Wordsyvorth deplores. Though Vlfordsworth did not utterly neglect his books, he was less zealous in study, for his mind was so filled with this passion for Nature that there was not much room for anything else. Eight months of this varied life at college passed, and when the ninth came he returned to his native hills. Vlfhat those hills had meant to him he now more fully realized, for his heart overflowed with joy in revisiting his old haunts. lYalking one evening to Esthwaite 'Water, the little lake where he had played as a child, this sense of the spirit in Nature was overwhelm- ingly present. He seemed to be standing in' the very presence of God and all the temporary joys and idle pleasures of this mortal life seemed to fade away in the presence of the majesty and holiness of his surroundings. Q4 in W d sh- th- ll- sin tha his the Wit his by ins: sist sou, Wife witl the Wor lutic Alpg thos hfglvi mine

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ANNALS As he grew older he turned from his tions of his early impressions, and found the impresgigng Still remai boyish pastimes the founda- ning. , I i I was left alone, Seeking the visible world nor knowin wh The props of my affections were remogfed, Y. And yet the building stood, as if Sustained By its own spirit! Thus he came to realize what he had been uncon all through his boyhood. Nature was now to him a personality, with whom he could commune, losing himself to all else. sciously learning Oft in these moments such a holy calm Ivould overspread my soul, that bodily eyes IVere utterly forgotten and what I saw Appeared like something in myself, a dream, A prospect in the mind. Looking back over the years of his boyhood, he perceived that the joyous, but calm and faithful character of his life had been due to the lessons which God in Nature had taught. For it was through the intertwining of his soul with the visible forms of Nature that God mani- fested Himself to him. . At the age of seventeen Wordsworth left Hawkshead and attended St. John's College, Cambridge. Here his education under the influence of Nature almost ceased for a time. He was caught up in the fascination and the whirl of social gaieties. But when the glamor wore off, and the close confinement fretted and depressed him, he would leave his com- rades and the crowd and roam alone out across the fields. The remem- brance of the beautiful, happy valley he had left would then return to him and brighten and refresh his drooping spirits. He Hperused the common countenance of earth and sky and called on them to teach him what they might. To every rock and flower, to every natural form he ascribed a moral lifefl To him they seemed to feel or be linked with some great feeling. p This idea is beautifully expressed in the lines I The budding twigs spread out their fans To catch the breezy air, And I must think, do all I can, That there was music there. At first this idea seems difficult to comprehend. But have you h d 'thout a feeling ever plucked a tiny violet and seen it droop itSl .93 , W1 4 of pain that you have hurt it and taken it from its nest among the tall 93

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ANNALS lt was at this time that human life came to be of a more v't l 1 a umble folk of the hills interest to him. He learned to understand the h who by their daily occupations were in direct contact with the out-ofi door world which was so much a part of him. I Shepiigffflflilitfiiseyiieiesfflelifrwogdliaf in the -mst? and the them for the purity and sincerit ofa emgsfw hlm and beloved 'Wlichaell' we get this feelin fy' eu, emotlonsi In- hls poem -A C Q g o his love and understanding of the simple shepherd s life through their mutual love for Nature, though the shepherds love is much less subtle and more clearly defined. The summer quickly passed and Wordgwgfth returned to resume his course at Cambridge. But now the trivial pleasures had lost all their glamor and the remembrance of his wanderings and his communion with the silent forms of Nature elevated his spirits. He loved to spend his time out of doors in the college grounds or reading those poets who, by their works, have left a legacy to mankind which has helped and inspired innumerable minds. The vacations were spent roaming through old haunts with his sister Dorothy whose love and sympathy were all his life a continual source of inspiration and encouragement. Sometimes, too, Mary Hutchinson, who afterwards became his Wife, accompanied them in their rambles. It was she of whom he wrote A perfect woman, nobly planned, To warn, to comfort and command, And yet a spirit still, and bright XVith something of angelic light. During his third vacation Wordsworth decided to visit the Alps with a college friend. They stopped on their way in Paris. It wasiat the time of the Revolution, just after the fall of the Bastille. But Words- worth did not then feel any vital interest in the principles of the Revo- lution. He Hheard, he saw, he felt, but with no intimate concern. On reaching Switzerland and climbing the ice-capped peaks of the Alps, XVordsworth derived an indescribable joy from the majesty of those mountains. Tn his own words - every sound or sight, In its degree of power, Hdminlftefed To grandeur or to tenderness. One year after his return from the Alps,Wordsworth left college after having received his degree of BA. His future course was as yet undriterg mined, and without any dehnite pla11S Ol' hOPeS he Went te London' er 95