Robert M. Ryan of Rutgers University wrote a paper comparing Wordsworthian philosophy and Darwin philosophy. It is called "Wordsworth's Response to Darwin". A fitting title in my opinion. The basic idea can be summed up in one sentence as it compared the difference in how these two influential men saw nature. Wordsworth viewed nature as almost a religion, while Darwin viewed nature as science. A quote can help add influence to Robert’s view of Wordsworth, "Wordsworth rarely concerned himself with questions of the origin or history of creation. He was interested in testifying to his own experience of a divine Presence immanent in Nature, whose reality, benevolence, and moral intent he never doubted". Nature is important to both of these men. As the quote above stated, Wordsworth believed that Nature was more of a faith and did not need all the answers because he knew Nature was there. Darwin needed science as a way to prove and express his findings about evolution.

Both of these men lived in the same time period, however Wordsworth died in 1850. Nine years later, Darwin published his book, On the Origin of Species. This created some havoc as Wordsworthian philosophy (thinking of nature more as a faith and religion) conflicted in some ways with this radical new scientific idea. While Darwin was off learning about nature from his voyages on the H. M. S. Beagle, Wordsworth was writing poetry and shaping peoples opinions on nature based on said poetry.  At first there was not enough evidence to support Darwin’s theory and thus it was ridiculed. It was years later before people started believing that Evolution could be possible and that humans could have evolved as well. Many people had just started believing in something other than the Catholic church and  many didn’t want to consider that there was nothing divine in this world. That’s what many of these people saw in Darwin’s book. Most of Darwin’s own family were Wordsworthians, including his daughter, Henrietta. It was said “Wordsworth was her religion”. In many of Wordsworth poems, and many other romantic poets poems, nature is a common topic. Often, nature is commonly used as an analogy for humans and human characteristics. This suggests that Wordsworth and the other romantic poets felt something special in nature. Robert says “Wordsworth saw it as his own primary mission to ‘spiritualize’ the appearances of nature. At this profound level, no two visions of nature could be more different. To those who were dismayed by Darwin’s representation of nature as a random, brutal, apparently godless product of natural selection with no bonus of meaning beyond its physical or organic functions, Wordsworth’s prestige as a religious teacher and a reputable authority on the life of nature offered what seemed a legitimate, culturally respectable alternative”/ Another thing Robert points out in his article was a quote by Huxley, that if Wordsworth was to leave “latitude 50 North” and take a walk through a tropical jungle, his opinion on nature might change. This is to say, that Wordsworth would be shocked at what he saw in nature and would have to fight for his survival. In my own personal opinion I disagree. I believe that if Wordsworth (or any of the romantic poets) were to take a walk through a jungle, yes they might be miserable from the heat and bugs, but they would also see the beauty in that. Just because something may not be “perfect” to humans on one level does not mean it wont be “perfect” on another level. I believe Wordsworth would see that nature is perfect here. He may not want to live there as his type of lifestyle would not agree with a tropical jungle, Wordsworth would strengthen his opinion on nature from that voyage. Possibly even have more material to write poetry on because of that expedition. In November, 1859 when Darwin published his book, he sent a copy to his old friend and mentor Adam Sedgwick. Sedwicks response to the book is an interesting one. Robert said, “As a scientist he understood the full importance of Darwin’s argument and as a priest he was sensitive to its religious implications”.  Robert also calls attention to an article in 1864, Reverend John Campbell Shairp, Professor of Poetry at Oxford from 1877 to 1884 wrote “Whereas to most men the material world is a heavy, gross, dead mass, earth a ball of black mud, painted here and there with some color, Wordsworth felt it to be a living, breathing power, not dead, but full of strange life”. Readers of the poetry, he said, “caught, as they read, a glimpse into the life of things such as no other poet of these days has given them”. Robert ends with a question. “There are at this moment walking nature trails in America who connect the outdoor life with moral virtue and even with religious inspiration. There are people walking these Lake District fells who harbor the same sublime sentiments. There are people at the Wordsworth summer conference, perhaps, who sometimes find themselves communing with nature. With what are they communing?” An interesting question. I will end my post the same way. If you feel so inclined, post what you thing they are communing with in the comments.