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The Pastoral Tradition

Of all the British Romantic poets, William Wordsworth is arguably the one whose representation of the natural world is most closely associated with the tradition of pastoral poetry. This tradition goes back to Greek and Roman antiquity, when poets from urban centers like Athens and Rome wrote poems that conjured highly idealized images of rural life’s peaceful simplicity. A key element in pastoral poetry is the gently-rolling country landscape, the chief inhabitant of which is the shepherd, who idly tends his flock while singing songs and amorously pursuing beautiful nymphs. The idealized pastoral landscape contrasts sharply with the city. Whereas the city is associated with the frustrating complexities of social and political life, the country comes to be seen as a place of leisure, pleasure, and abundant natural wealth. Pastoral poetry largely fell out of favor following the collapse of the Roman Empire, only to be revived by Renaissance poets, from whom Wordsworth later inherited the tradition. This inheritance is clearly visible in “I wandered lonely as a cloud.” Admittedly, the lakeside landscape isn’t populated with shepherds and nymphs. Wordsworth’s speaker, however, interprets this natural space as a comforting refuge, memories of which he can recollect later to conjure feelings of tranquility even when he’s in the city.

Lyrical Ballads

In 1798, William Wordsworth and his close friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge published Lyrical Ballads, a collaborative volume that aimed to renew the tradition of lyric poetry. To the second edition of the volume, which appeared in 1800, Wordsworth added a preface in which he reflected on the collection’s purpose. The primary goal was to move poetry beyond the stilted and inaccessible forms that had dominated the previous century. Instead of lifeless, formal verse, they proposed a new poetry that featured a simpler, more natural language. Such naturalistic language could infuse poetry with new vitality, particularly when used to express the emotions of a first-person speaker. In the most famous statement from the preface, Wordsworth defines poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” Though drafted several years after Wordsworth penned that definition, “I wandered lonely as a cloud” clearly exemplifies the new vision for poetry he set out in the preface to Lyrical Ballads. In simple language that flows with ordinary cadences, the speaker describes an experience of the natural world that provides him with feelings of comfort when, back in the city, he lies on his couch “in vacant or in pensive mood” (line 20).

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