Wordsworth and Hughes both believe that nature teaches and parent’s man in a way that man made books could never do. This comes through strongest in Wordsworth’s poems. He gives the impression that nature is like a religion to him by continually saying things like ‘Books! ‘tis a dull and endless strife, come, hear the linnet,’ and things that are similar in both poems. He also mentions Mother Nature but calls her ‘mother earth’ as if to praise her by saying that all of the earth is her creation. Both poets refer to Mother Nature as ‘she’. This is because your mother is a parental figure that will protect and guide you no matter what happens because her love for you is binding. She also tries to teach you manners and moral issues which is exactly how ‘she’ is presented by both Wordsworth and Hughes. Hughes depicts nature teaching man to know his place in the world, and to show man ‘her’ power nature has burnt man to persuade him to ‘start up the serpent and headache it homeward’.
Hughes and Wordsworth both believe that nature inspires man’s mind both actively and passively. In ‘Work and Play, above all the ‘holiday people’ is the swallow who represents nature in ‘Work and Play’, the swallow ‘scissors the blue into shapes as she sews it.’ what is depicted here is the actions of her wings as she ‘works’. It is quite ironic because the swallow is having fun whilst she is working whilst the people down below who are supposedly on holiday are finding the day stressful and being burnt in the process. And this is what Hughes and Wordsworth believe because all men should learn from the swallow’s examples and in turn be taught by nature. However the humans weren’t actually inspired by the swallow, they didn’t even notice it in the poem. But I think that the reader is supposed to be the one that is inspired.
Both poets believe that nature is a powerful force and can be potentially very dangerous to both man and it. In ‘Work and Play’ the people on the beach are burnt and hurt as they lie in the ferocious power of the sun ‘laid out like wounded’ as if they have been to war and severely beaten by other soldiers; with their ‘raw faces’ and ‘raw bodies’. This leads to another issue about how man goes to war against its own species, killing millions of other men over stupid things like pride, greed, and ambition. This all shows that nature is an extremely powerful force that could do many things that are more powerful than anything man can do. The people on the beach develop headaches, and start to fight whilst the children cry. Hughes makes it sound as if man is on a battle field when he says ‘the holiday people/ are laid out like wounded/ flat as in ovens/ roasting and basting/ with faces of torment as space burns them blue/ their heads are transistors/ their teeth grit on sand grains/ their lost kids are squalling/ while man-eating flies/ jab electric shock needles but what can they do?’ Much of this sounds horrific like the ‘holiday people’ that are meant to be enjoying the sun are actually being burnt and having an awful time. This is emphasised by the way that there is no punctuation making it harder to read making you confused. In that quote nearly everything sounds like it could be in a hospital with many dead, dying or injured. It could even be a scene in a war. It is made even worse by the question at the end ‘but what can they do?’ This shows that not only can nature cause plenty of destruction and wound people, they can’t even get away from it if they wanted to because of ‘the serpent of cars that collapsed on the beach’ making it sound as if there is no way out. Hughes mentions a lot of destruction in ‘Work and Play’ while Wordsworth hardly mentions any. This is because they are different types of people, with different styles of writing poetry. I also feel that they are trying to show different sides to nature. Hughes goes at it with a more impressive approach while Wordsworth likes to be subtle with what he is implying. ‘Nor less I deem that there are powers.’ This is a line from ‘Expostulation and Reply’; Wordsworth only speaks of natures powers instead of giving you a graphic description of what can happen. This is because of his like for subtle hints and also he has a more spiritual and romantic way of writing than Hughes, because he dislikes showing you the harsher sides of nature directly.
In ‘Work and Play’ the swallow represents nature’s elegance and perfection as it flies over ‘the serpent of cars that crawls through the dust’ this is shown when Hughes describes the swallow as ‘the seamstress of summer, she scissors the blue into shapes as she sews it.’ this quote describes how elegantly the swallow moves because the seamstress of summer sounds very smooth which is then emphasised by the alliteration of the S’s, the way Hughes describes the swallow as scissoring and shaping the blue is also very showing that although man has created these amazing machines that can travel at many miles an hour there is no point in having them because so many people have got them now that there is no space on the roads and it would probably be quicker to walk than to drive in this circumstance. While all the cars below hardly move the swallow above is able to fly back and forth to feed its children. The swallow is also in the dominating position as it is above and in control. The text about the swallow is also more spaced out making it easier to read which makes it seem like the swallow isn’t having to use up much energy to fly and is being very efficient. There is also a lot of repetition of the letter‘s’ in the swallow’s lines which makes it flow off your tongue as you read it; emphasising the speed and agility of the swallow. Whereas in the lines about the humans they are all bunched up making you read it faster creating confusion. There is also a lot of repetition of the letter‘s’ in the swallow’s lines which makes it flow off your tongue as you read it; emphasising the speed and agility of the swallow. Wordsworth shows this when he also speaks of a bird in ‘The Tables Turned’ ‘And hark! How blithe the throstle sings! And he is no mean preacher;’ here Wordsworth speaks of how beautiful and relaxed the throstle is when it sings and it teaches us with pleasure instead of rules, showing us again that man’s ways are inferior to nature’s.
Overall I think that there are a few differences between Hughes and Wordsworth and their beliefs about the relationship between man and nature. This is because Wordsworth lived in a period in time that was called the romantic era, this is reflected in his views and the ways he writes as a poet. Whereas Hughes who lived in the 20th century, had quite different views about man’s relationship with nature. I think that this is because the period of time that you live in influences you very heavily in the way you write or express anything. This is because public attitudes change along with what is accepted and what is not, or what the public will find most popular. I think that if Hughes had lived in Wordsworth’s time his style of writing would not have been as popular as it is today, this is because Hughes style of writing has a more dramatic and dark edge to it whilst Wordsworth’s poetry is more romantic so to speak and has a gentler way of putting things.