I'm working at the Wordsworth Trust right now, right next to Wordsworth's beloved home and beloved lake in Grasmere, England. It is lonely out here, but knowing this song exists gives me hope!
Wordsworth is all about being elevated in feeling and thought by nature. In the particular passage Sufjan's referencing, Wordsworth takes a boat out onto the lake in the middle of the night. The peace he feels and the beauty he seeks and sees is soon interrupted by the huge, dark, and menacing hills above him that frighten him into rowing back to shore. The ridge, the peak and outline of the mountain, is the turning point in the excerpt, what Wordsworth finally focuses on and what eventually grows enough to scare him. Wordsworth/Sufjan is a swan in the boat, and the huge dark shadow is like an animal, a predator that devours him. It isn't necessarily a bad thing though. The feeling of fear is instinctual being alone in dark expansive nature, and it must be thrilling for both of them. It becomes so much more of an experience this way, with these feelings arising from this dark imposing landscape & night. Sufjan, like WW, grew up around lakes and wilderness. Nature was formative for him. But as in the case of both of them, it's not about nature but about the feelings and state of mind that nature brings.
I'm working at the Wordsworth Trust right now, right next to Wordsworth's beloved home and beloved lake in Grasmere, England. It is lonely out here, but knowing this song exists gives me hope!
Wordsworth is all about being elevated in feeling and thought by nature. In the particular passage Sufjan's referencing, Wordsworth takes a boat out onto the lake in the middle of the night. The peace he feels and the beauty he seeks and sees is soon interrupted by the huge, dark, and menacing hills above him that frighten him into rowing back to shore. The ridge, the peak and outline of the mountain, is the turning point in the excerpt, what Wordsworth finally focuses on and what eventually grows enough to scare him. Wordsworth/Sufjan is a swan in the boat, and the huge dark shadow is like an animal, a predator that devours him. It isn't necessarily a bad thing though. The feeling of fear is instinctual being alone in dark expansive nature, and it must be thrilling for both of them. It becomes so much more of an experience this way, with these feelings arising from this dark imposing landscape & night. Sufjan, like WW, grew up around lakes and wilderness. Nature was formative for him. But as in the case of both of them, it's not about nature but about the feelings and state of mind that nature brings.