Date of Award

4-2012

Degree Type

UG Dissertation (Restricted)

Department

English

First Advisor

Prof. Ersu Ding

Abstract

This is a study of the contemporary relevance of Wang Wei's and William Wordsworth's nature poetry with regard to man/ nature dualism. Wang and Wordsworth are two poets from totally different time and space, nevertheless their poetry does illustrate the interrelation between man and nature. On the other hand, man/ nature dualism is a topic which has long been addressed by philosophers and intellectuals of both Easter and Western cultures. As nature poetry and man/ nature dualism are closely related, I am curious to know how Wang Wei and William Wordsworth would respond to the topic. Therefore, the objective of this project is to find out the relevant values, ideologies and beliefs embedded in Wang's and Wordsworth's poetry in response to man/ nature dualism.

In this paper, fourteen poems are selected from the two poets (six from Wang Wei and eight from William Wordsworth) and a detailed study of each will be shown in the discussion session. The discussion session is divided into three parts according to the poems' themes, ideologies and values. The first part, 'The Silenced Self and Transcendental Self in Nature’, discusses the significance of silence in nature that is able to connect man and nature. The second part, 'The Melting of Self into Nature', further investigates how humans can merge with nature, a seemingly different entity. The third part, 'Establishing Relations with Nature, a relation that evolves', is an account of how the two poets experience nature and gain their insights.

Recommended Citation

Au, S. H. K. (2012). The bond between nature and man: relevance of Wang Wei's and William Wordsworth's nature poetry as the remedy of man/nature dualism (UG dissertation, Lingnan University, Hong Kong). Retrieved from http://commons.ln.edu.hk/eng_fyp/57

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