Wordsworth Vs. Science

The fast paced forward movement of science was not viewed as a good thing by William Wordsworth.  He didn’t agree with all the scientists just wanting to know the facts about everything and not seeing the true beauty within what they were studying.  Wordsworth was a naturalist and believed that science would soon lead to the destruction of the mystery in nature.  In “A Poet’s Epitaph” he writes “one that would peep and botanize upon his mother’s grave?” to express his belief that scientists are becoming too inhumane with their studies.  Wordsworth was not just angry with natural science but science in general.  He believed that we should appreciate the beauty nature offers us rather than tear it apart to find the answers to every question we can possibly come up with.  The pace of science was moving way too fast for Wordsworth’s liking and he wasn’t going to sit around without a complaint about it.  His anger is expressed in many of his poems like in “The Tables Turned” he even clearly states “enough of science”.  Wordsworth doesn’t specify what type of science he is bothered with in this poem so it seems as if he is referring to science as a whole.  He uses nature as a mysterious way to describe human emotions and the interactions between humans in his poems, so he believed that scientists were taking away the perception of joy in his poems.  However it is believed that science also had an influence in Wordsworth’s poems.  Newton’s third law of motion is mentioned in “The Preface”.  He tried hard to explain the difference between poetry and science, yet explained it in a somewhat hypocritical manner by explaining it with the use of science.  It is also believed that he did this on purpose to show that science can also have an artistic form to it without having to be limited to just answers.  All in all Wordsworth had a couple bones to pick with science and was definitely not quite about.  He voiced his opinions throughout his famous poems and took a stand for what he believed in.