A Final Response

I'm writing this blog in response to Sarah Sheldon's interpretation of "Lines Left Upon A Seat In A Yew Tree," which can be found here: http://desolatenature.blogspot.com/2010/04/give-up-on-your-pride.html#comments . In the story, a man is corrupted by society. Because of his dislike for the human emotions of jealousy and hate, he goes to live in nature and solitude. At first he is overwhelmed with the beauty of nature, but he doesn't remain happy because he nurtures "morbid pleasures" and can't stop thinking that he is missing out on relationships with other human beings. In the end, the man dies alone because he was so sad. In her blog, Sarah argues that he loses his happiness because he becomes too prideful, and that this pride made it so he could not see the real beauty of nature. She also argues that is makes people forget the serenity of the natural world. While I believe that pride is a big reason why the man in this story loses his happiness, I disagree a little with Sarah's approach. It was not the man's pride in nature, but his pride when he was interacting with other human beings. Pride didn't stop the man from appreciating the real beauty of nature; it actually stopped him from having meaningful relationships with other human beings. He was too prideful and stubborn to go back into society and develop relationships, and because of this pride he died alone in nature. This poem is a warning that everyone needs to find a good balance between society and nature, because both are important to a person's well-being. Even though William Wordsworth was obsessed with nature and in a way revered it, it cannot be the only aspect of a person's life because human relationships sustain a person's happiness.
In this story, nature essentially kills the man because he had no relationships with people. This made me think of a recent movie that came out called "The Happening." In this movie nature (plants, trees, etc.) releases a toxin when there are big groups of people around which makes each person want to kill themselves. Although this is a somewhat ridiculous plot, it is an opposite example of why nature kills the man in "Lines Left Upon A Seat In A Yew Tree." In the story, nature kills the man for not enough human relations, and in the movie nature kills people because there are too many of them. Here is the link to the trailer of "The Happening": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxMLvh4Tb6g"