Raising Environmental Awareness via Literature: Perceptions of Nature and the City in Nineteenth-Century and Contemporary British Poetry Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde der Philosophischen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Uni ersität zu Bonn vorgelegt von "im-#aura Weber aus %olingen Bonn 2020 (edruckt mit der Genehmigung der Philosophischen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Uni ersität Bonn Zusammensetzung der Pr"fungs#ommission: Prof. Dr. Barbara Schmidt-+aberkamp ,-orsitzende. Prof. Dr. Marion Gymnich ,!etreuerin und Gutachterin) Prof. Dr. Uwe Küchler ,(utachter. Prof. Dr. Uwe Baumann ,weiteres prü)ungsberechtigtes Mitglied) 1ag der mündlichen Prüfung: 17.07.2019 Ac#nowledgments I would like to express m0 sincerest gratitude to m0 supervisor Prof. Dr* /arion (ymnich for her advice and support throughout the project8 especiall0 for the many moti ating and thought-provoking conversations we had and her perpetual encouragement for critical thinking. If she and her colleague Dr* Claus Daufenbach had not inspired me to delve into the world of Wordsworth, Whitman, and Co. in the first place and trained m0 skills in working with lyrical te6ts8 I never would have come to see and approach poetry as I do now* 1here are no words for how much I appreciate the discussions of poetry with both of them8 their valuable impulses to broaden m0 perspecti e again and again, and their trust in my abilities. I will never forget this* /oreover8 I would like to thank Prof. Dr* %chmidt-+aberkamp, Prof. Dr* Uwe "üchler8 and Prof. Dr* Uwe Baumann for providing great constructive input and volunteering their time as examiners* Without their readiness to help, even from a distance8 and their smooth handling of organizational matters all this would not have been possible* #astl08 I am deepl0 indebted to m0 famil0 and friends who accompanied me on this journe0 with their love and patience and always believed in me* $able of Contents 1. Introduction*******************************************************************************************************************3 1.1. : Literary 1radition to Explore Environmental :ttitudes**************************************3 1.2. Perception and Emotion: How Can the Environment :)fect Well-Being;************& 1.3. 1racing the :ttitudes**********************************************************************************************= 1.4. Selected 1exts and Previous Research*****************************************************************3> 1.5. Ecopoetry and 1heoretical :pproaches***************************************************************&< 2. Reactions to the Environment through 1ime***************************************************************<3 3. 1he Depiction of Nature in Romantic Poetry**************************************************************>' 3.1. William Wordsworth’s “#ines Composed a Few Miles above 1intern :bbe0B***>' 3.2. William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”************************************=& 3.3. William Wordsworth’s “1he 1ables 1urned”*******************************************************=5 3.4. John Keats@s “I Stood 1ip-1oe upon a Little HillB***********************************************D= 3.5. John Keats@s “Ede to a NightingaleB*******************************************************************4& 4. ‘Transition’ Poems2 Growing Cit0 Sensibilit0 among Romantic Poets**********************G& 4.1. William Blake@s “#ondonB***********************************************************************************G& 4.2. William Wordsworth’s “Composed upon Westminster BridgeB**************************GD 5. 1he Depiction of the Cit0 in -ictorian Poetry*************************************************************5& 5.1. Ernest Jones@s “1he Factory 1own”*********************************************************************5& 5.2. James 1homson’s “1he City of Dreadful NightB*************************************************55 5.3. Robert Buchanan’s “Bexhill, 1866”*******************************************************************3'4 5.4. Edward Carpenter@s “In a Manufacturing 1own”**********************************************33< 5.5. 1homas Hood’s “1he Song of the ShirtB***********************************************************335 5.6. Eliza$eth Barrett Browning’s “1he Cry of the ChildrenB**********************************3&> 6. 1he Depiction of Nature in Contemporary Poetry****************************************************3<& 6.1. 1ed Hughes@s “%pring Nature NotesB****************************************************************3<& 6.2. 1ed Hughes@s “:utumn Nature NotesB**************************************************************3>< 6.3. 1ed Hughes@s “River BarrowB***************************************************************************3=& 6.4. Charles 1omlinson’s “Below 1intern”***************************************************************3D' 6.5. 1ed Hughes@s “Da)fodilsB**********************************************************************************3DD 6.6. Grevel Lindop’s “1he BeckB*****************************************************************************34> 6.7. Douglas Dunn’s “WoodnotesB***************************************************************************3G' 6.8. 1ed Hughes@s “1984 on ‘The 1arka 1rail@B********************************************************3G5 6.9. Philip Larkin@s “(oing, Going”*************************************************************************35G 7. ‘/i6ed’ Poems2 Dissolving Boundaries between Nature and Cit0***************************&'G 7.1. Grevel Lindop’s “From a Flat Cit0B******************************************************************&'G 7.2. Mark Goodwin’s “I 1urned”******************************************************************************&3< 8. 1he Depiction of the Cit0 in Contemporary Poetry***************************************************&&' 8.1. Bill Gri)fiths@s A Book of Spilt Cities*****************************************************************&&' 8.2. Roy Fisher@s City***********************************************************************************************&<3 8.3. Edwin Morgan’s Glasgow Sonnets********************************************************************&>> 8.4. John Barnie@s The City***************************************************************************************&=D 9. Conclusion*****************************************************************************************************************&4< 10. Works Cited*************************************************************************************************************&5= 10.1. Primary Literature********************************************************************************************&5= 10.2. Secondary Literature****************************************************************************************&5D 1. (ntroduction 1.1. A Literary $radition to Explore Environmental Attitudes Eur spatial surroundings have always been a subject in literature and, it seems8 writers are never getting tired of engaging with both the natural and the man-made world in their works* #ikewise8 the discourse centering around questions of how the natural and non-natural environment are represented in literature and of how these depictions can reveal attitudes and values is probabl0 one of the oldest in literary studies and has attracted particular attention and participation over the last decades* ?evertheless8 what still deserves to be dealt with more intensel0 is the connection between the various literary representations of our spatial surroundings and their development over time* For example8 i) one compares literature from around the times of the Industrial Revolution, when people@s surroundings changed substantiall08 and literature that was produced more recentl08 one will not onl0 notice the prominent dualit0 of nature and the cit0 (being dissolved more and more over time.8 but also come across many similarities in the authors@ wa0s of portra0ing these di)ferent types of environment* When the speaker in William Wordsworth’s famous poem AI Wandered #onel0 as a Cloud”8 published in 3G'48 expresses the oneness of human beings and the natural world $0 identifying himsel) with nature (c)* AI wandered lonel0 as a cloud”8 l* 3. and anthropomorphizing parts of his surroundings8 namel0 the da)fodils (c)* Adancing in the breezeB8 l* DI A1ossing their headsB8 l* 3&.8 is it not striking that he does so in a similar wa0 as we encounter it in more recent poems;3 For example8 in +ughes@s poem ARi er BarrowB from 35G<8 everything the speaker comments on (sights8 sounds8 movements8 etc*. is related to the river—e en the speaker himsel) slowl0 feels to have become one with nature ,AI lie here8 K +al)-unearthed, LMN K +appy to moulder* LMN blood eas0 K :s the river”8 ll* >>->5.* :nd what about the analogies in ‘hellish’, and ‘maddening’ portrayals of urban spaces8 like in Cames 1homson’s piece A1he Cit0 of Dreadful ?ightB from 3G4> (c)* A1he Cit0 is of ?ightI perchance of Death”8 p. 3&>8 l* 3<I AWhen Faith and #ove and +ope are dead LMN K Can #i)e still live;B8 p. 3&58 ll* 3<-3>. and Cohn Barnie@s prose poem The City from 355< (c)* Awhat is the di)ference between life and death”8 p. >8 ll* 3=-3DI A1here is no faith here8 no truth”8 p. 3=8 l* <. that draw our attention to 3 The lines given in parentheses re)er to the poem version that is stated at the beginning of the chapter of this thesis that deals with this poem in more detail ,c)* p. =< in this case.* This also applies to the other poems’ verses quoted in this introduction. 3 the cit0@s adverse