The French Revolution and Wordsworth's Poetry - Part II

(previous post continued)

(4) The influence of Beaupuis
According to Hudson, a “change of spirit occurred during his stay at Orleans and Blois, between which places he passed nearly a year”. He formed a close friendship whith a Republican General, Beaupuis, “an inspiring example of all in the Revoulution”. His tenderness, meekness, gallantry and utter devotion to the cause of the people are celebrated in glowing language in ‘The Prelude’. Talks with this noble friend exerted a profound influence on the poet’s mind. His hatred for all absolute rule, and his love of and pity for the “abject multitude” grew daily and he was ultimately fired with his friend’s humanitarianism and faith in the revolutionary cause and that “better days to all manking” were round the corner. His heart was now given to the people nad he felt that the revolution was the only way to right their wrongs. The September Massacres failed to disillusion him and when he returned to Paris a month later, he wanted to join the Girondists but was called back.

(5) Conflict of Loyalties
When Wordsworth returned to England towards the close of 1792, he found the conservative opinion in the country strongly against the Revolution. But he was still firm in his faith. Later he was torn by a conflict of loyalties. His moral nature received a terrible shock when England declared war upon France. He rejoiced when England’s armies met with disaster, although he loved his country. When the Republicans, still professing to act upon the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity, entered into a policy of military aggression, his “genial feelings” were turned to bitterness.

(6) The Great Spiritual Crisis
Wordsworth now passed through a period of perplexity, disappointment and gloom, to a large extent, the result of his shattered hopes and shaken faith. But though France had failed him, he still clung to the abstract revolutionary theories and tried to seek relief in the abstract teachings of William Godwin. But the arid rationalism of Godwin gave him little relief.

(7) Dorothy and her influence
In this great spiritual crisis, both moral and intellectual, his salvation was brought about largely through the influence of his sister Dorothy. She brought back faith and peace to him. In particular, “she restored him to nature, whose beauty and benign power had been forgotten amid all the excitement and strain through which he had lately passed”. (Hudson)

(8) The Lost Leader
By 1802, his disillusionment with France was complete. He travelled farther and farther away from the political faith of his youth. Gradually he became a Tory. He was called the “Lost Leader” by Browning and a “moral eunuch” by Shelley. In this extreme reaction, he supported all existing institutions and even justified the abuses which presently inspired a fresh energy of reform. He opposed Catholic Emancipitation and the Reform Bill and wrote a sonnet attacking the people’s right to vote. In Napolean he saw and incarnation of materialism and he welcomed his downfall. He went to the extreme of saying that the cholera, which took a heavy toll of life, was God’s condemnation of the great reforms that he opposed.

(9) The Solid Gain
It should also be pointed out that not all the lessons of the Revolution were lost upon him. Though he rejected his early revolutionary creed, yet he firmly held to the essential ideals of democracy, which lay at its back. The Revolution brought him face to face with human sorrow and suffering. It humanized his soul and made him see nature in an entirely different light : he could now hear in nature “the still sad music of humanity.”