Island of Adventure

Upon first review of the Floating Island by Dorothy Wordsworth it didn’t seem to relate much to Romanticism and the aspects therein. However, once I really dug deep and tried to understand what else the author could be using this “island” to represent I began to see how it did possess those aspects. A few examples of where we see these typical Romanticism characteristics are in imagination, freedom and worship of nature.
Wordsworth used imagination to create a new world out of this island that has broken away from the land it was once attached to. It becomes a ground where life is sustained and given room to grow (ln. 12-16). She develops a sense of freedom by revealing this land that has escaped the grasp of the overwhelming world, “loosed from its hold” (ln. 7). It now has the ability to roam in freedom and adventure, to create its own destiny. We can definitely see how she portrays a worship of nature, the whole poem is about a floating island! The first line tells of the uniting power between the forces of this powerful nature. How it controls and directs the paths of life, “But Nature, though we mark her not, Will take away – may cease to give, (ln. 19-20). This line clearly shows the power given to Nature and Wordsworth’s choice to personify it as an entity of fate.
This poem shows the roots of being driven from the overflow of emotion. Wordsworth writes with such intensity about the adventure this “floating island” undergoes. From birth to travel to sustaining life and then eventually its death that takes it to the bottom of the lake and turns it into fuel for another life, it lacks no feelings of excitement for what lies ahead. I think she uses these ideals to create an appreciation of the spontaneity that comes with everyday life, and the possibility of what may happen, even when we least expect it.