Quote by Walter Pater
That sense of a life in natural objects, which in most poetry is but a rhetorical artifice, was, then, in Wordsworth the assertion of what was for him almost literal fact.
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Summary
This quote means that while many poets use the idea of finding personal meaning or significance in nature as a rhetorical device in their poetry, for Wordsworth, it was a genuine and factual experience. He truly believed that there is a profound connection between human life and the natural world, and this sense of interconnectedness was not just a literary technique for him, but a personal truth.
Topics
Poetry
By Walter Pater