Steamboats, Viaducts, and Railways

Steamboats, Viaducts, and Railways

Wordsworth’s poem, originally written in 1833, can be placed into meaningful conversation with other contemporary works, such as Charles Dickens’ The Signalman. Dickens’ story highlighted the growing tension between humanity and technology, and this tension climaxes when the signalmen suffers death by train. Though Wordsworth offers his own critique of this technology, he also asserts that nature embraces technology, because technology is the offspring of Man’s art. Wordsworth’s work offers a more creative lens through which to view, and perhaps mitigate, this rivalry.

Wordsworth, William

HathiTrust, The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth

London, New York, Macmillan

1896 (Collection) 1833 (Poem)

Knight, William Angus, ed.

Public Domain, Digitized by Google

Octavo, 416 pages

Poetry