Poor Susan

After reading Wordsworth's "Poor Susan", I see correlation between the theme of this poem and with that of Charlotte Smith's sonnets. Both seem to emphasize the point that Nature can only remove us from our daily lives for only a brief moment. Though that moment is enjoyable, we must return back to our lives in human society. I also wanted to point out how Wordsworth seems to compare God and Heaven with beautiful natural surroundings in this piece. For example:

"And a single small cottage, a next like Jove's,

The only one dwelling on earth that she loves."

and

"She looks, and her heart is in Heaven, but they fade,

The mist and the river, the hill and the shade;

The stream will no flow, and the hill will not rise,

And the colours have all pass'd away from her eyes.

Poor Outcast!--to receive thee once more

The house of thy Father will open its door,..."

These analogies do contrast with Smith's pieces, however, who seemed to take a darker turn with her sonnets, which were probably more realistic to human life, but definitely more depressing.