The idea that untamed Nature was edenic is a childish dream. Nature, while not inherently cruel, is supremely indifferent. Only civilization protects us from its vicissitudes.
Rejecting industrialization in favor of Roussean “savage” purity would result in an earthly hell, not paradise.
It's exactly what the Khmer Rouge did, they moved everyone to the countryside to farm the land, that is, those they didn't kill.
Damn. If I can’t have your kids,
at least sign me up for your newsletter.
#awesome
I think it is fair to say that there was a bit of naïveté with regard to Romantic poets as they saw the spread of industrialization and how it literally changed the landscape of society. In their view, though, the idea of an “earthly hell” (as you’ve said) manifested itself more readily in encroaching industrialization and its accompanying materialism, than in the “savage purity” of striving to be in tune with nature.