Francisco Nodarse
Shaw
AP English Literature and Composition
2 March 2017
Poetry Prompt: There Will Come Soft Rain
Nature has long been recognized as therapeutic – Thoreau’s excursion served as a source of meditation and inspiration for generations of writers. Teasdale, taking a hint from her
Transcendentalist predecessor, uses the peaceful imagery of the natural world to juxtapose the evil of humanity with the innocent beauty of nature, reminding the audience of its inevitable transience and urging it to make its time on Earth constructive instead of destructive.
The opening couplet immediately immerses the reader in the all-encompassing calm of the wild. Teasdale utilizes all kinds of sensory imagery in these opening lines: the eponymous,
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The intensity of the imagery emphasizes Teasdale’s love for nature and her desire for humanity to emulate it. Adding to the ambience is the use of alliteration, which lends a calming fluidity to these lines, and the simplistic rhyme scheme.
Yet Teasdale is driven to write this poem because the paradise she describes is being threatened and overshadowed by the vile influence of humankind, as the third couplet makes clear. Humanity is indirectly introduced through the fence-wire that serves as the robin’s perch.
The “feathery fire” of the bird may also hint at the war Teasdale references in the following lines, which praise the animals’ obliviousness to the conflict. The fact that “not one/Will care at last when it is done” serves the dual purpose of establishing that the war will indeed end, as all
wars do, and that the trifles of humanity are not a worry for the inhabitants of nature. Teasdale admires their ignorance, going so far as to assert that these creatures would not notice the extinction of mankind – which further marginalizes the conflicts we pour so much hatred into.
The final couplet embodies this sentiment, as Teasdale personifies Spring. By lending nature human qualities, Teasdale replaces humanity with the natural world
In ‘Barn Owl’, the persona’s switch from being a curious and reckless “horny fiend” to a guilty child by shooting the owl, symbolising the loss of innocence and the harsh realities of life. The persona struggles with the consequences of their actions, having to leave innocence behind and face the imperfections of their choices. Similarly, in ‘Spelling Prize’ it also explores the idea of loss of innocence through the person’s betrayal of childhood friendship for a small moment of victory in a spelling competition. The aftermath of the competition shows the lasting impact of the persona’s actions, as the guilt stays, showing the struggle to overcome perfection. Both poems resonate with the conflicts each of the persona’s face as they face loss of innocence and dealing with the consequences of their choices, highlighting Harwood’s similar thoughts about the two
Prompt: You will write an essay where you compare and contrast how the poets describe their responses to nature. You will analyze at least one of the following stylistic elements: figurative language, word choice (diction), form and structure. Introduction: Lede: Introduces the topic and engages the reader’s attention.
In his poem “Evening Hawk”, Robert Penn Warren describes the ominous flight of the hawk through the eyes of a human narrator who admires the hawk to reveal the power of nature over the human race as the world comes to an end warning them to correct the error of their ways before it is too late. He conveys this using juxtaposition of movements of the and the description of the setting, the ironic viewpoint of the narrator,
One of the more beautiful things about nature is that it is constantly changing and hold so many mysteries that we don’t understand. Each day brings new beauties and scenes that weren’t there yesterday. Having grown up on the east coast might have caused me to have a greater appreciation for all of the seasons, but one of my favorite things about season is being able to witness the changing over form one to the next. How each plant knows that the change is coming and they all magically start to prepare themselves for the new setting they’re going to create. The romantics capture the mysteries of nature in some of the most beautiful poetry. They delve deep into the possible meanings of what nature could be attempting to tell us or simple what they find beautiful about what they see in nature. One piece that stuck with me this quarter was The Snow Storm by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Winter has always been one of my favorite season since I was a little girl and have always anxiously awaited that first snow fall, dreaming of a white Christmas that year. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s The Snow Storm brought back nostalgic memories of snow filled days in my childhood and made me appreciate having actually experienced snow in real life and the beauty
In the romantic era, British authors and poets focused on nature and its influence. Two of those poets, Charlotte Smith and William Wordsworth, wrote many pieces on the beauty of nature and their personal experiences with the beaches of England. In “Far on the sands” and “It is a beauteous evening,” Smith and Wordsworth describe their respective experiences on the shore at sunset. Both authors use structure, theme, allusions, and imagery to effectively convey their perceptions of nature. While the sonnets share a setting and the topics of nature and tranquility, Smith’s has a focus on introspection and Wordsworth’s is centered around religion. These have different focuses which achieve different effects on the reader.
The book Red Bird has a series of poems written by Mary Oliver. She gives her perspective of the world and the gifts the world gives up. Oliver captures moments from the transformation of a capitllaar to some really dark bittersweet moments. Oliver is the true Anthologist because every poem she wrote comes to life. Due to the references and each scenes Oliver tries to create she illustrates true Eco-Criticism. Oliver’s illustration of Eco-criticism relates to themes of love, sorrow, empowerment, and laughter, which makes one reflect a certain way. As a result of how Oliver captured her works, she makes one look at the world at a different perspective, and have a peerlessness for the world.
In stanza four the poet is flashing back to his childhood and telling us some other words that he got in trouble for. “Other words that got me into trouble were fight and fright, wren and yarn.” (29-31) Even though he got in trouble by his teacher for not knowing the words, his mother helped him understand them in a different way. “Wren are small, plain birds.” (34) “My mother made birds out of yarn.” (37) Here he is shown how two different things can become the same thing.
Throughout the poem, the speaker faces a decision that either benefits man or nature, reflecting an opposition between wildlife and humanity. Stafford uses the poem as an apparent metaphor, representing life. In life, people are
Nature can be one of the most awe inspiring things in the world. Nature has been the inspiration and basis for which man has created many things in this world. Nature is also one of the most beautiful things in the world and has so much to offer people, but some people don’t take the time to go out and enjoy nature often enough. Some people are surrounded by nature’s beauty every day, but often fail to fully appreciate nature’s beauty. However, that is not the case for poets Elizabeth Bishop and Lord Alfred Tennyson. In Bishop’s poem “The Fish” and Tennyson’s poem “The Eagle”, the poets do a masterful job of telling the world how beautiful nature truly is and showing their reverence for nature through numerous literary methods. One can see how the poems “The Fish” and “The Eagle” both present a theme of reverence for nature by looking at the poet’s use of imagery, symbolism, and structure.
But what does all of this have to do with a murdering of a bird? The first real reference to any birds in the beginning of the book is the last name of the family which is Finch but really until chapter
Thus arise / Races of living things, glorious in strength, / And perish, as the quickening breath of God / Fills them, or is withdrawn (Bryant 86-89).” He was bringing the reader back to the ultimate theme of the poem and reiterating that God is the creator of all existence. Bryant now informs the audience that along with everything else in the cycle of life, the red man has also disappeared. “The red man too- / Has left the blooming wilds he ranged for so long, / And, nearer to the Rocky Mountains, sought / A wider hunting ground (Bryant 89-92).” Now the prairies are at still, yet not deprived of life, still full of insects, flowers, birds, reptiles, deer, and other glorious animals. “Myriads of insects over, gaudy as the flowers / They flutter over, gentle quadrupeds, / And birds, that scarce have learned the fear of man, and sliding reptiles of the ground, / Startlingly beautiful (Bryant 103-107).” While listening to the humming of a bee, the speaker reminiscences being a colonist man discovering the “eastern deep (Bryant 111).” Bryant is visioning the American dream of manifest destiny. He now hears approaching people. “From the ground / Comes up the laugh of children, the soft voice / Of maidens, and the sweet and solemn hymn / Of Sabbath worshippers (Bryant 116-118).” Now a fresh wind breaks his dream and he finds himself alone in the
This is another poem that links Whitman to the Romantics. The "birth of the poet" genre was of particular importance to Wordsworth, whose massive Prelude details his artistic coming-of-age in detail. Like Wordsworth, Whitman claims to take his inspiration from nature. Where Wordsworth is inspired by a wordless feeling of awe, though, Whitman finds an opportunity to anthropomorphize, and nature gives him very specific answers to his questions about overarching concepts. Nature is a tabula rasa onto which the poet can project himself. He conquers it, inscribes it. While it may become a part of him that is always present, the fact that it does so seems to be by his permission.
Blake’s use of intense imagery is embodied in his use of figurative language. Blake’s love and connection to nature and animals is reflected in the
Instead of scribbling lofty lyrics and inscrutable stanzas, Longfellow’s poetry is simple, flows with a definite rhyme scheme, and allows anybody to encompass themselves with Longfellow’s visions. Some poems dealing with nature and his visions are "Daylight and Moonlight," "Hymn to the Night," "Daybreak" and "The Rainy Day." Each one describes a different time of day, whether it personifies the wind in "Daybreak" or gives a life lesson about gloomy days in "The Rainy Day." Unlike his contemporaries, Emerson, Poe, and Whitman, his poetry isn’t far-fetched or musty, trying to collapse the mind with theory and philosophy.
This poem resolves to be that in the end it is so powerful, that everything, including nature herself, notices its presence, and then ends with a departure that allows for a complete but terrifying understanding of death and remorse.