How Does Mary Oliver Use Personification In Gold By Lucille Clifton

Mary Oliver’s work turns towards nature as a source of inspiration it has been and describes her sense of wonder that it instills on her. She writes in “when the death comes” as follows: "I want to say: all my life / I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms." Her outlook in life was more focused on the strict role nature played in people’s lives which can be seen in her poems; “the horse”, “the sun”, and “the summer day”- "Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me what is it that you plan to do with your one

The general symbolism relating to nature assumes a common base of knowledge from which symbolism can be built. The poem opens with a description

Whitman takes the idea of using parts of nature as unique symbols and transfers this idea into humanity. More specifically, Whitman is able to go beyond Emerson's idea of nature as a symbol and make humans symbols. Most obvious is the way that Whitman uses himself as a symbol of all of humanity. He sees the ideas of humanity coming from him and states, "Through me many long dumb voices…Through me forbidden voices,"(Whitman Section 24 Line 12 & 20). He says that he is a "kosmos" - or he is a universe,

The scene is first set up through the personification of the sun. The poet uses interesting diction and phrases, such as “dipping” and “geometries” to describe nature. The sun is described with human characteristics, “build[ing]” these “geometries and orchids” and “riding/The last tumultuous avalanche”. It is like an almighty being that is capable of anything, including the controlling of nature. The poet wants to portray nature as a hidden yet powerful force that should not be seen as a simple concept. Contrasts,

The poets use personification to create a message about nature in the poems "Earth is a Living Thing," by Lucille Clifton "Sleeping

“When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” by Walt Whitman is the recollection of a speaker that attended an astronomer’s lecture only to be bored and leaves the room to enjoy the stars without scientific analyzation hindering their natural beauty. On the other hand, “324” by Emily Dickinson demonstrates the role of nature in the speaker’s personal connection to religion and God instead of attending Church and sermons. Although their topics seem so unlike, the poetic devices within them have both similarities and differences. Whitman’s and Dickinson’s poems bear many differences, including structure, meter, and rhyme, while remaining alike in their use of imagery to convey like attitudes towards traditionalism and nature.

Spring reflects a deep communion with the natural world, offering a fresh viewpoint of the commonplace or ordinary things in our world by subverting our expected and accepted views of that object which in turn presents a view that operates from new assumptions. Oliver depicts the natural world as a celebration of wonder and awe, the almost insignificant wonders capturing the true beauty nature beholds.

"'From where I am,' the sun said, 'I can see the Soul of the World.'" (Coelho page #149) This is an example of personification because the sun is speaking to Santiago. I believe the author wrote this to show that only something as large, powerful, and far away as the sun is capable of seeing the entire Soul of the World.

Metaphor- "My toes are fish." (Pg. 7) The use of this metaphor helps the reader to understand the childlike wonder of seeing your toes dance in the water. Imagery- "The room presses in hot and heavy the way it does when you wake up from a nap in the afternoon sun."

Furthermore, this poem heavily uses a mixture of literal and figurative imagery. One of my favourite examples of imagery in this poem was “hands reaching out / fists raising up / banners unfurling / megaphones booming” (Jetñil-Kijiner 62-65). This quote allows the reader to imagine the protests and the movements that people are trying to do in order to save the planet. That was a case of extremely powerful and inspiring literal imagery as it shows people’s fight for change. This is an example of people who are fighting to save the planet for not only the current generation but for future generations as well. There are also several examples of figurative imagery, the most prominent is personification. An example of personification is “they say [the lagoon] will gnaw at the shoreline / chew at the roots of your breadfruit trees / gulp down rows of your seawalls / and crunch your island’s shattered bones” (12-15). In this example, it is talking about the repercussions of climate change and what the future will look like if people do not change. The use of personification helps the reader understand the awful things that can

Lucille Clifton, Mary Oliver, and Pat Mora use personification to create a message about nature in the poems "the earth is a living thing," "Sleeping in the Forest," and "Gold". In the poem "the earth is a living thing" Lucille Clifton uses the quote "is a favorite child", to explain that she says that nature is an extraordinary place. The poem "Sleeping in the Forest" states the quote "she took me back so tenderly". The quote sends a message, that nature is always welcoming. Last but not least, Pat Mora uses personification by writing the quote, "When the sun paints the desert with its gold".

Throughout the poem, the speaker uses multiple images and personifies parts of her body to emphasize and further explain certain feelings that are experienced after experiencing

There is plenty of figurative language in this poem, which adds to the poem’s richness. There are several metaphors: “loaded gun” (which I think is a metaphor for life), “Vesuvian face” (volcano), and “Yellow eye” (which I am not sure about), “Yellow Eye” and “emphatic Thumb,” which stand for some kind of weapon. Personification is

Nature has an undefinable meaning as the theme is utilised in literature, and it has been a topic of reflection within the Romanticists since the beginning of the era. Romanticism and nature and inextricably linked ideas. Poets; Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman wrote during the romantic era, and both drew heavily from aspects of nature in their work. Nature can be paralleled against several things, including humanity and the idea of life and death. The contrast between the natural world and the artificial world, and what this means for society, is also strongly eluded to in Dickinson and Whitman’s poems. Each poet uses nature as the backbone to their poetry in several instances. Dickinson’s, “Hope is the Thing with Feathers”, (Dickinson, 19) and “My Life Has Stood A Loaded Gun”, (Dickinson, 69) are strong examples of this. Whitman’s, “Song of Myself”, (Whitman, 29) and, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”, (Whitman, 255) are also poems that show the connection between nature and romanticism. Poets, Dickinson and Whitman engage with romanticism in a creative and constructive manner through the utilisation of the natural world.

T.S. Elliot and John Donne use paradox and personification in their poems. A paradox is a statement that seems to be false but upon further examination proves to be true. Personification is the action giving a nonhuman object or idea human characteristics. The use of a paradox in the poem “The Hollow Men” by T.S. Elliot helps convey the mood of the poem by communicating to the reader a more profound meaning. The use of literary device in “Death Be Not Proud” by John Donne also helps express the mood of the poem. It does so through the use of a literary personification. In poetry, paradox and personification can be used to convey the mood of a poem.