The Beauty Of Spring, By Gerard Manley Hopkins

Spring is the season of growth, revival and beginnings. In the poems “Spring and All” by William Carlos Williams and “For Jane Meyers” by Louise Gluck, the poets talk about this very season. In fact, the two poems are contradictory, in that, Williams writes about the bleakness of winter and the awakening of spring. On the other hand, Gluck’s romantic poetry associates the natural renewal of spring with bereavement and death. Both poets use abundant imagery, symbolism, metaphors, different tones, and similes, to affirm their contending attitudes towards the season. Consequently, although the poems are about the same subject, the demeanor of the poets are varied.

John Foulcher writes interesting poetry because he can make the reader see, feel, and think. Summer Rain , demonstrate to the reader that Foulcher’s poetry is not only thought provoking and realistic, but it is also able to capture aspects of society through his unique use of imagery.

In the short story, “Marigolds,” by Eugenia Collier, the theme that is shown through the story is, “Beauty can be found even in the darkest times.” An example of this theme is represented through Lizabeth’s thoughts after she tears apart Miss Lottie’s marigolds. As Miss Lottie looms over Lizabeth, she thinks, “The witch was no longer a witch but only a broken old woman who had dared to create beauty in the midst of ugliness and sterility. She had been born in squalor and lived in it all her life” (Collier 223). This shows Lizabeth’s realization that the “witch” she had known for all her childhood years was simply a woman who wanted to create beauty through her wretched condition.

The poem, “Gospel” by Philip Levine gives a vivid description of what the narrator sees around them. The narrator focuses their description on nature. They make many references to types of plants like lupine and thistles. Throughout the poem, nature can be seen as and abstract creature. Nature is giving and lively. The conflict in the poem is between the speaker and nature. The narrator tries to show how nature can give nice outdoor views and how the earth gives people a place to walk on while people give nothing back to nature. Levine’s speaker uses repetition and comparisons to show how nature is constantly pleading for the narrators attention yet they cannot offer anything to the relationship they have with nature. The poem slowly evolves

William J. Long wrote in his book Outlines of English and American Literature, a book divulging the (then) modern literature of the late 1800s and early 1900s, that Edith Wharton’s works were “a little snobbish: she deals with ‘society,’ and confines herself to that corner of society which complacently regards itself as best. In consequence, there are no wide horizons in her books, which are distinctly of the indoor variety” (Long 570). He also stated that “every novel is marred (or improved, as some think) by analytical details that seldom repay a reader for the lack of action.” (Long 570) The criticisms raised by Long are fallacious, and it’s proved by Wharton’s poem “An Autumn Sunset,” written in 1895. Universality, the daily grind, and the human experience were major facets of American Realism, and, in contrast to Long’s criticisms, were shown in “An Autumn Summer” through its focus on war, its imagery of a commonplace setting, and its melancholic tone.

The carnations in his coat were drooping with the cold, he noticed; their red glory all over. It occurred to him that all the flowers he had seen in the glass cases that first night must have gone the same way, long before this. It was only one splendid breath they had, in spite of their brave mockery at the winter outside the glass; and it was a losing game in the end, it seemed, this revolt against the homilies by which the world is run. Paul took one of the blossoms carefully from his coat and scooped a little hole in the snow, where he covered it up. Then he

In the short story, “All Summer in a Day,” by Ray Bradbury, our protagonist, Margot, gets harassed by her classmates for several reasons. On Venus, there is a 2 hour period every 7 years of constant rain where the sun comes out. Since Margot moved to Venus 5 years ago, she can remember the sun and has full memories of it. Margot is tormented by her classmates, the antagonists, simply because of their jealousy. This emotion empowers the behavior of Margot’s classmates, leading them to regret their actions.

Edward Taylor’s Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children and Upon a Wasp Chilled with Cold are similar in their approach with the illustration of how beautiful and magnificent God’s creations are to humankind. However, each poem presents tragic misfortune, such as the death of his own children in Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children and the cold, enigmatic nature of human soul in Upon a Wasp Chilled with Cold. Taylor’s poems create an element of how cruel reality can be, as well as manifest an errant correlation between earthly life and spiritual salvation, which is how you react to the problems you face on earth determines the salvation that God has in store for you.

The tone of the Planting a Sequoia prose passage is reflectively melancholy. It is not one of pure agonizing sadness, yet there are underling depressing qualities to the author’s words. The purpose of the passage is to describe the death an individual, presumably the first born son of the narrator. The narrator is speaking to the Sequoia that he is planting. Each of the stanzas switch from a mood of death and a mood of life. The “rain blacken[ing] the horizon”, the “dull gray” skies and the “old year coming to an end” all work together to create the melancholy mood. The following stanza switches to a newer and livelier mood, including the celebration of the first son’s birth, earth having more “life to bear”, the description of a “green sapling rising among the twisted apple boughs” and the “promise of new fruit in other autumns”. The “promise of ne fruit” describes the symbolic purpose of the tree. Although a life is lost, there is hope for future “fruit”, or life in the future. The third stanza begins with the

George Gascoigne’s sonnet, “For That He Looked Not upon Her,” portrays a sullen man, hurt by the woman he loved. Through the uses of form, diction, and imagery, the sonnet evokes a complex attitude in each quatrain elaborating on the stages of torment the speaker receives from his ex-lover. By using these literary devices, the speaker portrays the dangers of desire and the conflicts that arise from within it. Gascoigne conveys a solemn and melancholy complex attitude developed throughout the use of such literary devices. The attitude of the speaker, expressed through the form of the sonnet, explains the dangers of gazing at the woman who burned him.

The idea of innocence loss is prominent in the last three stanzas because this is the part of the story where the child begins to understand the world. In order to make this transition, Thomas uses rhetorical situations such as tone and symbolism to convey the shift. In the fourth stanza, Thomas uses the child’s sleeping as a symbolism for the dark coming, meaning the idea of maturity and aging is hinted. This initiation equates the beginning of the world of maturity, and the end of youth. It also involves the loss of innocence, freedom, and purity. The loss of innocence also infers that the child’s unification with nature is no more, since the setting is referred to the Garden of Eden, the child’s ability to create and fantasize is no longer possible. Despite the clear transition where the child is starting to understand the implications of the world outside of his own, he continues to ignore its heavy presence. In the fifth stanza, the child continues to enjoy the paradise of youth, with the author describing his attitude as he “[runs his] heedless ways.” The author describes the child’s reluctant actions by using a rhetorical situation called register. Register helps the language of this poem to give it authenticity, and meaning to the themes. Thomas displays some of his Welch register in the poem, giving the poem a more genuine feel. In stanza five, Thomas uses a phrase “sky

The poem begins with the poet noticing the beauty around her, the fall colors as the sun sets “Their leaves and fruits seemed painted, but was true, / Of green, of red, of yellow, mixed hue;” (5-6). The poet immediately relates the effects of nature’s beauty to her own spiritual beliefs. She wonders that if nature here on Earth is so magnificent, then Heaven must be more wonderful than ever imagined. She then views a stately oak tree and

Both Gerald Manley Hopkins and William Blake explore the conflicts between one’s opinions and the faith which they devoutly believe. The poems The Garden of Love and Hopkins’ Thou Art Indeed Just, Lord each show the persona doubting the philosophical qualms of life surrounding Catholicism and whether spending “life upon thy cause,” is meaningful. As a child, Blake read the Bible to enhance his reading skills, however developed views correlating to the Swedenborgian church which holds the Catholic church’s views without the institutionalised feeling which Blake despised of in Catholicism. The Garden of Love intertwines his beliefs into the poetry, as depicted with the strong imagery between the vibrant childhood memory of the surroundings in comparison to the older man’s views. However,

In the third stanza, the speaker praises the urn for its eternal youth and zeal. "Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu.”(lines 21-22) He admires the trees that cover the lovers for they will not loose their leaves over the changing seasons. For this he it seems is grateful and feels happy. Moreover, the use of word spring is of key importance for spring signifies the start of a new seasonal cycle of

Bridging the distance between nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poetry is of great significance. As often the case with innovators and artists who are ahead of their times, Gerard Manley Hopkins was torn by contradictions and his poems regarded as unconventional for the historical period. His works are specifically marked by the varied use of linguistic features and rhythmic patterns which did not match the traditional writing styles of the