E.J. Pratt: Themes and Settings in “NewFoundland” and “Ice Floes”
E.J. Pratt is a poet who is especially well known for his narrative poems, which are in the nature of epic tales that are told about man’s battle with nature, and his experiences at sea and other Canadian stories [Froesce, n.d.]. His poems may be divided into two categories, the longer epic narrative poems which have drawn more public attention and the shorter variety. The poem “Ice floes” is an example of the former, while the poem “Newfoundland” is an example of the latter. The poem “Ice Floes” details the experiences of several men who are battling the frozen waters of the arctic in the pursuit of seals, but as they are busy skinning and scalping the seals, the fury of a storm ravages the area. The poem ”Newfoundland” is also about the sea, a descriptive poem that touches upon the tides and the weeds, the winds and the crag. Therefore, both these poems essentially deal with the theme of the sea and its constituents. There are other similar themes explored in these two poems, of which the fury of the wind and the power of the sea are the predominant ones.
Analysis of themes:
According to Sutherland (1972), Pratt’s shorter poetry “has limitations that become most apparent when he abandons narrative for a shorter form “(p 27). But the universal theme resounds through both kinds of Pratt’s poetry. The very absence of distinctive characters in his poems and the focus on the elements of nature – in the case of these two poems, the sea- expresses the power and strength of the elements of nature and its universality within the scheme of life. Pratt’s poems have been criticized as being too impersonal and detached [Froese, n.d.] but the absence of strong, human individuals or the personification of humans in the general “we” as in “Ice Floes” is because Pratt “appears to view the universe as rationally ordered” [Davey, pp 65]. In both the works, Pratt depicts the theme of the superiority of the sea and the insignificance of man as compared to it. The very objectivity and impersonal nature employed in the poems serves to enhance the vast strength and superiority of the sea as a rationally ordered part of nature.
The theme of the insignificance of man versus the fury of the sea is a recurring theme in both poems.
poem compares the fear of the sea to everyday hardships of every human being. The key to this
The characterization of nature is detrimental in shift of 20th century modernist writing to impressionist truths of Canadian landscapes. Al Purdy and Archibald Lampman were two significant Canadian writers who both possessed similar impressionist ideals on Canada’s nature. Both Purdy’s “Trees of the Arctic Circle” and Lampman’s “Heat” display not only negative judgments on Canadian landscape but demonstrate a shift from a frustrated outlook to an appreciative perception on nature.
The juxtaposition of the Titanic and the environment in the first five stanzas symbolizes the opposition between man and nature, suggesting that nature overcomes man. The speaker characterizes the sea as being “deep from human vanity” (2) and deep from the “Pride of Life that planned” the Titanic. The diction of “human vanity” (2) suggests that the sea is incorruptible by men and then the speaker’s juxtaposition of vanity with “the
Some of the most intriguing stories of today are about people’s adventures at sea and the thrill and treachery of living through its perilous storms and disasters. Two very popular selections about the sea and its terrors are The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger and “The Wreck of the Hesperus” by Henry Longfellow. Comparison between the two works determines that “The Wreck of the Hesperus” tells a more powerful sea-disaster story for several different reasons. The poem is more descriptive and suspenseful than The Perfect Storm, and it also plays on a very powerful tool to captivate the reader’s emotion. These key aspects combine to give the reader something tangible that allows them to relate to the story being told and affects them strongly.
The poems “Sea Rose” by H.D and “Vague Poem” by Elizabeth Bishop were both written by two women who took over the Victorian era. H.D’s works of writing were best known as experimental reflecting the themes of feminism and modernism from 1911-1961. While Bishop’s works possessed themes of longing to belong and grief. Both poems use imagery, which helps to make the poem more concrete for the reader. Using imagery helps to paint a picture with specific images, so we can understand it better and analyze it more. The poems “Sea Rose” and “Vague Poem” both use the metaphor of a rose to represent something that can harm you, even though it has beauty.
Ferguson, Margaret W., Salter, Mary J., and Stallworthy, Jon. The Norton Anthology of Poetry. fifth ed. N.p.: W.W. Norton, 2005. 2120-2121. 2 Print.
...ing the Boats: New and Selected Poems, 1998-2000. Comp. Clifton. Rochester: BOA Editions, 2000. 20. Print.
Second of all, in the poem “Lake Isle of Innisfree”, the reader sometimes fails to understand what is really happening. “I will arise and go now, for always night and day I hear lake water...
With fewer than fifty published poems Elizabeth Bishop is not one of the most prominent poets of our time. She is however well known for her use of imagery and her ability to convey the narrator?s emotions to the reader. In her vividly visual poem 'The Fish', the reader is exposed to a story wherein the use of language not only draws the reader into the story but causes the images to transcend the written work. In the poem, Bishop makes use of numerous literary devices such as similes, adjectives, and descriptive language. All of these devices culminate in the reader experiencing a precise and detailed mental image of the poem's setting and happenings.
Although the imagery in each poem is distinct, the similarity of message in both poems is evident. The poems are similar in that the narrator’s lives are empty and contain no passion for pursuing anything. The ideas reflected in these poems are seen even today, in such things as listless living and job-related apathy. Both poems suggest that a life where dreams of meaningless things are pursued will end without purpose or significance.
...eats as well, when he refers to “…the shore of the wide world…” it symbolizes the world of his experiences, which he ponders on. It is only by deeper inspection of these symbols can a clear idea of what the poets are expressing be understood. By comparing both these poems, it is evident that although death is the focus of both these poems, Tichborne has accepted it, while Keats fears it, but has found a way to resolve his fears.
“The Fish,” written by Elizabeth Bishop in 1946, is perhaps most known for its incredible use of imagery, but this analysis does not merely focus on imagery. Instead, it is based on a quote by Mark Doty from his essay “A Tremendous Fish.” In it he says, “‘The Fish’” is a carefully rendered model of an engaged mind at work” (Doty). After reading this statement, it causes one to reflect more in-depth about how the poem was written, and not just about what its literal meaning lays out. In “The Fish,” Bishop’s utilization of certain similes, imagery in the last few lines, narrative poem style, and use of punctuation allows the audience to transport into the life of the fish; therefore, allowing them to understand Bishop’s ideas on freedom and wisdom.
In D.M.R. Bentley’s essay The Mower and the Boneless Acrobat, Bentley discusses the two orientations of Canadian poetry as mentioned in the introduction to this essay, baseland and hinterland. Bentley’s describes baseland poetry as, “… a tendency towards
"Prose and Verse Criticism of Poetry." Representative Poetry On-line: Version 3.0. Ed. D. F. Theall. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2009. .
“The Snow Man,” by Wallace Stevens, dramatizes a metaphorical “mind of winter”, and introduces the idea that one must have a certain mindset in order to correctly perceive reality. The poet, or rather the Snow Man, is an interpreter of simple and ordinary things; “A cold wind, without interpretation, has no misery” (Poetry Genius). Through the use of imageries and metaphors relating to both wintery landscapes and the Snow Man itself, Stevens illustrates different ideas of human objectivity and the abstract concept of true nothingness. Looking through the eyes of the Snow Man, the readers are given an opportunity to perceive a reality that is free from objectivity; The Snow Man makes it clear that winter can possess qualities of beauty and also emptiness: both “natural wonder, and human misery”. He implies that winter can also be nothing at all: “just a bunch of solid water, dormant plants, and moving air.” (The Wondering Minstrels). “One must