Humanity has forgotten nature. The majority of people, pampered by the technological advancements that have been created in such a short time, would prefer the image of nature to the real thing. Ask one to describe a forest, and you will receive little more than a phrase mentioning trees. Yet, we there is so much more. What of the scents or the sounds? Perhaps most importantly, what about the feelings that come with standing alone in a land that we once shared and now have taken over? Poets everywhere have tried to remind us of the core nature of man, but few do so in such a capable manner as the Imagist poets of the early 1900s. In H.D.’s “Oread” and “The Pool”, the author juxtaposes various aspects of nature to demonstrate an intense link
The Search for Freedom in Haiti There is no hope for true freedom for the Haitian people as their society exists today. Haiti came to national attention in the 1990s, primarily for the suffering of its people. However, news clips do not tell a complete story. As a result, an author by the name of Edwidge Danticat set out to document life in Haiti through a collection of short stories, capturing the breadth of experience of the Haitian people as they survive under an oppressive regime. Krik?
In nature, someone can hear the sounds of a creek flowing and birds chirping and insects buzzing; in civilization, someone can hear engines roaring, people chattering, and buildings being built. In nature, one feels happiness and contentment; in civilization, one feels guilt and misery and sorrow. These simplicities of nature are what appeals to William Cullen Bryant in the poem ‘Inscription for the Entrance to a Wood’. The poem tells the reader that nature is a happier place than civilization and that nature gives one the answers to their existence and problems of life that civilization created. Civilization is ugly and corrupt while nature is beauty and tranquility.
Perceptions of the natural world have fluctuated throughout humanity’s short time on this earth, going in and out of style as societies and technologies have grown and died. As is the the very nature of literature itself, literature and its authors have managed to capture these shifting views, expressed and illustrated by the art of written word. Naturally, the literature chosen for us to read based on this fluid theme of nature encompasses an array of perspectives. One of these views is that nature is sublime and above all else, a reflection of all that which is perfection. Another is that nature is cold, uncaring, and indifferent to the vanities of humanity.
Nature and humanity are innately intertwined, and their differences only amplify their connection. Judith Wright’s poems ‘Brothers and Sisters’ and ‘Flame Tree in a Quarry’ unravel the wonder of nature and its correspondence with humanity’s attitudes at various stages of its interaction with the landscape. Meanwhile, the album cover of ‘River of Dreams’ by Billy Joel explores society and the landscape’s common origins, and powerful potential for action that morphs with time, into new values and behaviours. All texts acknowledge the embedded shared values susceptible to resculpting, which continually carve the framework for a closer, more interlinked relationship between humankind and the landscape.
When thinking about nature, Hans Christian Andersen wrote, “Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” John Muir and William Wordsworth both expressed through their writings that nature brought them great joy and satisfaction, as it did Andersen. Each author’s text conveyed very similar messages and represented similar experiences but, the writing style and wording used were significantly different. Wordsworth and Muir express their positive and emotional relationships with nature using diction and imagery.
From the lone hiker on the Appalachian Trail to the environmental lobby groups in Washington D.C., nature evokes strong feelings in each and every one of us. We often struggle with and are ultimately shaped by our relationship with nature. The relationship we forge with nature reflects our fundamental beliefs about ourselves and the world around us. The works of timeless authors, including Henry David Thoreau and Annie Dillard, are centered around their relationship to nature.
Despite the fact that Creon from Sophocles and Pentheus from Ovid’s Metamorphoses rule in very different time periods, their tactics of leading their people are very similar. Both characters possess analogous flaws during their reigns that make them ineffective leaders in Thebes. It’s their arrogance, authoritarian nature, and inability to transform in a timely manner that make figures such as Creon and Pentheus have unsuccessful rulings in Thebes. Creon and Pentheus both share a parallel fate due to their choice to not listen to Tiresias the prophet and disrespecting the Gods’ will. Their inability to listen leads to their demise and forces both characters to attempt to transform in order to save their reign from failure. Their ability to show their authorization by making examples of other characters such as Antigone, and Acoetes is the reason why they are disliked among their people. It is remarkable to see both characters have the ability to transform throughout the text, however it is their flaw of not transforming in a timely manner that causes their regime to fail. Their inability to listen to the same prophet Tiresias is what cause both characters to have such an ineffective reign and lead them straight to their demise. Creon and Pentheus’ arrogance, authoritarian nature, and inability to transform in a timely manner are what not only cause
Although I think Goethe's relationship to nature is undeniable, perhaps his "appropriation" of nature is less clear. I think the term "appropriation" is the cause of the problem in identifying his true relationship to nature. In our presentation we presented examples of the appropriation of nature through Romantic literature. The most direct example of this was in Anne's detailed description of English landscape gardening where nature was physically appropriated to create the picturesque. Here we can see the distinction between any concept of Goethe's appropriation of nature and the real and physical appropriation by English landscapers.
Authors’ Steven Crane and Jack London are known for their stories using naturalism, the struggle between man and nature. Naturalism is like realism, but it explores the forces of nature, heredity, and the environment on human beings, who are faced with the forces of nature. Both “The Open Boat” and “To Build a Fire” demonstrate how inferior and small humans’ really are to nature. Humans cannot control nature or determine its outcome. In both stories nature is the antagonist constantly challenging the humans’ ability to survive. I chose the topic over naturalistic elements because I enjoyed reading these stories. Both stories have a strong since of naturalism in it and both authors’ are known for naturalistic features existing in their writings. In this paper I will give you more of an insight to what naturalism is and what naturalistic elements are present in the two stories listed above.
To what extent does the presence of nature impact the poems in “Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair”? Within “twenty love poems and a song of despair” written by poet Pablo Neruda, nature seems to be used as a device to put across the meaning of the poems to the audience through conventions such as metaphors, personification, pathetic fallacy and many others that will be discussed below. The use of nature as a big theme throughout the poems can be linked back to Neruda’s life. It is widely known that Neruda travelled to many countries for various reasons and whilst there, he enjoyed visiting many of the locations that were nature based including the sea, the mountains and the fields.
Nature is often a focal point for many author’s works, whether it is expressed through lyrics, short stories, or poetry. Authors are given a cornucopia of pictures and descriptions of nature’s splendor that they can reproduce through words. It is because of this that more often than not a reader is faced with multiple approaches and descriptions to the way nature is portrayed. Some authors tend to look at nature from a deeper and personal observation as in William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, while other authors tend to focus on a more religious beauty within nature as show in Gerard Manley Hopkins “Pied Beauty”, suggesting to the reader that while to each their own there is always a beauty to be found in nature and nature’s beauty can be uplifting for the human spirit both on a visual and spiritual level.
Nature inspires Wordsworth poetically. Nature gives a landscape of seclusion that implies a deepening of the mood of seclusion in Wordsworth's mind.
Through the ingenious works of poetry the role of nature has imprinted the 18th and 19th century with a mark of significance. The common terminology ‘nature’ has been reflected by our greatest poets in different meanings and understanding; Alexander Pope believed in reason and moderation, whereas Blake and Wordsworth embraced passion and imagination.
Ecocriticism asserts that humans are “peoples of 'place'” (Bressler 231), our lives defined by the environment that we inhabit and the necessities of survival that are dictated by nature. The more we recognize this innate and deep connection—for example, through the reading and analyzing of the nature-human dynamic in literature—the stronger and healthier this relationship will become. We as humans will recognize our dependence on the earth instead of our dominance over it; we will recognize ourselves as “guardians” and learn how to better appreciate and protect the environment for future generations of authors and poets to continue to explore.
Many poets are inspired by the impressive persona that exists in nature to influence their style of poetry. The awesome power of nature can bring about thought and provoke certain feelings the poet has towards the natural surroundings.