The Way Nature is Presented in Pre-1914 and Post-1914 Poetry

1907 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Victorian age poetry research paper

The Way Nature is Presented in Pre-1914 and Post-1914 Poetry The two pre- 1914 poems which I will be studying within this piece are John Clare's 'Sonnet' and Alfred Tennyson's, 'The Eagle'. The two post 1914 poems are 'Storm on the Island'by Seamus Heaney and 'The Field Mouse' by Gillian Clarke. We all have our personal views upon nature which cannot be defined as right or wrong opinions. They are simply how we humans have chosen to interpret the life and natural forces around us- badly or complimentary they vary depending on our experiences with them or through how we consider the world and its creations. Two people may see the same object, but think of different things. A tree to one may symbolize shelter or protection whereas to another it may be life and growth. Through the styles, themes, and language use within the four separate nature poems, one is able to discern the true feelings the poet has for their topics. The poets, who wrote the four poems in question, all put forward their personal views upon the aspect(s) of nature which their pieces are themed around. In Seamus Heaney's poem, 'Storm on the Island', the theme is implied simply in the title. Heaney's poem explores the effects a storm has upon island dwellers where there is no natural shelter. He relates how weak and defenseless we humans are compared to these natural happenings. The way in which we are forced to shelter and protect ourselves from this 'nothing' which has the power and might to change everything in our lives. The unmistakable sense of people's fear of nature's fury is shown throughout the poem. Human and Nature seem to be at war with each othe... ... middle of paper ... ...selves from the deadly bombings in world war two. The innocence of the way humans had viewed the world and nature pre 1914 seems to have gone and instead we see the wrong in the world not just the right and the goodness of it as portrayed in the Sonnet and Eagle. Nature is first presented as great- amazing, beautiful- awe inspiring but then a catastrophe occurs and our sight is tinted to see nature as the tyranny, the barbarian- but then also the oppressed and the meek. Put them all together and nature suddenly from just 4 points of view collaborated, is everything- great- but vulnerable, demonic but beautiful, the monster but also the peace bringer. Nature is presented as everything- from the regal eagle to the smallest mouse to the storm- to the sun. We cannot live with nature, but we cannot live without it either.

Show More
Related

  • Disillusionment Era Vs Progressive Era

    497 Words  | 1 Pages

    With this in mind, the era of disillusionment after World War I is completely different from the Progressive period before it. People

    Read More

  • Mr Birling Analysis

    1580 Words  | 4 Pages

    As the audience knows, Mr Birling’s prediction of “peace and prosperity and rapid progress” could not contradict further the reality of the 40 years following 1912. These “silly little war scares” Mr Birling

    Read More

  • Nature and Love in the Poetry of Dafydd ap Gwilym

    2355 Words  | 5 Pages

    Dafydd ap Gwilym has been acclaimed as the greatest poet of the Welsh language. As Rachel Bromwhich commented, Dafydd’s life "coincided miraculously in both time and place with an unprecedented opportunity to mate the new with the old" (Brom 112). Perhaps "mate" is a more appropriate choice of words here than Rachel intended. As his poetry depicts, Dafydd tried to mate a great many things in his time; the man is immortalized as a ball of raging hormones. A self-proclaimed "Ovid’s man," Dafydd took pleasure in identifying himself with the authoritative source of courtly love, a fresh trend in Wales during his life (Summer 29). Love, specifically courtly love, was among the new themes Dafydd merged with the traditional themes like nature. Even the ancient topic of nature, under Dafydd’s molding, took on new forms. Dafydd personified elements of nature to be his trusted messengers in poems such as "The Seagull." In the "Holly Grove," nature is subtly described as a fortress or protector of sorts. Variations of these elements of secret, protected, and secluded love mesh with images of nature throughout Dafydd’s poetry. However, nature seems to be much more than a confidant or mere factor in his search for love; Dafydd’s poems such as "Secret Love" suggest that nature is essential in this endeavor. Though Dafydd’s attempts at love are not limited to the natural realm, poems such as "Trouble in a Tavern" make it evident that only in the natural setting is Dafydd a successful lover.

    Read More

  • The Fire Side Poets from the Romantic Period of Literature Appreciate Nature

    585 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Romantic period in American Literature dates from 1800-1860. It was a time where people were trying to find a distinctive voice. The Romantic period included letters, poems, essays, books, and art. Most of the authors focused on feelings, which is why it's called the “Romantic” period. The authors can be put into four different groups, The fire side poets, The Transcendentalist, American Gothic, and The Early Romantics.

    Read More

  • How are differing attitudes to war expressed in the poetry of WWI

    1250 Words  | 3 Pages

    are not free in service, you do what you are told and this is the same

    Read More

  • Historical Poems

    687 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the time period of the emancipation proclamation multiple black authors were becoming educated enough to write works of poetry. Such works have influenced and persuaded the minds of white people all over America to this very day. It also gave their own people a work of art to turn to for their own history. The poets have ventured into modern day eras also, and still have the same topics at hand. The main idea of these poetry pieces was on their ancestors in Africa but also of course of the modern problem of slavery. Langston Hughes was the first influential black poet. Lucille Clifton and Colleen McElroy are modern poets but is a black woman who has other views on slavery but also very similar looks on their historical past. All of the poets all mentioned their historical background in Africa. Langston Hughes, Lucille Clifton, and Colleen McElroy all wrote about their ancestors and of slavery, and some of the same references were of the rivers, and the connection between the people even though they are literally worlds apart; a difference between the poems was the desire for freedom and the freedom that was already existing in the modern day poetry of Lucille Clifton and Colleen McElroy.

    Read More

  • WWI Sources

    1627 Words  | 4 Pages

    Professor Geoff Hayes, “4 August 1914: Slithering Over the Brink, The Origins of the Great War,” Lecture delivered 31 October, 2011, HIST 191, University of Waterloo

    Read More

  • Nature in the Poems: The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop and The Meadow Mouse by Theodore Roethke

    518 Words  | 2 Pages

    Two poems, “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop and “The Meadow Mouse” by Theodore Roethke, include characters who experience, learn, and emote with nature. In Elizabeth Bishop’s poem “The Fish,” a fisherman catches a fish, likely with the intention to kill it, but frees it when he sees the world through the eyes of the fish. In Theodore Roethke’s poem “The Meadow Mouse,” a man finds a meadow mouse with the intention of keeping it and shielding it from nature, but it escapes into the wild. These poems, set in different scenarios, highlight two scenarios where men and women interact with nature and experience it in their own ways.

    Read More

  • The Roaring Twenties in Colorado

    862 Words  | 2 Pages

    When World War I ended, Progressivism ended as well which occurred when much of the world’s problems were being put at rest; thu...

    Read More

  • Romanticism And Nature Essay

    593 Words  | 2 Pages

    The connection between Romanticism and nature was said by Marjorie McAtee, to have strengthened with the idealism of folk cultures and customs. Many romantic artists, writers, and philosophers believed in the natural world as a source of strong emotions and philosophies. The artists and philosophers of the romantic period also accentuated the magnificence and loveliness of nature and the power of the natural world (McAtee, Marjorie, and W. Everett. WiseGeek. Conjecture, 03 Mar. 2014. Web. 05 Apr. 2014.) . Mary Shelly and many other writers like William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge were romantic writers who were apprehensive toward nature, human feelings, compassion for mankind, and rebellious against society. Romanticism, which originated in the 18th century, is something that emphasized motivation as well as imagination (Adjective Clause). In Frankenstein, Shelley cautions that the initiation of science and natural rational searching is not only ineffectual, but unsafe. In endeavoring to discover the mysteries of life, Frankenstein assumes that he ...

    Read More

  • The Spring And The Fall Poem Analysis

    1321 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The Spring and the Fall” is written by Edna St. Vincent Millay. The poem is about two people, the poet and her significant other that she once had love for. The poem integrates the use of spring and fall to show how the poet stresses her relationship. Of course it starts off briefly by having a happy beginning of love, but the relationship soon took a shift for the worst, and there was foreshadow that there would be an unhappy ending. “I walked the road beside my dear. / The trees were black where the bark was wet” (2-3). After the seasons changed, the poet begins to explain why the relationship was dying, and all of the bad things she endured during the relationship. So, to what extend did the poet’s heart become broken, and did she ever

    Read More

  • William Wordsworth and Robert Frost - Views on nature.

    2025 Words  | 5 Pages

    beauty. Until now a meadow or a tree in a forest to me, was little

    Read More

  • The Role of Nature in the poetry of William Wordsworth

    1355 Words  | 3 Pages

    In William Wordsworth’s poems, the role of nature plays a more reassuring and pivotal r ole within them. To Wordsworth’s poetry, interacting with nature represents the forces of the natural world. Throughout the three poems, Resolution and Independence, Tintern Abbey, and Michael, which will be discussed in this essay, nature is seen prominently as an everlasting- individual figure, which gives his audience as well as Wordsworth, himself, a sense of console. In all three poems, Wordsworth views nature and human beings as complementary elements of a sum of a whole, recognizing that humans are a sum of nature. Therefore, looking at the world as a soothing being of which he is a part of, Wordsworth looks at nature and sees the benevolence of the divinity aspects behind them. For Wordsworth, the world itself, in all its glory, can be a place of suffering, which surely occurs within the world; Wordsworth is still comforted with the belief that all things happen by the hands of the divinity and the just and divine order of nature, itself.

    Read More

  • The Theme of Nature in Robert Frost's Poetry

    392 Words  | 1 Pages

    Robert Frost is an amazing poet that many admire today. He is an inspiration to many poets today. His themes and ideas are wonderful and are valued by many. His themes are plentiful however a main one used is the theme of nature. Frost uses nature to express his views as well as to make his poetry interesting and easy to imagine in your mind through the detail he supplies.

    Read More

  • Poetry Of Nature

    919 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about The Way Nature is Presented in Pre-1914 and Post-1914 Poetry

Open Document