As can be seen in the image, humanity and human individuals attempts to search for comfort and fulfillment in different landscapes. In Gwen Harwood’s At Mornington, the author represents the place that nature and landscapes have within humanity’s search for satisfaction and the perpetual nature of the environment around us. Harwood employs form, structure, the perspective shifts and her choice of language within her representation to augment this relationship, with the consistent interweaving of past and present creating juxtapositions between the constant of the environment and the ever-changing nature of human life, Humanity seeks to find meaning in the transience of life, and Harwood illustrates this concept through examining the persistence …show more content…
In the first stanza’s, the narrator’s voice and perspective is more collective and unreliable, as in “they told me”, but nonetheless the references to the “sea’s edge” and “sea-wet shell” remain constant. Later on the poem, this voice matures, as the “cadence of the trees” and the “quick of autumn grasses” symbolize the continuum of life and death, highlighting to the reader the inevitable cycle of time. The relationship that Harwood has between the landscape and her memories allows for her to delve deeper into her own life and access these thoughts, describing the singular moments of human activity and our cultural values that imbue themselves into landscapes. In the poem’s final stanza, the link back to the narrator lying “secure in her father’s arms” similar to the initial memory gives the poem a similar cyclical structure, as Harwood in her moment of death finds comfort in these memories of nature. The water motif reemerges in the poem’s final lines, as “peace of this day will shine/like light on the face of the waters.” as in her final moments the narrator recalls her earliest connection to the landscape. A key theme throughout the poem is the importance of embracing nature, emphasized by the metaphor of the “fine pumpkins grown on a trellis” which rise in towards the “fastness of light”, which symbolizes the narrators own growth, flourishing as a fruit of the earth. Through her metaphors and complex conflagration of shifting perspectives, Harwood illustrates the relationship that people can develop with landscapes, seeing both present and past in
In this passage, Harjo describes the values of nature with its comparison to alive poems that reveals their contributions to our lives and ability to know much of life. The word nature applies to all features and products that naturally exist on Earth, excluding humans. Nature is the foundation of everything that surrounds our world where it provides the resources we live by, so we need to learn to respect nature. Moreover, Harjo also indicates the importance of respecting and cherishing nature as she reminds us to, "Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their/ tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them, / listen to them.
“An Entrance to the Woods” is an essay by Wendell Berry about the serenity and importance of nature in his life. In this essay, the author uses tone shifts from dark to light to convey his idea of finding rebirth and rejuvenation through nature. In the beginning of the essay, Berry has left civilization for the first time in a while, and finds himself missing human company and feeling “inexplicably sad” (671). This feeling of sadness is in part from the woods itself, and partly due to Berry leaving the hustle and bustle of normal life in the cities, and the violent change from constant noise to silence causes him to feel lonely in the woods. As a result of feeling alone in the woods, the tone of the essay is dark and brooding, as seen through Berry’s somber diction and mood, as seen on page 671: “And then a heavy feeling of melancholy and lonesomeness comes over me.
The theme of gardening is very prominent throughout the poem, and is also very symbolic. Gardening structures the entirety of the poem, by using symbolism and metaphors to convey to the reader the connections between
Contrasting images are used between the beginning and end of the poem. At first, the speaker is described as standing on a “wide strip of the Mississippi beach,” (Trethewey l. 2) while her grandmother is standing on a “narrow plot of sand.” It symbolizes the freedom the speaker now compared to the confinement and limited opportunities her grandmother experienced. Natasha Trethewey uses mood, symbolism, and
He could imagine his deception of this town “nestled in a paper landscape,” (Collins 534). This image of the speaker shows the first sign of his delusional ideas of the people in his town. Collins create a connection between the speaker’s teacher teaching life and retired life in lines five and six of the poem. These connections are “ chalk dust flurrying down in winter, nights dark as a blackboard,” which compares images that the readers can picture.
It forces us to rethink or relationship with the natural world, as well as the inevitable mortality we as living beings must deal with. By describing Jane’s physical and emotional characteristics as aspects of nature, it reminds us of the connection we have with nature. That every soul has something to contribute to the world, no matter how unnoticeable we may think it is. Through the clever and thorough use of a number of literary devices and rhyme scheme, the overall form and meter of the poem allows us to imagine the life of Jane and the impact she had on those around
In his poem Ozymandias, Percy Shelly contrasts the enduring power of nature against mankind’s’ waning fame, thus romanticizing nature’s omnipotent influence. The speaker recounts the story of a traveler’s recollection of a shattered monument, once revered, strewn across the desert of an ancient land. While the monument was erected in reverence to reflect upon the mighty power of a man’s grand works, its ruins and decay of the man’s creation note the futility of mankind. Nature, however, is an everlasting sacred force, capable of withstanding any obstacle, ideals that emphasizes Shelly’s romantic perspective. Shelley’s admiration of nature becomes evident in the speaker’s and traveler’s tone of adoration.
‘Mid-Term Break’ and ‘Death of a Naturalist’ are two of Heaney’s poems that express the motif of death and other changes through reflection. ‘Mid-Term Break’ is a poem that highlights a distressing event in the early years of his life, the death of his brother. The poem explores the emotional aspect of the lead up and impact of the experience on him and his parents. The poem highlights the briefness of life and that there is ultimately an end. Focusing on the importance of cherishing every moment with loved ones.
Nature is easily projected onto, as it allows for a sense of peacefulness and escapism. Due to its ability to evoke an emotional reaction from the masses, many writers have glorified it through various methods, including describing its endless beauty and utilizing it as a symbol for spirituality. Along with authors, artists also show great respect and admiration for nature through paintings of grandiose landscapes. These tributes disseminate a fixed interpretation of the natural world, one full of meaning and other worldly connections. In “Against Nature,” Joyce Carol Oates strips away this guise given to the environment and replaces it with a harsher reality.
There are many differences and similarities of the Renaissance era and the Romantic era that can be illustrated through the Renaissance poem, “The Flea” by John Donne and the Romantic poem, “Ode: Intimations of Immortality.” The Renaissance way of writing originated in Florence, Italy in the Fourteenth century then spread to the rest of Europe. This way of writing was influenced by literature, philosophy, art, religion, and music that focused on realism and human emotion that was realistic. Realism is the movement or style of representing familiar things as they are.
Justin Matthews Mrs. Martens IB English III 20 November 2014 Nature as a Motif in Literature Nature plays a large role in literature, often symbolically or literally. The use of nature depends often on the literary time period in which it was written. In the modernist poem, “Out, Out-“, by Robert Frost, as well as the modernist short story “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, nature plays a similar role. Aspects of the natural world play as a significant motif, mirroring what happens in the less natural human world, in order to convey senses of events that are not gotten from the description of human actions and interactions alone.
God is always with us as an eternal presence felt by us - a message present in ‘The Explorer’, a poem by Rudyard Kipling. The poem tells story of a man discovering new land for the Queen and uncovering a Pass hidden in a mountain. However, I think that beyond the surface, the poem is ultimately about the everlasting presence of God. Other than the presence of God being the main theme/message of the poem, another message that is present in the poem is stepping out of your comfort zone. The phrases ‘There is no sense in going further - it is the edge of cultivation’ and ‘Behind the Ranges’ make the theme of stepping out of your comfort zone all the more comprehensible.
For most people nature is viewed as a place of serenity and peace. The restorative power of nature comforts us. As Queen Elizabeth took the throne and Christianity spread, most Elizabethan’s saw nature as God’s creation that was beautiful and peaceful, a place for rest, relaxation, and renewal. In The Spanish Tragedy, Hieronimo cultivates a beautiful garden as a safe haven; in Hamlet, Old Hamlet retreats to his orchard to take peaceful naps; and in Titus Andronicus, the royal court goes on a hunt in nature for relaxation and sport. To the Elizabethan’s, nature would be seen as a positive force for entertainment, rest, and renewal.
Sara Teasdale was an American born lyrical poet whose work focused on expressing a woman’s changing perspective on beauty, love, life, and death during the time of the Gilded Age in America. Many of her works were thought to portray her own perspective on said topics. Later in life, Teasdale struggled with her mental health and, as a result of this, depression eventually caused her to take her own life at forty-nine years old (“Sara Teasdale”). Teasdale’s bleak view of her own life during her later years is mirrored in “Barter” as the speaker expresses clear feelings of regret; as described in the poem, the speaker believes that she herself has not lived her life to the full extent.
Longfellow depicts nature in as caliginous and eerie. At the same time, the poem narrates about how nature is perpetual and everlasting. Human life, on the other hand, is ephemeral and terminating. We need nature to subsist, but she doesn’t need us. The dark ambience bestowed in this poem, may metaphorically suggest that the present setting may signify death and the final boundary of human existence.