Abstract This paper examines the poet's writing styles and shows how we are so accustomed to thinking of William Wordsworth as the quintessential Romantic poet ? a man in love with the idea of a simple life lived close to nature ? that we are apt to overlook the fact that his relationship with nature is in fact a somewhat ambivalent one, or at least a complex one.
From the Paper "While Wordsworth will always be known for the clarity and undiluted Romanticism of "Tintern Abbey", to assume that his stance vis-?-vis nature in this poem constitutes an adequate description of all of his connections to and understandings of the external world does him a disservice. To do so would be to equate his passion for the natural world and the necessity of direct human connection to nature for a simple-minded sort of tendency to ramble on about beauty. Rather, if we look beyond "Tintern Abbey" to the whole body of his work, we came to a fuller understanding of the ways in which he embraced the human as well as the natural world around him. "St. Paul"s?, a poem that Wordsworth penned in 1808 but never published, is an excellent instrument to use through which to discover the complex worldview of this poet."
Abstract An argumentative paper about romantic poets. The author argues that romantic poets were not prophets as most view them to be but rather writers who desired to share their passion and appreciation of nature with their readers. A look at the works of William Wordsworth and John Keats.
From the Paper "The Romantic Period is characterized by a poet's fascination and harmony with the natural world. Lines upon lines were devoted to the description, exultation, and mystery of nature, yet the readers of the third millennium occasionally view Romantic poetry as pretentious and capricious. While only a handful of Romantic poets believed themselves to be prophets, others like Wordsworth proclaimed themselves voices ?of the common man.? Their intention was not to serve a higher power through their works of poetry, but instead they chose to describe natural beauty to an audience who might not have discovered the beauty for themselves. We can see through William Wordsworth and John Keats that most of the Romantics were not interested in being modern prophets; rather, they were merely sharing their passion for nature."
This paper discusses the work of contemporary poet Marvin Bell, the author of numerous books on poetry, winner of many prestigious awards and the first Poet Laureate of Iowa.
Abstract This paper explains that the poetry of Marvin Bell questions existential aspects of life, which are often taken for granted such as relationships, nature and the concepts of who and what a person is. The author points out that a central characteristic of Bell's work is the use of comparatively simple and colloquial forms of speech and word usage including nature imagery, which refers to everyday sights and sounds. The paper relates that, in his work, Bell stresses his need to "express the inexpressible" as the process he uses in his writings.
From the Paper "What the poem does is it make us realize the mystery of self in that self cannot be defined or capture in a concrete sense but rather is "beyond words", and is essentially inexpressible. An analysis of the poem reveals that the identity of nature cannot be categorized or captured; just as much as human identity is continually moving and changing. It is this sense of mystery and the sense of the depth of complexity of the self and nature which lies at the heart of much of Bell's poetry."
Abstract This paper discusses the conflict between evolution and religion since the publication of Charles Darwin's work in the mid-nineteenth century. It specifically focuses on the way in which this conflict affected the romantic poets. The paper shows how the romantic poets displayed a sense of physical change in the world, of the evolution of nature and of man over time. It suggests that their perceptions were not identical to Darwin's ideas.
From the Paper "The Romantic poets had some sense of physical change in the world and of the evolution of nature and of man over time, though not in the way that Darwin would describe. Many also had a mystical link with Nature whether more as observers like Wordsworth or as spiritualists like Coleridge. Evolution and religion would conflict more in the next generation, but the Romantic poets found ways to accommodate both at a time when ideas about evolution were only just gaining strength."
Abstract This paper compares the different styles of poetry exhibited by Augustan poets and poets from the "Graveyard School". The paper focuses on Dryden and Swift as examples of Augustan poets and Finch and Gray as examples of poets from the "Graveyard School". The paper looks at the three main qualities of each style of poetry and then uses examples from the poetry to compare and contrast those styles.
From the Paper "Secondly, both Finch and Gray use notions that reflect a Tudor revival. Finch makes a direct reference to Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice when she repeats: "In such a night"? which echoes the same repeated phrase in the night piece that opens act V of The Merchant of Venice, when Jessica and Lorenzo are having a lover's duel talking about tragic love stories. Also, Finch uses nature imagery, like Gray, which was a tactic that Shakespeare was famous for. By using Renaissance-like styles, the two poets suggest a desire for a lost age, one that was more innocent, pure, and free of cynical, experience-obsessed poets like Swift."
Abstract In this article, the writer notes that for many poetsnature has always been a source of material and maintains that nature has always played a big part in the inspiration of many writers. The writer points out that inspiration is drawn from the peacefulness, the majesty, the grandeur, or maybe even the violence. Many people never take the time to reach deeper into the poem and explore the lessons contained within it. The writer discusses that because nature is such an inspiration for writers it is only natural that the writers may tend to project their own thoughts and ideas into the nature described in their poems. The writer looks at particular examples in different poems and concludes that poets tend to try to subtly teach their reader a moral lesson within their poems. It may not be at the forefront of the poem, yet under the exterior layers one begins to see the lesson unfold.
From the Paper "Whitman feels that if humans could perhaps be a bit more like animals that many of the world's problems would not be a consideration. We can see that Whitman admires the animals for their lack of dissatisfaction with the problems surrounding them. They simply deal with them and move on; no words of complaint, no attempts to justify or rectify them. Whitman sees much of himself in these animals. He feels more of a kindred-spirit with them than with his fellow man. This can be taken at face value or it can be applied to and looked at in the context of society. Whitman feels that humanity is heading down the wrong path by their actions and feelings. He feels that if we were just a bit more like animals that maybe society would begin to mirror that of nature."
Abstract This paper looks at the three writers of the British Romantic period (roughly 1789-1832)-two poets and one novelist. How each of these writers addressed the concept of nature is examined with a detailed discussion of at least one of their works in this connection. The poets are Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats; the novelist is Jane Austen. In order to appreciate the context within which each considered the concept of nature, a general background of the period in which the Romantic period developed is outlined. Each artist is then considered in turn, before some conclusions are put forward.
From the Paper "The careers of the three writers being examined were at the culmination of the Romantic period. This was in an age which, following on the series of successful wars that had established British power all over the world, was one of the gloomiest in British history. If in some ways the England of 1800-20 was ahead of the rest of Europe, in others it lagged far behind. The Industrial Revolution, which was to turn Britain from a nation of peasants and traders into a nation of manufacturers, had begun; but its chief fruits as yet were increased materialism and greed, and politically the period was one of blackest reaction."
Abstract The urbanization and industrialization of Canada brought with them a rise in the thematic importance of technology in the nation's literature. As the negative consequences of these processes began to be seen very clearly, poets increasingly spoke out against the trend in their imaginative work. Nature is typically cast as a formerly exalted and redeeming entity which technology, the sum of man's scientific 'progress', has sullied. Analysing a number of short poems by Lampman, Pratt, Scott, and Birney, this paper will consider the characterisation of nature and technology which, resoundingly, conforms to the notions expressed above.
Abstract This paper explains that the poetry of Dylan Thomas demands to be read aloud especially his poem "The Force that through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower" in which the Welsh force dominates every syllable and needs to be heard forcefully. The author points out that it is important to remember that Dylan lived during WW I and II and the Cold War; much of his poems seem to have a dark, almost wintry side to them, some of them dealing with the havoc of fire bombs,air raids and the bruised bodies of soldiers and civilians alike. The paper concludes that, although written generations ago, this poem still exerts a magnetism in its few, short lines: Even with all the hi-tech and modern machinery in the 21st century, man is still a slave to nature.
From the Paper "Even in this early youthful poem, there is a rage within the poet- a force that is angry and not at peace with Nature, resenting that factor of growing old, growing apart, having lovers leave and/or die. This can easily be seen in the two-time use of the adjective "crooked": first, the crooked rose, indicating a slow decay, and then the crooked worm, which tends to indicate the worms that invade one's mortal remains, even getting under and through the shroud, the sheet.
Thomas, the poet, mourns a dead lover, and, perhaps to soothe her as well as to be at one with what will happen to him one day, says "How at my sheet goes the same crooked worm." We cannot escape our fate of death and decay. It is all around us. It is an insurmountable force that impels us through life. Yes, we can stop of "smell the roses", but roses die before we do, and then, we await the following spring's revival, only to see the force of nature rob us of the presence and the smell of that new "green" rose, as well. It is in imagery that Thomas is forceful."
This paper discusses and compares Plato's 'Republic', 'Dead Poets Society' and 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest', with a focus on the messages they give out.
Abstract The following paper examines how movies can be even more instructive than more obviously "serious" forms of education because they wrap their messages in linguistic texts that are easier for us to recognize and understand. Plato's Republic, Dead Poets Society and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest each tell us something about the often precarious (and sometimes non-existent) balance between individual rights and desires and the conformity required by society to maintain organization.
From the Paper "It is braver, although in many ways more difficult, to keep trying to change society for decades ? to understand that the fight must be continued for year after year ? than to surrender. The difficulty of the fight in the long run is also the message of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. These inmates, unlike the students, are not in the first blush of youth. They understand that life is a series of the same battle fought over and over, and that those who come closest to winning on at least a personal level are those willing to lose skirmishes and then to return to fight again.
To the extent that the gods have given us the power to be wise, Plato and Socrates would have told us, we must use it to discover the nature of the natural and social worlds. But we must keep always with us ? like a mental Praetorian guard ? a constant reminder that we are limited in what we can and do know. Plato ? and Socrates too, despite his enemies? accusations of impiety ? knew that the wise person is the truly humble person, acceding omniscience, like omnipotence, to the gods alone even as he or she strains to see the world beyond the cave, and then to go forth to do whatever is humanly possible."
Abstract This paper describes the battles between nature and the modern world in William Wordsworth's romantic poem, "The World Is Too Much With Us". It illustrates how Wordsworth's poem effectively shows to the readers how advancement in science and technology has taken its toll on the environment. The paper provides a short biography of the Wordsworth's life in a rustic society in England. It describes his use of the personification emotions in the natural world.
From the Paper "William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was an English poet and writer widely-acclaimed for his literary works during the English Romantic era. Born on April 7, 1770, in Cumberland, England, Wordsworth was born to an affluent family, and grew up in a town that is abundantly rich in natural resources. Cumbersome is an area that is often termed as a ?rustic society,? and having spent his growing up years within its confines, Wordsworth developed a great appreciation of his environment, particularly the natural world that surrounds him."
This paper studies Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay "The Poet" which details the life and role of a poet in society and compares it to Walt Whitman's poem, "Song of Myself".
Abstract This paper studies the life and works and accomplishments of Ralph Waldo Emerson. It studies his essay "The Poet" and describes his idealistic vision of the life of a poet. It also describes the 19th-century artistic and philosophical movement called transcendentalism that he founded. Throughout this paper, the author compares Emerson's ideals to Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself". It also examines Ralph Waldo Emerson's strong influence and effect on American society.
From the Paper "Ralph Waldo Emerson's idealized and mesmerizing description of the role and life of the poet in his essay "The Poet" describes not only the particular calling and obligation of those who choose to follow the poetic muses but also ? because of Emerson's own influence on the writings of Americans who followed him ? proved to be a strongly proscriptive piece of advice for other poets and writers in the decades after Emerson helped to found the 19th-century artistic and philosophical movement called Transcendentalism. The Transcendentalists defined themselves by their belief in a highly idealistic and fundamentally coherent system of belief in the essential unity of all things on earth ? the connection of each thing to its neighbor ? as well as a belief in the absolute importance of personal experience and insight (as opposed to knowledge and beliefs gained through formal logic and formal education) and the essential goodness of humanity."
Abstract This essay discusses how Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "Mother and Poet" blurs the binarism of the domestic custodian and the public crusader. The very title itself blurs the boundaries between the two roles, because both of them intersect along certain lines. Each role needs the other to be effective. Isolated, each role becomes rooted in failure and tragedy.
Abstract A paper about American poets during the period 1951-1960. It traces the style and mood reflected in the fifties and states the poetic preferences of the audience of the time. Basically it focuses on the poets of the era and their styles compared to others of the Beat generation.
Abstract This paper compares Chaucer and the Pearl poet in terms of religious expression and secular elements, showing that the two reflect some of the same themes and concerns about society. It looks at how Chaucer is more openly critical of the way the clergy of his time behaves, while the Pearl poet is more concerned with teaching moral lessons and showing the value of religious belief.
From the Paper "Critics regard Geoffrey Chaucer as a secular poet, while the Pearl poet is seen primarily as a religious one reflecting the view of Christianity. In fact, though, the two poets are much closer together than this might suggest and address many of the same issues, same types of stories, and same concerns from differing points of view. If critics find Chaucer more secular, that may be because his vision reflects more of the reality of the world around him, so that he shows people with all their passions and faults, while the Pearl poet tends more toward idealized visions of moral attitudes and concepts of honor."
