This is shown through Hardy’s choice of Diction and his style of writing. Words like ‘Haunted, Desolate Hard and Corpse’ allow the reader to build an image of an isolated landscape.
His strong use of alliteration creates a dull image in the reader’s mind examples of this alliteration are ‘Dregs made Desolate’, ‘bine-Stems Scored the Sky’ and ‘Think There Trembled Through’.
Hardy also uses similes in his style of writing to grasp the reader’s imagination and full attention. An example of his use of similes would be ‘Like strings of broken lyres’ this shows Hardy’s dark unknowingness of what will come of the death of agriculture.
The mood of the poem suddenly changes when Hardy’s view on life completely turns around when he sees the Aged Thrush frail, gaunt and small, which is used to portray a figure much like himself through the theme of nature.
The thrush is whistling an ‘evensong’ and is just getting on with life and doesn’t think of what may come in the future. This lifts Hardy’s spirit and the poem then starts to create a sense of a calm atmosphere. Hardy creates this imagery of a calm atmosphere through words like ‘Carolling, ecstatic, blessed and hope.
‘To Autumn’ by John Keats on the other hand is a poem with a more warming illustration of nature used by Keats to express his views and how he feels about nature.
In the first line we can see that Keats’ use of alliteration is a more positive and tranquil way. The example being ‘Mists and Mellow’ giving a sense of ripeness, summer time and harvest season in nature. Keats uses the example of personification ‘Maturing Sun’ to get his message across that the end of summer is nearing and Autumn in emerging. Keats uses words like ‘Plump’ and alliteration like ‘Fill all Fruit’ to build a sensual image in the readers mind.
Keats also uses onomatopoeia build the readers’ thoughts and imagination an example of his is shown in the last line of the first stanza, ‘For summer has o’erbrimmed their clammy cells’.
In the second stanza the mood changes from late summer to mid autumn as the crop has been harvested and the hard work has been done. There is a sense of relaxation and warmth to this stanza.
The last stanza of ‘The Ode To Autumn’ is a stanza full of suspense and awaiting the next harvest time. Where are the songs of spring is written in the first line of the third and last stanza to show that the agricultural way of life is one of suspense, hard work and finally of rewards.
From this discussion I have drawn that nature is a theme of two sides bleakness or beauty. And either way can be used to express the writers’ feelings and that is why I think this theme is so popular amongst talented writers like Hardy and Keats.
