Compare and contrast Heaneys and Wordsworths poems about a similar experience in nature, showing the influence of the contexts in which they were writing.
Compare and contrast Heaney's and Wordsworth's poems about a similar experience in nature, showing the influence of the contexts in which they were writing.
Although both poems, Heaney's Blackberry Picking and Wordsworth's Nutting, display fundamentally different attitudes toward nature, they also contain similar ideas. Wordsworth being a poet of the Romantic Movement, his poem conveys the qualities of this genre. Romanticism appreciates the power of nature as a pure and divine force, and believes that adults should return to a child-like susceptibility in order to become closer to it. Heaney's poem, although about a similar experience in nature, rejects the idealism and reverence given to nature in Nutting. Although still principally an appreciation of nature, it also portrays a more realistic, threatening side to it. Where the Romantics enthused about a return to childhood innocence, Heaney's naturalism is expressed through his poem as a process of maturation and therefore a loss of innocence.
An obvious difference between the poems is the ages of their main characters. Heaney's is told from a child's perspective, while Wordsworth's deals with nature from an adult's point of view. The Romantics were of the ideology that, in order to be truly in touch with nature, a return to this aforementioned child-like state was necessary. They also, however, believed the peasants and lower classes to be close with nature,
"Low and rustic life was generally chosen, because in that condition...the passions of men are incorporated with the beautiful and permanent forms of nature"(Preface to The Lyrical Ballads)
The reverence given to the lower rural classes in Wordsworth's poem fits our expectation of Romantic writing. This stems from the revolutionary changes that were occurring at the time. In the French Revolution, the monarchy and aristocrats had been overthrown, and the lower classes exalted and seen as pure.
But contrary to Romantic opinion, the child in Blackberry Picking is a witness to the aforementioned reality of nature- its death and decay;
"- It wasn't fair,
That all the lovely canfuls smelt of rot."
This portrayal of nature's eventual decay is also indicated in the title of Heaney's anthology, Death of a Naturalist. A naturalist is someone who understands and appreciates nature, in the same way a child does. Therefore, the title connotes to the death of his innocence, his realisation of a more threatening aspect to nature.
At the beginning of the ...
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But contrary to Romantic opinion, the child in Blackberry Picking is a witness to the aforementioned reality of nature- its death and decay;
"- It wasn't fair,
That all the lovely canfuls smelt of rot."
This portrayal of nature's eventual decay is also indicated in the title of Heaney's anthology, Death of a Naturalist. A naturalist is someone who understands and appreciates nature, in the same way a child does. Therefore, the title connotes to the death of his innocence, his realisation of a more threatening aspect to nature.
At the beginning of the poem, when Heaney says of the blackberry
"Its flesh was sweet like thickened wine,"
the simile creates the luxuriant taste and texture of the fruit in our minds. In the second stanza, however, we are told how
"The fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour."
This stark contrast shows the corruption of what was once 'sweet,' and it is as if Heaney blames nature for the decay of the blackberries.
There is no natural decay in Wordsworth's poem, his is simply an appreciation of the power of nature. Unlike Blackberry Picking, more concentration is focused on the poet's surroundings rather than the subject of the poem, there is more description of his thoughts and feelings;
"Breathing with such suppression of the heart
As joy delights in."
He lingers on the beauty of the scene, taking in his surroundings as if they are more important than the job itself,
"The heart luxuriates with indifferent things."
This expression of emotion is something the Romantics held very strongly, Wordsworth himself seeing the poem as being in the "inner feelings of the poet."
This use of emotion is a large influence on the structure of Romantic poems. In contrast with Heaney's, Wordsworth's poem is free of structure or form, instead utilising a more flowing style of writing. This approach to poetry is part of the Romantic ideology, their belief that a poem is "a spontaneous overflow of the imagination." The poem is taken from the anthology The Lyrical Ballads, a ballad being a more narrative, less structured form of verse. Because of their flowing rhythm, ballads were often converted into folk songs, the 'Lyrical' of the title reflecting this musicality.
Heaney's poem is more regularly structured, with stanzas of equal length. This is done in order to properly reflect the change and progression of the poet's emotion. His is not a "spontaneous overflow," but instead conveys a very sharp change in attitude toward nature.
The emotions to be found in each poem are very different. The positive emotion evident in Blackberry Picking is one of lust and passion, with an intensifying image of blood throughout. In the beginning, the blackberries are described as if "summer's blood" was inside them, like they are the embodiment of the summer. This image progresses through lust,
"Leaving stains upon our tongue and lust for
Picking,"
And, at the end of the first stanza, even murder,
"our palms sticky as Bluebeard's."
This simile describes the children's hands as sticky with blood, as if they have defiled nature with their activities. It is indicative of the Heaney's loss of innocence, as childish enthusiasm gives way to something more sinister.
This undignified level of emotion is not present in Wordsworth's poem, his language more praiseworthy of nature, exalting it. The purity of his emotion is shown in his description,
"-with milk-white clusters hung,
A virgin scene."
This underlines the sense of nature's purity and innocence, with the word "virgin" connoting to the untouched beauty of the scene. One can see perfectly the contrast of emotion in each poem when the "milk-white clusters" of Nutting are compared to Heaney's poem, where the "big dark blobs" burn "like a plate of eyes."
The sinful aspect of Heaney's emotion also sits uneasily with the exultation given to nature in Wordsworth's. He sees nature as something divine, something to be revered;
"One of those heavenly days which cannot die."
The spiritual dimension of nature in Nutting fits with our expectations of Wordsworth as a Romantic poet, in A Defence of Poetry, Shelley states that
"Poetry is indeed something divine."
The differences between the Romantic writing of Wordsworth the naturalism of Heaney are emphasised in how we see the positive emotion in Heaney's turn into disappointment.
"I always felt like crying."
This disappointment is part of the child's maturation process, his realisation that there is a dark side to nature. The ceasura in this line is used to draw attention to the starkness of his emotion.
His disappointment is shown further in the language he uses to describe the blackberries. The alliteration in the line
"When the bath was filled we found a fur"
creates a harsh sound, and with it a sense of the corruption and decay of nature. Also, his description of the "rat-grey fungus" carries dirty, filthy connotations, made all the more intense by the extent of his hatred for rats. In Death of a Naturalist, he makes this clear in poems such as An Advancement of Learning.
In Nutting, none of this disappointment is present. He retains his idealistic view of nature, and his high hopes are more than satisfied.
"- blessed
With sudden happiness beyond all hope."
His Romantic view of nature as a great pure force has not been tarnished.
The corruption in Blackberry Picking is brought on by nature itself, by the decay of life. The corruption seen in Nutting, however, is brought on by human intervention- nature is not the one at fault. When Wordsworth actually takes the nuts from the trees, his actions seem ill fitting;
"And dragged to earth both branch and bough, with crash
And merciless ravage."
The onomatopoeic word "crash" is out of place, as is "merciless ravage." They seem to have more in common with the emotion in Heaney's poem rather than the serene setting of Wordsworth's.
In the final stanza of Nutting, Wordsworth is imparting a message, fitting in with the 'prophet of nature' tag that Romantic writers carried. He is telling others not to do what he did, to respect nature.
"Touch- for there is a Spirit in the woods."
Again he emphasises the spiritual quality of nature, it is not just a backdrop, it is alive.
Heaney, however, reaches the conclusion of perpetual disappointment in nature, with the closing line
"Each year I'd hoped they'd keep, knew they would not."
This is what initiates the death of his naturalism, he depicts nature as the one at fault, and in his eyes it has failed to live up to expectations.
Peter Higgins