In The Trees Are Down poet Charlotte Mew seems to be using the trees to symbolize Natures being the price of human progress.
Question: Write a critical analysis of The Trees Are Down by Charlotte Mew. In ‘The Trees Are Down’ poet Charlotte Mew seems to be using the trees to symbolize Nature’s being the price of human progress. The poem also seems to have been influenced by the Romantics, through Mew’s detailed description of the trees being cut down, and her personal reaction to this act – she refers to mankind’s indifference towards Nature, and the sadness this causes her, in this poem, where her main focus is man versus Nature, and loss, or death. Mew begins with a carefully chosen, highly significant quote from the bible, with the angel calling out “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees – “, indicating that she believes the cutting down of trees is wrong, also hinting at what the rest of the poem is about. Mew also uses repetition to convey her viewpoint, by applying the last part of the quote in the last line of this poem, again. A sad, somber mood and tone have, thereby, been set, and prevail through the entire poem, underneath her vivid descriptions and the images aroused in the readers’ minds. She then goes about describing what is happening, “They are cutting down the great plane-trees…” where “they” is used to separate herself from those committing these wrongful acts, and “great” as an adjective to describe the trees, implying her deep
Discuss Thomas presentation of strong emotions in Tears.
Discuss Thomas’ presentation of strong emotions in ‘Tears’. In the poem Tears, Thomas presents a contrast between strong emotions of solitude and inadequacy, which feature in many of Thomas’ other works such as ‘The Glory’, with emotions of joy and patriotism, also presented in ‘This is no case of petty right or wrong’. The shift from his presentation of strong emotions of solitude to those of joy can also be seen as a reflection of his response to war, influenced by the patriotic attitudes to war circulating at the time in which Thomas is writing. Firstly, Thomas begins the poem by presenting strong emotions of inadequacy. This is shown in the opening line “It seems I have no tears left” where Thomas suggests that he has an inability to feel strong emotions. This emotion of inadequacy is emphasized to the reader through the uncertainty in the tone of this line. By writing “it seems” Thomas presents inadequacy due to a lack of confidence and certainty. The use of pause in these opening lines, created by the hyphens, full stops, and commas, also creates a sense of uncertainty, “They should have fallen – Their ghosts, if tears have ghosts, did fall –“ for example. Thomas therefore presents the strong emotion of inadequacy by creating a tone of uncertainty at the start of ‘Tears’. This emotion of inadequacy also features in Thomas’ other
Considering the Snail - English Literature Poem Essay
Considering the Snail Questions . What do you take to be the poem’s central theme? Explore Gunn’s approach 2. What contribution is made to the poem by its syntax? 3. How does the poet manipulate line breaking to influence meaning? If the reader were to define the central theme as a main idea of the poem and/or the authors' feelings about it; we can conclude that Considering the Snail by Thom Gunn is a play that centres on a snail’s journey through life and how the persona of the poem interrupts the snail’s activities. The first stanza elaborates on the movements of a snail battling through grass, whereby it makes a ‘bright path’ through the ‘wood of desire’. This section of the poem is deliberately concentrating on describing the journey of a snail and what human emotions, from a human’s perspective, the snail could be experiencing on what must seem an enormous voyage. The second stanza then brings in the eye of the persona whereby he is directly speaking to the reader and explaining that he ‘cannot tell what power is at work’ when observing the snail and it’s trail of slime. This implies that the persona could be in a position of watching the snail in this stanza, for example, gardening. The third stanza then continues with the use of first person and the persona seems to be crouching down, ‘part[ing] the blades’, to observe the snail more
Comment closely on "The Going" (by Thomas Hardy) paying particular attention to the ways in which Hardy expresses a sense of grief.
The Going Thomas Hardy conveys the grieving of Emma’s death through his elegy where he irritably questions her “fleeing” and recollects memories of their courtship in an hopeless attempt to strengthen his grasp on “the swan-necked one who rode”. Deaths fragility is illustrated as Hardy extensively stresses the ease of Emma’s passing and his unsatisfied desire of a “hint” that “that night” she’d go “up and be gone”. Hardy almost appears unaware of the years passed distanced from his wife until the fifth stanza, suggesting her death has the effect of a virtual awakening, allowing him to finally accept it, yet not settle from mourning it ,as is made evident by the following 1912-13 poems. The Repetition of “Why” beginning the first, third, and fifth stanza illustrate Hardy’s rejection of Emma’s death, probably resulting from the regret of not having taken advantage of the time she was alive. Hardy feels Emma “calmly” died with “indifference”, giving way to intense feelings of remorse in the following stanza’s. His suspicion of her carelessness is further highlighted in the second stanza as she is described to have “never to bid goodbye” - “or lip [him] the softest call”. Emma’s apparent alienation of hardy suggests she deliberately left him in response to “those days long dead” where she was as good as dead to Hardy.
How does Tennyson use poetic methods in Ulysses?
How does Tennyson use Poetic methods in Ulysses Tennyson sets the narrative as king Ulysses from the beginning of the poem. This means the reliability of the narrator is considerably greater than if it were for example a third person narrative. Tennyson may have used this method of telling the story to expel any sense of doubt tin the reader about the events that are happening, as the poem is about a king- from a king’s perspective. In comparison however, this could add the possibility of bias to the poem. King Ulysses tells the reader of his travels, and heavily portrays himself as somewhat heroic; he has travelled far, fought hard and lived life to the maximum. However he is now stuck at home as an old man- this could mean he is exaggerates the memories he has to the reader, purely for impact, possibly meaning we as the reader do not get a balanced picture of everything that he describes such as his wife being “aged” and that being all the information we receive about her. In the first stanza, Ulysses describes his current situation. He begins by describing his surroundings and role as king as very dull and drab. Tennyson immediately paints the reader a picture of a man who is unhappy. By using language like “still hearth” and “I mete an dole”, we start to understand that he feels stuck; he doesn’t enjoy his role and something is clearly missing from his
Write about the ways Browning tells the story in 'My Last Duchess'
Write about the ways Browning tells the story in ‘My Last Duchess.’ Robert Browning begins the poem ‘My Last Duchess’ with a stereotypical Renaissance setting of an art gallery, with the Duke of Ferrara showing off his extensive collection to a messenger. He finally comes to one of his most prized paintings of his ‘last Duchess painted on the wall.’ The considerable use of personal pronouns in the stanza presenting ‘my last Duchess’ clearly depicts the Duke’s inexorable possessiveness over his Duchess. ‘Since none puts by the curtain I have drawn for you, but I’ also indicates the power the Duke still feels he has over his wife by means of the painting, showing the Duke’s obsession of his Duchess as he wishes to look at and control her even after her death, ‘but I’ simply reinforces this. In the line ‘Fra Pandolf’s hands worked busily a day’ we understand that the Duke’s possessive nature allowed the artist to view his wife only for a day (which is near impossible) since he didn’t like other men looking at her. Browning further reveals the authoritarian dominance of the Duke through the language he employs which dehumanises the Duchess to dramatic extents. The Duke calls ‘that piece a wonder, now’ and since he’s not only referring to the painting but also to his wife, it’s clear that the Duke treated his wife as a commodity;
How does Coleridge tell the story in part 3 of Rime of the Ancient Mariner
How does Coleridge tell the story in part 3? Úna Richards 26/03/2013 The opening line of part 3 in the first stanza, ‘THERE passed a weary time’, indicates to the reader that the Mariner is still in a state of suffering, continued from part 2. The capitalisation of the word, ‘there’, suggests that nature’s torture is only being directed at those on the ship. Coleridge furthers the idea of nature’s torture in this stanza through his use of death imagery, ‘each throat was parched and glazed each eye.’ The word, ‘glazed’ implies a sort of mental vacancy or vegetation, whilst ‘parched’ denotes that they are completely dried out, not only are they dehydrated but they are dried out in the sense that the Mariner has now completely lost any remnant of hope and faith in nature. The enjambment in the line is used to highlight and emphasise the extent of the dehydration among the ship’s crew. However, by the 5th line, the tone of the stanza has become less sullen, shown through Coleridge’s deviation from the ballad form. The two extra lines mark the sense of hope newly acquired by the ship after they see a ‘something in the sky.’ Both the second and third stanzas return to the traditional ballad form to show the ficklness of the Mariner’s hope. In stanza 2, Coleridge uses nebulous language, ‘shape’ and ‘seemed’, in this stanza in
Discuss the following poem (A Thunderstorm in Town by Thomas Hardy) in detail, considering its presentation of unrequited love.
A Thunderstorm in Town is a reminiscence of a time Hardy spent with a woman to whom he had became drawn, Florence Henniker. His affection towards her is shown in several ways, including his noting of the ‘terra-cotta’ detail of her dress (which shows how he was mesmerized, and ‘terra-cotta’, having a connotation of nature, implies that his love for her was natural - and fresh, implied by the adjective ‘new’ - perhaps unlike that which he had for his wife Emma), and the line ‘We sat on, snug and warm’, showing his attachment, as he regards this moment as one of intimacy. This affection also affects the passage of time in the poem; as they sat ‘motionless’, it feels as if time has stopped, the ‘pelting storm’ and rain (which establishes a sense of melancholy) stops in their presence, showing the power his affection held over him. Furthermore, the ‘ABAAB’ rhyme scheme of this stanza symbolizes his heart skipping a beat, as is often said of one who is in love. However, this mood of affection is in stark contrast to the sudden shift in the second stanza, where the storm stops to his ‘sharp sad pain’, and his comfort and warmth of the previous stanza vanish with the storm. Examining the structure of this line (‘Then the downpour ceased, to my sharp sad pain’) closely, it can be seen that there was a brief pause (comma) after the storm ended,
Write about Coleridge's use of Symbolism in Part I of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
James Clyburn Symbols in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Part 1 Samuel Taylor Coleridge includes many uses of symbolism in ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ and in Part 1 a number of these are introduced in Part 1. The first real symbol we see is the Sun. The stanza which involves it tells how the Sun came out the sea, meaning it rose from the horizon and it shone brightly all day until it “went down into the sea” once more. This is primarily a symbol to reflect how much time has passed- one rise and fall of the Sun is obviously one day passing but the Sun also has a number of other connotations. The fact that it “shone bright” symbolises peace and happiness as well as safety. For a sea voyage, as is the suggestion by the inclusion of the marital vocabulary (“Mariner”, “ship”, “harbour”…), bright Sun would suggest clear blue skies which would indicate a safe and peaceful journey for the Mariner. In association with the Sun, it’s ‘opposite’ – the moon – is referred to in a later stanza and with it more pleasant imagery. Coleridge writes that “through fog-smoke white, Glimmered the white Moon-shine”. This suggests that although conditions were maybe not ideal out at sea, the moon was there to light the way. The moon is also a conventional symbol for romance, which also ties in with this theme of astrology and pleasance. Continuing
Write about Auden's narrative methods in '1st September 1939'?
Write about Auden’s narrative methods in ‘1st September 1939’ Auden uses the poem ‘1st September 1939’ to write a sort’ve farewell to the bright and prospering 1930’s and to greet the social and psychological affects that war brings. Auden uses this poem to express the desire for ‘universal love’ but wants the USA and neighbouring countries to wake up and do something constructive against the dominance of Nazi Germany We can infer from the poem, that Auden is the source of the material in the poem. Therefore we can denounce that the poem is written in first person from the perspective of Auden. This enables Auden to directly address the audience so that he can engage and involve them. This therefore means that there are no official characters announced within the poem. However, during the course of the poem Auden utilises a very plain as well as neutral tone one similar to that of a news reporter, reflecting on the current events. Due to the fact, he possesses an unbiased opinion on the occurrences of war; this could suggest that he is the voice of the people. This is emphasised through the phrase ‘ uncertain and afraid’ which shows Auden’s uncertainty towards the consequences of war as well as the distrust in society to conquer the threat that war brings. Furthermore, the diction he uses to emphasise his feelings such as ‘anger and fear’ or
