, Compared With At Least One Pre-1900 Poet Essay, Research Paper
Heaney addresses many aspects of naturein his writing. In the poems
that I have read, he encounters such things as man?s relationship with nature,
what he believes nature may be, and where in nature he thinks man belongs.After reading poems by Heaney, Wordsworth and Hopkins, I
feel that they try convey the idea of nature being beautiful to the reader,
something that in it?s untouched wildness can still look astounding and
marvellous, without being altered or changed in any way. It is this beauty
found in nature?s wildness which causes the writers to also relay the idea that
nature can sometimes be threatening.?In Wordsworth?s? ?Prelude?, the reader is greeted by scenes
of a calm and serene summer?s evening. This effect is given by phrases such as
?Leaving behind her still, on either side / Small circles glittering idly in
the moon.? Then the writer decides to steal a boat and go out rowing on the
lake. As he is rowing and he moves away from a mountain at the side of the
lake, another mountain behind it begins to appear, at night, in the dark
Wordsworth does not know that it is a mountain, instead he describes it as some
sort of ?monster?, as if it was a creature of the deep, a creature doing
nature?s bidding to punish him from stealing, or maybe even nature itself. In
which case he personifies nature as this ?monster? with phrases like ?motion
like a living thing / Strode after me.? What would be seen as a quite spectacular
mountain by some in the middle of the day, can also be threatening to men, not
only at night to Wordsworth, but also to climbers, for example, caught in harsh
weather conditions unable to d
breathing ?thing? which reacts to man?s behaviour and responds as it sees fit.In ?Death of a Naturalist? and ?Blackberry Picking? Heaney
also describes nature in this way. In both poems Heaney describes scenes form
his childhood. We know this because he uses language like ? daddy frog?, ?mammy
frog? and ?You could tell the weather by frogs too.? Emphasis here on the word
?too? as it is an unnecessary? ?postfix?
of childish nature. The poems have two distinct sections to them. In the first
section nature and man interact and we see pleasant childhood scenes. This
effect is created by the use of words and phrases such as ?flax-dam festered?,
?rotted? and ?warm thick slobber? in ?Death of a Naturalist?. These things
obviously please Heaney, as they would please any young boy, dirtiness and
muckiness, they are the sort of things go hand in hand with young boys. In
?Blackberry Picking? some of the words and phrases used which describe the
juiciness of the blackberries are, ?glossy purple clot?, ?summers blood was in
it?, ?flesh was sweet? and ?the red ones inked up,? all telling of the
freshness and ripeness of the blackberries with no trace of imperfections. In
the second distinct section the poems change dramatically and nature changes
from peaceful and beautiful to threatening. In ?Death of a Naturalist? Heaney
describes the frogs like an army that has come to seek revenge on him from
stealing their unborn young, ?The great slime kings/ Were gathered there for
vengeance.? This is done by words and phrases such as ?the angry frogs/ Invaded
the flax-dam?, ?cocked?, ?poised like mud grenades? and ?ducked.?