Nature

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Each and every human being is part of nature, and is affected by it in one way or another. Nature can depict much more than just the outdoors; it has the ability to express human emotions or feelings. Poets use nature in their poems in order to illustrate their vision and to reveal their emotions. Not only are they connected to nature but they see life reflected in it. Robert Frost is a famous American poet who used nature in his poetry to make us think about life.
A connection between nature and the individual is a basic tenet of Romanticism. William Wordsworth, a true Romantic poet, demonstrates this connection when he says, “I see what was, and is, and will abide; / Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide; / The Form remains, the Function never dies” (Wordsworth 4-6). Romantics also demonstrated introspection and Wordsworth’s use of poetic devices illustrates what he was feeling about the River Duddon—the subject of his poem. William Wordsworth’s specific layout of words in “Sonnets from The River Duddon: After-Thought” allows him to use syntax to communicate his feelings on the river and create additional meaning beyond the literal.
A noticeable syntactical feature present in Wordsworth’s poem is inversion. Focus is drawn to line five when Wordsworth says, “Still glides the Stream,” because the word order is inverted from the rest of the stanzas (5). In this case the nominative comes first then the predicate when usually the predicate comes first followed by the nominative. This inversion places more attention on the river—the subject of the entire poem and series of sonnets. The inversion of this line also allows the word “still” to have two meanings (5). It can literally represent that the river is “still” in mo...

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...isillusionment and decline. Furthermore, Eliot begins The Waste Land with the line, “April is the cruelest month,” (Eliot). This line illustrates disillusionment because typically April is a month of life, growth, and new beginnings, but the author is only able to focus on the harshness he currently observes. He does not consider the possibilities. He has given up hope and become disillusioned with the world, only focusing on decline. He expresses the same attitude when he says, “Departed, have left no addresses,” (Eliot). He again believes there is no return from this downfall. He is even cynical when describing the landscape: “The dead tree gives no shelter,” (Eliot). Trees have the ability to regrow their leaves, but he believes the decline has already begun and it is inevitable. Eliot’s harsh images of nature illustrate decline, and by illustrating this Eliot

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