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Nature in american literature
Nature in poetry
The role of nature in poems
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The Role of Nature
Introduction
Considering the history of literature, the conception of Nature seems to be a quite complex question. 'Nature' is not a concept that can be grasped easily and it often requires discussing some great philosophical conceptions like 'Pantheism' or 'Deism'. However, my paper will not deal in detail with such vast enquiries. I rather want to focus more accurately on how 'Nature' is used by Pope and Coleridge, respectively. With other words, I would like to analyse the function of the concept of 'Nature'. The fact is, that even if these poets do not exhaustively characterise ‘Nature’ itself, they employ it in a lot of different analogies and metaphors to articulate and embody for example ideas about 'morality' (Pope) or the intimate 'self' (Coleridge). My argument would be to show that in both cases, nature has a sort of epistemological function. The apprehension of nature, its perception or its examination leads to knowledge of something that is not directly obvious; one can name it God or the divine. Thus, to mention of nature is a kind of disclosure that guides us to be aware of some reality that is meta-physical.
As a matter of fact, the ways Nature is described by Pope and by Coleridge are very different: Pope uses a sort of analogical technique, whereas Coleridge exploits the more suggestive power of metaphors. That point shows that, even though Nature has the same overall function, that is reveal something that is beyond the mere material world, the way it can and should be perceived is not the same. I would like to argue that Coleridge considers a sort of intuitive faculty, whereas Pope thinks that a reasonable examination of Nature unveils the divine order of the universe.
The present analysis will spotlight Pope’s Essay On Man and Coleridge’s Rime of an Ancient Mariner. First, I want to show that Coleridge and Pope advocate a pantheistic and a deistic conception of Nature, respectively. This should be the general framework through which I will try to show some other differences. Then, in a second time, the use of a concept like “reason” will be analysed in regard to Pope’s Essay on Man. This step shows that even if Pope is a writer of the Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, he deeply condemns the arrogance that results of a pretentious use of reason. In fact, reason should therefore be seen as an important but...
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...enis. S.T. Coleridge. Poème de l’expérience vive. Grenoble: Ellug, 1992.
Boulger, James D. ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Englewood Cliffs: Prenctice-Hall, 1969.
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Cutting-Gray, Joanne, SwearigenN, James E., “System, the Divided Mind, and the Essay on Man.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, Vol. 32, No. 3, Restoration and Eighteenth Century. (Summer, 1992), p. 481.
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Fraser, George S. Alexander Pope. London: Routledge, 1978.
Hill, John S. ed. A Coleridge Companion, London: Macmillan Press, 1983.
Laird, John, “Pope’s Essay on Man.” The Review of English Studies, Vol. 20, No. 80. (Oct., 1944), p. 290.
McFarland, Thomas. Coleridge and The Pantheist Tradition. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969.
Nuttall, A. D. Pope’s ‘Essay on Man’. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1984.
Tillotson, Geoffrey. Pope And Human Nature. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Woodring, Carl. "Nature and Art in the Nineteenth Century." PMLA 92, no. 2 (1977): p. 193.
Getlein, Mark. "Chapter 17-The 17th and 18th Centuries." Living with Art. 9th ed. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill, 2008. 384-406. Print.
Perceptions of the natural world have fluctuated throughout humanity’s short time on this earth, going in and out of style as societies and technologies have grown and died. As is the the very nature of literature itself, literature and its authors have managed to capture these shifting views, expressed and illustrated by the art of written word. Naturally, the literature chosen for us to read based on this fluid theme of nature encompasses an array of perspectives. One of these views is that nature is sublime and above all else, a reflection of all that which is perfection. Another is that nature is cold, uncaring, and indifferent to the vanities of humanity.
Throughout the Romanticism period, human’s connection with nature was explored as writers strove to find the benefits that humans receive through such interactions. Without such relationships, these authors found that certain aspects of life were missing or completely different. For example, certain authors found death a very frightening idea, but through the incorporation of man’s relationship with the natural world, readers find the immense utility that nature can potentially provide. Whether it’d be as solace, in the case of death, or as a place where one can find oneself in their own truest form, nature will nevertheless be a place where they themselves were derived from. Nature is where all humans originated,
Osgood, Samuel. “Nature.” The Western Messenger. (1837): 385-93. Rpt. in Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Laurie Lanzen Harris. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1981. 275.
This essay hopes to define Spinoza’s reasoning behind his ‘Deus sive Natura’, arguing that God and Nature, or the universe, are but one substance. This separation is distinct to Spinoza’s substance monism, and argued through a geometric essay structure that allows reasoning to be accessible, as well as logical should the reasoning at each step have validity.
Coleridge’s and Rossetti’s poems both had in various elements of supernatural, and symbolism, which connected well within the period it, was written. Coleridge utilizes the supernatural elements through his use of setting, characters and symbols. As for Rossetti the supernatural came out through her use of symbolism, setting and character as well. Both authors’ works fit in well with what society viewed and valued during the period. The cultural background of both works were valued and played a big role in both poems.
Nature is often used as imagery in Alexander Pope's, Eloisa to Abelard, as well as descriptions of heaven, holiness, God, being wedded to God, Jesus' sacrifice, the sacred, solitary confinement, crime and offense, desire for submission to God and often tears and weeping. As the poem is about Eloisa and Abelard being in love, married and having a child, then being separated and Abelard castrated and Eloisa forced into a convent, descriptions of nature are useful imagery, because it is used to explain Eloisa's conflict between what is natural for her to feel. More specifically, Eloisa is torn between being a devout Christian and her love for Abelard that has been condemned. She struggles between following God and loving Abelard because she feels it is natural to do both, yet she is being forced to choose, however, she cannot. Although, if she must decide, she chooses Abelard, against what she has been taught she must do, which is to serve God piously. Eloisa is forced into a kind of purgatory, caught between loving mortal and carnal desires, and higher divine love.
Pope, Alexander. "An Essay on Man." in Eighteenth-Century English Literature. Eds. Geoffrey Tillotson, Paul Fussell, Jr. and Marshall Waingrow. New York: Harcourt, 1969. 635-51.
Pope, Alexander. "Essay on Man." Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces 6th ed. Ed. Maynard Mack et.al. New York: Norton, 1992. 326-333
Nature is often a focal point for many author’s works, whether it is expressed through lyrics, short stories, or poetry. Authors are given a cornucopia of pictures and descriptions of nature’s splendor that they can reproduce through words. It is because of this that more often than not a reader is faced with multiple approaches and descriptions to the way nature is portrayed. Some authors tend to look at nature from a deeper and personal observation as in William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, while other authors tend to focus on a more religious beauty within nature as show in Gerard Manley Hopkins “Pied Beauty”, suggesting to the reader that while to each their own there is always a beauty to be found in nature and nature’s beauty can be uplifting for the human spirit both on a visual and spiritual level.
In his epic poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge critiques the Gothic convention of the explained supernatural (in particular explanation in the form of divine intervention) through his portrayal of the tension between Christian themes and the sublimity of the archaic both within the poem itself as well as in the external preface and marginal glosses accompanying the poem. I intend to argue that despite the seemingly inherent Christian morality present on the surface of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Coleridge subtly draws attention to a pre-Christian subtext, which holds the insignificance of humanity and the unknowability of the universe in high regard. Through his characterization of the Ancient Mariner and his
Through the ingenious works of poetry the role of nature has imprinted the 18th and 19th century with a mark of significance. The common terminology ‘nature’ has been reflected by our greatest poets in different meanings and understanding; Alexander Pope believed in reason and moderation, whereas Blake and Wordsworth embraced passion and imagination.
We human beings can not separate from nature. No nature, no human beings. As far as poetry is concerned, nature plays a great important role on it, for uncountable poets have been writing lots and lots of great poems on it along the history of human beings. America is not an exceptional. My paper is right to deal with nature in American poetry.
Throughout history, many individuals wish to discover and explain the relationship between nature and society, however, there are many complexities relating to this relationship. The struggle to understand how nature and society are viewed and connected derives from the idea that there are many definitions of what nature is. The Oxford dictionary of Human Geography (2003), explains how nature is difficult to define because it can be used in various contexts as well as throughout different time and spaces. As a result of this, the different understandings of what nature is contributes to how the nature society relationship is shaped by different processes. In order to better understand this relation there are many theorists and philosophers
The power of nature is all around us and can be found almost anywhere. One is able to study nature through experiencing it firsthand, looking at a picture, watching a movie, or even reading a familiar children’s story. I believe that by learning more about nature we can grow closer to God. Emerson states, “Nature is so pervaded in human life, that there is something of humanity in all, and in every particular” (Emerson 508). Like Emerson, I believe that humanity and nature were created by God and we can learn more about the Spirit of God by studying nature. I also see that nature has the power to influence our emotions and actions. I see evidence of this through various landscapes such as the desert, the beach, the mountains and the jungle. I thought about the vastness of the desert during a recent trip to the desert with my class. I think about nature and my love for it when I am scanning through my photo album and see pictures that capture me enjoying the mountains of Utah. When I watched the movie The Beach I was struck out how nature, specifically the beautiful beaches of Thailand, influenced the actions of every character in the movie. Of course it is hard to read a legendary story such as “Jungle Book” and not see what a powerful effect nature and its’ animals can have over humans.