Tag Archives: Nature

Bright Star

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In this poem, John Keats wants to be like this steadfast bright star, but at the same time he does not want to be like it. This idea of steadfast describes his life in ways where he does not like to interrupted but, at the same time, he does not want to be lonely and isolated. Then, there are scenes where the bright star encounters as it watches over the land and ocean. This description of this scenery indicates the lonely images the bright star experiences as it is being hung up in the air and how Keats does not want to be like the star in this way. Therefore, there are good qualities for being this bright star as well as bad qualities.

As we move on with the poem, it shows that Keats is resting on his girlfriend’s chest. Although he is resting on her chest, it shows that he likes the idea of steadfast and the desire for love (as mentioned earlier in this poem, he does not want to have the feeling of loneliness). As he lies on her chest, he mentions “awake forever in a sweet unrest”. This indicates that the desire for love keeps him up awake forever and allows him to have different sensations running through him and if he goes to sleep he would lose all these opportunities.

In the end, “And so live ever-or else swoon to death” tells us if Keats is not able to have these moments of steadfast, he would end up being that bright star  that watches over this planet and eventually dies from loneliness. This poem shows the desire and desperation for love is so strong that if he loses it then he will lose everything, even his own life.

This poem also uses the word “still” repetitively as seen in the second half of the poem. He first introduced this word at line 9, “still steadfast, still unchangeable”. It could be clearly seen that the word “still” is using the definition of “same”, or not changing. But at line 13, it gets a little bit more confusing when he uses this word. Which definition pairs with the word “still”? I believe the first “still” is used as the definition of “same”. To look closely into the usage of this word; after the description of the sensation of feeling on line 11 (“to feel forever its soft fall and swell”), it quickly changes to something that has no relation with senses. Therefore, to get back on track with the sensation he was describing, he would start off line 13 with the definition of “still” as “same” to remind readers that the sensations never changed. As for the second “still”, it would seen more clear and appropriate to use it as the definition of “not moving” in order to have that sensation of hearing her breathe.

William Wordsworth and Rosalia de Castro

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Romanticism lasted roughly half a century throughout Europe and in the Americas. It covers many different styles and subject matters, most notably the subject of nature, as seen with William Wordsworth. In “Romantic Poets and Their Successors,” the author gives two possible reasons for the shift towards a focus in nature during this time period. The first explanation is that nature’s beauty began to seem more scarce and valuable due to the emergence of factories and industrialization during the Industrial Revolution. This became a way to capture the fading view of nature that the people had. The second explanation for this new embracing of nature was that it was viewed as a break from absolute monarchies. The wildness of nature was seen as a type of freedom of expression that would replace the strict regulations of the time.

Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey” opens as the speaker recalls memories from five earlier of the same location. The full title of the poem is “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye During a Tour, July 13, 1798.” For a poem with such a specific title, Wordsworth does not describe the abbey; the poem is more of a reflection on his own life and memories. Wordsworth tries to describe the feelings which nature have brought him to his sister; he uses repetition when he refers to her as “My dear, dear Friend” (Wordsworth 116) and “My dear, dear Sister” (Wordsworth 121). While “Tintern Abbey” is a much longer poem, “The World Is Too Much with Us” is a sonnet. In this sonnet, Wordsworth says that people are too consumed in material things such as “getting and spending” (Wordsworth 2), and do not appreciate nature. This is an interesting observation for that time period, and it can still be applied today. In line three, Wordsworth capitalizes Nature, seeming to personify it showing its importance.

Compared to William Wordsworth, Rosalia de Castro’s poems are much shorter and seem to have simpler forms. De Castro even says that her form is strange in the opening lines of “You will say about these verses, and it’s true”, “that they have a strange, unusual harmony, / that in them ideas wanly glow” (de Castro 2). She also does not have as strong an emphasis on nature as Wordsworth does, but still has many romantic themes in her poetry. “Her intention, she said, was ‘to evoke all the splendor, and the sudden flashes of beauty, that emanate from every custom and thought of a people who have often been called stupid and sometimes judged insensitive or unfamiliar with refined poetry’” (Norton Anthology 505).