Here is another, not so good as the last but maybe helpful to get an idea. You can see my teachers feedback at the bottom which shows where it might have fallen down a bit!
Rather than simply delighting us with the beauty of nature, some poems seem primarily designed to teach us important moral lessons.
William Blake often rejoices in the power and beauty of nature, and simply writes to admire and to rejoice in nature however sometimes, Blake’s poems about nature do have a greater meaning and do not serve simply to admire. Blake sees nature as having been abused by humanity, and Blake’s poems Introduction (E) and Earth’s Answer (E) explore the distress of the earth using techniques such as personification and dialogue. This contrasts to the peaceful connection between nature and humanity seen in The Ecchoing Green (I) and in Edward Thomas’s Out in the Dark.
Blake’s poem The Ecchoing Green (I) serves to admire the serenity and kindness of nature and also the kindness of people attitudes towards it. The title itself shows how nature is an eternal force which continues to provide both to the ‘old folk’ and to ‘the little ones’. Blake’s choice to spell ‘Ecchoing’ with two ‘c’s illustrates this idea of repetition. This gives an image of nature as being a nurturing force of kindness. There is also a great sense of unity expressed in the poem, shown by the line ‘The Sun does arise,/ And make happy the skies’, which shows us how nature itself aims to create a wealth of happiness, simply for the sake of happiness, and therefore delighting us with the beauty of nature. The enjambment evokes this sense of happiness, and more importantly, continued happiness by showing how it continues, from line to line, un-stopped and therefore unpunctuated. The sense of nature as a protecting force is shown by the line; ‘Sitting under the oak,/ among the old folk’. It shows how nature both provides a place of play for the young and protection for the old. Unity is once more expressed by the line ‘among’ which gives the poem a feeling of togetherness. Unity is further expressed by the line; ‘round the laps of their mothers’. The word lap shows a cyclical happiness, which continues, much like the cyclical nature of life and death. This poem therefore shows not only a celebration of nature but a celebration of life itself. Nature simply acts as a representation of the joys of life and is a tool used to show the positive nature of the world. This poem aims to embrace all that is good in nature and so perhaps deeper meaning is surpassed. It attempts to celebrate the way in which nature and humanity work together. This sense of unity is also shown in Edward Thomas’s poem Out of the Dark.
Thomas, who wrote primarily during the war, and who therefore one might assume might focus solely on the horror and the difficulty of this time, surprisingly finds the beauty in the world. This sense of unity that can also be found in Blake’s poem, is also seen in Out of the Dark. ‘And star and I and wind and deer’, the repeated use of the word ‘and’ connects each of the beings and entities mentioned in this poem to show that they are connected. It would be easy to bypass the mention of ‘I’, because the line seems to describe nature as a whole. By involving himself in this nature, Thomas embraces nature, and the beauty of it. This line is followed by the line ‘and all else is drowned’, showing the comfort Thomas goes on to feel in nature, similarly to the protection that nature offers in Ecchoing Green in the form of the ‘oak’.
In contrast to the unity explored in Ecchoing Green, Introduction (E) explores a darker theme. This poem focus’s on the troubled relationship between nature (signified by the earth) and humanity. Its main focus is the way in which humanity abuses nature. Blake’s very liberal views held equality with the highest regard. It was important to Blake that everyone should be equal, and one could, perhaps, therefore assume that Blake did not feel that nature should be left out of this. The distress of nature is shown by this line; ‘And fallen, fallen light renew’. Blake uses the same idea of a repetitive action as he did in Ecchoing Green, yet this time it is a repeated abuse of natures giving spirit. This is illustrated by the repetition of the word ‘fallen’. Which reinforces the pain felt by nature. Similarly the iambic foot of this line creates a heavy beat giving the line a harsh tone to replicate the literal image of humanity striking at the earth. The use of dialogue in this is important because it shows which character is the most dominant, this being the ‘Bard’. Whilst some may argue that since Blake uses the image of the Bard to depict humanity, this could not be a negative poem, simply because Blake is a poet himself, yet one might distinguish between a ‘Bard’ and a ‘poet’ such as Blake. Given Blake’s dislike of authority, the fact that a poet is put in such a specific role as the Bard, might to Blake seem distasteful, since one could easily imagine that he saw himself as a ‘free spirit’ and thusly free from a specific role. This negative role of the Bard is shown by the fact that only the Bard speaks, making the earth seem weakened or distressed. Not only is the dialogue unreturned but also is spoken in command, shown by the punctuation such as exclamation marks and full stops, which break up the natural flow of a poem. Despite the positive imagery within the poem such as ‘starry’ and ‘dewy grass’, this poem does not, like The Ecchoing Green, aim to depict simply beauty but is a moral lesson, which illustrates the way in which Blake sees humanities misuse of the earth. Similarly, in Thomas’s poem, there is use of positive imagery, yet there is a darker meaning, as one might expect from a war poet.
The use of cold imagery sets the tone for the poem, which is primarily one of darkness. Words such as ‘snow’ and ‘slow’ symbolise a harsh surrounding. Similarly the image of the ‘fallen fawns’ which ‘invisible go’ create a sense of loneliness. This poem describes the more frightening elements of nature, that despite the comfort of the ‘deer’, creates an eeriness. Yet it is essentially the human aspect of this poem, which removes Thomas’s sense of discomfort-‘ when the lamp goes… all else is drowned’. This line goes to say that despite the cold elements of nature in which there is still some beauty (such as the stars) it is not at all as traumatic as the human impact, represented by the vanishing light. This suggests that though nature may be harsh and unwelcoming, the disregard of humanity towards the figure of the poem is much more damaging. So, very similarly in Blake’s The Ecchoing Green, nature in some ways provides a comfort that humanity cannot. This poem uses both humanity and nature to show the world as a cold and discomforting place. This is not dissimilar to Blake’s Earth’s Answer, which continues to describe the deliberate conflict between earth and humanity.
This poem acts as a second part to Introduction (E) in that it is a direct response from the earth to the Bard and therefore humanity. Particularly poignant is the line ‘I hear the Father of the ancient men./ Selfish father of men!’ The iambic pentameter works in a similar way as it does in Introduction in that it helps to convey this sense of anger by metrically emphasising each second syllable to create a harsh effect. Furthermore the monosyllabic adjectives such as ‘cruel’, ‘jealous’, ‘selfish’ and ‘vain’ illustrate the anger by creating cutting words, which, since they are on their own, seem raw and emphasise the pain. This poem goes to say that humanity has treated nature cruel. It is in a sense a very modern poem because it reflects the guilt we feel now about the way the earths resources have been taken. Blake uses flower imagery to depict the innocence and beauty of the earth; ‘buds and blossoms’. This image contrasts heavily to the harsh, singular words used to describe humanity. The alliteration of ‘buds and blossoms’ creates a sense of calm because of the ease at which it can be read whereas the emphasis on punctuation such as exclamation marks in the last stanza make the poem stilted, showing the disruption and suffering.
Whilst some of Blake’s poetry only aims to explore beauty, there lies a deeper meaning in much of his poetry. Introduction and Earth’s Answer are key examples of this. They reflect the Romantic view of the time within the arts, and follow a line that nature is something passionate. More specifically for Blake however, it is a representation of God. It questions the Urizen like image that was more common at the time, and might suggest that nature is God in some way, making the people of the time, question their attitudes towards nature, given at this time entertainment such as bear baiting existed. This poetry, given fears of global warming, can be incredibly relevant to a modern day audience, showing that Blake’s message is a universal one which has a resonating impact upon his readers. Equally, Thomas reflects this mood of poetry, which simultaneously explores beauty and other more serious issues.
Basically very strong especially in comparison / AO3 and close reading AO2
Very well informed
Perhaps a little light on Blake’s context as a Romantic poet? The question goes to the heart of their dual attention to nature and society…
Quite challenging poems to pick – what about The Tyger which is much more than a natural image??
Check accuracy especially sentencing
Lots of A / Band 4 features but probably still a bit borderline….