Compare and contrast the poet’s attitude to and appreciation of the natural world in at least two poems you have studied

The simple beauty of nature is an aspect many of us take for granted in our everyday lives the endearing sounds of birds welcoming some opposite(a) day and the powerful gush of a waterf altogether being some examples of these. But there are those individuals who conduct endeavoured to fully comprehend the marvellous complexity of the mankind around us. Such findings are present in the act upon of many poets namely Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844 1889) and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1808 1882). Hopkins and Longfellow were two contemporary poets from the nineteenth century from divers(prenominal) cultures, English and American respectively who relished in the gift of nature with all her attributes. both(prenominal) of their work is characterised by a deep and personal sense of grasp of the beauty of the natural world work that when studied makes us truly delight in the wonder that is nature.The two poems that I feel effectively croak Hopkins and Longfellows ideas are resp ectively coloured lulu and Snowflakes. Although they are similar in their content concerning their deal for the natural world, the poems do differ in the way in which each poet relates his ideas.Hopkins poem Pied Beauty is one of the most famous, characteristic and linguistically accessible pieces combining the elements of nature and religion. In it the poet plaudits the creator for the infinite assert and scope within creation. His appreciation of the natural world ranges in scale from a rainbow trout to an entire landscape. Even from its form of address alone we know that this curtal sonnet is effectively a stress of praise for all things pied that is bi-coloured, streaked or patched.The poem Snowflakes by Longfellow is also an expression of the poets attitude to and appreciation of the natural world. In it Longfellow covers in minute detail the subtle beauty of a single deoxycytidine monophosphateflake and makes us more aware not only of blast, but of the other small thin gs surrounding us, making us realise their importance.Both poems acknowledge existence and power of a creator. In Pied Beauty a song of praise is presented in the first line of the poems triumphant, alliterative opening stanza, as Glory be to God immediately places Hopkins appreciation of the beauty of the natural world in a religious context. Also as the poem concludes with the exhortation Praise him it is clear that the piece is deliberately framed as a Christian hymn of thanksgiving for the infinite smorgasbord in nature.The opening line also introduces the poems theme cloud things and this is the first of many adjectives describing parti-coloured natural elements.Snowflakes on the other hand opens with an altogether more maternal aspect of nature although the acknowledgement of a powerful creator is still presentOut of the bosom of the creaseOut of the cloud-folds of her garments shakenThis personification of the female form creates a Mother Earth type figure that I feel Long fellow used to successfully communicate his love and understanding of all things natural to a wide audience as a mother figure is something most of us could relate to. In this item instance it is this Mother Earth entity that produces and generates the countless millions of setbackflakes. We can directly contrast this to Hopkins Pied Beauty where a masculine creator is presumed and praised Praise him.Both poems perceive and praise a religious dimension to the beauty of the supernatural world. The religious theme in Pied Beauty is continued as appropriately the poets eyes face to gaze up at heaven as he appreciates the beauty of skies of couple colour implying that the skys beauty was the work of God. This image also lends a sweep panoramic aspect to his poetic attention as I imagine the vast immeasurable skies above. Then foreshadowing a technique used afterward in the poem, Hopkins immediately narrows his broader focus down to refer to the streaked markings on one brinded cow .In Snowflakes this religious theme is expressed in describing the shape of the snowflake as some divine expression indicating a superior eternal contribution to the formation of the snowflakes.As we know the two poems are about beauty that is all around us, but I noticed that both poems focus on tiny and large natural entities. In Pied Beauty Hopkins comments on rose-moles on trout and finches-wings. It seems that no aspect or detail of nature is too tiny or insignificant to escape the poets attention. But on the contrary he also refers to skies and landscape showing the range in which nature is present. In Snowflakes Longfellow is concentrating more on the actual snowflake rather than an overview of all things beautiful. Yet in contrast he also comments on the woodland and harvest fields in which the seemingly harmless snowflake had somehow devoured.Both poems also use alliteration to achieve their impact in places. In Snowflakes he describes the woodland as being brown and bare a nd the movement of the snow as Silent, and soft, and slow. This repeated initial consonant sound is used to set the scene that the poet is trying to convey. This is also present in Pied Beauty when the sky is described as being of couple-colour to convey the varying shades and tones present in the sky above. Also by describing the chestnuts as Fresh-firecoal the poet is helping us to envisage fully the sight of the dual coloured chestnuts falling from a tree.In Pied Beauty Hopkins uses a wide range of vocabulary to describe the many parti-coloured aspects of nature, dappled, couple-colour, and freckled being examples of these. But it is the use of the explicate fickle that I found rather striking, as one would normally use the word to refer to a person with mood swings intimately like personality changes. But here it is used to emphasise the speed and acceptance of change in the landscape and environment.I also noticed that the opening of Snowflakes featured many examples of O as sonance Outbosomcloud-foldsOverwoodlands brownsoftslow and snow. It is almost as if the poet is purposely repeatedly using words that contain the letter O (physically circular in shape) to bombard the page, reminding us of a multitude of snowflakes as they tout ensemble cover the ground. The poet continues to acknowledge the over powering nature that the snow possesses in Over the woodlands brown and bare,Over the harvest fields forsakenThe use of the word forsaken reiterates Longfellows notion that the snow can capture anything in its path. As well as imagery the poet also used such poetic devices as onomatopoeia and sibilance to relate the descent of snow to the ground, Silent and soft and slow which I feel he does and to great affect.Even from the title of Hopkins poem we know his focus is on the infinite variety of all dappled things, uniting in the single, uniform reality of Gods creating power. Snowflakes on the other hand focuses on the one phenomenon of snow, something tha t blankets over and makes uniform the entire and varied landscape. I also noticed that in Pied Beauty the subject of the poem is introduced in the first line Glory be to God for dappled things. This plainly states that the poem shall be a song of thanks to God for everything in nature of a pied quality. Snowflakes on the other hand describes a locomote made by the subject and where it originated from rather than stating plainly what it is. The actual subject of snow is not explicitly mentioned until the end of the first stanza (although it may be argued that the title of the poem is an obvious indication of the subject matter).From reading the poems it is easy to notice the different attitudes of the narrators of the poems. The tone in Pied Beauty is one of joyous exuberance by use of language such as Glory be and Praise. On the contrary Snowflakes takes a more mellow, introspective almost unsatiated approach in describing its subject troubled heart and secret of despair are som e examples of this. Also in Pied Beauty the poem is celebratory and is about beauty. Snowflakes on the other hand is simple and complex and is beauty.After studying both poems in depth I feel that through the work of Longfellow I now would see and appreciate the complexity in the simplicity of snowflakes. But overall I prefer the work of Hopkins. His exploitation of the verbal subtleties and medication of English, of the use of alliteration, repetition and a highly compressed syntax were all in the interest of projecting deep personal experiences, including his sense of Gods mystery, grandeur and kindness in all things counter.He called the energising prosodic element of his verse sprung rhythm in which each foot may consist of one stressed syllable instead of the regular number of syllables used in traditional rhythm. The result is a muscular verse, intense and vibrant that combines accuracy of observation, daring imagination, deep tonus and intellectual depth. All in all a won derful piece that for me as of yet shall remain one of the most touching I have read.