Analysis of "Nature, the gentlest mother"

After reading the poem, "Nature,the gentlest mother," by Emily Dickinson, it is very clear for the reader, that Dickinson was in love with nature. In fact from this poem, it can almost be inferred that Dickinson was fascinated with nature. In this poem, Dickinson compares nature to a mother, by using personification("Emily"). When beginning to read this poem, the reader or audience would wonder why Dickinson was comparing nature with a mother. Well judging from the tone of the poem, Dickinson tends to believe that nature is very soothing and also very relaxing. For example, within the poem, the author states, "NATURE, the gentlest mother,
Impatient of no child,
The feeblest or the waywardest,—
Her admonition mild(Dickinson)"
From this quote, it is very easy to see the point of view that Dickinson has on nature. From this quote, it is also very clear why Dickinson tends to compare nature to a mother or the instincts and tendencies of a mother. For the rest of the poem, really all that Dickinson is doing is she is making comparisons of how nature relates to beauty by using personification for the reader to give the reader many clear ideas of how beauty relates to nature. For example, in the poem, the author is quotes, "How fair her conversation,
A summer afternoon,-
Her household, her assembly;
And when the sun goes down(Dickinson)."
From this quote, it is very easy for the reader to see some example of hoe the author of this poem, Dickinson, relates simple and other divine things to the concept of nature. For example, when the author compares the idea of the summer afternoon being nature's home, this shows that the author wants to point out that the main thought of nature comes when one thinks of a summer afternoon, or as another example, the heart of nature is seen in a summer afternoon because summer afternoons are so peaceful, beautiful, and divine as well("Emily"). Another quote from this poem that reflects Dickinson's point of view within this poem is as follows, "When all the children sleep
She turns as long away
As will suffice to light her lamps(Dickinson);" From this quote, it is once again very easy for the reader to see the special comparisons that Dickinson makes between nature and the characteristics of a mother. In this quote, the author is referring to stars when she uses the word lamps, because she has said that the children have gone to sleep meaning that it is now night, and that will itself will be enough to bring out these lamps or light them. Finally, Dickinson end the poem by quoting, "Then, bending from the sky,
With infinite affection
And infiniter care,
Her golden finger on her lip,
Wills silence everywhere." In this quote, the author is once referring to the transition in nature from day to night. This quote ends the poem very well because it reflects maternal instincts as well as well as referring to beauty in nature. When the author says "with infinite affection and infiniter care," This is referring to tucking a child into bed("Emily").

Dickinson, Emily. "1. “Nature, the Gentlest Mother.” Part Two: Nature. Dickinson, Emily. 1924. Complete Poems." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 24 Mar. 2011. .

"Emily Dickinson Nature Poems for Analysis: Let's Explain Emily Dickinson's Poems." Find Health, Education, Science & Technology Articles, Reviews, How-To and Tech Tips At Bright Hub - Apply To Be A Writer Today! Web. 24 Mar. 2011. . (Dickinson)

Journal 41, Analysis of "A Wounded Deer Leaps Highest"

For my poem analysis, i chose to do the poem "A Wounded Deer Leaps Highest" by Emily Dickinson. Within this poem, Dickinson describes how she met a hunter who describes how the wounded deer leaps the highest. At first, the reader tend to wonder how this makes sense. One would think that since the deer is wounded, that it would not have the energy to leap high, or even have the will or the power to leap at all. Well, this theory is explained in the rest of the poem when the hunter to whom Emily Dickinson is talking to makes comparison to how this effect tends to be true in life. For example, the author states, "The smitten rock that gushes,
The trampled steel that springs:
A cheek is always redder
Just where the hectic stings!" From this quote, it is very easy to see how this interesting comparison comes to be true in life. For example, it tends to be very true that the sting on one's cheek tends to be the most red where it hurts the most. I found this very interesting because this is the point within the poem, where the comparison that a wounded deer jumps the highest begins or finally makes sense to me. To me, this comparison that the hunter makes, makes the most sense to me out of all of the comparisons that the hunter makes throughout this poem. When the author wrote this poem, she could have wanted a reader to look between the words or she may have wanted to make her work stand for something rather than this encounter that she had with the hunter, but i do not think that she actually meant to do this no matter how many other critics may think so. Because the man that she claims to have met was a hunter, it would make perfect sense if this is what literally happened to Dickinson because she seemed to exile herself from society, so if she literally had this experience, then i would not be surprised.

Criticism of "A Glimpse"

After reading the very short poem called 'A Glimpse" by Walt Whitman, it is very easy to see how this poem reflects the many ideas of Self in which Whitman tends to portray within most to all of his literary works. For example, within the poem, Whitman uses the idea of Everyman within this poem to describe the simplicity of the situation in which the author is in and also he describes the people who the situation in which the author is in experiences. Whitman does not explain that these two people have very separate feelings of the situation that they are currently in, but they each have the same feelings in which the other person has. Foe example, in the description that Whitman uses for Self, he goes to describe that everybody within the world shares the same emotions, personalities and desires. Within the idea of Self, everybody is one. This former passage describes the idea of the Everyman because within the poem, the two characters in which the author is referring to share the same emotion to the situation in which they are in, and therefore, this poem reflects the simple idea of the Everyman, which is a topic that is commonly used within Whitman's poems. Another characteristic of Self that is found within the "A Glimpse" is the characteristic of nature. For example, within this poem written by Whitman,the author describes the glimpse of light that he sees and also he describes how the sights in which he sees through the glimpse make him feel. Even though this may be a stretch to reflect to nature, I believe that it does reflect to nature because of the simplicity of the quote. For example, the author states, A GLIMPSE through an interstice caught,
Of a crowd of workmen and drivers in a bar-room around the
stove late of a winter night, and I unremark'd seated in a corner, Of a youth who loves me and whom I love, silently approaching and seating himself near, that he may hold me by the hand,
A long while amid the noises of coming and going, of drinking and oath and smutty jest," From this quote within the poem, it is clear that this quote is very simple, and that the author, Whitman, is using it to reflect the way he feels about what he sees and to describe the simplicity of the scene. This reflects nature because of the simple way in which the author describes the scene. This would be considered nature, because basically in Whitman's definition of nature, it does not have to be outdoors or literally nature to be described as nature within his work. Really, in the definition the Whitman uses to describe nature, it really just has to be something that can be considered simple or divine. Unfortunately, these are the only characteristics that i saw within this work of the idea of Self. It was a very short one, so i understand how he could not fit all of the characteristic in that he wanted.

Criticism of "Bardic Symbols"

So, i read "Bardic Symbols" by Walter Whitman and i must sat that i am completely baffled. I mean, i do not think that this poem makes sense. Literally all that the author is doing throughout this entire poem is just describing nature as he sees it and relating it to other things. Quite frankly, i do not believe that this poem is really that special because in modern times, this is a very very common topic for many poems. I mean, all that the author is really doing throughout this entire poem is just walking through a beach and just reflecting on nature. It is these poem in which i think it is very ridiculous that this author can truly say that he reflects Self within this poem when there are so many others like it. I guess that the main example of Self that is used within this poem is obviously nature because of how much Whitman uses everyday things to relate to the nature that he sees as he is walking along the beach. Another example of Self that is used by the author Whitman within this poem is the idea of the Everyman. For example, within the poem, the author relates to the everyman by uses many examples of nature to relate to the very common emotions of everyday people. In this poem, Whitman truly does relate to the common emotions of people, which does make the poem relate to the everyman, but at the same time, in my opinion, this makes the poem very generic because it seems like Whitman is not really bringing his own ideas to the table when writing the poem. From the fact that that this poem is just about relating nature to very common things and also not bringing his own ideas to the table, as the reader, i found this poem to be very dull because of the generic topic in which the poet writes about.

Reflection on "Trickle Drops"

From the poem "Trickle Drops" written by Whitman, it is very easy to see how this poem reflects the idea of Self in which Whitman commonly uses in his poems and writing. For example, in this poem, Whitman uses many aspects of Self to portray the point that he is trying to get across to the reader, but at the same time, the idea of nature is clearly used most by Whitman in this poem by the way that Whitman uses the idea of blood and the beauty of it in his work. For example, in this poem, Whitman talks a lot about blood to explain the relationship that his life has between beauty and pain within his work or even multiple works(Whitman). He describes the drops as beautiful and divine, and he almost uses the tone of voice that explains that he really truly does want to shed blood, or also enjoys shedding blood because of its natural beauty. Within this poem, Whitman also uses the idea of Everyman to portray the point that he tries to make. For example, within this poem, he may not be referring to himself when describing the beauty of bloodshed and the sense of relaxation that it gives him(Whitman). He may be referring to the pain that the Everyman tends to go through on a daily routine and also may be referring to the idea that every person must have a way of shedding this pain or getting rid of it in someway. This is why Whitman tends to describe the beauty of shedding pain or as he claims, blood, because when the Everyman feels that certain sense of relief when shedding pain, it tends to make something beautiful because of that return to normalcy in which the Everyman experiences after he has been hurt by something, or that relief of pain that the everyman goes through(Whitman). In this poem, even though Whitman tends to be referring to the loss of blood which may sound almost concerning to readers at first, the tone that Whitman uses in the poem almost portrays something else besides bloodshed(Whitman). While the reader could make many comparisons to the idea of bloodshed and debate if Whitman is actually talking about actually bloodshed, The base form of of this idea would not be receiving happiness at the end of a tough period of a life or what not, but it would simply be portraying the idea that people can always overcome certain obstacles(Whitman). This is also what Whitman may be referring to when he reflects on the beauty that bloodshed causes. He may be referring to the beauty of the human factor, or the fact that even in the worst situations(Whitman). The beauty of this is not that people will instantly become extremely happy when this overcoming of obstacles occurs, but the simple beauty is not happiness, but the certain fact that one has shed the blood, or overcome the obstacle, and is ready to move on with his life. (Whitman)

Whitman, Walt. "48. Trickle, Drops. Whitman, Walt. 1900. Leaves of Grass." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 02 Mar. 2011. .

Blog on "As I Watch'd the Ploughman Ploughing"

So, i guess i kind of understand how this poem relates to Christianity. It relates to this religion because Whitman relates farming and plowing to life and death. As we all know, living in Central Illinois, just because someone plows the crops, does not mean that they can never grow crops on that land again. Farmers will grow crops every year because the land does not go bad after one year of growing crops and harvesting. This relates to a guy i know named Jesus. Jesus woke up one day, and he was all like since humans are not being as good as they should be being, so he took it upon himself to die for all of humanity's sins. This relates to the poem because of the way that Whitman describes the harvest in his short poem. I really do not know how else this poem really relates to the idea of Self in which Whitman likes to represent inside of his works. I honestly do not know how this poem really reflects the idea of the everyman because of how short the poem is. I guess one go stretch as far to say that this poem reflects the idea of the everyman because of the way that every man tends to experience life and death, but i do not really like to use that comparison. In this poem, all that the author is really doing is just comparing life and death to farming and harvesting. I mean, that is really all this poem is trying to say. I honestly do not see any other examples of the idea of the everyman because the poem, once again, is so short. I guess that another idea of Self that Whitman uses within this poem is Nature by the way that he compares life and also death and the rebirth to things in nature such as farming and growing, and also harvesting crops. It seems to be that this is all i could find about the idea of Self.

Reflection of Poems That Describe Whitman's Self

From these multiple poems, it is very easy to see the reflection of the idea of self that Whitman shoes in his poems. When Whitman expresses the idea of self, he stresses especially that society and nature combined, are all part of the present, the past and the future as well. Also, when reflecting on the idea of self, Whitman uses the similarities of man in multiple examples such as multiple people or even multiple findings in nature. To him these events and findings all reflect the simple idea of self, which he clearly shows in his writing.

For example, in the poem "Myself and Mine," Whitman relates the experiences of many and of himself to reflect the idea of self by the way he ties all of the ideas found in the poem into the point that he makes at the end, where he finally starts questioning the differences between two or even more personalities if they both feel the same way. He also starts to question the identities of the nameless beings that he speaks of within his poem and concludes the poem by basically showing the reader that he has actually just given many example of self within the poem and he has also described the very idea of self.

In the poem "One Song America, Before I Go," Whitman once again reflects his idea of self by the way in which he writes his poem. Since Whitman believed that self resembled not only the past or present, but also the future, this poem reflects the very idea that Whitman had of self. For example in the story, Whitman is describing almost of how he wants to describe to the nation that since thing have gone very well in the past for the nation and that also our nation has overcome many obstacles to get where we were when this poem was written, then the future is simple to predict for the country in the very eyes of Whitman because of the way he views self. Self not only reflect the present and the past, but also the future. This means that what Whitman really wants to "sing" to the nation before he goes is the fact that everything is going to be fine and dandy for the nation in the future because of the way that certain events unfolded in the past and because of the way that our nation learned to overcome certain obstacles.

One more example of how Whitman's idea of self is reflected in Whitman's poems is by the way that Whitman makes the final analogy in the poem "As I Watch'd The Ploughman Plouging." Within the final line of this short poem,. Whitman makes an analogy of how life relates to how much crop a farmer grow compared to the harvest at the end of each season which relates to death. This reflects the idea of realism by the way that he makes this analogy of nature to life and death. The basis for the idea of self is that not only life, but also nature goes into the idea, and since Whitman relates these two things together in the end of the poem, the poem relates to the idea of self.