Sonnet IV------To The Moon

The moon, the "queen of the silver bow," is Charlotte Smith's topic in Sonnet IV To The Moon. The speaker of the poem, probably Charlotte Smith, is directly addressing the moon and speaking to it. This sonnet is filled with so much imagery and descriptions. Even with all the pessimistic and depressing language, Smith is able to portray the moon as a beautiful creation. The moon can be compared to "heaven"; it's a better place. There is so much bad on planet earth and life on this planet is not that wonderful, however on the moon, the wretched (those living in poverty, misery, or distress - according to the Oxford English Dictionary) "may have rest." Not only that, but the moon also allows the "sad children" to forget about all the sadness and grief in their lives. I wasn't sure what the word "benignant" meant, but it looks and sounds very cold and unpleasant. The OED defined it as cherishing, gracious, and generous. I found it very fascinating how some of these harsh, negative words can be formed and defined in such ways that expose the beauty of nature. In line 3 for example, the words "shadow" and "trembling" aren't always very pleasant, however the way that Smith uses it represents a beautiful image. She could have easily said something along the lines of the moon sparkled against the flow of the water. I feel that she has purposely used this tactic to write her poem to get a point across. The moral I got from this sonnet is that there is happiness behind all of the sadness; it just takes patience and time to uncover it.

Sonnet On Seeing Miss Helen Maria Williams Weep At A Tale Of Distress

In the first three lines of William Wordsworth's poem, there is a lot of imagery that is referenced to nature, a reference to water to be more specific. Miss Helen Williams "wept"; her tear drops are just like rain drops. When it rains, it is gloomy outside and people tend to be less happy, just like when people cry, they usually aren't very happy. Drops, whether they be rain drops or tear drops, provide the audience with a dark, murky image. Similarly, "swimming eyes" are ones that are full of tears. The reference to water is within the eyes - it is the tears themselves. Also, the word "swimming" provides an even deeper reference to water because where do we swim? In the water, of course. Tears swim in the eyes, just like rain drops swim in lakes, rivers, or other bodies of water. Wordsworth also mentions words like "tide," "flow," and "streams." It's pretty obvious how tides and streams relate to water, and "flow" does so as well since water flows through rivers and streams. The water flowing through a river is like blood flowing through the human body. The stronger your tears, the more emotional you are leading to a more rapid blood flow due to the anxiety within your body. Similarly, the stronger the rain, the worse the weather leading to a more turbulence on water causing a faster flow. The flow of blood in the human body is complex process as blood must be delivered to many different areas in the body. There is also more to a river than just a long narrow body of water - rivers have forks and separate, therefore rivers deliver water to different areas as well. As you can see, nature and humanity are connected in various ways; they have comparable habits and work in similar ways.
Rain and Tears Song

Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey

For this particular poem, I decided to use wordle and see what it would throw back at me. As I look at the many words, I see two main categories. One of the categories deals with people and the other with nature. Words such as, life, mind, years, thoughts, eye, power, heart, joy, and spirit, all deal with people. These words mainly focus on an individual's inner being, mind, and emotions. Then there are those words like, landscape, nature, green, woods, world, and of course the word 'wild' which as was discussed in the beginning of the semester is a very significant word in nature. These words all relate to the world and nature. What I see through this is that there is a deep connection between humanity and nature. These are the main words of Wordsworth's poem, and the poem connects them. There is a bond between humanity and the natural world. We are united; we work together as one force. The picture of Tintern Abbey below also does a great job showing nature and humanity are one. The scenery is so beautiful - the "wild green landscape", the luscious woods, the deep river, etc. And in addition to that, there are signs of humanity, symbolized by the small houses and cabins. Both aspects combined produce such a strong, powerful reflection of the world. We the people (humanity) are surrounded by nature from every side and we rely on it to expand our knowledge of the world, to teach us, and so on. We may not even realize that our thoughts are based on nature; as soon as we step out the door, we are exposed to the power and beauty of nature and that opens up our minds, thoughts, and emotions.