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Ap English Literature Research Paper

1157 Words5 Pages

The industrialisation of Europe in the 1800’s fuelled the ecocide of the century. The folly in inundating, burning and logging vast forests spurred conservation ideas and practices. Yet it seems they had a choice. Romantic and transcendental writers who celebrated American ‘wilderness’ and the restorative effects on the human spirit, challenged the idea that nature is only a commodity to be used. Through their promotion of the scenic and aesthetic aspect of nature, society assimilated to the importance of this divine world, to their physical and spiritual health which elicited uplifting, though confronting emotional responses and attitudes.
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Mix, where tonight we focus on one of England’s well-renowned …show more content…

Hopkin then became a devout Jesuit – part of a scholarly religious congregation - who wrote about nature to reveal God’s immanence in creation. Residing in an area that was under industrial development, Hopkins began to doubt nature’s ability to withstand human destruction. Alas, he was dismayed to discover the extent to which the city had fallen from its greener aspects in Georgian times. This annihilation of great swathes of countryside during the Industrial revolution served as an affront to his God.
Hopkin’s Binsey Poplars, published in 1879, sheds light on this issue, which in any realistic appraisal, humankind will be compelled to reckon with for centuries to come. For Hopkins this wanton destruction of flora is a result of hasty, heedless action, threatening the frail balance between humans and the natural world. Hopkin’s recount of the authoritarian power of humans over nature and the fragility of the natural environment reads as an attempt to traumatise the mindlessness that irrevocably and permanently changes our natural …show more content…

The poet establishes an interactant relationship with the vegetal beings through his address of “My aspens dear,” with the metaphor of ‘airy cages’ assisting with the imagery of sunlight dancing through the leaves. Additionally, the long alliterative sentence: “That dandled a sandalled shadow that swam or sank on meadow and river and wind-wandering weed-winding bank” conjures the impression of one relishing the untamed beauty of nature whilst idling by the river. The soft sibilance of ‘shadow that swam or sank’ offers some mellifluous qualities leading readers to imagine the reflections in the water. Hence, Hopkin effectively demonstrates nature at its most benevolent, and thus its destruction as

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