Author: VINCIE EUNICE V
Address : SHRIMATHI
DEVKUNVAR NANALAL BHATT VAISHNAV COLLEGE FOR WOMEN, CHROMEPET, CHENNAI -600044.
Phone No: 9791508438
E-mail ID: eunicevincy@gmail.com
Abstract: Nature
is a language by itself. It is a free gift given to us by God. We are the
children of nature, but often we forget this fact and try to act like the
creator of nature. We are used to Industrialization and Urbanization and due to
this, we have lost our connection with the nature and our minds turned evil and
the outcome of this is the devastation and extinction of nature. Due to this,
in future...there may arise a situation, where people might forget that Flora
and Fauna was once existed. It would only exist in the map. When we disconnect
ourselves from nature, we will lose the major part of our life.
This
paper highly concentrates on the poems,
'LAKE ISLE OF
INNSFREE', 'KAANI NILAM VENDUM', ' BROOK IN THE CITY' and 'A WELSH LANDSCAPE' which are from various cultures. No matter
in which culture we belong to, nature remains the same. All these poems
emphasize on the same ideology of the importance of nature and it also reveals
the consequences, when we take nature for granted.
Key-words: Nature, Culture, Industrialisation, Interconnected
- relationship (Between nature and human) and Dystopia.
Nature is everything that was put on this
earth whether it is the food we eat, the water we drink, or the wood we use to
build our houses. Some may think nature is just the oceans and forests, but no
matter what we think, nature is one which we all must take care of. We have so
many different cultures around us. Culture may differ from place to place but
nature remains the same. We cannot separate culture and nature because it all
goes hand in hand. We can also say it in other words. Nature goes even beyond
culture because culture varies, but nature
remains the same. In this paper we are going to discuss few poems in which some
poets create the world of utopia through nature and the rest warn us
when we take
nature for granted. The poems which we are discussing are from various cultures. In
the means of their own culture they imagine their own world of nature.
Cell phones, ipods, videogames, car alarms,
door slamming, people talking, laughing, shouting. We live in a noisy world. Regardless
of whether we’re city folk or country people, we all need a peaceful place to
live in. In the poem “THE LAKE ISLE OF
INNSFREE”, W.B Yeats expresses his yearning to go and enjoy the site of the
country side. There were so many opposing forces pulling him in different
directions, he desperately longs for the change. In this poem he imagines a
solitary world, where he can live in peace. He says:
“And I shall have some peace there…”
The LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE is a real place
near the coast of Ireland. It is not inhabited and is on Lough Gill, a lake in
country Sligo. Yeats spent his summer as a child there and this poem was born
from his sudden memory. Innisfree is a real place, but the description given in
this poem is imaginative. He wants to form his own world which will be far away
from the city. He has decided to make the break from modern society and all of
the hectic madness it can bring and go to a place he love, Innsfree. He says:
“And live alone in the bee-loud glade”
This can also be taken as, being in the city
had made him too old, and he was too tired of everything. So he wants to go
back to his childhood experience, where he can be so young and live at peace.
When we are around nature, it transforms us. We feel like very energetic. The noise
which we hear in the cities very unpleasant because it is the noise of the
machines and the harsh words of the humans but the noise in the country are
very pleasing to our ears because nature whispers secrets to us. Yeats says:
“I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the
shore”
The sad part of this poem is, he could only imagine the picture of
Innsfree. He cannot go back to that place. But the best part is, he didn’t have
a physical experience with nature but the spiritual experience. Physical will
not last long but spiritual will be treasured up deep inside our hearts because
nature and human builds a very strong relationship which will never die and
remain firm in our heart beats. He says:
“I hear it deep in
the deep heart’s core”
Similar to this, we
also have an Indian poem “KAANI NILAM
VENDUM” Written by a tamil poet Subramaniya Bharathiyar. Like Yeats, his
life was also filled with so many opposing forces. So he invoke his prayer to
the supreme god and asking god to create a natural
world filled with all the natural resources. He says:
“I
need one kaani land, oh supreme power!...
You
should build me a palace (home) in it,…”
He didn’t ask god to grant him power or
wealth to rule the world but he ask god to grant him happiness in his life. He
knows the secret that, the city life will not grant him happiness. So, he wish
to connect himself with nature. He ask god to give him wells, coconut trees and
also he longs to hear the chirping sound of the cucukoos. According to him these
are the greatest wealth. He very well knows that, only all these things can
bring the true delight in his life.
“the
melodious music from cuckoos chirping should subtly touch my ears,”
He also wants a woman by his side as his
life companion and he want to rejoice the scenery of nature along with her. All
these things shows that how these poets desperately wanted to connect
themselves with the nature. These two poets lived in a place where the
conducive environment was denied for them. They were trapped between the
modernized world and the natural world. They were tired both
physically and mentally. This made them to wish for the natural world where
they can enjoy and live like a recluse and admire the nature as it is. When all
these things was chasing them, it was nature who was their fortress. Nature consoled them and also served as the
best teacher to them. Their wish was not something big, but it was very subtle.
One best part of being connected with the nature is, nature never change like
humans. It provides everything without any expectation.
We should tend to nature. When we fail to
do so, nature reacts in a opposite way. When we compare these two poems with
the next two, they are completely contrast in themes. In the above mentioned
poems, the poets have imagined the world of utopia and they were longing to get
connected with nature. But in the next two poems “A BROOK IN THE CITY” and “A
WELSH LANDSCAPE”, the poets brings contemporary issues in it. We are living
in a modern world and we are longing to have all the luxuries in our life. This
updated world connect all of us more with the man-made things than with nature.
In the poem “BROOK IN THE CITY”, the
farm house and the brook represents the rural landscape. Robert Frost
pathetically picturizes the condition of the brook. He says:
“…But
what about the brook
That
held the house as in an elbow-crook?”
Over time, the brook is not needed
anymore. So the people of the city transformed it into a sewer under the
streets. This shows the fall of nature and the rise of the industrial
revolution. In the beginning of the poem, it tells how the person used to play
with the brook by dipping his finger. He says:
“That
held the house as in an elbow-crook?
I
ask as one who knew the brook, its strength
And
impulse, having dipped a finger length
And
made it leap my knuckle, having tossed
A
flower to try its current where they crossed.”
As we consider trees are no more useful to
us, these people considered the brook as no longer useful for them in this new
landscape and they turned it into a sewer system and later it was covered by
dirt. The last few lines tells that no one would know where the brook was and
wouldn’t care for it at all. He says:
“No
one would know except for ancient maps
That
such a brook ran water.”
This also shows the evil nature of the
humans. Humans are not cautious to be responsible. Instead of protecting
nature, they are destroying it. They didn’t have the sense of guilt at all.
In the poem “A Welsh Landscape”, R.S Thomas portrayed the Wales and the Welsh
Culture. Moreover, to live in Wales, also means to be part of the rural Welsh
tradition. The poet says, to live in Wales means to be aware of the “Spilled blood”. This means that the people
of Wales know that they have lost many things in their past. When we lose
something, it will create a greater impact in our lives. We clearly don’t know that what has happened
in the past. But one thing is very clear that the people are struck in their
past and they were not able to move on further. The poet says,
“And
no future;
There
is only the past,”
There is no hope in this poem. This poem
brings out the pessimistic view of the landscape because there are only
leftovers in the landscape. Nothing is fresh. It lost its original glory. The
poet says:
“At
dusk of the spilled blood
That
went into the making if the wild sky,
Dyeing the immaculate rivers.”
The spilled blood has spoiled the wild sky
and also polluted the immaculate rivers. River is one of the most important
natural resources and it is said to be the part of our culture. River travels
through all the generations. When it gets polluted, our future generation will
be the greatest sufferers. The poem clearly states that the people didn’t take
any effort to get back their lost glory. The poet says:
“You
cannot live in the present,
At
least not in Wales:”
These people are grumbling about their
olden days. They fail to take effort to create a bright future. Their towers and
castles were shaken. This is to be avoided. If any misfortunes occur we have to
rectify it instead of grumbling. We do not know whether it is the war or
natural calamities which are standing as a background for this poem. Whatever
it may be, if any destruction comes towards nature, we should not leave it as
it is. It is our duty to bring everything to normal. When we fail to do so, we
have to face the consequences.
All the above mentioned poems emphasis on
only one thing. “Nature is all we need”.
The first two poems “THE LAKE ISLE
OF INNSFREE” and “KAANI NILAM
VENDUM” brings out the world of utopia through nature. Both the poems shows
the longingness for nature because they know that only nature can give us
happiness and the other two poems “THE
BROOKS IN THE CITY” and “A WELSH
LANDSCAPE” portrays that, when we fail to
realize the existence of nature that,
nature
will be completely destroyed in the days to come. Then, we will all be able to
identify nature only in the maps. We are so fond of machines because it
simplifies all our works. But we should all understand one basic thing, that
is, our body is not made up of spare parts but of blood and flesh. When god
created Adam and Eve, their only companion was nature. They were one among
nature. Time may change but our body is used to nature. For time being all
these machines might give pleasure but it will not last long because we humans
need a companion in our life. You may ask, nature doesn’t speak and react. Then
how come it can be a good companion? When we connect ourselves with the nature,
we will be able to hear the whispers of the nature. When we
are depressed and dejected we can go and hide ourselves inside the nature
because nature is our fortress. Nature goes beyond everything. Nothing can
withstand before nature, because nature is
true and it doesn’t change
its nature.
References
[1] Yeats,W.B.,
“The collected poems of W.B Yeats”, published by Wordsworth Editions Ltd., 5,
September 2000
[2] Frost, Temple,
Roboert., “Nature All Around Us: To Observe Is to Learn, Love, and Admire.,
Published by Strategic Book Publishing and Rights Agency, LLC.,8, February 2016
