Poetry and a Poet's Ability to Foresee the Future
The world is changing and evolving at an astounding rate. Within
the last one hundred years, the Western community has seen
advances in technology and medicine that has improved the
lifestyles and longevity of almost every individual. Within the
last two hundred years, we have seen two World Wars, and
countless disputes over false borders created by colonialists,
slavery, and every horrid form of human suffering imaginable!
Human lifestyles and cultures are changing every minute. While
our grandparents and ancestors were growing-up, do you think that
they ever imagined the world we live in today? What is to come
is almost inconceivable to us now. In this world, the only thing
we can be sure of is that everything will change. With all of
these transformations happening, it is a wonder that a great poet
may write words over one hundred years ago, that are still
relevant in today's modern world. It is also remarkable that
their written words can tell us more about our present,
than they did about our past. Is it just an illusion that our
world is evolving, or do these great poets have the power to see
into the future? In this brief essay, I will investigate the
immortal characteristics of poetry written between 1794 and 1919.
And, I will show that these classical poems can actually hold
more relevance today, than they did in the year they were
written. Along the way, we will pay close attention to the style
of the poetry, and the strength of words and symbols used to
intensify the poets' revelations.
The World Is Too Much with Us, written by William Wordsworth in
1807 is a warning to his generation, that they are losing sight
of what is truly important in this world: nature and God. To
some, they are one in the same. As if lacking appreciation for
the natural gifts of God is not sin enough, we add to it the
insult of pride for our rape of His land. Wordsworth makes this
poetic message immortal with his powerful and emotional words.
Let us study his powerful style: The world is too much with us;
late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts
away, a sordid boon! (Lines 1 - 4) Materialism, wasteful
selfishness, prostitution! These are the images that these lines
bring to me! Yet, is it not more true today than in Wordsworth's
time, that we are a culture of people who simply consume and
waste? The third line awakens me, and says that I have been
raised with the mentality that I am not a part of nature, and
that I do not identify my needs with those of nature's needs.
This mentality may have been quite true in 1807, but it is surely
more true in 1996. There is absolute disregard of nature in the
acts of well respected western corporations. Would someone who is
in-touch with nature orchestrate the "slash and burn" of
beautiful rain forests of South America, or the life giving
jungles of Africa and Asia? Would someone who is in-touch with
nature dump chemical waste into waters that are home to billions
of plants and animals? These and other abominations have surely
increased in the last 189 years since this poem was written. What
makes the sin even worse is the fact that men who order this
destruction are well respected people in our culture. The winds
that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like
sleeping flowers; For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. - Great God! (Lines 6 - 9) Wordsworth gives life
to nature in his words, and displays to us nature's agony and
pain, "howling at all hours." But, we listen not! For we are
out of tune, and much too important to ourselves, that we may not
listen to the wind, rain, land or sea. I do not know which is the
greater sin: the pillage of the earth's natural beauty, or man's
torturous inhumanity toward his fellow man.
London, written in 1794, by William Blake is a poem of
civilization's decline - and also the decline of compassion and
humanity. I wander thro' each charter'd street, Near where the
charter'd Thames does flow, And mark in every face I meet Marks
of weakness, marks of woe. (Lines 1 - 4) London, a city of
millions, with very few who are wealthy enough to own land. In a
subtle way, Blake tells us that every inch of London is owned -
the "charter'd streets," the "charter'd Thames." It is a
reflection of the immaturity of our culture that we allow just 5%
of the world's population to control 80% of the world's wealth ,
leaving most in utter poverty. This is especially true today: the
United States frequently dumps excess farm and dairy produce to
keep their market price high, rather than share the excess food
with the hungry people of the world.
During Blake's time, the world was not in such excess as it is
today. It seems that in our culture, the more we have, the more
we waste. How the Chimney-Sweeper's cry Every blackning Church
appalls, And the hapless Soldier's sigh Runs in blood down Palace
walls. (Lines 9 - 12) Every potent word of these four lines
inject emotions of grief, hopelessness, and death: the images of
the child's cry, the blackning Church, and blood on Palace walls.
The words force us to mourn the decline of London's society. The
history of the child enslavement of chimney sweepers, during
Blake's time, was a horrid inhumanity to children. Great Britain
and other western nations would like to praise themselves for
abolishing this sort of slavery. However, the inhumanity of child
enslavement is more true today than in the seventeen and eighteen
hundreds. The sin of enslavement is even more heightened, because
neocolonialism and multinational corporations have moved their
inhumane business practices to developing countries, where they
may take advantage of the desperation and poverty of those are
as. In addition, the disturbing images of slavery are hidden from
westerners who respect the success of multinational corporations.
Yes, Blake's poem is very relevant today. It is difficult to
choose among William Butler Yeats most timeless poems, because
every one of them has immortal qualities. His poem, The Second
Coming, not only embraces eternal relevance and a deep
understanding of humanity's history, but also the fruits of
prophesy! Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon
cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the center cannot
hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world... (Lines 1 - 4) With
respect to the two major topics discussed before (man's
inhumanity and disrespect for nature), this stanza offers much
insight into the progression of humanity. The state of decline
that was described in poems written over one hundred years ago
described a human cultural trend that is to continue on an
intensifying cycle, like the "widening gyre." Today, we are
approaching a state of complete detachment from our origin, our
nature and our God: "The falcon cannot hear the falconer," as
insightfully described by Yeats. This stanza is so very relevant
to us, because it symbolically describes every aspect of the
progression of humanity!
Yeats poetry transcends immortality, and becomes prophetic! His
"widening gyre" symbolizes the climactic end, until anarchy is
upon us. Every word of his poem creates a deep fear of humanity's
downward spiral. The relevance of poetry is undeniable. As Percy
Bysshe Shelley admits, "A poem is the very image of life
expressed in its eternal truth." It is an "eternal truth" that
can offer wisdom for hundreds of years after the poem's birth. A
prophet or a mystic may attempt to tell ones future; but, the
poet approaches from a very different angle. The poet becomes
intimate with the nature of humanity, and its timeless
characteristics. In this way, the poet surrounds himself in a
divine sort of wisdom. Truly, poetry is immortal. To explore the
wisdom and symbolic message of poetry is an exciting journey for
me. As a child, I was never introduced to poetry, and certainly
never was exposed to its importance. To study the deeper
meaning of poetry has been a challenge and an adventure. It has
brought my mind to contemplate things to which I have never
attached a value, such as my personal connection with nature. I
agree with Shelley, that poetry "awakens and enlarges the mind
itself by rendering it the receptacle of a thousand
unapprehended combinations of thought."
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