Inspired by Nature

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Samantha Gill Short Paper Circle of Life: Nature Style Romantic Literature idolizes the natural elements of the world, otherwise known as nature. Most “Romantic” authors turn to nature for inspiration. In most works, the overall mood/tone can suddenly change because of such “beauty” nature displays. William Blake and William Wordsworth are authors whose poems have admired nature. In Songs of Innocence and Ode: Intimations of Immortality nature is used to add a double meaning to the story. Nature is used in both Songs of Innocence and Ode: Intimations of Immortality as a way to symbolize life. That being said, I can make the general assumption that Romantic writers valued nature so highly that they interrelate it in their masterpieces. In The Ecchoing Green (from Songs of Innocence), the use of nature signifies the cycle of life. The way Blake uses nature is to show natural settings of in which the stage of a child endures: “The Sun does arise,/ And make happy the skies./ The merry bells ring/ To welcome the Spring.” (1-4). In these lines, nature is used to show a time of development. The presence of the “Sun” brings a new day in which the sun also welcomes a new season, “Spring” and with a new day also brings a new life. This mimics man’s dependence on nature: with the sun for example, for the day to begin and to travel away from the darkness joined with nightfall, the sun must rise and bring light to the Earth. The ending of the poem symbolizes the “end” of life, “The sun does descend” (23), “On the darkening Green” (30). The nature of the sun “descending” means night will come; nightlife is parallel to life ending. Blake not only uses nature to show the cycle of life, he uses nature as a religious hidden message. In Ecchoing Green the word “Sun” is being used with a capital S, for which can represent God. The sun as we know gives off heat, it shines its
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