Compare the Poet’s Use of Nature in ‘a Birthday’ and ‘the Woodspurge’

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Both poets exploit nature differently in their poems. Whilst Christina uses of nature to convey her feelings towards birthday, Dante uses the natural aspect present in this poem as tool to force the reader to acknowledge the narrator's state of mind. Although, Dante’s poem is entitled a very natural object, Christina’s is more human, however the subject of the poems contrasts these allures. In ‘The Woodspurge’ nature, in the form of the wind, is controlling him: “I had walked on at the wind’s will, / I sat now, for the wind was still.” This generates a sense that nature is controlling Dante and he is seemingly slipping into it, being able to float in the wind without hindrance. However, in ‘A Birthday’, the poet makes it out to seem that nature is simply a reflection of human activity, and the use of similes suggest this. As she describes her heart “like an apple-tree.” We see that she is not bound by nature, but simply is manipulating it to describe how she is feeling, unlike ‘The Woodspurge’ where the poet appears to be ordered by nature itself. Christina’s image of “an apple-tree/ whose boughs are bent with the thickest fruit;” also create an image of fertility and fruitfulness in nature and this is reflected in a relationship between man and woman. Nature is described in ‘A Birthday’ as being perfect and flawless, using “halcyon” to describe the sea, something that is deemed by some as untamable is so easily categorized as something, which is peaceful and still. The use of royal and religious imagery, such as “Dove” and “Fleur-de-Lys”, seems to support this as in many peoples view; religion is the absolute truth and therefore must be perfect similarly to royals being anointed by god and therefore the perfect individual. However, Dante tells a different story in ‘The Woodspurge’ since he describes nature as something that is random. “The wind flapped loose,

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