Ode To Enchanted Light By Mary Oliver

Robert Frost, author of “Nothing Gold Can Stay”, and Mark Twain, author of Two Ways of Seeing A River, explore the idea of beauty by putting their personal feelings into what they see. Both of these American authors use nature to interpret the ways of beauty into words. Frost and Twain go hand in hand with each other in the aspect of their diction. While Frost and Twain both use imagery to demonstrate fleeting beauty, frost includes time indicators, while Twain uses rhetorical questions.

Puritans and reformers of seventeenth century England have been given a bad name for their part in history. This is primarily because they were working against the grain and trying to create change in world that saw change as a threat. The time period was turbulent and there was bound to be resistance in a world that was dominated by Catholics and those that had reformed to abide by their King’s law. The puritans of the time were considered extreme and rubbed people the wrong way because they wanted a world that abided by their morals and ethical codes. For this, they took the blame for the misery that many suffered during this age, but as we see in Fire from Heaven, this is not a fair assessment. The Puritans of this time wanted to improve the lives of the people and society as a whole through morality and purity.

Most poems, new and old, almost always have an important message to teach to all those who take the time to read it. Authors use poetic devices to get their message across in creative, yet effective ways. For example, Mary Oliver carefully uses several poetic devices to teach her own personal message to her readers. Oliver’s use of the poem’s organization, diction, figurative language, and title aids in conveying the message of how small, yet vital oxygen is to all living and nonliving things in her poem, “Oxygen.”

While the beginning half of the poem feels joyous and lighthearted, it is masked by a thin facade. This is portrayed by the nighttime setting and the shakiness of the seemingly cheerful terms, such as the verses “while the stars, that oversprinkle / all the heavens, seem to twinkle” (6-7). In the latter half of the poem, the tone becomes openly dark. The speaker probably sees this poem and its four sections as stages in life, which quickly dive from a bright atmosphere to a downright distressing one. Together, they represent the idea that happiness is

symbolic richness, but at the same time the poem supplies the reader with a wide

In “Ode to enchanted light,” Neruda defines light as positivity and says “Light/ like a green/ latticework of branches/ shining/ on every leaf,” (4-7). The author explains how light is enhancing the world to create beauty of nature. This makes the reader imagine a beautiful scenery where light is shining bright and shows a positive relation. On the other hand, Mary Oliver characterizes light as a negative feeling in “Sleeping in the forest.” The speaker in this poem is in darkness, as being only to see “the white fire of the stars” (Oliver 8).

Thirdly, Both writers use a lot of imagery in their poems, they use a big amount of imagination to tell their experiences. Each poem is developed out of

Each of the poems relies heavily on imagery to convey their respective messages. Often throughout each of the poems, the imagery is that of people. However, each uses similar imagery to very different, yet effective ways to explore the same

“Ode to enchanted light” by Pablo Neruda (1904- 1973) and “Sleeping in the Forest” by Mary Oliver (b. 1935) are both lyrical poems that both express their love for nature and the beauty of it. Neruda and Oliver recognized and accomplished writers who have both won many awards for their work in literature. Both of the poets express different styles and forms of writing as of figurative language and structure. The poem “Ode to enchanted light” is a lyrical poem which functions as a free verse poem because it doesn’t follow any set of rules but is still considered a traditional poem due to the fact that it is an ode. Although there is no rhythm in this poem, one could argue that there is because of the alliterative “s” sound being repeated throughout

In the second stanza, he says “Darkness settles on roofs and walls”. Then, he expresses the idea of nature washing away the mark of man in lines 8-9 when the speaker of the poem states “The little waves, with their soft, white hands, Efface the footprints in the sands”. Then, the first line of the third stanza opens with “The morning breaks”. In this section, darkness fell upon the speaker, and he watched as the waves washed away the footprints of the traveler in the sand. Then morning breaks, which implies that life will continue after the death of a person. Another example of imagery in this poem is when he says “The twilight darkens, the curlew calls”. This does nothing more than to give the reader an even more exact image of what is going on, which allows the reader to be able to connect better with the

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Mary Oliver once stated, in her poem The Summer Day. Most of her poems are written about nature. She has a house in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where she spent time alone.

The poem begins with the poet noticing the beauty around her, the fall colors as the sun sets “Their leaves and fruits seemed painted, but was true, / Of green, of red, of yellow, mixed hue;” (5-6). The poet immediately relates the effects of nature’s beauty to her own spiritual beliefs. She wonders that if nature here on Earth is so magnificent, then Heaven must be more wonderful than ever imagined. She then views a stately oak tree and

Poets use many ways when they want to communicate something using poems. Poems are used as a means of passing ideas, information and expression of feelings. This has made the poets to use the natural things and images that people can relate with so that they can make these poems understandable. The most common forms of writing that are used by the poets are the figurative language for example imagery and metaphors. In addition, the poets use the natural landscape in their attempt to explore the philosophical questions. Therefore, this essay will explore the forms that have been used by the poets in writing poems using the natural landscape. The essay will be based on poems such as ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ by

The speaker refers to the night as his acquaintance. This implies that the speaker has a lot of experience with the night, but has not become friends with it. Thus, because even the night, which has been alongside the speaker in comparison to anything or anyone else, is not a companion to the speaker, the idea of loneliness is enhanced. In addition, “rain” (2) is used to symbolize the speaker’s feelings of gloom and grief, because there is continuous pouring of the rain, which is unlikely to stop. In line 3, “city light” is used to convey the emotional distance between the speaker and society. Although the speaker has walked extensively, he has not yet interacted with anyone – thus distancing himself even further from society. Moreover, the moon, in lines 11 to 12, is used as a metaphor of the speaker’s feelings. The speaker feels extremely distant from society that he feels “unearthly.” The idea of isolation and loneliness in this poem is used as the theme of the poem; and the use of the setting and metaphors underscores the idea that the speaker feels abandoned from society.

The imagery in the poem, specifically natural imagery, helps use the reader’s senses to develop a vivid depiction of the speaker’s connection to nature and dissatisfaction with the surrounding reality. The speaker’s continued use of the “moon” reflects her attribution of feminine identity and idolistic character to the moon. As opposed to referencing herself and her personal insomnia, she uses the imagery of the moon “beyond sleep” to convey her internal struggles with insomnia and her reality. Throughout the poem, the speaker also refers to shining, reflective surfaces, such as “a body of water or a mirror”, to describe the inverted reality in which the speaker experiences reciprocated love. Reflective surfaces often invert the image that is projected into them, seemingly distorting the true nature and reality of the projected image. The speaker’s reference to this reflective imagery highlights her desire to escape the burden of a patriarchal society and assume an independent and free feminine identity. Specifically, the use of natural imagery from the references to the “moon” and “a body of water” convey the speaker’s desire to take refuge within the Earth or in the feminine identity of the Earth, Mother Earth. Feminine identities are often related and associated with aspects of nature due to the natural cycle of the menstrual period and the natural process of procreation. The speaker takes advantage of these connotations to suggest Earth and natural imagery as an escape from the man-made terrors of male dominated society. In the second stanza, the speaker uses extensive imagery to develop metaphors conveying the speaker’s experience of jealousy of the moon