UNIVERSITY OF ASIA PACIFIC

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

ENG 104 INTRODUCTION TO POETRY

Topic: “I wandered lonely as cloud and Pike” a natural comparison.

Submitted To:

Niger Afroz IslamLecturerDepartment of English

University of Asia Pacific, Dhaka.

Submitted By:

Nafis Kamal

Reg. No.: 13116003

First Year First Semester

Department of English

University of Asia Pacific, Dhaka.

Date of Submission: July 31, 2013

“I wandered lonely as cloud and Pike” a natural comparison.

The poem “I wander Lonely as a Cloud” is a beautiful specimen of romantic poetry. It written by William Wordsworth in 1804 but the final version was the poem was first published in collected poem in 1815. William Wordsworth’s poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” is the speaker (presumably Wordsworth) talking about the beauty and innocence of nature, and about how good it is for the soul (even in remembrance). On the other hand, “Pike” is one of Ted Hughes’ well- known poems and it was first published 1n 1959. This poem is known as an animal poem. It deals with the destructive instinct in the pike in particular and the violent and horrific destructive element in animals or nature in general.

Natural description of “I wandered lonely as a cloud”:

In the poem “I wandered lonely as a cloud”, Wordsworth creates a feeling a solitary bliss with nature. The description of the process is represented by a natural scene where the speaker, plants and the surroundings become united. The speaker, at the beginning of “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, views himself as a wandering cloud much in a state of knowing disconnection. William words worth use daffodil as a symbol of nature. The speaker of the poem saw a large number of daffodils when he was roaming. The golden daffodils appeared to him as a crowd. Like a group of joyful dancers, they had been dancing in pleasant way. They also made sweet sound like sounds by the wings of the flying birds. The flowers also offered a happy sight. The speaker, who had a heart of poet, was influenced by joy of the daffodil. They teach his heart and mind a permanent impression of happiness there. He enjoys the beauty a long time to not only feed his eye but also feed his heart and mind. His heart starts dancing with daffodil. So, nature is capable to making communion with man. This poem reflect words worth’s belief in natural healing power. The speaker saw a host of golden daffodil two years ago. At present, whenever, he becomes gloomy, the happy sight returns his mind and it relieves his from his pensive mood. This poem shows the healing power of nature.

The poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” fulfills the theory of romantic poetry “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings…..recollected in tranquility”. The poet’s powerful feelings of a happy sight had worked behind the creation of this poem. The poet’s past experience of the dancing daffodils has been recollected in this poem.

Therefore in conclusion we can say that the poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” includes all most all characteristics of romantic poetry. Among them subjectivity, love for nature, healing power of nature etc. are obvious.

Natural description of “Pike”:

In the poem Pike by Ted Hughes, the poets use poetic devices to convey their views towards the animal world and nature. The other poet, Ted Hughes, also conveys a sense of awe towards nature in the opening lines of the poem "Pike".

"Pike, three inches long, perfect/Pike in all parts, green tigering the gold"

The description of the pike as being "perfect" conveys the poet's feelings that nature creates everything perfectly and the fact that the pike is only "three inches long" heightens the sense of awe, as the poet implies that perfection is present in all shapes and forms of nature. "Tigering" compares the characteristic fierceness of tigers as a property of the pike, and also refers to nature again by mentioning the tiger, another animal. This information showing the poet's thinking that all of nature is connected and related to each other. How the poet of "Pike" feels about the power of nature is shown through his use of adjectives, which convey a sense of strength and lastingness.

"Whose lilies and muscular tench/had outlasted every visible stone/of the monastery that planted them"

The poet describes the pond he's fishing in as "muscular" which implies his feelings that nature is powerful. The word "outlasted" suggests the poet's opinion of the fact nature is strong, and that it has overgrown the "monastery that planted them" indicating that nature can overpower the man-made objects even though the lilies were "planted" and meant to be controlled by the humans. Lilies are characteristically a symbol for resurrection, purity and life; however lilies are also delicate and fragile flowers which need to be protected and even "planted" to survive. The poet uses lilies as a double metaphor for the adaptability and resilience of nature, but also its frailty and need for protection from humans, which could be posing a subtle warning that humans need to live in harmony with nature and not try to overcome it.

“I wandered lonely as a cloud and Pike” these two poems give importance to the nature and closely related with human. In the poem “I wandered lonely as a cloud” poet represents the healing power of nature. On the other hand, one of the ideas the poet in the poem” Pike” poet wants to convey exists horror in nature.