Reflection Blog - Choose Two

I chose to analyze two poems by William Cullen Bryant and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. "June" by William Cullen Bryant seems to me to be about a man being buried in June, when the weather is nice and all of his friends can come and see. "Snow-Flakes" by Longfellow is about the snow falling on the ground, sort of like the sky is crying.

I think that these to poems are similar in a number of ways. First of all, both regard nature to its highest. In "Snow-Flakes", Longfellow compares the snow falling down to the grief that the earth has. I find this metaphor to be interesting. I have heard so many times rain and thunderstorms being compares to the sky crying and letting out its angry, but never before have I seen snow compared to crying from the sky. I think that Longfellow was tying to get readers to see that the sky does not always need to have temper-tantrums and produce thunder and lightening, but when it snows, it is somewhat like a soft cry from the sky above. The sky is not angry, but more hurt I guess one would say. "Silent, soft, and slow descends the snow," describes this feeling very well in my opinion. The snow is so quiet when it falls, yet it produces "tears" and has emotion. A lot of Romantic poems compare things to nature and how great being outdoors is. I believe that this oddly unique twist of nature is one of the reasons that the poem of "Snow-Flakes" is so highly regarded. We have not discussed this in class, but I think that a good variety of Romanticism poems consist of onomatopoeia. Nature is given human characteristics, like emotion, that allows the reader to relate to it.

The other poem I selected was called "June" by William Cullen Bryant. This poem is very similar to "Snow-Flakes" because it too talks about nature in a very high regard. In my opinion, the poem is about a man that reflects on when he will die and how he would like to be buried in June. He says that in June "brooks send up a glorious tune". I do not think that he wants to die anytime soon, but if he were to die, or when he eventually does pass away, he wants to be laid to rest in the summer months so it is nice outside. This is a huge reflection on Romanticism writing because the author describes a man's longing to be buried in nature when nature is in its prime. Just like the snow, the warm sum, the green grass, and cheerful brooks display emotion. The man in the poem finds the summer months to be the most appealing. He connects with nature in a way that not many people do. I think that the author leaves the reader will many feelings of peace and tranquility because he speaks so highly of nature. Thinking of June around this time of year definitely makes me feel warm and peaceful, simply because it is so cold outside right now.

"Snow-flakes by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : The Poetry Foundation." Poetry Foundation. Web. 11 Dec. 2011.

"June, by William Cullen Bryant." Poetry Archive | Poems. Web. 11 Dec. 2011.