This paper entails an anthology of three poems. These poems include Langston Hughes’s Poem As I grew older, Shakespeare’s Sonnet #4, and Emily Dickinson’s "Nature" is what we see. These three poems are crafted by poets with great experience about life and nature. The overarching message that is presented in these three poems is that life is difficult and has numerous challenges. Every opportunity that comes our ways should be exploited to its fullest. Our lives should be simple so that we can sustainably protect resources for future generations.
The rationale of this anthology is that the authors of these three had important perspectives towards life. The message presented by these three authors is timeless. The poems continue to be relevant in our world today. Due to the significance of the messages presented in these poems and fact that they are timeless, I believe that they should all be chosen and included. In order to understand the importance of the content presented in these poems, it is important to discuss the interpretations of these three poems. The preference of discussion of these poems illustrates the preferred order of these poems.
First, is important to talk about Langston Hughes’s poem, As I grew older. This poem begins by talking about the early life of the poet. Hughes like any other child in the United States had great hopes of becoming a more successful individual when he was young. Hughes understood that America provided opportunities for everyone to be able to realize their dream. This perspective by Hughes was however due to his young age. He did not understand the complexities that society presented. The American society according to Langston Hughes did not provide opportunities for all. Only the white Anglo-Saxon protestant males had the ability to exploit the full potentials and opportunities in the American society(Hughes 49). Black people such as Langton Hughes did not have an opportunity to succeed in America. The mere fact that Hughes was black erected a wall between him and opportunity. For being black, Hughes was ranked at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Langston Hughes explains that his dark complexion acted as a shadow that blurred him from accessing opportunities. At the time that Hughes wrote this poem, America was facing high levels of racism that put the black race at the bottom of the hierarchy. Despite the large strides that the United States has taken in addressing the question of racism, the fact remains that the cases of racism are still evident though at a much smaller magnitude. This paper takes the position that this poem should come first in the anthology due to the recent turn of events in America regarding race. For example, critics have argued that the recently concluded George Zimmermann V.s. Trayvon Martin have explained that race played a key role in shaping the verdict given for this case. Due to the ongoing social dynamics in the United States today regarding race I believe that this poem should be the first in this anthology of poems.
In addition to the message that is presented in this poem, Langston Hughes employs various literary and stylistic devices to be able to effectively present the message of the poem. First the choice of the title of the poem, as I grew older builds some sense of flashback and reflection on the part of the reader. By flashing back to our earlier days we are able to compare our thinking at the time with the thinking that Langston Hughes had when he was young. In retrospect, the fact remains that Hughes uses his own life experiences to explain the plight of many other black people like him and the problems that faced them in America. Therefore, using his own life experience is used as a symbol illustrating the problems that faced the black population in the United States and their ability to access the same opportunities that were available to the white race in America. In addition, Langston uses the word wall in his poem. Wall in this poem is used as symbol of the difficult environment that the black people in the United States faced. The wall symbolized the separation between black people and the opportunities that were available to other people in the United States. This poem also standard out due to the kind of passion that is evident in the poem. Langston Hughes tends to use exclamation marks in the poem. These exclamation marks are meant to being out the stressing of the different sentences in the poem which shows that Hughes was stressing some of the words and sentences that he believed are important to the poem. The tone that is presented in this poem also illustrates a sense of melancholy. Langton Hughes is not happy about the fact that black children growing in America did not have the same opportunities as children from other races in the United States (Chapman 6). This shows that Hughes a black poet emphasized and connected with the problems that were facing the black population at the time. This poem reminds me of the many black friends that I have met who would not like to associate themselves as being black. These friends are not comfortable and confident for being black. There are of the view that black is inferior and that they should struggle to be other persons. However, this should not be the case. The United States as leading nation in the world should be committed towards making sure that black people in the United States have a sense of belonging and appreciation for their own country. It is only through the provision of opportunities for all in the United States that we can be able to create a better America that is free of racial prejudice and one that grants equal opportunities for all regardless of the race, ethnicity or creed.
The second poem in the order of the mapped arrangement should be Shakespeare’s Sonnet # 4. This poem looks at nature and the benefits that it gives to man. Shakespeare is concerned by the fact that man wants more from nature than he should be actually getting. The rate at which resources are acquired from nature is not the same rate that these resources are replenished. Shakespeare is of the view that man should live a simple life (Meyer 41). Man should not consume lots of resources to maintain his beauty and other things that are going to end in the long run. According to Shakespeare there is no need to use all these resources from nature yet man will to have these resources accompany him to his grave. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 4 is in line with the sustainability efforts that have taken root in many societies today. Nature conservationists have seen the need for man to sustainably use resources so that future generations can also have enough resources at their exposure. In addition, human beings especially in the developed world have been wrestling with consumerist culture. Many people purchase many goods some of which they do not need or use. This consumerist culture has increased the pace of the treadmill of production such that more resources are exploited to be able to meet this unnecessary demand. Just like Shakespeare’s view that there is need to lead simple lives, many lovers of nature are of the view that man should reduce his consumption of goods and services so that future generations can be able to use the same resources. This means that the overarching theme of leading simple lives is a topic that is relevant to the world today. Shakespeare is able to successfully convey his message through the creation of imagery to illustrate the points that he presents. For example, Shakespeare argues that thrifty spending is comparable to the formation of traffic with oneself. This shows that as much as one would like to be wealthy acquire as much riches as they can, the fact remains that the exploited resources take a longer time to replenish. This means that man and his future generations are more likely to suffer from the scarcity of specific resources on the due to the fact that man did not wisely spend the few resources that we in the exposure of man. Shakespeare brings out a moral value of saving and controlled savings so as to make sure that man has enough resources left case there is scarcity in the future.
The third poem that should be discussed in this arrangement is Emily Dickinson’s "Nature" is what we see. Just like Shakespeare’s message regarding the need for protecting nature, Dickinson articulates the idea that nature is our source of livelihood. She goes ahead to explain that nature is all that we see and hear. By this Emily Dickinson reiterates the idea that if we do not take care and protect nature then our lives and our survival is in jeopardy. It is therefore important that we make sure that we understand that every component of our environment and plays a key role in the stability of the ecosystem. Dickinson articulates the idea that there is need for man to be in harmony with nature. This reminds me of the story of creation in the biblical scripture. After God had created man, He bestowed man with the responsibility of taking dominion over the earth and what it contains. However the concept of dominion does not mean extravagance, but is concept that refers to the ability of man to take care of nature and be at harmony with it. The word choice in this poem is simplistic. This choice of wording is meant to make sure that the readers of the poem can be able to read and understand the message that is presented in this poem. The poem is also short in length so as to make sure that the reader is more focused on the quality of the content rather than the length of the poem. Therefore, these three poems illustrate the difficulty of life and the need for man to take care of nature and what it has to offer.
Works Cited
Chapman, Abraham. Black voices: an anthology of Afro-American literature. New York: New American Library, 2001. Print.
Hughes, Langston. Selected poems of Langston Hughes. Vintage classics ed. New York: Vintage Books, 2011. Print.
Meyer, Michael. Poetry: An Introduction. 5th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006. Print.
