Comparisons & Contrasts you can
make: Nature
1.
PRELUDE
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CF
Exposure- both explore the harsher sides of nature, although Exposure is about
the cruel, relentless aspect of nature (indifferent to man’s suffering) whereas
Prelude is more about nature’s potential for evil and superiority due to its
power. Both also focus on first person narratives but Exposure is immediate, in
the midst of war and exposure to terrible weather, whereas Prelude is calm and
more connected to the psychological impact nature can have on man through
memory. Both poems personify nature as a dominant force over man, one to be
feared as well as marvelled at. In Exposure, it seems that Owen questions a
higher power and authority (God? Nature? Officers?) and sees soldiers as
insignificant (‘nothing happens’ even though many evidently die and are buried)
whereas Prelude, the narrator sees himself as insignificant (and by implication,
all of mankind) and nothing really happens to disturb his calm experience other
than the manifestations of his own guilt and fear.
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CF
Ozymandias – both explore the powerlessness of man and time in relation to nature.
In Ozymandias, man’s power (even tyrannical, arrogant and connected to
monarchy) pass with time whereas nature endures and seems indifferent to man’s
suffering or superiority. This is a common belief held by Romantic poets. Both
use imagery to under-line the beauty of nature (the boundless sands, the exotic
‘antique’ land suggesting history and time enduring in Ozymandias; the ‘elfin’
magic of the boat in Prelude and the calm stillness of the water where he dips
his ‘lusty oars’. The effect of time is explored through memory and the effect
of the boat stealing incident in Prelude, whereas in Ozymandias time is the
enemy of the King and reduces his might and kingdom to insignificance. All of
us are equal in the eyes of mother nature / God? It is nature we should worship,
not self-indulgence. Man’s reputation is transient and ultimately we are all
isolated and alone. Ozymandias can also be compared to Exposure because the two
are about the passage of time and the linking of nature to a more enduring
force that ultimately seems indifferent to the suffering / pride of mankind.
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CF
Storm on the Island – Both feature nature’s unpredictability and penchant for
cruelty. Storm on the Island uses juxtaposition between emptiness and lack (‘nothing’
and ‘n’ and ‘nor’ and the words ‘empty’ and ‘space’) with words suggesting
action and invoking military imagery: ‘salvo’ and ‘explode’ and ‘strafe’ and ‘bombard’.
This suggests that the islanders waiting for a potential storm to hit is an
allegory for a real war (the ‘troubles’ in Ireland). The irony of the situation
is the ‘huge nothing’ that they fear – fear itself which is controlling their
lives just as war does. The waiting element of Storm on the Island could be compared
with Exposure and the idea of numbness (nothing) and emotional hardening of men
who spend a long time in fear. The use of the collective pronoun ‘we’ is used
both in Exposure and Storm…to suggest the collective identity / sense of
community / emphasise that it is man versus nature. One long stanza emphasises
the storm – preparation and then waiting for it to attack – just as Prelude
keeps one long stanza to act as a narrative and reflect the narrator’s lack of
control.
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CF
Kamikaze – The different narrative strands / layers of Kamikaze shroud this
narrative in mystery – we are never quite sure who is talking or how reliable
they are. The use of memory is prevalent (as in Prelude) and how this has psychologically
affected the speaker and her mother (the tales of the glory of war are lived
through one individual but he is now remembered through the prism of stories
rather than knowledge of his own feelings- there is speculation ‘he must have
felt…’) Use of natural imagery to capture the wonder of the world that perhaps
helped him to turn back – also the idea of child versus adult world ‘we too
learned to be silent’ and now she regrets treating her father in this way. The isolation
of man from nature (Prelude) and from community and belonging (Kamikaze). How
one experience can shape your life and perceptions, and the perceptions others
have of you. Reputation is also explored along with honour and glory in
Ozymandias.
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