Nature (by H. D Carberry)

This poem is simply about nature. It talks about the condition, climate and atmosphere in Jamaica. Surprisingly, even figuratively, this poem is actually talking about the natural cycle of nature - the cycle of life. In my opinion, in this poem, the poet is trying to convey the message that in life, there will definitely be bad times and good times no matter where you are. And it can comes in every different forms.

UNDERSTANDING THE POEM

Lines 1 to 10
The poet tells about his homeland , Jamaica and rejoices the beauty of this island. Jamaica has no seasonal changes. It has a tropical climate which is hot and wet throughout the year. The days of golden sunshine are glorious and magnificent. The are many canefields in Jamaica as sugar is one of the main exports in this country.

Lines 11 to 15
In the ending of the poem, the poet tells us his favourite time – days when the flowers of mango trees and logwood blossom. He uses imagery of sound and smell to illustrate abundant life and activity in the bushes when the ‘sound of bees and the scent of honey’ add to the charm and beauty of Jamaica. He describes the fields filled with lovely yellow buttercups. All this happens when the rains have stopped and the beauty if nature emerges once again.


THEMES

• Beauty of nature
• Appreciation of one own country
• Appreciate nature

MORAL VALUES

• We should appreciate what we have in our own country
• We should not long for what we do not have.
• We should appreciate our homeland.
• We should appreciate the beauty of nature.

TONE,MOOD, ATMOSPHERE

• Appreciative and happy
• Carefree and light-hearted
• Sense of beauty

POINT OF VIEW

• Third person point of view

LANGUAGE AND STYLE

• Simple and easy to understand the language
• Clear and descriptive
• Simple style with no rhyming scheme

POETIC DEVICES

• Imagery – e.g. ‘gold sun’, ‘lush green fields’, ‘trees struggling’
• Alliteration – e.g. ‘sways and shivers to the slightest breath of air’
• Symbols – e.g. ‘gold sun’ – symbol of summer, ‘rains’ – symbol of winter
• Contrast – e.g. ‘beauty’ or summer is compared with ‘rains’ or winter
• Figurative Language  – Simile – ‘rain beats like bullets’
• Metaphor – e.g. ‘the buttercups paved the earth with yellow stars’
• Personification – ‘buttercups have paved the earth’ …  buttercups have been personified as having laid tiles

For reference, I’ve included the pictures of some plants (plantation) mentioned in this poem.

This is a sample of the flower, buttercup.

Canefield plantation

This is the guango tree.

 

I stated earlier about how good times and bad times come in differrent forms. I think we can definitely say that for those living in the places with the four seasons, the best seasons are usually spring and summer, and most of the time, people dread the Autumn and Winter's climate. As for Jamaicans, and may I say, Malaysians, we have our preference to and in the poem, the best days are the days when the mango and the logwood blossom, bushes full with the sound of bee with the scent of honey, with slight wind, and the buttercup blooms all over the plains.

Do also note that the poem ends with the line " and beauty comes suddenly and the rains have gone". This is also another big resemblance to our life, as it has been our experience that after bad times, good times will follow and sometimes ever so abrubtly. This reminds me to a piece of a lyrics that can roughly be translated as below:

"Adversity is a gift,
So, brave through it with patience,
Soon the light will come,
As the cloud will not be there forever,
But the light will be brighter than ever."

Anyway, enjoy Jamaica through these video clips, folks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7Vq_KHNSRk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5sRP6z87Qk&feature=related