NATURE

By H.D. Carbery

We have neither Summer nor Winter

Neither Autumn nor Spring

We have instead the days

When the gold sun shines on the lush green canefields -

Magnificiently.

The days when the rain beats like bullets on the roofs

And there is no sound but the swish of water in the 

gullies

And trees struggling in the high Jamaica winds.

Also there are the days when leaves fade from off

guango trees

and the reaped canefields lie bare and follow to the sun.

But best of all there are the days when the mango and 

the logwood blossom

When the bushes are full of the sound of bees and the 

scent of honey,

When the tall grass sways and shivers to the slightest

breath of air,

When the buttercups have paved the earth with yellow

star

And beauty comes suddenly and the rains have gone.

SYNOPSIS

The poem tells of the weather conditions in Jamaica although it does not have the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. The weather conditions of golden sunny days and wet rainy days are just as good and are almost equivalent to the four seasons.

MEANING

Lush - Healthy growth

Magnificently - Wonderfully, grandly, beautifully

Swish- The sound made by moving water

Gullies - Channels cut out in the earth by persistent rainfall

Struggling - Fighting to survive; moving with great physical effort

Fade - Lose their colour

Fallow - Left bare (in order to recover natural fertility)

paved - Covered

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 if 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’

Personafication – ‘buttercups have paved the earth’ …  buttercups have been personified as having laid tiles

Source: http://zahuren.wordpress.com/poems/nature-by-h-d-carberry/

TASK: Answer these questions
1. Where is the place that is described in this poem?
2. Why does the poet say that 'we have neither summer nor winter'?
3. How does the 'gold sun' shine?
4. Which word in the poem shows that the poet enjoys the sun?
5. What sound comes from the gullies?
6. What happens to the canefields on hot days?
7. What happens to the grass when there is 'a breath of air'?
8. What does the poet compare the buttercups to?
9. What moral value have you learnt from this poem?
10. What is the main message of this poem?
11. What can you do to preserve nature?


Source: Oxford Fajar & PIB