Poetry analysis - The Plains - Poem by Banjo Paterson PDF

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poetry analysis - The plains - poem by Banjo Paterson...

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The Plains - Poem by Banjo Paterson A land, as far as the eye can see, where the waving grasses grow Or the plains are blackened and burnt and bare, where the false mirages go Like shifting symbols of hope deferred - land where you never know. Land of the plenty or land of want, where the grey Companions dance, Feast or famine, or hope or fear, and in all things land of chance, Where Nature pampers or Nature slays, in her ruthless, red, romance. And we catch a sound of a fairy's song, as the wind goes whipping by, Or a scent like incense drifts along from the herbage ripe and dry - Or the dust storms dance on their ballroom floor, where the bones of the cattle lie.

Nothing Gold Can Stay – Robert Frost Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.

Introduction: A.B. Paterson is an Australian poet who published poems including The Plains. As the name implies, the poem uses the plains as a symbol to describe how nature can be cruel and gentle to Australia’s land in different seasons. Nothing Gold Can Stay is a poem by American poet, Robert Frost. In Nothing Gold Can Stay, the theme that the poet is pursuing includes the observation that on the material/physical level of being there is a continuous period of loss that remains in flux from one state to the ultimate state, for example, morning gives way to night, as does life to death. Both poems use landscapes to derive contradiction in life. However, there are differences in terms of language and structure.

The Plains conveys different aspects of the Australian landscape in different seasons. One year- four seasons are wrapped up within four adjectives: ‘growing’, ‘blackened’, ‘burnt’, and ‘bare’. Starting with the growing of plants in the warm wind during the spring time, then becoming barren and bare by the heat of summer, finally put to an end within the cold of winter. The poem’s theme, that cycles continue to repeat year by year, showing the cruel role of nature by the images of “where the waving grasses grow”, and in contrast of “the plains are blackened and burnt and bare”. Within Nothing Gold Can Stay, succinct words and lines concentrate upon the loss of beautiful and good things that eventually disappear, as the poem’s main theme. The season of spring starts with leaves that are perceived as gold, then turn to familiar green, and yellowly-darkened leaves fall down to end the cycle of life as victims of time.

There are similarities and differences in terms of language technique used in both poems. Language used in The Plains brings the reader much closer to the landscape; this land is their homeland, with an understanding of fast-changing nature and unpredictable weather conditions through the use of imagery by mentioning two lands, ‘land of plenty’ and ‘land of want’. In the land of plenty, where the, “grey companions dance.” for the feast, there is hope. In contrast there is suffering in the land of want, where in the blink of an eye, winds and dust wipe all out, leaving nothing behind but bones and death. Paterson has used the poetic tool of imagery, such as, “where the waving grasses grow,” to show that there is ruthlessness but there is still kindness in Mother Nature. Nature can originate life at one point, and another time it can bring destruction. Paterson uses the plain as a metaphor to

describe the cruelty of nature, in the same way Frost's poem, uses Eden as a metaphor with Eve’s actions banishing Adam and herself from the Forbidden Garden, to be far away from God. Eden sheds a tear for the things that have been lost. Eden is represented as human. This is an allusion to the human condition: that is cannot last long. In Nothing Gold Can Stay, using dawn as an image for the idealism and perfectionism of human life, which is never permanent. Night describes human mistakes and wrongdoings. Light is the ‘golden time' in one's life, which should be treasured and valued. The moment is short-lived, which should not be ignored and later be missed.

The poets have personified nature throughout the poem, however, there is a difference in the way language is used. In The Plains, the tree is described as strong, tall and when fallen is naked and bone-dry as describing Mother Nature’s cruel and unpredictable personality. Whereas, in Nothing Gold Can Stay, the language is more delicate, the leaves and flowers are treasured, and nature is referred to as “her”. Frosts language links women’s beauty to Mother Nature in a feminine way: soft, curvy, light, and delighted. The use of simile in The Plain, “as far as the eye can see”, which creates about an image of the vastness of the land and, “Like shifting symbols of hope deferred,” depicts peoples hope and wants. Alliteration is used in both poems. In The Plains, the poet repeats “or” in the first and third stanzas, this is a conjunction to compare two opposite sides of the land to show the contrast of nature and also asserts that Australia is a land of contrast. In Nothing Gold Can Stay, the rich alliteration in, “Her hardest hue to hold,” and, “So dawn goes down to day,” which helps the words and lines to have a more natural flow as the words come off of the tongue.

The lines from The Plains are lengthy, full of mixed words about sense, drawing a vast space with prosperity and poverty, blooming and dying with great emotion to reveal the cruel aspect of nature. On the other hand, Frosts lines are humble, succinct, and even vague, focusing on one thing at a time, each is a component of the natural picture. The sadness is established with few words, telling the emptiness and desperation. There is also a difference between the rhythm. Paterson’s poem is a three-course stanza with AA rhyming pattern, full of alliteration for a bigger scene and to describe the inevitable, which should not be observed with fear but with content, as the best is yet to come. However, Frost’s rhythm is simple, following a pattern: aa, bb, cc, dd at the end of each line in couplets, bringing a

certain repetitive familiarity to the poem: gold-hold, grief-leaf, day-stay, which helps readers establish the relationship between nature and human.

They are remarkable poems with deep meaning, that share a similar message, that nature is a giver and a taker, all things are born and fade away. The poems discuss nature in four seasons: how plants grow, thrive, weaken, then dry. The poets borrowed nature as a breakable, sensible, and repeated cycle to discuss the changes of all kinds. However, the poem of Paterson expresses a more positive tone as the cycle of nature is inevitable and that the destruction has its own beauty to observe. On the other hand, Frost poem sinks in grief and sadness as the existence of gold - hope is fleeting and can never be fully cherished in life....