Inspired by Nature is a new themed Croak to entertain you with some of my own and my favourite famous poems written about nature and the outdoors. I hope it will stimulate you to get creative with words and write something yourself. If you do and would like to share them with us, please post them on our facebook page.
Becca (Conservation Youth Worker: Green Pathways Project).
I recently went on a date. I don’t really want to talk about it, but the lucky man did give me a book of poetry, and read some out-loud to me in the pub. Whilst still in recovery, I read through the book and found this beautiful sonnet which really struck a cord with me. I read it over and over again and entertained myself (and others!) on trains and in queues with my enthusiastic renditions. In fact, this poem was the inspiration for this series of Croaks.
The form for a sonnet is difficult to describe, but it has 14 lines, and a tick-tock-like rhythm: da Dum da Dum da DUM da DUM da DUM (technically this is called iambic pentameter). How the lines rhyme depends upon which type of sonnet but it’s the last word that rhymes and the lines are written in pairs and often arranged in fours. This is an example of an Italian sonnet, the other common form is Shakespearean.
O Soliture! If I must with thee dwell John Keats
O Solitude! if I must with thee dwell,
Let it not be among the jumbled heap
Of murky buildings: climb with me the steep, –
Nature’s observatory -whence the dell,
In flowery slopes, its river’s crystal swell,
May seem a span; let me thy vigils keep
‘Mongst boughs pavilioned, where the deer’s swift leap
Startles the wild bee from the foxglove bell.
But though I’ll gladly trace these scenes with thee,
Yet the sweet converse of an innocent mind,
Whose words are images of thoughts refined,
Is my soul’s pleasure; and it sure must be
Almost the highest bliss of human-kind,
When to thy haunts two kindred spirits flee.
What you can do:
What are your favourite poems about nature? We’d love to hear from you. Share them with us on facebook.