Summary
In the poem itself, which consists of thirteen free verse stanzas, Wallace Stevens seems to communicate with Nature in order to transfer its volatile character onto the patterns of human behavior. Considering the idea transferred, it would be safe to assume that the major idea was to show how a single aspect may be regarded from a variety of angles and gain a completely new meaning. Indeed, when looking at a blackbird, a small creature people observe all year round, humans do not bother to think about them as something “sensational”. Moreover, sometimes it is not about the number of ways a person can look at nature. It is about how other people may observe the same thing without reaching a consensus in terms of its perception.
Calling the stanzas of his verse “sensations,” Stevens, by all means, feels overwhelmed with the fact that human nature is capable of having so many unique thoughts about something as common as a blackbird. For instance, in the seventh stanza of the poem, the author appeals to the reader by encouraging them to rediscover their fascination with a blackbird instead of drowning in dreams of a “golden bird” (Stevens, 1954, line 26). The form of a poem serves here as a symbol of freedom of human thought and perception, as each stanza presents its content with a different form and rhythm. The semantic structure of the poem represents a variety of ways people may embrace both the human and non-human nature around them. The blackbird, being a central animalistic symbol of a poem, is frequently perceived as a manifestation of change and mystery. Indeed, in the poem itself, the ways in which people may feel the presence of a blackbird are rather mysterious and fascinating for human nature, often stuck in a two-dimensional world with little space for diversity and freshness.
The discussed poem made me reflect on the idea of looking at the things I see every day from a completely different perspective in order not to overlook something truly special. Indeed, the way people see nature today lacks proper evaluation of the natural assets, with people taking everything for granted. The major themes tackled in the poem concern the notion of perception of reality and the world of nature. Stevens’s observations reflect the philosophical aspect of right and wrong, as the author implies that people will never find the fundamental truth while looking at a blackbird in thirteen different yet valuable ways. The emotive aspect of the poem reflects the multiplicity of feelings evoked by a single matter. While some people are fascinated by the blackbird’s shadow covering a winter night, others feel nothing when looking at a bird strolling at their feet.
Having taken into consideration the content of the poem, it may be concluded that no answer was embodied in the text from the very beginning. Perhaps it was the reader’s ability to create and choose the answer that served as a primary purpose of the work. Indeed, when given a chance to observe non-human nature, people start realizing the scope of diversity in terms of human perception. When speaking of the passage of time, it is important to mention that the reader’s cognitive journey of perception was represented by the blackbird’s travel to different scenes in order to eventually make a circle and come back to the starting point.
John Keats’s Ode on a Grecian Urn
When speaking of nature, human beings frequently regard the concept as a manifestation of an eternal process, where no piece remains still for a split second. However, when Keats communicates with Nature through its depiction in an ancient urn, the author seems to have a rare chance to ponder human existence through nature that is frozen in time. While everything in life flows so fast and it is impossible to stay in the moment, people in the natural habitat will remain in it for eternity. Hence, the major message conveyed in the poem maybe the idea of mortality and nature as an integral part of the time passage. The author’s feelings about the scenery may be described as a full-scale emotional spectrum, as while praising the never-ending love and eternally green leaves on the trees, Keats simultaneously condemns and acknowledges the human and natural duty to go through the time being dedicated to each of us. In the poem, the speaker contemplates nature without being directly surrounded by it. Instead, he looks at the frozen ancient image and thinks of how the nature of the past resonates with the moment he finds himself in.
The form of the poem serves as a symbol of praising ancient imagery, as it was written as an actual ode. The two major elements of nature present in the poem – a cow and a tree – represent completely different perspectives of nature in the text. The cowled by a priest is described in such a way that the reader temporarily forgets the description is not dynamic, reflecting the author’s intention to appeal to the momentum in which the animal is still alive yet meant to die. The tree, on the other hand, serves as nothing but the manifestation of immortality and the eternal existence of flamboyant youth. As Keats mentions, “nor ever can those trees be bare,” meaning that there is no way green leaves on the urn would turn brown, just like the young piper’s hair would never turn grey (Keats, 1819, line 16)? The poem itself resonates with every human being who, at least for once in their lives, contemplated the concept of death and time flow.
Thus, just like nature, humans have no chance of being frozen over time, which leads them to overthink and anxiety. However, just like the eternal vase, consistency and stability are far from being human, so they are regarded as “cold.” Mortality and nature are the central themes of the discussed poem. One of the fascinating implicit narratives of the story is the rhythmic representation of the verse, as it is associated with a form of an urn, being slightly narrower at the top.
The primary question Keats was willing to address throughout the poem is the issue of immortality, which seems utopian yet, at some point, makes life deprived of meaning. Hence, after some pondering, the author reaches a conclusion that while the eternal image will surely please the eyes of others, there would be nothing fundamentally human and volatile about the image. Thus, the notion of time passage is represented in the poem through a single frozen point on a timeline, which eternalizes a moment of human existence that vanished years ago. In such a way, mortal human nature serves as a foundation for a universal idea of staying alive forever.
References
Keats, J. (1819). Odeon a Grecian urn. Poetry Foundation.
Stevens, W. (1954). Thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird. Poetry Foundation.