Report to Wordsworth - Boey Kim Cheng

Question 1

You should be here, Nature has need of you.

She has been laid waste. Smothered by the smog,

Answer 1

‘you’ indicates that the poem is directed to William Wordsworth.
Caesura after ‘here,’ and ‘waste.’ creates a pause.
‘nature has need of you’ personifies nature by making it seem desperate and dependent on people.
‘she has been laid waste’ is monosyllabic which creates a matter of fact tone.
‘smothered by the smog’ is sibilance which creates a feeling of suffocation.

Question 2

the flowers are mute, and the birds are few

in a sky slowing like a dying clock.

Answer 2

‘flowers are mute’ contrasts one of Wordsworth’s poem where his flowers are happy and lively.
‘birds are few’ connotes extinction
‘sky slowing like a dying clock’ is a simile to show that we are running out of time, and is also assonance which slows down the pace of reading.

Question 3

All hopes of Proteus rising from the sea

have sunk; he is entombed in the waste

Answer 3

‘Proteus’ is one of the 3 sea gods that symbolize that power of nature (because we depend on water for life). They personify the Earth.
‘entombed in the waste’ is grave imagery which shows nature being silenced and trapped. Also allude to pollution.

Question 4

we dump. Triton’s notes struggle to be free,

his famous horns are choked, his eyes are dazed,

Answer 4

Caesura after ‘dump.’ emphasizes that it us who are creating the pollution.
‘chocked’ & ‘struggle’ symbolize suffering of our planet.
‘dazed’ represents disoriented due to how nature has been corrupted by pollution; it is unrecognizable

Question 5

and Neptune lies helpless as beached as a whale,

while insatiate man moves in for the kill.

Answer 5

‘as beached as a whale’ whale is meant to represent the beauty of the oceans, while ‘beached’ shows the dire state of our oceans & planet.
‘insatiable’ connotes unending appetite/greed that cannot be satisfied
‘moves in for the kill’ metaphor that paints humanity as a predator, hurting and hunting nature

Question 6

Poetry and piety have begun to fail,

As Nature’s mighty heart is lying still.

Answer 6

‘poetry and piety’ synergy between art and holiness. When both fail, an atmosphere of despair is created.
‘mighty heart’ is a metaphor for the force of ‘Mother Earth’. Implies death of nature, a sense of finality.

Question 7

O see the widening in the sky,

God is labouring to utter his last cry.

Answer 7

‘widening in the sky’ imagery, a visual metaphor to symbolize the growing environmental crisis
‘last cry’ connotes desperate, final attempt

Question 8

What does this poem allude to?

Answer 8

William Wordsworth’s poem ‘The world is too much’ which was written over 200yrs ago. Wordsworth understood the power of nature.

Question 9

Key themes

Answer 9

Humanity’s destruction of nature
Poetry & art’s power/hope for nature
Death & decay of nature