Whāt Has (Mother) Nature Done?
Ferrick Gray
Poetically Speaking
Volume 1, Issue 6
for Poetry Showcase
This sonnet is from Thĕ (Study of) Trees. It is included here with additions, corrections, and improved scansion notation, which will appear in the second edition.
The Spenserian1 sonnet is unique in that the quatrains are interlocked by their rime. The rime scheme is given by abab bcbc cdcd ee with the volta always occurring at the final couplet. The sonnet is sometimes classified as Italian because it only has five rimes. However, the Italian sonnet does not have a rime-connection between the octave and sestet, of which Spenser’s does with the c-rime. Spenser’s form was not very popular, but it is very beautiful.
Whāt Has (Mother) Nature Done?
Behold! The fields are flushed with color red!
Methinks not blood, but blood it may well be.
Behold the sight! Nay turn my head instead,
Avert mine eyes, this travesty I see.
Their sound! They sound as one and all agree
That greatness comes in numbers more than one.
Who strives to flee their common repartee
Of dry repeated-ness and stories spun?
But lo! Their faces greet the noonday sun;
All ‘tempt to dull her with their feign eclipse—
So many, what has Mother Nature done?
She stands aside, her hands upon her hips:
I wonder if the grass is truly green—
With poppies tall, the grass is rarely seen.
Overview
The title itself is unusual in its format, and perhaps an explanation is required to clarify the reason. As implied, Thĕ (Study of) Trees consists of a selection of poems about trees, their thoughts and emotions under different circumstances. The second section involves the metrical analyses of the poems in the collection.
The scansion notation using the breve ( ˘ ) and macron ( ¯ ) is used, and the titles have the appropriate metrical accent marked on the first word. Added to this, bracketed words may be left out or included in any particular reading.
Now what are we looking at? Something of beauty in nature or something horrific in the human race? The point is that both can occur simultaneously. It all depends on how you look at it. Oh, those tall poppies!
Essentially, this sonnet is about groups of people who believe that the greater the number in support, the better, irrespective of the quality that has been presented. We find this to be quite common today in that some poetry (Is it truly poetry?) is preferred over others, and the non-preferred type is insignificant or to be heavily criticized. You may say a type of bullying in literary circles. The fact is that many of these people are worthless critics, if critics you dare call them.
The poem can also be interpreted as Mother Nature dealing with unwanted growth, whether weed or, in this case, the tall poppies.
Analysis
This sonnet can be easily read keeping with strict iambic pentameter (albeit the title itself is clipped iambic tetrameter).
1 Bĕhōld | Thĕ fiēlds | ăre flūshed | wĭth cōl | ŏr rēd
2 Mĕthīnks | nŏt blōod | bŭt blōod | ĭt māy | wĕll bē
3 Bĕhōld | thĕ sīght | Năy tūrn | my̆ hēad | ĭnstēad
4 Ăvērt | mĭne e͞yes | thĭs trāv | ĕstȳ | Ĭ sēe
5 Thĕir sōund | Thĕy sōund | ăs ōne | ănd āll | ăgrēe
6 Thăt grēat | nĕss cōmes | ĭn nūm |bĕrs mōre | thăn ōne
7 Whŏ strīves | tŏ flēe | thĕir cōm | mŏn rēp |ărtēe
8 Ŏf drȳ | rĕpēat | ĕd-nēss | ănd stō | riĕs spūn
9 Bŭt lō | Thĕir fā | cĕs grēet | thĕ noōn | dăy sūn
10 Ăll ‘tēmpt | tŏ dūll | hĕr wīth | thĕir fēign | ĕclīpse
11 Sŏ mān | y̆ whāt | hăs Mōth | ĕr Nā | tŭre dōne
12 Shĕ stānds | ăsīde | hĕr hānds | ŭpōn | hĕr hīps
13 Ĭ wōn | dĕr īf | thĕ grāss | ĭs trū | lȳ grēen
14 Wĭth pōp | piĕs tāll | thĕ grāss| ĭs rāre |ly̆ sēen
This sonnet is correctly classified as iambic pentameter because there is no variation in the rhythm or of it containing metrical substitutions. Naturally, this is expected of the sonnet form. The sonnet form is one of the strictest forms in poesy, and it needs to be respected for being such.
As with most sonnets, the only minor variation will be starting with the trochee. In general, substitution for the iamb is uncommon. However, in the feminine verse, we will find the amphibrach ending. On other occasions, the anapest may finish the verse. So—not altogether impossible, but for the sonnet? Not too many, please.