Critical Analysis of "The Poplar Field" Poem | The Magic of Words Class 11

UNIT THREE : ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT
THE POPLAR FIELD
ENGLISH | THE MAGIC OF WORDS
William Cowper

Hemingway is a romantic poet. Like his other literary works, this is also a romantic poem representing nature. He describes the difference in the environment and natural beauty before and after the poplar trees are fallen down. With example of poplar trees, the poet wants to show the real phase of human life according to rule of nature.

The poplars are cut down which used to grow along the Ouse River. The river doesn’t reflect the beautiful shadows of these trees. The musical environment has been ruined now. The leaves don’t blow the air and sing a song in happy mood. There are also no shades. These trees were once in the field but now they have become seats. Not only the environment has been ruined but there is also destruction of the blackbird’s habitat. The bird used to add charm in that beautiful environment by its different types of melodious songs. It has transferred its nest to the hazel trees to get shelter and shade.

The poet thinks that his days too are passing away fast and should be lying down like those poplars. He thinks that he will be in the tomb before such grove will grow again. Such scenes make him think deeply about human lives. He understands that trees are perishable like the woods. Such events inspire him to think about the perishable nature of human joys and our enjoyment is short when our lives are so short. Man is the most perishable thing in the world and will live shorter than now in the future.

The poem deals with the personal feeling according to the principle of romanticism. Romantic writers don’t write the common interest so they express their personal emotions using singular pronoun ‘I’. So, in this poem we see the first person instead of others. Personal approach makes the expression stronger and powerful.

The poem compares the life cycle of poplar and the human life. Poplar grows up; it produces branches, leaves, etc. it makes shades and pillars. It lies down and perishes in the ground. Our lives also grow and perish. Human life is also similar to the natural life. However, the life of nature or tree passes through time. The human life is also the same. So, our enjoyment goes away from the life. As human life is not certain, we should live our life, every moment of life enjoying a lot and with great happiness. We cannot take these enjoyable moments with us after our death. We can take only the physical body, which we get from the nature. Our pleasures and enjoyments all die before our death.

Critical Analysis

The poem is remarkable for its celebration of the rural and its nostalgic tone. (Nostalgic poems are reminiscences of past life of a writer, is also part of autobiography). The poet recollects the scene of the poplar trees, which he used to enjoy the whispering sound of the tree columns. Winds used to play and sing in the leaves. Rivers reflect the image of the trees beautifully. Birds have shifted to other places. Melody has disappeared. Now he has no pleasures in these poplar trees. After 12 years he sees the field and feels everything dead.

The poet has given indirect suggestion to the readers to protect the natural vegetation. He warns us that if we won’t protect the green forests now, we will die before our old age. We should understand that we are living in this world just due to nature. We are just the products of nature and one day we have to surrender ourselves in the lap of nature. The poet has written this poem in defense of natural conservation because he thinks that we get some important human aspects from the trees. The poplars represent the forest. When we preserve the trees we can get shades and pillars for houses. Birds live there and they sing some melodious songs, which make our lives joyful. The poet compares the tree with human life and says our lives are more perishable than the trees. We are destroyed by the nature. So we should defend the nature.

The poet strongly protests the sinful deeds against the natural resources in the poem. Basically, deforestation is really the great challenge in the world to sustain ecological balance. The poet sentimentally recalls that the cutting down poplar trees because the adverse impact in human life. 

The poem is all about deforestation and destruction of the poplar fields in the bank of the Ouse River in England. That shows that human civilization is the curse for the protection of natural resources. The result of cutting down of the poplar trees, as poet recalls, the shade and the whispering sound of the row of trees are disappeared. The winds no longer play with the leaves of the trees and no reflection of the trees in the river water is seen. He says that he has missed everything in his twelve years of running life. He recalls that it was his favorite place to stay which gave him shade; but regrets that they are laid.

The poet has deep-rooted sympathy upon other creatures in the trees such as blackbird that gets relieve from the hazel in the heat. As the trees are cut, the blackbird has fled to another shelter. Likewise their melodious chirping tone and sweet booming (echoing) song that charmed the poet most has also gone.

The poet again laments (regrets) that his fleeing (running) years are all in hurry that he couldn’t understand the value of trees and environment in his life. Now he is more conscious about the value of trees and says that he’ll soon die like the trees and the grass will grow on his chest and stone at his head in his grave and says that other trees will arise in that place.

The poet finally says that the trees in the bank is the sight to engage him and considers that human pleasures and ecstasies are decaying. He states that we’re short-lived like the poplar trees but our enjoyments and happiness are shorter than our own lives.

Read this Also :

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• Summary of SPEAKING OF CHILDREN
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• Summary of A WORN PATH
• Summary of THE THREE DAY BLOW

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