Exploring the Influence of Nature in Poetry

When you start to ponder on why do poets write about nature, there are an infinite number of reasons that can pop up in one’s mind. And to be quite honest, there is no wrong or right answer to why do poets write about nature; every thought related to this query can be justified in its own. So let us explore some of the more commonly evoking thoughts related to a poet and the flow if his pen inking the glorification of nature.

How is Nature Represented in Poetry?

Pick up any Holy Scripture or book on mythology, we will always find that before Man was created, the Almighty spent 6 days creating the universe. Of course some individuals of varied faith might be of the belief that this “Almighty” and “Omnipotent” deity was nature itself. Never the less, even if it’s not, we can infer from these mythological books and Holy passages that the creation of the universe refers to the birth of nature i.e. animals, birds, plants, water bodies and other nature’s components came to being before the human race.

Keeping this logical sequence of birth in perspective, it only makes sense for poets and writers to derive inspiration from nature. Not only just plants & trees, this concept & ideology of ‘Life’ also holds the answers to queries such as why do poets write about animals; why do poets write about mountains, why do poets write about flowers etc.

Popular Topics in Poems About Nature

Poems About Flowers Poems About Trees Poems About Winter Poems About Mountain

Poems About Spring Poems About Summers Poems About Autumn Poems About Animals

Nature as a Source of Continued Imagination & Inspiration for Poets

Over the billions of years that our universe has existed, we have heard numerous stories of how man has been able to learn from nature. For example, majority of us have heard the story of the king who was on the verge of losing a major battle and faced the threat of his kingdom being lost forever.

But, on a lonesome night while pondering in solitude, the same king observed an ant trying to carry a lump of food upwards while trying to climb a wall at the same time. The ant would reach halfway, fall down to the bottom, stand up again and try once more. The king kept observing till the ant’s resilience finally paid off and it was able to climb the wall and also secure the lump of food as well.

Why do Poets Write About Nature?

Now some people choose to ink such incidents in the form of stories. However, there are others who have a knack for depicting such occurrences in a more rhythmic and poetic mannerism. The query on why do poets write about nature is interlinked with other notions such as why do poets write about landscape, why do poets write about the ocean and why do poets write about summer? If you think about it, the ocean represents depth, grandiosity, mysteriousness and also (in some cases) serenity. Now, think of the ocean as a human being. Can we not apply the qualities of the ocean to describe a person?

Surely the answer is a big YES. We, so often, hear people uttering verbiage such as, “He runs as deep as the ocean”. Now of course we know that a human being cannot be thousands of meters deep. But what a poet implies through such expressions is that it would be hard to deduce anything about a particular person’s personality during the first few interactions.

Similarly, let’s take the example of summer. A poet can use seasons to personify people’s and situation’s moods. Summer could probably be a tool to portray a bright mind, a charismatic persona etc. On the contrary, winter could be used to give a picture of melancholy or being down in the dumps.

So you see dear readers, why do poets write about nature has no limits to being elaborated upon. Keep thinking along the lines of why do poets write about nature poetry and you will find yourselves unlocking door after door that leads you deeper and deeper into the realm of self-exploration, self-realization and understanding the way in which a poet’s mind processes everyday phenomenon differently from the rest of the populace.

Popular Nature Poets

William Wordsworth Emily Dickinson Samuel Taylor Coleridge Ralph Waldo Emerson John Keats

Edgar Ellen Poe Maya Angelou Robert Frost Mary Oliver Lord Byron

Famous Poems About Nature

• Sonnet 20: A woman’s face with Nature’s own hand painted by William Shakespeare
• To My Own Minature Picture Taken At Two Years Of Age by Robert Southey
• The Good-Natured Girls by Jane Taylor
• Modern Love XXXV: It Is No Vulgar Nature by George Meredith
• Patience Taught By Nature by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
• 130. Nature’s Law: A Poem by Robert Burns
• The Worship of Nature by John Greenleaf Whittier
• October by Louise Glück
• The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy
• The Gladness of Nature by William Cullen Bryant
• Nature — the Gentlest Mother is, by Emily Dickinson
• How Human Nature dotes by Emily Dickinson
• Song of Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Birches by Robert Frost
• Mock Orange by Louise Glück
• If Nature smiles — the Mother must by Emily Dickinson
• To Nature by Samuel Coleridge
• "Nature" is what we see — by Emily Dickinson
• The Circle Of Nature by Friedrich von Schiller
• Sonnet XXV: O Why Should Nature by Michael Drayton
• Growth of Man — like Growth of Nature – by Emily Dickinson