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“The Beauty of Nature”
The poems The Tyger by William Blake and Work without hope by Samuel Coleridge seems to relate to one another. The characters of these two poems lack appreciation of the beauty of nature that is around them; whether it is because of their constant questioning or emotional issues. These two characters seem to have something that holds them back from appreciating the true beauty in life. A close analysis of The Tyger and Work without hope allows us to examine human nature and lack of appreciation for the true beauty in life. In the poem The Tyger, Blake incorporates religion and creation. He is constantly questioning God, from the beginning of his poem all the way to the last line of his poem. “What immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry?” (p.498) this quote by far is the most significant line in this poem. He not only uses it in the first stanza, but he also ends his poem with this quote. A tiger is referred to as being evil. Readers of this poem should be aware that the word symmetry means the quality of being made up of similar parts. If the tiger is evil and is made up of similar parts of its creator, does that mean God is both evil and good? Blake leaves his readers to question whether or not God is truly pure. “And what shoulder, & what art, could twist the sinews of thy heart?” (p.499) Due to this quote, there is no doubt that Blake leaves his reader to ultimately question the establishment of a higher power. He cannot fathom how a loving God can create the heart of a cruel and vicious animal, who seems to have no good in it; a good that is supposedly to have lied within its creator. “Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the lamb make thee?”(p.499) this quote can be interpreted as Blake not believing in the existence of God. In his opinion, a just and loving God cannot create both a wild and untamed tiger; and an innocent and frail lamb. In the poem Work without hope, Coleridge compares his emotions to nature. He seems to be depressed. He sees nature at work, but he cannot embrace the beauty. “All Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair the bees are stirring birds are on the wing” (p.513) in the first few lines, the character sees the work of nature being done. He is aware of the function of nature. He also knows that spring is around the corner. Although he may see the beauty of nature that is around him, he cannot embrace it due to his unhappiness. Readers are well aware of his unhappiness due to the lines that says “And I the while, the sole unbusy thing, nor honey make, not pair, nor build, nor sing” (p.514). Unlike nature, the character of this poem is not prospering like the animals. He is stagnate; comparing his attitude to winter, which is often regarded as a desolate season. Despite the state that the character may be in, he knows the beauty that surrounds him, and continues to encourage it, by telling it to bloom. The reader of this poem is able to recognize the state of despair that the character is in. The character seems to not have achieved any success. Readers are certain of this because in the poem it clearly says “With lips unbrightened, wreathless brow, I stroll” (p.514). The phrase “bear fruit” means to succeed in a task. During the winter, not many fruits are grown. Perhaps the character of the poem compared himself to winter because they both “bear no fruits”; they both lack success. To compare these two poems, they both are unable to enjoy the beauty in nature; “life”. Although they both seem to know exactly what is keeping them from enjoying their surroundings, they continue to be stubborn in their ways. The author of The Tyger cannot see past his fears to see that God is good and that God has a purpose for everything. The author cannot enjoy the beauty of the tiger because he is constantly questioning its purpose and creation. In the Bible Jeremiah 29:11 it says “For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and hope”, the author of this poem may not see the reason behind the creation of the tiger, but God created everything a reason; for he knows the plans that he has for each individual. The tiger was not created just to be evil, but that evil came with a purpose. The character of the poem Work without hope knows that there is beauty in nature, but he cannot see past his hopelessness. His lack of success contributes to his hopelessness. He is unhappy with his achievements. The beauty lies around him, but choses to focus on his himself. Not realizing that everything is for a season. The fruits that were not grown during the winter will have its chance to grow in another season. In the Bible Galatians 8:22 it says “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Seasons change; his state of unhappiness will also. Instead of ignoring the beauty of nature, the character of this poem should embrace it. The last lines of Work without hope goes hand and hand with The Tyger “Work without hope draws nectar in a sieve, and hope without an object cannot live.” (p.514) drawing nectar through a sieve is impossible, it drains through. This can serves as an analogy when work is done without hope. If hope cannot live without an objective, then there is no point in life. The author of the poem The Tyger is living without hope because not only is he questioning the beauty of nature, but he does not believe in a high power. This poses as an issue for him because he can never truly embrace the beauty in nature. He is aware of the beauty of the tiger by the way he describes the steps of its creations, but he fails to acknowledge the beauty because of the constant questioning. The character in work without hope also lives without hope, because he sees himself as a cold, lonely winter. This enables him to only see his hopelessness within the beauty. These two poems represent how the individuals failed to realize the beauty of nature because they were focused on their personal issues. These poems regarded the word nature as being life. These individual couldn’t enjoy their life either because of their curiosity or emotions. Life was surrounding them, but they became oblivious to it once their focus was switched to themselves. The author of The Tyger questioned life and its purpose. He could not grasp the reason as to why evil exist if there is supposed to be a God that is good. The character of Work without hope could not enjoy his life because he was depressed, moping around in his failures. Once they open their eyes and look past it all, the beauty of life shall be revealed.

References
Gwynn, R. S. Poetry: A Pocket Anthology. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2009. Print.
Secondary Sources
Jeremiah. The Holy Bible: New International Version. Colorado Springs, CO: International Bible Society, 1984. Print.
Galatians, The Holy Bible: New International Version. Colorado Springs, CO: International Bible Society, 1984. Print.

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