O Winter! Bar thine adamantine doors;
The noth is thine: there has thou built thy dark
Deep-founded habitation. Shake not thy roofs,
Nor bend thy pillars with thine iron car.
He hears me not, but o’ er the yawining deep
Rides heavy; his storms are unchained; sheathed
In ribbed steel, I dare not lift mine eyes;
For he hath reared his sceptre o ‘er the wold.
Lo! Now the direful monster, whose skin clings
To his strong bones, strides o’ er the groaning rocks.
He withers all in silence, and his hand
Unclothes the earth, and freezes up frail life.
He takes his seat upon the cliff; the mariner
Cries in vain. Poor little wretch! That deal’st
With storms; till heaven smiles, and the monster
Is driv’n yelling to his caves beneath Mount Hecla.
TO SPRING
O thou, with dewy locks, who lookest down
Through the clear windows of the morning: turn
Thine angel eyes upon our western isle,
Which in full choir hails thy approach. O spring!
The hills tell each other, and the list’ ning
Valleys hear; all our longing eyes are turned
Up to thy bright pavilions. Issue forth,
And let thy holy feet visit our clime.
Come o ‘er the eastern hills, and let us taste our winds
Kiss thy perfumed garments; let us taste
Thy morn and evening breath; scatter thy pearls
Upon our love-sick land that mourns for thee.
Oh deck her forth with thy fair fingers; pour
Thy soft kisses on her bosom; and put
Thy golden crown upon her languished head,
Whose modest tresses were bound up for thee!
WILLIAM BLAKE
Author: William Blake
Title of work: Poetical Sketches
Year of publication: 1783
Place of publication: England
ANALYSIS
The subject of those poems makes reference to two different seasons: the spring and the winter.
Firstly, we will analyze the first poem: “To Spring”. The author talks to the spring as a human: “Oh thou” (first line) or “Thine angel eyes upon our western isle” (line three). The poet enjoys the spring’s arrival because this season is full of life, and gives the splendour back to nature, dead before because of winter “All our longing eyes are turned up to thy bright pavilions” ( lines 6 &7) or “Scatter thy pearls upon our love-sick land that mourns for thee” ( lines 11 & 12). Blake treats this season as a symbol of life and beauty.
Moreover, the author personifies the spring during the whole poem, treating it as a woman who has the power of curing “Scatter thy pearls upon our love-sick land” (lines 11& 12).
We can understand this poem very easily, because its vocabulary is very plain and accessible, moreover Blake uses lots of adjectives concerning to sunlight, sense of smell and love “Through the clear windows of the morning” (line 2) “up to thy bright pavilions” ( line 7) “Kiss thy perfumed garments” (line 10) and “Thy soft kisses on her bosom” (symbol of a flourishing youth) (line 14). With those resources, the author manages that the reader idealizes the bucolic vision of this season, period of happiness, brightness and love.
Also, Blake uses lots of metaphors which do not hinder the poem’s reading, on the contrary, they help to understand it better, because the author gives to the spring typical qualities of humans “Oh, deck her forth with thy fair fingers” ( line 13).
The structure of this poem is composed by four stanzas, each stanza has four lines and each line has eight syllables. Its rhyme is free.
The second poem deals about the winter, its structure is the same as “To Spring” but its theme is different completely.
Blake talks to the winter, it means, he personifies it too: “O winter! Bar thine adamantine doors” (line 1) although he treats winter different from spring. The author through his words, describes the winter as a dark season which has not life: “there has thou built thy dark deep-founded habitation” ( lines 2 & 3).
Moreover, he emphasizes the cruelty of winter through adjectives, images and metaphors; in this way, the poet manages a gloomy effect and a feeling of fear “I dare not lift mine eyes ; for he hath reared his sceptre o’ er the world” ( lines 7 & 8). Also, he uses strong materials ( iron, steel) to manage effects of hardness, cold colours and a bellicose atmosphere: “nor bend thy pillars with thine iron car” (line 4) or “in ribbed steel” ( line 7). With this description, the author pretends to create a feeling of repulsion towards the winter.
As you can see, the poem’s the point of view is different completely from the first poem, although he uses the same stylistic resources.
PERSONAL RESPONSE
Those two poems are diverging but they are very similar at the same time. The author has treated two seasons giving to each one a different role: spring ( life and light) and winter (darkness and death). However, there are more resemblances between those two poems, because they are describing two seasons with the same goal: create feelings