The American literature in the domain of poetry has several aspects to which many of the poets adhere and have contributed to in detailing of Americanism in their arts. One of the most prominent issues in American literature as far as poetry is concerned is naturalism. Most of the writers usually employ scientific principles in detachment and objectification in relation to their detailing of human beings. They incorporate scientific principles which are used to relate the relationship between human beings and their surroundings (Baym & Levine (eds.) 2011). It is in their belief that the laws which are deterministic on the actions and values can be understood if analysis if humans were to be considered. It is in this case that writers engaged in an aspect of literature which lives of the characters which they engaged in their art interacted with the surrounding and hereditary in their lives. Naturalism in poetry is then used to writers to provide a tentative approach of humans in their environment and other factors.
In many of the poems penned is that naturalism’s core view is that essentially humans are animals and are influenced by their environment. This is portrayed in the way poets would treat the characters with an essence of cynicism, objectivity, applying heredity factors rather than using intellectual factors (Baym & Levine (eds.) 2011). This is amplified by poets depicting primal urges to be very more powerful than higher thinking. American naturalist Stephen crane gave a rather bleak perception of human existence and experience in his poetry. “A man said to the universe” is a poem where crane emphasizes on the precept that the mere fact the one can be alive is of little merit not more than tacit acknowledgement. In here, crane follows the naturalist tendency of examining flaws and failures which the create a disconnect between the human character and their settings. He denotes that “a man said to the universe: sir I exist!” and the universe responded, “the fact has not created in me a sense of obligation” (Baym & Levine (eds.) 2011).
American poet Jack London in his poem George Sterling which is a naturalist in nature is that he details a man who he terms as having knowledge of botany in an intimate version. In the poem, he denotes that “I saw a man open an iris peta… not as one guilty of sacrilege … because he knew flowers” (Martin & Austin, 2016). This can be determined that London denotes that there is a potential for divine knowledge in the creation and the understanding of nature. However, he refutes this notion with an arrogance that the man did not have the capacity to touch what sacred him ( Martin & Austin, 2016). Therefore, it is determinable that naturalist offers the view of the writer's objectivation of the interaction of man and nature and his understanding of what surrounds him. The man is no less than an animal, making him a subject of his nature in the relation of the man and the what he does not understand.
In another aspect of naturalism, Ellen Glasgow in his poem “the free man” she denotes that “I fear no terror any man may bring… nor any god” (Kohler, 1942). In this aspect, she rejects any fear which may be inherent to humans and mortality. Rather than letting despair harm him, he wallows in the notion of being liberated from despair and luxuriates in confronting it upon himself. In this context, the writer believes hope is a human failure which makes humans to be weakened by it. It is only by removing the chains which bound himself, would he be able to live a life which is not burdened by hope and other human beliefs and their deceptions. Naturalism is in the determination that it proves that human is hamstrung by forces which are not in their control (Kohler, 1942). The arts are usually governed by the issue that humans are controlled by the forces of instinct, heredity, and passion which determine and influence and a huge chunk of their interaction with nature.
In conclusion, naturalism put two factions in contrast in its contexts which is the nature and the society. Therefore, naturalism has a lot of impacts to the audience and the writers. It has a colossal influence in the evolution of the modern movements. It is in their nature that most of the works receive criticism because they are usually blunt and a pessimist (Baym& Levine (eds.), 2011). So, there is a consideration that many of the naturalist works have aspects which are concerned with making the world a better place.
references
Baym, N., & Levine, R. S. (Eds.). (2011). The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Eighth International Student Edition, WW Norton & Company.
Martin, M., & Austin, S. (2016). In the Same Corner of the Prize Ring: Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, and Boxing. Studies in American Naturalism, 11(1), 69-83.
Kohler, D. (1942). Recognition of Ellen Glasgow. The English Journal, 31(7), 523.
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