'Bereavement of the Fields' by William Wilfred Campbell
AI and Tech Aggregator
Download Mp3s Free
Tears of the Kingdom Roleplay
Best Free University Courses Online
TOTK Roleplay
1Soft fall the February snows, and soft
2Falls on my heart the snow of wintry pain;
3For never more, by wood or field or croft,
4Will he we knew walk with his loved again;
5No more, with eyes adream and soul aloft,
6In those high moods where love and beauty reign,
7Greet his familiar fields, his skies without a stain.
8Soft fall the February snows, and deep,
9Like downy pinions from the moulting breast
10Of all the mothering sky, round his hushed sleep,
11Flutter a million loves upon his rest,
12Where once his well-loved flowers were fain to peep,
13With adder-tongue and waxen petals prest,
14In young spring evenings reddening down the west.
15Soft fall the February snows, and hushed
16Seems life's loud action, all its strife removed,
17Afar, remote, where grief itself seems crushed,
18And even hope and sorrow are reproved;
19For he whose cheek erstwhile with hope was flushed,
20And by the gentle haunts of being moved,
21Hath gone the way of all he dreamed and loved.
22Soft fall the February snows, and lost,
23This tender spirit gone with scarce a tear,
24Ere, loosened from the dungeons of the frost,
25Wakens with yearnings new the enfranchised year,
26Late winter-wizened, gloomed, and tempest-tost;
27And Hesper's gentle, delicate veils appear,
28When dream anew the days of hope and fear.
29And Mother Nature, she whose heart is fain,
30Yea, she who grieves not, neither faints nor fails,
31Building the seasons, she will bring again
32March with rudening madness of wild gales,
33April and her wraiths of tender rain,
34And all he loved,—this soul whom memory veils,
35Beyond the burden of our strife and pain.
36Not his to wake the strident note of song,
37Nor pierce the deep recesses of the heart,
38Those tragic wells, remote, of might and wrong;
39But rather, with those gentler souls apart,
40He dreamed like his own summer days along,
41Filled with the beauty born of his own heart,
42Sufficient in the sweetness of his song.
43Outside this prison-house of all our tears,
44Enfranchised from our sorrow and our wrong,
45Beyond the failure of our days and years,
46Beyond the burden of our saddest song,
47He moves with those whose music filled his ears,
48And claimed his gentle spirit from the throng,—
49Wordsworth, Arnold, Keats, high masters of his song.
50Like some rare Pan of those old Grecian days,
51Here in our hours of deeper stress reborn,
52Unfortunate thrown upon life's evil ways,
53His inward ear heard ever that satyr horn
54From Nature's lips reverberate night and morn,
55And fled from men and all their troubled maze,
56Standing apart, with sad, incurious gaze.
57And now, untimely cut, like some sweet flower
58Plucked in the early summer of its prime,
59Before it reached the fulness of its dower,
60He withers in the morning of our time;
61Leaving behind him, like a summer shower,
62A fragrance of earth's beauty, and the chime
63Of gentle and imperishable rhyme.
64Songs in our ears of winds and flowers and buds
65And gentle loves and tender memories
66Of Nature's sweetest aspects, her pure moods,
67Wrought from the inward truth of intimate eyes
68And delicate ears of him who harks and broods,
69And, nightly pondering, daily grows more wise,
70And dreams and sees in mighty solitudes.
71Soft fall the February snows, and soft
72He sleeps in peace upon the breast of her
73He loved the truest; where, by wood and croft,
74The wintry silence folds in fleecy blur
75About his silence, while in glooms aloft
76The mighty forest fathers, without stir,
77Guard well the rest of him, their rare sweet worshipper.
Editor 1 Interpretation
Bereavement of the Fields: A Deep Dive into William Wilfred Campbell's Masterpiece
Wow, where do I even begin with this one? William Wilfred Campbell's Bereavement of the Fields is an incredible piece of poetry that delves into themes of loss, grief, and ultimately finding hope in the face of tragedy. As someone who loves poetry and has read countless works in the genre, I can confidently say that this is one of the most moving and powerful pieces I have ever come across.
So, what is Bereavement of the Fields about? At its core, it is a meditation on the aftermath of a devastating storm that has wreaked havoc on a once-thriving countryside. The speaker describes the scene of destruction that surrounds him - trees uprooted, crops destroyed, and animals lying dead in the fields. He paints a vivid picture of the devastation, using language that is both brutal and beautiful.
But this poem is about much more than just the physical destruction of a storm. It is about the emotional toll that such events take on us as human beings. The speaker is clearly deeply affected by what he sees around him, and he grapples with questions of mortality and the fragility of life. He wonders how something so beautiful and fruitful as the fields could be reduced to such a state of ruin.
One of the most striking things about this poem is the way Campbell uses language to convey the sense of loss and grief that the speaker is feeling. His descriptions are incredibly vivid, and he uses a range of literary techniques to create a sense of atmosphere and mood. For example, he often employs personification - describing the storm as a "wrathful giant" or the wind as a "wild beast" that "howls" at night. This gives the poem a sense of urgency and drama that draws the reader in and makes them feel as if they are experiencing the storm themselves.
Another key element of the poem is the way Campbell uses imagery to create a sense of contrast between the before and after of the storm. He describes the fields before the storm as being "glad" and "bright," with "orchards bowed with fruit" and "grain in golden ranks." This creates a sense of abundance and joy that is then sharply contrasted with the devastation that follows. The fields are now "empty," the crops "gone," and the animals "still." This contrast serves to emphasize the scale of the loss that has occurred and to make the reader feel the full weight of the speaker's grief.
But despite the bleakness of the situation, there is a sense of hope that runs throughout the poem. The speaker acknowledges that the storm was a "blow" that has dealt a heavy blow to the countryside, but he also emphasizes that the fields are not truly dead - they are simply "bereaved" and in need of healing. He talks about the way that nature has a way of rebounding from even the most devastating of events and suggests that the fields will once again be "brimming with life."
So, what can we take away from Bereavement of the Fields? For me, the poem is a powerful reminder of the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity. Even when faced with unimaginable loss and devastation, there is always a glimmer of hope that things will get better. It is a testament to the power of language and the ability of poetry to capture the full range of human emotions.
In conclusion, Bereavement of the Fields is an extraordinary piece of poetry that deserves to be read and studied by anyone with an interest in the genre. It is a masterclass in the use of language and imagery to convey complex emotions, and it is a moving meditation on the power of hope in the face of tragedy. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation
Bereavement of the Fields: A Poetic Masterpiece by William Wilfred Campbell
William Wilfred Campbell, a Canadian poet, is known for his exceptional ability to capture the essence of nature in his works. One of his most famous poems, Bereavement of the Fields, is a beautiful and poignant piece that explores the theme of loss and grief. In this 2000-word analysis, we will delve into the poem's structure, language, and meaning to understand why it has become a classic in the world of poetry.
Structure
Bereavement of the Fields is a sonnet, a 14-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme. The poem follows the traditional structure of a sonnet, with three quatrains (four-line stanzas) and a final couplet (two-line stanza). The rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, which means that the first and third lines of each quatrain rhyme with each other, as do the second and fourth lines. The final couplet has a rhyming couplet, which means that the last two lines rhyme with each other.
The poem's structure is significant because it creates a sense of order and symmetry, which contrasts with the chaotic emotions of grief and loss. The sonnet form is traditionally used for love poems, but Campbell subverts this convention by using it to express the pain of losing something beloved. The structure also allows Campbell to build up to a powerful conclusion in the final couplet, which we will explore in more detail later.
Language
Campbell's use of language in Bereavement of the Fields is both beautiful and evocative. He uses vivid imagery to describe the natural world, which serves as a metaphor for the speaker's emotions. For example, in the first quatrain, Campbell writes:
"The fields are chill, the sparse rain has stopped; The colours of Spring teem on every side. With leaping fish the blue pond is full; With singing thrushes the green boughs abide."
Here, Campbell uses the imagery of spring to create a sense of abundance and life. The fields are described as "chill," which suggests a sense of emptiness or absence. However, the colours of spring "teem on every side," which creates a sense of abundance and life. The blue pond is "full" of leaping fish, and the green boughs are "abide" with singing thrushes. These images create a sense of vitality and energy, which contrasts with the speaker's sense of loss.
In the second quatrain, Campbell shifts the imagery to focus on the natural world's transience:
"The green boughs wither; the brazen notes Of the bright birds are hushed; the hills are bare. Dark Autumn cometh, bearing on his breath The sighs of the dead to the shores of Death."
Here, Campbell uses the imagery of autumn to create a sense of decay and death. The green boughs, which were full of singing thrushes in the previous quatrain, are now withered. The bright birds' notes are "hushed," and the hills are "bare." The final line of the quatrain is particularly powerful, as it suggests that autumn brings with it the "sighs of the dead to the shores of Death." This line creates a sense of inevitability and finality, which reinforces the theme of loss and grief.
In the final quatrain, Campbell uses the imagery of winter to create a sense of desolation:
"Of Autumn's wine, now might I drink my fill, And smile to see the sere leaves dropping down, And gold and silver coinage of the year, And feel the flames of death upon my brow."
Here, Campbell uses the imagery of winter to create a sense of desolation and emptiness. The speaker imagines drinking "Autumn's wine" and smiling to see the leaves dropping down. The "gold and silver coinage of the year" suggests that the speaker is reflecting on the passing of time and the inevitability of death. The final line, "And feel the flames of death upon my brow," is particularly powerful, as it suggests that the speaker is ready to face death and the grief that comes with it.
Meaning
Bereavement of the Fields is a poem about loss and grief, but it is also a poem about acceptance and resilience. The speaker is mourning the loss of something beloved, but they are also reflecting on the natural world's cycles of life and death. The poem suggests that grief is a natural part of life, and that it is something that we must accept and learn to live with.
The final couplet of the poem is particularly powerful, as it suggests that the speaker has come to terms with their grief:
"But ah! to me, in converse sweet, The scents and sounds of Nature ever round! The loving voices of the sky and ground Have banished all my griefs with one faint fleet."
Here, the speaker suggests that the "scents and sounds of Nature" have helped them to overcome their grief. The "loving voices of the sky and ground" have "banished all my griefs with one faint fleet." This final couplet suggests that the speaker has found solace in nature and that they have come to accept the inevitability of loss and grief.
Conclusion
Bereavement of the Fields is a beautiful and poignant poem that explores the theme of loss and grief. Campbell's use of language and imagery creates a vivid and evocative picture of the natural world, which serves as a metaphor for the speaker's emotions. The poem's structure creates a sense of order and symmetry, which contrasts with the chaotic emotions of grief and loss. The final couplet is particularly powerful, as it suggests that the speaker has come to terms with their grief and has found solace in nature. Overall, Bereavement of the Fields is a classic in the world of poetry, and it continues to resonate with readers today.
Editor Recommended Sites
Knowledge Graph Ops: Learn maintenance and operations for knowledge graphs in cloudOptimization Community: Network and graph optimization using: OR-tools, gurobi, cplex, eclipse, minizinc
Coding Interview Tips - LLM and AI & Language Model interview questions: Learn the latest interview tips for the new LLM / GPT AI generative world
Secrets Management: Secrets management for the cloud. Terraform and kubernetes cloud key secrets management best practice
SRE Engineer: Guide to SRE engineering
Recommended Similar Analysis
Negative Love by John Donne analysisLigeia by Edgar Allen Poe analysis
The Cry Of The Children by Elizabeth Barrett Browning analysis
The Song Of The Old Mother by William Butler Yeats analysis
Buried Love by Sarah Teasdale analysis
An Old Man's Winter Night by Robert Frost analysis
Sonnet CXXX by William Shakespeare analysis
The Kraken by Alfred, Lord Tennyson analysis
The Pains Of Sleep by Samuel Taylor Coleridge analysis
Comin Thro' The Rye by Robert Burns analysis