The main theme of this poem is love for nature. In this poem, the writer is expressing the regrets of his lack of appreciation of nature in his early youthful days. He points out that nature at that time was more beautiful than at this present time when he is a bit older, but he failed to notice that. He remembers how the beauty of nature was almost everything he cared about, yet he could not paint to keep it proof. Her recalls the tall rocks that made beautiful sceneries, the deep and quiet woods that seemed a home to him, how the nature of the woods was an appetite for life; something that seemed to give him a reason to live happily every day. It is clear that things are not the same anymore. The nature is not as appealing as it was in his youthful days, and that is why he says in lines 17, 18 and 19 that, ‘For I have learned; To look on nature, not as in the hour; Of the thoughtless youth.’ To the persona, life is gloomier than in his early days. He views the beauty of nature as a way of averting the sad music of humanity which, even though not hash nor grating, still has the power to subdue. He finishes by emphasizing that he is a lover of nature, confessing his love for the meadow and woods of the green earth.
This poem is written by a first generation writer since the themes in it are limited. He vastly talks about nature and art, something that were greatly emphasized in the early 19th century. He portrays nature as a driving force in lives of humans and a source of inspiration, something that changed with age. In the second generation poetry, such things are less focused on as more pressing issues such as politics and great leadership are emphasized.
Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats
This is a second generation romantic poem. It is stemmed around the themes of love and happiness. The persona in this poems talks about a beautiful girl. He appeals to him that she should live with full happiness because she has natural features that other girls are dying to have. According to the persona, there is no reason that gives the girl a reason to be happy since she is very beautiful. He opens the poem by giving the girl praises like a bride of beauty and foster child of silence and slow time. The persona goes ahead to compare the girl with music. Since she is portrayed as a quiet person, she is equated to unheard pipe music, which is sweeter than heard music. The persona seems to love this girl so much and pursues her but does not succeed. H expresses sorrow at the unsuccessful run he has had in pursuing the girl, who is even loathed by other maidens because of her beauty. He says, the girl is like piping songs which are forever new, all breathing human passion but leaves the heart highly sorrowful and cloyed.
In the last part of the poem, he talks about villagers who are about to offer sacrifices to the gods. He describes ho the priest is leading a heifer and his congregation down the streets of the small town. He points out that the town is a small silent one with desolate streets.
This clearly a second generation poem since, tough greatly influenced by first generation poetry, especially in a language, it has more sophisticated themes (love and religion). He styles used, especially in describing the girl and her beauty are more advanced than the kind of writing that was characterized by first generation poetry. The imagination is wide and there is vast and more advanced used of imagery.