Question

Explain how the thought of the last four lines of "god's grandeur" is similar to line 16 of lyric 54 of tennyson's "in memoriam" and the last line of shelley's "ode to the west wind."

Answer 1

The last four lines of the poem “God’s Grandeur” by Gerard Manley Hopkins, line 16 of the Canto 54 of Tennyson’s “In Memoriam” and the last line of Percy Bysshe Shelley focuses on the thought which is like each other. All the three poems at one point of time highlight the issue of rebirth which nature keeps hidden from our eyes. However, people should believe in nature’s process of bringing the beauty and brightness of the day back from the darkness of the night or the rebirth is yet to happen.

The poem “God’s Grandeur” speaks about the rotation of nature. It is through the rotation that the bright side of the day precedes the dark night. The poem speaks about the ‘rebirth’ which the humans are under the process of. The world for the poet is in an ‘embryo’ from where it must be reborn by breaking the hard-shell. The poem ends on a positive note, reflecting the process of rebirth which is yet to happen.

In the poem “In Memoriam,” Tennyson speaks about the nature of humans who themselves don’t know about their strength and capacity. Thus, they lament and cry in the dark without knowing about the bright daylight which stands next to the darkness.

Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind” ends with a rhetorical question about the daylight which will be the predecessor of the dark night. She speaks about the beauty of nature which circulates and moves on. The speaker concludes by giving a message about the death and decay that a rebirth will always be the one following them.