METHOD IN THE WILDERNESS: NATURE AS MOTIF IN BRITISH POETRY THROUGH THE AGES

Abstract

Nature poetry could be defined as any poetry that considers nature as subject matter and inspiration. Over the years, we have seen nature poetry coming up as a genre at regular intervals. A closer look will tell us that this tendency is closely linked to the socio-political happenings of that milieu and that very often poets take recourse to nature in moments of crisis. The fact that nature has a healing effect on the soul was a well-known fact, even though modern medical terms like eco-therapy were unheard of. This paper tries to relate certain traumatic events from British history to the nature poetry that evolved in association with these events.