Nature Poems: Getting Dirty

Nature Poems

Today, go outside and get your hands and feet dirty!  Look beneath a rock, examine the roots of a tree, or dig through soil and write about whatever you find lurking there: maybe you see ants working, perhaps you are alarmed by the coating of pollen, maybe you are enchanted by the juxtaposition of nature and man's creations.  Feel the sun on your face, the air on your skin.  Rejoice, and write about nature.

Your Assignment:  

Go outside and write a nature poem.  There are no word limits.  You will have 15 minutes outside for this writing activity.

• Remember to engage all of your senses.  
• This poem does not have to rhyme.  
• Be creative!  Try a concrete poem (written in the shape of your subject).
• Also, remember to write using figurative language--you know, all of those elements you normally have to analyze literature and poetry for: alliteration, metaphor, simile, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, rhythm, rhyme scheme, irony, personification, and so forth.

Extra credit:  illustrate your poem!

 Examples:  Textual Models

The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful.

--e.e. cummings

To see a world in a grain of sand

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

And eternity in an hour.

--William Blake, from "Auguries of Innocence"

Daffodils - Poem by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

STUDENT MODELS:

Student Reflections

"I really enjoyed this activity because as students, we were left to explore and create without barriers. I like the thought of easing into poetry without being scared to write it. "

"This activity was really interesting! i enjoyed spending time outside, especially on the bridge by the stream. Reflecting back I would wish it was less pollen-y out because that made it hard to focus on things that weren't pollen related but besides that this activity was a nice change of pace."

"I found a spot where no one was and then I explored the little area until something caught my eye. I examined it intently and then walked away. Once I walked away the words started forming in my mind. Once I find something that inspires me I must distract myself for the process of my poem writing to begin. "

"My game plan when it came to drafting the poem was to find a natural object that was not pollen that stood out to my eye. The first thing that struck me, disregarding the pollen, was the kudzu.  Poem writing is difficult for me (writing in GENERAL is not fun for me...) when I do not feel emotion towards the subject or passionate about what I write about. This made writing such an impromptu poem difficult for myself." 

"I really enjoyed this activity because gave us the ability to go explore by ourselves and have the freedom to create whatever we content we wished. We should definitely do more assignments like these!" 

  

Assignment adapted from Bernard Friot's The Aspiring Poet's Journal, day 279 as pictured below.