The poem is chock-full of images of the natural world. We've got flowers, rain, references to the seasons and all that good stuff. Unlike some works that use this theme to show man duking it out with natural forces, "somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond" shows man and nature in a kind of harmony. The speaker actually describes himself as a flower, opening and closing with the seasons. So you could say that this isn't a poem about man and nature; it's a poem about man as nature.
Questions About Man and the Natural World
- How are the seasons used to represent the speaker's emotional state in the poem?
- Compare and contrast the way that snow and rain are used in the poem. What's behind these similarities and differences, as you see them?
- Why do you think the speaker describes himself a flower?
- Let's pretend that the relationship between the speaker and her lover went sour. How could you revamp the nature imagery in the poem to show them in conflict?
Chew on This
Easy bloom, easy shut. The poem uses the image of a rose opening and closing with the seasons to show how the speaker is totally cool with the ups and downs that his lover makes him feel.
The poem almost implies that human beings are more powerful than nature, because it's constantly saying stuff about the lover's power existing outside of this world.