Analyzing John Greenleaf Whittier's A Dream Of Summer
English 3 Honors
Poetry Analysis Paper
Jenna Krakos
December 20, 2013
“A Dream of Summer”
By: John Greenleaf Whittier
Have you ever noticed that your mood tends to change with the seasons throughout the course of the year? In John Greenleaf Whittier’s “A Dream of Summer”, this very question has been shown to be true. From what I understand, “He loved nature, and was a strong believer that God controlled the extreme climates and temperatures in certain places on Planet Earth.” Mr. Whittier was also a Quaker, who like most Quakers placed an emphasis on a simple, happy life. In this poem we see how strongly he feels as if he is cold, barren, and lifeless if you will, in the winter. Yet as spring comes into play, he is awakened …show more content…
or reborn, or given a more exciting, busy, happy life. You see, Mr. Whittier lost his mother in the winter of 1827, and in the spring of 1828 he was introduced to his first poem, which led to his amazing career. Mr. Whittier is very honest in this poem, and we learn a lot about the author. We learn that he likes to have fun and be happy. It seems that he doesn’t like the winter because he can’t have his usual carefree, happy, fun life. Mr. John Greenleaf Whittier uses allusion, rhyme, and personification in “A Dream of Summer” to convey the very idea of how everything from moods to people to plants has seasonal changes. First, Mr. Whittier uses many different allusions in this poem and has a variety, from religious outtakes, to something as simple as mythical characters. According to David Burns of The Salem Web Network, “Whittier’s religious nature recognized in all its impulses, not so much the Over-Soul that thinks, as the Over-Heart that throbs, in all humanity; and this reference of the inner light to its personal divine source consecrated his poetry.” One example of an allusion with Mr. Whittier’s religious standpoint in “A Dream of Summer” is, “For God, who loveth all His works, has left His hope with all!” Not only is he referring to God but also a bible verse. This verse is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.” In this poem Mr. Whittier is expressing that God, loves all his works including the bad ones, but also gives all people hope that one day all bad things will be gone. Another allusion that Mr. Whittier expressed in this poem was, “The snow-plumed Angel of the North….” In this allusion Mr. Whittier is referring to the storybook character, Jack Frost. Jack Frost in the movies and storybooks always seems to be causing trouble. I am guessing that when Mr. Whittier is saying, “The snow-plumed Angel…” he is referring to the troublesome, stereotypical behavior of Jack Frost. In many a Christmas novel or movie, “Jack Frost” has been tagged as a troublesome, mischievous character, who likes to cause chaos. Mr. Whittier is saying that “The Angel of the North” is making that winter season intolerable and chaotic. Yet, Mr. Whittier, as know when examining these two allusions, is excited and knows that spring and summer will soon be around. Next, rhyme is something that Mr. Whittier is very fond of, and his love for rhyme truly shows in this poem as it does in many of his works. When I think of rhyme, I automatically think of a fun, silly, and happy time. We usually use rhyme to express the playfulness of a situation or to lighten the mood. Mr. Whittier seems to use rhyme for those exact reasons in, “A Dream of Summer.” He uses it to soften the blow of, “Oh I HATE winter!” So with the rhyme he is still saying this but adding a touch of, “SPRING IS SO AWESOME!” He definitely uses rhyme throughout the entire poem to relieve some of the hatred towards winter, and some of the excited tension for spring. One example of rhyme expressed is, “So, in those winters of the soul, By bitter blasts and drear, O’erswept from Memory’s frozen pole, Will sunny days appear.” Basically what this stanza from the poem is saying, that the soul has been in hibernation, dealing with the cold times winds. But from the narrarator’s memory, he knows that sunny days will soon appear. The rhyme that Mr. Whittier used here was to put an emphasis on just exactly what winter seems to do to the human mind, soul, and body. Another example of rhyme from this poem is, “The fox his hillside cell forsakes, the muskrat leaves his nook, The bluebird in the meadow brakes, Is singing with the brook.” In this stanza from the poem, Mr. Whittier is trying to keep the mood light and airy. He is trying to keep the mood uplifted, which is in turn describing his feelings and his mood now that he and the animals know spring is coming. The last example of rhyme I found interesting is, “‘Bear up, O Mother Nature!’ cry, Bird, breeze and streamlet free; ‘Our winter voices prophesy, of summer days to thee!’” Once again, the whole theme of this poem is that you and everything around you changes throughout the season. By using the rhyme in this stanza, it seems as if the speaker is declaring and is very proud of the fact that summer is coming. She is excited and can’t wait for winter to come to an end. Rhyme very much describes and helps to express the overall theme in this poem. Finally, the last and probably the most important poetic device used in this poem is personification.
Personification can either be giving animals, ideas, or inorganic objects human characteristics. Yet in this poem, most of the personification had to do with Mr. Whittier capitalizing a word in which he wanted to be personified. Nonetheless personification completely held the mood for me. In almost every stanza personification is used, and expressed in some sort of way. The first example of personification that I found is, “Bland as the morning breath of June.” In this personified line, Mr. Whittier is expressing that June is bland, and peaceful but in the winter season he just experienced everything was chaotic and busy. In the winter Mr. Whittier feels as if all craziness breaks loose and he the calm months of summer and spring, people, moods, and everything around him is peaceful, calm, and bland. Another example of personification that I have found in this poem is in line 21. Line 21: “Reviving Hope and Faith, they show….” Like I said, Mr. Whittier feels as if he is reborn in the spring, almost as if the winter killed the poor man. In this line, the author is saying that whenever the seasons change and spring comes in, Hope and Faith are revived or brought back to life. He is almost referring to Hope and Faith as individuals or people that he cares deeply for and needs. It’s like they are being brought back from where the winter season has hidden them, and together they bring back all the Hope and Faith that people need. The last examples of personification that I have found are in lines 25 and 26. Lines 25-26: “The Night is mother of the Day, The Winter of the spring.” Mr. Whittier uses these two lines to reveal some of his past as well as personify this saying. His mother did die in the winter so; I believe that’s why he has said what he did with these two lines. But, night is usually associated with darkness and lifelessness as so is winter in this poem, as
where daytime is associated with busyness, life, and exciting times. I think he said these two lines to say that Night and winter are connected and they both have children (Day and spring). And the Night and winter, even though sometimes we are afraid of them or we are lifeless and cold during these times, they help us out much like a mother would. They give us a break from the busyness, the constant going, and these two times give us time to rest. This stanza definitely relates back to the theme, I think the best out of all of the three poetic devices. We don’t like winter, it’s cold and barren and lifeless, and spring is always the most exciting time of the year. In these few lines we learn and realize that we may hate winter and nighttime but it’s what comes after that (spring and the daytime), that will make us the happiest of all. Personification definitely seemed to be Mr. Whittier’s way of getting this theme and message across. Using personification he opened up a very distinct line between his winter mood and the mood that spring seemed to put him in.
Finally, I believe that Mr. John Greenleaf Whittier did exactly what he’s called to do as a poet in “A Dream of Summer” , and that is to achieve his/her message. I think that his usage of allusions, rhyme, and personification overall captured Mr. Whittier’s theme. Which is that not only does our year have seasonal changes, but so do everything from our moods, to the animal’s moods around us. I have loved reading this poem by Mr. Whittier because not only did it make me learn something about myself, but it made me open up my eyes to regular, raw human nature. Mr. Whittier was considered to be one of the most American poets of all time. Some people say he knew the human world better than human world knew itself. Mr. Carl Greenleaf Whittier definitely proved that he knew how humans change and grow, along with how the world around him changes along with the seasons in his famous and my most favorite poem “A Dream of Summer.”
Poetry Analysis Paper
Jenna Krakos
December 20, 2013
“A Dream of Summer”
By: John Greenleaf Whittier
Have you ever noticed that your mood tends to change with the seasons throughout the course of the year? In John Greenleaf Whittier’s “A Dream of Summer”, this very question has been shown to be true. From what I understand, “He loved nature, and was a strong believer that God controlled the extreme climates and temperatures in certain places on Planet Earth.” Mr. Whittier was also a Quaker, who like most Quakers placed an emphasis on a simple, happy life. In this poem we see how strongly he feels as if he is cold, barren, and lifeless if you will, in the winter. Yet as spring comes into play, he is awakened …show more content…
or reborn, or given a more exciting, busy, happy life. You see, Mr. Whittier lost his mother in the winter of 1827, and in the spring of 1828 he was introduced to his first poem, which led to his amazing career. Mr. Whittier is very honest in this poem, and we learn a lot about the author. We learn that he likes to have fun and be happy. It seems that he doesn’t like the winter because he can’t have his usual carefree, happy, fun life. Mr. John Greenleaf Whittier uses allusion, rhyme, and personification in “A Dream of Summer” to convey the very idea of how everything from moods to people to plants has seasonal changes. First, Mr. Whittier uses many different allusions in this poem and has a variety, from religious outtakes, to something as simple as mythical characters. According to David Burns of The Salem Web Network, “Whittier’s religious nature recognized in all its impulses, not so much the Over-Soul that thinks, as the Over-Heart that throbs, in all humanity; and this reference of the inner light to its personal divine source consecrated his poetry.” One example of an allusion with Mr. Whittier’s religious standpoint in “A Dream of Summer” is, “For God, who loveth all His works, has left His hope with all!” Not only is he referring to God but also a bible verse. This verse is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.” In this poem Mr. Whittier is expressing that God, loves all his works including the bad ones, but also gives all people hope that one day all bad things will be gone. Another allusion that Mr. Whittier expressed in this poem was, “The snow-plumed Angel of the North….” In this allusion Mr. Whittier is referring to the storybook character, Jack Frost. Jack Frost in the movies and storybooks always seems to be causing trouble. I am guessing that when Mr. Whittier is saying, “The snow-plumed Angel…” he is referring to the troublesome, stereotypical behavior of Jack Frost. In many a Christmas novel or movie, “Jack Frost” has been tagged as a troublesome, mischievous character, who likes to cause chaos. Mr. Whittier is saying that “The Angel of the North” is making that winter season intolerable and chaotic. Yet, Mr. Whittier, as know when examining these two allusions, is excited and knows that spring and summer will soon be around. Next, rhyme is something that Mr. Whittier is very fond of, and his love for rhyme truly shows in this poem as it does in many of his works. When I think of rhyme, I automatically think of a fun, silly, and happy time. We usually use rhyme to express the playfulness of a situation or to lighten the mood. Mr. Whittier seems to use rhyme for those exact reasons in, “A Dream of Summer.” He uses it to soften the blow of, “Oh I HATE winter!” So with the rhyme he is still saying this but adding a touch of, “SPRING IS SO AWESOME!” He definitely uses rhyme throughout the entire poem to relieve some of the hatred towards winter, and some of the excited tension for spring. One example of rhyme expressed is, “So, in those winters of the soul, By bitter blasts and drear, O’erswept from Memory’s frozen pole, Will sunny days appear.” Basically what this stanza from the poem is saying, that the soul has been in hibernation, dealing with the cold times winds. But from the narrarator’s memory, he knows that sunny days will soon appear. The rhyme that Mr. Whittier used here was to put an emphasis on just exactly what winter seems to do to the human mind, soul, and body. Another example of rhyme from this poem is, “The fox his hillside cell forsakes, the muskrat leaves his nook, The bluebird in the meadow brakes, Is singing with the brook.” In this stanza from the poem, Mr. Whittier is trying to keep the mood light and airy. He is trying to keep the mood uplifted, which is in turn describing his feelings and his mood now that he and the animals know spring is coming. The last example of rhyme I found interesting is, “‘Bear up, O Mother Nature!’ cry, Bird, breeze and streamlet free; ‘Our winter voices prophesy, of summer days to thee!’” Once again, the whole theme of this poem is that you and everything around you changes throughout the season. By using the rhyme in this stanza, it seems as if the speaker is declaring and is very proud of the fact that summer is coming. She is excited and can’t wait for winter to come to an end. Rhyme very much describes and helps to express the overall theme in this poem. Finally, the last and probably the most important poetic device used in this poem is personification.
Personification can either be giving animals, ideas, or inorganic objects human characteristics. Yet in this poem, most of the personification had to do with Mr. Whittier capitalizing a word in which he wanted to be personified. Nonetheless personification completely held the mood for me. In almost every stanza personification is used, and expressed in some sort of way. The first example of personification that I found is, “Bland as the morning breath of June.” In this personified line, Mr. Whittier is expressing that June is bland, and peaceful but in the winter season he just experienced everything was chaotic and busy. In the winter Mr. Whittier feels as if all craziness breaks loose and he the calm months of summer and spring, people, moods, and everything around him is peaceful, calm, and bland. Another example of personification that I have found in this poem is in line 21. Line 21: “Reviving Hope and Faith, they show….” Like I said, Mr. Whittier feels as if he is reborn in the spring, almost as if the winter killed the poor man. In this line, the author is saying that whenever the seasons change and spring comes in, Hope and Faith are revived or brought back to life. He is almost referring to Hope and Faith as individuals or people that he cares deeply for and needs. It’s like they are being brought back from where the winter season has hidden them, and together they bring back all the Hope and Faith that people need. The last examples of personification that I have found are in lines 25 and 26. Lines 25-26: “The Night is mother of the Day, The Winter of the spring.” Mr. Whittier uses these two lines to reveal some of his past as well as personify this saying. His mother did die in the winter so; I believe that’s why he has said what he did with these two lines. But, night is usually associated with darkness and lifelessness as so is winter in this poem, as
where daytime is associated with busyness, life, and exciting times. I think he said these two lines to say that Night and winter are connected and they both have children (Day and spring). And the Night and winter, even though sometimes we are afraid of them or we are lifeless and cold during these times, they help us out much like a mother would. They give us a break from the busyness, the constant going, and these two times give us time to rest. This stanza definitely relates back to the theme, I think the best out of all of the three poetic devices. We don’t like winter, it’s cold and barren and lifeless, and spring is always the most exciting time of the year. In these few lines we learn and realize that we may hate winter and nighttime but it’s what comes after that (spring and the daytime), that will make us the happiest of all. Personification definitely seemed to be Mr. Whittier’s way of getting this theme and message across. Using personification he opened up a very distinct line between his winter mood and the mood that spring seemed to put him in.
Finally, I believe that Mr. John Greenleaf Whittier did exactly what he’s called to do as a poet in “A Dream of Summer” , and that is to achieve his/her message. I think that his usage of allusions, rhyme, and personification overall captured Mr. Whittier’s theme. Which is that not only does our year have seasonal changes, but so do everything from our moods, to the animal’s moods around us. I have loved reading this poem by Mr. Whittier because not only did it make me learn something about myself, but it made me open up my eyes to regular, raw human nature. Mr. Whittier was considered to be one of the most American poets of all time. Some people say he knew the human world better than human world knew itself. Mr. Carl Greenleaf Whittier definitely proved that he knew how humans change and grow, along with how the world around him changes along with the seasons in his famous and my most favorite poem “A Dream of Summer.”