Sonnet

I selected "In the Crowd," available here: http://www.sonnets.org/wetherald.htm

This is a Petrarchan sonnet with no modifications to the rhyme scheme.

The poem's volta is temporal: after the shift, she transitions to reflecting on an experience she had yesterday and its lasting impact, whereas before the shift she had discussed the present.

The message of this poem concerns the rejuvenating and refreshing power of nature. Even though she is in a city, the poet still feels the benefits of the previous day's escape to a natural setting. The shift fits into this message because it helps illustrate that the power of nature is such that even after one returns to an urban environment, the benefits continue. Indeed, our poet's outlook changes because of her exposure to the natural world: she sees "careworn face[s]" with "woodland frames."

More specifically, the poem begins (first four lines) with a relatively straightforward description of city life. Wetherald, as many others, sees urban life as fast-paced and hectic, with a "jostling, hasting throng" and the discordant sounds of traffic. But as she explains her own conception of what's happening, beginning in the fourth line, the impact of nature becomes clear: nature can render even this place not merely tolerable but rather paradisaical, countering the mundane stresses of the city. On some deeper level, Wetherald notes that nature reflects "the pulse of Beauty." Continuing on (post shift), the poet reveals that the nature she describes is not literally there, but rather she remembers it and projects it into the built environment, which allows her mental peace and comfort.

I selected this poem for relatively straightforward reasons. For one, I too like nature, although I don't write poems about it. I do feel that nature provides a release from human-caused stressors; that belief has informed my decision to spend much of my summers, breaks (and this year, weekdays and weekends because hey, it's senior year) outdoors. Perhaps slightly less obvious, I also selected this poem because I like and respect cities quite a lot. I think it's important to have a means of dealing with the challenges of an urban environment--just as it is of dealing with a rural environment--and though this poem is a little more down on cities than I am, I do appreciate thoughts on what challenges cities present to the psyche and how those challenges can be met.