Poems about Blackberries - Essay Example

The Contrast of Nature in Blackberries Sylvia Plath’s “Blackberrying” and Galway Kinnell’s “Blackberry Eating” are two poems that utilize the same theme of nature to present contrasting views. Ideally and on a large-scale, the talk of nature has always been alluded to something nice and pretty. This is understandable especially since there are many things to love about nature. However, nature is not always a sunny place where birds sing and flowers bloom. While one part of nature is about beginnings, living, and life, the other part of it is about ending, death, and dying.

This contrast is what is exactly shown in these two interesting poems about blackberries. Kinnell talks about blackberries in a passionate manner. He happily refers to it in the same way a poet loves words. The link in the poem is obvious in the way Kinnell describes the way one enjoys blackberries to his enjoyment in using words to describe them. This is exhibited in the use of alliteration, for example, in lines 2, 4, and 12 respectively: “black blackberries,” “prickly a penalty,” and “squeeze, squinch open.

” Plath, on the other hand, de-romanticizes blackberries to express her views on death. She uses imagery to paint a gloomy picture for the readers. A good example of this is her use of dark colors that are commonly associated with unhappiness or sorrow --- perhaps caused by endings. For example, in lines 10 to 11, Plath writes, “Overhead go the choughs in black, cacophonous flocks— / Bits of burnt paper wheeling in a blown sky.” The poet’s use of the word “nothing” in multiple instances in the poem also adds to its gloomy tone.

Works CitedKinnell, Galway. Blackberry Eating. Concord, NH: William B. Ewert, 1980. Print.Plath, Sylvia. "Blackberrying." New Yorker 38.30 (1962). Print.