Compare And Contrast Lightman And Longfellow

Nature is a very strong symbol for many authors and there are many differing opinions on nature. Both Longfellow and Lightman show how careless nature can be by using multiple techniques and devices. The authors are able to show how nature does not care about humans or anything to do with them. In Longfellow's “Nature Poem”, it differs from Lightman's article by showing how nature cares enough to give us a death date but that is all. Longfellow states “...so nature deals with us, and takes away our playthings one by one…”(Longfellow). Here Longfellow shows nature does not completely ignore us like Lightman believes, nature cares just enough that it can take us away to death. Longfellow is clear however, that nature does not care about what is going on in someone's life, …show more content…
In Lightman's poem, he explains himself much more and has a much deeper analysis for why he feels the way he does about nature. In order to explain himself, Lightman uses real life examples and personal examples as well to prove his negative outlook on nature. Longfellow displays his attitude by using his personal sailing experience in Greece and also relates back to the babylonians and how they used nature as Gods and religion as shown in the statement “the babylonian-Assyrian god of storms...”(Lightman). Here Lightman is showing how people in past eras used to trust nature so much they used it as their religion, completely opposite of what he truly believes. Instead of using metaphors and literary devices, Lightman uses a different approach by adding examples such as the Gods of nature. Both Lightman and Longfellow attempt to show what they believe by connecting it with something people will be able to see. With Longfellow he connected death and his negative outlook to a mother and child, with Lightman he chose to connect real life events to show where he is coming