Figurative Language In Nature By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A poem exhibiting an extended metaphor clarifies the two objects that are being compared by using figurative language and other writing techniques. “Nature,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, is an example of this type of poem as it compares mother nature and a human mother as caretakers of humanity. Through explicating this poem, it is easy to see the theme that death is inevitable and that nature brings people to rest just as a mother leads her child to bed after a long day; Longfellow uses figurative language, attitude, and a Petrarchan style sonnet to show the comparison between how nature and mothers nurture their “children” in different ways. “Nature” depicts the nurturing side of mother nature and of human nature and shows the indecisiveness …show more content…
Attitude in “Nature” is created by the subject matter and the tone of voice in which it is written. It is matter-of-fact and accepting of death, and Longfellow uses the metaphor of a child going to bed to symbolize death, which is a relatively innocent comparison. If Longfellow wanted to create a more negative tone, he could have used something more malignant than going to sleep, but he did not, which makes the tone more neutral and indifferent. In line 11, sleep is compared to a gentle death that takes over like a mother putting her child to bed. Longfellow does not dramatize death, rather, his attitude is that of accepting it. Lines 13-14 state that everything people have learned throughout their lives does not prepare them for the after-life; it happens and people have no control over it. In addition, an indifferent attitude is created because Longfellow’s view of death is agnostic. He does not state a separation between good and evil, or heaven and hell, rather, everybody is led to rest (line 11). Similarly to how attitude creates the theme and the comparison of mother nature and mothers with children, figurative language in the poem helps to do this as