When civilization and nature
intersect, it is often the case that flora and fauna suffer as a result. Humanity can be thought of as an interloper
in the natural world, bringing unnatural technology and undesired change. Nature, however, seems as likely as always to
thrive in adverse conditions. This
argument for the lasting power of nature and condemnation of modern technology
is made in Robinson Jeffers’s poem “Carmel Point.” His speaker comments on the imposing
influence of mankind’s suburban landscape.
With Wallace Stevens’ “Anecdote of the Jar” we see a similar pattern of
interaction between people and nature, one that also involves the meddling of
men in the environment. These poems
intersect in their depiction of the enduring power of nature compared to the temporary
dregs of technology. They seem to point
to the inadequate contribution of human technology, and share a disdain for its
impact on the natural world. They make
the claim that nature is an untamable force that will ultimately outlast
humanity and its impact on the landscape, returning to the state it previously
occupied before it was changed.
Robinson Jeffers begins “Carmel
Point” with an interesting statement that echoes his feelings about
nature. He exclaims in the first line,
“The extraordinary patience of things!”
His use of the word “things” references nature, which we see as the poem
develops. It is the patience of nature
and its incredible lasting power. This
place, the beautiful beach of Carmel Point, has been overrun with signs of
development. The speaker claims the
place has been “defaced with a crop of suburban houses” (3). Jefferson then asks in line 7 “Now the
spoiler has come: does it care?” The
spoiler here is mankind, the developed houses that dot the once completely
natural landscape. But nature does not
care even “faintly,” because it “has all the time. It knows people are a tide /
that swells and in time will ebb,” (8-9).
This poem ultimately refers to the
cycle of nature. Jeffers created a term
called “inhumanism” to describe the way in which mankind is out of touch with
the natural cycles of nature. In the
lines 13-14 of “Carmel Point” he claims “We must uncenter our minds from
ourselves; / We must unhumanize our views a little.” This is a direct reference to his concept of
inhumanism. His claim is that humans
should try to become better in touch with nature, because industrialization and
technology keep the two apart. Continuation
of natural things is a high concern for Jeffers. He seems to have little faith
in the power of technology, but an optimistic attitude about its mixture with
nature.
The “Anecdote of the Jar” shows the
idea of mixing man and nature in another way by examining the relationship
between what man places in the landscape and the landscape itself. The speaker tells us how he has placed a jar
upon a hilltop. It is a round, unnaturally
shaped jar that “made the slovenly wilderness / surround that hill” (3-4). The jar can be seen as a symbol of human
influence on the wilderness, as the poem suggests that the jar had some effect
over nature. The wilderness “sprawled
around, no longer wild,” suggesting that the jar had a taming influence on the
area (6).
The “slovenly wilderness” of line 3 suggests
that the speaker believes the wilderness is somehow inferior to the jar. A
comparison of slovenly to the perfectly round jar seems to suggest this as
well. Nature creates unorganized and
sloppy looking creations, while mankind’s work is neat and concise. The speaker may be claiming this because the
jar is a modern creation of man. The
wilderness can be seen as inferior from the speaker’s point of view because the
jar is neat and round. Stevens uses descriptive words to emphasize this,
using words that sound like or contain the adjective “round.” He uses the word
twice, and throws in several very similar words; surround, around and
ground. Perhaps through this emphasis the jar can be seen as superior because
the jar is a perfectly round item, a shape nature does not generally create in
a geometrically perfect way.
The last section seems to reverse
this relationship, changing the focus of the word “it.” The word refers to the wilderness in line 9,
and in line 10 the jar is described as “gray and bare.” If the “it” were still describing the jar,
lines 9 and 10 would be likely be swapped to make the subject clear to the
reader. Suggesting at the end that the
jar was “gray and bare” shows a change in attitude from the beginning of the
poem. The speaker tells of a jar with
great influence over nature, and then seems to turn the image on its head with
the claim that “It [nature] took dominion everywhere” (9). The speaker changes
his wording and at the end of the poem shows that the jar has actually had only
a temporary effect, as the wilderness ignored the jar and grew up around
it.
Where the natural world swallows up
human creation, we see that Stevens’ jar and Jeffers’ “spoiler” have quite a
bit in common. Jeffers claims that
encroaching development has spoiled the landscape. The once beautiful place where nature sprung
up on its own has been subdued. In the
reversal of the final section of “Anecdote of the Jar” in lines 11-12, Stevens’
speaker claims “It did not give of bird or bush, / Like nothing else in
Tennesee.” The double negative here
suggests that everything else in Tennessee did produce nature in the form of
birds and bushes. Like the “spoiler” from “Carmel Point,” the jar gave no productive
additions to the natural world. Both of
these seem “gray and bare,” lacking any sort of substance or lasting power.
The poems not only share a complaint
of man’s encroachment upon the environment, but also offer a resolution of
sorts. Both claim that human intrusion
on the landscape is a temporary state.
Nature is beyond the perversion of human interference. Similar to the wilderness around the jar, the
beauty from the rocks will eventually return to the entire area. Jeffers asserts the idea that nature is
patient, willing to outlast the ever increasing menace of human meddling. He is waiting for the time when “Their works
dissolve,” but in the meantime their “pristine beauty” can still be viewed by
examining the ever present cliffs (10). Since
this interference, like the tide, will ebb, nature will eventually grow up
around and overcome it.
Stevens and Jeffers show an interest
in the relationship between man and nature, especially in the way that
development affects the natural landscape.
They show an ideal concept of this relationship with the idea that
nature will always outlast any human actions or monuments. Jeffers, a trained geologist, sees the beauty
of nature inherent in the rock, and recognizes that it has endured long before
humanity and will continue to endure long after. Stevens presents a similar view, showing how
the natural world will eventually swallow up any sign of human
encroachment. The idea is similar to
leaving a garden untended. Without care
and interaction with it, it will eventually swallow up this man made area and
once again become untamed.
Works
Cited
Jeffers, Robinson. “Carmel Point.” Literature: Reading and Writing with
Critical Strategies. Ed. Steven Lynn. New York: Longman-Pearson, 2004. 65.
Print
Stevens, Wallace. “Anecdote of the Jar.”
Literature: Reading and Writing with
Critical Strategies. Ed. Steven Lynn. New York: Longman-Pearson, 2004. 620.
Print
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