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Green Poetry
Two pieces of Robert Bly’s poetry is “The Dead Seal” from his Point Reyes collection from 1974 and “Clear Air of October” from his 1962 Silence in the Snowy Fields collection dealing with environmental and humanity issues caused by people (WesPress Blog). As the audience can tell by one of the titles, one of the main themes throughout the poems is death (Enotes). These poems are considered to be a part of green literature because they exemplifies how destructive humans as animals have become in today’s world. People have become so brainwashed in utilizing all their surroundings and are causing major issues for the environment that is affecting themselves and everything else on planet Earth. Robert Bly illustrates his ideas and opinions through his work like, “The Dead Seal” and “Clear Air of October” to inform people on the annihilation they have done to their own world.
Green Poetry
It is safe to assume humans have created a dangerous and deadly world by our careless, selfish actions, and our environment will continue to disintegrate until we choose to stop. So, awareness is not the issue here because it is well-known that our environment is hurting from our poor choices. People know the past world was not like how it is today by looking at historic literature. Nowadays, the literature consists of bringing about awareness, educating the audience, and providing an example future if we continue dismantling the environment. For an example, in Robert Bly’s “The Dead Seal” and “Clear Air of October,” the speaker describes two separate tragically ruined settings and connects it to humans’ faults. Hence, these pieces are considered to be green poems. For a piece of literature to be classified as green it has to provide specific examples of people’s destruction to the environment or themselves, exemplify humanity’s faults, and illustrate the future consequences of our actions. Activist and writer Robert Bly provides at least two poems, “The Dead Seal” and “Clear Air of October” that reach all these requirements; and, therefore, they are considered to be green texts.Overall, “The Dead Seal” is the mindset of the speaker when he/she encounters a dying seal. As the speaker gets closer and fully examines the seal, he/she notices it is because the humans trashing his habitat, the ocean. The ocean is filled with our pollution, and the seal is the one suffering because of our actions, not us. In the end, the speaker seems to be sorry and sympathetic towards the seal because he cannot do anything to help him, but what would make the seal more comfortable is if the speaker walked away. When the speaker walks away, he wishes the seal a happy death and hopes he is comfortable when he dies. This poem by Robert Bly is sad and makes the audience want to treat the environment better. The point of Bly’s poem was to initiate that specific feeling and hopefully change how the audience chooses to live their lives.
Similarly, “Clear Air of October” is not as long as the and descriptive as “The Dead Seal”, but it drills into the audience’s mind that the world will soon die off if we continue to live our lives the way we have. There is a poem-long metaphor of shadow and darkness. The sun is sinking in the poem, and the shadow is taking over. This illuminates the decisions that people are making with destroying the environment is affecting not just one person, but the whole entire planet. The darkness cannot be stopped just like the damage we have and are creating. Bly creates a more terrified feeling because it is a wake-up call to the people.
Bly illuminates exact examples of our destruction in “The Dead Seal” through the seal because it suffering in due of our pollution problems and lack of care for the animals’ well-being. For an example, in lines seven, the speaker notices the oil that is covering the seal. Following the realization, the speaker says, “Here on its back is the oil that heats our houses so efficiently” (line 8). Bly purposely relates the seal’s unhealthy, uncomfortable, suffering appearance to the succession, betterment, and happy living that the people have. This exemplifies how our actions directly affect the environment and others around us. Society thinks and lives as if the world is here to cater to us, but as we are taking its resources and valuables, we are taking from others-- i.e., creatures and their habitats. Leading to their death, and sooner or later, our’s. Furthermore, Bly illustrates for the audience the consequence of our pollution and littering when he describes “the seal’s skin [looking] like an old overcoat, scratched here and there” (lines 11-12). The seal is being punished for swimming in the ocean, its natural habitat, when it clearly should not be. Humans have trashed and destroyed the ocean to the point where it is not safe for the animals, creatures, and plants to live in there anymore. The speaker notices the seal beginning to “[flop towards] the sea. But he falls over, on his face. He does not want to go back to the sea” (lines 16-17). The seal ideally has to go back to the sea to live, but in reality, the sea is what is killing it because of our lifestyle. All in all, Bly utilizes specific examples on how we are demolishing the environment leading the poem to be a green piece of literature.
Also, in “The Dead Seal” the speaker realizes and exemplifies humans’ faults and what it has impacted on the seal. In the beginning of the poem, the speaker starts off by listing off specific examples on humans wrongdoings to Earth. Then, the speaker’s tone and attitude undergoes a change. Lines like twenty-nine, “Forgive us if we have killed you” depicts the guiltiness the speaker is beginning to feel. Later, the speaker admits to the seal, “You don’t want to be touched by me” because the speaker finally understands the power, danger, and responsibility he/she has over the tortured seal (lines 33-34). Finally, Bly proves the full realization of the speaker when he adds, “Be comfortable in death” (line 31). This line alludes to the fact that life is awful and uncomfortable; meanwhile, death is peaceful and comfortable. Most people and creatures would rather be alive than dead even when some suffering happens. It is in all living organisms to fight for survival. So, even when there is some suffering in a living organism, they want to live rather than die. On the other hand, when the suffering lasts for too long and is getting too difficult for the living creature to continue life, death becomes their desire. Death means no more suffering. The speaker in “The Dead Seal” grasps that it was their--humanity’s--fault for the discomfort of this seal (and other creatures), and that their death sounds better than fighting for survival. For a piece of literature to be considered green, it has to have a recognition of humans’ faults in and consequences it has on the environment.
Finally, Bly explains the future consequences we will have on the environment because of the way we treated our environment and the animals’ habitats. The tormentation of the seal is an obvious example of how we are impacting the world-- the environment is falling apart and being killed. The speaker describes the seal’s suffering in lines 22-24, “Today he is thinner”... “The ribs show more: each vertebra on the back under the coat is visibly, shiny”. Skinnier and skinnier the seal gets because it cannot go back into the ocean for its food. The ocean is what put him in this condition due to humans dumping toxic waste and pollution into the ocean. Furthermore, the seal “[takes] a long time to die” according to the speaker and emphasizes the discomfort the seal is dealing with (line 27). Also, the seal’s slow death alludes to humans slow death. We are slowly, but surely demolishing our environment and ourselves. Then, the seal “puts his chin back down on the sand, rearranges his flippers and waits for [the speaker] to go. [he/she goes]” (lines 18-20). The seal waiting for a human (the speaker) to go symbolizes humans disappearance is a good thing for the creatures on Earth. They feel better and prosper more when we are not destroying their lives. Overall, Bly proves that the environment will be destroyed and humans will kill themselves if they continue to treat the Earth as we do because it highlights the future consequences.
Meanwhile, in “Clear Air of October,” Bly exemplifies the new technology that we have created that has taken away from nature’s beauty as examples of destruction. For an example, the speaker describes our nature as “gold wings without birds flying around” (line 1-2). Explaining how we see airplanes in the sky now, instead of beautiful birds. Humans’ technology has replaced nature with better, more efficient things. Meaning, people find airplanes extremely more useful than a bird or any animal for that matter. That is why we tear down their habitats, so we can expand with our more important endeavours. Airplanes are a prime example of how we have distorted the natural view with our lifestyle. Nature and humans share the environment, but humans take over and think they are top priority over nature. However, if there were no animals, plants, or any other living organisms besides humans, then we would not be able to live. We need nature to live. So, we need to treat is as we would like to be treated because of nature we are able to live long, healthy lives. “Clear Air of October” accentuates and provides examples of our destruction in the world by referring to the airplanes.
Then, Bly continues to illuminate the dismantlement of our environment as humanity’s fault. By portraying the environmental destruction as a shadow “falling for hundreds of miles,” it implies a negative connotation (line 5). Furthermore, with our living style described as a shadow, it accentuates the darkness and deathliness of the situation we are putting ourselves in. American lifestyle is influencing other cultures and they are starting to live similarly. This is symbolized in “Clear Air of October” as the shadow “crossing lawns in tiny towns” (line 6). The shadow/destruction is quickly affecting everyone. People cannot run away or escape the darkness. Our actions are affecting everything. Bly adds a religious piece to the poem, “and the doors of Catholic churches” because even the church is getting involved because climate change is a moral question (line 6). Recently, the Pope Francis was ridiculed for making an awareness video and writing a book on how it is our responsibility to take care of our environment. Although, the pope and a large amount of people, some religious and some not, believe it is our rightful duty and honor to take care of this planet as it has to us. Due to this debate, there is now a rift in humanity. When the speaker illustrates the shadow as covering the whole town, crossing the world, and even affecting religions it shows how we, as a human body, have acknowledge our problems and it is beginning to get out of our control.
Since, “Clear Air of October” is not as descriptive and lengthy as “The Dead Seal”, there are not as many predictions of what our future looks like, but there are still some evident throughout the poem. When Bly adds, “And I know the sun is sinking down great stairs,” it proves the speaker is aware of humanity’s terrible lifestyle and exemplifies the death of our environment is near (line 9). The sun symbolizes the environment and planet Earth. With the Earth falling apart and getting annihilated by humans, it is similar to life without the sun--gone. Without the sun or our specific planet we cannot live. Furthermore, the speaker continues the shadow symbolism when he/she describes it as a “ horse of darkness is riding fast to the east”(line 7). The darkness is due to the falling sun. The falling sun is due to human’s actions. It all comes back to us. Bly adds the future consequences of no more life on Earth to epitomize the seriousness of our issues. Thus, with the specific examples, realization of humans’ faults and the consequences Earth will encounter qualify “Clear Air of October” as a green piece of literature.
Robert Bly’s “The Dead Seal” and “Clear Air of October” contain different outlooks on today’s environmental issues, but both are considered green texts. For a piece to be qualified as green, it must consist of examples in our world that we are hurting it, a sense of realization from a speaker or narrator that humans are in the wrong and need to adapt a new lifestyle, and provide a look on our future if humans continue in annihilating the Earth. The pieces both create a wave of emotions in the audience. These are not the only pieces that Bly has written that are green pieces. Literature has allowed us to examine and look at the change in our environment based on the way we live. Also, there is different mindset in the majority of people nowadays versus people from a couple centuries ago. Back then, people used to not mess with nature and did not get involved with nature because they feared it. Now, we act like we own nature and set ourselves above the rest of the planet. When in reality, we completely rely on a clean, healthy environment. Literature allows people to dive in and get a closer look at when we changed our mindsets, and allows us to bring about awareness, educate, and possibly improve people’s actions.
Media retrieved from Yle UUtiset. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.