Flower-de-Luce & April

The two poems that I decided to compare and contrast were the poems Flower-de-Luce by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and April by John Greenleaf Whittier. Both of these poems fall under the writing style of Romanticism. Romanticism, as defined by dictionary.com, is the romantic style or movement in literature and art. So basically, the some of the characteristics of Romanticism include that it is poetic and elegant sounding. At least I think that it sounds that way. Compared to the other types of writing styles we have looked at, I think that this one is a little more flowery than the rest. Another characteristic that Romanticism possesses is the fact that it includes a lot of things about nature. Every poem that falls into the Romanticism writing style time period includes nature in their poems some way or another. Anyway, the first poem that I read was Flower-de-Luce by Henry Longfellow. This one was my least favorite out of the two just because it was more sad than the other one, and not near as uplifting. The poem basically is about the author and how he loses someone or a friend that was very close to him. It talks about how he tries to cope and deal with the loss, and how no one else can ever take his friend's place. For example, in the poem it states, (Longfellow 33-36)

"Ah! who shall lift that wand of magic power,

And the lost clew regain?

The unfinished window in Aladdin's tower

Unfinished must remain!

The other poem that I read was April by Whittier. I felt that this one was a much more uplifting poem just because it was talking mostly about Spring and that is the time when life springs up from the earth. I guess that is what makes them opposite then. Flower-de-Luce talked about death and how the author viewed it and was able to cope with it. April on the other hand is all about how the author cannot wait for Spring to come because that it when the sunshine comes, etc. For example, Whittier writes, (lines 23-25)

"O soul of the spring-time, its light and its breath,

Bring warmth to this coldness, bring life to this death;

Renew the great miracle; let us behold"

I think that this poem is beautiful actually. The author not only talks about how he loves spring for all of the normal reasons, but he also compares it to our faith and how during spring it feels alive again and renewed after going through long, hard winter. I think that this poem is very thoughtful and I really enjoyed reading it! Another example that I really liked was lines 28-29.

Let our faith, which in darkness and coldness has lain,
Revive with the warmth and the brightness again,

Both of these poems were great examples of the Romanticism period and I enjoyed reading them both although April was my favorite. They both have many similarities and differences. As I said before, on is about death and one is about life. However, they both portray the same writing style and include nature in some way or another.

P.S - Sorry I did not include literary criticisms. I had trouble finding them.

Greenleaf, John. "April by John Greenleaf Whittier." PoemHunter.Com - Thousands of Poems and Poets.. Poetry Search Engine. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. .

Longfellow, Henry W. "Hawthorne. Flower-de-Luce. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 1893. Complete Poetical Works." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 09 Dec. 2011. .