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The Importance of Trees the “The American Forests” by Muir and “Binsey Poplars” by Hopkins
Other than food and shelter, trees have aesthetic value and cover a significant aspect of human life and livelihood. Hence, they should be preserved and conserved by all people. “Binsey poplar” by Hopkins and “The American Forests” by John Muir gives us a vivid insight into why we should always conserve the beauty of the trees. The purpose of Muir’s article is to urge the American people on the importance of preserving the forests, through his description; John Muir’s paragraph “The American Forests,” he explains how the whole continent was beautiful when it was a garden. While, through language and plot, Gerald Hopkin’s expresses his disbelief and sadness on how man has contributed to the destruction of the environment. Both “The American Forests” and “Binsey poplars” emphasizes the need for all human to conserve the beauty of the continent. They also give us incredible uses of trees and the losses that we will incur by destroying them.
These two writings have the same theme, plot, and style since they both criticize man’s habit of destroying the beauty of trees as they were created by God. John Muir’s applies pathos in encouraging the reader to have a positive view on the importance of trees as something that can be put into use and also preserved. For example, through personification, Muir writes, “trees in their beauty fell crashing by millions, smashed to confusion (Muir, 147).” Through giving trees living qualities such as they can be confusing challenges people to have a more positive view of them. On the other hand, Gerard Hopkins uses repeated and alliterative language to put more emphasis on the need for human beings to avoid cutting trees (Hopkins, 13). He repeats the word “quelled” which teams up with the term “quenched” to give out an alliterative effect that indicates his desire for man to be an agent of protecting trees.
Both Gerard and Muir stresses the reasons why we should conserve trees and their important applications to man. In John’s paragraph, he writes that trees are essential in holding land that is unfavorable for agricultural activities. Thus, the presence of trees in such areas helps to make that particular land valuable. He strongly believes the cutting of trees has great evils to the country; he argues that the absence of trees would lead to the destruction of land during high rainy seasons (Muir, 147). Then, he also believed that trees serve an essential role in preventing soil erosion. Similarly, the poem “Binsey Poplars” by Gerard Hopkins shows the impacts of trees on man. On his third last line of the first stanza, he writes, “shadow that swam sank,” signifying how the aspen tree used to offer a good shadow to him when he always visited it (Hopkins, 13). He also describes trees as the most crucial of all creatures that give a country its beauty. He writes, “Since country is so tender,” showing how the destruction of trees can result in making the country so slender and unbeautiful (Hopkins, 13). He further argues that the destruction of trees can result in altering the natural rural beauty and scene.
Also, both John and Gerard use the biblical allusions as a stylistic device in expressing their desires for man. John Muir’s paragraph, “The American Forest,” introduces an assumption of the forests of America would have been a great delight to God if not due to man’s action of destroying them. Similarly, Gerard Hopkins introduces his poem with the phrase, “my dear aspen…” which gives out a biblical connection (Hopkins, 13). Additionally, the first line of the second stanza reminds us of the words spoken by Jesus Christ on the cross requesting forgiveness from His Father for those who were ignorant to condemn him (Hopkins, 13). However, in this same stanza, rhyming reinforces that messing up with the natural beauty of the environment can lead to disasters since destruction and chopping of trees will result in the loss of the divine beauty.
However, “The American forests” and “Binsey poplars” use different plot types to give out the message though they both advocate for the importance of maintaining and conserving the natural beauty of trees. John Muir introduces his paragraph by describing his anger on how the government has failed to monitor the destruction of trees and also dare it to rise up and start protecting the forest and ensure they are widely utilized (Muir, 147). He also goes on to explain how forests have accounted for the well-being of the human. For instance, he compares the beauty of trees in the mountains with that of deserts. While, Gerard Hopkins starts his poem by mourning after he revisits the river bank only to learn the cutting off his “aspen dear” (Hopkins, 13). He also compares them with an army of soldiers intoxicated. Mournfully he remembers how “sandalled” shadows would play along with the meadow met and winding bank. Then he goes on to narrate what we should do to protect trees and the importance of trees.
Through comparing Gerard Hopkins’s poem “Binsey Poplars” and John’s paragraph “The American Forests,” it is evident that Gerard’s poem gives a concrete explanation of the reasons why trees should be conserved and their importance application to human life. While John Muir’s paragraph only emphasizes how trees offer rigidity value to land. However, by reading both the poem and the paragraph, a reader can easily learn the reasons why people should conserve trees not only for use but also for beautifying a country.
In conclusion, it is essential for all people to ensure the natural environment is conserved and maintained. For instance, trees serve the roles of giving a country its beauty and also helps to prevent the land from being swept away by heavy rains by making holding the soil rigidly. Though the discussed paragraph and poem are not written by the same author, they both have the same quest for man to avoid destroying trees but rather work to improve the natural beauty brought by trees. For instance, “The American forest” tries to urge the government to take jurisdictions on forest conservation. It is Concurring with the poem “Binsey poplars” that urges all people to take care of the trees.
Work cited
Muir, John. “The American Forests.” (1897).
Hopkins, Gerard Manley, and Dean Peerman. “Binsey poplars.” Christian Century 120.9 (2003): 13-13.