Worksheets
These worksheets are supporting material for From Nature's Patient Hands by Elizabeth Barrette. They were created for use in workshops, classrooms, book clubs, and other group activities. Permission is granted to print copies of them for such use, as long as the credit is kept intact.
How to Read a Nature Poem
Reading and exploring poetry can be fun! Some people panic over the idea of "critiquing" poetry due to chilly experiences in a literature class. Throw out that idea. Instead, think of this as going on a hike with your binoculars and magnifying glass to take a closer look at what you find.
Begin by reading the entire poem, first silently and then aloud. Notice the clues in punctuation for stresses and pauses. What do the sounds remind you of? How do they make you feel?
Now read the title. Envision it as tracks left by the author, showing where the idea may have come from. A poem's title can tell you the narrator, setting, main conflict, or other important facts. Does it mention nature right away?
Setting is vital in many nature poems. Where does this poem take place? What time of day and season of year is it? (Note that haiku has an entire vocabulary of kigo, words that symbolize a season.) How does the scenery look, sound, or smell? Dig deep and search for words that tell you these things.
Observe the events in the poem. Are animals or people moving around? Their behavior can reveal clues. What is the weather doing? Hunt for other natural forces such as the tide running, a rockslide starting, or lava erupting.
Can you recognize all the plants, animals, and geographic features in this poem? If not, pass by anything unfamiliar at first; try to guess their roles and qualities from the environment around them. Later, look them up in a field guide or online guide to see if the added knowledge changes your grasp of the poem. Many nature poems take the reader to exotic locations, so you won't always know everything in that habitat. This is a good way to learn more about our world!
Consider all the aspects of nature that appear in the poem. How precise are the details? Can you identify things by description, even if the poet doesn't name them? Do the underlying facts match your own knowledge or research?
What poetic elements does the poet use? Listen for sound effects like alliteration and onomatopoeia that let you hear the wilderness around you. Notice rhetorical techniques like allusion, analogy, and parallelism. These add depth and charm to the poem.
Symbolism may come from a habitat's local culture, not your own, so interpret carefully. What message does the poem send? What mood does it create? What do you think the creatures and objects in the poem represent? Why? Explore different paths -- can you think of more than one explanation?
Describe the poem's subject in your own words. This can help clarify parts that are murky to you.
What do you think of this poem in the company of other nature poems? Many naturalists have written poetry, so this field is very deep. A poem needs to say something "about" nature, or describe it in a fresh and intriguing way; otherwise it can fall flat. What makes this poem unique and memorable?
Rank the poem from one to five stars. You might enjoy discussing it with friends to see how your ratings compare.
Begin by reading the entire poem, first silently and then aloud. Notice the clues in punctuation for stresses and pauses. What do the sounds remind you of? How do they make you feel?
Now read the title. Envision it as tracks left by the author, showing where the idea may have come from. A poem's title can tell you the narrator, setting, main conflict, or other important facts. Does it mention nature right away?
Setting is vital in many nature poems. Where does this poem take place? What time of day and season of year is it? (Note that haiku has an entire vocabulary of kigo, words that symbolize a season.) How does the scenery look, sound, or smell? Dig deep and search for words that tell you these things.
Observe the events in the poem. Are animals or people moving around? Their behavior can reveal clues. What is the weather doing? Hunt for other natural forces such as the tide running, a rockslide starting, or lava erupting.
Can you recognize all the plants, animals, and geographic features in this poem? If not, pass by anything unfamiliar at first; try to guess their roles and qualities from the environment around them. Later, look them up in a field guide or online guide to see if the added knowledge changes your grasp of the poem. Many nature poems take the reader to exotic locations, so you won't always know everything in that habitat. This is a good way to learn more about our world!
Consider all the aspects of nature that appear in the poem. How precise are the details? Can you identify things by description, even if the poet doesn't name them? Do the underlying facts match your own knowledge or research?
What poetic elements does the poet use? Listen for sound effects like alliteration and onomatopoeia that let you hear the wilderness around you. Notice rhetorical techniques like allusion, analogy, and parallelism. These add depth and charm to the poem.
Symbolism may come from a habitat's local culture, not your own, so interpret carefully. What message does the poem send? What mood does it create? What do you think the creatures and objects in the poem represent? Why? Explore different paths -- can you think of more than one explanation?
Describe the poem's subject in your own words. This can help clarify parts that are murky to you.
What do you think of this poem in the company of other nature poems? Many naturalists have written poetry, so this field is very deep. A poem needs to say something "about" nature, or describe it in a fresh and intriguing way; otherwise it can fall flat. What makes this poem unique and memorable?
Rank the poem from one to five stars. You might enjoy discussing it with friends to see how your ratings compare.
You Can Write a Nature Poem
Nature poetry belongs to a deep tradition; some of the oldest poems surviving belong to this genre. It evokes a love of the wilderness and wildlife, although rural areas may also appear. The poet typically uses concrete details about plants, animals, weather, geography, and other features to capture a noteworthy place or event.
A nature poem can use any form. Some historic forms used in this genre include the idyll, pastoral, eclogue, and haiku. They each influence the way the natural elements manifest in the poem. Another popular form is free verse. It has no rigid requirements for rhyme, meter, or size. This lends itself well to writing about the free-flowing aspects of nature. However, the poet can add a little more structure by arranging line length and verses to suggest the shape of a mountain, the motion of waves, a rise or fall in action, etc. We're going to practice free verse today because it is versatile and relatively simple to use.
1) Begin by choosing your inspiration. Ideally, go outdoors and choose a natural place to write about. Alternatively, find a photo of a landscape, a plant, an animal, or an event. If you prefer, start from scratch with just a memory or other idea in your mind.
2) Jot down a brief description of your inspiration. Examine it carefully to find some specific details such as objects, colors, shapes, relationships, and motions. What message do you want to send with this poem? This sets the theme and mood.
3) Now put the pieces together, using concrete details to make your subject sound real. Choose words that hint at the mood and theme without overdoing it. Use line and stanza breaks to separate ideas at comfortable or surprising places, depending on your desired effect. Tinker until you're satisfied.
"Waterlight" Your Nature Poem
by Elizabeth Barrette
The face of the lake blazes,
Every ripple tipped with brilliance,
Sunbeams breaking around bobbins,
Each cast making new waves flash
On the sequined surface
And under the surface,
In and around the shadows
Of the long lake-grass
Lie the fish, their silver sides
Like light made solid.
A nature poem can use any form. Some historic forms used in this genre include the idyll, pastoral, eclogue, and haiku. They each influence the way the natural elements manifest in the poem. Another popular form is free verse. It has no rigid requirements for rhyme, meter, or size. This lends itself well to writing about the free-flowing aspects of nature. However, the poet can add a little more structure by arranging line length and verses to suggest the shape of a mountain, the motion of waves, a rise or fall in action, etc. We're going to practice free verse today because it is versatile and relatively simple to use.
1) Begin by choosing your inspiration. Ideally, go outdoors and choose a natural place to write about. Alternatively, find a photo of a landscape, a plant, an animal, or an event. If you prefer, start from scratch with just a memory or other idea in your mind.
2) Jot down a brief description of your inspiration. Examine it carefully to find some specific details such as objects, colors, shapes, relationships, and motions. What message do you want to send with this poem? This sets the theme and mood.
3) Now put the pieces together, using concrete details to make your subject sound real. Choose words that hint at the mood and theme without overdoing it. Use line and stanza breaks to separate ideas at comfortable or surprising places, depending on your desired effect. Tinker until you're satisfied.
"Waterlight" Your Nature Poem
by Elizabeth Barrette
The face of the lake blazes,
Every ripple tipped with brilliance,
Sunbeams breaking around bobbins,
Each cast making new waves flash
On the sequined surface
And under the surface,
In and around the shadows
Of the long lake-grass
Lie the fish, their silver sides
Like light made solid.
Links
"My Yard as Wildlife Habitat" by Elizabeth Barrette"Nature Poems" article on Poets.Org
"Nature Poems" list on Poetry Archive