The Natural Environment as the Panacea for Tranquility: A Comparative Study of Selected Poems of John Keats and Gabriel Okara
Keywords:
Environment, Keats, nature, Okara, poetry, tranquilityAbstract
The natural environment is a vital part of humans. Humans cannot do without their natural environment. Environmental issues are as important as economic and political issues. This is because every activity in which humans engage in for survival stem up from the environment. The concerns for the environment is not limited to scientists alone; poets like Keats and Okara are meaningfully committed to the environment. It is against this background that this paper is based. This paper restricts itself to the poetic-environmental focus of the poets. These poets are studied in this paper because they are environmentally conscious poets; thus, there are some unique environmental issues inherent in their poems. They have 'the Green thinking'. The thematic focus of the selected poets is based on the fact that the ecocritical settings of their poems function simply as background; thus, playing active role in the poems. Moreover, the natural environment is held at high esteem in their poems thereby affecting the thinking of the poets as environmental entities. Their poems raise environmentally conscious questions about human interactions with nature. Their poems direct readers' interest to nature; raising the readers' awareness of the natural world and their connections to it. Identifying these natural inclinations of the poets form the pivot of this paper.
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