we have read and studied poems in which the speakers invoke nature as a source of consolation for loss–either directly expressed in the text or left unspoken but implied.
Topic of this essay is written below:
Nature as Consolation for Loss
In a maximum of 500 words, please write a complete essay (thesis statement, body, conclusion) in which you discuss the identity of nature as represented by the “Indian ponies” in James Wright’s “A Blessing.” What do the ponies symbolize in the poem? What is so special about the world of nature that the speaker and their companion enter when they step over the barbed wire and enter the pasture where the ponies are grazing? Why do you think the speaker’s encounter with the ponies is so intensely meaningful to them? What might this encounter be compensating for? Speculate and use examples from the poem.