Shall earth no more inspire thee (AQA GCSE English Literature)

Theme

Evidence

Poet’s intention

Belonging and connection

The poem is made up of seven regular quatrains:

• Brontë maintains a regular rhyme scheme of alternate lines: ABAB

The rhythm contributes to the theme of the poem:

• The speaker maintains a consistent plea
• They ask a listener to find peace in the natural world

The rhythm shifts between seven- and six-syllable lines, creating a slightly inconsistent rhythm  

Nature, the speaker, asserts their power:

• The speaker’s certainty and passion is reflected in lines with an emphatic tone
• The rhythm is disrupted in lines such as: “To drive thy griefs away.”

Brontë presents an introspective but determined speaker, Nature, who attempts to persuade a listener to ease their troubled thoughts

Theme

Evidence

Poet’s intention

Disconnected relationships   

The poem’s ambiguous perspective begins the poem with uncertainty:

• Doubt is shown through two rhetorical questions, which begin the poem
• pronouns confuse the perspective
• It is unclear who “Thou lonely dreamer” is
• At times, the speaker sounds like they adopt the voice of “Nature”: “my winds caress thee”

Brontë conveys the doubt and confusion present in the human world by starting the poem with a confused speaker:

• However, later, she appears to blend the voices of humans and nature to suggest a universal harmony

The regular, flowing rhythm is slowed with caesurae and end-stopped lines: “Recall its useless roving—”

Brontë conveys the speaker’s persuasive tone by prompting pause  

The speaker repeats their plea to end the poem: “Return and dwell with me”:

• imperative verbs instruct the listener in repeated emphatic statements: “Come back and dwell with me.” 

Brontë uses repetition to present the speaker’s reassuring tone, as well as a sense of urgency 

The poem’s structure reflects the speaker’s initial doubt, which soon changes to a growing certainty about how human beings can find peace in their world

Theme

Evidence

Poet’s intention

Relationships with the world 

Vivid emotive language represents a troubled listener: 

• Their mind is “ever roving” into “regions dark” 
• They experience “grief”
• “Thy lonely dreamer” is uninspired and “passion may not fire thee”

Brontë illustrates the Inner turmoil of the individual, (the listener) in order to present an individual disconnected from nature

Brontë uses natural imagery to remind the speaker of the simple beauty in their environment: 

• The speaker describes the way the “sunshine” “Sinks from the summer sky”

The poet draws attention to everyday events in the natural world, whereby individuals can find peace and joy

Brontë uses sensory imagery to suggest nature’s influence: “my mountain breezes/Enchant and soothe” 

The poem presents nature as a powerful force, with the ability to affect human emotions

Brontë uses imagery relating to religion and the supernatural:

• She refers to the “spirit bending/In fond idolatry”
• Brontë personifies “Nature” and says it can “bless thee”
• The poem alludes to nature’s “magic power”
• The poem compares “earth” to “heaven” 

Brontë presents a powerful spiritual connection that humans have with the natural environment:

• Her poem suggests humans should worship nature’s power and beauty 

Brontë suggests that a close connection with nature and an appreciation of its power can bring tranquillity {Error #829843: Missing popover `abc123`} , an integral idea in Romantic poetry 

Topic sentence

Both poems explore disconnections between human relationships and the natural world 

Evidence and analysis

“Shall earth no more inspire thee”

“In a London Drawing Room”

Brontë reflects on the isolation of a “lonely dreamer”:

• Their mind moves in “regions dark”
• The speaker, Nature, calls for a return to companionship: “Come back and dwell with me”

Eliot’s speaker notices the way the individuals on the street seem isolated as they ignore each other: 

• They “All hurry on & look upon the ground,/Or glance unmarking at the passers by”

The speaker refers to a troubled individual:

• The emotive language of “griefs” and “wildly pine” conveys their suffering
• Rhetorical questions challenge the uninspired listener, whose “passion may not fire thee”

Eliot’s speaker conveys a similarly melancholy tone:

• Her world contains the “lowest rate of colour, warmth & joy”
• She describes a “monotonous” world where “men are punished at the slightest cost” 

Brontë urges disconnected individuals to recall the peace found in the natural world: 

• The speaker reminds the listener of this: “I know my mountain breezes/Enchant and soothe thee still”
• They ask the “lonely dreamer” to let their “spirit” be altered 

Eliot’s poem reminds humans how urbanised may disconnect them from the universe:

• The speaker describes the way the hidden sun means “No bird can make a shadow as it flies” 
• The speaker says this leaves no room for human imagination: “Without a break to hang a guess upon”

Both “Shall earth no more inspire thee” and “In a London Drawing Room” explore how external worlds impact human beings’ inner lives 

Topic sentence

While Brontë describes the beauty of nature to convey how this can bring humanity pleasure, Eliot describes an urban setting to comment on its joylessness 

Evidence and analysis

“Shall earth no more inspire thee”

“In a London Drawing Room”

Brontë’s poem uses natural imagery to comment on its simple beauty:

• The poem conveys the simple pleasure of the “day with evening blending”
• They refer to the “sunshine” and the “summer sky”

In contrast, Eliot’s poem describes the urbanised London streets:

• She describes how “No bird can make a shadow as it flies”
• She describes the world as similar to a “huge prison-house & court”

The speaker personifies “Nature”, representing it as powerful with a “magic power” and “mighty sway”

Eliot comments on the way the world outside her window seems to lack any “colour”, suggesting nature is weakened:

• She says, “The sky is cloudy, yellowed by the smoke”
• The “houses opposite” are “Cutting the sky”

Brontë’s poem describes a sensual world: 

• The speaker urges the listener to let “my winds caress thee”
• They know that “my mountain breezes/Enchant and soothe”

In contrast, Eliot describes the lack of pleasure in the world she sees: 

• A metaphor conveys a lack of comfort: “No figure lingering/Pauses to feed the hunger of the eye”

In order to raise questions about humanity’s relationship with the natural world, Brontë describes the tranquillity found in the natural elements, while Eliot describes a monotonous city street 

Topic sentence

Both poems explore a speaker’s intense emotions as they contemplate disconnections with their world

Evidence and analysis

“Shall earth no more inspire thee”

“Lines Written in Early Spring”

Brontë’s poem raises questions about humans’ disconnections with their environment: 

• The poem begins with rhetorical questions to an uninspired listener 
• The speaker asks a “lonely dreamer” if nature cannot restore their passion
• The poem’s tone is uneasy at first, shown with end-stops: “Recall its useless roving—”

Wordsworth’s speaker has “sad thoughts”, which recall concerns about human’s disconnected relationships:

• Wordsworth’s speaker repeatedly asks what “man has made of man?”
• The dash in “Their thoughts I cannot measure:—” presents frustrated introspection

The poem highlights the negative impact of an individual’s lack of harmony with nature: 

• The speaker addresses an emotional listener: “Few hearts” “so wildly pine” 
• The speaker instructs them to “drive thy griefs away” 

Similarly, Wordsworth conveys the speaker’s feelings through emotive language: 

• Their heart is “grieved” 
• They have reason to “lament” about human’s poor behaviour 

The speakers comment on complex emotions, which are affected by relationships with each other and their responses to their external world 

Topic sentence

Both poems comment on the value of the natural world

Evidence and analysis

“Shall earth no more inspire thee”

“Lines Written in Early Spring” 

Brontë uses natural imagery to describe the pleasure nature brings:

• She refers to the way “my mountain breezes/Enchant and soothe” and “my winds caress”

Wordsworth uses natural imagery to describe a pleasant pastoral scene: 

• alliteration highlights the beauty in nature: “primrose tufts, in that green bower,/The periwinkle trailed its wreaths”

Brontë comments on a spiritual connection between humans and the natural world: 

• She reminds the listener to appreciate their world: “none would ask a heaven/More like this earth than thine”
• She suggests nature has a “magic power”
• She advises a “fond idolatry” or love of nature

Wordsworth uses Religious imagery to allude to the close relationship between all living things and God:

• The speaker believes nature and the “human soul” are linked
• The speaker suggests God sends messages to individuals through silent reflection of nature

Both poems describe the natural world as having a powerfully spiritual impact on human beings and explore devotion to nature

Topic sentence

Emily Brontë’s poem “Shall earth no more inspire thee” offers comfort to a lonely listener, while William Wordsworth’s “Lines Written in Early Spring” depicts an isolated speaker with an unresolved question 

Evidence and analysis

“Shall earth no more inspire thee”

“Lines Written in Early Spring”

The First-person speaker addresses a listener with whom they have a close relationship: “I’ve watched thee every hour”

The speaker is alone with their sad thoughts: “And much it grieved my heart to think”

Brontë’s speaker, Nature, offers the comfort of companionship, asking “Thy comrade let me be”

Wordsworth’s speaker finds themselves alone in their disconnected world: 

• The speaker “must think, do all I can” to find pleasure in the environment 

The poet repeats the earlier call to “Come back and dwell with me” at the end:

• Nature gives an emphatic instruction: “Return and dwell with me”  

Wordsworth ends the poem on a rhetorical question, which leaves the speaker’s concerns unresolved:

• He asks “Have I not reason to lament/What man has made of man?”

Brontë’s poem offers hope for harmony between humans and the natural world, while Wordsworth’s poem raises unanswered questions about his disconnected world

Topic sentence

Both poems highlight connections between the natural world and the world of humans 

Evidence and analysis

“Shall earth no more inspire thee”

“With Birds You’re Never Lonely”

Brontë uses natural imagery to convey the simple beauty found in nature: 

• She describes the “summer sky” and the “evening blending”
• She uses Sensory language to convey the pleasure found in nature: “mountain breezes/Enchant and soothe” and “winds caress”

Correspondingly, Antrobus uses natural imagery to describe nature as vibrant:

• The speaker misses the  “sun-syrupped” and “earthy” trees with “brown and green trunks of sturdiness”
• The speaker describes the colourful birds: “with white tufts and yellow and black beaks”

Brontë’s “lonely dreamer” has dark thoughts when they are not in a relationship with nature:

• The listener “wildly pines” and has a restless mind 
• The speaker, Nature, can drive their “griefs away”

Antrobus’s poem, too, considers the impact of a disconnection from nature: 

• The speaker describes the city environment as joyless and isolating
• “for any grey tree in London,/for the family they don’t have”

Brontë raises questions about humans’ relationship with “Nature”:

• The poem begins with rhetorical questions
• The speaker asks if nature can still inspire passion

Here, Antrobus also uses a rhetorical question to reflect on nature: 

• The speaker asks what the trees may think of humans

The poets both comment on a lack of connection and joy in the human world, which, they observe, is not present in the natural world 

Topic sentence

Brontë’s Romantic poem explores the spiritual connection between nature and humans while Antrobus’s poem explores human connections with the natural world across two modern settings

Evidence and analysis

“Shall earth no more inspire thee”

“With Birds You’re Never Lonely”

Brontë’s reflective poem is a silent conversation between nature and a “lonely dreamer”:

• The speaker addresses the listener, “Shall earth no more inspire thee” 
• The speaker describes a close relationship with the listener: “I know my mighty sway” 

Sensory language brings a noisy coffee shop in London to life:

• The spoons “slam” and “steam rises”
• The speaker feels disconnected: “I can’t hear the barista”:
• They watch a man reading “alone”

Brontë’s speaker suggests an underlying connection between nature and the individual: 

• The speaker, “Nature”, has “watched” the listener “every hour”
• They know that “Few hearts to mortals given/On earth so wildly pine”

Antrobus’s speaker appears to put faith in groups of humans in rural communities:

• He describes a young maori woman who has a connection with the birds
• Her skill is learned from her grandfather

Brontë’s poem advises simple acts, such as appreciating the earth as if it is a “heaven”:

• She suggests this can “bless” the individual and restore peace  

Antrobus’s poem, however, implies that the lack of nature in urban settings leaves little room for spirituality:

• He mourns the trees in London with “Gods they can’t hold”

Brontë’s poem explores an instinctive spiritual connection between nature and humans, while Antrobus examines connections forged by family that can lead to a better connection with the natural world