What does theis poem mean?

thoreau is wierd and I dont get what this poem means Im horrible at poetry, i have to know for school, i appreciate it





Pray to what earth does this sweet cold belong,


Which asks no duties and no conscience?


The moon goes up by leaps, her cheerful path


In some far summer stratum of the sky,


While stars with their cold shine bedot her way.


The fields gleam mildly back upon the sky,


And far and near upon the leafless shrubs


The snow dust still emits a silver light.


Under the hedge, where drift banks are their screen,


The titmice now pursue their downy dreams,


As often in the sweltering summer nights


The bee doth drop asleep in the flower cup,


When evening overtakes him with his load.


By the brooksides, in the still, genial night,


The more adventurous wanderer may hear


The crystals shoot and form, and winter slow


Increase his rule by gentlest summer means.

What does theis poem mean?
If you don't like Thoreau, you will be good at accounting...





Here, he's showing us the cyclic nature of life...its cold, its hot, its cold...each cycle different, each time the same...





I hope that makes it clear as mud...





TD
Reply:I would tell you my interpretation of this poem but I wouldn't wanna spoil the fun.





describing poetry is actually very subjective. Just describe how you feel about it, let your thoughts flow with each word. Just voice out your own oppinion about this poem , no one has the rights to say you are wrong.
Reply:Thoreau a naturalist


winter
Reply:To understand this peom. You must first understand that mind behind it, Henry Daivd Thoreau. In order to do that, you must first use "empathy" that being the ability to see through another's eyes.





I can give you "My translation of it".





"Pray to what earth does this sweet cold belong,"





"Pray to" Means the same as saying "Please tell me" "Help me understand".





It would be like you saying: "Pray tell me what does this poem mean?"





I think that he is asking, who owns the earth?





"Which asks no duties and no conscience?"





The earth, unlike man, unlike our society deos not ask of us duties or to possess a conscious.





"The moon goes up by leaps, her cheerful path


In some far summer stratum of the sky,


While stars with their cold shine bedot her way.


The fields gleam mildly back upon the sky,


And far and near upon the leafless shrubs


The snow dust still emits a silver light.


Under the hedge, where drift banks are their screen,


The titmice now pursue their downy dreams,


As often in the sweltering summer nights


The bee doth drop asleep in the flower cup,


When evening overtakes him with his load.


By the brooksides, in the still, genial night,


The more adventurous wanderer may hear


The crystals shoot and form, and winter slow


Increase his rule by gentlest summer means"





Ahha, wait, what it is asking is, kind of what it is telling! Do you know who this sweet cold earth belongs to?





Read the third to last line! It belongs to the wander, the adventurous wanderer, who like the earth does not let duties of society or conscious tie it down. It does not let the materialism, nor the superfluity of life, take from him. For he can see the sweet coldness of the earth, he can see every aspect from the second line of that poem to the last. Why because the adventorous wander, is not caught up in materisitic things, nor in things people place false value on. He understands the sweetness that rules as by gentle summer means he soaks in the earth.





See, this wanderer stopped, put aside false value of society, and he embraced the beauty fo the earth, he put value in adventure, the adventure of seeing the moon as it leaps, etc.





Do you understand now?





OR maybe I am way off, lol.





However, I'm a wanderer myself, have lived in the woods in a tent for months before, while worked a job at the same time that I lived off the grid:-)





So, I speak from experience, of having walked as the wander, the adventure seeker, getting high off the beauty of the coldness of this earth.





See people view the earth, as cold, when it is really warm and alive. It takes the free spirit, the adventurous wanderer to see, %26amp; to them it is this earth belongs:-)





Hope all goes well with your school assignment!:-)
Reply:I don't understand what you're asking. The poem is about winter and how it affects nature, what is there to understand? Do you want a line-by-line translation?
Reply:too shallow,needs more {SPRING} to it.

arenas