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Clint Smith Poetry Collection
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Clint Smith Poetry Collection: Nature in Poetry
Jeevika Bajaj
Alanna Piccinone
Nature in poetry and how it is used to explain real-life experiences
An overarching theme of nature is evident in much of Clint Smiths poetry as it can represent real life experiences. He uses literary devices such as personification and metaphors to display how nature can be connected to society. In each of the following poems he takes a certain aspect of nature, and shifts it to create a new perspective.
Title
There Is a Lake Here
https://www.splitthisrock.org/poetry-database/poem/there-is-a-lake-here
There Is a Lake here
There is a lake here.
A lake the size of
outstretched arms. And no,
not the type of arms raised
in surrender. I mean the sort
of arms beckoning to be held.
To wrap themselves around another
and to never let go. And no, the lake
is not a place where people are
drowning. And no, this water is not
that which comes from a storm
or that which turns a city
into a tessellation of broken
windows and spray paint.
There are children swimming here,
splashing one another while
the droplets ricochet between them.
The droplets do not hurt,
they simply roll down the side
of the boy's cheek. No, the boy is not
using the water to hide his tears.
He is laughing. Eyes cast out across
the water, in awe of how vast it is.
Analysis
Clint Smith develops the idea of how depending on the perspective of the person onlooking the lake, it can either be a beautiful or terrible thing. Smith presents several examples of irony, as the same vision can be interpreted two different ways. For example the line “No, the boy is not using the water to hide his tears. He is laughing.” represents the importance of truly examining sights to understand the full situation. The lake is personified as it is described to have outstretched arms "beckoning to be held." This is significant as it establishes how anyone has the freedom to swim in the lake. The children for example. had no restraints and they played without the fear of drowning. This may be a metaphor for a hope for the future, that one day everyone will be welcomed with open arms, despite their persona as a whole.
Analysis
When Hiding In the Mountains Isn't Enough
https://lyrics.lol/artist/101605-clint-smith/lyrics/4337201-when-hiding-in-the-mountains-isn-t-enough
When Hiding In the Mountains Isn't Enough
I have tried to bury your
syllables somewhere in these
mountains. Blindfolded myself
so that I would never know where
you lay. Rendered your name more
grenade than seed. Thought this soil
& granite would suffocate the explosion
beneath my feet. But you are still the vibrations
I feel with every step. White noise under the earth.
Analysis
Analysis
Smith, once again, uses aspects of nature to represent a larger idea. In this poem he narrates the thought process behind attempting to forget someone. Forgetting is a painful and difficult process. Smith uses the mountains as an analogy to the human brain. The person wants to bury any rendering thoughts they have about a person. He represents trying to make new memories to remove the old ones in the line “ Thought this soil & granite would suffocate the explosion beneath my feet”. The narrator believed that if they could bury the old thoughts and replace them with new ones they would be able to forget. However that is not the case, just as forgetting is not as simple.
Meteor Shower
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/66780006958111236/
Meteor Shower
Analysis
"Meteor Shower" by Clint Smith shows how our roots will always follow us everywhere in life, and no matter where we go they will continue to shape how we develop as a person. Smith uses a meteor shower to symbolize the meteors being our past, which will stay in the sky forever. By using this analogy, Smith is able to explain how important the choices we make are, because they are unchangeable and will follow you through life.
What is left
https://poetrysociety.org/features/in-their-own-words/clint-smith-on-what-is-left
What is left
Analysis
"What is left" by Clint Smith centralizes on the questions he attempts to ask about his past, reflecting on the trauma that has been indirectly brought to his life from his family. The line, "when the levees broke open/did the ocean intend to swallow the city/or find refuge inside it" uses an analogy relating to humans finding a way to either take control of others or help them overcome their struggles. Smith uses forces of nature to represent different figures in his life, such as society and himself.