Sonnet - John Clare

Sonnet - John Clare.

Comparable with Death of a Naturalist (HEANEY) and The Field Mouse (CLARKE) as they all deal with nature as a key topic/theme.

Sonnet and Death...

i) Nature is celebrated."...the summer beaming forth" (S)

and

"Bubbles gargled delicately..."(DoaN)

ii) Both tell of a personal reaction to nature as they are both in the first person, "I".

iii) Unlike Sonnet, Death...shows a negative side to nature. As we grow older we lose our infatuation with nature.

Sonnet stays postitive until the end."bright beetles" (S)

and

"obscene threats" (DoaN)

Sonnet and The Field Mouse.

i) Sonnet deals with a very limited scene, it is highly focused."the clear deep lake" (S)

Whereas The Field Mouse mentions wider settings.

"Summer in Europe" (TFM)

You could say John Clare is indulging himself in his poetry whilst Clarke is writing with a more global purpose/message.

ii)Sonnet uses very simple descriptions with little to analyse for deeper meaning (typical Romantic style).

"reed clumps rustle like a wind shook wood" (S)

Whereas in The Field Mouse, there is plenty to read with deeper meaning."The wrong that wokefrom a rumour of pain won't heal..." (TFM)

Overall, think about Sonnet as a poem about nature and think of the other two as having wider implications. They simply USE nature as a medium to discuss growing up (Death...) and the Bosnian War (The Field Mouse...).

Not to confuse matters, some say Sonnet has a sub text about freedom since Clare escaped from the mental asylum the year he wrote this. In this case, you could say that Sonnet is about freedom and being alive whereas in the other two poems, there is a focus on death and being restricted.

In terms of comparing quotes, look at the semantic field (groups of similar vocabulary) in all three poems. Sonnet is filled with positive vocabulary; Death... has some positive, some negative; The Fied Mouse has almost all negative vocabulary.

Hope this helps.