In the poem, “Tintern Abbey”, Wordsworth uses a variety of overstatement, simile, and metaphor to demonstrate how his appreciation for nature has changed. Wordsworth’s personal growth relates to how as people mature they lose their carefree joy that they felt as children. In return they gain the ability to feel a new, more spiritual joy through gaining perspective on human nature.

            Wordsworth starts the poem off with three significant lines: “FIVE years have past; five summers, with the length / Of five long winters! and again I hear / These waters …” (lines 1-3). It is now known that Wordsworth has been to this area before from the “again” in line two and that his time away was not enjoyable from the reference to “five long winters”. The connotation of winter is dark and dreary, reflecting Wordsworth’s attitude while he has been in the city away from nature. Wordsworth describes a peaceful scene including a spring “with a soft inland murmur” (line 4). This use of personification creates a serene atmosphere, the murmur suggesting a soft, soothing sound. This build up reveals the inner calm Wordsworth associates with nature. He feels nature’s peace inside himself.

            The next section of the poem is a stark contrast in tone compared to the nature scene. Wordsworth changes the setting to: “lonely rooms, and 'mid the din / Of towns and cities…” (lines 26-27). The use of words such as “lonely” and “din” give off a more somber and dark tone than was felt previously. The fact that nature is a great joy for Wordsworth is also reinforced as he talks about the city: “I have owed to them / In hours of weariness, sensations sweet, / Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart; / And passing even into my purer mind…” (lines 27-30). The “them” that Wordsworth refers to are his memories from his time spent in nature. The overstatement that these memories are felt in his blood, heart, and purer mind goes to show how powerful these memories are for him. He uses them to brighten his soul during a dark and unsatisfactory period of his life.

            After reminiscing on the city life, Wordsworth shifts his attention to his interactions with nature at a younger age. He remembers: “what I was when first / I came among / these hills; when like a roe / I bounded o'er the mountains, by the sides / Of the deep rivers, and the lonely streams, / Wherever nature led…” (lines 68-72). This description shows a basic joy from being in nature. His actions are described in an almost animalistic fashion, bounding as a deer does and simply following wherever nature led him. His connection with nature at this time is purely in his heart; rational thoughts are not involved with this earlier experience. This idea is reinforced by the personification of nature “leading” him. He is not consciously aware of his actions but simply doing what is enjoyable. The fact that this joy is a baser feeling is further demonstrated when Wordsworth refers to this feeling as: “The coarser pleasures of my boyish days…” (line 75). He refers to the joy he felt in nature as a coarse one, meaning that was a simplistic and primitive joy, at least more so than the joy he currently feels in his return to nature. Wordsworth also reveals that he has matured since these carefree times by referring to them as his “boyish days”.

            This theme of maturation follows Wordsworth as he returns to the present. He immediately acknowledges a change in his connection with nature when he says: “That time is past, / And all its aching joys are now no more…” (lines 85-86). At first this seems like a loss for Wordsworth, but the paradox of “aching joys” reveals that the pleasure he felt before was not entirely complete. He felt the euphoria of being in a primal and peaceful setting, but without the intellectual aspect he, could not fully appreciate it. He goes on to say: “Not for this / Faint I, nor mourn nor murmur, other gifts / Have followed; for such loss, I would believe, /Abundant recompence. For I have learned / To look on nature, not as in the hour / Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes / The still, sad music of humanity…” (lines 87-93). Wordsworth feels that he has received an adequate trade. In return for losing his simplistic joy he has gained perspective. Now that he has made the connection between nature itself and human nature, he has gained the intellectual aspect that he had been missing in his earlier days. Through this gain he feels he understands humanity better and thus feels as though he is on a level above man’s realm. Wordsworth develops a spiritual connection, feeling as if he is above mortal thoughts when in nature.

            Wordsworth then goes on to talk about his younger sister, and how she is now in the simplistic stage of joy. He describes her relationship with nature as this:

“My dear, dear Sister! and this prayer I make, / Knowing that Nature never did betray / The heart that loved her; 'tis her privilege, / Through all the years of this our life, to lead / From joy to joy: for she can so inform / The mind that is within us, so impress / With quietness and beauty, and so feed / With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues, / Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men, / Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all / The dreary intercourse of daily life, / Shall e'er prevail against us, or disturb / Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold / Is full of blessings…” (lines 126-139). 

Wordsworth realizes that this is a time that his sister needs to appreciate, for this is the only time in her life where she will be able to feel this simple joy without needing any justification for it. The days of youth and carefree enjoyment are fleeting and before long she will be forced to mature. He also realizes that as she does mature she will find new ways to appreciate that which is around her, drawing insight on life and human nature. In turn, this new perspective will become her ultimate blessing, causing her to more fully and deeply appreciate all the enjoyable moments of her life.

            It is through his reflections on his sister that Wordsworth makes the connection between his personal development and the development of all people. His sister goes through the same stages that he went through, from the unappreciated joy felt in younger years to the more complete comprehension of why that joy is felt. Wordsworth says that as life goes on people mature, and a trade is made, but all stages of life must be appreciated because they can never be regained once they are lost. He is almost bittersweet in his recollection of his youthful enthusiasm describing himself as “more like a man / Flying from something that he dreads, than one / Who sought the thing he loved…” (lines 72-74). Despite this description, he makes it clear that he feels that the trade in joys is fair. He appreciates his new found intellectual joy, and ultimately feels that this is the better kind. He better understands the nature of his fellow man and feels a deeper, more spiritual connection with nature than he ever had before.   

The poem nutting shows a progression of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood much like in the prelude. Both poems have an object which they cannot resist going into with the secret, untouched bower in nutting and the shepherd's boat in the prelude. In both poems the boy goes where no one has ever been before and ruins the feeling of the untouched atmosphere. In nutting he "dragged to earth both branch and bough" showing his recklessness, doing things without thought before he sees what damage he has done and regrets his actions. This is also shown in the prelude when his boat left "small circles glittering idly in the moon" as if polluting the clam, tranquil lake.

Wordsworth also mocks his boyish naivety as he sets off "tricked out in proud disguise of cast off weeds". Showing it was his first experience wearing clothes he'd never thought of wearing before as if it was a costume, showing a childlike impression of his experience. This same inexperience is shown in the prelude when he goes out in the boat without thinking, looking for adventure. In both poems it seems as if someone is watching him when he sees the "intruding sky" in the nutting poem looking down on him as if disappointed in what he has done wrong. This is also shown in the prelude when he rows up to the big cliffs which rose up "like a living thing" also as if nature is displeased with what he is doing.

Both poems are similar in the way that they follow a boys change from adolescence to adulthood. The protagonists in both poems are both naïve and reckless doing things without knowing what might happen and after their experience they have become more mature and realize their mistakes which they both regret.

In Plath's poem she displays a forceful hate for her rule abiding father who had "no god but a swastika" showing he is a tyrant and a law abiding fascist. However she also shows an affection for her father as she tried to get "back, back, back" to him. This phrase shows how she might be missing him in the grave but also sounds pretty violent like a sort of stabbing movement, with the three strong syllables. Larkin in his poem shows that even though he can connect to his parents he is unwilling to be similar to them to avoid the "misery" being passed on to him. Plath however is unable to be like her father who passed away when she was a child. She blames him for his own death which leads her into writing such forceful poetry.

'Digging' by Heaney shows us the separation of the generation but he does not resent it but respects it. He writes as if digging was something he was not good enough at as he has "no spade to follow men like them", showing respect for the older generations and that they are too good at their job to follow in their footsteps. He also seems to come across as more important than his father as he "looks down" from his bedroom window as if digging is a peasant's job, contradicting the pride that he shows in his heritage. You also notice the separation between father and son when he mentions about his fathers "straining rump" as if he feels sorry for him and affectionate that he is doing all the work while he is still relaxing in his bedroom. However he worships his father and respects him largely telling us that "by god, the old man could handle a spade" showing his pride in his heritage and appreciation for his father and his job.

With Larkin his parents represent a generation which you cannot get away from. His grandparents, in the next generation above, are also represented irrespectably with "old style hats", making them sound stupid and odd as if it is something to be ignored. He also thinks of his grandparents as "soppy stern" which gives us the idea of characters which live by petty rules, restricting their children of freedom. The parents are not looked upon respectably, as they hand on "misery to man" through the generations. Showing that he has no concern for his parent's situation, thinking that all they represent is monotonous. The fact that he does not believe in having children contrasts with the traditional view of the meaning of life bewilders some people. With his advice to us, "to get out as early as you can" and to live an exciting but short life so you can get away from the idea of becoming parents and polluting your potential children's minds.

Plath refers to her father as a "brute" maybe due to the fact that he was part of the fascist regime, something she remembers bitterly. She also remembers him by the picture of him at the black board with the "cleft instead of a foot" showing that he was like a devil to her and also like a burden which thrived on rules and oppresion. The references to her father being like a vampire who "drank her blood" also shows that she thinks her father was an evil superhuman which lived off of her and ended her love for life. He adored not "god but a swastika" showing his Nazi and Aryan purity and rule abiding ego that he could not leave. The black boots that he wore reminds her of the time "in which she lived" like a foot being smothered with protection, discarding her freedom while leaving his footprint from her as if she is just another lost soul. However when she says she makes a "model" of her father it shows something she never had in her life, a role model in a father to look up to and admire.

'Digging' does show that his parents represent the weight of tradition and history. He shows this when he talks about his father digging "just like his old man", with the knowledge and skills of the job have been passed down through the generations. The tradition is remembered by Heaney through the "cold smell of potato mold" which reminds him of his childhood and family heritage. The history and age of the tradition is also described when his father "comes up 20 years away" whilst digging, emphasising the history and time passed as the layers of bog become thinner. His memories of digging are also shown in the poem through his father's actions displaying his influence on his son. If the tradition is going to be passed on Heaney has to be watching and following his father.

In Larkin's poem he says that you should get away from your parents and "don"t have kids yourself', this is taking his views to the extreme, wanting the generation gap to cease its existence. This bold statement is almost so crazy that you could take it as a joke, finding it a bombast kind of humor. Also the eye catching first line of "they fuck you up" could also be interpreted as a bold and uncanny joke, written to draw intrigued readers into the poem which some might associate with a stereotypical rebellious teenager. Although having parents is inevitable he uses them as a role model of what not to become and be like. The last two lines make you think whether he is being serious about what he is saying or if it is just a sincere pun. As Larkin has pretty much done the opposite to what his parents have done maybe we should treat his poem this way, so you should pay no attention to the message of the poem and do what you want.

In the poem by Plath comparisons are made with children's nursery rhymes and suffering which causes a dark and sincere kind of poem. She mentions that she lived like a "foot" in a boot, like the commonly known nursery rhyme, "barely daring to breathe". This almost ironic phrase takes a comforting nursery rhyme and makes it sound bitter and depressive. Plath also mentions that "every woman adores a fascist", showing her bitterness for the oppressiveness of the Nazi rule, again showing irony and extreme sarcasm. Near the end of the poem she communicates her thoughts by saying how she is "through" with her dead father as he did was influence her depressed life. This shows that she has finally had enough of life without someone to guide her like he might have done or even that now she is surrendering herself to him, ready to join him in the grave. This delivers the final punch to the poem like a storm which has blown itself out.

In Heaney's poem he shows a fair bit of humor and irony to assert his argument for why he chose to write, and that it was not the easy way out of the traditional digging. He starts off by saying how he holds a "squat pen" to emphasize that writing is just as difficult as digging. The similarities between digging and writing are also shown when he describes the way you dig, with a "boot nestled on the lug, the shaft against the inside knee". If you imagine how this would look on the spade and compare it to how you would normally hold a pen, the actions appear to be very similar, as if writing has evolved from digging. He also shows some irony when he tells us how he used to give his grandpa milk in a bottle "corked sloppily with paper". The paper in this time was merely an accessory and not needed for many things, but for Heaney in his later life it proved to be a necessity as it is one of the things he is associated with. Heaney finishes off the poem by saying he will "dig with it", referring to the fact that he will write instead.

The generation gap to Larkin, Plath and Heaney was huge; the separation between them and their parents was portrayed at times as if they were nothing like their parents. Larkin did not want to be associated with his, so made the gap as big as possible. Plath was already separated from her father who made her feel resentment towards him as if it was his fault for dying and leaving her suffocating in his wake. Heaney also felt the generation gap. Although he respected his parents a lot he almost looked down on the peasant like job of digging, and did not carry on the tradition passed down the generations.