Gul Mohar Edition 9 Orient Blackswan
Gul Mohar English Poem - Marshlands
Writer of the poem - Emily Pauline Johnson
Summary
'Marshlands' by Emily Pauline Johnson paints a peaceful and romanticized picture of the array of life residing in a marshland, untouched by human activities in contrast as night approaches casts the ecosystem into silence. The poet provides visual images to showcase the worth of marshlands.
There is a general feeling of mystery, when after sunset, the evening sky seems yellow and wet where it touches the water in the marshland at the horizon. Since the sun has vanished from the sky and it appears cloudy with an impending storm. Twilight has set in and the shallow pools in the marsh, filled with mould and moss, glisten like golden cups. The marshland is dark and dank in some places; it is fertile with rich vegetation like moss, bulrushes, sedges and lichens thriving in its stagnant water. Yet is teeming with life in other areas - like the lizard chirps in monotone and the wild goose takes shelter among the bulrushes on which the lichen cling. Cranes fly into the oncoming night. And finally, twilight covers the area in a veil of thick grey mist as the marsh prepares to sleep. The twilight making way for the night does not spell gloom for darkness but brings rest to the life in the night sky. Silence characterizes the marshlands, making the imagery more vivid, beautiful as well as unpleasant.
The poem reflects the natural environment in its own beauty, untouched and unpolluted by the human. The transformation of the marshlands takes place in a short time-span, between sunset and nightfall. The poet has experimented with the colors of the marshlands which turn from yellow to golden and finally to shadowy grey when fog enshrouds the wetlands at night. The Marshlands are presented as a perfect ecosystem for all species to cohabit peacefully. Silence and stillness characterize the marshlands, occasionally disturbed by the passing of different birds and animals.
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