Poems about the countryside evoke the serene beauty and rustic charm of rural landscapes, capturing the essence of nature’s harmonious coexistence.
These poetic works often celebrate the simplicity, tranquility, and timeless rhythms of life away from urban settings. They may explore themes such as the interconnectedness of humans and the natural world, the passage of seasons, or the spiritual connection to the land.
Two famous examples of poems about the countryside include William Wordsworth’s ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,’ which portrays the blissful encounter with nature’s splendor, and Robert Frost’s ‘The Road Not Taken,‘ which reflects on the contemplative solitude found in rural settings.
‘Corinna’s Going A-Maying’ is a carpe diem (Latin for “seize the day”) poem in which the speaker urges his beloved, Corinna, to arise from bed and join him in the festivities of May Day already in progress.
Get up, get up for shame, the Blooming Morne
Upon her wings presents the god unshorne.
See how Aurora throwes her faire
Fresh-quilted colours through the aire:
‘The Old Vicarage, Grantchester’ is a light poem about a homesick traveler sentimentally remembering his former home in the English town of Grantchester. The poem takes a gently satirical tone to its subject matter.
Just now the lilac is in bloom,
All before my little room;
And in my flower-beds, I think,
Smile the carnation and the pink;
‘Solitude’ describes how a person can feel content and supported in nature, yet isolated and alone when surrounded by other people.
To sit on rocks, to muse o'er flood and fell,
To slowly trace the forest's shady scene,
Where things that own not man's dominion dwell,
And mortal foot hath ne'er or rarely been;
‘Maud Muller’ by John Greenleaf Whittier is a classic narrative ballad that recounts how the poor peasant, Maud, and an urban judge fantasize about getting married and living together. However, neither of them ever takes action, which fills their lives with regret.
God pity them both! and pity us all,
Who vainly the dreams of youth recall.
For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these: “It might have been!”
‘Out to Old Aunt Mary’s’ by James Whitcomb Riley juxtaposes memories of carefree youth with the passage of time, underlying the lasting significance of the memories
Wasn't it pleasant, O brother mine,
In those old days of the lost sunshine
Of youth—when the Saturday's chores were through,
‘Ode to Dirt’ is an impassioned all for everyone to reevaluate their perception of dirt and learn to appreciate it for its many qualities.
Dear dirt, I am sorry I slighted you,
I thought that you were only the background
for the leading characters—the plants
and animals and human animals.
‘Elegy’ by Ambrose Bierce parodies another famous elegy in order to humorously critique the self-indulgence of such poetic lamentations.
The cur foretells the knell of parting day;
The loafing herd winds slowly o’er the lea;
The wise man homewards plods; I only stay
To fiddle-faddle in a minor key.
‘A Butterfly Talks’ is a children’s poem written by the American poet Annette Wynne. In this short poem, the poet emphasizes the splendor of simple things in nature.
A butterfly talks to each flower
And stops to eat and drink,
And I have seen one lighting
In a quiet spot to think;
‘Australia 1970’ by Judith Wright speaks on the changing landscape of Australia in the 1970s. It promotes a version of Australia that is fierce, wild, and dangerous just like the animals that have always lived within its boundaries.
Die, wild country, like the eaglehawk,
dangerous till the last breath's gone,
clawing and striking. Die
cursing your captor through a raging eye.
‘Blaen Cwrt,’ a poem by Welsh poet Gillian Clarke depicts the pleasant dwelling of the speaker in rural Ceredigion, West Wales.
‘How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix’ by Robert Browning depicts three riders’ attempting to gallop from Ghent to Aix. The speaker makes it there, delivering a critical, although unknown, piece of news.
I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris, and he;
I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three;
‘Good speed!'’ cried the watch, as the gate-bolts undrew;
‘Speed!’ echoed the wall to us galloping through;
‘How We Made a New Art on Old Ground’ by Eavan Boland depicts the way that poetry can remake a landscape with dark history, if only for a few moments as one reads it.
‘I like to see it lap the Miles’ by Emily Dickinson is a thoughtful poem. It explores themes of industrialization, power, and human ingenuity.
I like to see it lap the Miles -
And lick the Valleys up -
And stop to feed itself at Tanks -
And then - prodigious step
‘Love Among the Ruins’ by Robert Browning is a Victorian, dramatic poem that uses the metaphor of a destroyed city to speak on love and nature.
Where the quiet-coloured end of evening smiles,
Miles and miles
On the solitary pastures where our sheep
Half-asleep
In Emily Dickinson’s ‘My River runs to thee,’ readers explore an extended metaphor that may have sexual or religious undertones.
My River runs to thee.
Blue sea, wilt thou welcome me?
My river awaits reply.
Oh! Sea, look graciously.
’The Negro Speaks of Rivers’ is about a man who has seen the great ages of the world alongside the banks of the most important rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
‘Winter Landscape, with Rooks’ by Sylvia Plath depicts a dark landscape. It’s used to symbolize how the speaker, and perhaps the poet, was feeling.
Water in the millrace, through a sluice of stone,
plunges headlong into that black pond
where, absurd and out-of-season, a single swan
floats chaste as snow, taunting the clouded mind
support@poemanalysis.com
Poem Solutions Limited, International House, 36-38 Cornhill, London, EC3V 3NG, United Kingdom
