Escaped dreams: Man’s ecstasy versus nature’s agony

Abstract

Human beings have generally acted the role of the pioneer species in this planet, focusing only on their survival through the destruction of all their competitors and thereby achieving effective dominance over other life forms. As a result of this anthropocentric arrogance, resource depletion and species extinction have gone beyond bounds and the planet today exists in a sickly state. W. S. Merwin, the former poet laureate of the United States and two times Pulitzer Prize winner, has written a number of poems insisting on man’s mutual relationship with nature. Moving beyond that, Merwin, in anger and desperation, reacts vehemently to this self-centered nature of man through his poems. He constantly addresses the various forms of interferences that human beings make into the naturally existing ecological systems—methodical deforestation, hunting for pleasure, hunting for profit, extensive fishing, domesticating animals, inappropriate technological advancement, urbanization and so on. Merwin directly accuses man for being the root cause for the shrinking of natural resources and pushing various plant and animal species to the verge of extinction. Merwin’s intimacy with the natural world is also prominent in his poems and he appreciates the quality of life rather than aiming for higher standards of living.