The Impact of Industrialization to The Atmosphere and Nature

To Colebrooke Dale

Nature is the home of all living things; it gives us home, food, and other resources that it is necessary for survival. Always staying true to its image, some people can find nature’s humble beauty as a source of inspiration. However, living in the age of industrialization, people have become isolated with nature and mindlessly damage the environment. Illustrating a peaceful world being ruined by the “beasts” of industrialization, Anna Sward describes how the destruction disturbs not only nature but also the living beings within that environment.

When nature is at its untouched state, the scene is simply calm and peaceful. Seward begins the poem with a tranquil tone by describing how the setting is embraced by nature. The place is amongst “woods and vales” and “rocks and streams” (2), which flows so aesthetically that it “form’d for the Train that haunt poetic dreams” (3). In other words, Seward is claiming that the beauty of the nature helps to initiate her train of poetic thoughts. The phrase “poetic dream” suggests how ideal and significant the setting is to her since she finds the place so perfect to the point it is dreamy to her. There are also Naiads and Nymphs, who are the elegant maidens who live within the woods. The existence of theses harmless, nymphs further adds on to the peacefulness and purity of the place since naiads often inhabit in fresh water. The nature portrayed by these imageries seem to be enlightening and vivid, making it a perfect source of inspiration.

However, the delicate scene is suddenly turned upside down with a hectic, destructive tone. The peace suddenly interrupted by the noise made by the “toiling Barge and the swart Cyclops ever-changing forge” (4-5). Paying close attention to the dictions such as “toiling”, “barge”, “swart” and “forge”, the monster seems to represent the working class men of industrialization. The noise is derived from the grinding sound made by the toiling boat and the hardworking, dark skinned laborers making some sort of metal product. As the din spreads through the valley, the sky soon turns dark red as the fire is set on the hills, producing a “black sulphureous smoke” (9). The imagery of the laborers and the sky filled with black smoke represents the industrial revolution. Seward describes the pollution from the industrialization in a morbid tone as she describes how the smoke “spread their veils like funeral crape” (9-10). Her morbid tone indicates how the pollution puts the end to the beauty and the tranquilness of the environment. The environment is quickly taken over by laborers and factories, leaving no trace of natural environment that once existed at that setting.

In the last few lines, Seward resents the industrialization for ravaging the nature. She utilize dictions such as “pollute” and “stain” (11-12) to indicate how the environment is now polluted and filthy. Furthermore, not only does she touch on the environmental pollution, she also acknowledges the noise pollution by mentioning the “rude yell” (13) of the laborers. Industrialization quickly replaced the serenity, intervening not only the environment but those who favored serenity. The noise of the city “drowns the wild woodland song” (14) which indicates how the sound of nature has been invaded over by the sound of industrialization. The last few lines especially emphasizes the destruction of nature in an invasive manner, showing Seward’s grief over the loss of nature. Seward then makes her final remark that the destruction of the environment “breaks the Poet’s spell” and ends the poem. Because the scenery was very marvelous, Seward was mesmerized by its beauty, causing her to fall under the “spell” of nature. The “spell” was so enlightening that it gave her an ability to write something as beautiful as nature. However, among both noise and environmental pollution within an industrialized city, Seward has lost her source of inspiration to write something beautiful. The destruction of nature also has an impact on individuals like Seward; those who appreciate nature seems to also take damage from industrialization along with nature.

Living in an innovative world, it is crucial to make an advancement to our society but it is also crucial to conserve and protect the environment. Portraying how rapidly and easily an environment can be destroyed, Seward seems to suggest how fragile nature is. Nature is something that cannot be entirely man-made and it can take decades and even centuries to recover after damages done by industrializations. The destruction of nature also does not just stop with the environment itself; it also impacts those around nature. All livings are dependent upon nature for survival and even for inspirations, and the destruction of it will corrupt their ways of living.