Poetry Group
Question:
gfgh
Teacher
High School - 9th Grade
Summarize "Report to Wordsworth" by Boey Kim Cheng
Why would Boey Kim Cheng entitle his poem "Report to Wordsworth" ?
Answers:
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kimfuji Teacher
College - FreshmaneNotes Editor
Posted by kimfuji on Thursday October 22, 2009 at 7:37 PMIn Boey Kim Cheng's poem to Wordsworth, he begins by saying in the first line, "You should be here, Nature has need of you".Then in the next few lines he describes some of the environmental problems in our comtemporary world, like pollution, smog, flowers that cannot function, few birds and a sky that is "slow moving". Then he speaks about Proteus. He says all hope for Proteus--the God of the sea-- rising is dead. He means all hope the sea( the unhealthy and contaminated oceans) is gone. He says this is because of man's insatiable greed, he actually says, "insatiate man". He says at the end of the poem, "poetry and piety fail" He means: poetry fails to awaken and save humankind and religion also fails. This poem is very gloomy. It paints a grim picture of human beings as the cause of the ruination of nature.
The fact that he says "You should be here.." is sort of hopeful, in that, perhaps the poet feels that Wordsworth could have a positive effect on this ruined natural world. The fact that he entitles his poem "Report to Wordsworth" is significant in that, he is situating himself in a long line of Romantic poets who elevate nature above man made inventions.
