Hamatreya
Bulkeley, Hunt, Willard, Hosmer, Meriam, Flint,
Possessed the land which rendered to their toil
Hay, corn, roots, hemp, flax, apples, wool, and wood.
Each of these landlords walked amidst his farm,
Saying, ‘Tis mine, my children’s and my name’s.
How sweet the west wind sounds in my own trees!
How graceful climb those shadows on my hill!
I fancy these pure waters and the flags
Know me, as does my dog: we sympathize;
And, I affirm, my actions smack of the soil.”Where are these men? Asleep beneath their grounds:
And strangers, fond as they, their furrows plough.
Earth laughs in flowers, to see her boastful boys
Earth-proud, proud of the earth which is not theirs;
Who steer the plough, but cannot steer their feet
Clear of the grave.
They added ridge to valley, brook to pond,
And sighed for all that bounded their domain;
“This suits me for a pasture; that’s my park;
We must have clay, lime, gravel, granite-ledge,
And misty lowland, where to go for peat.
The land is well,—lies fairly to the south.
‘Tis good, when you have crossed the sea and back,
To find the sitfast acres where you left them.”Ah! the hot owner sees not Death, who adds
Him to his land, a lump of mould the more.
Hear what the Earth say:—EARTH-SONG
“Mine and yours;
Mine, not yours.
Earth endures;
Stars abide—
Shine down in the old sea;
Old are the shores;
But where are old men?
I who have seen much,
Such have I never seen.“The lawyer’s deed
Ran sure,
In tail,
To them and to their heirs
Who shall succeed,
Without fail,
Forevermore.“Here is the land,
Shaggy with wood,
With its old valley,
Mound and flood.
But the heritors?—
Fled like the flood’s foam.
The lawyer and the laws,
And the kingdom,
Clean swept herefrom.“They called me theirs,
Who so controlled me;
Yet every one
Wished to stay, and is gone,
How am I theirs,
If they cannot hold me,
But I hold them?”When I heard the Earth-song
I was no longer brave;
My avarice cooled
Like lust in the chill of the grave.
Summary of Hamatreya
- Popularity of “Hamatreya”: Ralph Waldo Emerson, a great American essayist, and poet, wrote ‘Hamatreya’. It is a superb poem about cycle life and death. It was first published in 1846. The poem reflects the greedy nature of mankind. It illustrates how he spends life working on things that do not belong to anyone.
- “Hamatreya” As a Representative of Life: The poem begins with a striking statement that man is a tiny part of the giant universe, yet he is drunk with the fallacy of having power over something that stands fundamental part of the vast earth. He describes how the landowners grow old working on their land to make it fruitful. The earth is also proud of its young energetic souls, but the earth, being immortal, stays at the same place; only the owners depart the world. He beautifully catalogs things people add to the earth to make it beautiful such as a ridge, clay, lime, and granite-ledge.
Unfortunately, they forget that their life is transient, and one day they will silently move to another world, leaving their dear land behind. He adds they spend their lives working the farms but fail to decipher the song of the earth that it does not belong to anyone. But we do not understand it until death arrives and makes us realize the fragility of life. Also, it makes us understand the errors of our desires and greed. The poet conveys that we should not take pride in our exploits. - Major Themes in “Hamatreya”: Pride, the transience of life, and decay are the major themes underlined in this poem. Throughout the poem, the speaker tries to reflect that we spend our lives running after the worldly things. We embrace them, decorate them, and keep them with great care, neglecting the fact that all worldly possessions lose their charm in the face of death. The land we proudly named after us easily becomes the property of someone else soon after our death. He says that death is an unavoidable phenomenon and every living creature has to taste it. By giving voice to the earth, the narrator expresses the fleeting pride of mankind when it comes to their relationship to the earth and worldly charm.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in “Hamatreya”
literary devices are used to connect readers with the text. Their use brings richness to the text but also makes the readers understand the story. Ralph Waldo Emerson has also used figurative language to enhance the poem. Here is the analysis of some literary devices used in this poem.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of /oo/ in “Hay, corn, roots, hemp, flax, apples, wool, and wood” and the sound of /o/ in “the hot owner sees not Death, who adds.”
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession such as the sound of /th/ in “And strangers, fond as they, their furrows plough” and the sound of /f/ in “Fled like the flood’s foam.”
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; instead, it continues to the next line. For example,
“Possessed the land which rendered to their toil
Hay, corn, roots, hemp, flax, apples, wool, and wood.”
“They added ridge to valley, brook to pond,
And sighed for all that bounded their domain;
“This suits me for a pasture; that’s my park;
We must have clay, lime, gravel, granite-ledge.”
- Personification: Personification is to give human qualities to inanimate objects. The poet has personified earth in the second stanza of the poem such as; “Earth laughs in flowers, to see her boastful boys. “
- Symbolism: Symbolism is a use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal meanings. “Land” symbolizes goodness, happiness, and eternity.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “Hamatreya”
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Free Verse: Free verse is a type of poetry that does not contain patterns of rhyme or meter. This is a free-verse poem with no strict rhyme scheme or metrical pattern.
- Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here, only the last stanza is a quatrain.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are eight stanzas in this poem, each having a different number of verses.
- Tercet: A tercet is a three-lined stanza borrowed from Biblical Hebrew poetry. There is only one tercet in this poem.
Quotes to be Used
The lines stated below are useful when talking about the visit to a beautiful farm and to make children understand about men who encroach the farm.
“Possessed the land which rendered to their toil
Hay, corn, roots, hemp, flax, apples, wool, and wood.”