In five pages this paper examines how Bryant and Thoreau's writings influenced the literary works of Stevens, Oliver, and Frost. Four sources are cited in the bibliography.
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has made all the difference. Robert Frost (1874 - 1963), The Road Not Taken This excerpt from Robert Frosts poem is representative of many poets who took their inspiration
from nature. Mary Oliver and Wallace Stevens also tend to have nature overtones in their works. However, rather than tending toward Wordsworth in their comparison, it can be stated that
they seemed to be more inspired by the works of Henry David Thoreau and William Cullen Bryant. Thoreau stated that "The better part of the man is soon
plowed into the soil for compost. By a seeming fate, commonly called necessity, they are employed, as it says in an old book, laying up treasures which moth and rust
will corrupt and thieves break through and steal. It is a fools life, as they will find when they get to the end of it, if not before"(Thoreau, Economy, 2002).
If one looks closely one begins to see that Thoreau is not trying to explain how nature works, he is using the imagery to describe the inner landscape of
the human soul. Typical of most of Thoreaus work, and what specifically endears him to his fans, is that he begins with some observation of nature, then applies that lesson
or element that he has observed to the human condition or situation. This is directly evident in Frosts poem, "Mending Wall". "Something there is that doesnt love a
wall, That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it And spills the upper boulder in the
sun, And make gaps even two can pass abreast"(Frost 1969). This simple observation of a wall between neighbors and the consequent