Sonnet WITH Analysis

Mankind’s Work

It is often said that nature’s fine work
Vastly outdo those composed by man;
But alas, sometimes where Nature does not lurk
What nature cannot do, man sometimes can.
An oboe, playing a sole, solemn tune
Our Mother Nature’s chimes can’t replicate;
Breathtaking city view at highest noon
No amount of flowers shares the same fate.
That is not to say flowers do not please!
Mother Nature claims vict’ry at times;
She made her work before man skinned his knees,
She gave her muse to poetry and rhymes.
However, in our attempts to beach her,
It seems the student has passed the teacher.


Sonnet Analysis

A sonnet is a poem, often celebrating love or nature and their virtues. But before I get into actually analyzing, I have to ask you a question: Is love writing this poem, reading this analysis, or sitting in this English class right now? Is nature? No, you are, and you deserve credit for it. Artsy types are often first to denounce mankind and proclaim nature far superior, but they themselves are of mankind, and mankind has produced more than we give it credit for.
Actually, I lied. I was analyzing then. Couldn't tell, could you? But if you would refer to the first two lines of the sonnet, you'd see it was right on topic. Nature is given a lot of credit, and for good reason, but do we ever get any credit? It may be immodest to pat ourselves on the back for once, but since when is anybody ever completely modest?
Going back to the title, I chose “Mankind’s Work” for somewhat obvious reasons. The entire poem is about mankind and how sometimes we need credit too, despite Nature getting all of the poetic praise. We take so much for granted; did Nature make TVs, or computers? Could we be getting through school without pencils and paper, products of our processing trees and stone? There are many little things we don’t even notice that we would have a much harder time without.
The soft, gentle sound (or loud and triumphant in the case of some) could only be created by humans, nature can only do similar with the wind whistling through trees, and you can't play Rule Britannia with wind and trees. The saying, "Music soothes the savage beast" would not have come about without whoever invented music thousands of years ago. Not to mention, we have four (possibly soon five) bands, four choirs, and three orchestras here at Punahou. You can't say music isn't important in our lives, especially since most students own an iPod of some kind.
I use the oboe as an example of music one, because of is difficulty to play and master, and two, because of the beautiful, articulate tone it produces. I, myself, don’t have the patience to learn to play it, but I’ve always admired the way it sounds. At least, the way it sounds when played well. We sometimes hear the whistle of the wind, but do we ever attribute it to music? No, those were the first composers, back before the classical and baroque periods, who made their instruments and an entire world of music just for us humans.
Have you ever frolicked in a field of flowers? It can be fun…for about five seconds. Then it's just boring. But a view of an entire city, the sun shining brilliantly off every pane of glass and metal, coupled with the feeling of being huge, toy-sized cars traveling at slow, slow speeds below you, is a feeling totally irreplaceable. Nothing else in the world is quite like that view.
The first two lines of the third stanza are written in such a way to contrast the rest of the poem, not only in content, but in writing style. They use a more classical, Shakespearean tone in them, with words like “vic’try”, contractions not used since long, long ago.
Flowers can be breathtaking as well, and I'm not trying to discredit nature and all its fans, I'm just trying to say we deserve some credit too. Nature was around a long, long time before any of us, we couldn’t exist without it, and I acknowledge that.
Instead of the traditional sonnet turn-around at the last two lines, I made my turn-around in the third stanza, and then flipped back to normal in the last two. Besides needing it to rhyme, the use of the word “beach” is interesting there, as it shows come-uppance.
Overall, my sonnet was there to pose an antithesis to the poems that were once “revolutionary”, praising Nature for what she has done for us. While I don’t say she has done nothing for us(much as her fans don’t say we’ve done nothing), I do say we should get a bit of credit for thinking up the impossible, fulfilling all our wildest dreams through hard work and persistence, and being unlike any other race on this entire planet.