For thousands of years, poetry has been written to help us understand life and the
condition of the human heart. "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by Wordsworth, "The Road Less
Travelled" by Frost, and "The Raven" by Poe, all exemplify the darkness and fear found in our
hearts. I have chosen to explore the theme of fear and sadness because reading about how
others have experienced these emotions might help young people come to terms with how
they are feeling.
One of the main fears faced by young people is the fear of loneliness. "I Wandered
Lonely as a Cloud" is a lyrical poem comprised of four stanzas, describing the depression and
sadness associated with being alone. Wordsworth, who battled mental illness most of his life,
vividly encourages the reader to look at nature and find hope. In the first stanza, Wordsworth
uses the simile “lonely as a cloud” to compare the feeling of loneliness to a single cloud drifting
in an empty sky. He uses personification several times in the poem, ending the final stanza with,
“… my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils”. This beautiful image of a heart
dancing with nature is a wonderful reminder that we do not have to give in to fear when we
feel lonely. Rather, we should take time to notice the beauty in creation and find hope once
again.
Another fear often encountered by young people is the fear of evil. Poe wrote the narrative
poem, “The Raven” to address this fear. ……(body paragraph 2)
The final fear, the fear of the future, is explored in the poem "Road Less Travelled", by Robert
Frost. …(body paragraph 3)
In summary, all the poems discussed in this introduction deal with some of the deepest fears
faced by teenagers today: the fear of loneliness, the fear of evil, and the fear of the future. If I
did this project again, I would choose more well-known poems that contained examples of
figurative language because I found it difficult to identify figurative language in my poems. I
enjoyed reading through many poems in order to choose the six poems, although it was
difficult to find poems by published authors. Through compiling the six poems in this anthology,
I have learned how poetry is able to express deep thoughts in only a few words. It is so true
that a picture is worth a thousand words and I now understand how the imagery in a poem
helps me understand a poet’s emotions; poetry really is the language of the heart!