report to wordsworth annotations

He contrasts the assumed formality of the “report” with the emotional nature of the poem.

The assumingly formal report being full of emotion shows how dire the situation is, creates a poignant contrast that sticks with the reader also shows how hard it is to separate the emotion from the report because of just how much has been done to the environment. This makes the reader feel guilt and pity

‘Report to Wordsworth’

• ‘Report’ has connotations of formality and something analytical.

• This could falsely mislead the reader into thinking this will be a poem that is full of analytical phrases, statistics and formal language

• When the poem reveals itself to be deeply emotional, it shocks the reader and makes the concerns for the environment that are mentioned even more gripping

‘Neptune lies helpless’

• Contrast of ‘Neptune’, a powerful sea god, and the adverb ‘helpless’ which emphasise how dire the situation is if even a God is beyond aid
• ‘helpless’ is also an example of emotive language and it doesn’t belong in a typical report

‘O see the wound widening’

• use of antiquated poetic interjection (‘O’) is also not typical of a report and the almost desperate call to Wordsworth suggests an urgent need for his presence
• ‘wound’ has connotations of pain and anguish and carries lots of negative connotations. It comes across as though the author of this report himself is damaged by this wound and this type of emotional language is not reminicent of a report.

He creates a strong feeling of urgency that impacts the reader and seeps out from the poem, making the reader anxious for the environment.

This feeling of urgency subsequently implies a need for Wordsworth, or at least a need for help It makes the reader feel concern and anxiety for the future of the environment It also makes the reader feel guilty, since Cheng is not so subtly implying it is our fault

‘You should be here.’

• caesura causes the reader to stop after this incredibly emphatic direct address.
• use of ‘should’ implies necessity. he is urging Wordsworth to come because the situation is this dire

‘insatiate man moves in for the kill’

• ‘insatiate’ carries negative connotations of hunger, greed and gluttony
• man being described that way shows how dire the situation is, if man won’t stop until nature is dead
• ‘moves’ also gives a sense of motion and impending action, showing how something will happen if the current environmental trend isn’t stopped

‘God is labouring to utter his last cry.'

• ‘labouring’ denotes effort and work. it shows how it is difficult for God to speak because of how bad the neglect of the environment has gotten
• ‘utter’ adds to this effect, connoting effort and a sense of pain, showing how critical this moment is
• ‘last’ emphasises that the desperation of the poet since this is the last cry even God has within him, even though God is supposed to be all powerful. shows just how much damage has been done

He humanises nature and describes it’s death as if it’s a person/living being that needs help. This evokes sympathy from the reader and it translates environmental concerns from a thing that is abstract to something that will harm a “human being”.

The presentation of nature as a human evokes sympathy from the reader and it sharpens the urgency of the situation at hand This is because it shifts the concerns from harming an abstract thing like the environment to harming a human being This makes the whole poem leave a lasting impact on the reader

‘smothered by the smog’

• ‘smothered’ implies that nature could breathe and cannot breathe now. personification.
• ‘smog’ creates an image of heavy, dark and dense smoke clouds. this is a jarring image for the reader and repeating ‘s’ sounds almost cloud the line with smog. it becomes something the reader can almost feel through the page, which evokes a strong sense of sympathy for nature

‘he is entombed in the waste’

• ‘entombed’ creates a choking, heavy atmosphere, linking to ‘smothered’
• evokes sympathy for Proteus, another being that nature is being represented by in this poem
• make the reader fell pity and guilt for Proteus’ situation since this powerful god is ‘entombed’ in humanity’s waste

‘Nature’s mighty heart is lying still.’

• contrast of ‘mighty heart’, suggesting something strong and powerful, and ‘lying still’ showing that even that has been felled
• ‘heart’ is usually used when talking about a human heart and it personifies nature