Nature versus Artifice
What Nature versus Artifice means in English Literature A-Level, as defined for OCR, Pearson Edexcel.
Definitions of Nature versus Artifice
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Reference: OCR
The shift from natural similes in stanza one to opulent, artificial constructs in stanza two, reflecting the desire to monumentalise a transformative arrival.
Coleridge contrasts the artificiality of courtly poets, who project their sadness onto nature, with the authentic joy of the nightingales in the wild.
The artificial world of the racetrack is contrasted with the natural, pastoral setting of the horses' retirement.
Topics that use Nature versus Artifice
- 5c. Component 01 – Drama and poetry pre-1900 selected poems - Christina Rossetti – Selected Poems (OCR A-Level)
- 5c. Component 01 – Drama and poetry pre-1900 selected poems - Samuel Taylor Coleridge – Selected Poems (OCR A-Level)
- Component 3: Poetry – Section B: Specified Poetry Pre- or Post-1900 – Post-1900 – The Movement – Philip Larkin: The Less Deceived (Faber, 2011) (Pearson Edexcel A-Level)
Related terms
- Memory and the past
- The Power of Nature
- Unrequited love
- Addiction and suffering
- Ageing and the loss of youth
- Annihilation and oblivion
- Art versus Life
- Betrayal and hypocrisy
Using Nature versus Artifice in the exam
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