Death and Nature
In “Death’s Endeavor to Hinder and Obstruct Nature” both Death and Nature are personified into active characters. Like many of the poems in the book, it is constructed as a narrative of opposition and competition. In attempting to undo the positive influence of Nature that places obstacles to his job, Death engages subterfuge by creating despair and employing two other characters—Sloth and Sleep—to make sure most of a lifetime goes to waste.
The Fairy Queen
A number of poems feature fairies as subjects and not entirely as mythical creatures. The author seems to seriously posits the notion that fairies may be actual creatures taking up resident in our brains that are responsible for dreams and visions and similar flights of fancy in the mind’s eye. On the other hand, the opening line of “The Fairy Queen’s Kingdom” assertively situates the living spaces of that that kingdom as being located deep within the center of the Earth.
“The Ant”
Like nature-based philosophical writers in 19th century America would do much later, Cavendish identifies the title character of this poem as a symbol of industry, cooperation, and a shared sense of common nobility. Indeed, the whole point of this celebration of ants also seems presciently foretell the arrival of another famous writer who would show up in the 1800’s: her anthill is a communist utopia.
The Oak and the Man
In addition to Poems and Fancies, the reader will also discover a category called Dialogues. These are also poems, of course, but are structured as some manner of discourse between separate entities. The titles are self-explanatory for the part as exemplified by “In A Dialogue between an Oak and a Man Cutting Him Down.” In this particular dialogue—though it is not a standard form for all—the poem is divided into separate sections in which the Oak speaks and then the Man responds. For instance, the opening line has the Oak asking the Man why he cuts off his boughs and the Man responds by asking what the tree is is so upset about since it’s managed to stick around for more than a century.
