Beauty - By John Masefield

Beauty

By John Masefield

I have seen dawn and sunset on moors and windy hills
Coming in solemn beauty like slow old tunes of Spain:

I have seen the lady April bringing in the daffodils,
Bringing the springing grass and the soft warm April rain.

I have heard the song of the blossoms and the old chant of the sea,
And seen strange lands from under the arched white sails of ships;

But the loveliest things of beauty God ever has showed to me
Are her voice, and her hair, and eyes, and the dear red curve of her lips.

         In the poem, Beauty is presented in various things of the world. In the first stanza, poet has presented beauty of nature by describing the beauty of 'dawn' and 'sunset'. For the poet both are beautiful dawn also and the sunset also. The poet has seen 'moors' as well as 'windy hills', for him both are beautiful. In this stanza, the poet has presented the beauty in opposite elements of nature. In the next line, the poet has compared the beauty of nature with human beauty by saying, 'old tunes of Spain'. The poet has employed a simile in,

"Coming in solemn beauty like slow old tunes of Spain"

This also suggests the coming of beloved person.

        In the third and fourth lines, the poet has presented personification by saying

"I have seen the lady April bringing in the daffodils"

       By this personification the poet compares beauty of human with the nature. A lady April (spring season) has brought a beauty in the nature with rains and greenery.

       In the next stanza, the poet has presented the natural elements with their specific sounds and their beauty. As per poet, he has heard songs of blossoms (flowers), chants of sea (sound of waves) and he has also encountered the strange lands which he has seen from the sea-shore. The poet has seen the lands from the ships which he found beautiful. At last after admiring the beauty of nature and music created by human, the poet has admired his beloved. 

      There are two characters in the poem, one is poet himself, and another is his beloved. At last after observing all the beauties of world, the poet admires and confesses that his beloved is the loveliest beauty in this world.

     The poem can be considered as love and romantic poem. The poet has presented various kinds of beauties including nature's beauty, beauty created by humans and at last the beauty of love (his beloved).