There are many poems written by authors without them knowing if they have ecopoetry brought into their poems. There are many genres of poems and of different writing in which ecopoetry is a type of genre. Ecopoetry according to the web dictionary means “poetry with a strong ecological message or emphasis” while reading this I also looked up the word ecological which means “relating to the environments of living things or to the relationships between living things and their environments”. My interpretation of this would be the environment or nature written in a poetic form to try and to convey a message to the readers. There is a poem called “To See the Earth Before the End of the World” by Ed Roberson and in this poem the author gives a strong message about the world and its endings.  This poem shows the reality of nature and the earth in which not always all poems show the beauty of nature like in the essay written by  C. K. Williams named “Nature and Panic”. This author expresses different thoughts on ecopoetry in which not all poems are guided by. 

The poem written by Ed Roberson shows it is an ecopoetry poem and there is a message behind it about the earth.  He emphasises in the poem how everything on earth has an ending and how the world keeps changing as time passes by. His poem helped to see other perspectives especially when he wrote “tooth for spear, knife for claw”(lines 26 and 27) and I took it time things evolved and people made weapons out of things or out of animals and animals defended themselves from the people with their claws. Roberson speaks about animals and nature making this poem speak about ecology and how people use animals to eventually defend themselves which caused the environment to evolve over time.  

The poem by Ed Roberson I got to connect it to the Essay written by C. K. Williams named “Nature and Panic” and how in his essay he speaks about art and poetry and how they are used to keep people calm about the disasters made by nature in the world. The poem by Roberson speaks about how the world is going to end but at the same time showing the evolution of the people and earth. This shows me how not all poems are meant for the aesthetic purpose of the environment and how there are people who also write about the bad things on earth and the ending of it. In the essay written by Williams he states “The creatures in them are depicted with accuracy and detail and with that breathlessly assured brushwork that could have been acquired through nothing but aesthetic dedication and love. There are almost no depictions of nature as threatening.” (para. 3).  He tells us how in the ancient times when there was art painted on walls that it was made with details and no sign of “threat” but how could a person know if there was threat or not if they could have painted something horrible that had happened and passed. Same as in poetry there is poetry written in the form of love and dedication to the environment but there is also poetry showing all the bad and horror of the world and nature. 

 I feel like the way Roberson writes about the earth is very vivid and he puts a lot of energy and feelings in his poetry. I think what he meant in this poem was that each person and animal meant a different piece of the earth and as we die or animals get instinct then that’s also a piece of the earth dying. Roberson also speaks about ice sculpture and how once it melts it goes back into the air which makes it a comparison of people in my opinion since we are born from nothing and once we die we go back to ashes or nothing. Roberson’s poem is all about ecopoetry which is talking about nature, people, and the earth. In the poem Roberson states “the world’s death piece by piece each longer than we” (line 3) What I believe he is trying to express in this line is how everyday the planet gets harmed by harmful things like people, natural gases, and all these things cause the earth to break down and eventually would lead to global warming or any natural disasters. This poem does not directly express the dangers of the earth and nature that people can cause or the planet itself can cause but the interpretation of the words in the poem tell the readers how the earth is in danger and it is dying and animals becoming extinct. 

In the article of “Nature and Panic” the author Williams expresses “First great art works were executed deep in caves, so as to be certain the divinities who were their audience wouldn’t be distracted by the wonder of the natural world, and so lose the concentration necessary to glory in, and be glorified by…” (para. 16). I found this quote easily to explain the mentality of a lot of poem writers or artists because many of them want to express the beauty of the natural world and not really the reality of how the earth is dying and animals becoming extinct. William explains during his whole essay how beauty relaxes the audience and many people want to see the beautiful things about the world instead of the tragedies that occur everyday and seen on the news since that is the reality. Ecopoetry isn’t about the beauty in nature it is just poetry speaking about nature no matter the disasters that can occur. Williams shows that art and poetry is a way of calming the audience and to shield them away from reality. There is a difference when speaking about ecopoetry since the meaning is just poetry about nature itself. 

In the article written by John Shoptaw named “Why Ecopoetry?” he explains how people view ecopoetry and explains the concept of how ecopoetry is about nature and the environment. This article helped me to better understand Roberson’s poem and how he speaks about the earth dying and people harming the environment by extincting animals and all the natural things of the earth. Shoptaw explains in his article that “Ecopoetry is nature poetry that has designs on us, that imagines changing the ways we think, feel about, and live and act in the world.” Poetry shows the feelings of the authors and how they feel towards the nature that surrounds them. Shoptaw explains nature poetry and this article is different than William’s essay. William’s essay speaks about the beauty of nature and how in ancient times people wanted to show beauty and not make anyone worry about the disasters occuring around them. Instead, Shoptaw article tells us that poetry is more shown in any way the writer wants to express their feelings about nature. There isn’t a specific way of expressing nature in only beauty but also in disaster. Not everyone thinks or feels that they should write a lovely poem about how beautiful nature is but others like Roberson express the harms and problems of the earth. 

Thinking about the poem, the essay, and the article there could be many misconceptions about ecopoetry. Many believe ecopoetry is about the beauty shown in nature and how nature is portrayed in ecopoetry. This isn’t true and the main definition of ecopoetry is writing about nature and the environment. A writer expressing their ideas and feelings about nature whether it is good or bad. In the essay and article these authors express their thoughts about ecopoetry and what a writer is really trying to show while writing their poems on nature.