In the collection Skirrid Hill (2005) by Owen Sheers, nature is presented as an important factor in the development of personal and cultural identity. and human relations. In “Mametz Wood” and “Father,” the speaker’s attachment to the land is apparent. However, beyond just describing the natural world, Sheers draws attention to the ways in which nature played a role in these speakers' lives by exploring the impact of nature on human beings in general. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In “Mametz Wood,” nature is presented as a powerful force, albeit one affected by humans and their creation, the two are inextricably linked. Describing the soldiers' unearthed fragments as: "a piece of bone, the porcelain plate of a shoulder blade" and "the broken bird's egg of a skull", Sheers contrasts the birth of new life and the fragility of the human body. with the impact of their violent history. The harsh, plosive monosyllabic sounds bite like bullets, evoking a strong visual image in the reader's mind of the battle that took place. The alliteration of the "ch" sound could also allude to the farmer's plow, digging up the remains of "wasted youth [...] as they tended the earth upon itself." This cyclical notion highlights the futility of war, perhaps alluding to the speaker's criticism of the military, and even though the soldiers are dead, the country will always remember them. The use of the verb “maintain” here suggests that the farmers care for the land, juxtaposing the military's treatment of nature, as if seeking to comfort and rehabilitate it. This notion is carried over to the fourth stanza, where “the earth is sentinel, / rising within itself to remember what has happened”. By personifying the earth, Sheers implies that nature will preserve these fallen soldiers and their memories. As the second verse draws close connections with the first stanza, again a reference to the cyclical theme throughout, the speaker creates a sense of reflection and retrospection: the land keeps the soldiers connected to the present by reliving their past , digging it up so they can't be forgotten. Although each tercet of "Mametz Wood" is made up of a single phrase, they are unified by the message they convey, and by the fact that nature will protect what is repressed, bringing it to the surface. Throughout “Father,” the speaker draws strong connections between the hill that the father and son climb and their personal relationship, emphasizing the impact that nature can have on human relationships. It is significant that Sheers chose the Skirrid: "That's when we climbed the Skirrid again", because it is an extended metaphor for the physical and emotional distance that developed between the two, and this shared annual tradition is a way to overcome this challenge. In describing the physical features of the hill, with "that gentle cleft of earth / cleft which they say by a father's grief / at the loss of his son to man", Sheers alludes to the myth surrounding the hill of Skirrid, according to which it was formed at the time of crucifixion by the pain of God. In this case, however, it could also refer to a father's sadness at losing his son as an adult, with the son inevitably being a boy. The connection between the land and the couple is reestablished in the middle of the poem, when the speaker describes his father, with his "rock-colored head bent, / your breath reaches me, short, sharp and.