Hello friends today we are discuss this question, the question is -Nature plays an important role in the poem ‘Asleep in the Valley’ by Arthur Rimbaud Justify. Or, ‘Man kills but Nature heals.-Justify with reference to the poem.
Nature is mostly associated with a mother. In this poem we find Nature playing the role of a mother by providing shelter to the dead soldier. The poem is full of natural imageries. Starting from the stream that flows through the small green valley to the humming insects, Rimbaud has given a vivid description of the valley. The serenity of Nature here is set in contrast with the horrid sight of the dead soldier. Like Owen’s ‘Spring Offensive’, Rimbaud too places Nature as a background in his war poem. Nature comforts living beings, but it is powerless to save lives from man- made destructions. Nature does not only serve as a picturesque background in the poem but also is used to heighten the atrocity of death and cruel destruction caused by war.