What are the motifs in The Cobweb by Raymond Carver?

Romanticism is a recurring idea. Humanity's difference from and similarity to the natural world is a familiar theme in much po- etry, especially romantic poetry. For romantics, nature is the source of inspiration and goodness. Romantic poets such as William Wordsworth often used observations of nature as occasion for reflecting on the human condition and the subjective experience of the individual "self." Carver's poem is written in this tradition, as his speaker uses his encounter with nature—represented by the water, the sea, and the cobweb—as an opportunity to dwell on his past and his own mortality. Romantics also privilege the idea of spontaneity in composition, which Carver's poem embodies in its casual opening, conversational tone, and "surprise ending."