Charles Dickens
" A Visit to Newgate" is not your typical prison tale based writing as he points out in the beginning of the reading. They simply saw the prisoners and chose to write from what they saw and heard from them. And so they first described the layout of the prison, which by the way I believe it was in the heart of the city for everyone to gaze upon. And one of the first description of a person was one of an old lady. "In one corner of this singular-looking den, was a yellow,haggard,decrepit with faded ribbon of the same hue, in earnest conversation with a young girl-prisoner, of course-of about two and twenty." He goes on to say something that really lets you see and feel what he is at that moment "It is impossible to imagine a more poverty-stricken object, or a creature so borne down in soul and body, by excess of misery and destitution, as the old woman." When I first read that I felt at that moment like I was right there beside him walking the halls of that prison. He continues to give you the play by play of his walk and he does not skip one detail of the trip. I swear to you if a fly was to land on his nose I would bet anything that he would make that swipe of that fly the most symbolic fly swat away ever. That is just how wonderful his description in this was. He does this pattern all the way to the description of the press room. This was an interesting place this is where it seemed he got most disgusted. It seemed that a person on death row had 24 hours to get his case over turned if not he was placed in the press room with his coffin and killed for the public to see. Now you would think that would scare the living crap out of someone , but no as he went to their apartments(place they stayed until execution) he saw man of all ages, even one that was not even a teenage yet. And what he saw them doing was just going on with their lives. The thing that got me was one man was teaching one of the younger ones to read. The way that closes kinda makes you feel sorry for one of the guys. They describe a man who is going to be killed in the morning but the man is having a dream. And in this dream he escapes but right when he becomes free he is awaken to the turnkey of the guard. A guard about to take him to his death. They go on to describe his confusion and just for a few moments you feel sorry for the man no matter what wrong he may have commented.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
William Wordsworth
Earlier I spent alot of my time on Coleridge's poem "The Rime and the Mariner," but I found out it was only one of the many books of Wordsworth collection that he called "The Lyrical Ballads." These are said to have started the change in British literature as well as American literature. Coleridge only added four poems to the deal where Mr. Wordsworth took up the slack. It is no surprise that these poems are easy to read. They are like that because that is the way he in tented them to be. He wanted these poems to be poems for the people and he toned down his level of vocabulary so that the common people could enjoy such works. This was one of the many changes that helped shape a new age of literature. In these ballads there is a theme of returning back to nature, a theme in which he finds very important. In the poems I read which were "There was a Boy," "Strange Fits of Passion have I known," "Song,""Three years she grew in sun and shower," and a few others it seems that he ends in a similar way. The way is that each character dies or is dead and they die with some similar activity of nature.
A full half hour together I have stood,
Mute- for he died when he was ten years old
(from "there was a boy")
O mercy! to myself I cried
If Lucy should be dead!
(from "Stranger fits of passion")
But she is in her grave, and Oh!
The difference to me!
(from "a Song")
She died, and left to me
this heath, this calm and quiet scene,
The memory of what has been,
And never more will be.
(from "Three years she grew in sun and shower")
With all these references to death it got me thinking. Lots of poets like to think of death in different ways. Some see it as reaching a new place of spirituality, some see it as some sort of sexual act such as an orgasm, while some see it as simply death in itself. As I read over these poems i ask myself what did the poet mean by each one and quite honestly I feel I could argue either way for all of the for mentioned poems. I wonder what you think. If you could read over the poem and let me know that may give me a better insight of what makes more sense..............haha look I feel like a teacher now.
Earlier I spent alot of my time on Coleridge's poem "The Rime and the Mariner," but I found out it was only one of the many books of Wordsworth collection that he called "The Lyrical Ballads." These are said to have started the change in British literature as well as American literature. Coleridge only added four poems to the deal where Mr. Wordsworth took up the slack. It is no surprise that these poems are easy to read. They are like that because that is the way he in tented them to be. He wanted these poems to be poems for the people and he toned down his level of vocabulary so that the common people could enjoy such works. This was one of the many changes that helped shape a new age of literature. In these ballads there is a theme of returning back to nature, a theme in which he finds very important. In the poems I read which were "There was a Boy," "Strange Fits of Passion have I known," "Song,""Three years she grew in sun and shower," and a few others it seems that he ends in a similar way. The way is that each character dies or is dead and they die with some similar activity of nature.
A full half hour together I have stood,
Mute- for he died when he was ten years old
(from "there was a boy")
O mercy! to myself I cried
If Lucy should be dead!
(from "Stranger fits of passion")
But she is in her grave, and Oh!
The difference to me!
(from "a Song")
She died, and left to me
this heath, this calm and quiet scene,
The memory of what has been,
And never more will be.
(from "Three years she grew in sun and shower")
With all these references to death it got me thinking. Lots of poets like to think of death in different ways. Some see it as reaching a new place of spirituality, some see it as some sort of sexual act such as an orgasm, while some see it as simply death in itself. As I read over these poems i ask myself what did the poet mean by each one and quite honestly I feel I could argue either way for all of the for mentioned poems. I wonder what you think. If you could read over the poem and let me know that may give me a better insight of what makes more sense..............haha look I feel like a teacher now.
Lord Byron
This was a pretty unique man that had to have tough skin. His life was praised as well as despised. He has gone through separations, incest, several love affairs, major debts and to just put it simple lived a wild life. Plenty of his major works got showed in the spotlight but I was more interested in one of his minor poems that created quite a stir as well. In the poem "She Walks in Beauty," readers of this poem wondered who exactly he was talking about in the poem.
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light 5
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face; 10
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow, 15
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!
(from "She walks in beauty")
Some people speculate that he is talking about no one that he is simply writing a poem for poems sake. Others say that this clearly is a a poem to one of his incest lover's. If this is a poem to one of his cousins I will have to say that first that is gross and second that is quite bold of him to do that considering the consequences.
All his life was not so bad though, in fact his life was quite admirable. In the time of need Mr. Gordon let him self become an agent of the London committee and even more than that he used the profit he gained over the years to help the cause. This upon his death at the age of 36, I believe is what saved his name. And I could imagine that he ended his life just as his poem says.
Seek out-less often sought than found-
A soldier's grave, for thee the best;
Then look around, and choose thy ground,
And take thy rest.
(from "On this day I complete my 36th year)
This was a pretty unique man that had to have tough skin. His life was praised as well as despised. He has gone through separations, incest, several love affairs, major debts and to just put it simple lived a wild life. Plenty of his major works got showed in the spotlight but I was more interested in one of his minor poems that created quite a stir as well. In the poem "She Walks in Beauty," readers of this poem wondered who exactly he was talking about in the poem.
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light 5
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face; 10
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow, 15
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!
(from "She walks in beauty")
Some people speculate that he is talking about no one that he is simply writing a poem for poems sake. Others say that this clearly is a a poem to one of his incest lover's. If this is a poem to one of his cousins I will have to say that first that is gross and second that is quite bold of him to do that considering the consequences.
All his life was not so bad though, in fact his life was quite admirable. In the time of need Mr. Gordon let him self become an agent of the London committee and even more than that he used the profit he gained over the years to help the cause. This upon his death at the age of 36, I believe is what saved his name. And I could imagine that he ended his life just as his poem says.
Seek out-less often sought than found-
A soldier's grave, for thee the best;
Then look around, and choose thy ground,
And take thy rest.
(from "On this day I complete my 36th year)
The Great World War
In a war where over a million people died and fifteen-hundred died daily, there should be no surprise as to how big the impact of the first World War had on poets. This changed the way most people reacted to life. It also had some thinking doomsday was coming upon us. Those had to be some scary times. The poets of this time were called "war poets," and they had their different approaches to the world's conflict. They were also soldiers who wrote about their physical and mental experiences in the war. It really gives you a chance to see what a person in that state was really thinking. Rupert Brooke, one of the poets, was killed even before action by blood poison. It seemed he knew his time was near and wrote about how he already felt free.
"If I should die, think only this of me: That there's some corner of foreign field That is forever England...."
(From The Solider)
This poem, entitled "The Soldier" was also read at his funeral. Not everyone was praised as a hero though. Siegfried Sassoon was a spoiled rich kid whose life was turned upside down by the war. He was injured while on duty and told them that he did not want to go back. He felt that the war became unnecessary and because of his comments people felt that he was not patriotic. I on the other hand am not the one to judge. who is to say how I would feel if i was thrown into a war I did not start and had to kill several people. I guess at a certain point he felt that the killing will never end and he illustrates this in "Everyone Sang."
My heart was shaken with tears; and horror
Drifted away.......O, but Everyone
was a bird; and the song was wordless; the singing will never be done.
It seems like he is saying sure we are free this time but there will be another time where we will have to fight and then another and another. The fighting will not stop. i just found it amazing because Sassoon actually saved someones life and received a reward for it but to the public he is seen as non-patriotic. While Mr. Brooke who never even entered combat is considered a hero. I guess that shows you just how much power writings have on people.
In a war where over a million people died and fifteen-hundred died daily, there should be no surprise as to how big the impact of the first World War had on poets. This changed the way most people reacted to life. It also had some thinking doomsday was coming upon us. Those had to be some scary times. The poets of this time were called "war poets," and they had their different approaches to the world's conflict. They were also soldiers who wrote about their physical and mental experiences in the war. It really gives you a chance to see what a person in that state was really thinking. Rupert Brooke, one of the poets, was killed even before action by blood poison. It seemed he knew his time was near and wrote about how he already felt free.
"If I should die, think only this of me: That there's some corner of foreign field That is forever England...."
(From The Solider)
This poem, entitled "The Soldier" was also read at his funeral. Not everyone was praised as a hero though. Siegfried Sassoon was a spoiled rich kid whose life was turned upside down by the war. He was injured while on duty and told them that he did not want to go back. He felt that the war became unnecessary and because of his comments people felt that he was not patriotic. I on the other hand am not the one to judge. who is to say how I would feel if i was thrown into a war I did not start and had to kill several people. I guess at a certain point he felt that the killing will never end and he illustrates this in "Everyone Sang."
My heart was shaken with tears; and horror
Drifted away.......O, but Everyone
was a bird; and the song was wordless; the singing will never be done.
It seems like he is saying sure we are free this time but there will be another time where we will have to fight and then another and another. The fighting will not stop. i just found it amazing because Sassoon actually saved someones life and received a reward for it but to the public he is seen as non-patriotic. While Mr. Brooke who never even entered combat is considered a hero. I guess that shows you just how much power writings have on people.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wild, oh excuse me, I mean Wilde was to me a slickster. He was one of the kind guys you could not leave your girlfriend with ( or in his case guy friend), because of his smooth talking and flashy style. Despite his persona he has put out several great works. In the words of Oscar “I have put only my talent into my works. I have put my genius into my life.” I mean something is to be said about a man who is low on money and finds that the solution is marriage. To me he was a liar others and himself. I guess this is why I found “The Decay of Lying” and “The Importance of being Earnest,” to be some of his most intriguing plays. I mean how can this man talk about the importance of telling the truth, let alone how bad it was to lie. “The Importance of being Earnest,” tells a story of man who has a secret identity and how that identity gets him into a lot of trouble. He lost love, family, and if I read correctly life. All of these things were very similar to Oscar’s own life I might add. By losing his children and freedom over the love of a young man, one could say that he too had a secret identity that know one knew about until then.
Oscar Wild, oh excuse me, I mean Wilde was to me a slickster. He was one of the kind guys you could not leave your girlfriend with ( or in his case guy friend), because of his smooth talking and flashy style. Despite his persona he has put out several great works. In the words of Oscar “I have put only my talent into my works. I have put my genius into my life.” I mean something is to be said about a man who is low on money and finds that the solution is marriage. To me he was a liar others and himself. I guess this is why I found “The Decay of Lying” and “The Importance of being Earnest,” to be some of his most intriguing plays. I mean how can this man talk about the importance of telling the truth, let alone how bad it was to lie. “The Importance of being Earnest,” tells a story of man who has a secret identity and how that identity gets him into a lot of trouble. He lost love, family, and if I read correctly life. All of these things were very similar to Oscar’s own life I might add. By losing his children and freedom over the love of a young man, one could say that he too had a secret identity that know one knew about until then.
Virginia Woolf
How fitting that we end our class and our talk of the moderns with the lady writer, Virginia Woolf(The only lady modern we looked at by the way) First off, let me say that this is my subjective opinion of Mrs. Woolf. I am pretty sure she would like that. I mean it was her who stressed this idea of subjectivity. Another idea she wanted to express was writers freedom. She felt that no true writer is really free to write with their emotions. This means a writer on any particular day can have any particular mood. Thus, making each work take on a life of its own everyday. The frustrating part for a writer though is that they have to stay in the same emotional state in order to write an acceptable piece of art. If not she said that it will not be acceptable to the market. Even though I think she would like to write without any boundaries, I will have to say that she is not a fool because she know that publishers would not pick it up.
She did however did a good job at selling her subjective point across to me in “A Reflection.“ In this first person narrative she describes a women that sees another women through a looking glass. As she is looking through this glass she starts to describe how wonderful this person’s life seem to be and how pleasing her room is for her eyes. But then she goes from a pleasant praising description of her to the more disappointing points of her life. Now look how she describes her room.
Under the Stress of thinking about Isabella, her room became more shadowy and symbolic; the corners seemed darker, the legs of chairs and tables more spindly and hieroglyphic.
(from a Reflection)
This is a drastic change in tone here for the narrator. It is quite a powerful tool that she uses and has to make you wonder about how you make first impressions about someone. We can go from calling someone a homeless, uneducated, thief to dubbing them the next multi-millionaire just by the way a person dresses, talks or just how the sun hits them at a particular moment. I mean this poem really makes you think how many wrong assumptions you have had about someone without finding out the truth? Even more to think about is how many people have the wrong impression about you? In today’s world where image is so very important, I find this subject a topic that will stay with us until death……………..Many kudos for bringing that to my attention Mrs. Woolf. Thanx
How fitting that we end our class and our talk of the moderns with the lady writer, Virginia Woolf(The only lady modern we looked at by the way) First off, let me say that this is my subjective opinion of Mrs. Woolf. I am pretty sure she would like that. I mean it was her who stressed this idea of subjectivity. Another idea she wanted to express was writers freedom. She felt that no true writer is really free to write with their emotions. This means a writer on any particular day can have any particular mood. Thus, making each work take on a life of its own everyday. The frustrating part for a writer though is that they have to stay in the same emotional state in order to write an acceptable piece of art. If not she said that it will not be acceptable to the market. Even though I think she would like to write without any boundaries, I will have to say that she is not a fool because she know that publishers would not pick it up.
She did however did a good job at selling her subjective point across to me in “A Reflection.“ In this first person narrative she describes a women that sees another women through a looking glass. As she is looking through this glass she starts to describe how wonderful this person’s life seem to be and how pleasing her room is for her eyes. But then she goes from a pleasant praising description of her to the more disappointing points of her life. Now look how she describes her room.
Under the Stress of thinking about Isabella, her room became more shadowy and symbolic; the corners seemed darker, the legs of chairs and tables more spindly and hieroglyphic.
(from a Reflection)
This is a drastic change in tone here for the narrator. It is quite a powerful tool that she uses and has to make you wonder about how you make first impressions about someone. We can go from calling someone a homeless, uneducated, thief to dubbing them the next multi-millionaire just by the way a person dresses, talks or just how the sun hits them at a particular moment. I mean this poem really makes you think how many wrong assumptions you have had about someone without finding out the truth? Even more to think about is how many people have the wrong impression about you? In today’s world where image is so very important, I find this subject a topic that will stay with us until death……………..Many kudos for bringing that to my attention Mrs. Woolf. Thanx
T.S. Eliot
T.S. Eliot had quite a family background to live up to. With Presidents and Deans in the family bloodline, Eliot had no chance but to be something great and something great he was indeed. Among his great tasks he completed was “The Wasteland.” It can be considered one if not the most influential poem of the 20th century. As I read the material I can see why. This to me is a very difficult read because it makes so many references to so many other writings and in order for you(well me) to understand where Eliot was coming from you have to go back and take your mind back to the reference to see where their mind was at, so you can see where Eliot’s mind was at, so you can make up your mind on what to think…….whew, sorry about that. An example of what I mean is this in “I had not thought death had undone so many.”(line 63) This comes from “Dante’s Inferno,” again one of my favorites, and as you go back and understand how the inferno was developed you can come back to Eliot and really appreciate what he is trying to say. As it says in the footnotes, Chapter 3 versus 55-57 of the Inferno
An interminable train of souls pressed on,
so many that I wondered how death could have undone so many
(from the Inferno)
The versus which are very similar talk about how he is surprised to see how many people live life in the middle. This means that these people are not completely devoted to serving God or are not considered completely evil. Thus, this made them unable to go to either Heaven or Hell. Now all that deciphering was made for only one line of this poem. This is why I consider this a hard read for me, maybe the hardest of our semester. I mean it is almost as if ever line has a life of its own. At no means is this a negative critique of his work. I loved this piece and I see why it is so widely praised. And I guess it is fitting that with his family legacy such a piece would come from him. As he is truly a genius.
T.S. Eliot had quite a family background to live up to. With Presidents and Deans in the family bloodline, Eliot had no chance but to be something great and something great he was indeed. Among his great tasks he completed was “The Wasteland.” It can be considered one if not the most influential poem of the 20th century. As I read the material I can see why. This to me is a very difficult read because it makes so many references to so many other writings and in order for you(well me) to understand where Eliot was coming from you have to go back and take your mind back to the reference to see where their mind was at, so you can see where Eliot’s mind was at, so you can make up your mind on what to think…….whew, sorry about that. An example of what I mean is this in “I had not thought death had undone so many.”(line 63) This comes from “Dante’s Inferno,” again one of my favorites, and as you go back and understand how the inferno was developed you can come back to Eliot and really appreciate what he is trying to say. As it says in the footnotes, Chapter 3 versus 55-57 of the Inferno
An interminable train of souls pressed on,
so many that I wondered how death could have undone so many
(from the Inferno)
The versus which are very similar talk about how he is surprised to see how many people live life in the middle. This means that these people are not completely devoted to serving God or are not considered completely evil. Thus, this made them unable to go to either Heaven or Hell. Now all that deciphering was made for only one line of this poem. This is why I consider this a hard read for me, maybe the hardest of our semester. I mean it is almost as if ever line has a life of its own. At no means is this a negative critique of his work. I loved this piece and I see why it is so widely praised. And I guess it is fitting that with his family legacy such a piece would come from him. As he is truly a genius.
James Joyce
As I do in mostly all my writing I pick a part in a person’s life that I find most interesting and I try to relate it to one of his poems or writings. I find this is a good way to see where the author is coming from and use it to get a good idea of how it feels to me. First Mr. James Joyce, whose writings were banned and pirated for their language and content, told the world hey if I can not express myself the way I want to in the English language than I will just go back to the ancient languages when such similar words and meanings were acceptable. So you could just imagine how bummed I was to see that this book did not have “The portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.” If you had to change to ancient languages to get the art out it had to be something serious. What they do have though is “clay” which is a more acceptable art among the people of that time and I am sure as a whole it is just as good, but like I said before I really wanted to see what the former writing was about. What was Mr. Joyce’s mind really capable of. Anyway “Clay,” which is a short story, tells the story of an elderly women named Maria, who works in a shelter for once streetwalkers, and is invited to a party by a childhood friend. It seems there is a reoccurring theme that this person does not like the life they are granted. From her getting the news of the party to her going to the party, she is reminded over and over again as the story progresses that she is not married. What makes it worse is that when playing the game of random choice she receives an item that resembles death and then one that made her assume the role of a nun, all by which avoiding the one item that meant marriage. Oh did I add that the person who invited her to the party is also married and I believe she had or may have feelings for him. But back to the story after all this becomes to much for her she gets liquored up and sings her beloved host a song about marriage. The song was so touching that the host(Joe) begins to cry. And that basically ends the story. Now I went through that summary for a reason. The reason is does the title clay have multiple meanings in this tale? Maybe clay can stand for your life. Meaning each choice you take each mistake you make shapes you into the person you are. Now the question is will you make your lump of clay an artistic success, that has been a carefully planned project, that you can be proud of for years to come or is it an unenergetic piece of garage that was scraped together just to get by and was fine until it was placed next to another sculpture? It may be a stretch but this is one of the main ideas that stood out for me in this piece.
As I do in mostly all my writing I pick a part in a person’s life that I find most interesting and I try to relate it to one of his poems or writings. I find this is a good way to see where the author is coming from and use it to get a good idea of how it feels to me. First Mr. James Joyce, whose writings were banned and pirated for their language and content, told the world hey if I can not express myself the way I want to in the English language than I will just go back to the ancient languages when such similar words and meanings were acceptable. So you could just imagine how bummed I was to see that this book did not have “The portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.” If you had to change to ancient languages to get the art out it had to be something serious. What they do have though is “clay” which is a more acceptable art among the people of that time and I am sure as a whole it is just as good, but like I said before I really wanted to see what the former writing was about. What was Mr. Joyce’s mind really capable of. Anyway “Clay,” which is a short story, tells the story of an elderly women named Maria, who works in a shelter for once streetwalkers, and is invited to a party by a childhood friend. It seems there is a reoccurring theme that this person does not like the life they are granted. From her getting the news of the party to her going to the party, she is reminded over and over again as the story progresses that she is not married. What makes it worse is that when playing the game of random choice she receives an item that resembles death and then one that made her assume the role of a nun, all by which avoiding the one item that meant marriage. Oh did I add that the person who invited her to the party is also married and I believe she had or may have feelings for him. But back to the story after all this becomes to much for her she gets liquored up and sings her beloved host a song about marriage. The song was so touching that the host(Joe) begins to cry. And that basically ends the story. Now I went through that summary for a reason. The reason is does the title clay have multiple meanings in this tale? Maybe clay can stand for your life. Meaning each choice you take each mistake you make shapes you into the person you are. Now the question is will you make your lump of clay an artistic success, that has been a carefully planned project, that you can be proud of for years to come or is it an unenergetic piece of garage that was scraped together just to get by and was fine until it was placed next to another sculpture? It may be a stretch but this is one of the main ideas that stood out for me in this piece.
W.B. Yeats
Out of all the things I found interesting about Yeats, the many rejections of marriage given to him by Maud Gonne had to be the one that took the cake. He even said that all the love poems before his marriage to his child hood friend George were about Gonne. And how does she repay him? She marries a drunken solider, who by the way later gets executed (Yeats had to smile a little when he saw that on CNN). I do not know about you but that has to be a cold person or she was gave W.B. the wrong signals. Ok now lets get down to his writings. Yeats had an idea that every 2000 years the world starts over. He illustrates this idea in “The Second Coming.” An idea where the world is in complete disarray.
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity
(from the second coming)
I guess it would be natural to list such destruction of the world after witnessing the first World War. I focused a lot on the part where it said “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” I feel that he is saying that the people who started the war will continue to fight because they are the worse kind of people while the people who tried to keep peace give up and just let it happen. I could just imagine how his mind was after the World War had ended because never before has a War like that happened. I would think the end is near also, because once again as the poem suggest the “worst are full of passionate intensity” and in that case will never stop the fight until all the world is destroyed. Even though it seems very unlikely now, a day after the end of the first World War had to at least keep those people a little paranoid that such a future was going to happen.
Out of all the things I found interesting about Yeats, the many rejections of marriage given to him by Maud Gonne had to be the one that took the cake. He even said that all the love poems before his marriage to his child hood friend George were about Gonne. And how does she repay him? She marries a drunken solider, who by the way later gets executed (Yeats had to smile a little when he saw that on CNN). I do not know about you but that has to be a cold person or she was gave W.B. the wrong signals. Ok now lets get down to his writings. Yeats had an idea that every 2000 years the world starts over. He illustrates this idea in “The Second Coming.” An idea where the world is in complete disarray.
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity
(from the second coming)
I guess it would be natural to list such destruction of the world after witnessing the first World War. I focused a lot on the part where it said “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” I feel that he is saying that the people who started the war will continue to fight because they are the worse kind of people while the people who tried to keep peace give up and just let it happen. I could just imagine how his mind was after the World War had ended because never before has a War like that happened. I would think the end is near also, because once again as the poem suggest the “worst are full of passionate intensity” and in that case will never stop the fight until all the world is destroyed. Even though it seems very unlikely now, a day after the end of the first World War had to at least keep those people a little paranoid that such a future was going to happen.
George Bernard Shaw
Let me first say wow, 94 years old is a blessing. I hope first to live nearly as long and complete even a fourth of the things G.B.S. has accomplished. Mr. Shaw in our text is pretty long so I shall skip write to the writers breakdown. In “Pygmalion” it showed his ideas on how society should be and how it actually is. The story sets with two guys making a bet that one can or can not make a women a respectable person among her male peers. This play has had a movie made in the early 20th century and plenty of spin offs, including one of my favorite movies “Trading Places,” with Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd. If you have noticed with some of my previous writings I like to make comparisons and differences between works of the distant past and works of the present. So, That is what I will be doing right now.
First lets discuss the character.
Similarities: Both are in a lower class and end up in a higher one.
Differences: One is a black male while in Shaw’s play the character is a white female.
Second the bet
Similarities: Both are approached with a proposition that would make their lives economically better than what they were.
Differences: They also make a second bet that they can make someone of a higher class sink to the levels of a lower class.
Lastly the ending
Similarities: Both of the characters get tired of the lack of control they have and eventually get the best of the two people who made the bet.
Differences: Well there are two differences if you were to go by the original play the women decides to not fall for the guy who trained her to fit in with the upper class…. But if you go by the early 20th century movie that came out that was based on the play you can see that the women does marry the guy who trained her. By comparing this to the movie Trading Places neither one of these endings happened but instead the two people that were being manipulated made the two people who placed the bet bankrupt.
Sure, this is not the traditional way of writing that we normally do on here but I felt for a change and thought it would be real cool to do it this way.
Let me first say wow, 94 years old is a blessing. I hope first to live nearly as long and complete even a fourth of the things G.B.S. has accomplished. Mr. Shaw in our text is pretty long so I shall skip write to the writers breakdown. In “Pygmalion” it showed his ideas on how society should be and how it actually is. The story sets with two guys making a bet that one can or can not make a women a respectable person among her male peers. This play has had a movie made in the early 20th century and plenty of spin offs, including one of my favorite movies “Trading Places,” with Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd. If you have noticed with some of my previous writings I like to make comparisons and differences between works of the distant past and works of the present. So, That is what I will be doing right now.
First lets discuss the character.
Similarities: Both are in a lower class and end up in a higher one.
Differences: One is a black male while in Shaw’s play the character is a white female.
Second the bet
Similarities: Both are approached with a proposition that would make their lives economically better than what they were.
Differences: They also make a second bet that they can make someone of a higher class sink to the levels of a lower class.
Lastly the ending
Similarities: Both of the characters get tired of the lack of control they have and eventually get the best of the two people who made the bet.
Differences: Well there are two differences if you were to go by the original play the women decides to not fall for the guy who trained her to fit in with the upper class…. But if you go by the early 20th century movie that came out that was based on the play you can see that the women does marry the guy who trained her. By comparing this to the movie Trading Places neither one of these endings happened but instead the two people that were being manipulated made the two people who placed the bet bankrupt.
Sure, this is not the traditional way of writing that we normally do on here but I felt for a change and thought it would be real cool to do it this way.
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Ok Lets see what makes a Victorian. I guess you can say a person who questions religious faith, searches for “miracles, and dislikes writing in traditional poetic forms. All of which are things Mr. Hopkins exhibited in his life. He found at least a way to show God’s presence in nature. In order for him to do this he used these two terms: inscape and instress. Inscape is a term that means the unique, distinctive and inherent quality of a thing. Where Instress is the force that both unifies an object and arouses the senses of its beholder. These two terms are used very heavily in his writings. To look at “The Windhover” you can see how he wants you to at the smaller things in life as a miracle.
I CAUGHT this morning morning’s minion, king-
dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding….
….My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird,—the achieve of; the mastery of the thing!….
….
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!…
(from The Windhover)
To appreciate something of such a small nature in itself is a beautiful thing if not a miracle. Too often people try to look at lottery winners, near fatal accidents, and celebrity stories as miracles. When in fact just you waking up in the morning is a miracle. Also this passage shows his complete disregard for the poetic readers flow. If you were to read this aloud to a neighbor it would sound much better than you reading to yourself. Gerard rebelled against poetic structure because he felt poetry should be spoken and not read. Since I do not have someone to read it to me, it is a pretty hard read for me. In saying this I will close with a question. As I read his material I was thinking is this why we call him a modern because of his complete disregard for structure? If so, would that not make him more of a Victorian?
Ok Lets see what makes a Victorian. I guess you can say a person who questions religious faith, searches for “miracles, and dislikes writing in traditional poetic forms. All of which are things Mr. Hopkins exhibited in his life. He found at least a way to show God’s presence in nature. In order for him to do this he used these two terms: inscape and instress. Inscape is a term that means the unique, distinctive and inherent quality of a thing. Where Instress is the force that both unifies an object and arouses the senses of its beholder. These two terms are used very heavily in his writings. To look at “The Windhover” you can see how he wants you to at the smaller things in life as a miracle.
I CAUGHT this morning morning’s minion, king-
dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding….
….My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird,—the achieve of; the mastery of the thing!….
….
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!…
(from The Windhover)
To appreciate something of such a small nature in itself is a beautiful thing if not a miracle. Too often people try to look at lottery winners, near fatal accidents, and celebrity stories as miracles. When in fact just you waking up in the morning is a miracle. Also this passage shows his complete disregard for the poetic readers flow. If you were to read this aloud to a neighbor it would sound much better than you reading to yourself. Gerard rebelled against poetic structure because he felt poetry should be spoken and not read. Since I do not have someone to read it to me, it is a pretty hard read for me. In saying this I will close with a question. As I read his material I was thinking is this why we call him a modern because of his complete disregard for structure? If so, would that not make him more of a Victorian?
John Stuart Mill
This guy did not even have a chance to be anything else but great. By the age of fourteen he was taught the amount of information a middle-aged man knew. It was no wonder he had a nervous breakdown at such a young age. He did find his calling though. Can you guess what it was? Of coarse, it was writing. It seems writing was a way for him to show an emotional side that he was unable to share early on in his life. He was not the only one under his father’s control. His father showed the same complete control over his household and his mother. My guess is this is why he is so strong on women’s rights. To see his mother in that slave state must have had a real lasting effect on him. I guess in a sense he could relate to them because his rights were also limited growing up. Their lifestyles seem pretty similar with women being a slave to the kitchen and he being a slave to the books in my opinion. Lets look at one of his writing called “The Subjection of Women,” who by the way gives half of the credit to his wife for writing it.
Some will object, that a comparison cannot fairly be made between the government of the male sex and the forms of unjust power which I have adduced in illustration of it, since these are arbitrary, and the effect of mere usurpation, while it on the contrary is natural. But was there ever any domination which did not appear natural to those who possessed it? There was a time when the division of mankind into two classes, a small one of masters and numerous one of slaves, appeared, even to the most cultivated minds, to be natural, and the only natural, condition of the human race.
(from the Subjection of Women)
The idea that women are slaves is more than apparent in this piece. What is even a bigger topic is the one of how they were ok with it. How they took this to be natural and idea that had to let the reader at least give that idea a second thought. This is as far as I saw from him. He was a men who stood for women when it was not considered fashionable. This makes him a pretty interesting individual and I am pretty sure a well loved men around the ladies as well……….. wink wink
This guy did not even have a chance to be anything else but great. By the age of fourteen he was taught the amount of information a middle-aged man knew. It was no wonder he had a nervous breakdown at such a young age. He did find his calling though. Can you guess what it was? Of coarse, it was writing. It seems writing was a way for him to show an emotional side that he was unable to share early on in his life. He was not the only one under his father’s control. His father showed the same complete control over his household and his mother. My guess is this is why he is so strong on women’s rights. To see his mother in that slave state must have had a real lasting effect on him. I guess in a sense he could relate to them because his rights were also limited growing up. Their lifestyles seem pretty similar with women being a slave to the kitchen and he being a slave to the books in my opinion. Lets look at one of his writing called “The Subjection of Women,” who by the way gives half of the credit to his wife for writing it.
Some will object, that a comparison cannot fairly be made between the government of the male sex and the forms of unjust power which I have adduced in illustration of it, since these are arbitrary, and the effect of mere usurpation, while it on the contrary is natural. But was there ever any domination which did not appear natural to those who possessed it? There was a time when the division of mankind into two classes, a small one of masters and numerous one of slaves, appeared, even to the most cultivated minds, to be natural, and the only natural, condition of the human race.
(from the Subjection of Women)
The idea that women are slaves is more than apparent in this piece. What is even a bigger topic is the one of how they were ok with it. How they took this to be natural and idea that had to let the reader at least give that idea a second thought. This is as far as I saw from him. He was a men who stood for women when it was not considered fashionable. This makes him a pretty interesting individual and I am pretty sure a well loved men around the ladies as well……….. wink wink
Robert Browning
A man who reinvented the dramatic monologues. Robert Browning, who at first was hesitate with the arts, found his calling after seeing a powerful performance of Richard III. The performance was so great it inspired him to have many mini plays with poems. He felt that poems should be seen and not only read. In his first dramatic monologue “Porphyyria’s Lover,” Browning laid down his lunatic legacy. If you ever wanted to know the mind state of a killer or the thoughts running through their head, then ol’ Rob’s plays would have been the perfect ticket for you to buy.
In one long yellow string I wound
Three times her little throat around,
And strangled her. No pain felt she;
I am quite sure she felt no pain.
(versus 39-42 of Porphyria’s Lover)
Now you would think this was a confession of a serial killer, but in actuality this character is one of the most love devoted characters of any writing. The killer was in love with this women so much he could not stand to see her love go away from him even for a moment. The thing about the character is that you do not know his history. Has he loved and lost before and the thought of it happening again become to much for him? Has he killed before? You don’t even know how long these two have known each other? You do not know anything about these people except his love for was so strong that he could not stand for her love to leave him naturally. He would rather her leave him physically from his own hands than to go through the pain of her leaving him emotionally on her own. Now that is some hard love……….. ….With saying all that I will still have to say my man was crazy.…lol
A man who reinvented the dramatic monologues. Robert Browning, who at first was hesitate with the arts, found his calling after seeing a powerful performance of Richard III. The performance was so great it inspired him to have many mini plays with poems. He felt that poems should be seen and not only read. In his first dramatic monologue “Porphyyria’s Lover,” Browning laid down his lunatic legacy. If you ever wanted to know the mind state of a killer or the thoughts running through their head, then ol’ Rob’s plays would have been the perfect ticket for you to buy.
In one long yellow string I wound
Three times her little throat around,
And strangled her. No pain felt she;
I am quite sure she felt no pain.
(versus 39-42 of Porphyria’s Lover)
Now you would think this was a confession of a serial killer, but in actuality this character is one of the most love devoted characters of any writing. The killer was in love with this women so much he could not stand to see her love go away from him even for a moment. The thing about the character is that you do not know his history. Has he loved and lost before and the thought of it happening again become to much for him? Has he killed before? You don’t even know how long these two have known each other? You do not know anything about these people except his love for was so strong that he could not stand for her love to leave him naturally. He would rather her leave him physically from his own hands than to go through the pain of her leaving him emotionally on her own. Now that is some hard love……….. ….With saying all that I will still have to say my man was crazy.…lol
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
First let me say Ms. Browning gets major kudos from me for translating “Prometheus Unbound” and writing the sequel to “Paradise Lost.” Besides those works, Elizabeth Barrett Browning was an inspiration to not only fellow lady writers but all women in general. Topics such as American slavery and child laboring are a few topics she voice her opinion about. By far her most favorite work was ”Sonnets from the Portuguese.” The most familiar line has to be from her 43 poem starting at the first line and it goes “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways,” which until now I had no idea that she was responsible for that famous line. She goes on to say…
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old grief’s, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints!---I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!---and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
(from “Sonnets from the Portuguese” poem 43)
Now what is funny about this is that before reading this I thought that the first line belonged to a cartoon character named Roger Rabbit (from the movie “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”), man did I feel silly after reading this. Ok, back to the writing. I mean if this verse is any indication you can tell this women truly knew how to love and love hard. The passion to go against her father and marry her loving mate anyway show her happiness and commitment to love, where as when her brother died and she became bed stricken you saw the pain and disappointment in love. And through a lot of her poems you could see that good versus evil battle, which I believe True love is all about.
First let me say Ms. Browning gets major kudos from me for translating “Prometheus Unbound” and writing the sequel to “Paradise Lost.” Besides those works, Elizabeth Barrett Browning was an inspiration to not only fellow lady writers but all women in general. Topics such as American slavery and child laboring are a few topics she voice her opinion about. By far her most favorite work was ”Sonnets from the Portuguese.” The most familiar line has to be from her 43 poem starting at the first line and it goes “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways,” which until now I had no idea that she was responsible for that famous line. She goes on to say…
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old grief’s, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints!---I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!---and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
(from “Sonnets from the Portuguese” poem 43)
Now what is funny about this is that before reading this I thought that the first line belonged to a cartoon character named Roger Rabbit (from the movie “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”), man did I feel silly after reading this. Ok, back to the writing. I mean if this verse is any indication you can tell this women truly knew how to love and love hard. The passion to go against her father and marry her loving mate anyway show her happiness and commitment to love, where as when her brother died and she became bed stricken you saw the pain and disappointment in love. And through a lot of her poems you could see that good versus evil battle, which I believe True love is all about.
Thomas Carlyle
I will first open with a line that Samuel Butler said about Mr. Carlyle’s marriage. “It was very good of God to let Carlyle and Mrs. Carlyle marry one another and so make only two people miserable instead of four, besides being very amusing.” Now if that is not the grand toast at a wedding I don’t know what is one. As you read the mini biography you can not help but to get that mean old man presence from Thomas. Nevertheless, he has put out plenty of excellent writings, especially around the time he lost his faith.
You know I can not speak for everyone, but I can speak for myself and for my peers that I have heard from. It seems that the question is how do you contain mental stability when your spiritual foundation is no longer standing strong? Who knows what may shake your stronghold of religion, maybe someone close to you dies for no apparent reason or you hear the story of a homeless person who seems to have lived the right way. Whatever it may be faith sometimes may be the hardest thing to keep. Thomas Carlyle was one of the few people to write about this feeling. In a time he self-proclaimed “The Everlasting No,” Carlyle wrote a piece called “Sartor.” Even though this writing was not the one that put him on the map, I am sure that the autobiography would be a special read to me and I believe some of my college peers.
But now on to one of his more famous writings. In the “Past and Present,” he switches from his religious tone somewhat and focuses on how social class, politics, and making money influence us. In the part entitled Captains of Industry he seems to say that this high speed completion of making money is leading us down the wrong path.
“But it is my firm conviction that the “Hell in England” will cease to be the of “not making money”; that we shall get a nobler Hell and a nobler Heaven!….-O Heavens, each man will then say to himself: ”Why such deadly haste to make money? I shall not got to Hell, even if I do not make money! There is another Hell, I am told!” Competition, at railway-speed, in all branches of commerce and work will then abate:-good felt-hats for the head, In every sense, instead of seven-feet lath-and-plaster hats on wheels, will then be discoverable!”
(from Captains of Industry)
With him saying that the never ending chase of money is no more different than Hell, has to make you think. You know as you grow up you often got asked the question what would you want to be when you grow up and the response a child gives is usually a profession that brings in a lot of money. But in this world today and the world of yesteryear you really got to questions what makes you happy, because that is all that really matters in life.
I will first open with a line that Samuel Butler said about Mr. Carlyle’s marriage. “It was very good of God to let Carlyle and Mrs. Carlyle marry one another and so make only two people miserable instead of four, besides being very amusing.” Now if that is not the grand toast at a wedding I don’t know what is one. As you read the mini biography you can not help but to get that mean old man presence from Thomas. Nevertheless, he has put out plenty of excellent writings, especially around the time he lost his faith.
You know I can not speak for everyone, but I can speak for myself and for my peers that I have heard from. It seems that the question is how do you contain mental stability when your spiritual foundation is no longer standing strong? Who knows what may shake your stronghold of religion, maybe someone close to you dies for no apparent reason or you hear the story of a homeless person who seems to have lived the right way. Whatever it may be faith sometimes may be the hardest thing to keep. Thomas Carlyle was one of the few people to write about this feeling. In a time he self-proclaimed “The Everlasting No,” Carlyle wrote a piece called “Sartor.” Even though this writing was not the one that put him on the map, I am sure that the autobiography would be a special read to me and I believe some of my college peers.
But now on to one of his more famous writings. In the “Past and Present,” he switches from his religious tone somewhat and focuses on how social class, politics, and making money influence us. In the part entitled Captains of Industry he seems to say that this high speed completion of making money is leading us down the wrong path.
“But it is my firm conviction that the “Hell in England” will cease to be the of “not making money”; that we shall get a nobler Hell and a nobler Heaven!….-O Heavens, each man will then say to himself: ”Why such deadly haste to make money? I shall not got to Hell, even if I do not make money! There is another Hell, I am told!” Competition, at railway-speed, in all branches of commerce and work will then abate:-good felt-hats for the head, In every sense, instead of seven-feet lath-and-plaster hats on wheels, will then be discoverable!”
(from Captains of Industry)
With him saying that the never ending chase of money is no more different than Hell, has to make you think. You know as you grow up you often got asked the question what would you want to be when you grow up and the response a child gives is usually a profession that brings in a lot of money. But in this world today and the world of yesteryear you really got to questions what makes you happy, because that is all that really matters in life.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Percy Bysshe Shelley
(1792-1822)
As the textbook, The Longman Anthology, says Percy is one of the most radical visionaries of the Romantic Revolution era. You would think that a title such as that only is granted to a person because of there way of writing, but in actuality the way the Mr. Shelley lived his life played an integral part in that title. Even though he lived for only 30 years, his life was more than anybody could handle in any life time. I would say that he more than anybody hated authority. Furthermore, I would say that he hated it so much so that he would deny his own religion because he could not stand the fact that there was someone over him.
There are plenty of examples in his life that can show his rebellious nature. From his writings on atheism to his controversial open relationship with his wife, Percy's life would be a common theme on E's True Hollywood Stories. I found it particularly interesting when reading on how his lifestyle cost him custody of his child and his reaction he wrote Prometheus Unbound. Which I loved because it is based on Greek Mythology. So I did a little reading on Prometheus Unbound on http://www.english.upenn.edu/Projects/knarf/PShelley/prompref.html, since it is not in our textbook. In doing so I was amazed at how he used Satan as an equal to Prometheus in his Preface. Satan not being labeled as the anti-Christ or "bad guy," but as a person who goes against authority almost like a hero and Percy points out that if it were not for his " taints of ambition, envy, revenge, and desire for personnel aggrandizement," his faults would not have been "weighed" so heavily. I have read Paradise Lost and that characterization never crossed my mind. I think that type of lyrical freedom and thought made him on of the most radical poets in his era. But what put him over the top was that he not only wrote about freedom he also lived it.
(1792-1822)
As the textbook, The Longman Anthology, says Percy is one of the most radical visionaries of the Romantic Revolution era. You would think that a title such as that only is granted to a person because of there way of writing, but in actuality the way the Mr. Shelley lived his life played an integral part in that title. Even though he lived for only 30 years, his life was more than anybody could handle in any life time. I would say that he more than anybody hated authority. Furthermore, I would say that he hated it so much so that he would deny his own religion because he could not stand the fact that there was someone over him.
There are plenty of examples in his life that can show his rebellious nature. From his writings on atheism to his controversial open relationship with his wife, Percy's life would be a common theme on E's True Hollywood Stories. I found it particularly interesting when reading on how his lifestyle cost him custody of his child and his reaction he wrote Prometheus Unbound. Which I loved because it is based on Greek Mythology. So I did a little reading on Prometheus Unbound on http://www.english.upenn.edu/Projects/knarf/PShelley/prompref.html, since it is not in our textbook. In doing so I was amazed at how he used Satan as an equal to Prometheus in his Preface. Satan not being labeled as the anti-Christ or "bad guy," but as a person who goes against authority almost like a hero and Percy points out that if it were not for his " taints of ambition, envy, revenge, and desire for personnel aggrandizement," his faults would not have been "weighed" so heavily. I have read Paradise Lost and that characterization never crossed my mind. I think that type of lyrical freedom and thought made him on of the most radical poets in his era. But what put him over the top was that he not only wrote about freedom he also lived it.
Friday, June 1, 2007
William Blake
(1757-1827)
Now I first have to say that I am appalled that now of Blake’s paintings of Dante’s Inferno were in this book, because Blake was not only a poet but also a great painter and I felt that that was one of his better works. I will also say that I am not a sadist or a devil worshipper but I did love his depiction of Heaven and Hell. It seemed to me that his ideas were so far out there that it often got him in trouble and made him a outcast of society. I think though that he was just showing his artistic right which was to be able to express himself in any way that he wanted. One of things that I got from his readings were that good and bad is apparent in all people. Lets look at one of his more shorter poems, “A Poison Tree.” In this he shows that in one case a person is able to forgive a person that he is angry with, which shows good human nature. Now, this same person poisons another person simply because this one is a foe. And the thing that gets me is that the person is happy that his enemy is dead by his hand. This means that he has no remorse for the death, which shows revenge and very evil human nature. This type of good and evil was used often where I believe others wrote good versus evil. I mean if he did not write about it who would because that part of human nature is very much a part of society world wide.
(1757-1827)
Now I first have to say that I am appalled that now of Blake’s paintings of Dante’s Inferno were in this book, because Blake was not only a poet but also a great painter and I felt that that was one of his better works. I will also say that I am not a sadist or a devil worshipper but I did love his depiction of Heaven and Hell. It seemed to me that his ideas were so far out there that it often got him in trouble and made him a outcast of society. I think though that he was just showing his artistic right which was to be able to express himself in any way that he wanted. One of things that I got from his readings were that good and bad is apparent in all people. Lets look at one of his more shorter poems, “A Poison Tree.” In this he shows that in one case a person is able to forgive a person that he is angry with, which shows good human nature. Now, this same person poisons another person simply because this one is a foe. And the thing that gets me is that the person is happy that his enemy is dead by his hand. This means that he has no remorse for the death, which shows revenge and very evil human nature. This type of good and evil was used often where I believe others wrote good versus evil. I mean if he did not write about it who would because that part of human nature is very much a part of society world wide.
John Keats
(1795-1821)
The good really do die young is never more evident than in the life of John Keats. As a man who could be considered a pop-star of the Romantic Age, his less than a decade run on this period had a huge impact. His most famous works were his many Ode’s. The Ode’s hit several topics including the social high controversy to the social low controversy, while also including many personal letters to family and friends. Within in our first chat we discussed the meaning of romance , and I believe, I may be wrong, that Dr. Glance said that romance is like an unattainable goal or unrealistic. Now, out of all the poets so far, I believe that Keats’ style is the one that does this better than anyone else. His idea of Negative Capability was placed in several poems. Negative Capability is a self-conscious oxymoron of the way of life. Lets take Ode to Nightingale for example. The very first line “My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains.” The oxymoron here is that there is no way you can be numb and feel pain. This idea really shows the hurt for his brother in this poem. I feel that pain often is paired with confusion and for him to show that in his writings were brilliant.
(1795-1821)
The good really do die young is never more evident than in the life of John Keats. As a man who could be considered a pop-star of the Romantic Age, his less than a decade run on this period had a huge impact. His most famous works were his many Ode’s. The Ode’s hit several topics including the social high controversy to the social low controversy, while also including many personal letters to family and friends. Within in our first chat we discussed the meaning of romance , and I believe, I may be wrong, that Dr. Glance said that romance is like an unattainable goal or unrealistic. Now, out of all the poets so far, I believe that Keats’ style is the one that does this better than anyone else. His idea of Negative Capability was placed in several poems. Negative Capability is a self-conscious oxymoron of the way of life. Lets take Ode to Nightingale for example. The very first line “My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains.” The oxymoron here is that there is no way you can be numb and feel pain. This idea really shows the hurt for his brother in this poem. I feel that pain often is paired with confusion and for him to show that in his writings were brilliant.
Dorothy Wordsworth
(1771-1855)
For a person who did not even think of herself as a writer, Dorothy has done pretty well in the regular poet reader’s eye. As a sister to two brothers Dorothy may be considered the best writer in the family. The reason I say this is because William, favorite brother , prided himself in being a poet. He was well recognized for it and worked hard at it. Dorothy on the other hand did not like the idea of becoming a poet but yet wrote daily entries in a diary. Entries that showed the roles of a women in society. She also had a strong sense for nature and gave strong imagery to let readers such as I feel that I am out and about in the beautiful place of nature at which she describes. One of the main ideas I got from her was how she wanted to be young once again. Maybe it was because it was a time where she had her parents or maybe it was because she was not stricken to women type of duties. I feel that this is why she gave such strong descriptions of nature because she wrote as if she was a child and as she grew she never left that type of thinking. In 1835, when Dorothy was about 65 years old she wrote “When Shall I Tread Your Garden Path.” In this you get a strong since of what I mean.
When shall I tread your garden path?
Or climb your sheltering hill?
When shall I wander, free as air,
And track the foaming rill?
A prisoner on my pillowed couch
Five years in feebleness I’ve lain,
Oh! Shall I e’er with vigorous step
Travel the hills again?
Pg 294
Now, I found this interesting because even at here age she is still writing about wandering around in wilderness. It is as if she feels stuck at where she is at “when shall I wander, free as air,” shows me that and it sounds almost as if she is enslaved. I may be going a little to far on this but this is what I got from this.
(1771-1855)
For a person who did not even think of herself as a writer, Dorothy has done pretty well in the regular poet reader’s eye. As a sister to two brothers Dorothy may be considered the best writer in the family. The reason I say this is because William, favorite brother , prided himself in being a poet. He was well recognized for it and worked hard at it. Dorothy on the other hand did not like the idea of becoming a poet but yet wrote daily entries in a diary. Entries that showed the roles of a women in society. She also had a strong sense for nature and gave strong imagery to let readers such as I feel that I am out and about in the beautiful place of nature at which she describes. One of the main ideas I got from her was how she wanted to be young once again. Maybe it was because it was a time where she had her parents or maybe it was because she was not stricken to women type of duties. I feel that this is why she gave such strong descriptions of nature because she wrote as if she was a child and as she grew she never left that type of thinking. In 1835, when Dorothy was about 65 years old she wrote “When Shall I Tread Your Garden Path.” In this you get a strong since of what I mean.
When shall I tread your garden path?
Or climb your sheltering hill?
When shall I wander, free as air,
And track the foaming rill?
A prisoner on my pillowed couch
Five years in feebleness I’ve lain,
Oh! Shall I e’er with vigorous step
Travel the hills again?
Pg 294
Now, I found this interesting because even at here age she is still writing about wandering around in wilderness. It is as if she feels stuck at where she is at “when shall I wander, free as air,” shows me that and it sounds almost as if she is enslaved. I may be going a little to far on this but this is what I got from this.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(1772-1834)
I would first have to say before the reading I had know idea of who this person was let alone what his works were. Now, I am looking him up all over because his style of writing and his since of imagination is still being used today. The best example of this would have to be “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” I felt if I were reading a modern day pirate story, maybe a pirate story that took place on the Caribbean. That’s right I felt that the most successful pirate franchise to date, Pirates of the Caribbean, was attributed solely to Mr. Coleridge. Let me first say that I am no historian or consider myself a expert on Literature. With that being said I stand next to my notion that the POC are an adaptation of Coleridge’s work. The story that is told to the man approaching a wedding was one that at first caused impatience and then brought curiosity. This mariner had witnessed all types of things on his voyage. From being blown to Antarctica to the middle of the ocean where the water is to salty to drink.
Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.
(Sounds like the Caribbean) pg. 329
I mean these sailors have been through it all because of their captain Jack Sparrow…… oops I mean the Mariner. There are several other examples that support my comparison. His crew was killed and resurrected by him just to sail the ship. The constant references to the supernatural and such. I also believe that on page 331 lines 195-199, they are playing dice for souls and this was one of the main themes in the sequel to POC. Of coarse most movies are inspired by other forms of art. Now maybe this has been pointed out before but with me I saw it in Samuel’s writings and that is what I liked most about this particular poet.
(Sounds like the Caribbean) pg. 329
I mean these sailors have been through it all because of their captain Jack Sparrow…… oops I mean the Mariner. There are several other examples that support my comparison. His crew was killed and resurrected by him just to sail the ship. The constant references to the supernatural and such. I also believe that on page 331 lines 195-199, they are playing dice for souls and this was one of the main themes in the sequel to POC. Of coarse most movies are inspired by other forms of art. Now maybe this has been pointed out before but with me I saw it in Samuel’s writings and that is what I liked most about this particular poet.
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