Virginia Woolf definitely did not have it easy. She had a rough childhood that was filled with pain. She also had nervous breakdowns. These emotional and turbulent times led to her suicide. After reading her background I can understand why she broke down because all the people in her family that were close to her died. She was also tormented with headaches and voices in her head.
I would like to comment on "The Lady in the Looking Glass: A Reflection." Let me make it clear that I am not sure what Virginia was trying to tell us. However, I have my own interpretations of this work. She writes, "People should not leave looking-glasses hanging in their rooms any more than they should leave open cheque books or letters confessing some hideous crime" (p.1224). I found this interesting and disconcerting as I thought about a mirror. I look at myself all the time, as do others. The are mirrors in every bathroom of every home. Before we leave the house we look in the mirror to make sure we look presentable.
When I finished reading this work, I was even more unsure. I am not exactly sure who is speaking in the poem. I also kept thinking about the message she was trying to get across. Woolf gave the looking glass special characteristics, as if to say that it is so much more that just a simple object.
Some of us may be like the lady in the house. Some of us really cannot see ourselves for who we really are. Or is it that we do not want to see the reality staring back at us? Are we lost in a fantasy world that suits our own needs and opinions, while rejecting the opinions of others that do not coincide with these? Some of us are. Woolf could have been referring to this syndrome that we all have had at some point and if not we have been around someone who is suffering from it.
However, the reading also made me think about the fact that many of us may wonder how we are viewed by others. We think we know how people view us but some of us really have no idea. That can be a scary thought. You begin to think, I hope I'm not one of those people.
The message I got from this is that if you are gonna look in the looking-glass, be prepared to stare long and hard because you may or may not like what you see.
Friday, June 29, 2007
T. S. Eliot
"The Waste Land" was a poem that was difficult to find the meaning. It was hard for me to interpret his words. After I would begin to read a section I would think one thing and by the end of that section I would think that I was completely off. I am going to try and tackle the shortest section of this particular work. It is "Death by Water" on page 1212.
"Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead,
Forgot the cry of gulls, .....
And the profit and the loss. ....
Picked his bones in whispers....."
This section focuses on Phlebas the Phoenician who seemed to have drowned. In his death he has forgotten about his worldly worries such as profit and debts. Eliot tells us that the creatures of the sea have picked his course apart, all the way down to the bones.
"Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you."
I think Eliot ended the poem like this because he wants his reader to think about his own death. He is basically saying that Phlebas is like any one of us and what will we do while we are still alive. Are we doing enough so that we will be at peace in death? It is important to evaluate and ponder our lives every now and then.
"Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead,
Forgot the cry of gulls, .....
And the profit and the loss. ....
Picked his bones in whispers....."
This section focuses on Phlebas the Phoenician who seemed to have drowned. In his death he has forgotten about his worldly worries such as profit and debts. Eliot tells us that the creatures of the sea have picked his course apart, all the way down to the bones.
"Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you."
I think Eliot ended the poem like this because he wants his reader to think about his own death. He is basically saying that Phlebas is like any one of us and what will we do while we are still alive. Are we doing enough so that we will be at peace in death? It is important to evaluate and ponder our lives every now and then.
James Joyce
I did not particularly enjoy Joyce's work. However, I will comment on some of what I read in Chapter 13 of Ulysses, beginning on page 1165. The main character of the story is Leopold Bloom. In this chapter three girlfriends have come to the strand to watch fireworks. On of the girls is named Gerty MacDowell. Gerty daydreams about finding someone to love her. Her two friends leave to find a better spot to view the fireworks. Leopold comes to the strand and they begin to flirt from a distance. Leopold continues to watch her from a distance but when she sees the troubled look on his face she is concerned and wonders what brings him to look gaze upon her. Her wishes of romance and marriage become more apparent as she stares at him.
All of this occurs at the beginning of the chapter which I find interesting because earlier chapter reveal that Leopold is married. However, he keeps his focus toward Gerty and she begins to entice him with her body. There is a benediction going on at the church and it ends. Everyone leaves to view the fireworks. Leopold and Gerty are the only two people in this area now.
Gerty ends up naked as a roman candle is shot into the air. I assume the rocket being shot off is referencing a penis. At this point both she and Leopold are sexually aroused. The excite themselves and she ends up leaving while he stays and meditates on what just happened. It is revealed in a later chapter that his wife committed adultery. However, that still does not make what is occurring between him and Gerty right. This chapter was extremely interesting because it had sexual content as well as religious content and at some points I did not really understand what Joyce was really trying to say. This is a book I would like to read thoroughly in order to get a better understanding.
All of this occurs at the beginning of the chapter which I find interesting because earlier chapter reveal that Leopold is married. However, he keeps his focus toward Gerty and she begins to entice him with her body. There is a benediction going on at the church and it ends. Everyone leaves to view the fireworks. Leopold and Gerty are the only two people in this area now.
Gerty ends up naked as a roman candle is shot into the air. I assume the rocket being shot off is referencing a penis. At this point both she and Leopold are sexually aroused. The excite themselves and she ends up leaving while he stays and meditates on what just happened. It is revealed in a later chapter that his wife committed adultery. However, that still does not make what is occurring between him and Gerty right. This chapter was extremely interesting because it had sexual content as well as religious content and at some points I did not really understand what Joyce was really trying to say. This is a book I would like to read thoroughly in order to get a better understanding.
William Butler Yeats
Yeats wrote a poem about his daughter, Anne Butler Yeats born February 26, 1919. "A Prayer for My Daughter" was my favorite in this section.
"Once more the storm is howling, and half hid
Under this cradle-hood and coverlid
My child sleeps on" (p. 1123).
Looking at these lines from a literal stand point I would say that his daughter is sleeping through a fierce storm occurring outside. Some children can sleep through anything. However, for a figurative point of view, I would say that the storm represents turbulence around him, such as events during the time in which Yeats lived. People want to keep their children safe and he wishes to shield Anne from badness.
"And for an hour I have walked and prayed
Because of the great gloom that is in my mind."....
"Imagining in excited reverie
That the future years had come"
Yeats seems to be an anxious and worried father. He has put much thought into his daughter's future. All parents want their children to have better lives than they did. He wants her to inherit the traits and character necessary to lead a fulfilling life. He wants her to be happy.
"May she be granted beauty and yet not
Beauty to make a stranger's eye distraught,
or hers before a looking glass, for such
Being made beautiful overmuch,
Consider beauty a sufficient end,"
These lines tell us that Yeats wishes for his daughter to be beautiful, but not strikingly or overly beautiful. My interpretation was that he was saying that having too much beauty can be a detriment. It can be a curse because it can deceive those that observe the beauty as well as the person that possesses it. I can understand where he may derive this opinion because I know some people that are extremely beautiful on the outside and ugly on the inside. We all know if you are ugly on the inside, that beauty on the outside no longer seems so attractive. Its what's on the inside that counts. Later in the poem he mentions Helen of Troy to further get this point across.
"Once more the storm is howling, and half hid
Under this cradle-hood and coverlid
My child sleeps on" (p. 1123).
Looking at these lines from a literal stand point I would say that his daughter is sleeping through a fierce storm occurring outside. Some children can sleep through anything. However, for a figurative point of view, I would say that the storm represents turbulence around him, such as events during the time in which Yeats lived. People want to keep their children safe and he wishes to shield Anne from badness.
"And for an hour I have walked and prayed
Because of the great gloom that is in my mind."....
"Imagining in excited reverie
That the future years had come"
Yeats seems to be an anxious and worried father. He has put much thought into his daughter's future. All parents want their children to have better lives than they did. He wants her to inherit the traits and character necessary to lead a fulfilling life. He wants her to be happy.
"May she be granted beauty and yet not
Beauty to make a stranger's eye distraught,
or hers before a looking glass, for such
Being made beautiful overmuch,
Consider beauty a sufficient end,"
These lines tell us that Yeats wishes for his daughter to be beautiful, but not strikingly or overly beautiful. My interpretation was that he was saying that having too much beauty can be a detriment. It can be a curse because it can deceive those that observe the beauty as well as the person that possesses it. I can understand where he may derive this opinion because I know some people that are extremely beautiful on the outside and ugly on the inside. We all know if you are ugly on the inside, that beauty on the outside no longer seems so attractive. Its what's on the inside that counts. Later in the poem he mentions Helen of Troy to further get this point across.
World War I
"BLESS the HAIRDRESSER" was very amusing. First I thought it was interesting that the hairdresser is referred to as he. The stereotype is that women are hairdressers and the poem did not follow this. In the present, there are many male hairdressers. "He attacks Mother Nature for a small fee." This line was comical to me. I'm sure some people really have a mop of hair on their head that needs to be tamed. I guess that is why he mentions plowing through heads. "Scours chins and lips for threepence." This poem also reveals how much he charges for various services. I think that this particular hairdresser does women's and men's hair. He trims, tames wildness, and makes clean shapes. It really does take talent and patience to deal with the public in this capacity. Hair is a part of a person's appearance and most people are very serious about their appearance. The society we live in places so much importance on the way we look. However, I think this hairdresser can handle anything as he is described as an "expert correcting the grotesque anachronisms of our physique." What a superb way of saying he fixes hair. This poem makes you feel like you could go to this hairdresser without any anxiety about not be satisfied with his services.
Thomas Hardy
I have been in a long distance relationship before so I related to "On the Departure Platform." Hardy did a great job at describing what it is like to say goodbye to someone. It does not matter if you are saying goodbye for a little while or forever, it still seems like one the hardest things we have to do in our lives.
"We kissed at the barrier; and passing through
She left me, and moment by moment got
Smaller and smaller, until to my view
She was but a spot" (p. 1075).
When I read these lines I thought that a man was taking the love of his life to the airport and he kissed her before she went into the entrance to board the plane. He watched her as she disappeared into the crowd of people.
"Through hustling crowds of gentle and rough
To the carriage door.".....
"Behind dark groups from far and near,
Whose interest were apart from ours,
She would disappear."
After reading these parts of the poem I started to think about the platform in which you board a train. A train has carriages as well. As he is preparing to say goodbye there are people getting their luggage and things together, going back and forth. Some live near and other far away. The other travelers seem to be unaware of the agony that the couple is experiencing. It is amazing how sometimes we feel like we are the only ones going through something. However, it could be that there is someone in the world going through the exact same thing.
"And she who was more than my life to me
Had vanished quite...."
I loved how he ended this poem. I haven't heard someone express their feelings so eloquently. I could only hope that I matter that much to someone one day. After reading the entire poem, it reminded me of a scene from a romance novel or tear-jerking movie in which lovers must say goodbye.
"We kissed at the barrier; and passing through
She left me, and moment by moment got
Smaller and smaller, until to my view
She was but a spot" (p. 1075).
When I read these lines I thought that a man was taking the love of his life to the airport and he kissed her before she went into the entrance to board the plane. He watched her as she disappeared into the crowd of people.
"Through hustling crowds of gentle and rough
To the carriage door.".....
"Behind dark groups from far and near,
Whose interest were apart from ours,
She would disappear."
After reading these parts of the poem I started to think about the platform in which you board a train. A train has carriages as well. As he is preparing to say goodbye there are people getting their luggage and things together, going back and forth. Some live near and other far away. The other travelers seem to be unaware of the agony that the couple is experiencing. It is amazing how sometimes we feel like we are the only ones going through something. However, it could be that there is someone in the world going through the exact same thing.
"And she who was more than my life to me
Had vanished quite...."
I loved how he ended this poem. I haven't heard someone express their feelings so eloquently. I could only hope that I matter that much to someone one day. After reading the entire poem, it reminded me of a scene from a romance novel or tear-jerking movie in which lovers must say goodbye.
Oscar Wilde
I was not sure exactly what Wilde was trying to say in "Symphony in Yellow" on page 831. I read the foot note that said the title suggests Whistler's series of paintings called "symphonies" in various colors. I found it interesting that he chose yellow. I wonder if it is his favorite color. Maybe he chose yellow because of its brightness. Yellow is not my favorite color but I like it because it just pops. It is one of the those colors you can see a mile away. In the poem he mentions a yellow butterfly, yellow hay, and yellow leaves. He took the color yellow and applied it in the poem to things that are shades of that color. Imagine if he had chosen the color green. There are so many things in nature that are shades of green. I like the fact that he chose yellow because it is different and unique. He also mentions fog, elms, and jade. He used the idea of art and directed it toward the natural aesthetic around him. After I read the foot note, the title and content made sense.
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Hopkins takes us back to nature in his poem "Pied Beauty" as did the poets in the Romantic period.
"Glory be to God for dappled things-- For skies of couple-colour......for rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim....finches' wings; landscape plotted....."(p. 775). I found the poem to be short and sweet. I admire the fact that Hopkins give glory to God for the natural things and their differences. I believe that God is responsible for the beautiful things that surround us. God makes everything with its own differences. Humans and other beings. The sky and landscape have their various colors and so do people, fish, birds, etc. That was my take on the first stanza.
He really sheds light on the fact that everything had its purpose and we are made a certain way for a reason. "All things counter, original, spare, strange; Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)......He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: Praise him." Have you ever heard someone say "its not better, its not worse, its just different"? That is what came to mind when I read the last stanza. If something about someone or something is different, that does not necessarily mean better or worse. Even if it goes contrary to popular belief, the differences we find in nature and each other are worth appreciating and accepting.
"Glory be to God for dappled things-- For skies of couple-colour......for rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim....finches' wings; landscape plotted....."(p. 775). I found the poem to be short and sweet. I admire the fact that Hopkins give glory to God for the natural things and their differences. I believe that God is responsible for the beautiful things that surround us. God makes everything with its own differences. Humans and other beings. The sky and landscape have their various colors and so do people, fish, birds, etc. That was my take on the first stanza.
He really sheds light on the fact that everything had its purpose and we are made a certain way for a reason. "All things counter, original, spare, strange; Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)......He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: Praise him." Have you ever heard someone say "its not better, its not worse, its just different"? That is what came to mind when I read the last stanza. If something about someone or something is different, that does not necessarily mean better or worse. Even if it goes contrary to popular belief, the differences we find in nature and each other are worth appreciating and accepting.
Robert Browning
"Porphyria's Lover" seems to be the most shocking monologue that Browning wrote. I found this work to be extremely weird, but by far the most attention-grabbing. The author lives in a cabin in the middle of no where, it seems. "When glided in Porphyria; straight she shut the cold out and the storm, and kneeled and made cheerless grate blaze up, and all the cottage warm" (p. 662). Then his lover, a young woman named Porphyria comes in from a storm and makes a fire to keep them warm. Porphyria seems very giving of herself to her lover. "She sat down by my side and called me. When no voice replied, she put my arm about her waist." I was not sure why her lover did not answer when she called him. I also thought it was interesting that after he says nothing she shows him that she wants to be with him by placing his arms around her. "And made her shoulder bare....Murmuring how she loved me--she too weak, for her heart's endeavour, to set its struggling passion free" (p. 662-663). She makes her shoulder bare for him and tells him how she feels about him. I interpreted the lines about her being too weak for her heart's endeavour to mean that it is not easy being in love with him. There could be many reasons why. Her family may not approve or he may have hurt her before. I could tell there was some strain on the relationship. "Porphyria worshipped me; surprise made my heart swell, and still it grew while I debated what to do." No matter the strain, her lover could tell from her words she spoke that she not only loved, but worshipped him. This made his heart swell to know how strongly she feels for him. "A thing to do, and all her hair 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." I was completely surprised when I read these lines. He had just realized how Porphyria cares for him and now he kills her. I did not understand why he would want to do such a thing. The way he did it was really weird. She had long blond hair and he strangled her with it. "I warily oped her lids: again....I propped her head up as before...Porphyria's love: she guessed not how.....And all night long we have not stirred, And yet God has not said a word!" Just to show what a real weirdo he is, he plays with her corpse after she is dead. He opens and closes her eye lids and then props her up beside him. He continues to sit there with her dead body through the night as if she is still alive and nothing ever happened. I feel that Porphyria's lover knows he has done is wrong. Murder is a grave sin. He mentions that God has not said a word. He must realize that sometimes we are punished for a bad deed when we least expect it.
John Stuart Mill
I would like to comment on John Stuarts Mill's "Statement Repudiating the Rights of Husbands." After reading this statement I thought that Mill was saying that marriage, in his present day, lacked awareness and compassion. People did not think hard enough about the enormity of the decision to marry someone. Nor did they realize that when you marry someone you are agreeing to share your life with this person, through the good and bad. Mill expressed that marriage is a life-long commitment, just like a legally binding contract. However, he makes it clear that he does not wish to use marriage to the only woman he has ever loved as a tool of power that he is allowed to wield over her. During the time in which he wrote this, women basically had no rights and what a husband said goes. Men had a myriad of power. In my opinion, maybe because I am a woman, a little too much power. Woman were not able to go out and get jobs or be independent. They stayed home and neither received formal education. This statement is special because I feel like Mill was recognizing the spiritual union that a man and woman share. He realizes that marriage is an emotional unification and not merely physical. If the marriage occurs, he wishes his wife to have the same freedoms she enjoyed before she was married.I admire the respect that he has for the woman he loves. It would be a great thing if all men would respect their wives this way.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Alfred Lord Tennyson
I believe that people often think about what will happen when they die or when the world comes to an end. The unknown can worry us sick or even make some of us paranoid. For instance, the Y2K scare. People thought everything was going shut down when the year 2000 came. People were stocking up water and food as to be prepared if something unexpected were to happen. However, everything went on as usual and nothing happened. You hear about the world coming to an end in church and it the book of revelation in the bible can be scary. Tennyson brings curiosity, worry, and fears about judgement day to light in "The Kraken."
"His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep
The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee" (p. 586).
We may dream about what happens to us in the after life or wonder if we will be here on earth to see the world destroyed by fire. We wait for the occurrence and he compares this to the fire being dormant or asleep just waiting for the right time to come forth. This seems like a dark and gloomy time and one would be lucky to find even the faintest bit of sunlight.
"Battening upon huge seaworms in his sleep,
Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;
Then once by man and angels to be seen,
In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die."
I interpreted this as Tennyson describing a battle between good and evil. While the fire burns below the heavens, angels appear to do their work. Whatever is evil shall die. However, those that have lived right should not fear judgement before God. Good shall always prevail over evil one way or another.
"His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep
The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee" (p. 586).
We may dream about what happens to us in the after life or wonder if we will be here on earth to see the world destroyed by fire. We wait for the occurrence and he compares this to the fire being dormant or asleep just waiting for the right time to come forth. This seems like a dark and gloomy time and one would be lucky to find even the faintest bit of sunlight.
"Battening upon huge seaworms in his sleep,
Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;
Then once by man and angels to be seen,
In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die."
I interpreted this as Tennyson describing a battle between good and evil. While the fire burns below the heavens, angels appear to do their work. Whatever is evil shall die. However, those that have lived right should not fear judgement before God. Good shall always prevail over evil one way or another.
Victorian Ladies and Gentlemen
In this section there is a short poem with a funny title, "Vitai Lampada" on page 582-583. In this poem the author uses his words to link two very different things. The poem is up-beat and sorrowful all at once. The background listed above the poem on page 582 tells us that Sir Henry Newbolt's poems create a link between school games and "romantic ideology of empire." It tells is that one officer actually dribbled a soccer ball as he led his men to their deaths in the battle of the Somme. In this particular poem he links a game children play to events occurring during World War I. Although a soccer ball was mentioned in the background, some words in the poem such as "bumping pitch, sand, sodden red, and square that broke" make me think about baseball. However, the game could be something similar to baseball such as stick ball because of the time period during which it was written. The poem changes lanes and becomes more serious during the end of the second stanza. "And the regiment blind with dust and smoke. The river of death has brimmed his banks, And England's far, and Honour a name." These lines bring imagery of the war to the reader. During the war there was dust and smoke on the battle field from the weapons they used. While reading this it made me think of the suffering as well as the patriotism of the parties involved. All things must come to an end and so did World War I. The poem ends with the line, "Play up! play up! and play the game!" Newbolt did a great job at describing the events with the actions of games.
Industrialism
The Victorian Era is known as the age of energy and invention. These readings come during a time when new industrial occupations of the factories came about, where the weavers' looms were powered by steam engines.
I found "The Steam Loom Weaver" on page 489 quite interesting. The poem is based on the summer months during the Industrial Revolution. These lines were of importance to me: "Two lovers walking in their bloom, the lassie was a steam loom weaver, the lad an engine driver keen." My take on this is that the steam loom weaver represents the woman in a relationship and the engine driver is the man. The author continues the poem in which the two converse about a problem that the loom weaver needs help with. The problem is the getting up of steam. The loom weaver had not operated in a while and her loom is out of fettle. She ask the engine driver if he can muster up some steam so that she may get in working order. This poem really tells a story. After reading this part of the story I interpreted as the woman saying that she has not been in a relationship in a long while. Nor has she been in love or experienced any special feelings for anyone. She is asking the man to bear with her and if he can compromise and be willing to do everything it takes for their budding romance to work. The man tells her that she seems very determined about making it work.
"Dear lass these things I will provide, but when to labour will you begin as soon my lad as things are ready my loom shop you can enter in." When I read these lines I was thinking that the relationship may have been more serious at this point and I started to doubt my interpretation above. I was thinking that this poem could be about sexual advances between the man and woman. Whatever it may be, I liked the poem. It is funny how I'm almost positive that someone else will not interpret the poem that way I did. That is the great thing about poetry.
I found "The Steam Loom Weaver" on page 489 quite interesting. The poem is based on the summer months during the Industrial Revolution. These lines were of importance to me: "Two lovers walking in their bloom, the lassie was a steam loom weaver, the lad an engine driver keen." My take on this is that the steam loom weaver represents the woman in a relationship and the engine driver is the man. The author continues the poem in which the two converse about a problem that the loom weaver needs help with. The problem is the getting up of steam. The loom weaver had not operated in a while and her loom is out of fettle. She ask the engine driver if he can muster up some steam so that she may get in working order. This poem really tells a story. After reading this part of the story I interpreted as the woman saying that she has not been in a relationship in a long while. Nor has she been in love or experienced any special feelings for anyone. She is asking the man to bear with her and if he can compromise and be willing to do everything it takes for their budding romance to work. The man tells her that she seems very determined about making it work.
"Dear lass these things I will provide, but when to labour will you begin as soon my lad as things are ready my loom shop you can enter in." When I read these lines I was thinking that the relationship may have been more serious at this point and I started to doubt my interpretation above. I was thinking that this poem could be about sexual advances between the man and woman. Whatever it may be, I liked the poem. It is funny how I'm almost positive that someone else will not interpret the poem that way I did. That is the great thing about poetry.
Felecia Hemans
I found "The Homes of England" intriguing. I have never been out of the United States and I have always wanted to visit various places like Italy, England, France, Australia, Spain, Thailand, and China. I like the way Hemans took one aspect of England and magnified it. The homes are a part of England that stood out to her and a part that she appreciated as well. In the first line of each stanza she describes the homes as "stately, merry, blessed, Cottage, and free." These words alone make you feel much like you are at home. The word stately reminds me of a regal and well-kept home. The words merry and blessed bring that comfort and joy that you feel when the whole family has a gathering at someone's home and everyone is talking and laughing. It makes you feel like you are blessed with love and good company. She describes each type of home and their surroundings. My two favorite homes in the poem were the stately and the merry.
She describes the stately homes:
"How beautiful they stand!.....tall ancestral trees, o'er all the pleasant land. The deer across the greensward bound.....swan glides past them" (p. 412).
I would love to live in a stately home of England. They are gorgeous structures with such soothing surroundings. Can you imagine having the most beautiful trees around your home that provide the perfect shade along with a lake in the back in which swans live? I can. I have always admired those who live close by lakes because they provide a certain calmness. You can fish or just bring a blanket and have a picnic.
The merry homes of England are "Around their hearths by night, What gladsome looks of household love......woman's voice flows forth in song, or childhood's tale is told....some glorious page of old" (p. 412).
The merry homes sound like they are full of family and full of love. The woman that Hemans mentions reminds me of someone's mother or possibly grandmother. Some people have extended family in their homes. Parents and grandparents enjoy telling young ones in the family about things that happened in their childhood. It feels good to reminise sometimes.
Hemans incorporated aspects of the homes such as their landscape as well as the things that occur within a home. That is what made this a enjoyable reading.
She describes the stately homes:
"How beautiful they stand!.....tall ancestral trees, o'er all the pleasant land. The deer across the greensward bound.....swan glides past them" (p. 412).
I would love to live in a stately home of England. They are gorgeous structures with such soothing surroundings. Can you imagine having the most beautiful trees around your home that provide the perfect shade along with a lake in the back in which swans live? I can. I have always admired those who live close by lakes because they provide a certain calmness. You can fish or just bring a blanket and have a picnic.
The merry homes of England are "Around their hearths by night, What gladsome looks of household love......woman's voice flows forth in song, or childhood's tale is told....some glorious page of old" (p. 412).
The merry homes sound like they are full of family and full of love. The woman that Hemans mentions reminds me of someone's mother or possibly grandmother. Some people have extended family in their homes. Parents and grandparents enjoy telling young ones in the family about things that happened in their childhood. It feels good to reminise sometimes.
Hemans incorporated aspects of the homes such as their landscape as well as the things that occur within a home. That is what made this a enjoyable reading.
John Keats
I really enjoyed many of the works by John Keats. One of my favorites was the poem "To Autumn". He magnified the brilliance of a season. In our lives we go through the seasons every year. However, many of us do not think of them the way Keats thought about Autumn. "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; conspiring with him how to load and bless with fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run" (P. 443). These are the first few lines and I think they were beautifully written. Autumn is a season when it is a little misty outside, especially in the mornings. Close bosom-friend of the sun was a great way to describe how the sun shines during this season and everything turns to colors of the sun. The leaves turn shades of yellow, red, brown, and orange. The sun also helps to grow the fruit that is produced on the vines during this time of year. In later lines he mentions all fruit with ripeness to the core, such as apples. Keats brings out other thing that exist in nature during this time of year. He mentions the bees that still swarm the flowers after summer, the wind that often blows through your hair in the fall, and sweet kernels. "Steady thy laden head across a brook; or by a cyder-press, with patient look, Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours." It is as if Keats pictures himself in the middle of Autumn and recounts his observations. He watches the calm streams and trees with patience as he explores the nature around him. Nature can produce a lot within just a few hours if we take time to explore it. I enjoyed the last set of line as well because he mentions that the small gnats mourn and hedge-crickets sing. Especially in the south, gnats are really out during the summer and may start to fade a little during the end of autumn months when it begins to get a little chilly. Those gnats can really be a pest when you are trying to have an outside event. I have often tried to sleep at night and I could hear a cricket chirping, at it always sounds like it is right under my window. However, they are so loud that it could be anywhere outside. He also talks about the red-breast which I find red birds to be some of the prettiest birds. My grandmother always blew three kisses for good luck when she saw a red bird. This poem just made me picture myself outside in the midst of autumn, looking at the colorful leaves fall from the trees.
George Gordon, Lord Byron
I liked the poem "She walks with beauty" on page 358. This seemed to fit my preconceived notions of the Romantic period. I think of it as a love poem. However, it could be about something totally different. Poetry can be interpreted in various ways by different people. My interpretation is that it is about a man who is in love with a woman. He thinks everything about her is beautiful. All the way from the way she walks to the way she smiles. He compares the things that he finds to be attractive about her to the things he finds attractive in nature. For example (a few lines) :
"She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes ans starry skies"....
"Meet in her aspect and in her eyes"....
"Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face"
I thing Byron was really trying to point out these magnificent sights. The things that he saw in her as well as the beauty he has seen in nature. I feel that poem really expresses how pleased he is with the woman's appearance as well as his connection to her within. I think someone who writes something so intense about a person must have some feelings for them. You also can tell the measure of thought he put into this poem.
"And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days of goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!"
He pays attention to the small details; her cheeks, brows, and facial expression. He likes the soft tone of her voice and also appreciates the words she speaks. Her smiles brings a certain light to his life and he looks at her complexion as glowing. From his words you can tell that when he has gotten the chance to be in this woman's company, it was time well spent. He enjoys being in her presence. His feelings for her bring peace. He can let his guard down with her and allow himself to love her. He is grateful to have found such a woman to love.
"She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes ans starry skies"....
"Meet in her aspect and in her eyes"....
"Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face"
I thing Byron was really trying to point out these magnificent sights. The things that he saw in her as well as the beauty he has seen in nature. I feel that poem really expresses how pleased he is with the woman's appearance as well as his connection to her within. I think someone who writes something so intense about a person must have some feelings for them. You also can tell the measure of thought he put into this poem.
"And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days of goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!"
He pays attention to the small details; her cheeks, brows, and facial expression. He likes the soft tone of her voice and also appreciates the words she speaks. Her smiles brings a certain light to his life and he looks at her complexion as glowing. From his words you can tell that when he has gotten the chance to be in this woman's company, it was time well spent. He enjoys being in her presence. His feelings for her bring peace. He can let his guard down with her and allow himself to love her. He is grateful to have found such a woman to love.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
I feel that Coleridge continues the theme of nature similar to other romantic poets such as William and Dorothy Wordsworth in "Work Without Hope". Although this particular poem is one of the shortest in this section, he still manages to go in depth as to describe the things in nature as well as their movement. He mentions the bees stirring, birds on a wing, and even slugs. Slugs are creatures that we do not even think about and we definitely do not find them beautiful. Coleridge takes you to a different season--Winter. In the winter, everything is not green as in the Spring. Things in nature change because of the cold weather. "And I, the while, the sole unbusy thing" (p. 349). I can somewhat relate to this line of the poem because he is the sole unbusy thing and time waits for no man. No matter how stagnant and still we may become, everything in nature will keep moving and cycling. Along with references to nature he brings the message of the importance of hope in accomplishing a task. If you are without hope, your tasks may not be completed or may not be completed with the quality that you wish them to be. In the last line he tells us, "And Hope without an object cannot live." I agree that this is so very true. When we hope we must have something to hope for.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Dorothy Wordsworth
Dorothy Wordsworth is William Wordsworth's sister. She did not consider herself a writer. She wrote for family and friends and did not wish for her works to be published. I really appreciated her writings and I feel that her humbleness about her talent is one of the things that made her writing really shine. I think people write the best things when they think no one will read them.
My favorite writing of hers in the book was "Thoughts on My Sick-bed". "And has the remnant of my life been pilfered of this sunny spring?" (p. 293). Dorothy had become stricken with many debilitating illnesses and she compares this condition to being robbed of something beautiful such as a sunny spring. In many parts of the poem she refers to her condition. "Ah say not so--the hidden life couchant with this feeble frame hath been enriched by kindred gifts, that undesired, unsought-for, came." Although she is very ill she still has a part of her that feels lively but it is masked by her fragile frame. When someone is sick loved ones often bring gifts and food by. They also come and sit with the loved one to spend some time with them. She was grateful for these kindred gifts although she did not ask for them. "With joyful heart in youthful days when fresh each season in its Round...the earliest Celandine glittering upon the mossy ground........primrose on a lamp on its fortress rock, the silent butterfly spreading its wings". She thinks back to when she was young and healthy and starts to appreciate things in nature that surrounded her. She appreciates fresh grown fruits, flowers, moss, grass, and other living things such as a butterfly. She can picture the butterfly, silent but beautiful, spreading its wings. "The violet betrayed by its noiseless breath, the daffodil dancing in the breeze." She goes in depth in the poem speaking of the flowers that many of us love. In fact, violets are one of my favorites. "Our cottage-hearth no longer our home, companions of nature were we, the stirring, the still, the loquacious, the mute--to all we gave our sympathy." She feels the pain and sympathy of those who have had illnesses similar to hers. One things this poem did remind me of is a nature trail. "When spring-time in rock, field, or bower was but a fountain of earthly hope." She mentions many things that allow you to envision these things as if your on a hike. "When loving friends an offering brought, the first flowers of the year, culled from the precincts of our home, from nooks to memory dear." Her friends bring flowers to her otherwise gloomy room in which lay on her sick bed. The flowers along with their faces bring her comfort as well as memory as some of the same ones she saw when she was healthy and walking the trail herself. She is thankful to have friends that show their love during this time when she needs them most. "With some sad thoughts the work was done, unprompted and unbidden, but joy it brought to my hidden life, to consciousness no longer hidden." She is a little sad that her work and days of being healthy and free to go and come as she please had ended, especially in this manner. However, she still has a joy within when she thinks of all the things in her life that have made it special and that have made her happy. "No need of motion, or of strength, Or even the breathing air:--I thought of Nature's loveliest scenes; and with Memory I was there". I really liked the way she ended the poem with these lines. It is important for us to find something that truly comforts us in moments of sorrow. I admire Dorothy for her ability to use nature as her saving grace and as a means for her to be comforted through her pain. She still valued the precious things in life and did not seem bitter about her condition.
My favorite writing of hers in the book was "Thoughts on My Sick-bed". "And has the remnant of my life been pilfered of this sunny spring?" (p. 293). Dorothy had become stricken with many debilitating illnesses and she compares this condition to being robbed of something beautiful such as a sunny spring. In many parts of the poem she refers to her condition. "Ah say not so--the hidden life couchant with this feeble frame hath been enriched by kindred gifts, that undesired, unsought-for, came." Although she is very ill she still has a part of her that feels lively but it is masked by her fragile frame. When someone is sick loved ones often bring gifts and food by. They also come and sit with the loved one to spend some time with them. She was grateful for these kindred gifts although she did not ask for them. "With joyful heart in youthful days when fresh each season in its Round...the earliest Celandine glittering upon the mossy ground........primrose on a lamp on its fortress rock, the silent butterfly spreading its wings". She thinks back to when she was young and healthy and starts to appreciate things in nature that surrounded her. She appreciates fresh grown fruits, flowers, moss, grass, and other living things such as a butterfly. She can picture the butterfly, silent but beautiful, spreading its wings. "The violet betrayed by its noiseless breath, the daffodil dancing in the breeze." She goes in depth in the poem speaking of the flowers that many of us love. In fact, violets are one of my favorites. "Our cottage-hearth no longer our home, companions of nature were we, the stirring, the still, the loquacious, the mute--to all we gave our sympathy." She feels the pain and sympathy of those who have had illnesses similar to hers. One things this poem did remind me of is a nature trail. "When spring-time in rock, field, or bower was but a fountain of earthly hope." She mentions many things that allow you to envision these things as if your on a hike. "When loving friends an offering brought, the first flowers of the year, culled from the precincts of our home, from nooks to memory dear." Her friends bring flowers to her otherwise gloomy room in which lay on her sick bed. The flowers along with their faces bring her comfort as well as memory as some of the same ones she saw when she was healthy and walking the trail herself. She is thankful to have friends that show their love during this time when she needs them most. "With some sad thoughts the work was done, unprompted and unbidden, but joy it brought to my hidden life, to consciousness no longer hidden." She is a little sad that her work and days of being healthy and free to go and come as she please had ended, especially in this manner. However, she still has a joy within when she thinks of all the things in her life that have made it special and that have made her happy. "No need of motion, or of strength, Or even the breathing air:--I thought of Nature's loveliest scenes; and with Memory I was there". I really liked the way she ended the poem with these lines. It is important for us to find something that truly comforts us in moments of sorrow. I admire Dorothy for her ability to use nature as her saving grace and as a means for her to be comforted through her pain. She still valued the precious things in life and did not seem bitter about her condition.
William Wordsworth
"The world is too much with us" brings to light all of the things we take for granted on a daily basis. "Little we see in nature that is ours; we have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!" (p. 234). God has provided all the natural things for us to share and enjoy. However, we do not appreciate such precious gifts. Instead we destroy them as can be compared to giving our hearts away. I interpreted the end of the line, "sordid boon", to mean that Wordsworth sees our cherishing money and not the priceless things as a distasteful advance. "The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; The Winds that will be howling at all hours and are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers" (p. 234). We are not grateful for the things in nature such as the sea, flowers, and the moon. Wordsworth also touches on the fact of how consumed the people in the world are with money. "Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers" (p. 234). All we do is work so we can make money and then spend it. We place all the power in money and some in turn lose who they really are. Some lose their power within themselves, their innocence, and their beauty in pursuit of money. Some may consider the pursuit of money to be the same as the pursuit of happiness. However, others may beg to differ. I think Wordsworth was trying to say that material possessions are not the things that bring true happiness. It is the priceless things such as nature, family, friends, love, and companionship that bring true happiness if we can just take a moment in our busy lives to appreciate them. Wordsworth also mentions " For this, for everything, we are out of tune; It moves us not. Great God! I'd rather be a Pagan suckled in a creed outworn" (p.234). As long as we take the things that matter most for granted we will continue to be out of tune. We will be out of tune with what we should really be focusing on. We cut down trees to build malls, parking garages, etc. We do not care that we need oxygen from the trees. We also continue to use products that deplete the ozone layer. Everything goes in a huge circle, just as the world goes round. Wordsworth wants no part of this cycle. He would rather be pagan...contrary to everyone else. He would rather go against the grain so to speak. My interpretation is that he was trying to say that God is looking down on us and is saddened and displeased at what many of us have done in this world.
William Blake
“The Chimney Sweeper” is the poem in this section that really touched my heart. It is a shame that children would have to do work such as this. Children should have fun and not be stressed. The conditions described in the poem were clearly not appropriate living conditions for children. This poem is about an orphan whose mother died and father sold him. Now he sweeps out chimneys and lives there as well. There are other orphans where he is doing the same work. One is Tom Dacre. Blake allows you to get more of a glimpse into Tom’s life and his feelings. For example, the lines “cried when his head that curl’d like a lambs back, was shav’d, so I said: Hush Tom never mind it, for when your head’s bare you know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair”(p. 81) tell us that Tom’s head was shaved and he cries as anyone would be upset having their head shaved without their permission. However, the orphan tries to comfort Tom by telling him that there is one good thing about the situation; the soot can no longer make his white hair dirty. Blake then goes on to tell us that as Tom was sleeping he saw thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned and Jack to name a few. “Were all of them lock’d up in coffins of black, and by came an Angel who had a bright key, and he open’d the coffins & set them all free. Then down a green plain leaping laughing they run and wash in a river and shine in the Sun” (p. 81). My thoughts were that the orphans being locked up in coffins symbolized their feelings of being imprisoned. As orphans sleeping in soot and working in chimneys everyday they do not have the freedom that children living with parents in their home do. For example, children with parents go outside and play or to the park. Parents also go out and do things with their children. The orphans do not get to experience these things. Then Blake goes on to tell us that an angel sets them free and they are no longer chimney sweepers but children full of joy and not a care in the world. They are not covered in soot and dirt, rather they are clean from washing in the river and bathing in the sun. “Then naked & white, all their bags left behind, they rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind and the Angel told Tom if he’d be a good boy, He’d have God for his father & never want joy” (p. 81). They are free as a bird as they run through fields and feel like they are on cloud nine. The angel tells them that if they are good God will always watch over them and they will never sad. This poem really tell a story in that in the end Blake reveals that Tom awoke in the dark only to find that it was all a dream. “Tho’ the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm so if all do their duty they need not fear harm” (p. 81). The orphans continued to work with their brushes and bags through the cold morning. However, the poem tells us that Tom was happy knowing that if they do what they are told they will not be harmed. I interpreted this part as a message to us that if we all do what we are told and listen to advice of the wise everything will work out for the better.
I also enjoyed the poem “Infant Joy” on page 83. The poem is about a newborn baby that has just been introduced into the world and is only two days old. The infant does not have a name but the poem calls the infant joy which is only fitting considering the joy that parents feel when they bring a child into the world. I took the poem to be about the precious gift of life. The poem refers to the baby’s smile which brings even more joy to the lives of the ones that love the child. Some of us do not know this joy because we do not have children. However, through this poem Blake tell us that it is a truly wonderful experience.
I also enjoyed the poem “Infant Joy” on page 83. The poem is about a newborn baby that has just been introduced into the world and is only two days old. The infant does not have a name but the poem calls the infant joy which is only fitting considering the joy that parents feel when they bring a child into the world. I took the poem to be about the precious gift of life. The poem refers to the baby’s smile which brings even more joy to the lives of the ones that love the child. Some of us do not know this joy because we do not have children. However, through this poem Blake tell us that it is a truly wonderful experience.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
My name is Candice Logan. I am a student at Mercer's macon campus and I will be finishing my degree in December. I am a psychology major and I'm taking this course to fulfill a gen. ed. requirement. This is my first online course so all of this stuff is new to me. I have never had a blog page. I am excited to see everyone else's page and their comments.
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