“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.” (1224). I believe this opening line of The Lady in the Looking-Glass: A Reflection is a very powerful one. This line suggests that if you do not wish for people to know your business that you should not have a mirror in your house. At first I was very confused by what Woolf meant by this but as I continued to read I felt that I got a better understanding.
The lady in this work is Isabella Tyson whom is known to be “a spinster; that was rich; that she had bought this house and collected with her own hands…the rugs, the chairs, the cabinets” (1225). I found it very interesting that Woolf gave each of the objects in Isabella’s house characteristics. For example she explains that these objects “knew more about her than we” (1225). It seems to me that Isabella wanted to hide herself away from the world and I could not help but wonder if Isabella was a part of Woolf herself. Woolf went through several difficult things in her life which eventually led to her suicide. Perhaps when she was writing this she identified with Isabella and was able to write about herself in the form of another person. Woolf wrote “Isabella did not wish to be known—but she should no longer escape.” (1226). Maybe this was Woolf’s way of saying that she did not wish to be known but yet she knew that she would not be able to escape from reality.
The last part of this work is what I believe to be the most powerful and the part that brings the whole work together. I think it explains why “one should not have a looking-glass.” Woolf writes of Isabella appearing in the mirror and finally seeing the truth,
“She stood perfectly still. At once the looking-glass began to pour over her a light that seemed to fix her; that seemed like some acid to bite off the unessential and superficial and to leave only the truth…Everything dropped from her—clouds, dress, basket, diamond—all that one had called the creeper and convolvulus…Here was the woman herself. She stood naked in that pitiless light. And, there was nothing. Isabella was perfectly empty. She had no thoughts. She had no friends. She cared for nobody.” (1227-1228).
The truth is that even with all the riches in her life she could not truly be happy. She had never experienced lover because she was never married. She never experienced friends and had nobody that she cared for. This is all because she had not wanted to be known and kept her self in seclusion. Perhaps Woolf wrote this has more of a reflection of herself but found it hard to accept it personally. Maybe this was her way of coming into a realization that she did not have everything and a way of dealing with the losses she had experienced. I believe the reason she argues that you should not have a looking glass in your house is because of the truth that they bring to you. Perhaps she did not want to see this truth but was forced to see it in the mirror and finally accept it. A mirror does not only expose the truth that you do not want others to know but it also exposes the truth that you do not wish to accept.
Friday, June 29, 2007
T.S. Eliot
Oh T.S. Eliot. The memories of reading The Waste Land pop into mind. Good times. Hard times. And oh the amount of time it took to read each line out loud in the classroom.
I have always enjoyed T.S. Eliot’s work. Like several of the works we have studied in this class, I was also required to read The Waste Land and the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. I wish some of Eliot’s other poetry would have been provided by our anthology. Perhaps the Four Quartets. Anyways enough of that.
The Love Son of J. Alfred Prufrock is probably one of my favorites by Eliot. I enjoy watching this man struggle with himself in an attempt to find the courage to speak to a woman which is shown in the lines:
“In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.
And indeed there will be time
To wonder, ‘Do I dare?’ and, ‘Do I dare?” (1195).
Prufrock seems to be struggling with his confidence. It seems that he is lacking confidence because his hair is growing thin and his arms and legs are thin. I believe that people are always struggling with themselves to do something that they do not believe that they are capable of doing or just struggling with themselves to believe in themselves.
Prufrock explains,
“For I have known them all already, known them all—
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;” (1195).
This to me shows that Prufrock believes he has all ready seen all the good things that will occur in his life and there being so few he is able to measure them with coffee spoons. I have ALWAYS been very fond of this line and it is probably my favorite in the whole poem. I am sure there are several people who look at their lives and think that there has been very little happiness in their lives. Imagine a coffee spoon. Imagine being able to measure out your life with them, all the meaning to your life fitting in a few coffee spoons. I have often wondered what kind of effect this line would have if Eliot had wrote serving spoons rather than coffee spoons. Would we get the same idea that Prufrock has lived such a sad and pitiful life?
Near the end of the poem one feels that Prufrock may have finally found the courage to speak to one of the women. However he then declares “No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be…At time, indeed, almost ridiculous—Almost, at times, the Fool.” (1197). This to me shows that he has not found the courage that everyone hopes he will and he is still very self conscious about his appearance and self. And that is very upsetting. I feel almost as if Eliot is trying to explain to us that we may never be able to win the fights we have with ourselves. Maybe perhaps he is trying to encourage us to not give up and to keep fighting in order to become a better person and achieve more in our lives.
I have always enjoyed T.S. Eliot’s work. Like several of the works we have studied in this class, I was also required to read The Waste Land and the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. I wish some of Eliot’s other poetry would have been provided by our anthology. Perhaps the Four Quartets. Anyways enough of that.
The Love Son of J. Alfred Prufrock is probably one of my favorites by Eliot. I enjoy watching this man struggle with himself in an attempt to find the courage to speak to a woman which is shown in the lines:
“In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.
And indeed there will be time
To wonder, ‘Do I dare?’ and, ‘Do I dare?” (1195).
Prufrock seems to be struggling with his confidence. It seems that he is lacking confidence because his hair is growing thin and his arms and legs are thin. I believe that people are always struggling with themselves to do something that they do not believe that they are capable of doing or just struggling with themselves to believe in themselves.
Prufrock explains,
“For I have known them all already, known them all—
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;” (1195).
This to me shows that Prufrock believes he has all ready seen all the good things that will occur in his life and there being so few he is able to measure them with coffee spoons. I have ALWAYS been very fond of this line and it is probably my favorite in the whole poem. I am sure there are several people who look at their lives and think that there has been very little happiness in their lives. Imagine a coffee spoon. Imagine being able to measure out your life with them, all the meaning to your life fitting in a few coffee spoons. I have often wondered what kind of effect this line would have if Eliot had wrote serving spoons rather than coffee spoons. Would we get the same idea that Prufrock has lived such a sad and pitiful life?
Near the end of the poem one feels that Prufrock may have finally found the courage to speak to one of the women. However he then declares “No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be…At time, indeed, almost ridiculous—Almost, at times, the Fool.” (1197). This to me shows that he has not found the courage that everyone hopes he will and he is still very self conscious about his appearance and self. And that is very upsetting. I feel almost as if Eliot is trying to explain to us that we may never be able to win the fights we have with ourselves. Maybe perhaps he is trying to encourage us to not give up and to keep fighting in order to become a better person and achieve more in our lives.
James Joyce
James Joyce. I already have it set in my mind that I am not going to like his writings because of everyone’s comments in the chat the other night. After reading his works I found that most of their opinions of Joyce were shared by me. I found Joyce to be very boring with his writing.
In Joyce’s work Clay we are shown a day in the life of Maria. It explains that Maria works as a maid at a Protestant charity and that she has plans to celebrate Halloween with a close friend Joe, whom she had watched when he was younger. Maria buys some cakes for Joe, his wife and their children but while on the tram gets caught up talking to a gentleman and forgets the plumcake she had purchased for Joe and his wife. One thing I found interesting about this was how upset Maria was, “At the thought of the failure of her little surprise and of the two and fourpence she had thrown away for nothing she nearly cried outright.” (1136). I believe that Maria was beating herself up for this simple mistake.
One part of the story that seemed very interesting to me was when Maria and the young girls were playing a traditional Halloween game.
Another part of the story that I found to be very interesting was when Maria sings I Dreamt that I Dwelt. Maria makes the mistake of singing the first verse twice but nobody points out her mistake and Joe gets very upset. I wonder if Joe is upset because he is simply remembering the time when Maria watched and sang to him and his brother, whom we learn earlier that he no longer speaks to. It could also be possible that Joe has secretly had feelings for Maria and hearing her sing this song only stirred up those feelings and that it was brings him to tears. I believe the way Joyce finishes leaves the interpretation up the reader. We never know the deeper meaning behind Maria’s life and the selection of the wet clay, or why Joe gets so upset hearing her sing. And that kind of bothers me. Yes I could create my own ending to this work but it still bothers me that I was not able to find an actual meaning provided by Joyce.
In Joyce’s work Clay we are shown a day in the life of Maria. It explains that Maria works as a maid at a Protestant charity and that she has plans to celebrate Halloween with a close friend Joe, whom she had watched when he was younger. Maria buys some cakes for Joe, his wife and their children but while on the tram gets caught up talking to a gentleman and forgets the plumcake she had purchased for Joe and his wife. One thing I found interesting about this was how upset Maria was, “At the thought of the failure of her little surprise and of the two and fourpence she had thrown away for nothing she nearly cried outright.” (1136). I believe that Maria was beating herself up for this simple mistake.
One part of the story that seemed very interesting to me was when Maria and the young girls were playing a traditional Halloween game.
“She felt a soft wet substance with her fingers and was surprised that nobody spoke or took off her bandage. There was a pause for a few seconds; and then a great deal of scuffling and whispering. Somebody said something about the garden, and at last Mrs. Donnelly said something very cross to one of the next-door girls and told her to throw it out at once: that was no play. Maria understood that it was wrong that time and so she had to do it over again: and this time she got the prayer-book.” (1137).By reading the footnote provided, I learned that wet clay meant that the person playing would experience an early death. This is obviously where the title of the work comes from but I am not quite sure what it symbolizes in the story. Perhaps it is simply suggesting that Maria’s life will soon come to an end or maybe it is suggesting that he life has already come to its end. No clue really.
Another part of the story that I found to be very interesting was when Maria sings I Dreamt that I Dwelt. Maria makes the mistake of singing the first verse twice but nobody points out her mistake and Joe gets very upset. I wonder if Joe is upset because he is simply remembering the time when Maria watched and sang to him and his brother, whom we learn earlier that he no longer speaks to. It could also be possible that Joe has secretly had feelings for Maria and hearing her sing this song only stirred up those feelings and that it was brings him to tears. I believe the way Joyce finishes leaves the interpretation up the reader. We never know the deeper meaning behind Maria’s life and the selection of the wet clay, or why Joe gets so upset hearing her sing. And that kind of bothers me. Yes I could create my own ending to this work but it still bothers me that I was not able to find an actual meaning provided by Joyce.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
William Butler Yeats
First I want to say that I felt very sorry for Yeats when he was continuously turned down by the woman he had fallen in love with Maud Gonne. I believe that a lot of his poems were written with an inspiration from Maud.
Another thing I wanted to point out was how Yeats wrote in his autobiography “I remember little of childhood but its pain.” (1114). When I read this I felt the pain of his childhood. I believe childhood is supposed to be a wonderful time of a person’s life. It is ultimately a prize in life and even though I have said several times over the years ‘I cannot wait until I am older!’ I regret that my childhood is coming to an end. Thankfully I was able to experience a delightful childhood and have memories of the good times and not just of the painful times.
Yeats’ poem The Lake Isle of Innisfree was one of my favorites. While I feel I still had trouble understanding (mainly because every time I thought I was finally getting the big picture the poem would take a twist and lose me completely) the imagery provided in this poem drew me in. I loved all the description available in this poem and my favorite part of the poem was the second stanza which states
This stanza makes me want to visit this lake because it honestly does sound so beautiful and peaceful. I imagine that one could escape from everything here and while reading this poem I felt that I had escaped to a far away place.
One vibe that I get from this poem is that the speaker is not actually at the lake but is thinking about the lake in order to escape from the world he is living in. I get this from the last stanza which reads
Another thing I wanted to point out was how Yeats wrote in his autobiography “I remember little of childhood but its pain.” (1114). When I read this I felt the pain of his childhood. I believe childhood is supposed to be a wonderful time of a person’s life. It is ultimately a prize in life and even though I have said several times over the years ‘I cannot wait until I am older!’ I regret that my childhood is coming to an end. Thankfully I was able to experience a delightful childhood and have memories of the good times and not just of the painful times.
Yeats’ poem The Lake Isle of Innisfree was one of my favorites. While I feel I still had trouble understanding (mainly because every time I thought I was finally getting the big picture the poem would take a twist and lose me completely) the imagery provided in this poem drew me in. I loved all the description available in this poem and my favorite part of the poem was the second stanza which states
“And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings; There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow, And evening full of the linnet’s wings.” (1117).
This stanza makes me want to visit this lake because it honestly does sound so beautiful and peaceful. I imagine that one could escape from everything here and while reading this poem I felt that I had escaped to a far away place.
One vibe that I get from this poem is that the speaker is not actually at the lake but is thinking about the lake in order to escape from the world he is living in. I get this from the last stanza which reads
“I will arise and go now, for always night and dayIt seems that he is always thinking of the lake at the Isle of Innisfree and even when he is on the roadway of the world he is living in, he longs to be at the lake. It can always be found in the deep core of his heart.
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.” (1117).
George Bernard Shaw
The first thing that I thought when I say Shaw’s work Pygmalion was wow this is so long and reading it is going to take forever. The second thing I thought about it was after I read the Preface: A Professor of Phonetics and was oh lord I can imagine this is going to be a difficult work to read because of spelling to emphasize a point.
I feel I must confess that I was never taught phonics and have always been bad about pronouncing certain words. I would list examples but I have decided to spare myself of the embarrassment.
While reading the first Act I felt very sorry for the young flower girl. Her speech was awful but I did not believe that it called for some of the attitude and things said to her. I also could not help but wonder if people have thought me foolish, low class and ignorant when I have not been able to pronounce a word that everyone else seems to find so easy. The note taker, whom later we learn is Henry Higgins, continually says things to this young woman that seem hurtful. If you remember back to Shaw’s background information it states
But I was even more shocked (much like Higgins and Pickering) that Eliza had gone to find Higgins in order to take lessons of speech. I had hoped that Higgins would have found a new level of respect for her for stepping up and attempting to learn but he continues to bash her: “Be off with you: I don’t want you…Pickering: shall we ask this baggage to sit down, or shall we throw her out of the window?” (1016-1017). While Higgins continues to give Eliza a hard time while giving her lessons and helping her become more lady like, I believe he gradually begins to fall for her.
I enjoyed reading this play very much so. Like I stated at the beginning of this blog when I first saw how many pages I was to read I thought oh this is going to be terrible but I actually could not put the book down until I had finished the play. You always hear about how the movie based on this play My Fair Lady is such a classic and that everyone must see it. I personally have never seen it, but after reading the play I want to go to the closest blockbuster and rent it. I believe that everyone that has seen the movie and loved the movie should read this play if they have not already. I do believe that perhaps it would open up more understanding of the movie and would also get this lovely piece of literature into lives of more people.
I feel I must confess that I was never taught phonics and have always been bad about pronouncing certain words. I would list examples but I have decided to spare myself of the embarrassment.
While reading the first Act I felt very sorry for the young flower girl. Her speech was awful but I did not believe that it called for some of the attitude and things said to her. I also could not help but wonder if people have thought me foolish, low class and ignorant when I have not been able to pronounce a word that everyone else seems to find so easy. The note taker, whom later we learn is Henry Higgins, continually says things to this young woman that seem hurtful. If you remember back to Shaw’s background information it states
“Pygmalion foregrounds most of Shaw’s characteristic themes: his distaste for and distrust of the British class system, his impatience with the second-class status afforded by women in the early decades of the twentieth century,” (1004).I believe that Higgins comments to Eliza (the young flower girl) are a great example of this. Higgins says to Eliza,
“A woman who utters such depressing and disgusting sounds has no right to be anywhere—no right to live. Remember that you are a human being with a soul and the divine gift of articulate speech: that your native language is the language of Shakespeare and Milton and The Bible, and don’t sit there crooning like a bilious pigeon.” (1013).And later he goes on to tell Pickering “You see this creature with her kerbstone English: the English that will keep her in the gutter to the end of her days.” And once again to Eliza “You squashed cabbage leaf, you disgrace to the noble architecture of these columns, you incarnate insult to the English language” (1013). When I read these lines I was angry with Higgins. I could not believe that he was talking to this poor girl in such a way and did not even care about her feelings.
But I was even more shocked (much like Higgins and Pickering) that Eliza had gone to find Higgins in order to take lessons of speech. I had hoped that Higgins would have found a new level of respect for her for stepping up and attempting to learn but he continues to bash her: “Be off with you: I don’t want you…Pickering: shall we ask this baggage to sit down, or shall we throw her out of the window?” (1016-1017). While Higgins continues to give Eliza a hard time while giving her lessons and helping her become more lady like, I believe he gradually begins to fall for her.
I enjoyed reading this play very much so. Like I stated at the beginning of this blog when I first saw how many pages I was to read I thought oh this is going to be terrible but I actually could not put the book down until I had finished the play. You always hear about how the movie based on this play My Fair Lady is such a classic and that everyone must see it. I personally have never seen it, but after reading the play I want to go to the closest blockbuster and rent it. I believe that everyone that has seen the movie and loved the movie should read this play if they have not already. I do believe that perhaps it would open up more understanding of the movie and would also get this lovely piece of literature into lives of more people.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Thomas Hardy
Time-out!! Can we just take a moment to realize that his heart was buried in his wife Emma’s grave? How sweet… in a weird and twisted way…
Anyways….
One of the poems that I enjoyed by Hardy was his Logs on the Hearth, A Memory of a Sister. The poem begins as “fire advances along the log.” (1078). It then goes on to explain how the tree that now burns is the same tree that Hardy and his sister Mary had climbed as they were younger. The thing I found interesting about this poem was that the first 3 lines of each stanza describe something that can be seen as peaceful and beautiful and then the last line uses dark and unhappy words. All except for the last stanza—the stanza about Mary. This stanza begins dark and unhappy as it explains “my fellow-climber rises dim from her chilly grave” but continues on to show her happy and lively again “just as she was, her foot near mine on the bending limb, laughing, her young brown hand awave.” (1079).
While this poem is depressing because Hardy is grieving over his sisters loss, it is also very touching because you can truly see how much Hardy cared for his sister. One thing that I wonder is was Mary a younger or older sibling. I understand that it would be difficult to lose a sibling no matter the age…but it was just a thought. Without knowledge of this, I assumed that Mary was younger because she would be Thomas’s little sister and this could be why he felt so upset because he had protected her while they were younger. I am probably just making this up but I got this because while climbing the tree Thomas was the first and Mary was second. I took this to be that Thomas wanted to make sure the tree was safe for Mary. Another thing that made me think that this may be the case is that as they were climbing the tree Mary’s “young hand was awave.” This to me shows that she was excited to be able to climb that tree with her brother.
I could be completely wrong about all of that but it was how I read it and I believe that I may have read it this way because I am the older sibling and know how my younger brother is. I have never really been close with my brother because we are 4 years apart. I can remember how my brother looked up to me and followed my friends and me around all day and it would drive me crazy. However, recently my brother underwent two brain surgeries in order to remove a tumor that was found and I feel that it has brought us closer. It is awful to think that something so terrible brought to my attention how much my younger brother means to me. I will never forget how I felt when I found out the news and if something were to happen to him I would be devastated. I believe that Thomas and Mary were very close and they were probably very good friends. I hope that my brother and I will be able to continue the friendship that we have just so recently started to form.
Sorry that I got off topic a little bit.
Anyways….
One of the poems that I enjoyed by Hardy was his Logs on the Hearth, A Memory of a Sister. The poem begins as “fire advances along the log.” (1078). It then goes on to explain how the tree that now burns is the same tree that Hardy and his sister Mary had climbed as they were younger. The thing I found interesting about this poem was that the first 3 lines of each stanza describe something that can be seen as peaceful and beautiful and then the last line uses dark and unhappy words. All except for the last stanza—the stanza about Mary. This stanza begins dark and unhappy as it explains “my fellow-climber rises dim from her chilly grave” but continues on to show her happy and lively again “just as she was, her foot near mine on the bending limb, laughing, her young brown hand awave.” (1079).
While this poem is depressing because Hardy is grieving over his sisters loss, it is also very touching because you can truly see how much Hardy cared for his sister. One thing that I wonder is was Mary a younger or older sibling. I understand that it would be difficult to lose a sibling no matter the age…but it was just a thought. Without knowledge of this, I assumed that Mary was younger because she would be Thomas’s little sister and this could be why he felt so upset because he had protected her while they were younger. I am probably just making this up but I got this because while climbing the tree Thomas was the first and Mary was second. I took this to be that Thomas wanted to make sure the tree was safe for Mary. Another thing that made me think that this may be the case is that as they were climbing the tree Mary’s “young hand was awave.” This to me shows that she was excited to be able to climb that tree with her brother.
I could be completely wrong about all of that but it was how I read it and I believe that I may have read it this way because I am the older sibling and know how my younger brother is. I have never really been close with my brother because we are 4 years apart. I can remember how my brother looked up to me and followed my friends and me around all day and it would drive me crazy. However, recently my brother underwent two brain surgeries in order to remove a tumor that was found and I feel that it has brought us closer. It is awful to think that something so terrible brought to my attention how much my younger brother means to me. I will never forget how I felt when I found out the news and if something were to happen to him I would be devastated. I believe that Thomas and Mary were very close and they were probably very good friends. I hope that my brother and I will be able to continue the friendship that we have just so recently started to form.
Sorry that I got off topic a little bit.
Gerald Manley Hopkins
Gerald Manley Hopkins threw me for a loop. It was very difficult for me to understand several if not all of his works. I read them over and over again trying to grasp just the tiniest sliver of understanding but feel like I never actually got a hold of it…or perhaps I did…as a splinter of pain in my side.
The poem that I feel like I did understand the most would be Spring and Fall. Hopkins wrote about nature and God a lot in his poetry, which was not common for the Victorians. Spring and Fall is a great example of how nature still influenced him in his writing. Hopkins writes of a young child weeping over the falling leaves, “Margaret, are you grieving Over Goldengrove unleaving?” (776). Many writers wrote of the seasons and each season was a symbol of the time period in a persons life. Spring was associated with childhood because there is liveliness, joy, color and innocence as the world is being reborn. Winter is often referred to as death because everything is cold, dark, grey and the trees are naked like bare skeletons. When I read this poem these symbolic seasons came into mind. I believe in this poem Spring does represent Margaret’s innocence and childhood and that Fall does represent her coming into knowledge and losing her innocence as she learns about death and mortality. The speaker goes on to explain to the child that,
The poem that I feel like I did understand the most would be Spring and Fall. Hopkins wrote about nature and God a lot in his poetry, which was not common for the Victorians. Spring and Fall is a great example of how nature still influenced him in his writing. Hopkins writes of a young child weeping over the falling leaves, “Margaret, are you grieving Over Goldengrove unleaving?” (776). Many writers wrote of the seasons and each season was a symbol of the time period in a persons life. Spring was associated with childhood because there is liveliness, joy, color and innocence as the world is being reborn. Winter is often referred to as death because everything is cold, dark, grey and the trees are naked like bare skeletons. When I read this poem these symbolic seasons came into mind. I believe in this poem Spring does represent Margaret’s innocence and childhood and that Fall does represent her coming into knowledge and losing her innocence as she learns about death and mortality. The speaker goes on to explain to the child that,
“Ah! as the heart grows olderIt as if the speaker is explaining that even as she gets older, the leaves falling from the trees will no upset her as much as they did in her childhood but she will still feel sorrow but for a more realistic meaning. She will “know” that she is not weeping for the trees but for herself and the fact that she is not immortality and will soon meet the same fate of the leaves on the trees.
It will come to such sights colder…
And yet you will weep and know why…
It is Margaret you mourn for.” (776).
Oscar Wilde
I was so excited about reading Oscar Wilde. I had read The Importance of Being Earnest in high school and loved it. I was really looking forward to doing a blog on something that I felt very comfortable with. However, when I began to read the background of Wilde, I had a feeling that I was going to enjoy some of his other works too. While reading his background I found several things very interesting that I had not known previously such as Oscar’s relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas and his time spent in prison for indecent acts. A quote that I enjoyed from the background information is one that Wilde was celebrated for “I find it harder and harder every day to live up to my blue china.” (828). The book explains that this remark seemed to epitomize aestheticism, which is the acceptance of artistic beauty and taste as a fundamental standard, ethical and other standards being secondary. While attempting to find a deeper meaning to this quote via research I found a second quote of Wilde that I enjoyed. This second quote—“The two great turning points in my life were when my father sent me to Oxford, and when society sent me to prison.” –can be found in his work De Profundis.
After reading the works provided in our books a few stood out to me. I enjoyed reading The Decay of Lying very much. I found it very interesting that the two characters having the discussion about lying, art, nature and life are Wilde’s two boys Cyril and Vivian (even though his son spells it Vyvyan). This allowed me to assume that the two characters were brothers and their arguing persuaded me to believe this just as well.
The entire play focuses on an article that Vivian is writing, in which he argues that the art of lying is vanishing. Vivian points out that “The ancient historians gave us delightful fiction in the form of fact; the modern novelists presents us with dull facts under the guise of fiction.” (833-834). In my opinion, it seems that Vivian is arguing that art is suppose to be full of lies and exaggerations because that is what truly makes the story. I also found it very interesting that Cyril questioned “you don’t mean to say that you seriously believe that Life imitates Art, that Life in fact is the mirror, and Art the reality?” (839). To which Vivian responds “Certainly I do. Paradox though it may seem it is none the less true that Life imitates art far more than Art imitates life.” (839). In another of my classes, we discussed whether modern day media (television shows in particular) are a reflection of society or whether society is a reflection of these television shows. I thought it was interesting how this argument of Vivian seemed to go hand-in-hand with what we were discussing and wish I had read this sooner so I could have used it in my argument.
My favorite part of Vivian’s article is when he is describing Art:
"Art finds her own perfection within, and not outside of, herself. She is not to be judged by any external standard of resemblance. She is a veil, rather than a mirror. She has flowers that noforests know of, birds that no woodland possesses. She makes and unmakes many worlds, and can draw the moon from heaven with a scarlet thread. Hers are the "forms more real than living man," and hers the great archetypes of which things that have existence are but unfinished copies. Nature has, in her eyes, no laws, no uniformity. She can work miracles at her will, and when she calls monsters from the deep they come. She can bid the almond-tree blossom in winter, and send the snow upon the ripe cornfield. At her word the frost lays its silver finger on the burning mouth of June, and the winged lions creep out from the hollows of the Lydian hills. The dryads peer from the thicket as she passes by, and the brown fauns smile strangely at her when she comes near them. She has hawk-faced gods that worship her, and the centaurs gallop ather side.” (839).
I loved the extremely passionate descriptions and felt like I was actually seeing what was being described to me, much like Cyril as he replied “I like that. I can see it.” (839).
After reading the works provided in our books a few stood out to me. I enjoyed reading The Decay of Lying very much. I found it very interesting that the two characters having the discussion about lying, art, nature and life are Wilde’s two boys Cyril and Vivian (even though his son spells it Vyvyan). This allowed me to assume that the two characters were brothers and their arguing persuaded me to believe this just as well.
The entire play focuses on an article that Vivian is writing, in which he argues that the art of lying is vanishing. Vivian points out that “The ancient historians gave us delightful fiction in the form of fact; the modern novelists presents us with dull facts under the guise of fiction.” (833-834). In my opinion, it seems that Vivian is arguing that art is suppose to be full of lies and exaggerations because that is what truly makes the story. I also found it very interesting that Cyril questioned “you don’t mean to say that you seriously believe that Life imitates Art, that Life in fact is the mirror, and Art the reality?” (839). To which Vivian responds “Certainly I do. Paradox though it may seem it is none the less true that Life imitates art far more than Art imitates life.” (839). In another of my classes, we discussed whether modern day media (television shows in particular) are a reflection of society or whether society is a reflection of these television shows. I thought it was interesting how this argument of Vivian seemed to go hand-in-hand with what we were discussing and wish I had read this sooner so I could have used it in my argument.
My favorite part of Vivian’s article is when he is describing Art:
"Art finds her own perfection within, and not outside of, herself. She is not to be judged by any external standard of resemblance. She is a veil, rather than a mirror. She has flowers that noforests know of, birds that no woodland possesses. She makes and unmakes many worlds, and can draw the moon from heaven with a scarlet thread. Hers are the "forms more real than living man," and hers the great archetypes of which things that have existence are but unfinished copies. Nature has, in her eyes, no laws, no uniformity. She can work miracles at her will, and when she calls monsters from the deep they come. She can bid the almond-tree blossom in winter, and send the snow upon the ripe cornfield. At her word the frost lays its silver finger on the burning mouth of June, and the winged lions creep out from the hollows of the Lydian hills. The dryads peer from the thicket as she passes by, and the brown fauns smile strangely at her when she comes near them. She has hawk-faced gods that worship her, and the centaurs gallop ather side.” (839).
I loved the extremely passionate descriptions and felt like I was actually seeing what was being described to me, much like Cyril as he replied “I like that. I can see it.” (839).
John Stuart Mill
I fell in love with Mill when I read The Subjection of Women. Any man that is willing to argue for women to have equal rights is a hero in my eyes. Just think what rights women may still not have today if it were for the help of authors such as Mill. Mill argues that neither sex should be over the other in the following passage:
“the legal subordination of one sex to the other – is wrong in itself, and now one of the chief hindrances to human improvement; and that it ought to be replaced by a principle of perfect equality, admitting no power or privilege on the one side, nor disability on the other." (521).
Mill goes on to describe how the subjection of women by men could be compared to that of slaves being suppressed by their masters and how it differs slightly. Mill states,
“All men, except the most brutish, desire to have, in the woman most nearly connected with them, not a forced slave but a willing one, not a slave merely, but a favourite. They have therefore put everything in practice to enslave their minds. The masters of all other slaves rely, for maintaining obedience, on fear; either fear of themselves, or religious fears. The masters of women wanted more than simple obedience, and they turned the whole force of education to effect their purpose.” (523).
I enjoyed this comparison because I believe it is very true and I am glad that Mill was able to see such a connection.
My favorite quote of Mill comes from this work as well. Mill writes,
“I deny that anyone knows, or can know, the nature of the two sexes, as long as they have only been seen in their present relation to one another. If men had ever been found in society without women, or women without men, or if there had been a society of men and women in which the women were not under the control of the men, something might have been positively known about the mental and moral differences which may be inherent in the nature of each.” (524).
I enjoy this quote because it shows that we must allow women to be seen as equals in order to gain a accurate understanding of women and men separately. It shows that in order to truly see the differences between a man and woman—whether it be physical, mental or moral—we must allow there to be equality between the sexes.
“the legal subordination of one sex to the other – is wrong in itself, and now one of the chief hindrances to human improvement; and that it ought to be replaced by a principle of perfect equality, admitting no power or privilege on the one side, nor disability on the other." (521).
Mill goes on to describe how the subjection of women by men could be compared to that of slaves being suppressed by their masters and how it differs slightly. Mill states,
“All men, except the most brutish, desire to have, in the woman most nearly connected with them, not a forced slave but a willing one, not a slave merely, but a favourite. They have therefore put everything in practice to enslave their minds. The masters of all other slaves rely, for maintaining obedience, on fear; either fear of themselves, or religious fears. The masters of women wanted more than simple obedience, and they turned the whole force of education to effect their purpose.” (523).
I enjoyed this comparison because I believe it is very true and I am glad that Mill was able to see such a connection.
My favorite quote of Mill comes from this work as well. Mill writes,
“I deny that anyone knows, or can know, the nature of the two sexes, as long as they have only been seen in their present relation to one another. If men had ever been found in society without women, or women without men, or if there had been a society of men and women in which the women were not under the control of the men, something might have been positively known about the mental and moral differences which may be inherent in the nature of each.” (524).
I enjoy this quote because it shows that we must allow women to be seen as equals in order to gain a accurate understanding of women and men separately. It shows that in order to truly see the differences between a man and woman—whether it be physical, mental or moral—we must allow there to be equality between the sexes.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Robert Browning
After reading Elizabeth's works I could not wait to read what Robert had to write. Unfortunately I was slightly disappointed. It could be that I am biased because Elizabeth is a woman and I can relate to her more. However, as the book states it Robert Browning "had aquired a further mask that he had not sought: that of 'Mrs. Browning's husband'" (661). I found Brownings work to be the most difficult to understand out of all the work we have read so far.
I enjoyed reading Porphyria's Lover. I understand that the speaker killed Porphyria because he wanted to keep the moment that was so perfect but I did not understand why he could not have let her live and continue to have perfect moments. After doing some research of this poem I learned that Porphyria was not the speakers wife and that they were having an adulterous relationship. I also learned that because of this adulterous relationship Porphyria worried about society's view of her and the speaker worried that eventually she would give into the pressure of the society and stop seeing him. This helped me make sense of the poem and I began to understand it as a whole. I went back and read the poem from the beginning and was shocked that I did not pick up on this meaning before. One line states: "That moment she was mine, mine, fair, Perfectly pure and good:" (663). For the first time he had this beautiful woman all to himself and he believed that the love was pure and she would not leave him. But to be on the safe side he decided to kill her and keep it that way because he did not want to lose her. He had her to himself and he was not sure that he would be able to let her go.
One thing that I did enjoy alot was actually not from a work but in a letter to Elizabeth Barrett before Robert had met her. In reading the background information of Robert I learned that he wrote to her "I love your verses with all my heart, --and I love you too." To not even know someone and be able to put your heart our there so boldly and then eventually marry the person and spend your lives together happy...how adorable!
I enjoyed reading Porphyria's Lover. I understand that the speaker killed Porphyria because he wanted to keep the moment that was so perfect but I did not understand why he could not have let her live and continue to have perfect moments. After doing some research of this poem I learned that Porphyria was not the speakers wife and that they were having an adulterous relationship. I also learned that because of this adulterous relationship Porphyria worried about society's view of her and the speaker worried that eventually she would give into the pressure of the society and stop seeing him. This helped me make sense of the poem and I began to understand it as a whole. I went back and read the poem from the beginning and was shocked that I did not pick up on this meaning before. One line states: "That moment she was mine, mine, fair, Perfectly pure and good:" (663). For the first time he had this beautiful woman all to himself and he believed that the love was pure and she would not leave him. But to be on the safe side he decided to kill her and keep it that way because he did not want to lose her. He had her to himself and he was not sure that he would be able to let her go.
One thing that I did enjoy alot was actually not from a work but in a letter to Elizabeth Barrett before Robert had met her. In reading the background information of Robert I learned that he wrote to her "I love your verses with all my heart, --and I love you too." To not even know someone and be able to put your heart our there so boldly and then eventually marry the person and spend your lives together happy...how adorable!
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways" (532) is one of the most famous lines in poetry and it is absolutely one of my favorites by far. I adore it. There is so much compassion in that one line. And it is not just that one line that has so much compassion but every line in each of her poems. Most of her sonnets were written to express how much love she had for Robert Browning. I loved the fact that the two were so in love with each other that they eloped even though Elizabeth's father forbide the wedding. In the sonnet 43 after asking the question about how much she loves Robert she answers it as well. She writes:
"I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I lvoe thee with the passion put to use in my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose with my lost saints, --I love with the breath, smiles, tears, of my life! -- and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death" (532).I love this because it is expressing that before she met Robert her life was full of grief and pain but now she can even turn those into love for him. When she says that she loves with the breath, smiles, and tears of her life I find it to mean that even through the good and bad she will have the ULTIMATE love for him. She truly found her prince charming. I am sure that many girls identify with Elizabeth's poems more because they want to find that love and if they have found such a love they want to express is just as she has expressed it. Another thing I am positive of is that after reading her poetry I could not wait to fall in love and experience something so amazing and great as what she describes in her sonnets.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Tennyson lived a very sad life. As stated in the podcast, Tennyson had an alcoholic brother, a brother addicted to opium and he himself suffered from depression. The death of his close friend Arthur Henry Hallam sent him even further into a depression. I feel that most of his poems reflect this sadness and perhaps the loneliness that he felt in his life.
Tennyson's Lady of Shalott was another poem that I was required to read in high school but I very much enjoyed reading it a second time. I believe there are several meanings that could have come out of the unique rhyming lines. In the first part of the poem, Tennyson describes the river and towers that keep the Lady of Shalott prisoner. It explains that she weaves and nobody that ever passes gets to witness the Lady of Shalott. In part 2, it is explained that she is not allowed to leave her web to look to Camelot because she will fall under a curse. It also explains that the Lady of Shalott tends to watch the people that pass by her tower in the mirror directly across from her weave. The line "I am half sick of shadows" (590) makes it obvious that she feels alone in the world and she is tired of seeing only the shadow/reflection of the people passing by. (This reminds me of Plato's Allegory of the Cave which we read in FYS). In the third part, the Lady of Shalott is pulled away from her web and loom and looked to Camelot because of Sir Lancelot. I enjoy how Tennyson describes in Sir Lancelot's appearance in so much detail and even when his image flashes into the mirror, the Lady of Shalott does not look until she hers him sing "tirra lirra" (591). As soon as she looks the web flies and the mirror shatters. The lady has realized her curse is apon her. In the last part, it explains how the Lady of Shalott finds a boat, lays herself down and floats into Camelot singing her last song. When the people see her they are afraid but Sir Lancelot just claims "She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace" (593). I find it very ironic that Sir Lancelot say such a thing. I cannot help but wonder if he realizes he is the reason that she has fallen under such a tragedy.
Tennyson's Lady of Shalott was another poem that I was required to read in high school but I very much enjoyed reading it a second time. I believe there are several meanings that could have come out of the unique rhyming lines. In the first part of the poem, Tennyson describes the river and towers that keep the Lady of Shalott prisoner. It explains that she weaves and nobody that ever passes gets to witness the Lady of Shalott. In part 2, it is explained that she is not allowed to leave her web to look to Camelot because she will fall under a curse. It also explains that the Lady of Shalott tends to watch the people that pass by her tower in the mirror directly across from her weave. The line "I am half sick of shadows" (590) makes it obvious that she feels alone in the world and she is tired of seeing only the shadow/reflection of the people passing by. (This reminds me of Plato's Allegory of the Cave which we read in FYS). In the third part, the Lady of Shalott is pulled away from her web and loom and looked to Camelot because of Sir Lancelot. I enjoy how Tennyson describes in Sir Lancelot's appearance in so much detail and even when his image flashes into the mirror, the Lady of Shalott does not look until she hers him sing "tirra lirra" (591). As soon as she looks the web flies and the mirror shatters. The lady has realized her curse is apon her. In the last part, it explains how the Lady of Shalott finds a boat, lays herself down and floats into Camelot singing her last song. When the people see her they are afraid but Sir Lancelot just claims "She has a lovely face God in his mercy lend her grace" (593). I find it very ironic that Sir Lancelot say such a thing. I cannot help but wonder if he realizes he is the reason that she has fallen under such a tragedy.
Charles Dickens
After reading Dickens' "A Visit to Newgate," I had very mixed feelings. Was I suppose to feel sorry for these people that are locked away? Or am I suppose to be glad that crimes are being punished instead of forgotten? Like I said I had very mixed feelings because while I was glad that criminals were being punished, I was also sad to hear about the awful conditions that they were living in. Dickens describes the prison at Newgate very well by examining each ward individually. The first ward is the women's ward. As I read this section I kept thinking to myself how awful it would be to be locked up there and how I dont believe I would be able to last one day. Dickens describes an elder woman as:
The next part of the prison Dickens describes is that of the young boys who are being punished for pick pocketing. Reading this section absolutely broke my heart because most of these boys were not of the age 14. They were practically babies!! The worst part about this passage was when Dickens explains that looking at these boys you could see not one redeeming quality. None of them seemed to be upset by their punishment and "anything like shame and contrition, was entirely out of the question."
The third part of the prison is that of the men who are not condemned and Dickens states "they have little description to offer, as the different wards necessarily partake of the same charcter." The final paragraphs of this exerpt discuss a man who is condemned to death in the gallows and a dream he has of escaping such misery. Again I have mixed feelings while reading this. One because I am glad the man is being punished for beating his wife and treating her wrong but at the same time I can see that he is truly sorry for what he had done and wishes he could take back "all the unkindness and cruelty that wasted her form and broke her heart!"
A few of the passages made me believ that Dickens was critiqueing how society in the industrial period was. One line that stands out to me is when Dickens is discussing the women of the prison. He says:
"a creature so borne down in soul and body, by excess of miseery and destituion, as the old woman...the old woman was talking in that low, stifled tone of voice which tells so forcibly of mental anguish; and every now and then burst into an irrepressible sharp, abrupt cry of grief, the most distressing sound that ears can hear."
The next part of the prison Dickens describes is that of the young boys who are being punished for pick pocketing. Reading this section absolutely broke my heart because most of these boys were not of the age 14. They were practically babies!! The worst part about this passage was when Dickens explains that looking at these boys you could see not one redeeming quality. None of them seemed to be upset by their punishment and "anything like shame and contrition, was entirely out of the question."
The third part of the prison is that of the men who are not condemned and Dickens states "they have little description to offer, as the different wards necessarily partake of the same charcter." The final paragraphs of this exerpt discuss a man who is condemned to death in the gallows and a dream he has of escaping such misery. Again I have mixed feelings while reading this. One because I am glad the man is being punished for beating his wife and treating her wrong but at the same time I can see that he is truly sorry for what he had done and wishes he could take back "all the unkindness and cruelty that wasted her form and broke her heart!"
A few of the passages made me believ that Dickens was critiqueing how society in the industrial period was. One line that stands out to me is when Dickens is discussing the women of the prison. He says:
"one of those children, born and bred in neglect and vice, who have never know what childhood is....its gaiety and its innocence, are alike unknown to them...tell them of hunger and the streets, beggary and stripes, the gin-shop, the station-house, and the pawnbroker's, and they will understand you."I believe this refers to the young girls beginning to prostitute their bodies in order to survive. I also believe the young boys are pick pocketing because they have nothing else to do in order to get food for themselves and perhaps their family. Another line that stands out to me is when Dickens is describing how during services a man that was about to be excuted was to sit beside his coffin the entire time. He states:
"let us hope that the increased spirit of civilisation and humanity which abolished this frightful and degrading custom, may extend itself to other usages equally barbarous; usages which have not even the plea of utility in their defence, as every year's experience has shown them to be more and more inefficacious."I believe this is the most obvious statement that shows Dickens is not happy with the way society is during the industrial period. I believe this is just another critiscism of how people are growing apart from each other and society is falling apart.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Thomas Carlyle
After reading Thomas Carlyle’s works provided and listening to the podcast, I found it very interesting that there was such a gray period between the Romantic and Victorian ages. In the podcast it mentions that Keats and Carlyle were born the same year but since Keats died at the age of 26 he is seen as a Romantic writer and Carlyle is seen as a Victorian writer because he died at 86. The first thing that came to mind after hearing such a statement was, if Keats had lived as long as Carlyle would he still be considered a Romantic or would he be considered a Victorian?
But now I want to focus more on Carlyle’s work. I enjoyed reading Carlyle because I found it was very easy to understand what his position was and how he felt about certain things. I felt I did less digging to find meaning in his works than I had done in previous authors’ works. One of his works that I truly enjoyed reading was The Irish Widow from Gospel of Mammonism. The widow and her children were refused help and referred to others. Each person asked refused to help and eventually the widow died from typhus-fever which also infected 17 others on her lane that had refused her help. Carlyle writes:
But now I want to focus more on Carlyle’s work. I enjoyed reading Carlyle because I found it was very easy to understand what his position was and how he felt about certain things. I felt I did less digging to find meaning in his works than I had done in previous authors’ works. One of his works that I truly enjoyed reading was The Irish Widow from Gospel of Mammonism. The widow and her children were refused help and referred to others. Each person asked refused to help and eventually the widow died from typhus-fever which also infected 17 others on her lane that had refused her help. Carlyle writes:
When I read this I understood that people were too selfish to help this widow and her children. They prove that the “money-safes are ours, and you to have no business with them” (481). The widow was seen as someone that did not have as much matter as themselves. I believe that this expresses Carlyle’s beliefs very well. Carlyle believed that during the Industrial period and after, people began to lose their communal responsibility of taking care of each other and started focusing on only themselves.“Behold I am sinking, bare of help: ye must help me! I am your sister, bone of your bone; one God made us: ye must help me! They answered, No, impossible; thou art no sister of ours. But she proves her sisterhood; her typhus-fever kills them: they actually were her brothers, though denying it!” (480-481).
Friday, June 1, 2007
John Keats
John Keats’ “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” is an interesting contrast to many other poems because of the role of beauty and love. For example, in Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty”, he is enamored with a beautiful woman who he believes has a pure soul and a “heart whose love is innocent” (358). Beauty and love, in Byron’s poem, are both positive things. However, Keats’ poem takes a darker look at these two attributes.
“La Belle Dame Sans Merci” translates to “The Beautiful Woman Without Mercy” and one of the footnotes at the bottom of the page mentions that Keats’ inspiration for this poem refers to the common literary character of the “femmes fatales” who were women who seduced men and ultimately killed them.
The poem appears to have two different speakers. The first one is a person, perhaps the poet, who comes across a dying man, perhaps a knight, and asks him a few questions. The rest of the poem is spoken by the dying knight or man who has met “la belle dame sans merci.” In the beginning of the poem, the passerby asks the dying man what is wrong with him. “The sedge is wither’d from the lake, and no birds sing” give a desolate, dying tone to the surrounding environment which reflects the sickly man. This line along with the second half of the second verse, “The squirrel’s granary is full, and the harvest’s done” imply that it is wintertime or nearing winter. In many religions and some mythology, winter is associated with death. In the next verse, the passerby says that he sees “a lily on thy brow” and “on thy cheek a fading rose.” Lilies are generally associated with death and funerals. Roses represent love, but here they also reflect the loss of blood from the man’s face as he is dying.
The dying man, likely a knight, recounts his encounter with the woman. The woman he describes is extremely beautiful, “a fairy’s child; Her hair was long, her foot was light, and her eyes were wild.” He takes her up on his horse and is quickly entranced by her beauty, unable to see anything else but her. He is thoroughly mesmerized by her “fairy song” and makes her garlands, bracelets, and a belt all made of flowers. The use of flowers here furthers the idea that this woman is of another world, perhaps a fairy, since fairies are often thought of as flower-covered woodland creatures.
The man is certain that this beautiful woman loves him as well as she stares at him and sighs, moaning sweetly. They go to her “elfin grot” and he kisses her eyes to sleep. Once he falls asleep, however, he has nightmares of pale warriors and kings, so pale it appears they are dead. It is clear that these are past lovers of this woman who have died as a consequence. They warn him “La Belle Dame sans Merci hath thee in thrall!” And then he wakes up and is alone in the desolate place in which the passerby has found him, alone and dying as a consequence of falling in love with a beautiful woman without mercy.
The story of the poem is pretty straightforward, telling the story of a woman who enraptures men and then the men end up dying. Perhaps Keats was inspired by an actual woman who, obviously didn’t kill him, but perhaps hurt him badly enough for him to write a poem about a woman without any mercy in killing men. It’s an interesting idea, although not a new idea, for a poem to show negative consequences of love and beauty. It’s so easy to think of love and beauty in cheesy, Hallmark card kind of terms, but here, it is because the man is so entranced by this gorgeous woman who appears to love him that he ends up dead. He is so swept up in the magic of love and beauty that he doesn’t realize the deception until his nightmare warns him.
Although on a different note, part of me wonders if this is as straightforward as it appears to be. Perhaps, on another level Keats is mourning the loss of beauty in life. In youth, much like the man in love with the woman, you can be dazzled by beauty and love until one day you wake up alone, old, and dying. Or perhaps he is simply reflecting on the impermanence of beauty. Women age, flowers die, and sometimes there’s a rainy day. Nothing lasts forever; everything must eventually die, so perhaps in a slightly offbeat way, the poem reflects a sort of carpe diem kind of message. However, I honestly believe that doesn’t really seem the case because in this poem it is because he falls in love with this woman that he ends up dying.
“La Belle Dame Sans Merci” translates to “The Beautiful Woman Without Mercy” and one of the footnotes at the bottom of the page mentions that Keats’ inspiration for this poem refers to the common literary character of the “femmes fatales” who were women who seduced men and ultimately killed them.
The poem appears to have two different speakers. The first one is a person, perhaps the poet, who comes across a dying man, perhaps a knight, and asks him a few questions. The rest of the poem is spoken by the dying knight or man who has met “la belle dame sans merci.” In the beginning of the poem, the passerby asks the dying man what is wrong with him. “The sedge is wither’d from the lake, and no birds sing” give a desolate, dying tone to the surrounding environment which reflects the sickly man. This line along with the second half of the second verse, “The squirrel’s granary is full, and the harvest’s done” imply that it is wintertime or nearing winter. In many religions and some mythology, winter is associated with death. In the next verse, the passerby says that he sees “a lily on thy brow” and “on thy cheek a fading rose.” Lilies are generally associated with death and funerals. Roses represent love, but here they also reflect the loss of blood from the man’s face as he is dying.
The dying man, likely a knight, recounts his encounter with the woman. The woman he describes is extremely beautiful, “a fairy’s child; Her hair was long, her foot was light, and her eyes were wild.” He takes her up on his horse and is quickly entranced by her beauty, unable to see anything else but her. He is thoroughly mesmerized by her “fairy song” and makes her garlands, bracelets, and a belt all made of flowers. The use of flowers here furthers the idea that this woman is of another world, perhaps a fairy, since fairies are often thought of as flower-covered woodland creatures.
The man is certain that this beautiful woman loves him as well as she stares at him and sighs, moaning sweetly. They go to her “elfin grot” and he kisses her eyes to sleep. Once he falls asleep, however, he has nightmares of pale warriors and kings, so pale it appears they are dead. It is clear that these are past lovers of this woman who have died as a consequence. They warn him “La Belle Dame sans Merci hath thee in thrall!” And then he wakes up and is alone in the desolate place in which the passerby has found him, alone and dying as a consequence of falling in love with a beautiful woman without mercy.
The story of the poem is pretty straightforward, telling the story of a woman who enraptures men and then the men end up dying. Perhaps Keats was inspired by an actual woman who, obviously didn’t kill him, but perhaps hurt him badly enough for him to write a poem about a woman without any mercy in killing men. It’s an interesting idea, although not a new idea, for a poem to show negative consequences of love and beauty. It’s so easy to think of love and beauty in cheesy, Hallmark card kind of terms, but here, it is because the man is so entranced by this gorgeous woman who appears to love him that he ends up dead. He is so swept up in the magic of love and beauty that he doesn’t realize the deception until his nightmare warns him.
Although on a different note, part of me wonders if this is as straightforward as it appears to be. Perhaps, on another level Keats is mourning the loss of beauty in life. In youth, much like the man in love with the woman, you can be dazzled by beauty and love until one day you wake up alone, old, and dying. Or perhaps he is simply reflecting on the impermanence of beauty. Women age, flowers die, and sometimes there’s a rainy day. Nothing lasts forever; everything must eventually die, so perhaps in a slightly offbeat way, the poem reflects a sort of carpe diem kind of message. However, I honestly believe that doesn’t really seem the case because in this poem it is because he falls in love with this woman that he ends up dying.
Felicia Hemans
When I compare Felicia Hemans’ to Dorothy Wordsworth’s it is hard for me to say whom I prefer. Each woman has a completely different style of writing and different messages. I personally enjoyed the works by Hemans much better.
The “Wife of Asdrubal” was a very baffling work that I found to be very different from the other selections of her work. While I read this I understood how she could be so angry at the father of her children because he had left them in order to save his own life. I would have been just as livid. However, when I got to the part where she kills her own children and then takes her life, I was very unhappy.
“Bright in her hand the lifted dagger gleams,
Swift from he children’s hearts the life-blood streams;” (408)
I understand that she was taking the very thing that Asdrubal loved the most away from him and that it was his punishment for leaving them because there is no greater punishment then losing your child. But how could you take your own children’s lives while they cling to you and look to you to save them.
“Are those her infants, that with suppliant –cry
Cling round her, shrinking as the flame draws nigh,
Clasp with their feeble hands her gorgeous vest,
And fain would rush for shelter to her breast?” (407)
I would never be able to let my children die without fighting to save them and much less could I be the one to ever kill them. Since her father left her as a child and her husband left her to take care of their 5 children all alone, I cannot help but wonder if Hemans ever truly thought about killing her children and herself. However, even with that thought, I do not believe that this poem was meant for people to think this way. I believe this was a way for her to release her feelings of anger and maybe in an emblematical way take her children from their father. Perhaps to symbolically kill them as far as their father was concerned.
On a completely different page, Hemans writes to celebrate the way women live their lives. In “The Homes of England,” Hemans praises women for their traditional roles as house keepers and mothers to children. What I like so much about this poem is that she celebrates all the women in each of the different classes of society. It shows that no matter what level of class you are, as a woman you can do amazing things. She praises the women of aristocracy in their “stately homes of England,” the women of higher class and their “merry homes of England,” the woman of the church in the “blessed homes of England” and even the peasant women in their in the “cottage homes of England.” And she praises each of these women because of their gender and because no matter what class they each possess the same domestic roles.
The “Wife of Asdrubal” was a very baffling work that I found to be very different from the other selections of her work. While I read this I understood how she could be so angry at the father of her children because he had left them in order to save his own life. I would have been just as livid. However, when I got to the part where she kills her own children and then takes her life, I was very unhappy.
“Bright in her hand the lifted dagger gleams,
Swift from he children’s hearts the life-blood streams;” (408)
I understand that she was taking the very thing that Asdrubal loved the most away from him and that it was his punishment for leaving them because there is no greater punishment then losing your child. But how could you take your own children’s lives while they cling to you and look to you to save them.
“Are those her infants, that with suppliant –cry
Cling round her, shrinking as the flame draws nigh,
Clasp with their feeble hands her gorgeous vest,
And fain would rush for shelter to her breast?” (407)
I would never be able to let my children die without fighting to save them and much less could I be the one to ever kill them. Since her father left her as a child and her husband left her to take care of their 5 children all alone, I cannot help but wonder if Hemans ever truly thought about killing her children and herself. However, even with that thought, I do not believe that this poem was meant for people to think this way. I believe this was a way for her to release her feelings of anger and maybe in an emblematical way take her children from their father. Perhaps to symbolically kill them as far as their father was concerned.
On a completely different page, Hemans writes to celebrate the way women live their lives. In “The Homes of England,” Hemans praises women for their traditional roles as house keepers and mothers to children. What I like so much about this poem is that she celebrates all the women in each of the different classes of society. It shows that no matter what level of class you are, as a woman you can do amazing things. She praises the women of aristocracy in their “stately homes of England,” the women of higher class and their “merry homes of England,” the woman of the church in the “blessed homes of England” and even the peasant women in their in the “cottage homes of England.” And she praises each of these women because of their gender and because no matter what class they each possess the same domestic roles.
Percy Shelley
Reading Shelley’s “To a Sky-Lark,” I noticed that it was written very differently from any of his other works. The first 4 lines of the stanza short and then the 5th line of the stanza is longer than the rest but still works with Shelley’s rhyming scheme.
The speaker in Shelley’s poem (which is most likely himself) seems to be amazed by the amount of beauty and delight that the skylark has. The skylark flies higher and higher until it vanishes from sight but its beautiful song can still be heard. The skylark’s song is then compared to all things in nature that are stunning and how it can surpass any of their exquisiteness such as in lines 33-35 “From rainbow clouds there flow not Drops so bright to see As from they presence showers a rain of melody:” and also in lines 56-60 “Sound of vernal showers On the twinkling grass, Rain-awakened flowers, All that ever was, Joyous and clear and fresh, - they music doth surpass.”
In the 18th and 19th stanzas, Shelley expresses that men could never know the happiness that the skylark knows:
“We look before and after,
And pine for what is not:
Our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.
Yet if we could scorn
Hate and pride and fear,
If we were things born
Not to shed a tear,
I know not how thy joy we ever should come near” (404).
To me it seems that Shelley is almost saying that we are constantly looking to the future and looking to the past as if we are almost searching for the happiness that the skylark has in this one single moment. I also get a feeling that Shelley believes that without our sadness and pain we will not have any chance of coming close to the joy that encompasses the skylark. It is as if we have to learn from our troubles to obtain such happiness.
However, in the last stanza Shelley is still seeking the cause for such bliss:
"Teach me half the gladness
That thy brain must know,
Such harmonious madness
From my lips would flow
The world should listen then – as I am listening now” (404).
The poem ends with Shelley listening to the skylark and waiting to hear how the skylark is so inspired and for his ways of such joy. He is positive that just knowing half of what this marvelous bird knows would compel the world to listen just as he has listened.
The speaker in Shelley’s poem (which is most likely himself) seems to be amazed by the amount of beauty and delight that the skylark has. The skylark flies higher and higher until it vanishes from sight but its beautiful song can still be heard. The skylark’s song is then compared to all things in nature that are stunning and how it can surpass any of their exquisiteness such as in lines 33-35 “From rainbow clouds there flow not Drops so bright to see As from they presence showers a rain of melody:” and also in lines 56-60 “Sound of vernal showers On the twinkling grass, Rain-awakened flowers, All that ever was, Joyous and clear and fresh, - they music doth surpass.”
In the 18th and 19th stanzas, Shelley expresses that men could never know the happiness that the skylark knows:
“We look before and after,
And pine for what is not:
Our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.
Yet if we could scorn
Hate and pride and fear,
If we were things born
Not to shed a tear,
I know not how thy joy we ever should come near” (404).
To me it seems that Shelley is almost saying that we are constantly looking to the future and looking to the past as if we are almost searching for the happiness that the skylark has in this one single moment. I also get a feeling that Shelley believes that without our sadness and pain we will not have any chance of coming close to the joy that encompasses the skylark. It is as if we have to learn from our troubles to obtain such happiness.
However, in the last stanza Shelley is still seeking the cause for such bliss:
"Teach me half the gladness
That thy brain must know,
Such harmonious madness
From my lips would flow
The world should listen then – as I am listening now” (404).
The poem ends with Shelley listening to the skylark and waiting to hear how the skylark is so inspired and for his ways of such joy. He is positive that just knowing half of what this marvelous bird knows would compel the world to listen just as he has listened.
George Gordon, Lord Byron
Lord Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty” is a poem that at first seemed very simple and straightforward, but after I had looked over it a few times, I realized that it was a bit more complex than I had originally thought. I found this poem very beautiful and romantic, a lovely description of an attractive woman.
What I find interesting about this poem is its unification of opposites. In life, we encounter various opposing ideas and ideas. Man and woman. Yes and no. Pro-choice and Pro-life. Opposites also play a huge part in literature. Characters are used in juxtaposition to others, their bad traits illuminating the good traits in the others. The classic plot is the fight between good and evil, a fight between to opposing forces, the good guys versus the bad guys, a fight of opposites. However, in Lord Byron’s poem, the opposites of light and dark are unified in this one woman of magnificent beauty.
“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 mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.” (358)
At first it appears that he simply likens her to the night, a dark beauty, perhaps exotic in nature. But when you continue on, you realize that isn’t his intention. He compares her to a cloudless night sky, clear and dark, but illuminated by starlight. And the best of these two worlds, light and dark, come together in her face and eyes. Like a star-filled night sky, her beauty is a “tender light”, a mellow moderation, not falling to any extreme. In the final line, he writes that heaven denies this tender light to the daytime. In his opinion, daytime, or complete light, is gaudy, it is over the top. This is interesting because in so many instances, darkness is associated with evil, or at least a bad side. Black magic is seen as evil. In movies, the bad guy often wears black or other dark colors. But here in Byron’s poem, it is specifically the darkness that mellows the light and thus makes her beautiful. If she were entirely light, if she were, in essence, the daytime, her beauty would not be as magnificent.
“One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling place.” (358)
The first lines here can be interpreted differently. One could say that that if her look was modified “one shade the more, one ray the less”, her beauty would only be impaired slightly. Or one could interpret it as if even the slightest change was made, her beauty would not be nearly what it is. She is, ultimately, perfect. He describes her physical features here in terms of light and dark, referring to her dark, “raven” hair, and the lightness of her face. Her face is sweet and pure and serene in expression.
“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 in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!” (358)
In the final stanza, he continues describing aspects of her face. Her cheek and brow have soft qualities, peaceful and serene, and yet they are “eloquent”, they are expressive and say a great deal about, perhaps, her thoughts and her life. The colors and shades of her face and hair illuminate her beauty. This half of a line is interesting because a tint is simply a darker shade of a color. This implies some sort of darkness, or at least a lessening of lightness and this is interesting because in his line, these tints “glow” or illuminate her beauty. Yet, even though her smile may alter her peaceful countenance, and her dark hair may appear exotic and intense, he is sure that she is good and innocent. Her calm expression and her beautiful physical appearance, for Byron, reflect a beautiful soul and innocent moral character.
As I said before, at first glance I thought this poem was simpler than it really is. It still is a sort of love poem, but made a bit more complex as Byron goes on to describe a rare, more complex beauty. His use of light and dark is interesting because here they come together to make a woman more beautiful, instead of working against each other.
What I find interesting about this poem is its unification of opposites. In life, we encounter various opposing ideas and ideas. Man and woman. Yes and no. Pro-choice and Pro-life. Opposites also play a huge part in literature. Characters are used in juxtaposition to others, their bad traits illuminating the good traits in the others. The classic plot is the fight between good and evil, a fight between to opposing forces, the good guys versus the bad guys, a fight of opposites. However, in Lord Byron’s poem, the opposites of light and dark are unified in this one woman of magnificent beauty.
“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 mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.” (358)
At first it appears that he simply likens her to the night, a dark beauty, perhaps exotic in nature. But when you continue on, you realize that isn’t his intention. He compares her to a cloudless night sky, clear and dark, but illuminated by starlight. And the best of these two worlds, light and dark, come together in her face and eyes. Like a star-filled night sky, her beauty is a “tender light”, a mellow moderation, not falling to any extreme. In the final line, he writes that heaven denies this tender light to the daytime. In his opinion, daytime, or complete light, is gaudy, it is over the top. This is interesting because in so many instances, darkness is associated with evil, or at least a bad side. Black magic is seen as evil. In movies, the bad guy often wears black or other dark colors. But here in Byron’s poem, it is specifically the darkness that mellows the light and thus makes her beautiful. If she were entirely light, if she were, in essence, the daytime, her beauty would not be as magnificent.
“One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling place.” (358)
The first lines here can be interpreted differently. One could say that that if her look was modified “one shade the more, one ray the less”, her beauty would only be impaired slightly. Or one could interpret it as if even the slightest change was made, her beauty would not be nearly what it is. She is, ultimately, perfect. He describes her physical features here in terms of light and dark, referring to her dark, “raven” hair, and the lightness of her face. Her face is sweet and pure and serene in expression.
“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 in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!” (358)
In the final stanza, he continues describing aspects of her face. Her cheek and brow have soft qualities, peaceful and serene, and yet they are “eloquent”, they are expressive and say a great deal about, perhaps, her thoughts and her life. The colors and shades of her face and hair illuminate her beauty. This half of a line is interesting because a tint is simply a darker shade of a color. This implies some sort of darkness, or at least a lessening of lightness and this is interesting because in his line, these tints “glow” or illuminate her beauty. Yet, even though her smile may alter her peaceful countenance, and her dark hair may appear exotic and intense, he is sure that she is good and innocent. Her calm expression and her beautiful physical appearance, for Byron, reflect a beautiful soul and innocent moral character.
As I said before, at first glance I thought this poem was simpler than it really is. It still is a sort of love poem, but made a bit more complex as Byron goes on to describe a rare, more complex beauty. His use of light and dark is interesting because here they come together to make a woman more beautiful, instead of working against each other.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
As a sophomore in high school, I was required to read “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” I had forgotten that my class was required to read this poem but as I began to read it again so much came back to me. Most people when they have already been required to read something would stop and move to the next thing. However, just as the wedding guest in the story, I was unable to stop reading the story until I had reached the end.
Throughout the poem there is a theme of Christianity and the supernatural. The mariner tells the wedding guest of a skeleton ship with a woman whom is Life-in-Death and her mate Death aboard. The two have been playing dice to decide who will have the ship’s crew and Life-In-Death has one the mariner. One by one the crew begin to die right before the mariner’s eyes and he describes “and every soul, it flew me by, like the whiz of my cross bow!” (331 lines 222-223). The supernatural are seen for a second time as the crew are inspirited on page 334 and again on page 335 the Polar Spirit’s fellow-daemons discuss the mariner while he lies in a trance due to the angelic power causing the ship to travel faster than a human life could endure.
A second theme that is seen in the “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is that of destruction and revival. When the mariner shoots the albatross he does so without thinking and it ultimately leads to his ruin. His renewal begins when the mariner begins to understand that all things of nature are to be loved and valued the same. This is evident when he realizes the beauty of the sea snakes and his curse is lifted:
One thing that I find very interesting is that we still use Coleridge’s words from the “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” today. On page 330 lines 140-141 read “Instead of the cross, the Albatross about my neck was hung.” This line has also derived a saying that may not be known to all but is still very common. Many people when dealing with a burden will compare it to the Albatross around their neck. For example if my car was old and broke down on me all the time it would be a very big burden and I could refer to it as the Albatross hanging on my neck.
Throughout the poem there is a theme of Christianity and the supernatural. The mariner tells the wedding guest of a skeleton ship with a woman whom is Life-in-Death and her mate Death aboard. The two have been playing dice to decide who will have the ship’s crew and Life-In-Death has one the mariner. One by one the crew begin to die right before the mariner’s eyes and he describes “and every soul, it flew me by, like the whiz of my cross bow!” (331 lines 222-223). The supernatural are seen for a second time as the crew are inspirited on page 334 and again on page 335 the Polar Spirit’s fellow-daemons discuss the mariner while he lies in a trance due to the angelic power causing the ship to travel faster than a human life could endure.
A second theme that is seen in the “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is that of destruction and revival. When the mariner shoots the albatross he does so without thinking and it ultimately leads to his ruin. His renewal begins when the mariner begins to understand that all things of nature are to be loved and valued the same. This is evident when he realizes the beauty of the sea snakes and his curse is lifted:
“O happy living things! no tongue their beauty might declare: A spring of love gushed from my heart, And I blessed them unaware! Sure my kind saint to pity on me, And I blessed them unaware. The self same moment I could pray; And from my neck so free The Albatross fell off, and sank like lead into the sea” (333 lines 282-291).As mentioned in the podcast, Anna Barbauld said there were two flaws to the story of the ancient mariner, one being that it was unbelievable and the other being that there was not a moral. Coleridge argues that he believes “the poem had too much.” I would have to agree with Coleridge and say that the poem was full of morals. The moral that stands out the most is that a person should reconsider their attitude of the natural world. One most love and cherish all things that God has created no matter how big or small, how ugly or cute, or how wanted or unwanted they are. The last line that the mariner says to the wedding guest supports this very well, “he prayeth best, who loveth best all things both great and small; for the dear God who loveth us, he made and loveth all” (340-341 lines 614-617). And because the mariner must tell his story over and over to rid himself of agony, more and more people learn from his story and ultimately they too change and become more loving of the natural world around them.
One thing that I find very interesting is that we still use Coleridge’s words from the “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” today. On page 330 lines 140-141 read “Instead of the cross, the Albatross about my neck was hung.” This line has also derived a saying that may not be known to all but is still very common. Many people when dealing with a burden will compare it to the Albatross around their neck. For example if my car was old and broke down on me all the time it would be a very big burden and I could refer to it as the Albatross hanging on my neck.
William Blake
I have never done exceptionally well when attempting to decipher the meaning a poet has hidden in his lines and stanzas. William Blake’s poems were very difficult for me to understand until I had read over them multiple times. I really enjoyed how Blake would use the same poems in the each section such as the “The Chimney Sweeper.” The poems each had a separate meaning which was shown by putting them in opposite sections one being the “Songs of Innocence” and the “Songs of Experience.”
As I read the background information on the “Songs of Innocence and Experience” a few of the lines really stuck out to me:
Earlier I mentioned that Blake used several of his poems in both sections and believe this is so we can get a better understanding and see the differences much easier. For example, “The Divine Image” is used in both sections. In the Songs of Innocence section, the “Divine Image” is peaceful and full words that bring joy. The third stanza reads:
As I read the background information on the “Songs of Innocence and Experience” a few of the lines really stuck out to me:
“Childhood is a time and state of protected ‘innocence,’ but it is a qualified innocence, not immune to the fallen world and institutions… ‘experience,’a state of being marked by the loss of childhood vitality, by fear and inhibition, by social and political corruption, and by the manifold oppression of Church, State, and the ruling class.” (77)This theme reminded me of The Catcher in the Rye in which Holden believes that children are innocent and attempts to keep them from finding about the cruelties and “phoniness.”
Earlier I mentioned that Blake used several of his poems in both sections and believe this is so we can get a better understanding and see the differences much easier. For example, “The Divine Image” is used in both sections. In the Songs of Innocence section, the “Divine Image” is peaceful and full words that bring joy. The third stanza reads:
“For Mercy has a human heart
Pity, a human face:
And Love, the human form divine
And Peace, the human dress.” (82)
It is explained that every man prays to these “virtues of delight” in times of distress because these virtues represent “God our father dear” but that while each man is praying to this God they also “pray to the human form divine” that is explained in third stanza. In the Songs of Experience section, the “Divine Image” is aggressive and the choice of words are dark and hateful. The first stanza reads:
“Cruelty has a Human Heart
And Jealousy a Human Face
Terror, the Human Form Divine
And Secrecy, the Human Dress” (93)
While in the Songs of Innocence the “virtues of delight” represented God and a human form divine, in the Songs of Experience these virtues are not delightful but rather miserable. It is almost that Blake wrote this because he wanted to express how man’s heart and soul are dark and cold. It seems that the human that Blake writes about in these stanzas has become tainted by his experience and that mankind is degrading.
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