William Butler Yeats

For my last post, I am going to focus on William Butler Yeats’s “Leda and the Swan.” Noted beneath the poem, it says that “In Greek mythology, Zeus came to Leda in the form of a swan and raped her; Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra were their offspring.” The poem describes the rape of Leda by Zeus in the form of a swan vividly and leaves me with a chilling feeling. The poem begins abruptly with, “A sudden blow: the great wings beating still / Above the staggering girl” (ln 1-2). Immediately the reader is taken to the scene of the rape and the tension which lies between the swan and the frightened girl. The swan is depicted as hovering above her showing his total control over the situation and the girl. Even though swans are usually associated with happiness and bright images, in this poem, the swan seems to have a darker image surrounding it. His feet are described as “dark webs” and he holds her neck in his bill. The girl is described as “helpless,” “terrified,” and “staggering.” The swan obviously overpowers her. The second stanza consists of two rhetorical questions. He asks:

“How can those terrified vague fingers push
The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?
And how can body, laid in that white rush,
But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?” (5-8).

Compared to Zeus, ruler of Gods, Leda is merely a mortal who has no power over the situation. How could her fingers ever resist the swan’s power when she is just a mortal? The following stanza shows the consequences of this act of rape. Leda becomes impregnated by Zeus in the swan form and gives birth to Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. Helen of Troy eventually leads to the fall of Troy and a beginning of a new era. He describes, “A shudder in the loins engenders there / The broken wall, the burning roof and tower / And Agamemnon dead. He is referencing the fall of Troy and the death of Helen’s husband, all bad events triggered by the rape described.

The last stanza attempts to get inside Lida’s mind at the time of the raping. It asks, “Did she put on his knowledge with his power / Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?” (14-15). It is asking whether she could see what the swan saw as he was raping her. She was just a pawn in the beginning of a new era. At the time of the raping, she did not realize all that would come from it and how significant it really was. She was too caught up and “mastered by the brute blood of the air” to ever know the purpose. I enjoyed reading this poem because of the striking images and shocking nature of the poem. Such a horrible and terrifying act leads to even more terrible acts. The poem also has a feeling of mystery to it since the names of the two mentioned in the title are never mentioned in the poem. Images of them are painted though throughout helping to further connect the reader with the story.

Wilfred Owen

Along with Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen’s poetry also touched me deeply. In his poem, “Anthem for Doomed Youth” Owen has a bitter tone about innocent and young men dying in the war. The poem touches me knowing that the men he is talking about are probably the same age that I am. In the beginning of the poem, the men dying in the war are described as “cattle” being slaughtered mercilessly in the battlefield. During the battle, the men’s death seems to have little significance and their humanity is stripped from them. “Only the monstrous anger of the guns. / Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle / Can patter out their hasty orisons” (2-4). It is not the soldiers who contain the anger and evilness that fills war; it is the guns with “monstrous anger.” As prayers are made, all that can be heard are the rifles firing in the air. The soldiers are at that point not significant at all. Even their prayers are shushed by the horrific sounds of the battle. Owen points out in the poem that these young men dying are not given a funeral or proper burial. All they are receiving are “the shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; / And bugles calling for them from sad shires” (7-8). Even though apparently these men are dying for their country, their death is depicted here as seeming insignificant. Their death initially on the battle field has little meaning and the only thing mourning their loss is the sound of “wailing shells” across the battlefield.

The next stanza gives a little more hope in the memory of these soldiers. Although their death seems insignificant on the battlefield, their memory is carried on with a loved one who suffers from their loss.

“What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes,
Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.
The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds” (9-14).

The soldiers might not all receive candles and a the type of funeral most would think, but they all receive their own funeral through the grieving of another. They are in someone’s memory and therefore are honored. I think that the last stanza is beautiful because it shows that someone can be honored with more than just candles and a burial. They are honored through someone else’s tears and memory of them. The female mourning in the passage allows the soldier to finally be able to be laid to rest. In the beginning of this poem, the death of the soldiers is made to seem insignificant and forgotten to the rest of the world. The last stanza though makes the point that all the fallen men have somewhat of a funeral even if it’s merely the weeping from his loved ones.

Siegfried Sassoon

I found Stegfried Sassoon’s portrayal of women during World War I in “Glory of Women” interesting. The poem is a sonnet that seems to have a bitter and hateful tone towards women. It is ironic that the poem is titled, “Glory of Women” because the poem does not really glorify women at all. Throughout the poem, women are described as having a sort of romantic and unrealistic view of battle. They love the soldiers for their heroism and the medals which they receive. They love to hear horror stories of the war and to talk about their soldiers’ heroic wounds. The speaker believes that the women of the time are far too removed from the war to ever really understand what the war is like and what the soldiers are going through.

The speaker of the poem begins the poem stating, “You love us when we’re heroes, home on leave, / or wounded in a mentionable place.” (1-2). The speaker uses “we” letting the reader know that these feelings are not only his feelings, but they are the feelings of many soldiers. The soldiers seem to be loved for their apparent heroism only when they come home from war or are wounded in battle. The women “worship decorations,” the medals that the soldiers bring home. Their soldier is something they can show off at home and for which they can be proud. In women’s eyes, the chivalry and heroism of the soldiers justify the horrific war happening away from them. They seem to be blinded from the real atrocities happening. The speaker speaks of a woman’s contribution to the war sarcastically, “You make us shells. You listen with delight, / By tales of dirt and danger fondly thrilled” (5-6). The women thought they were contributing to the war with their shells, but they were still too far away from the situation. They merely contributed to more death atrocity with their shell making. In the next few lines, the speaker seems to get angry at the women for having the audacity to call out the troops for retiring in war. He exclaims, “You can’t believe that British troops “retire” / When hell’s last horror breaks them, and they run, / Trambling the terrible corpses – blind with blood” (9-11). These images left terrible horrifying pictures of what the war might have been like in my mind. Sassoon paints a bloody picture of men running over corpses and describes their situation as “hell’s last horror.” He is attacking the women for questioning their reasoning for wanting to retire in such a situation. In his mind, the women most certainly do not have a place to say such. The last three lines of the poem seemed to change tone a little bit as it focused on a woman from the other side, a German mother. He describes, “O German mother dreaming by the fire, / While you are knitting socks to send your son / His face is trodden deeper in the mud” (12-15). This portion of the poem made me feel sad. Although Sassoon attacks women for not understanding the war, it is also sad and troubling that they were oblivious at what was going on with their soldiers at the time. Ironically, the shells that the British women were described making in the poem, are probably the same shells that killed the son of the German mother described in this poem. Although the women did not fully understand the full affect of the war, they still contributed to the horrific atrocities of it.

Thomas Hardy

As I was reading selections from Thomas Hardy, I really enjoyed “The Convergence of the Twain.” It is an interesting depiction of the sinking of the Titanic, which is an event in history which most know quite well. Hardy depicts the Titanic as a ship which was built in vain. At the same time that the Titanic was being built, the iceberg was being made my God to be able to converge with it one day. The poem describes the two meeting as if it were fate that brought the two together. Both were enormous, filled with vanity and pride. It was only fitting that the two collide and find their destiny together according to Hardy.

In the first few lines of the poem, Hardy mentions that the Titanic, now in the sea, is “Deep from human vanity, / And the Pride of Life that planned her.” (2-3). Although the Titanic was once filled with human vanity and luxury, it is now far from that under the sea. Because of its vanity, it has fallen from humanity. An eerie image is given in lines 7-8. “Over the mirrors meant / To glass the opulent / The sea-worm crawls – grotesque, slimed, dumb, indifferent.” Hardy seems to be mocking the ship in this poem. This ship was built for the most luxurious and wealthy people. It was certainly a privilege to be able to ride on such a marvelous ship. Ironically, the only thing seen in the mirrors now are the sea-worms indifferent to the ship. The ship is not quite so vain now.

Hardy describes a “sinister mate” being prepared for the ship while the ship is being built in following passages. He states:

“Well: while was fashioning
This creature of cleaving wing,
The Immanent Will that stirs and urges everything

Prepared a sinister mate
For her – so gaily great –
A shape of Ice, for the time far and dissociate” (16-21).

The Immanent Will for Hardy is the force that directs events in the way that they are supposed to go. The poem makes the point that the iceberg was made for the Titanic for a reason and the two were bound to collide while they were still being created. As the Titanic grows in “stature, grace, and hue” the iceberg grows as well matching the greatness of the ship. While the two are being created in vanity and greatness, they appear to be “alien” from the other. “No mortal eye could see / The intimate welding of their later history” (26-27). The two were meant to soon be embraced together, yet no one could see this. In the next stanza, they are described as being “twin halves.” Hardy again stresses that the two help to complete each other and were made to “weld” together.

The final stanza appropriately completes the poem. Throughout the poem, Hardy builds up both the iceberg and the Titanic and the fact that the two are meant to be together. In the final stanza, the two final collide. “Till the Spinner of the Years / Said “Now!” And each one hears, / And consummation comes, and jars two hemispheres” (31-33). Finally the two collide and meet their destiny. They are described as “two hemispheres” finally coming together as one. One half is made by God, the other by humans. It is fitting that the two great forces from God and humanity come together.

While reading the poem, it is evident that Hardy believed that the Titanic deserved its fate. Hardy seemed to despise such indulgence and luxury in the boat and saw its vanity as being the flaw that brought it down. Ironically now, the ship is far from being vain. It now lies humbled at the bottom of the ocean away from everything it once was.

Gerard Manley Hopkins

While reading some of Hopkin’s poems, “Spring and Fall” really stood out to me. The poem starts out innocently speaking about a young girl Margaret who is sad because the leaves are falling. An older man, the speaker of the poem asks her, “Margaret, are you grieving / Over Golden grove unleaving?” (1-2). At first seeming innocent, this scene is actually a serious moment for one so young. She seems to be grieving and weeping over the death of the leaves. She understands now what the falling of the leaves mean and now grieves for them. Still, only because of her innocence, she is able to grieve for the leaves, as someone would a man. Anyone older and less innocent would not have grieved for something as simple as a leaf. He tells the young girl:

“Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal life” (5-8).

Eventually, everything must die, including all the leaves. As she gets older, she will realize this fact and will not be so affected by the falling leaves. She will not “spare a sigh” by the sight even though all the leaves may lie on the ground eventually. The leaves in this poem can also be like people dying. It is a serious realization that children realize at one point in their lives. Eventually, everyone must die just as everyone in the past has died before. It is inevitable that the leaves will fall just as it is inevitable that eventually people will fall. This point becomes clear in the next lines when the speaker tells her that when she is older she will know why she weeps. Even though she is older, she will weep for the same thing, the only difference now is, she is too young and innocent to fully understand the reason she is weeping. “Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed / What heart heard of, ghost guessed.” Her heart knew why she was weeping, but her mind and mouth had not yet figured this out at her age. When she is older, she will know. The last two lines sum up the point of the poem and reveal why Margaret is really mourning. He tells, “It is the blight man was born for, / It is Margaret you mourn for” (14-15). Everyone is born to die, and in seeing the leaves, she mourns because eventually she will die too. For being about such an innocent girl, this poem has a deep and powerful message. Having the realization that life is a cycle, and that to live, means that eventually you must die can be scary and sad. Hopkins’s comparison of life to the seasons of leaves is an appropriate comparison, especially in the eyes of a child. They grow in the spring when they are young, and then in autumn, they fall to the ground and lie amongst all the other leaves that have fallen before them.

John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill has a very different view of the role of women than Sarah Stickney Ellis. While Ellis advises women that the best place for them in society is in the home and to be submissive to their husband, Mill has quite the opposite view. With radical views of his time, he advocated sexual equality, the right to divorce, universal suffrage, free speech, and proportional representation. In chapter one of The Subjection of Women, he gives his views of sexual equality. He points out in his writing that:

“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).

Whether it is men or women, no sex should be over the other. In this passage, he does not say distinctly that men should not be over women, he simply says that all should be equal. For instance, if the situation was turned around and women were dominant over men, he would argue equally as much his point that the two should be equal. In addition, he makes an argument that “the opinion in favour of the present system, which entirely subordinates the weaker sex to the stronger, rests upon theory only.” In other words, there is no reason that women should be subordinate to men because there is no evidence that this is the best way for things. It is simply based on theory and people’s beliefs. He points out, “the adoption of this system of inequality never was the result of deliberation, or forethought, or any social ideas, or any notion” (522). He uses excellent arguments next to make his point that theories are not always correct. He refers to the slave-owners in Southern United States and points out that their doctrines were similar. He asks, “Did they not call heaven and earth to witness that the dominion of the white man over the black is natural, that the black race is by nature incapable of freedom, and marked out of slavery?” (522). At this time in England, slavery was not allowed and looked down upon even. He is stating that if people have been wrong before about their theories of submission and yielding to the control of others, than the theories of a woman’s submission to a man are probably wrong as well. Part of the reason he believes people feel this way are because it is how their circle of friends supposedly feels. He states, “A stupid person’s notions and feelings may confidently be inferred from those which prevail in the circle by which the person is surrounded” (524). In other words, even the people who may believe in equality of the sexes will not speak out about it because of fear.

It was interesting reading this work about equality of the sexes from a male’s point of view. Often times sadly enough women write for women’s inequality but it gets passed along as just another feminist complaining. There were actually probably many men who were for woman’s rights that never even spoke up during that time. The ones that did were seen as extremely radical and may have been looked down upon by their male peers. Luckily enough, people like him did speak out. Because of writers like Mill, much advancement has been made in equality of the sexes since today.

Victorian Ladies and Gentlemen

It was very interesting to read about a woman’s role in society during the Victorian period. Middle-class women were expected to be the head of the domestic area, including the home and the family, while the men were expected to take care of the business side of the world. A passage from Tennyson’s The Princess is on page 555 and seems to describe the views of the different roles during the time period well:

“Man for the field and woman for the hearth:
Man for the sword and for the needle she:
Man with the head and woman with the heart:
Man to command and woman to obey:
All else confusion.” (555).

During that time, it was unheard of and quite rude for a woman to be out of the home and working. This idea seems quite absurd in today’s society since it is quite common and encouraged for a woman to work and accomplish whatever she wants. In the introduction describing the different gender roles, it describes women stating, “They could not work outside the home; they could not vote; they had no legal rights, even over their own children; they could not attend university or enter the professions.” (556). Women certainly seemed to be put in a second class during this time. It was thought that the women were there to take care of the men and to make sure that they were kept happy. In today’s society, if a woman wants to do nothing more than to do this, then I definitely support that, but if she desires more, than she should have that right as well.

An interesting work is included in the section from a woman’s point of view supporting their role in society at the time. Sarah Stickney Ellis advised other women to accept their inferior role to men and devote their lives to the happiness of their brothers, husbands, and sons. In addition, she discouraged intellectual ambition and saw it as a waste of time. I thought that this view was interesting to read about since very often we read works from women arguing quite the opposite.

In Ellis’s “The Influence of Women,” from The Women of England: Their Social Duties and Domestic Habits, she gives women many reasons why it is important that they accept their role in the home. She points out, “the influence of woman in counteracting the growing evils of society is about to be more needed than ever” (558). She then continues with asking, “Will an increase of intellectual attainments, or a higher style of accomplishments, effect this purpose?” (558). Women studying and becoming smarter will not solve the problems in the society that she describes as “growing evils.” She feels that women’s engaging in “superficial reading” does not enable them to be able to assist the men in her family. A book is not what can gain a man’s admiration according to Ellis. She states, “And yet what man is there in existence who would not rather his wife be free from selfishness, than be able to read Virgil without the use of a dictionary.” A woman could gain a man’s attention through being able to hold a compelling conversation with him, but studying was not the way. Although I do not agree with these ideas, I still find them to be interesting. Men actually saw this as a woman’s role in this time so in part she is probably right about many things. A man probably would have rather his wife made him happy than spend her time studying. Reading about these roles makes me happy to live in this time where woman can pretty much choose to do whatever they want to do. If they want to be the career woman, they can choose to do so, and if they choose to stay at home with a more domestic role, she may also choose to do that.

Robert Browning

I first began reading "Porhyria’s Lover", by Robert Browning, thinking that it might be a beautiful passionate love story. In a way, it still turned out to be a passionate love story, but in a twisted and on insane way. The poem actually left me sad, confused, and angry in the end.

In the beginning of the poem, the weather is described. It states, “The sullen wind was soon awake, / It tore the elm-tops down for spite, / And did its worse to vex the lake.” I perceived these events to foreshadow the forthcoming events. The speaker is like the sullen wind being awakened and suddenly being destructive. In the beginning of the poem, the speaker seems to be passive and sullen, and then all of a sudden, he takes over the situation and strangles his lover. It is evident that he is sad from line 5 of the poem when he tells, “I listened with heart fit to break.” Porphyria on the other hand seems quite the opposite to him. She came in with a strong presence as she “shut the cold out and the storm.” She did many things around his cottage and finally “last” she sat down by his side. This “last” could be a foreshadowing that her sitting by his side is the last thing she will do. In addition, it could have made him even sadder that this is the last thing she did when she entered in. He seemed to be the last thing on her mind. Her next moves seem to be extremely intimate with him almost as if seducing him. The reason for his sadness becomes clear to the reader in the following lines:

“Too weak, for all her heart’s endeavour,
To set its struggling passion free
From pride, and vainer ties dissever,
And give herself to me for ever.” (22-25).

In his eyes, she was too weak to ever overcome her pride and truly be with him forever. He would only ever be someone on the side to her whom to which she could not give her whole heart. In the next couple of stanzas, the mood of the poem seems to pick up and he seems to be happier. He states, “Happy and proud; at last I knew / Porhyria worshipped me; surprise / Made my heart swell, and still it grew” (32-34). The speaker finally feels as if he had her all to himself and that she is “perfectly pure.” In the next instant, to sustain this love forever that he had in that instant, he strangled her to death with her own hair. In his mind, killing her was the only way to be able to have her completely forever. After he killed her, it becomes obvious that the speaker’s sanity needs to be questioned. He opened her eyelids and says she “laughed the blue eyes without strain” and “blushed bright beneath my burning kiss.” She still seemed very much alive in his eyes. He then propped her head up on his shoulder reversing their previous roles.

The last few lines of the poem give me an eerie feeling every time I read them. He says, “And thus we sit together now, / And all night long we have not stirred, / And yet God has not said a word!” (57-60). It seems as if he has found comfort in what he has done and still will not let the image of their forever love together go. Because he could not fully have her before, he now seems to be creating his own false image of happiness and a life with her. The last line seems especially creepy when he mentions that God has not said a word. Is he trying to convince himself that it is okay because in his mind God is staying out of the situation? It is evident that this woman and their love have had a maddening effect on him and in result, the consequences have been devastating.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I thought that Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnets from the Portuguese was a beautiful collection of sonnets from what was published in our text. I loved the way that she described her pure and total love for Robert Browning, whom she was courting at the time that she wrote these sonnets. Sonnet 43, one of her most well known poems, was incredible to me the way that she was able to describe her love. It’s almost as if she writes the true definition of love here in all of its greatness.

She begins with, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” These lines are some of her most famous lines and actually some of the most well known lines in all of poetry. After this first line, she follows it with 13 exquisite lines answering that very question. She begins, “I love thee to the depth and breadth and height / My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight / For the ends of Being and ideal Grace” (2-4). Here she seems to be describing an inconceivable size and amount of love. Even she herself can not conceive of how great her love is for him. It is fitting that these lines are first in the poem. As she begins to describe her love, she admits that she can not really begin to describe the feelings that she has because of their greatness. In turn, she then continues to describe her love as being with her day and night “by sun and candle-light.” She loves this man as much as any man loves his born rights and freedom, one of mans most treasured possessions. She states, “I love thee freely as men strive for Right.” Lines I found particular moving to me and interesting were, “I love thee with the passion put to use / In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.” (9-10). Elizabeth Browning had grief before she had her love for Robert from some other source. Her love for him is so deep and passionate that all the passions of hers that were once grief or any other emotion, are now in her love for him. In addition, she loves him unconditionally, unquestioningly with her “childhood’s faith.” A child’s faith is known to be one of the deepest, truest faiths known. A child usually does not question or doubt things, they just naturally accept their beliefs as they are.

In Browning’s last lines of the sonnet, she exclaims, “With my lost saints – I love with the breath, / Smiles, tears, of all my life! – and if God choose, / I shall but love thee better after death.” (12-15). It is clear that Elizabeth Browning loves him with everything that she is and wants to be able to give that to him. She believes in her love for him so much that she believes that when they die, she will love him even more in heaven. How passionate! Her love extends beyond what they have in this lifetime. She hopes it to last and grow for an eternity.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

While reading some of Lord Alfred Tennyson’s poetry, “The Charge of the Light Brigade” really made me think about the life and mindset of a soldier at war. Tennyson’s poem tells about a brigade of 600 British cavalry in the Crimean War who follow an order to make a foolish charge towards Russian forces. The poem honors the courage of these men and asks the reader to do the same. One of the things that really struck me in the poem is the way the men knew that they were galloping towards their death, yet they never had fear or questioned the orders of their commander. It was an honor to die and they expected nothing less.

The poem seems to have a steady beat almost with a galloping rhythm. While reading the poem, I felt like I was galloping along with the soldiers as they rode to their death. It really helps the reader to be able to connect with the Brigade and feel the atmosphere. In addition, the poem seems to be repetitive in many parts. The repetitive sounding of the poem reminds me of a brigade of soldiers all following orders and doing the same thing over and over. It gives the nature of the soldier.

When the soldiers were given their orders, “Forward the Light Brigade!” the speaker asks, “Was there a man dismay’d?” He then quickly answers as if he already knew the answer, “Not tho’ the soldier knew some one had blunder’d.” The soldiers knew that going forward was a mistake, yet not one of them showed fear or distress. Lines 13-17 seems to me like a mindset that has been drilled in the soldiers heads over and over so that they all have the same mind and are thinking the same. He describes:

“Their’s not to make reply,
Their’s not to reason why,
Their’s but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred” (ln 13-17).

All the cavalry knew to do is to follow orders and obey their commander. They never questioned or had hesitation, yet they rode courageously “into the valley of Death.”

The third stanza is interesting in the way it tells about the cannons around them. It tells of the “cannon to right of them, cannon to left of them, [and] cannon in front of them.” The word cannon repeating gave me a sense that the cannons were all around them and were numerous. It seemed Tennyson is creating an overwhelming image here. Even though the cavalry was being shot at from all sides, they still “boldly” rode on “into the jaws of Death” and “mouth of Hell.” This image is a fierce image of death in which someone would think, “well surely they will turn around soon,” yet the six hundred continue to ride on.

As the cavalry charged the army, “all the world wonder’d.” Tennyson does not leave out an outsider’s view of the charge on the Russians. In fact, the worlds view is probably supposed to be identical to the reader’s. The rest of the world is not able to understand all that those soldiers are feeling. Only a soldier in battle can understand exactly why he continues to ride even though he knows that he is riding to his death. At the end of this stanza after the British cavalry have broke through their line and destroyed Russian and Cossack opponents, they ride back but, “not the six hundred.” At the end of every stanza before this one it has been, “Rode the six hundred,” but now the affects of the battle can be seen. The six hundred are no longer six hundred anymore.

The never ending pounding of the cannons can be heard by the reader again in the next stanza. Lines 39-44 are identical to the beginning of the third stanza in its description of the cannons except that the cannons are behind them now. The “survivors” and “heroes” have “came thro’ the “jaws of Death” and the “mouth of Hell.”

The last stanza seems to address the reader directly. He tells the reader to “Honour the charge they made! Honour the Light Brigade, noble six hundred!” Even though the charge was foolish, we should still honor it for the soldiers and their courage through it. The poem is about the bravery and heroism of the soldiers, not about the charge itself. This poem really makes me think about all of the soldiers in history who have died fighting for something that they really believed in. Their honor and courage amazes me. It is one group of people in our history and present who I truly admire and am thankful.

Thomas Carlyle

I was glad to finally get to Thomas Carlyle to have a bit of a break from analyzing and reading so much poetry. My favorite reading selection of his was “The Irish Widow” from Gospel of Mammonism. The passage has a sad and somber mood yet is still filled with Carlyle’s satire. “The Irish Widow” tells a story of a poor Irish woman and her children trying to get help from charitable establishments. She becomes sick with typhus fever and no one reaches out to help her. She claims that she is their sister, yet they still will not help her. In consequence, she dies, and seventeen others are infected with typhus and die also. It takes her dying to prove that she was just like them even though she was poor.

In Carlyle’s time, the Irish were treated very poorly and inhuman as is shown in this work. He is displaying how society looked on this poorer class as less equal and less deserving. They were treated basically like they were not human. In making this work generic and not very specific, Carlyle is able to direct his message at all of society. In the work, the woman is just known as “a poor Irish Widow.” She is never given a name. Not naming her, the widow seems more degraded and is able to represent a large group of people who have been treated in this way. In addition, she seeks help from the “Charitable Establishments” of the “City.” Again, the place of charity is not specifically named and there is no specific city. These are not the important features of the story to focus on. What Carlyle wants the reader to focus on are the happenings of the story and the message the Physician gives in the end.

When the widow dies, a Physician speaks up, again no name is given for him as well, and asks, “Would it not have been economy to help this poor Widow? She took typhus-fever, and killed seventeen of you! – Very curious.” This message is a crucial point and I believe Carlyle is speaking through the Physician. Everyone needs to stop and realize that everyone is human, sister and brother, and it is our duty as humans to help one another. If everyone did that instead of being selfish then humanity would benefit. In the case of the fallen widow, if someone would have helped her, then seventeen others may have been spared as well. The Widow makes a point by saying as she is dying, “Ye must help me! I am your sister, bone of your bone; one God made us; ye must help me!” By saying sister, I think she means sister in humanity and in God, not a biological sister that most would think. She was made human by God just as they were and therefore she has just as much right to live as they.

Carlyle makes an interesting use of the word “impossible” in the passage. It first is used in response to the Widow’s cry out for help. The people around her say, “No, impossible; thou art no sister of ours.” The Widow is forced to prove her humanity and sisterhood by passing the typhus fever onto others. Carlyle mocks their use of “impossible” by repeating it again and again in the following paragraph. He states, “Till then all things are ‘impossible,’” “even that is ‘impossible’ for you,” “It is ‘impossible!’” and “universally declared to be ‘impossible.’” He claims that until the selfish people get a soul, everything will certainly be impossible. The only things they are worried about are their “padlocks” and “money-safes.” The last sentence of the passage is a powerful sentence. He points out, “Seventeen of you lying dead will not deny such proof that she was flesh of your flesh; and perhaps some of the living may lay it to heart.” To me, the passage is left with a small amount of hope that maybe some people that are still living will learn from the experience. Hopefully they will learn that whether poor, rich, Irish, or British, everyone is merely the same with the same flesh made by God.

Felicia Hemans

While reading Felicia Hemans’s poetry, I enjoyed reading and taking a closer look at her poem “The Homes of England.” I liked this poem because it was from a woman’s point of view and displayed a woman’s pride for the home and her country. England is such an old country and has so much history. In this poem, Hemans speaks of different homes that exist in England and different aspects of the home in each stanza. It is obvious that the speaker has much pride in her country and that pride starts in the home. The homes of England are its foundation and the heart of England.

In the first stanza, she begins describing the “stately Homes of England.” Here she is describing the more wealthy homes of England which contain a great amount of history. She starts out by exclaiming, “How beautiful they stand! Amidst their tall ancestral trees.” Its almost as if the homes are standing tall with pride for their country. In addition, they stand with the ancestral trees giving the feeling that they are old and have a great deal of heritage for which they can stand tall and be proud. In addition, in this stanza, images of nature are included with its description including, “deer,” “swan,” “sunny gleam,” and “stream.” These images display England’s deep connection with nature and the land of its country.

In the following stanzas, other aspects of the homes of England are celebrated. Hemans begins each stanza with a type of home. She exclaims, “The merry Homes of England!” “The blessed Homes of England!” “The Cottage Homes of England!” and “The free, fair Homes of England!” at the beginning of her stanzas. In the second stanza, she speaks of the “merry home.” The home being described, has a warm and loving mood. In this home the “woman’s voice flows forth in song” or “childhood’s tale is told.” The woman and children in the house are the heart of the home and bring it its warmth and love. In the next stanza, Hemans focuses on the “blessed Homes of England.” This stanza displays the importance of God in the home for England. She states, “How softly on their bowers is laid the holy quietness that breathes from Sabbath-hours!” The “cottage homes” are described at well in this poem. The small cottage homes of England are no less important in the pride of England than the stately homes are. The cottage homes are by the thousands and “smiling” at their wonderful country. Again, nature is included in this stanza showing the connection of it to all of England. The homes peep “thro’ glowing orchards” each with its “nook of leaves.” In addition, the poor are mentioned as being “fearless” in their homes. Even though they live in just a cottage, their home is their heart, and their home and heart is part of England. In the last stanza, the last two lines were very touching to me. Hemans writes speaking about the homes of England, “where first the child’s glad spirit loves its country and its God!” These lines seem to describe the heart of this poem to me. The home is first where someone learns to love their country and God. The home therefore is the central part of England’s pride. There is much history in the homes of England and they are part of its beauty and heritage.

John Keats

I loved the emotion of “La Belle Dame sans Mercy” that John Keats encompasses in it. The poem is a ballad about a knight that falls in love with a fairy and is left alone in despair in the end. It speaks to the reader about the power unrequited love can have on someone and the hopelessness it leaves. I really liked this painting that I found that it related to this poem well. With the fairy’s hair wrapped around the knight, it is apparent that the fairy has control of his heart. The knight is blind to the inevitable fate that his love for the fairy will not be returned.

The poem begins with the knight “alone and palely loitering” around a “wither’d lake.” The speaker in the first three stanzas is a fellow who has come upon him and wanders why he is in such a desolate place all alone. He describes the scene for the reader and helps to paint the initial image and mood for the reader. Around the knight, “the sedge is wither’d from the lake, and no birds sing.” In addition, “the squirrel’s granary is full, and the harvest’s done.” The time of year has made the place the knight is in desolate and so represents the mood of the knight. There is no apparent reason for the knight to be there at first glance so the fellow inquires, “what can ail thee, wretched wight?”

In the fourth stanza, the knight becomes the speaker for the remainder of the poem as he tells his story of his love for the fairy. He uses the fourth stanza to first describe this fairy he met. “Her hair was long, her foot was light, and her eyes were wild.” (ln 15). All of these descriptions are descriptions of a typical fairy and should have given him warning that she would break his heart. He quickly fell for her though and “nothing else saw all day long.” She “sang a fairy’s song” to him and was able to gain her complete control and hold over the knight.

In the next stanzas, the knight tells of his time with the fairy and the deep love that grows within him for her. She gave him many signs to make him believe that she loved him in the same way that he loved her while they were together. He gave her gifts such as “garland,” “bracelets,” and “fragrant zone” and she responds positively to his gifts. He claims that, “She look’d at me as she did love, and made sweet moan.” To the knight, it seemed that the fairy did indeed love him and this just made him fall even more for her. After his gifts to her, she responded with her own gifts of “roots,” “honey wild,” and “manna dew.” Her gifts that she gave to him show her closeness with nature and even allude to the fact that she would always be with nature and can never be with him. She said in “language strange” that she loved him, but this is not in the same way that he loved her as he finds out later. His last night with her she took him to her elfin grot where he expressed his full love to her and “shut her wild eyes.” He was kissed to sleep and had his final dream. In the dream, he sees visions of “pale kings and princes” and “warriors” that were all “death-pale.” These all appeared to be previous lovers of the fairy and were warning him in his dream about the fairy. They cried, “La belle Dame sans mercy hat thee in thrall!” (ln 40). They were warning him that he was a slave to her and was oblivious to the love which she could not return to him. When the knight woke up on the “cold hill side,” he was alone and she was gone. At this point, in the final stanza, the poem goes in full circle and the speaker repeats the fellow’s first assessment of the situation. He states,

“And this is why I sojourn here
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing” (ln 45-48).

In this poem of unrequited love, the knight is so hurt because he believed from the beginning that the fairy loved him in the same way that he loved her. In the conclusion of the poem, there is no hope left that the knight will ever find the fairy again or that she will ever return to him. The knight is certain now that she had no intention of staying with him in the first place just as he is certain that he still loves her dearly. He is left with no hope that he will ever be happy again so he stays in the desolate place thinking about his fairy and his love for her.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

For this post, I’m going to focus on Percy Shelley’s poem “Ozymandias.” “Ozymandias” is one of his more well-known poems that he wrote as a sonnet in a sonnet writing contest about a statue. This poem is interesting in the way that it mixes politics and art in Shelley’s poetic style. The poem describes a statue in the poem of Ozymandias, which is the Greek name for Ramses II, the man thought to be the pharaoh of Exodus whom Moses challenged. In the poem, the only things left of the statue are the feet and the head half sunk in the sand next to them. The deteriorated statue that was once a great monument of the king is described as being in ruins. The state of the statue can be compared to the reputation of the king that was once great, but now lies in ruins and is forgotten.

The speaker is telling a story in the poem that he heard from a traveler from an “antique land.” In this poem, instead of a great and lasting king that the pharaoh expected to be, he is merely a diminished ancient king heard from a random traveler. The statue is described on line 2 as “two vast and trunkless of stone” and a half sunk “shattered visage” conveying to the reader its diminished state. Obviously the statue must have at one point been imposing and grand. The half sunk head in the ground illustrates Ozymandias’s sinking status in the present world. The face of the statue has a “wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command” conveying the king’s cold yet strong and commanding nature. This conveys that the sculptor must have known his passions well. The speaker also mentions Ozymandias’s “hand that mocked them” and “heart that fed” referring to the way Ozymandias treated his people. What was interesting in this poem and had me confused at first was the part where the speaker mentions “the heart that fed” which seems to oppose Ozymandias’s cold nature portrayed in the rest of the poem. Even though Ozymandias was cold, he was able to keep power over his people and give them what they needed. On the pedestal, it eerily states, “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” This king seemed to have a great amount of pride in his name and in his works. He believed that all rival kings would look at his great works and despair. Ironically though, now nothing is left of his name and works, just as there is nothing really left of the statue. “Nothing beside remains” (ln 12). All that is left around the statue are the “lone and level sands [that] stretch far away” (ln 14). The poem ends in a depressing and empty mood. Even though Ozymandias was a mighty and powerful ruler, the poem displayed that nothing can last forever. Ozymandias thought that his reign would last forever, but as in the statue that was once massive and mighty, it faded and crumbled away.

George Gordon, Lord Byron

I really enjoyed reading Byron’s “She walks in beauty.” He paints an image of a woman that he sees as being perfect from the inside out. The poem consists of contrasting images of darkness and light that coexist together in the woman. Byron describes her to be “like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies” (ln1-2). At first she is given a dark image and compared to the night, but then her night sky is “starry” which gives images of both light and dark together. He then goes on to say in lines 3-4, “all that’s best of dark and bright meet in her aspect and her eyes.” In these lines, he is saying that everything perfect in all that is dark and bright, which can really be interpreted as anything really, you can find in her and in her eyes. These two extremities of light that he sees in her form“tender light” in the speaker’s eyes.

In the second stanza, her perfection to the speaker is mentioned again in line 7 through his use of light and dark images. He mentions that, “one shade the more, one ray the less, has half impair’d the nameless grace.” In his eyes, if she was any different, than her beauty and her magnificence would be cut in half. Her combination of light and darkness is just right to illuminate her perfection. The poem continues to describe the woman’s darkened hair against her lightened skin with another image of light and dark together. At the end of the second stanza the speaker really begins to describe the beauty of the woman’s mind and soul. Using a soothing repetitive ‘s’ sound, he states, “Where thoughts serenely sweet express how pure, how dear their dwelling place.” The purity of the woman’s mind and her inner beauty is what makes the woman so physically beautiful in this poem. Her perfection is not just her physical appearance, but her as a whole, is perfect in every way.

The third stanza continues to awe in the woman’s inner beauty. First, the speaker describes her in physical ways describing her cheeks and brows as “soft,” “calm,” and “eloquent.” He uses this to express that her outer beauty has been caused by things such as “days in goodness spent,” “a mind in peace” and “a heart whose love is innocent.” The cause of her beauty can be linked to what goes on inside of her mind and spirit.

The poem made me think of a pure love someone must have for another person. The poem was fittingly a beautiful poem about a beautiful woman. The woman described in the poem had a true beauty that many never see. The beauty of the woman started inside her and spread outside of her to her physical appearance. In other words, she was only beautiful on the outside because she began with such a beautiful soul and mind.

Dorothy and William Wordsworth

After reading William Wordsworth, I really enjoyed reading Dorothy Wordsworth's writings, especially her journals. Dorothy had so much talent even though she did not aspire to be a great poet or even to be published at all. On page 290 it says “When she began her Grasmere journal, she told herself that she was writing to give William “pleasure.” It makes sense that she was writing these journals for William her brother since many of her writings parallel with his.

For example, in one of her journals on page 298 she describes the “Circumstances of ‘It is a Beauteous Evening.’” In the poem, she uses strong imagery to convey the sound of the ocean using words to describe it like “roared” and says the waves “broke against the pier.” In her writing she gives the ocean a sense of power much like William does in “It is a Beauteous Evening.” She also describes it as being “interfused with greenish fiery light” and the distant sea “black and gloomy.” Her images help me as the reader to be able to envision the scene well in my own mind as William does when describing the same scene. It is apparent that Dorothy reveres nature just as William does and finds much joy in it.

I was drawn to Dorothy’s beautiful imagery and language in “A Field of Daffodils.” She wrote the journal about a field of daffodils seen close to the waterside of a lake. Her and William must have both seen the place and valued their experience there greatly. William also wrote a poem “I wandered lonely as a cloud” about his experience there. In William’s version, he speaks of seeing the place alone stating that he “wandered lonely as a cloud/ That floats on high o’er vales and hills” (ln 1-2). He tells a story of seeing a crowd of golden daffodils and uses metaphors to describe them as “fluttering” and “dancing.” William Wordsworth is able to paint an exquisite picture for me with his use of metaphors. To describe the amount of daffodils he sees he says that they are “continuous as the stars that shine” and that they “stretched in never-ending line along the margin of the bay.” What sets him apart from his sister’s journal is how William takes what he has seen and then applies it to how it affects him afterwards. Even though he did not realize it then, when he returned and was lying on his couch “in vacant or in pensive mood,” we could think of the daffodils and his heart would fill with pleasure and “dance with the daffodils.” William Wordsworth mentions over and over again in his poetry that it is nature that brings him joy even when he is away from it. He carries on this thought nicely in this poem. In Dorothy’s journal, she uses similar imagery and metaphors to describe the beautiful and peaceful scene. In her journal, the daffodils “reeled & danced & seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew upon them over the Lake.” The daffodils seem to be dancing in her journal like in William’s poem. In her journal though, she uses “we” referring to the fact that she was not alone when she experienced this daffodils. In William’s, he states that he “wandered lonely as a cloud,” inferring that he was alone when he made this discovery. Both William and Dorothy Wordsworth revered nature and received much joy from it. It seemed to have its own power and energy in their writings and brought both of them a sense of peace and serenity.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I found Samuel Coleridge’s poetry different from William Wordsworth’s. His poetry seemed to have more of the supernatural in it, rather than the ordinary. I like that in his poetry he tended to focus more on ordinary reactions, but with supernatural events. Wordsworth, on the other hand, seemed to focus on writing about the regular common man in his writings.

I really enjoyed reading “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” Even though the poem was quite lengthy compared to other works we have already read, it flowed nicely and told a compelling story. Just as the Mariner’s story was supposed to compel the wedding guest to keep listening, the story also compels the reader to keep reading to find out more. The reader craves the end of the tale and has a strong desire to learn more about this Mariner and who he is exactly. While reading the poem, it seems apparent that the Mariner is not only speaking to the wedding guest, but also the reader. At the end of the poem, the Mariner gives the moral of his tale to the wedding guest:

“He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.

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).

Here he seems to be telling the wedding guest and the reader most importantly, to take care of nature because all of the creatures in nature are God’s creatures. This poem was written at a time when the industrial revolution was going on and nature was becoming less and less significant in society. Coleridge could have been warning society in this poem to take care of God’s creatures. When the Mariner in the poem kills the Albatross impulsively, he spends the rest of the tale paying for his action and seeking forgiveness. He is also imprisoned with his past as he is forced to retell his tale to who he is supposed to tell it to and who is supposed to hear it. What struck me in this poem is the amount of guilt the Mariner had and the quantity of punishment which fell on him after he killed the Albatross. Death took his entire crew and he was left alone. I think that Coleridge did intend for there to be more moral to this tale other than to just love God’s creatures. His punishment seemed far too severe for just killing a bird. In a sense, I think he leaves a lot of it up to the reader to interpret the moral to be whatever he or she wants it to be. At the end of the tale, the wedding guest is left “a sadder and wiser man.” Interestingly, the poem does not say exactly how the wedding guest interprets this tale from the Mainer. It only says that he is wiser from it. In a sense, the wedding guest can even more represent the reader in this way. The reader can assume that the wedding guest is feeling the same way that he or she is since Coleridge leaves so much up in the air.

William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth’s poetry and his ideas were very compelling to me as a reader. His view of nature as being divine brought me back to the days when I was younger. It allowed me to remember when I use to run in the woods and play at the beach and jump in the waves carefree. I would marvel at nature and its peacefulness that it brought to me. I still look at a beautiful mountain scene, a sunset over the beach, or a beautiful flower garden sometime in awe, but not in the same innocent way I did as a child. In this blog, I’m going to focus on Wordsworth’s poem “It is a beauteous Evening” found on page 235 of our text. This poem specifically stood out to me in my reading because of the vivid images Wordsworth paints of an ocean sunset. In addition, his fluid view of nature and God and how they intertwine in Wordsworth’s mind can easily be identified. He wrote this poem in 1802 on the beach near Calais while with his daughter Caroline. It is a Petrarchan sonnet consisting of 14 lines and 2 parts, an octet and sestet.

The octet introduces the reader to Wordsworth’s view of nature as being divine by combining nature and religious images. In the second line of the poem, he describes the atmosphere and time on the beach as the “holy time” and says that it is “quiet as a Nun/ Breathless with adoration.” Nature is quiet all around him “breathless” of the pure and perfect of the setting sun. On lines 3-4, the sun is described as “sinking down in its tranquility” and he goes on to say, “The gentleness of heaven is on the Sea.” The sun is peacefully and calmly setting in Wordsworth’s eyes, and as the colors fill the sky, a beautiful and almost breathtaking image is created of heaven lying on the sea. He then demands the reader to “Listen!” Wordsworth gives divine characteristics in describing the sound of the ocean. He states, “the mighty Being is awake/ And doth with his eternal motion make/ A sound like thunder – everlastingly.” The ocean’s eternality in the poem can be compared to any god who has this quality of living forever. Also, the power and importance of the ocean to Wordsworth can be heard in the poem as it is described, “a sound like thunder – everlastingly.”

In the next part of the poem, the sestet, the focus shifts from Wordsworth’s view of nature to his daughter who is with him on the beach. The shift is made suddenly and is made to grab the reader’s attention. He declares, “Dear Child! Dear Girl!” He then proceeds to speak to his child who he sees as “untouch’d by solemn thought” but still not any “less divine.” His point here is that even though the child does not revere in the nature surrounding them as he does, it does not make her any less divine. As a child, she is innately one with nature as lines 12-13 strive to explain. Her innocence of the world she lives in allows her to be one with nature as she “liest in Abraham’s bosom all the year” and “worshipp’st at the Temple’s inner shrine.” The child’s innocence is even more deeply displayed in the last line of the sonnet in that God is with the child even when it is unknown. A child is so innocent that they do not have to know that God is there to be present.