Monday, March 31, 2008

Introduction to "When our two souls stand up" by Elizabeth Barret Browning

1- Browning, Elizabeth, Barrett." When our Two Soulds Stand Up." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007. 99.

The poem can be viewed here: http://www.amherst.edu/~rjyanco94/literature/elizabethbarrettbrowning/poems/sonnetsfromtheportuguese/whenourtwosoulsstanduperectandstrong.html

2- This poem was written for Elizabeths husband Robert Browning, and it is a sonnet from her well known sonnets from the portugese. This poem is written during the victorian era which was awkward since those times in England were filled with much religous oppression and freedom of thought. This sonnet is basically a love note to her husband explaining to him how their love is so strong that even in the hereafter they will still be together. She feels that the love she has for this man is timeless and can withstand the test of time.

3- I really liked this sonnet because, it shows the authors passion. It is obvious she was very in love with her husband Robert Browning but the large statements she was making made her passion fact. I dont know how to explain the feeling that came over me while reading this poem but it makes a person think about there own relationship and compare to what Browning felt towards her husband. The last line drew me in to the poem and made me want to read it over and over again. good poem.

4- This poem can lightly be comapred to William Shakespeare's "Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore" Even though, this poem does not directly compare with Browning's they both make a statement about time and death. Browning explains how she just wants to live in love forever and even in death. She even, realizes that she does not have all the time in the world to feel this feeling. In Shakespeare's poem he makes a statement about how minuets and time go by to shape the future. As i said it can be compared with Browining's poem but not in a great way.

Shakespeare, William. "Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007. 215

Close Reading: "Porphyria's Lover" by Robert Browning

The rain set early in tonight,
The sullen wind was soon awake,
It tore the elm-tops down for spite,
And did its worst to vex the lake:
I listened with heart fit to break.

These are the first five lines from Robert Browning's dramatic monologue "Porphyria's Lover." Browning's diction in describing the weather is an attempt to set a very dark tone from the very beginning of this poem. Browning calls the wind "sullen" and attributes its actions as the result of "spite." Giving these natural elements such human qualities is clearly a type of personification. The characteristics attributed to the weather are characteristics that mirror those of the speaker in the poem. He is sullen and he is spiteful. When the speaker describes the wind tearing down the elm trees, one can clearly see a connection between the action of the wind and the lover's own behavior in the rest of the poem towards Porphyria. Thus the terms in which the natural elements are being described really foreshadow the forthcoming events of the poem. Even still, it's almost if the speaker sees the destructive events that are occurring outside his window and knows that perhaps his actions will be just as destructive. Therefore as the speaker sees the actions of nature and anticipates his own actions, he can't help but react with a "heart fit to break."

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Literary event

Samuel Beckett's "Endgame" Directed by Michael Bolinski
On reccomendation from Bryant Scott.

Bryant, thanks for the reccomendation, it was definately a play worth seeing. However, I think better than sex is a bit of a stretch. Although it did last alot longer and I didn't feel guilty leaving right after it was done.

"Endgame" is without a doubt an interesting play. The main characters are an immobile, blind, miserable old man, and his half-witted, and resentful servant/companion. They have a twisted relationship based on control, fear, and dependancy on one another. If Bryant didn't inform us that this was post WWII, I would've thought they were a couple of survivors of some catastrophic nuclear event. The play is pretty ambigous concerning background information. If you've ever witnessed a pitifully unhealthy relationship in which helpless people, void of any kind of emotional, social, or interpersonal skills waste away their days in shared misery than you have an idea of what these guys are like. They are somewhat aware of themselves as the sources of their own grief, but are unable or unwilling to change. The blind man's parents live with them, and are confined to these huge garbage cans in the living room. The blind guy gets off on ordering his friend around, and rationing out food portions to everyone in the house. He is a seriously sick guy. They are all just waiting for death to finally swallow them up, bringing an end to thier pain and suffering. The two main characters spend amuse themselves with trivialities, and routine, but they also make an effort to ask questions like, "Who are we? Why is the world the way it is? Why doesn't God help us? and When will this all end?" The plot fails to ever really take off, but with characters like these, that is probably appropriate. One of my favorite parts is the memories shared by the mother in the garbage can. There is alot of symbloism in her speeches about the past, and love. On a couple of occasions she cries "Yesterday" and with that one word you can feel how heart-broken she is over losing the life she once had. You can feel how happy she once was, and how far she has fallen. With one word she tells a story about who she once was. The actress really did a wonderful job. This is not a date play. It isn't an action lover's play. And it isn't a play for the faint of heart. But as I said before, it is a play worth seeing.

Friday, March 28, 2008

"Siren Song"

I will tell the secret to you,
to you, only to you.
Come closer: This song

is a cry for help; Help me!
Only you, only you can,
you are unique (Atwood 19-24)

In these two stanzas from Margaret Atwood's "Siren Song" the female speaker lures in a listener. The diction and the poetic devices set-up a slow, soft mood. If the speaker wants to tell a secret she is probably whispering and gesturing for the listener to come near and pay attention. End stops are used in the first stanza to maintain a nice, slow pace. Suddenly the stanza shoots into the following stanza by use of enjambment. The speaker cries, "Help me!" When reading this section one almost feels the screaching cry pound on thier eardrum. It's as if the reader were drawn in close and listening hard because of the first stanza, and then this bird screams directly into the reader's ear. The phrase "only you" that speaker used in the first stanza is twiced repeated in the second, except it takes on a new and desperate tone in the latter. The shrillness of the speaker's cry is expanded on by the bird conceit employed throughout the poem. However, the speaker also has a dual identity as a woman searching for a man. The shrillness of a cry from a bird is demonstrated in the above lines, while the literal meaning is more closely linked to the feelings of a woman speaker. The meter of the lines is irregular, but I did find that the almost even mixture of iambs and trochees might be also linked to the duality of the speaker.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

REMINDER!

Just a reminder that we won't be having class on Friday. I'll be around though, so if you'd like to come by after 12:20 or so, particularly to discuss your thesis statements (most of which, to be honest, could use some work), I'd be happy to see you.

Here's the schedule again for the next several days:

Mon., 3/31: Read: From SS: Elkin, “Kibitzers,” and Roth, “Defender”; Bressler, Chapter 9.
Write: CQ (following Bressler 226).

Wed., 4/2: Read: From SS: Cheever, “Country Husband”; Carver, “Where I’m Calling From”; Updike, “Gesturing”; Moore, “You’re Ugly, Too”; “Culture” (handout)
Write: LE

Fri., 4/4: (Back on schedule now) Read Harrower, Blackbird
Write: CQ

Mon., 4/7: Harrower, Blackbird
Paper is due

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Close Reading: "The Night-Wood" by Emily Bronte

"The Night-Wood" page 108
"I sat in silent musing,
The soft wind waved my hair:
It told me Heaven was gloriuos,
And sleeping Earth was fair" (5-8).

This section of poem may seem simple, however I believe that it has a deeper meaning. If you read the entire poem and then come back to this section it seems as if the speaker is contemplating suicide. When the speaker says that Heaven is glorious but Earth is only fair what else is the reader left to think? Throughout the poem the speaker argues with Nature on how he wishes to be left alone even though they have been constant companions for the speakers entire life.
There are some words in this poem which fall into the category of onomatopoeia such as waved and murmur. There are normally five feet in a line, and it falls into iambic pentameter. There is no constant rhyme shceme, however there are a some lines that rhyme.

Rebecca Z.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Close Reading: It’s Not a Just Situation

It’s Not a Just Situation:
Though We Just Can’t Keep Crying About It
(For the Hip Hop Nation
That Brings Us Such Exciting Art)

by Nikki Giovanni

You can find the full poem here. I'd recommend looking at all of the paintings and photography on that section of the site, too. It's nothing you'd expect from a fine art gallery--it's graffiti and paintings of LL Cool J.

Anyway, this poem blew me away. I was in DC over break, and while wandering through the National Portrait Gallery, stumbled upon a large instillation fill with graffiti and hip-hop portraits. This poem was on one of the walls and being read by the poet over some speakers and I was just totally, totally blown away by the fact that a national museum was actually considering this art.


Anyway, here's the passage that I'm taking a look at:

You are just
trying to show the beautiful soul of your people
You are
just
trying to say “I’m alive”
You are
just
determined to be more
than what the powers who
Just hate the idea of you want you to be

I love the use of the word 'just'. In that stanza, it takes on two meanings: either just as in 'simply' or just as in 'suddenly'. In the title, it could even work as in 'justice'. The thing that I find really effective is that the meaning isn't hidden somewhere deep in the poem or buried in Oxford's. In parts, the poem even openly makes the connection between the meanings ("You are/ just, if there is any/ justice...") It's an accessible poem about accessible things.

I think that fact adds even more to the poem. I think I rambled about this before on here, but I think it's really important for poetry as a genre to invite people in that would otherwise be told that poetry is on some pedestal that they're never going to reach. I loved the whole exhibit, just because of how inviting it was. Needless to say, it had a lot more visitors than the Renaissance masterpieces on the same floor.

I really don't know what else to say. I think the narrator (and poet) have an incredibly strong voice, and I don't really want to butcher the poem trying to explain it anymore than need be. /end rant, I guess.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Shakespeare's Tempest



I'm thinking of going Thursday the 17th, if anyone would like to join me. It's an odd but tremendously entertaining play. I think you'd really enjoy it.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

SAMUEL BECKETT "ENDGAME'' IN THOMASTON

http://www.thomastonoperahouse.org/

ENDGAME by Samuel BeckettDirected by Michael BolinskiPresented by Hijinx & GravitasMarch 21, 22, 27, 28 & 29 at 8:00pm
March 30, 2008 at 2:00pmIn the Arts Center

ITS BETTER THAN SEX

READ ME. i felt it nessasary to put that, first off, because unfortunately it doesnt seem that many people actually go through and check out most of the blogs, maybe due to lack of time or whatever, but this play is awsome and i hope it gets someones attention and interest. "Endgame" is a play by Samuel Beckett and it is nothing but your typical play. it is filled with dark humor, and really focuses on very philisophical questions in a time where the essential meaning of life was being questioned by many artist. in a post-world war world samuel beckett's play questions the basic meaning of human existence. it is anything but a theatre goers play, it is a play filled with puzzling, humorous and deep questions, it is a poet's play. there are no scenes and it is basically four people living in a dark room questioning meanings and ocasionally lookiing out the window at a bleak cold earth. "Your on earth, there is no cure for that" echoes through the play. "god does not exist" leaves its reminents through the play, giving it a feel of existentiallism. it is an incredible play, samuel beckett is incredible, and it is well worth the trip and the price (20$). it is in a small dark room, and there are only about 30 seats, so you will get a good spot and you can talk to the cast afterword which only consists of 4 people and the director. it is an incredibly well acted play, very funny, and extremely well done. GO SEE IT! TODAY. if you want to see a really good play that isnt fruity, or cheesy, there is no singing or dancing or anything like that. it is a really cool, dark, modern play. IT'S THE SHIT. GO SEE THIS SHIT NOW..

Friday, March 14, 2008

Close Reading: “The Doe” by C.K. Williams

“The Doe” by C.K. Williams

"All that moved was her pivoting ear
the reddening sun shining through
transformed to a color I’d only seen
in a photo of a new child in a womb. "(Williams, lines 5-8).

This poem is representative of the peacefulness and serenity of nature at its most natural state of being. The author clearly is speaking of a doe, and how calm they can be when alone in the woods. The author compares the doe’s physical characteristics to that of a child in the womb; another symbol for calmness. These two images parallel one another in their ability to be tranquil. This poem means that when objects are left to their own devices, they are the most beautiful. The author wants the reader to grasp the beauty of nature. The author does not use any type of rhyme scheme throughout this poem, and I cannot pick up on a set meter. I feel these absences represent how nature is constantly changing; growing and dieing all at the same time. The author does use persona to express his feelings towards the doe; as the reader, we are receiving the authors point of view. The author uses some form of alliteration with the repetition of “ing” words. I feel this aids in the meaning of the poem by having something constant. When one thinks of the concept of “calm”, repetition comes to mind. If things are erratic, then they usually are not calm. This form of consonance sticks out in ones mind because it is familiar. Familiar gives the comfort of calmness.

*Williams, C.K. “The Doe”. The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007. 59

Close Reading: “In This Strange Labyrinth” by Lady Mary Wroth

"In This Strange Labyrinth" by Mary Wroth

"In this strange labyrinth how shall I turn?
Ways are on all sides while way I miss;
If to the right hand, there in love I burn;
Let me go forward, therein danger is;
If to the left, suspicion hinders bliss;
Let me turn back: shame cries I ought return
Nor faint though crosses with my fortune kiss." (Wroth, lines 1-7)

This passage means life and all of the uncertainties that come along with it. One never knows where life may end up; one minute it could be perfect, certain, terrible, or unknown. It is about the choices one must make and the consequences of those choices. This poem is written as a persona along with being a lyrical sonnet. The author uses the labyrinth as a metaphor for life. The author use of the stanza format aids in breaking apart the differences throughout the poem. In the first stanza, and the first half of the second stanza, the author groups the feelings of life together (represented by right-love, forward-danger, left-suspicion, back-shame). This represents how life comes as it is; that one must accept the good along with the bad, and the connotations one associates with everyday right, left, forward, and backward. She does not get into dealing with life until the later stanzas. The author also uses an every other line rhyme scheme. I feel this helps ties the poem together by helping it represent life. Life needs to be connect to other aspects, such as feelings or activities, and this rhyme scheme demonstrates that by linking every other line.

*Wroth, Mary. “In This Strange Labyrinth”. The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007. 263.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

The Post-Structuralists and "Keeping Things Whole"

Strand, Mark. "Keeping Things Whole." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. Ed. J. Paul Hunter, Allison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. 9th ed. New York: Norton, 2007. 252.

The Post-Structuralists believe that signs are arbitrary and their importance lies in the difference among signs. The ideas of "absence," "missing," and "part[ing]" are abstract and only exist in contrast to a designated sign of a concrete entity such as "field" or "air." The poem seems to be ambiguous because the speaker intends it to be that way. Progressively, the speaker gives more insight to the reader about their ultimate purpose, but the reader's understanding still relies upon the speaker's willingness to state the truth. However, even in the end, the idea of wholeness is left open for interpretation. Full of ambiguities and places where the poem fails to concrete certain understandings, Post-Structuralists would confirm that Strand's "Keeping Things Whole" is just a play of signs and therefore open to many interpretations.

1. What ideas are established through the binaries of existing in place and being absent?

2. Which of the two binaries (from question one) seems to be privileged?

3. How does the privilege on that sign affect the interpretation of the poem?

The New Critics and "The Pillar of Fame"

Herrick, Robert. "The Pillar of Fame."The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007. 285.

The New Critics analyze words, content and structure/form in order to find tensions that ultimately resolve. The poem can be analyzed merely as a self-contained entity and has a singular effect. The visual structure of the poem most notably lends towards tension. While a pillar seems strong in its foundations, there is a frailty presented in the word choice of "charmed and enchanted" (line 3). While most of the poem exists within the realm of perfect rhyme, the few partial rhymes draws extreme attention to conflicting ideas. These partial rhymes occur in the center of the poem (where the poem is at its theoretical weakest) and at the very end (where the poem is at its theoretical strongest). The tension between weakness and strength of a pillar is in the end resolved, implying that despite its trials, the pillar will stand as a foundation.

1. What is the relationship of the title to the rest of the poem?

2. What do you believe is the chief paradox in the text? What is its importance?

3. How do all of the elements in the text support the text's main paradox?

D.H. Lawrence "When I Read Shakespeare"

Lawrence, D.H. "When I Read Shakespeare."The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007. 403.

And Macbeth and his Lady, who should have been choring,
such suburban ambition, so messily goring
old Duncan with daggers!

How boring, how small Shakespeare's people are!
Yet the language so lovely! like the dyes from gas-tar. (lines 10-15)

D.H. Lawrence's "When I Read Shakespeare" acts as a critique of the most renown writer of all time. The speaker's diction and rhyme suggests that he/she is mocking the very things that makes Shakespeare's works famous.

The speaker attempts to describe Shakespeare's characters through utilizing words such as "choring" and "boring." These words are considered informal vernacular and drastically differ from Shakespeare's ornate diction. By discounting the importance of language, the speaker shows how trivial the characters truly are. Without the fluency and beauty of diction, Shakespeare's Macbeth is merely and blatantly put a "messy" murderer.

The repetition of the "ring" sound also adds to the unremarkable quality of the characters. Suggesting that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth "should have been choring," implies that there is a certain admirable trait to carrying out routines (but Shakespeare routine has become creating the familiar character). The routines of these characters has become the task of murder and therefore, is another boring and predictable trait of a Shakespearean character. The rhyming scheme itself begins to become redundant and boring, rhyming perfectly with no distinctions until reaching the end of the sonnet. In the rhyming of "daggers" and "are" there is a partial rhyme, suggesting that perhaps the characters are not quite as boring as the reader had begun to think. The importance lies on the "daggers" though, not on the characters themselves, showing that weapons used have more substance than people created. In the last stanza, the rhyme becomes perfect again, reaffirming the redundancy.

The last stanza states that language is lovely "like the dyes from gas-tar." Immediately, the reader can understand that the colors of gas-tar are not lovely things, but dark and dirty. Gas-tar is a not formally accepted term and its very comparison to Shakespeare's language is contradictory to the rhetoric that Shakespeare employed. The final line, for this very reason, reflects on the striking question of "Why is Shakespeare's work so significant if merely redundant in character styling and language?"

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Theory Questions
Peeling an Orange by Virginia Hamilton Adair
Norton p.111

This poem is about a woman and her lover after they have had sex. The speaker's lover goes to eat an orange, and then they involve the speaker by eating the slices of orange off of her. The speaker pays special attention to the slices of orange, how they symbolize the sun, and the impact they have on the two lovers. Examining this poem from a feminist point of view there are many different angles you could take on this poem. First of all, is the speaker's lover male or female? Arguments could be made for both gender because there are various clues scattered throughout the poem which lend themselves to each gender. Secondly, is the orange supposed to represent male power? Constantly comparing it to a powerful and elusive sun, this orange could be a representation of the Sun God.
1. If the speaker's lover were female, how would that change the impact of the poem?
2. If this poem were written by a man then would the events in the poem change from loving to lustful events?
3. Would this poem have been accepted by society if it had been written by a man in the 1950s or earlier?

Rebecca Z.
In my infinite recesses of time, I have recently managed to read “The Prophet” by Khalil Gibran and it is without a doubt worth mentioning. It was triggered by the mention of Nietzsche in a previous post because this book in a broad sense followed the same format as “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” but with much more down to earth rational and spirituality. It is however, not less prolific because of it. This book addresses a serious of issues spoke by a prophet, and Is written very poetically and skillfully. It’s also a pretty short read, and comes complete with William Blake-ish pictures to compliment the age old questions of man. Things like “good and evil” and “time” and many more questions are examined in a very spiritual way, maybe somewhat religious, but in a good way. The writing is almost soothing and ethical and its teachings are serene and peaceful. It is a book that will become more useful as time passes and is a good reminder to us all of the things that are really important; the things that really bring satisfaction especially in times of grief or struggle.
“And a woman spoke, saying, "Tell us of Pain."
And he said:
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.
And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.
Much of your pain is self-chosen.
It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity:
For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears. “
This prophet also challenges a lot of the binaries that we experience in our everyday lives, and addressed them and then reverses them, opening up a doorway to new thought. In examples like this one he challenges the pleasure/pain binary and shows us that the only way we can experience and know pleasure is through feeling pain. He does this same thing with good and evil, death and life and other basic binaries that contain our the basic structure of our lives. It extracts the raw essence of all the substantial elements in one’s life and through teaching and questioning it forces someone to open their eyes to a light that they may not have seen before and an acceptance of realities they may have resisted before such as pain or death. There are underlying tones of many philosophical elements in each sentence which adds to the creation of a world that is more raw and real, and at the same time more forgiving and peaceful, taking all that we truly are as a main focus rather than what we obtain or contain today or tomorrow or yesterday. Khalil Gibran captures the everlasting breath of the earth and releases it through "the prophet". -and just to be clear it is not some silly religious garbage although it is spiritual and posesses something that is penetrating and soothing to the soul.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Literary Event This Evening

JIM DANIELS READS AT CCSU
Tuesday, March 11th, 5:00 pm at CCSU BOOKSTORE
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

CCSU Bookstore
Student Center
105 Ella Grasso Blvd.
New Britain, CT 06053

Jim Daniels won the Blue Lynx Poetry Prize for his book, Revolt of the Crash-Test Dummies (Eastern Washington University Press, 2007). Two other books were published in 2007, his third collection of short fiction, Mr. Pleasant (Michigan State University Press), and his eleventh book of poems, In Line for the Exterminator (Wayne State University Press).

Monday, March 10, 2008

A Man Said To The Universe

1. A Main Said To The Universe
A man said to the universe:
"Sir I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation."


Crane, Stephen M. "A Man Said to the Universe: by Stephen Crane." Poem Hunter. 10 Mar. 2008 http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-man-said-to-the-universe-2.

2. This poem seems to echo everything Sartre, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche had to say. Simply put, crane(through the universe) is asking the reader why the universe should care that he or she exists. Just because they're here--is that reason enough to celebrate? The man is presented about as important bug, thumbs or no thumbs. The free-verse poem is short for a reason. Like Man, it feels it has something to say; also like Man, it's rather small and upon first glance it seems rather insignificant. It was written just before 1900 (Crane's death), although I couldn't fine the exact date online.

3. I absolutely love everything about this poem. The first time I looked at the piece (two or so years ago?), I actually laughed; it reads like a big, cosmic joke, and I think the fact that it is so short and almost sets up a punchline really adds. Personally, I also love easily accessible art. Not because of laziness, or because it's 'easier' to write, but because it can reach a wider audience that wouldn't otherwise be able to connect with a piece. Although there'll always be room in my heart for TS Elliot and Sylvia Plath, I think that poetry is dismissed by a lot of people because they don't understand it--therefore, it's not worth their, or anyone else's, time. Crane has managed to sum up an entire school of thought in five lines--and it impresses me to no end. Plus: existentialism? Always relevant.

4. I think Crane compares to two poems pretty well. The first is Cleghorn's The golf links lie so near the mill, for stylistic reasons. Both poems seem to share an anti-romantic tone, because of both the topics and presentation. Crane delivers an existential punch in five lines--claiming the universe cares nothing of us--and Cleghorn points her finger at the rich in four lines. Both poems are simple, to the point, and accessible to anyone that would care to read them.

The second poem that I think was relevent to Crane's was Keat's On Seeing the Elgin Marbles, because of the content. Eightyish years before Crane's poem was called into existence, Keats was sitting in England, looking at some ancient Greek pillars, and reflecting on his purposelessness. Both poems, I think, are meant to put the reader in his or her place: both under time and the universe.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

"Once again the rhythm starts"

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/once-again-the-rhythm-starts/
"Once again the rhythm starts" Mujtaba Hussain
mujtaba Hussain is a teacher in Melbourne, Australia. His genre might be called the terrorism era writers.
“Once again the rhythm starts,” is a poem about a “suicide bomber.” Hussain uses word repetition and fragmented thoughts to illustrate the scrambled mindframe of a person who is about to commit a horrible act of violence. The speaker is going over themes of violence, prayer, and death in his head. He/she says things over and over representing the amount of misguided logic that is drilled into the heads of violent extremists, as well as how much they must convince themselves of the righteousness of their acts. Time is slowed down in this portrait of a stream of consciousness spanning a few moments in the mind of a murderer.
I found “Once again the rhythm starts,” to have some similar qualities to William Shakespeares, “Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore.” Both deal with time running out. Shakespeare says that since our birth each fleeting minute brings us closer to our death. However Shakespeare establishes time as both a giver and a taker, a paradoxically blessing and damning reality. In Hussain’s poem time literally is running out for the speaker. He is experiencing probably the last of his moments here on earth. For the bomber, even though he repeatedly uses the word time, he is in his mind about to enter into another life where time ceases to exist. Death is in a way the conquering of time.

Friday, March 7, 2008

Auden and the Art

Here's a link to the Brueghel painting that's the subject (in part) of the Auden poem I assigned for Monday. Isn't it awesome?

Metonywha?

Regarding our fascinating discussion today about whether "sip" is a metonym or synecdoche, it struck me that the reason some of you might have been so ... convinced ... that sip is a part of drink is the nature of "drink" itself. That is, it's already a metonym for "beverage" or "glass of whatever." Much in the way we might call food "eats" (well, I wouldn't, but I've seen it), we refer to a beverage by what we do with it rather than by a part. So when one says "yes, but a sip is part of the larger act of drinking," I say, "ok, but 'drinking' is still a metonym for what one drinks."

Now, had I said "grape" for wine ...

Isn't figurative language fun?

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"
Dylan Thomas

Thomas, Dylan. "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night."The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007. 275.

http://www.bigeye.com/donotgo.htm

I can't help but love this poem. Maybe it's because it's a villanelle, maybe it's because I can relate to it. I'm not entirely sure.

One thing I know, however, is that once again a poet is attempting to make something important stick in the reader's mind by repeating it over and over. "Do not go gentle into that good night/ Rage, rage against the dying of the light," speaks to someone important to the narrator. The narrator is attempting to convince this person not to give up and to keep fighting the illness they have. The fact that he uses the words "night" and "dying of the light," helps back this up, since darkness and night are often associated with dying. It's interesting that he chose to use "dying of the light," though, since most people associating dying with going towards the light of Heaven. It might be that Thomas was attempting to draw a comparison between the two words. If night represents death and dying, then light would probably represent something like life and living.

It's an incredibly emotional poem too. Thomas uses different examples of people (wise men, old men, etc.) to try and persuade the person not to give up and to keep fighting. I know that I've definitely experienced moments like this in my life, where I just want to grab the person thats sick and make them keep fighting.

I think that the main reason this poem is so well known is because it's a villanelle and it wouldn't be nearly as powerful without the repetition of those two lines.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Robert Herrick's "The Pillar of Fame"

Herrick, Robert. "The Pillar of Fame."The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007. 285.

Tho Kingdom's fall,
This pillar never shall
Decline or waste at all;
But stand for ever by his own
Firm and well fixed foundation. (lines 9-13)

In "The Pillar of Fame," Herrick's use of one structured stanza noticeably employs visual devices to cement the strengths and "weaknesses" of a pillar's form. The center lines, such as "Tho Kingdom's fall," suggest that struggles may arise that can weaken a man made kingdom. This short and abrupt line is complete with punctuation which emphasizes the pause and consequent importance, infering the apparent frailty. However, the lengthening lines following, show that these things will not affect the immorality of the pillar. Endowed with the firmest of structures, spaced liberally and deliberatly through out, the pillar itself is regaining its strength after the threat of trials have been made. Still lengthening the line, the last couplet concludes as a solid foundation to an everchanging, yet ever strong poem.

Herrick also employs various poetic traits. The ending words in lines 9-11 are masculine rhymes, rhyming one syllable "perfectly." These perfect rhymes suggest that at this point in the poem, the speaker's understanding of the pillar is diffinative. Fall, shall, and all are very strong words, determined to set the tone of absolutness as the reader nears the end of the poem. However, as the reader comes to the last two lines, there is no perfect rhyme. This lack of a perfect rhyme, or use of partial rhyme, draws an extreme attention to the last line "Firm and well fixed foundation." This emphasis shows that while the pillar is indeed strong, it is perhaps not strong in comforming to the ideals of society. Understanding that rhyme represented the flow of the universe, the speaker's deliberate use of partial rhyme suggests that the pillar is above the societal understandings of the universe because the pillar of fame is the one who has actually transcended time. The alliteration in the last line shows that the pillar is the foundation, a simple basis which stands on its own merits.

Poetry Reading At Central

JIM DANIELS READS AT CCSU
Tuesday, March 11th, 5:00 pm at CCSU BOOKSTORE
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Poet of "In the Line of the Exterminator" and other poetry collections, Jim Daniels has also edited various anthologies and produced an independent film. His numberous awards represent his lasting aclaim.

The Raven

"The Raven"
Edgar Allan Poe

Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Raven." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007. 212.

http://www.heise.de/ix/raven/Literature/Lore/TheRaven.html

The first time I read this poem, I was around thirteen years old and had no idea what Poe was talking about. All I knew was that a Raven was involved and it scared me a bit. Looking back, I'm pretty sure that part of the reason this poem freaked me out the first time I read it, was probably Poe's word choice which gives the poem a dark and dismal tone. Words like, "weak" "weary" "dreary" and "shadow" all give the narrator and the poem a foreboding and depressed sound. What really gets me though, is the repetition of the word, "Nevermore" throughout the poem. It's important that it's this word that Poe repeats over and over again, because it sticks in your mind and makes you remember it later on. The repetition makes you walk away from the poem knowing that nothing is going to change for the narrator.

I also think that the structure of the poem is worth noting. It has a very musical and haunting sound to it as you read, especially if you read it out loud, partly because of the rhyme scheme. The scheme of ABCBBB helps to cause the stanzas to flow together easily and gives it a melodic quality almost when your read it. It also uses internal rhymes too, such as, “weary” and “dreary” to help maintain this melody and flow. The poem is also a Narrative poem that doesn’t speak outright about any specific allegories. Unlike the sonnets or Shakespeare or some of the other poems we’re read so far in class, Poe didn’t write the poem as a long metaphor about love or despair. I think that writing it as a Narrative instead of as an allegory helps to more clearly show the narrator’s distress and slow spin into madness over the loss of his love Lenore.

One thing that has always made me wonder about this poem is the Raven itself. It’s not clearly stated within the poem whether or not the Raven is deliberately taunting and provoking the narrator or if the Raven has no idea what it’s doing and is simply a bird. I tend to lean towards the fact that it does know what it’s doing, simply because of the supernatural mood of the poem and because of some of Poe’s other works in which animals torment or get revenge upon humans (Such as “The Black Cat”).

Introduction to "Waking on the Farm" by Robert Bly

1) Bly, Robert. “Waking on the Farm.” A Prairie Home Companion. Host Garrison Keillor. National Public Radio. 24 April 1999: 25:41. <http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/programs/19990424/>

This was tricky to cite—it’s actually not on the Internet in text, but if you visit the link above and click on the segment “22:56 – Applause – GK Intro Robert Bly” you’ll be able to listen to it in the archives of A Prairie Home Companion. Robert Bly himself reads it, and if your audio player will let you fast-forward, it’s about 2:28 minutes in. Failing that, I think it's included in the book, Morning Poems by Robert Bly.

2) This poem is about waking on a farm, as you would never guess from the title. The speaker describes the bareness and stark quality of the morning with details like frosted grass crunching beneath their steps, and a cold tractor. The way the morning is described, it seems almost like the speaker is in another world in the morning, but as the day warms up things become more normal. In the end, though, when they're washing up from the morning's work, "the water kept something in it of the early morning."

3) My favorite thing about the poem is this excerpt: "Breathing seemed frail and daring in the morning. / To pull in air was like reading a whole novel." That, all by itself, captures the whole feeling of being awake and outside in the early morning, particularly in the winter when it's about six degrees out and everything seems deserted. That is my semi-daily walk to my 8AM class exactly. The poem may be set on a farm, but I think it's universal. Even CCSU's campus has this same empty, unearthly feeling in the early hours of the morning, far removed from rural Minnesota as it is. (Robert Bly is a Minnesotan poet. That's another more superficial reason I like his poetry; I'm from Minnesota, too, so sometimes it feels like, "Hey, he's writing right from my backyard!")

4) This poem is sort of like Billy Collins' "Morning" on page 116 of our anthology. They're both about morning and embody a certain sort of energy. But while Bly's morning is unearthly, cold, and strange, Collins seems more grounded in normalcy. In Collins' version, the morning is buzzing with very normal routines like vitamins and coffee, and it's at the end where things get a little weird: "heavy clouds on the way / and the lawn steaming like a horse / in the early morning" (lines 19-21). On the other side, Bly's morning melts into a more normal day, and the cold water the speaker washes up with is the only reminder of the strangeness of the morning. In a way, I think this is kind of illustrates two different ways of viewing poetry. One way, poetry might be grounded in familiar things of every day, but use these to leap off into larger themes. The other way, poetry is the reinvention of those familiar, every-day things from the very outset, making us re-define or re-imagine things and find meaning in that.


Collins, Billy. "Morning." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. Ed. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007. 116.

Monday, March 3, 2008

funeral for a friend

funeral for a friend
"tales don't tell themselves"
tales dont tell themselves" is an epic tale of a man who sets out after being lost at see to make it back to his home, where his wife and child are waiting for him. it is actually an album from this band so you can read the lyrics online at http://www.lyricsmania.com/lyrics/funeral_for_a_friend_lyrics_1534/
or you can by the cd and read them in the cd booklet.
lyric poetry is historically poetry that was meant to be set to music and that is why i think this cd is relevant nd important. the album is broken up into songs, as is standard, but in evaluating in the poetic sense, the songs are more like cantos or chapters, typical of epic poetry. the album is a full story set to music and each song serves as a chapter in the tragic tale of a man who is lost at sea trying to return to his family. the band is from wales, and the singer was previously a writer and the lyrics of the cd are beautiful and skillfully written. the concept of the album and the way in which the band approaches it in a poetic sense is reason enough for any person with a love of artistic creativity and poetry to give the cd a chance. it continuing the literary tradition of new concepts and ideas, something like this is important not only to keep the blood flowing but to also give people that arent formally educated in poetry a painless way a access it. lyrics set to music is an important part of poetic history and a huge part of society today. it fact it is so popular that virtually anyone can set any piece of crap to music and it seems like the shittier it is, the more retarded repetition of giberish it contains, and the more watered-down mass produced cliches are sqeezed in there, the more popular it becomes. maybe it just me, but hearing all that mixed together on 95.7 leaves me running for the pepto-bismol for all the curable symptoms. Anyways, this is a refreshingly poetic album, that is well written by talented musicians and songwriters that is well worth checking out for anyone looking for something with some substance. Funeral for a Friend "tales dont tell themselves" 2007 Ferret Records. genre-rock, indie, post-hardcore.

Margaret Gibson's "Newspaper Photograph"

1. Gibson, Margaret. "Newspaper Photograph." One Body Poems. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2007. 23-24.
internet link unavailble

2. This poem describes the speaker's sight and consequent interpretation of a modern newspaper photograph depicting the tradition associated with migrant women carrying stones in an Indian quarry. The seemingly serenity and beauty of the photo turns when the speaker realizes the desolation and daily torment that this labor puts the women through. In the end, the speaker asks God to help her see, recognizing that all images have a purpose.

3. The striking imagery is what drew my attention to this poem, depicting the most minute details in the most beautiful manner. Having heard it read aloud by Margaret Gibson herself, I felt the passion which responded to each carefully choosen word used to describe that rudimentary but necessary tradition. When the poem transitions towards the broader scope of sight, it concretes the sense that everything happens for a reason. As a result, the reader feels enlightened and at ease with the up and downs of life.

4. Margaret Gibson's "Newspaper Photograph" is comparable to Keat's "On Seeing the Elgin Marbles." The hardships associated with the life and death of humanity are clearly presented in both poems. Whereas, Keats' speaker has to deal with each "imagined pinnacle (line 3)" moving towards his or her inevitable death, Gibson's Indian women must overcome their daily affliction to "make a wheel: wheel of life and death (line 20)" Keats' speaker struggles with the inability to become immoral like the Elgin Marbles, but consequently becoming immortilized by this poem. The Indian women are indirectly immortilized through the continuous cycle of tradition, the newspaper photograph and Gibson's poem. After reading Keats' structured sonnet, the reader has a sense of confusion, ultimately asking why such different concepts are linked together. Whereas, after ready Gibson's poem, the reader has a clear understanding of how the story of the Indian women is linked to a greater understanding of the present vision and how it affects the future.

Keats, John. "On Seeing the Elgin Marbles." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007. 344.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

"To a Daughter Leaving Home" by Linda Pastan

1.) Pastan, Linda. "To a Daughter Leaving Home." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007. 99.
The poem can be viewed here:
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/to-a-daughter-leaving-home/

2.) This poem is about a child becoming independent from parents. the speaker describes the very common childhood act of learning to ride a bicycle. She uses imagery to bring the reader back to childhood and remember the sheer independence one felt upon being able to ride a bicycle. This poem is about growing up, learnig to spread one's wings and do things by oneself.

3.) I greatly enjoyed reading this poem because of the joy it brought me. I found the authors use of extended metaphor very powerful. When I was reading this poem, I saw the act of riding a bicycle of the first taste of freedom a child gets; in turn being about the freedom one recieves when one is grown. I feel the author chose to use such a "younger" activity because most parents still view their children as innocent and vulnerable as they were when they were five or six; no parent ever really visualises their child as an adult, always their baby. I because very emotionally involved while i read this poem. I loved that it brought back all memories of my childhood, attempting to ride a two wheeled bicycle before anyone else; feeling the sun on my face, the hum of the summer animals, the sweet taste of vistory when I finally achieved my goal. I also loved how it reminded me of where I was at the time; I had such a vivid image in my mind of how my mom was laughing and smiling at my happiness, and all the other parents and children hanging around the neighborhood. This poem also made me think about the future. One day, my niece will learn this independence, and I hoped that she will have nothing but fond, vivid memories like I have. Even though the speaker seems sad about letting her daughter grow up, the speaker accepts and allows this change to occur. Both the speaker and the daughyter are coming to a new place in their lives, and I love how this poem represents that.

4.) I feel this poem can be compared to William Shakespeare's sonnet "Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore"* because they are both different interpretations of the inevitability of time. While Pastan's poem gives a happy feeling, accepting that time comes and that changes must occur, Shakespeare's poem handle's these changes with a much different approach. Shakespeare's speaker is not happy about the effects of time and has difficulty accepting it. Pastan uses happy imagery and accepts that change must occur. These two poem have different approaches to dealing with time. I feeling that Pastan deals with her pain by finding joy in the past, and Shakespeare deals with his pain by using more pain; both of these poem show two different ways to deal. I feel that since the first poem was written by a womna, and the second poem was written by a man, the poem reflect the different ways in which males and females deal with emotions.

* Shakespeare, William. "Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007. 215