A Happy Poem in Dismal Modernism

I wish I could say that modernism has brought me great nuggets of knowledge… but goodness all of the poems and stories we have read have been so bleak that is difficult to be enlightened when the literature makes you lose hope of a bright future. However I have managed to find a glimmer of happiness and silliness in one of W.H. Auden’s poem, “Tell me the Truth about Love.” (Here is a link to the poem, http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/o-tell-me-the-truth-about-love/) Auden’s poem is downright spastic and silly when you first read it, but when you really ponder on his words the realization of how hilariously true his words are sinks in. Auden’s poem is a list of statements and questions about what love really is. He juxtaposes different ideologies of love, compares love to random objects, smell’s, and human behavior, goes searching for answers in the past and random places, and he asks many questions that one would expect to hear from a small child for an adult might never say such absurd questions out loud. Auden doesn’t quite pin point the truth about love in his poem, but who out of any of us can pin point the truth about love in its entirety? We as humans have different definitions of it for each circumstance of love, different ways we act upon love, and we change our minds about love. There are times where we are cynical and feel like love causes chaos. Then there are those times where we are mystified by the wonderfulness of love. I will be attempting to explain the complicated subject of love by using a few of Auden’s truthful metaphors and questions. I would have liked to explicate the poem in full but it is quite long and I had a hay day with writing my intro paragraph.

“Some say it makes the world go around,/ Some say that's absurd,”(3-4)

I claim myself to be optimist so I do believe that love is a wonderful think. It is love that links us to our friends, family, significant others, pets, and whatever else people love. All humans love at least someone or something so yes in a way love does make the world go around since it is everywhere! As I mentioned three sentences ago, I claim myself to be an optimist when it comes to the subject of love, but even I feel that people can be completely absurd when it comes to love. Think of the crazy mother-in-laws who treat their daughter-in-laws like dirt because they took their precious son away from them. Or the creeper from Porphyria’s lover! He killed his “beloved” Porphyria to preserve the moment that she declared her love for him by strangling her with her own hair! Love makes the world go around but it also causes people to be absurd and a little bit crazy.

“Does its odour remind one of llamas,/ Or has it a comforting smell?” (11-12)

I chose this particular quote because it is quite spastic. Who sits down to read a poem about love and expects to see the author compare love to a llama? Although these lines are quite random they ring true in how people react to love. Some people are comforted and welcome love with open arms…. Then there are those who turn away from it like it is a wretched smell. For those that have been around llamas you know that they don’t smell like a field of daisies.

 

“Will it knock on my door in the morning,/ Or tread in the bus on my toes?/ Will it come like a change in the weather?/ Will its greeting be courteous or rough?/ Will it alter my life altogether?/ O tell me the truth about love.” (51-56)

Auden ends his poem perfectly I feel with the lines above. He allows his readers to ponder the question of what is, love and what will it feel like. Will love be a breath of fresh air in the morning? Or will it feel like you just got foot ran over by some crazy bus driver? Or will it come and change your attitude and plan like the weather can? All of us have had plans be dashed or created because of a change In the weather. Will love be mannerly and calm? Or take you spin in a tornado? Auden’s last question should have not been question. It should have been statement because love does alter life altogether. There is no question about it. I apologize to those who found this blog quite random and incoherent at times, but I hope that in reading the poem and this blog you will find yourself laughing and nodding along to the wonderful and not so wonderful things about love.

Oh, How One Word Can Change a Poem's Meaning...

“No Man’s Land”

Written by J. Knight-Adkin

NO Man’s Land is an eerie sight
At early dawn in the pale gray light.
Never a house and never a hedge
In No Man’s Land from edge to edge,
And never a living soul walks there	5
To taste the fresh of the morning air;—
Only some lumps of rotting clay,
That were friends or foemen yesterday.
What are the bounds of No Man’s Land?
You can see them clearly on either hand,	10
A mound of rag-bags gray in the sun,
Or a furrow of brown where the earthworks run
From the eastern hills to the western sea,
Through field or forest o’er river and lea;
No man may pass them, but aim you well	15
And Death rides across on the bullet or shell.
But No Man’s Land is a goblin sight
When patrols crawl over at dead o’ night;
Boche or British, Belgian or French,
You dice with death when you cross the trench.	20
When the “rapid,” like fireflies in the dark,
Flits down the parapet spark by spark,
And you drop for cover to keep your head
With your face on the breast of the four months’ dead.
The man who ranges in No Man’s Land	25
Is dogged by the shadows on either hand
When the star-shell’s flare, as it bursts o’erhead,
Scares the gray rats that feed on the dead,
And the bursting bomb or the bayonet-snatch
May answer the click of your safety-catch,	30
For the lone patrol, with his life in his hand,
Is hunting for blood in No Man’s Land.     “No Man’s Land” was written by J Knight-Adkin.  Knight had firsthand experience with World War I trench warfare. He fought in the trenches for four months before he was injured and sent to work at a prisoner of war camp. The first time I read “No Man’s Land” it was for a history class. “No man’s land” was part of a group of sources that had an overall Ally forces bias. This meant that all of them talked about how horrid and despicable Germans were. So when I read the poem, I was shocked and amazed that there was finally something that showed when it comes to death all men are equal. But there is one line or one word that differs from the idea of equality between men in battle. I didn’t even realize what this one little word meant until I looked it up… With the true definition of the word my whole equality in death analysis needed to be changed. “No Man’s Land” has four stanza’s. Each stanza has 8 lines and the rhyme scheme ABBCCDD.  The poem is easy to read through because of the rhyming couplets. Also Knight uses simple but powerful descriptions to describe what ‘no man’s land’ is like. Oh also for those of you who do not know what ‘no man’s land” is, it was the stretch of land between enemy trenches during World War I. It was called this because soldiers who stepped on to no man’s land would usually die. Knight uses vivid descriptions that show the horror and monstrosity of trench warfare. In the first stanza the reader will find that in trench warfare there are no bright mornings. No man’s land is described as eerie, gray, and pale. Also the cloud of death hangs over the strip of land, “And never a living soul walks there/ To taste the fresh of the morning air;/ Only some lumps of rotting clay,/That were friends or foemen yesterday.” We get a scene description and a soldier’s mentality in the first stanza which allows us to feel emotion for those who have been lost to no man’s land. The second stanza gives more description and reveals how impersonal trench warfare is. A man can kill another man without even seeing him. The third stanza is where the seemingly innocent word is found: “Boche or British, Belgian or French,/ You dice with death when you cross the trench.” When I first read these lines I thought, “oh how great that he is telling the reader that everyone dies in war which then makes them equal…” He represented men that were English, Belgian, French, and German. But wait he does not say German… He uses the term “Boche” which happens to be a derogatory word that was used during WWI towards German soldiers. It seems a little unfair does it not??? He cheapens the death of German soldiers by calling them a derogatory term… So therefore apparently everyone else is equal in death…except the Germans. The rest of the poem describes what sounds fills the trenches when there is an attack. Also the horrors of battle are brought to center fold with Knight’s vivid details. Now this poem is still and excellent WWI poem because it delves into the mind of a soldier who has seen the horrors trench war fare and how the fighting almost seemed futile. But this poem really shows how something can seem like it represents all parties of an event. But in reality it makes one of the parties seem less human.

 

Awww to have a love like that.....

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

By Elizabeth Barrett Browning

 How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints – I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! – and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

 

WARNING!- THE FOLLOWING BLOG IS DRIPPING WITH “ROMANTICAL” IDEALS! =D

 

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways” is one of the best romantic sonnets ever known to man in my opinion. I was 14 when I first read this poem and I was immediately struck by the beauty and truthfulness of Browning’s words. From that time on I thought that most poems were about love and romance.  It is now five years later and I realize that this generalization is far from the truth.  Now that I have read many many poems about epic hero’s, nature, sadness, political arguments, and other genre’s that can be sad or somewhat boring I have realized how unique this poem is. This poem literally is a love a poem! Browning wrote this poem for her husband Robert Browning during their somewhat secret courtship.

 The poem has the basic sonnet format. It has 14 lines and is written in iambic pentameter. The main difference is that the rhyme scheme is ABBA ABBA CDC DCD instead of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Browning styled this sonnet in the Italian style which is also known as the Petrarchan sonnet.  An interesting tidbit I learned about this poem is that it had no title. In Browning’s published book, Sonnets to the Portuguese  the sonnets are numbered. “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways” is also known as Sonnet 43. So in cases like this the poem’s title comes from the first line of the poem.

 The poem starts out with a seemingly simple question, “How do I love thee?”, However when you really think about this question it is one that has many answers and many different meanings depending on the person. Browning answers this question in her own way. But I feel that her reasons for loving Robert Browning hold true to the idea of an eternal love for someone else.

 Browning gives her reasons eloquently in lines two through thirteen.  I am going to explain these lines by telling you about the thoughts that came to my brain when reading them. Lines two through four reminded me of a common thing that children do when they say how much they love someone. They stretch their arms out as far as they can and say, “I love you this much!!!” Lines five through six remind me of how when you love someone you think about them all the time! You think about them during the day and at night. Browning represents the day and the night when she wrote, “by sun and candlelight.” Lines seven through eight show that this love she has is pure, abundant, and feels as natural as man’s desire to be free. Lines nine and ten portray a love that is passionate and true. The writer has had heartaches in life but she loves this person with the innocence of a child. The next few lines are about having faith that your beloved will not let you down like others have in the past. The final words of the poem are simple and eloquently written, “I love thee with the breath,/ Smiles, tears, of all my life! – and, if God choose,/ I shall but love thee better after death.” These simple words are so powerful to me. Browning was declaring that she loved Robert Browning as much as life itself. Also her words about loving him even after death show that she wants a love that is unending.

 Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote this poem for her beloved Robert Browning, but I feel that all of us should search for a love like theirs. I would hope that when we ask ourselves, “How do I love thee?” that we will want to say all of the things that Browning’s wrote. We will want to count the ways we love our beloveds well into eternity. =)

 

 

 

 

"Only the protest of the World"

“They seem to be in conspiracy to persecute you,” she said.” What does it mean?”

“Only the protest of the world, Miss Verinder— on a very small scale— against anything that is new.”- Wilkie Collins- The Moonstone
Page 413

 

I think that we have all had the experience of a quote just hitting us square in the eye. A quote can be found in a newspaper, book, or even a Facebook post! A memorable quote most of the time hits us at an unexpected moment. One moment you are happily and speedily reading through a mystery novel because the suspense is driving you up the wall. Then you read through one little snippet and it causes you to pause. For a minute you just stare at it and think, “Wow…That is some deep stuff right there.” And for hours the quote keeps coming back to your mind and causes you contemplate why it was put in the novel and why it is so important. When Mr. Jennings said, “Only the protest of the world, Miss Verinder— on a very small scale— against anything that is new.” I got this overwhelming feeling that Wilkie Collins incorporated this idea of people being fearful of anything new or different because he felt that way too! The protest of anything that is new is without a doubt a theme throughout this novel that is represented by Gabriel Betteredge.

Betteredge describes Rachael’s personality as, “Unlike most other girls of her age, in this—that she has ideas of her own, and was stiff-necked enough to set the fashions themselves at defiance.” This is considered a fault in his eyes. Later on the novel he says how likes Godfrey better because he settles women down and puts them back in their proper place.  Betteredge loves Franklin but he dislikes how Franklin has characteristics that are not British. Many times he refers to Franklin acting on his Italian, French, or German side.

 

When Ezra Jennings entered the Moonstone I was intrigued. The first words we hear of Mr. Ezra Jennings are from old Betteredge, “The work all falls on his assistant. Not much of it now, except among the poor. They can’t help themselves, you know. They must put up with the man with the piebald hair , and the gypsy complexion…”(pg.320) Betteredge is a good man but in his mind anyone who is not white and holds his ideas and values is not equal to him. Betteredge is not the only one who mistreats Mr. Jennings. Most of the characters are unsure of him when first meeting him. They are frightened of his appearance and inquisitive about his professional opinions.

 

Wilkie Collins novel the Moonstone brought to light how his society protested people and things that were different and new. To us this idea seems backwards in our seemingly accepting society. But I think Collins quote still rings true today. As a whole I think all humans have the tendency to be weary of something new in their lives. We judge whatever the new thing maybe by first impressions and if we can’t find a commonality we declare it as weird or something that doesn’t need to be dealt with. It is interesting to see how we can find commonalities with our society in a mystery novel written in the 19^th century.

 

 

 

 

Finding Joy in the Simple Things

Excerpt from Ode on Melancholy

By John Keats

 But when the melancholy fit shall fall

       Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud,

That fosters the droop-headed flowers all,

       And hides the green hill in an April shroud;

Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose,

       Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave,

               Or on the wealth of globed peonies;

Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows,

       Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave,

               And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes.

 

To start off with I am not a reader of poetry because I have a hard time knowing what poets are trying to get across. From my point of view a good poet is one who can write a poem that is somewhat understandable the first time you read it. When you have to analyze it to death it takes away the joy that poetry can be. When I read Keats Ode to Melancholy I was immediately struck by his beautiful word usage, imagery, and his message. I chose the second stanza because it has a truly simplistic meaning. Keats wrote that when overwhelmed with an awful and seemingly inescapable sorrow look to the simple things in life.

Ode to Melancholy has beautiful imagery throughout the poem, but in the second stanza it is breathtaking. I happen to love flowers and when he wrote, “Or on the wealth of globed peonies” I saw a beautiful garden filled with peonies. For those who don’t what a peony looks like I found a photo that does them a great justice. Keats imagery is spectacular because he allows the human imagination to picture something beautiful without writing something obscure in elevated diction.

 

 

The first four lines of this stanza describe how sadness falls upon an individual. Keats uses nature to describe the feeling of melancholy. Even though he compares melancholy to a “weeping cloud” or a drooping flower which are two things that are not human like at all, I immediately understood the metaphor. I like everyone else have had those moments when life goes to heck in a hand basket and your world is gloomy and dark. All optimistic views are hidden from your sight. By taking Keats advice we can escape melancholy by looking for a tiny light at the end of the dark and gloomy tunnel.

Last fall I took a speech class in the morning and everyone in the class myself included often had the state of mind of, “I am tired and I do not want to be here!” So my professor would have us stand up and say, “I feel great!” about five times, each time getting louder. Though I felt completely silly doing this, saying the words, “I feel great!” helped change my tired and grumpy disposition to that of a still tired college student with a happier outlook on life.Keats poem does the same thing. Keats wrote, “Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose.” The word glut means an excessively abundant supply of something. A person can throw all the sorrow on the beauty around them. Whether it be on the beauty of the mountains or beauty of loved one it makes us feel better.

Keats poem calls us all to action. Instead wallowing in gloom and self-pity, find the beauty around us and focus all our attention on that thing. Eventually the fading light at the end of the tunnel will become a giant beam of light that nearly blinds you with joy. And all because you focused on the beautiful things of life. =)
 

To The River Otter- Taylor Coleridge

To The River Otter

By-Taylor Coleridge

 Dear native Brook! wild Streamlet of the West!

How many various-fated years have past,

What happy and what mournful hours, since last

I skimm'd the smooth thin stone along thy breast,

Numbering its light leaps! yet so deep imprest

Sink the sweet scenes of childhood, that mine eyes

I never shut amid the sunny ray,

But straight with all their tints thy waters rise,

Thy crossing plank, thy marge with willows grey,

And bedded sand that vein'd with various dyes

Gleam'd through thy bright transparence! On my way,

Visions of Childhood! oft have ye beguil'd

Lone manhood's cares, yet waking fondest sighs:

Ah! that once more I were a careless Child!

Analysis-

Coleridge’s poem To the River Otter speaks of a topic that we can all relate too. The main theme is how childhood memories can fill us with joy but also make us long for days where there were no worries or cares.

The speaker keeps a happy and reminiscing tone throughout the sonnet. Coleridge starts his poem by talking to the brook he used to skip stones on when he was a child. The first line grabs the reader’s attention because he uses not one but two phrases that end with an exclamation point. This caught my eye because in the poems we have read the poet rarely uses exclamation points. It adds drama and excitement to the poem. Coleridge portrays that it has been a long time since he saw his brook by asking, “How many various-fated years have past/ What happy and what mournful hours, since last” Since his last visit Coleridge like everyone else has grown up and had his share of happy and disappointing moments.  His few lines that talk about how he used to skip stones, reminds me of how I used to always climb my neighbors tree. Every time I pass by I think of all the scrapes and bruises and adventures I had on that tree with my sister and friends.

The next few lines describe Coleridge’s beloved brook. His word usage for colors caught my attention. When describing the colors he sees he uses words and phrases like, “tints”, “veined with various dyes”, “bright transparence!” I liked how he didn’t say the specific colors he saw because it allows the reader to imagine their own brook. He gives the reader the basis of the brook and we can then imagine the rest.

The last three lines of the poem bring Coleridge’s theme of the poem to full light, “Visions of Childhood! oft have ye beguil'd/Lone manhood's cares, yet waking fondest sighs:/Ah! that once more I were a careless Child!” Just today I recalled a memory I had of playing in a river with my cousins when I was small. The memory caused me to smile immediately as well as wishing I could have that moment again. Coleridge’s use of simple and descriptive language allows all of his readers to remember their own childhood spots and smile.

The Use of Simple Language

As I mentioned in my introduction I love politics and the essays written by Burke, Wollstonecraft, and Paine were so informative and fun to read. I would like to focus this blog on Wollstonecraft and her disagreements with Burke’s essay on the French Revolution. Wallstonecraft used simple and understandable language in her essay and I think this allowed her opinions to spread and be understood by the masses.

            In Wollstonecraft’s “A Vindication of the Rights of Men”, she stood up for the uneducated lower classes around the world. She also stood up for the people in France and their noble revolutionary cause. Her simple but powerful writing allowed the common man to read and understand what she was saying. In her essay she wrote a powerful passage in her section about sensibility.

 "The civilization which has taken place in Europe has been very partial, and, like every custom that an arbitrary point of honour has established, refines the manners at the expense of morals, by making sentiments and opinions current in conversation that have no root in the heart or weight in the cooler resolves of the mind. -- And what has stopped its progress?-- hereditary property--heredity honours."

This passage stood out to me right away because she talked about two critical issues with her society. The first is how people did not say what they are truly thinking and feeling. They did this in fear of looking different or being criticized. Also Wallstonecraft brings up how most of the lower class as well as women were not even given the education they truly deserve. Since many were left uneducated it is very possible that articulating their opinions in an intelligent manner would have been difficult. Burke was shocked and disappointed with the fact that people in France were actually speaking their minds as well as doing something to make their lives better. He believed that the lower class should do what their told and just wait to die, so that they can gain blessings in heaven. Wallstonecraft stood up for freedom of speech and what a powerful gift it is.

The second critical issue Wallstonecraft covered is the fact that their society cannot progress when every single person has to follow the life path that they were born into. Monarchs did not earn their power they are given it and the poor stayed poor because they were not given the opportunity to change their path. Burke preached that people should follow their forefathers because their system “works”. But in reality it only worked for those who were in the aristocratic class. Wallstonecraft wrote how hereditary honours and property stop the world from progressing.

The French were being criticized by Burke and others because they were going against the monarchy. They are criticized and their actions are considered “unnatural”. Wallstonecraft used Burke’s words against him to prove her point. An example of this is when Burke called some of the French women vile and made claims that their acts were abominations of hell. Wallstonecraft rebukes him for calling these women vile since they were never given the privilege of education and gained their livelihoods through hard work. By using fact against Burke’s argument in a simple and lively way, Wallstonecraft was able to prove her point and get her message out there for the common man.