Gerald Manley Hopkins

I truly enjoyed Hopkins' poem, "Spring and Fall". In the beginning of the poem he talks about a girl who is "grieving" over the leaves falling. This poem sounds like a grown up teaching an innocent child of how things may come and go. Generally when people grieve it's over something like a person who has died, but she is so innocent she is able to grieve over leaves, which she seems to believe is dying. He explains to the girl that "As the heart grows older, It will come to such sights colder," which i believe he is telling her that, as she grows up, she will experience much more things such as true death, and other cruel things which she doesn't quite understand just yet. As the leaves are falling, they symblize death. Leaves are always falling, and people are always dying. Children begin to realize death more and more when they grow up, and this child will one day realize that leaves aren't as important than people dying, and she will eventually no longer "spare a sigh" for the leaves.

Virginia Woolf

After reading Virginia Woolf's biography, I realized she had a very troubling childhood. She had so many breakdowns, I guess she just couldn't take it anymore and decided to take her own life. In her writing, "The Lady in the Looking-Glass: A reflection," I believe she was actually speaking about her own reflection, or her life's experiencing may have influenced her greatly in this piece of work. For me this story was quite vague, and I was not quite sure what Woolf was talking about. She first talks about a mirrow and the place where the mirror was located. Then she finally introduces Isabella Tyson, a rich woman, who seemed to have all the riches of the world. Although she had all these nice possessions, as she looked into the mirror, "she stood naked in that pitiless light. And there was nothing. Isabella was perfectly empty." she may have all the riches in the world, but it does not buy happiness. Woolf may have been searching for peace and happiness within herself for so long, and it may have helped her to write how she was feeling about herself in this story.

Victorian Ladies and Gentlemen

Men and women during the Victorian age had specific role during this time. Middle class women were the ones who managed the household, and men managed business and things that pertained outside of the home. Men and women did not have equal opportunities to go to school. It was more important for men to go to school not really for intellect but to help improve character (555). Women’s right did not exist, and basically women’s duty then was to take care of their own men. According to the book, “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). There were women such as Florence Nightingale who did not believe in this and tried to make a career outside the home. On the other hand there were women like Sarah Ellis who accepted the fact that women needed to stay in their place, and just wanted for her family and herself to be happy. There were different out looks on the roles of women during these times. Things have completely changed since then in our society, because women are now seen taking over companies, working outside the home, and we are also now allowed to vote.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

One of my favorite poems by Percy Shelley is “Ozymandias”. He is writing about a statue of Ozymandias, also known as Ramses II, who is thought to be the pharaoh from the book of Exodus whom challenged Moses (399). In the poem the reader learns that all that is left of the statue are the feet, and the head which is “half sunk” in the sand (399). Ramses was once a great king, but his reign has now since ended, just like the statue, which use to be a great monument, and now there is hardly anything left. The speaker says that Ozymandias was “cold,” but was powerful enough that he still was “mocked” by other tyrants after his day. The statue represents Ozymandias rule because, like him, the statue stood great and tall, but it only lasted for so long. The statue is now “sunk” in the sand, and it just shows that nothing really last forever. As great as he was, he is now forgotten, and the statue is also in ruins.

Thomas Carlyle

After reading all so much poetry, Thomas Carlyle’s stories were a bit of fresh air. I thoroughly enjoyed his story “The Irish Widow” from Gospel of Mammonism. He writes of an Irish widow with three kids. She goes asking for charity for she has nothing. It is actually quite a sad story, but I think has a good moral at the end. She is infected with typhus fever, and no one shows any sympathy probably for the fact that she is Irish. As sick as she was, no one lends a helping hand. She died of fever, along with 17 other people who caught it from her. I believe Carlyle was trying to make the point that people should not judge other people or look down upon them because they are less fortunate. Those who were “better” than her also caught the fever as well. This story kind of reminded me of the Beatles song “Eleanor Rigby” because no one really paid attention to those people in the song, and they will be forgotten forever. Well I don’t know if anyone else would have gotten the comparison, but as soon as I read this story, the song started playing in my mind. The Irish widow was pleading with those around her saying “I am your sister, bone of your bone; one God made us: ye must help me!” I don’t think she was referring to those people as her biological sister but as a spiritual sister, because we are all made in God’s image and we are spiritually all brothers and sisters. While the physician is speaking, he makes us realize that we are all created equal regardless if we are poor, Irish, rich, or etc. Those people let an innocent person die all because she was not like them. He uses the word “impossible” repetitively throughout the story, making different uses for it. Carlyle first uses it when the people deny that the woman can be their sister, “No, Ipossible; thou art no sister of ours.” He then continues on and the doctor uses it somewhat mocking the people who denied her, because now 17 people are dead, and it is impossible for her to be their sister. Without those people’s help the woman and 17 other people are dead. Was it impossible for the people to help, would it have been impossible for the 17 people who died to live if those people helped the Irish woman. This story makes us realize we are all the same, and we should help the needy.

The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a time when technology began to take over the world. Textile mills and railroad tracks were popping up all over England. The factories were opening up doors for more people such as women and children which were disrupting the typical “family life”. There were people who benefiting from these new improvements, but not so much for the working, poor class. Lots of authors during that time believed that the industrial revolution was an evil time, and often portrayed it as a dark time covered by smoke and it was a detrimental to society. It inspired writers such as Charles Dickens and Thomas Carlyle to write of the poverty and life of people affected by the industrial revolution. Children were put to work as well, even for 16 hours a day. Population increased in London as well, and so did London. For some people it was a time of luxury and growth, but for others, it was a time of hardship and poverty.

John Keats

Keats was an extremely talented writer for it is a shame he died so young. I was thinking to myself maybe if he were to have continued medicine and apothecary would his life been a tad bit longer? Of course if he lived in our time and age, he would probably be living longer due to the medical advances we have today. Anyways, while reading his works, I could sense sadness in his writings. This may have been due to his childhood. He had to bear the loss of his father at a young age and his mom took off for a few years and came back sick later for him to take care of her on her death bed. He has a sad tone in most of the poems. One poem that touched me was “Ode on Melancholy”. He also has a love for nature. Every stanza mentions a part of nature from animals to the weather. He was a very sensitive person. I think he is talking about a man who has lost his loved one from the line
“his soul shall taste the sadness of her might,
And be among her cloudy trophies hung” (442).
After she died, the heavens poured out as if it was crying and he pointed out that

“Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud” (442).
It was a sad poem, but beautifully written. John Keats was a fantastic author who lived a short life, he would’ve accomplished a lot more.

Felicia Hemans

I think that if Felicia hemans lived during our time and century, she would fit in quite well. She was independent, raising five kids and single. She would be considered a role model in today’s society. After the abandonment of her husband, she took her children to move in with her mother. She was determined to make it as a single parent to support her family with her writing. Who knew a woman from her time could get so much recognition. She had a great feministic attitude, which portrayed in her work. The abandonment of her husband and her father helped to inspire her to write great works. She portrayed women as strong leaders, and she looked down upon men. She was much more independent than the other female writer we discussed Dorothy Wordswrth. Hemans wanted her woks to be published and she had support from her own children, whereas Wordsworth was mainly dependent upon William and didn’t want her writings to be published. Her personality wasn’t as strong either. I have a lot of respect for Hemans. “Woman and Fame” caught my eye when I read it. In the lines

“A hollow sound is in thy song,
A mockery in thine eye,
To the sick heart that doth but long
For aid, for sympathy; for kindly looks to cheer it on,
For tender accents that are gone.”

I see a strong woman who has been through a lot of suffering but still continues to pull herself up and move on. I’m not sure if that’s what it really means, but it just seems like people try to take advantage of women and she’s just trying to get the point across that women can move on up and get over it.

John Stuart Mill

It was not quite common during his time, for men to believe in equal rights for men and women. He "advocated sexual equlaity, the right to divorce, universal suffrage, free speech, and proportional representation" (513). During this time women were suppose to be home taking care of family needs, and not allowed to work outside of the home. They had no rights and were looked down upon. He was quite a reformist and thought quite differently than other men of his time. He was quite intelligent and also believed that children could learn at a young age, so he wanted to prove his point by "experimenting" on his own son, by teaching him Greek works at the age of three. He would fit in well if he lived during our time. In chapter one of "The Subjection of Women," he states that "the legal subordination of one sex to the other-is wrong in itself" (521). He believes it would be a great improvement and hints on the fact that women could do almost anything a man could. He made the point that slavery was wrong, and it was not allowed in England during that time. Women were practically slaves to their husbands, and seemed like they had less rights than slaves. It is quite rare to see a man during this time who expresses feministic views, and I admire him for his beliefs in equality.

World War I

After reading the section about World War I, I really enoyed the writings written by soldiers who had first hand experience of what went on during the war. They wrote to show their pride and to leave something behind just in case they died to express how they felt. In Brooke's "The Soldier," he writes of his love for England and how he will fight for her. It is quite ironic for he never even fought in combat. He died on the ship due to blood poisoning (1097). Despite that fact, he and other soldiers fought for their country and showed much pride. I also enjoyed "Glory of Women" by Siegfried Sassoon, that showed the honor and loyalty of women during those hard times. They took care of everything while they're husbands were away, and this poem gave recognition to the women. Women were almost as brave as the men were. They were home patiently waiting for their loved ones to come home. Although they did not if they were still alive, they gave their men hope, and also gave them something pleasant to come home to.

Robert Browning

Before actually reading the poem, the title "Porphyria's Lover", made me think it was going to be a typical lovy dovy poem, and after reading his wife's sonnets, it gave me a bigger impression that this poem was going to be passionate and loving as well. After reading the poem, I was in total shock of what Porphyria's lover had actually done. Thoughts ran through my head after reading it such as why on earth had he done what he did, what was going through his head, and IS HE MENTAL????? They seemed like a typical couple who were in love with one another, and of course they were except he was kind of nutty. In line 25, when it says "But sometimes passion sometimes would prevail," I did not actually think that the love was thinking about murder. He seems like a narcisist, loving that "Porphyria worshipped him" (ln 33). Why on earth would he murder the one who he loved. He didn't seem bothered by it, but actually pleased with what he had done. This poem was extremely twisted, and made me quite furious.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Of the poems I have read so far, I truly loved "Sonnets from the Portuguese" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. While reading the Sonnets, I had goosebumps reading them because of how passionate and intense they were. She truly reveals her love for Robert in these Sonnets. My favorite sonnet of all was Sonnet 43. She begins the sonnet with a question, "How do I love thee?" (532) and she begins to list the many ways she loves him. She's revealing her inner thoughts within the poem. It almost reminded me of a wedding vow while reading this. She will continue to love him even after death, "I shall but love thee better after death" (532). He seems to be her every desire. I loved the lines, "In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith," because her love for Robert seems to overcome and erases all her past griefs and he is what makes her happy. It was such a moving poem, almost brought tears to my eyes. She wrote these before they were married, and so she must have known that he was her soul mate, maybe it was love at first sight.

William Butler Yeats

After reading William Butler Yeats’ poem “Leda and the Swan,” I was somewhat disturbed. This poem is about Zeus’s rape of Leda. It was quite disturbing to me, since Zeus used such a beautiful innocent creature to rape this woman. He begins the poem right away with the rape, “A sudden blow: the great wings beating still.” The reader can tell that it was forceful, and that Leda was quite terrified. She was a helpless mortal being raped by the most powerful god, and she had no idea it was Zeus. Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra were the products of the rape. The way Yeats wrote this poem made it so real; my heart is still pounding in rage and fear. It was a powerful poem, but quite disturbing.

T.S Eliot

It was quite interesting to find out that T.S Eliot was born in America, because all the other authors we’ve read were from Europe. In his poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” he is writing of a man who is extremely and insecure and self conscience about himself. He describes a place where he hangs out at night in the first few lines, which don’t seem really good places to be, like “one0night cheap hotels, and saw dust restaurants with oyster-shells.” He describes how he is concerned with what people think of him. He is also unsure of himself when it comes to woman, for he ask himself repeatedly, “Do I dare? And do I dare?” He begins picking apart how he looks, like mentioning his flaws such as how he’s balding. He wasn’t born great like “Hamlet” or a “prophet” but he’s just probably like any other man in the world who isn’t confident in himself. At least he realizes he’s average, and not great like Prince Hamlet. If he builds a little bit more self confidence, then maybe he would not put himself down as much.

Thomas Hardy

For some reason, these last 5 didn’t get posted a few days ago when I did them. Wow, I feel kind of retarded, but here they are.

I really enjoyed Thomas Hardy’s poem, “The Convergence of the Twain”. He was describing the incredible event of the sinking of the Titanic (which is actually one of my favorite movies). When the Titanic was first built, it was considered a ship that couldn’t sink, and also only the mostly those who were wealthy use to fill the boat. This is described in the first stanza. In lines 7 and 8, it’s describing how magnificent things use to fill the boat and be reflected by the mirrors, but now all that is left are “sea-worms-grotesque, slimed, dumb, indifferent.”

He mentions an “Immanent Will” which I believe is the supernatural thing that causes the Titanic to meet with the Iceberg. The speaker makes it seem it was inevitable for the iceberg and the titanic not to hit. The poem makes it seemed like it was planned. It was as if they were destined to for them to collide because of this line, “On being anon twin halves of one august event.” It seemed as though Thomas Hardy thought the Titanic had it coming to it, because it was all the greed and luxury that brought this liner down to its fate into the see. The people in the boat wanted to get to the United States soon enough to get in the paper the next morning, and with that, now all it is now is an ornament on the bottom of the see.

Charles Dickens

Of all the writer’s I’ve read so far, Charles Dickens is the one I am most familiar with because of his writings such as “Oliver Twist,” and “A Christmas Story.” While reading “A Visit to Newgate” I came into a realization that Charles Dickens writes about the destitute and unfortunate, maybe just to inform people of how the other half lives. He did not want to “fatigue the reader with statistical accounts of the prison,” which helped me to envision his trip to the prison. He describes what he sees in detail, from furniture, dimensions of areas, the people he sees (guards and prisoners) and what the building looks and smells like. The first inmates he comes across are women. He describes an old woman and a young woman. I felt sympathy for these women in there. Would they have been there if they were up rooted in a better life with money and family who cared about them? Lots of questions came up in my mind while reading this. How did these people get into prison, what are they thinking, how did they get themselves into these circumstances and etc. He then came across a room with boys who were locked up inside this prison. This reminded me of Oliver Twist. I had the picture of Oliver’s orphanage that he lived in envisioned in my mind, and also the part where he leaves and gets involved with a group of boys who stole from people. The prison is the consequence of pick pocketing. Would those boys be in there if they had people guiding them in life, or were they just born bad? I believe that people are not born bad, but they become bad due to their outward influences. He then finds himself in the chapel, where there is an awkward silence. This place didn’t seem to be visited often. Usually the thought of chapels and God brings a peace of mind and serenity, but while he was describing the prison’s chapel, I was quite eerie, and an unpleasant place to visit. The last person he talks about is a man on death row. I don’t know what I’d be thinking if I was on a death row and had 2 hours to live. This piece of writing made me think about choices people make to get themselves in good or bad situations. It also brought about lots of questions that I still do not have answers to, and might never. It was a very moving piece of work.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Coleridge a friend of William and Dorothy Wordsworth was also a talented writer. Coleridge’s poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” was quite lengthy but one of my favorites. He tells of a tale of a mariner who undergoes supernatural and extraordinary events while out at sea. The mariner is at a wedding, telling his adventures to a wedding guest who seems to be entirely consumed into his story rather than the wedding that is going on right before him because “he can not choose but hear.” He tells the reader and the wedding guest that he was blown off course due to storm. Then “at length did cross an albatross,” that came to save them (328). It seemed like a gift from God because he describes the albatross as a “Christian soul” (328). For some reason, the mariner decides to kill the mariner and the crew is furious for killing such an innocent and good luck creature. It did nothing but to help them while they were in distress. Killing the albatross brought along a series of unfortunate events to the crew. It was kind of like the saying what goes around comes around. Nothing good came out killing the albatross, and especially it didn’t deserve it. This tale makes you think about respecting animals and nature, because they are all God’s creatures which are precious. He suffers and realizes his wrong doings and his punishment begins to subside. When he seeks forgiveness for his wrongdoings most of his guilt is lifted off his shoulders. I believe the mariner is trying to tell the wedding guest and also the reader that God’s creation is priceless and we should take care of them. When he says
“For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all” (341)
I believe he is telling us that God made us to love another and also to love all creatures for He loves us, and we should not take advantage of what he gave us, and we should appreciate what all he’s done for us. Regardless what was going on throughout the whole time of the wedding, the wedding guest seems to be only intrigued and entertained by the tale of the mariner. He left the wedding a “sadder and a wiser man,” which means he might’ve learned the lesson from this story (341).

Dorothy Wordsworth

Dorothy Wordsworth was a talented writer who did not give herself enough credit for her work. She wouldn’t have had her writings published if it weren’t for her brother William and her friends. She wrote to “please” her brother (290). While reading her biography it seemed as though Dorothy and William were unusually close siblings. She had 3 other brothers, but she was not as close to them as she was with William. William also seemed to be her inspiration to her writings.
In Dorothy’s writings, I can tell she really loves nature, and it showed in her works. Her admiration of her brother was often revealed in her poetry especially in her poem Thoughts on My Sick Bed. She made several references of his poems throughout her own work. Her love of nature also appeared in this poem, because in every stanza, even while in sick and in bed, she describes in great description of flowers and animals. It must have bothered her greatly to be confined inside and not being able to enjoy the outside world. When she says
“yet never in those careless days,
When springtime in rock, field, or bower,
Was but a fountain of earthly hope
A promise of fruits and the splendid flower."
I can actually tell she had a respect for nature, and how peaceful it made her. In “The Grasmere Journals” she describes the wilderness and wildlife that she sees in great detail that I can vividly picture them in my own mind as if I were there. “A beautiful, yellow, palish yellow flower, that looked thick round, and double, and smelt very sweet” (294). That quote stuck out to be. A person who was not fond of nature would not go into such detail in describing a simple thing like a flower in this way. She had great works, and it’s a shame that she did not make more effort into publishing more of her work.

William Wordsworth

One poem that caught my eye was “We are Seven”. He writes of a little eight year old girl he came across while on a walk.
I found the poem somewhat ironic. In the first stanza he writes
“A simple child, dear brother Jim,
That lightly draws it’s breath,
And feels its life in every limb,
What should it know of death?” (200)

Although he describes the child as “simple,” she is quite more complex throughout the poem. He also says “What should it know of death?” We often think of children being innocent and not really experiencing or knowing of death because of such young age. As the poem goes on, I realize that the child does actually no more about death than most have. We find out later that she has 2 deceased siblings. And while she is aware of this fact, there is an innocence about her that makes her still acknowledge that her siblings are present. Their graves are in close proximity to the house and she visits with them often as though they were still alive. As much as she is debated with the fact that she now only has 5 siblings, she holds her guards up and acknowledges there are still seven, even till the end of the poem,
“But they are dead: those two are dead!
Their spirits are in heaven!”
Twas throwing words away; for still
The little Maid would have her will,
And said, “Nay, we are seven!” (201)

Wordsworth probably could relate to this girl because he too was quite young when he lost his own parents. He could have also believed that although his parents were deceased could not come to terms with the true meaning of death. After talking to the girl, it may have inspired him to write this poem. He may have also told people that his parents were still among them.

William Blake

While reading Blake's poetry, what caught my eye the most was how he expressed his thoughts on innocence. His poetry was enjoyable but sometimes not quite so easy to read. In his poem The Lamb, from his Songs of Innocence, he shows an admiration for God and his creations. The lamb in this poem signifies innocence and purity. I felt as though he may have been writing about Jesus especially on stanza 15,
"He is called by thy name
For he calls himself a Lamb:
He is meek & mild,
He became a little child" (79)
In the bible, and usually when addressing God by any of his name, such as Lord, Yahweh, or Jesus, we see His name capitalized, for he capitalizes Lamb whenever he uses it. God made this Lamb perfect as He did His only son.
The tone in this poem is also quite gentle and pleasant.
In his poem the Chimney Sweeper, he describes a child that had just been sold away to become a chimney sweeper. According to the footnotes this was quite common during these times. As i read this poem, there was such a sadness and darkness that these children live in. While awake, they live in a reality in which is dark and filled with soot. The soot covers up these children's innocence and blocks out a sense of hope for these children. When Tom falls asleep, it is the one time in the poem when Blake brings in light. In stanza 15,
"and by came an Angel who had a bright key
And he open'd the coffins and set them all free.
Then down a green plain leaping laughing they run
And wash in a river and shine in the Sun." (81)
Blake uses an angel and nature to display happiness and innocence that can only be acquired while Tom sleeps. The thought of heaven and nature usually bring a sense of security, but Tom loses this when he wakes back up to his dark reality.