5) Discuss the poem in terms of Coleridge's introduction to it. How is it like a dream? What makes him call it "A Fragment"? NOTE: "a person from Porlock" has since become a saying common to poets and other writers who speak of work that has been interrupted.
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The Kubla Khan came to him in a dream that was likely brought on by the drugs Coleridge had been prescribed. The images still seem to flow well. Personally, from the way he was introduced this piece I don’t feel like it’s a fragment of the dream, I feel like this is not the same beautiful piece he saw in his mind. “As a contrast to this vision, I have annexed a fragment of a very different character…” This is something entirely different, not what had come into his head, but a couple of verses that describe the scene about him. In this, I wonder if the actual piece that had come to him is more narrative, as this to me sounds like a description of a vision as opposed to the vision itself.
The images are interesting and capture your attention with direct use of colors and images. This poem does seem to crave to be read out loud though. The repeating sounds and rhyme scheme catch your ear easily. What makes me feel he was at least under some influence is the fact that he does in fact claim it is based from a dream and the fact that it sounds like one with “incense-burning trees”, a “woman wailing for her demon-lover”, and this “dome of pleasure” are all strange images amongst many strange images.
He calls it “A Fragment” because he feels it isn’t complete. Of course, that gets subjective, when is a work actually complete? When the author/poet/artist/whatnot says so is generally my belief. He originally had much more in his mind, “he could not have composed less than from two or three hundred lines” but that was before the interruption from this “person from Porlock.” He then says he had only retained “some vague and dim recollection of the general puport of the vision” and all that was left to him then was “some eight or ten scattered lines and images”. I think though the poem is unusual and not the result of a perfectly aware and lucid mind exactly, it could easily just be on its own and be acceptable. If the poet says it’s a fragment, I’m inclined to believe him, but that’s just me.
Let me add, this made me recall a page in a certain webcomic I like and thought might be interesting to some folks. http://sydneypadua.com/2dgoggles/the-person-from-porlock/
Showing posts with label *Romance era. Show all posts
Showing posts with label *Romance era. Show all posts
Friday, January 29, 2010
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
The wedding guest is an important part of Coleridge's strategy here, in part a stand-in for the reader. Look at his speeches. How does he react to the Mariner's tale as it unfolds? How do his reactions compare to your own?
First the wedding guest is completely against whatever it is this “grey-beard loon” has to tell him. Once the Mariner “hath his will,” or rather has the Wedding Guest mesmerized. The next time the Guest speaks it’s in fear of the Mariner. We as the reader would fear him as well, consider he had just told his tale up to the point where his shipmates had just fallen down dead “With heavy thump, a lifeless lump,//They dropped down one by one.” Without knowing the rest, it is easy to assume that the Mariner is dead and either a walking dead-man or a ghost. Neither are good signs. I’d be rather bothered by that as well, but I’d like to think I wouldn’t jump to conclusions, but that much is hard to say. The Mariner is “long, and lank, and brown,//As is the ribbed sea-sand.” and has a “skinny hand” that could easily be associated with a corpse at this point. Later, the Wedding guest again claims to fear the Mariner, and that’s rightfully so, but the Mariner puts him at ease swiftly. The fear is essentially for the same reasons as before, there was just a scary part in the tale where the Mariner’s crewmates rose from the dead.“The mariners all ‘gan work the ropes,//Where they were wont to do;//They raised their limbs like lifeless tools” and honestly, the fact that “Twas not those souls that fled in pain… But a troop of sprits blest” would not comfort me much. We see in the end that the Mariner had to tell someone his story. The Wedding Guest might not be happy for it, but he is taught from the amazing story and will take this lesson to heart.
When I see the Wedding Guest and the Mariner, I think of a young person being bothered by a homeless man for money. The Mariner is much more than just some ragged man we learn as we listen, but the Wedding Guest as any of us would be is reluctant and worries that this will be nothing but madness. In the end, it might be a story of madness with spirits and bodies come to life, but this storyteller has learned a lesson that was hard on him mentally and physically. This is more than he would have experienced at the joyous event of his friends’ marriage.
First the wedding guest is completely against whatever it is this “grey-beard loon” has to tell him. Once the Mariner “hath his will,” or rather has the Wedding Guest mesmerized. The next time the Guest speaks it’s in fear of the Mariner. We as the reader would fear him as well, consider he had just told his tale up to the point where his shipmates had just fallen down dead “With heavy thump, a lifeless lump,//They dropped down one by one.” Without knowing the rest, it is easy to assume that the Mariner is dead and either a walking dead-man or a ghost. Neither are good signs. I’d be rather bothered by that as well, but I’d like to think I wouldn’t jump to conclusions, but that much is hard to say. The Mariner is “long, and lank, and brown,//As is the ribbed sea-sand.” and has a “skinny hand” that could easily be associated with a corpse at this point. Later, the Wedding guest again claims to fear the Mariner, and that’s rightfully so, but the Mariner puts him at ease swiftly. The fear is essentially for the same reasons as before, there was just a scary part in the tale where the Mariner’s crewmates rose from the dead.“The mariners all ‘gan work the ropes,//Where they were wont to do;//They raised their limbs like lifeless tools” and honestly, the fact that “Twas not those souls that fled in pain… But a troop of sprits blest” would not comfort me much. We see in the end that the Mariner had to tell someone his story. The Wedding Guest might not be happy for it, but he is taught from the amazing story and will take this lesson to heart.
When I see the Wedding Guest and the Mariner, I think of a young person being bothered by a homeless man for money. The Mariner is much more than just some ragged man we learn as we listen, but the Wedding Guest as any of us would be is reluctant and worries that this will be nothing but madness. In the end, it might be a story of madness with spirits and bodies come to life, but this storyteller has learned a lesson that was hard on him mentally and physically. This is more than he would have experienced at the joyous event of his friends’ marriage.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Lines (Tintern Abbey)
In the last verse paragraph, the speaker addresses another. This is why the poem is considered a "conversation poem". For purposes of this prompt, how does the poem change here? What does the speaker wish for his companion?
This poem starts off in a beautiful description of the land and things that he (technically the speaker, but here Wordsworth is certainly the speaker) has seen, recalled, and experienced. These are landscapes he would remember fondly when alone. He makes the state of remembrance almost like meditation. Throughout, it's not as much about him as it is about the beauty and what it brings out in him. Then in the final verse, he changes. Instead of simply speaking, a Friend is being addressed. This friend is found to be his sister. Here he sees in her his former self, how he once was and remembers being. Also though his tone shifts. This part is not as much about the nature and peace that he had missed, but about how he is advising her to do as he has done and use the joys of the land and the appreciation of it when things might bring her down. He says in his final lines, "And this green pastoral landscapes, were to me//More dear, both for themselves and for thy sake!" In the end, he seems to hold the land's memories dear because with it he can recall his sister as well.
This poem starts off in a beautiful description of the land and things that he (technically the speaker, but here Wordsworth is certainly the speaker) has seen, recalled, and experienced. These are landscapes he would remember fondly when alone. He makes the state of remembrance almost like meditation. Throughout, it's not as much about him as it is about the beauty and what it brings out in him. Then in the final verse, he changes. Instead of simply speaking, a Friend is being addressed. This friend is found to be his sister. Here he sees in her his former self, how he once was and remembers being. Also though his tone shifts. This part is not as much about the nature and peace that he had missed, but about how he is advising her to do as he has done and use the joys of the land and the appreciation of it when things might bring her down. He says in his final lines, "And this green pastoral landscapes, were to me//More dear, both for themselves and for thy sake!" In the end, he seems to hold the land's memories dear because with it he can recall his sister as well.
We Are Seven
Is Wordsworth the "I" in this poem? Don't just answer "yes" or "no"--support your answer with references to the text and the material I provide above. In doing this, also explicate the poem, keeping in mind that it's a dialogue, and relate the rest of the poem to the opening stanza.
Wordsworth is in the fact that the speaker can not understand the logic of the child initially. I feel he very much relates to the speaker. Our poet starts with the final line in the final stanza when the speaker had given up trying to explain to the Girl why she is wrong and he feels he is right. He still does not accept it, but it sounds that he will accept that she will not agree with him. "'Twas throwing words away; for still/The little Maid would have her will" He even knows here that she won't agree as he speaks out. This leads us to believe that the poet went into this knowing the frustration of the speaker.
We also see him in his admiration of the child. At the start he speaks of her fair eyes and her beauty, going as far to say that "Her beauty made me glad" which is not at all a matter of enjoying the beauty of the child both in her appearance and in her spirit. While our Speaker gets frustrated with this girl, he continues to try with her, explaining that her two siblings are gone so she is no longer of seven children. Where he suggests that she is alive because she can move and live, "You run about, my little Maid//Your limbs they are alive" she counters that their graves are alive, "Their graves are green, they may be seen" and though I'm sure in her mind she understands that they no longer function and are not alive, she also does not see them as gone from her family either.
So in the end, the speaker is the poet, but not explicitly. The poem itself is actually sort of sweet in the way it flows with the ABAB fashion. You do get the feeling of being part of a discussion with a child who fully believes that she is correct. Not that she's wrong, of course.
Wordsworth is in the fact that the speaker can not understand the logic of the child initially. I feel he very much relates to the speaker. Our poet starts with the final line in the final stanza when the speaker had given up trying to explain to the Girl why she is wrong and he feels he is right. He still does not accept it, but it sounds that he will accept that she will not agree with him. "'Twas throwing words away; for still/The little Maid would have her will" He even knows here that she won't agree as he speaks out. This leads us to believe that the poet went into this knowing the frustration of the speaker.
We also see him in his admiration of the child. At the start he speaks of her fair eyes and her beauty, going as far to say that "Her beauty made me glad" which is not at all a matter of enjoying the beauty of the child both in her appearance and in her spirit. While our Speaker gets frustrated with this girl, he continues to try with her, explaining that her two siblings are gone so she is no longer of seven children. Where he suggests that she is alive because she can move and live, "You run about, my little Maid//Your limbs they are alive" she counters that their graves are alive, "Their graves are green, they may be seen" and though I'm sure in her mind she understands that they no longer function and are not alive, she also does not see them as gone from her family either.
So in the end, the speaker is the poet, but not explicitly. The poem itself is actually sort of sweet in the way it flows with the ABAB fashion. You do get the feeling of being part of a discussion with a child who fully believes that she is correct. Not that she's wrong, of course.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience: Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul
Blake subtitled Songs of Innocence and Experience "Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul." Having read selections from both, how would you characterize these two states? Does Blake show a preference for either?
Blake's use of these subtitle is actually somewhat straightforward. The first part, "Songs of Innocence" shows examples of innocence in mind or in action, as well as innocence being lost in some ways. "The Ecchoing Green" is a good example of this. To take it literally, we see children playing cheerful in the morning while their elder's watch on until darkness falls and the children run home to their mothers and fathers. Considering Blake's way of thinking from such things as this quote from the man himself, "That which can be made Explicit to the Idiot is not worth my care" (pp 78), we know that he doesn't want to be taken on the level of what he presents us. The children were of course youth that spring out in the morning and sunlight. The Narrator identifies himself as such. In the end, the children run home to their parents when darkness falls on the Green. However, when the children were playing, the elderly people were watching from the shade of the trees. One can see that this is a circle of life, especially when looking at the artwork meant to accompany the words. The children are shown to the left in the full sun, while the parents or at least mothers from what I can tell are in the center as the sun and shadow mix when you look at the ground beneath them. Then to the right in the full shade of both the night and the tree assumable are the elder folk. So really, the meaning is clear in this loss of innocence through age. Even just seeing the image in our book (pp 82) we see children who are possibly praying with their mother beneath a stylized tree.
The second part, "Songs of Expereince" is obviously darker, as though a life had been lived and is now being seen from further along. Again, I'll take the first poem presented to us, that being "Earth's Answer" in which the Earth personifies and tells the narrator of what sounds to be the Earth's capture in a state that could be compared to night or winter perhaps. Here, in the literal taking she is being held captive that is presented in a God-like fashion "I hear the Father of the ancient men//Selfish father of men" though the footnote also mentions this character is later identified and used in Blake's prophetic works. This poem of the earth taken into darkness could be many things. Considering the image given, with the snake at the bottom, perhaps this isn't just the personfication of night or winter on the planet, but the loss of innocence and the fall into sin and even as far as the first sin. Needless to say, this is a section that will have more bite than the first. The picture in our books (88) shows women grieving over to aged and likely dead figures, with what could be an angel or cherub flying above within the title. So where the first section was innocence with a transition, this section is perhaps aged or dying, with a smear of hope to latch on to.
"Nurses' Song" In Innocence is a literally a nurse watching over a bunch of children. She calls them in and they beg to stay out until the sun sets. she agrees and they run off to play again. They are given a second chance to enjoy themselves by this overseer who could easily represent God or Jesus sending out the innocence to continue on as they are looked down upon and watched after. The only thing that will hinder this joy and innocence in play will be the coming night. Through this poem, we see the world as a place where the innocence can be free to go about as they like with little care but the approaching darkness. "Nurse's Story" in Experience is very different however. This speaker also watches the children, but they do not seem to remember their childhood fondly, "The days of my youth rise fresh in my mind,//My face turns green and pale." Here to the children are asked to return home as darkness falls. This poem suggests the regrets felt when life has been wasted in play as the rest of your life will be a facade to the world. Fooling about will not help you in life is what we are to take from this poem. While the children of the first are enjoying their innocence, the idea of the latter poem seems to be a concern for lack of preparation in life perhaps. The first Nurse watches after the children happily, while the second seems ill at the memory of her own youth and probably mistakes made then. This helps illustrate the more hopeful outlook in Innocence while then showing the alternative recalling after experience in a not so fond way. Don't we often look back at more innocent days and cringe a bit at how thoughtless we were?
Given what we learned of Blake through the introduction, I feel like between the two parts, he ought to favor the "Songs of Expereince." He didn't like to have his work be taken litertally and I feel that mistake could have been much easier to make with the "Songs of Innocence." The images are too innocent, even when tinted in the hint of age, time, or sin. "Experience" shows a wiser and yes, experienced person looking back and contemplating these things.
(Though I assume the different versions have the same pictures, I made all of my images references that weren't from the book by way of Songs of Innocence and of Experience, copy B, 1789, 1794 (British Museum): electronic edition from the archive at http://www.blakearchive.org.)
Blake's use of these subtitle is actually somewhat straightforward. The first part, "Songs of Innocence" shows examples of innocence in mind or in action, as well as innocence being lost in some ways. "The Ecchoing Green" is a good example of this. To take it literally, we see children playing cheerful in the morning while their elder's watch on until darkness falls and the children run home to their mothers and fathers. Considering Blake's way of thinking from such things as this quote from the man himself, "That which can be made Explicit to the Idiot is not worth my care" (pp 78), we know that he doesn't want to be taken on the level of what he presents us. The children were of course youth that spring out in the morning and sunlight. The Narrator identifies himself as such. In the end, the children run home to their parents when darkness falls on the Green. However, when the children were playing, the elderly people were watching from the shade of the trees. One can see that this is a circle of life, especially when looking at the artwork meant to accompany the words. The children are shown to the left in the full sun, while the parents or at least mothers from what I can tell are in the center as the sun and shadow mix when you look at the ground beneath them. Then to the right in the full shade of both the night and the tree assumable are the elder folk. So really, the meaning is clear in this loss of innocence through age. Even just seeing the image in our book (pp 82) we see children who are possibly praying with their mother beneath a stylized tree.
The second part, "Songs of Expereince" is obviously darker, as though a life had been lived and is now being seen from further along. Again, I'll take the first poem presented to us, that being "Earth's Answer" in which the Earth personifies and tells the narrator of what sounds to be the Earth's capture in a state that could be compared to night or winter perhaps. Here, in the literal taking she is being held captive that is presented in a God-like fashion "I hear the Father of the ancient men//Selfish father of men" though the footnote also mentions this character is later identified and used in Blake's prophetic works. This poem of the earth taken into darkness could be many things. Considering the image given, with the snake at the bottom, perhaps this isn't just the personfication of night or winter on the planet, but the loss of innocence and the fall into sin and even as far as the first sin. Needless to say, this is a section that will have more bite than the first. The picture in our books (88) shows women grieving over to aged and likely dead figures, with what could be an angel or cherub flying above within the title. So where the first section was innocence with a transition, this section is perhaps aged or dying, with a smear of hope to latch on to.
"Nurses' Song" In Innocence is a literally a nurse watching over a bunch of children. She calls them in and they beg to stay out until the sun sets. she agrees and they run off to play again. They are given a second chance to enjoy themselves by this overseer who could easily represent God or Jesus sending out the innocence to continue on as they are looked down upon and watched after. The only thing that will hinder this joy and innocence in play will be the coming night. Through this poem, we see the world as a place where the innocence can be free to go about as they like with little care but the approaching darkness. "Nurse's Story" in Experience is very different however. This speaker also watches the children, but they do not seem to remember their childhood fondly, "The days of my youth rise fresh in my mind,//My face turns green and pale." Here to the children are asked to return home as darkness falls. This poem suggests the regrets felt when life has been wasted in play as the rest of your life will be a facade to the world. Fooling about will not help you in life is what we are to take from this poem. While the children of the first are enjoying their innocence, the idea of the latter poem seems to be a concern for lack of preparation in life perhaps. The first Nurse watches after the children happily, while the second seems ill at the memory of her own youth and probably mistakes made then. This helps illustrate the more hopeful outlook in Innocence while then showing the alternative recalling after experience in a not so fond way. Don't we often look back at more innocent days and cringe a bit at how thoughtless we were?
Given what we learned of Blake through the introduction, I feel like between the two parts, he ought to favor the "Songs of Expereince." He didn't like to have his work be taken litertally and I feel that mistake could have been much easier to make with the "Songs of Innocence." The images are too innocent, even when tinted in the hint of age, time, or sin. "Experience" shows a wiser and yes, experienced person looking back and contemplating these things.
(Though I assume the different versions have the same pictures, I made all of my images references that weren't from the book by way of Songs of Innocence and of Experience, copy B, 1789, 1794 (British Museum): electronic edition from the archive at http://www.blakearchive.org.)
"The Lamb" Vs. "The Tyger"
Compare any of the following pairs of poems, from Songs of Innocence and Experience:
"The Lamb" (Innocence, pp. 83-84) and "The Tyger" (Experience, pp. 92-93)
These two poems are actually very similiar and could almost be two parts of the same piece. "The Lamb" has the Narrator asking a lamb who has made them to be such a creature of joy and happy life. The answer is of course God, and the "lamb" is actually us, or rather human kind. This would be especially applicable to our younger ones who are without knowledge of the terrible vices and hardships far from home, or field rather. Frolic and rejoice as you know the name of your creator. Which is nice and lovely imagery. It reminds one of the concept of us all being part of God's flock, even in the image presented to us. It's a young man feeding a lamb within a flock.
"The Tyger" also has the Narrator asking a creature the question of who made them. However, this time it's the tyger or tiger. This is a being of muscle and beauty, very different from the lamb to the point the Narrator seems in disbelief that such a thing could be from the same creator ("Did he who made the Lamb make thee?". Here though, the Narrator doesn't talk about the actions of the Tyger, but it's creation and it's might. This is a creature of strength and will, with fire in it's eyes. The innocence of the lamb is gone. The images set forth here are full of words to horrify, "What dread hand? & what dread feet?" "...what dread grasp//Dare its deadly terror clasp?" The Tyger is a person of experienced, learned in the ways of the world and not as sweetly naive as any Lamb might be. In the image presented, though to a lesser extent the book version because it's black and white (pp 92), we see the sun setting, another image of aging that supports the rest.
What do you think Blake was trying to convey in these two opposites? I feel he's trying show us that while innocence is a thing to be treasured, but it cannot compare to the beauty of experience. Those lucky enough to possess it can sometimes appear rough and strong, but they're full of intelligence that the lamb cannot possess at that stage without drastically changing. This might not necessarily be from age, but at the very least through life and what we encounter throughout it.
"The Lamb" (Innocence, pp. 83-84) and "The Tyger" (Experience, pp. 92-93)
These two poems are actually very similiar and could almost be two parts of the same piece. "The Lamb" has the Narrator asking a lamb who has made them to be such a creature of joy and happy life. The answer is of course God, and the "lamb" is actually us, or rather human kind. This would be especially applicable to our younger ones who are without knowledge of the terrible vices and hardships far from home, or field rather. Frolic and rejoice as you know the name of your creator. Which is nice and lovely imagery. It reminds one of the concept of us all being part of God's flock, even in the image presented to us. It's a young man feeding a lamb within a flock.
"The Tyger" also has the Narrator asking a creature the question of who made them. However, this time it's the tyger or tiger. This is a being of muscle and beauty, very different from the lamb to the point the Narrator seems in disbelief that such a thing could be from the same creator ("Did he who made the Lamb make thee?". Here though, the Narrator doesn't talk about the actions of the Tyger, but it's creation and it's might. This is a creature of strength and will, with fire in it's eyes. The innocence of the lamb is gone. The images set forth here are full of words to horrify, "What dread hand? & what dread feet?" "...what dread grasp//Dare its deadly terror clasp?" The Tyger is a person of experienced, learned in the ways of the world and not as sweetly naive as any Lamb might be. In the image presented, though to a lesser extent the book version because it's black and white (pp 92), we see the sun setting, another image of aging that supports the rest.
What do you think Blake was trying to convey in these two opposites? I feel he's trying show us that while innocence is a thing to be treasured, but it cannot compare to the beauty of experience. Those lucky enough to possess it can sometimes appear rough and strong, but they're full of intelligence that the lamb cannot possess at that stage without drastically changing. This might not necessarily be from age, but at the very least through life and what we encounter throughout it.
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