Things Fall Apart

Taking a cue from Yeats' "The Second Coming", the poems we have read for this week all seem to deal with the theme of "things fall[ing] apart." It seems evident that we have entered the 20th century and are dealing with the time period around World War I. There is a sense of hopelessness behind these poems, whether it is Yeats ("And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, / Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?") or Hardy ("That night your great guns, unawares, / Shook all our coffins as we lay...") or Kipling ("I have slain none except my Mother. She / (Blessing her slayer) died of grief for me"), they all speak of war and its negative effects, most prominently, death. The worlds in these poems are bleak and falling apart. They all offer social commentary--mostly anti-war (even though they would not agree on the rightness or wrongness of imperialism, since Kipling was one of imperialism's biggest fans)--and in this way they connect with most of the authors we have read throughout the course. They are all writing with greater meaning and a desire to effect thought/change. In these more modern poems, however, I detect a greater bleakness than existed in earlier writings. Perhaps, they reflect the (what I believe is) more modern idea of nihilism--things fall apart, and that's all there is to life.

Ekphrasis in/on the Blessed Damozel

Take a look at Rossetti's painting; if you click on the image, you'll get a larger view, and you can see the poem inscribed on the bottom of the frame. As we discussed with Browning and Tennyson, ekphrasis is the technical term for a work of art that imitates or represents another work of art in a different medium, usually the verbal representation of visual representation. In this case, the direction of representation is reversed, and raises questions about how the painting asks us to interpret the poem. Does it offer a particular interpretation? Tell us how to read the poem? In its material presentation, this work creates the image as the true text, and the poem serves as a kind of footnote that explains the image: is Rossetti suggesting that the poem works in the service of something other than itself? How then does thiis suggest we understand his illustrations to his sister's poem "Goblin Market"?

Rosetti The Blessed Damozel

As I was reading Rosetti's The Blessed Damozel, I understood how powerful his language and description were throughout the poem. He manages to use words to create vivid pictures, almost cinemagraphic in a way that are very similar to Milton's descriptions in Paradise Lost. This picturesque quality to his poetry helps narrate the story a lot better because it helps create a myriad of images that reflect the story he is telling. It also exemplifies the efforts poets like Rosetti put forth to interweave the spiritual traditions, the pastoral, along with a mystic one that reads more like a fairytale story. The poem begins with a great picturesque description of Heaven and unravels from there to describe the desire of the Blessed Damozel to eventually meet the man she loves in the Heavenly kingdom. I also noticed how important it was for poets during this era like Rosetti to marry poetry to the arts, as a way to strengthen, prove, and display the power of words. Like Browning, Rosetti is trying to incorporate many elements in his poetry in order to legitimize poetry and the power it holds.

The sanctity of nature in "Forsaken Garden"

The author of "A Forsaken Garden" had a lifelong disdain for the crown of England as well as the church. These feelings as well as his alcoholism probably held back Swineburn from a term as Poet Laureate. Because of this I would suggest a reading of this poem as a piece that rejects the manmade institutions of the world. I believe the poem argues that all things associated with humanity, even death and love, are temporary. Swineburn also had a great love of the sea that he cultivated as a youth and this poem is very representative of that mariner's spirit and the feeling that the natural world and the sea in particular will outlive and outlast all things.

Original vs. Published Version of La Belle Dame...which is stronger?

As I read La Belle Dame, I couldn't help but notice the changes between the manuscript and the actual publication. I think that the word change right at the very beginning is significant and changes the way the reader views the knight. "Knight-at-arms" gives the picture that this man is ready for any situation that may come. "Wretched wight" is not as serious and is more laid back in my opinion. Since it repeats in the second stanza, it helps to create this image for the reader.

I think the order of stanzas five and six is also important in understanding the fairy's power over the knight. First, I think it makes more logical sense for him to make the garland for her, become entranced with her, and then take her away on his horse rather than the published version which changes the order. When Keats talks about her "faery song" in the original version, I think it introduces the magical power she has over him. She feeds and loves him, he kisses her, and then she lulls him to sleep (stanzas 7-9). In stanza 9 of the edited edition, the focus is on both of them...and there we slumber'd on the moss,/And there I dream'd-Ah! woe betide!... in contrast to Keat's version...And there she lulled me to sleep/And there I dreamed- Ah woe betide! I think the magical quality is lessened when the emphasis is changed and the intensity of the dream doesn't capture the reader as strongly.

Keats, "The Tyger," and the appeal of melancholy

I know this seems random but the first thing I thought after reading Keats' "Ode on Melancholy" was how much it reminded me of William Blake's "The Tyger." In that poem, Blake poses the question; who created evil? Could God, the creator of good, have also introduced the terrible tyger into the world? Ultimately, I think Blake decided that the existence of good and evil is a necessary paradox. Indeed, each is defined in terms of its opposite and so they cannot exist without one another. More importantly, I believe Blake asserts in his poem that evil is not only necessary, but can be beautiful as well.

For me, this notion connects intimately with what Keats is saying in "Ode on Melancholy." Melancholy, like happiness, must be celebrated because it is a fleeting, powerful human emotion and without it we could never come to appreciate happiness the way we do. Having said that, I think most people would agree that melancholy is a necessary part of life -- that seems fairly obvious. Keats, however, takes this notion a step further by declaring melancholy attractive in and of itself. The poet flirts with this attraction in both "Ode to a Nightingale" and "Ode on Melancholy." That Keats says he is "half in love with easeful death" is probably the most easily identifiable evidence for this odd relationship.

Composition of Odes

There is so much in the content of Keats' works that I honestly could not pick something to write on detail, so I figured I'd talk about something that has had me wondering for a while in a more general sense.

That's the composition of odes. I really like the premise for odes; make an intimate analysis, almost a mental worship of an object or theme that wouldn't typically be the subject of such attention. The stylistic aspect is what throws me off. With sonnets, although the meter can be a bit tough at times to imagine inflection, odes seem to be all over the place. It's hard to read through one without feeling completely disjointed. There is a rhyme scheme but even that seems out of balance with the syllabic rhythm. My only guess as to why the odes seem more "choppy" for lack of a better word is that something that's so deep and based on pure emotional reaction would seem kind of false if time was taken to fit it into a more strict meter, although Keats' sonnets disprove this theory fairly easily.

On a side note, I absolutely love Keats and "When I Have Fears" is probably my favorite poem of all time. That being said, I really didn't like hearing the recordings of it. In one, I think it was the woman's reading, the meter is actually messed up... "piled" is only said as one syllable thus leaving the line with only 9 syllables. In general I think the readers overdid it; the sonnet is meant to be at a more natural rhythm, and pausing for unnatural lengths kind of ruins part of the point, in my opinion.

Nightingales and Opiates

Let me start off by saying that Keats is quite possibly my favorite poet. I choose to believe that Keats wrote "Ode to a Nightingale" in one sitting, just because it makes him more of a genius in his tragically short life.

Keats was very aware of the presence of death in his life, due to the fact that his father died when he was a child from a fractured skull after falling off a horse, and his mother, uncle, and brother Tom all died from Tuberculosis. Tom's death hit him especially hard because he survived while his brother did not. (this is from my presentation research).

Therefore, the fact that his poems all seem to mention death is not unusual. Mary Beth made a good point that the topics he chooses for his odes are not exactly celebratory. In fact, in "Ode to a Nightingale," he becomes angry at the nightingale for "being too happy in thine happiness," that the nightingale has no cares and "singest of summer in full-throated ease." I think he uses the Nightingale's song as his opiate to escape his illness, for he was dying at the time he wrote this. However, at the very end, he doesn't even know if the nightingale's song was real or if he imagined it all. He no longer knows the difference between dream and reality (much like Dequincey).

"Was it a vison, or a waking dream? / Fled is that music: - Do I wake or sleep?"

Despite the fact that his physical pain seems to go away when he flies away on the "viewless wings of Poesy," which serves to say that his imagination and escape are not substantial and will eventually fade, just as he will eventually die. Even in his escape, he suffers a kind of emotional pain, and he shows images of "sad beauty" because their beauty is not real.

I feel like listening to "Ode to a Nightingale" would enhance the poem's ethereal sadness. Just listening to "When I have fears" and "This Living Hand" made a greater impact in the poem's meaning.

"Ode to a Nightingale"

As I read Keat's "Ode to a Nightingale," I noticed a very interesting relationship between the poet and the nightingale. A poem that focuses on the grim reality of death and seems to have a very somber tone is simultaneously, glorifying the immortality of poetry that is represented by the nightingale in the poetry. Although the nightingale, like a human, is a slave to death; there is something about the song that the nightingale sings that allows it to transcend their mortal and natural state to become more meaningful and everlasting. For Keats, the nightingale's song is parallel to his poetry like it typically did in the pastoral literary tradition. In fact, in stanza 4, he uses classical images like that of Bacchus to highlight the transciency of life and the importance of the song the songbird sings in contrast to death. The pastoral references and tradition are turned upside down as he focuses on death through a medidative/personal mode in contrast to the luring song that the nightingale sings. Like Dequincey's dependency and relationship to opium, it is the song that enables the nightingale to live even though it, itself, has experienced death.

Keat's "Ode on Melancholy"

I thought it was very interesting that Keats would write an "ode on melancholy." Ode's are traditionally works that are celebratory or praise the object, which seemed kind of contradictory to the subject of Keat's poem. Why should we celebrate being melancholy? Keat's supports this assertion by suggesting that melancholy is an emotion that should be appreciated, and he compares this to beauty. He says that rather than contemplate suicide ("No, no! go not to Lethe, neither twist..."), he claims that one should be grateful for the experience of the emotion ("Then glut the sorrow on a morning rose, ...").

However, I found it really interesting that the beautiful objects to which Keat's compares melancholy, are objects whose beauty is not permanent. For example, he uses such objects as a rose, a rainbow, and a shore - the rose will eventually wilt, the rainbow will disappear, and the shore will be washed away. He sums this up in the opening of the last stanza - "She dwells with Beauty - Beauty that must die." ( I also found interesting that this line's structure is very similar to Byron's poem "She Walks in Beauty" in the early Romantic period).

Maybe, Keats is suggesting that we should embrace the ability to feel a range of powerful emotions, and that melancholy should be appreciated for its effect because the emotion will not last for ever.

Ann & Images of Opium

As I read "Confessions of an English Opium Eater," I was really interested in the girl he met in London. His relationship to Ann was really special even though she was a prostitute. He understood her situation and was sympathetic. "For many weeks, I had walked at night with this poor friendless girl up and down Oxford Street or had rested with her on steps and under the shelter of porticos..." (page 50) After he heard her story, he encouraged her to seek legal aid. I was surprised at his closeness to her and the emotional aspect of their parting. It was hard for him to leave but he wasn't as attached to her as she was to him. He was hopeful and somewhat cheerful but it was much harder for her. "I had, apparently, most reason for dejection, because I was leaving the saviour of my life: yet I, considering the shock of my health had received, was cheerful and full of hope. She on the contrary, who was parting with one how had little means of serving her, except by kindness and brotherly treatment, was overcome by sorrow..." (page 57) She never returns in the story except when he realizes that he never got her surname but I think the reader is touched by her kindness to him. They are both reaching out to each other in their different, yet similar situations. I'm still thinking about the complete significance of her character and what affect she had on him but she stood out to me as I read this. I can see the obvious ideas but I think there is more underneath even though I haven't completely figured it out yet!!

Since this account focuses on opium, I remember that William Wilberforce also had the intense stomach pains and took this drug to take some of the pain away. I pictured the images from Amazing Grace and that suffering gave me a better idea of what Dequincey went through. It was interesting to read the complexity between the pleasures and pains of it and how it affected his mind. It gives me a greater understanding of men like Wilberforce and how important it is that they overcame this problem.

A Grave Spirit

While the broad relationship of Wordsworth's "The Two April Mornings" to the natural world is in itself an interesting compendium of imagery surrounding the pastoral and its role in the poem, Wordsworth's invocation of the interplay between the sky and the ground specifically speaks to the condition of death within the reality of the poem. By beginning with the confluence of "morning sun" and "the will of God," Wordsworth connects the celestial air and God, bringing up associations of the afterlife and eternal bliss that are continued in "the self-same crimson hue/Fell from the sky that April morn,/The same which now I view!" This meditation on the sky and its similarities in different situations is formally stopped by the imposition of the ground, in all of its solid reality as "coming to the church, stopp'd short/Beside my Daughter's grave." I feel in this transition as though I am physically moving towards the ground as I progress deeper into the poem, an impression that is further strengthened by the idea of a grounded nightingale. This sense of descent into the earth continues even in the face of a girl who seems a parallel to the lost daughter and the light and air that she could bring. The narrator turns to language of "pain" and "confine" in the face of "no fountain from its rocky cave/E'er tripp'd with foot so free,/She seem'd as happy as a wave/That dances on the sea," eventually taking a final resting place in the ground beside his daughter, a change wrought permanent in Matthew's own descent into the grave. The sky and the sense of the eternal and the afterlife that it seems to promise is thus placed as antithetical as compared to the real eternal, the earthly grave.

The supernatural, or lack thereof, in "The Brothers"

While this post sort of responds to Kathryn's, I didn't want to include it as a comment because I have some insights of my own. I agree that the idea of loneliness/homelessness as connected to the life of a sailor provides important insight into this poem. I hesitate, however, about the interpretation of the lightning strike in Wordsworth's "The Brothers" as a "supernatural" event. Obviously, the two streams are meant to represent the respective lives of the two brothers, and the extinguishing of James' stream by a bolt of lightning is no coincidence, but I think that this can be symbolic without being supernatural.


I think my hesitancy to incorporate the supernatural into this poem stems from my hesitancy to view the poem as Gothic. Even if we interpret the lightning strike and James' unusual sleepwalking as "unnatural" occurrences, this poem clearly lacks the characteristically Gothic traits that mark the poems we have read over the past couple weeks. There are no spirits, skulls, or murders; and although there is death, I find its circumstances to be more tragic than supernatural. While I find that Wordsworth is making inquiries into the notions of home, loneliness, abandonment, longing, responsibility, and regret - I see no need to incorporate the supernatural in order to interpret this poem. I do however, find the role of the unnatural (in terms of Leonard leaving his natural home, way of life, etc.) to be an important theme in the work.

Christian Allegory in Marinere

While we discussed the abolitionist interpretation of The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere at length on Tuesday, I thought it would be interesting to also explore the Christian allegory that was extremely popular for a long time. From this perspective, the poem is viewed as a story of sin and redemption. The killing of the albatross reflects the fall of humanity, either in original sin, the crucifixion of Christ, or any other Biblical betrayal. From this sin, the mariner plunges into a purgatory of isolation. The albatross hung around his neck is symbolic of that sin. One source (I forget which) suggested that even the context of the mariner's story presented it as a Christian allegory: supposedly, the penance of having to tell everyone about his sin was not unique. In addition, the multitude of crazy gothic images may be interpreted in various ways to reflect spiritual concepts like hell, baptism, angels, etc. This interpretation of the poem is supported by the role of the hermit, the mariner's desire to pray, and other explicit Christian references.

While all of these elements are present in the poem, I am surprised that this interpretation continues to dominate. I am much more convinced that Christian elements were more a rhetorical tool than the central theme of the poem. However, upon my first reading of the Marinere, I would have never suspected the deep political ramifications that we discussed in class.

The Transformation of the Natural into the Supernatural

I decided to look specifically at the end of the poem, after the Albatross is killed, because the supernatural aspects of the poem appear at this moment. It seems to me that the marinere attributes his guilt and fickleness of the weather to the natural, which are thus given agency and become supernatural. After he kills the albatross, the ship becomes stranded at sea and the crew is deprived of water, food, and shade. Logically, these harsh conditions lead to the death of the crew members and the hallucinations of the marinere (imagine a mirage in the desert - your desire for water causes it to appear etc.). Instead of coming to this conclusion, the marinere turns to the supernatural, the appearance of wind and current is caused by a spirit, which I think could be the devil. (He is 9 fathoms deep = the 9 levels of hell, and "the land of mist and snow" may refer to the cold/icy levels of hell while the fire imagery of the ocean hearkens to the fire and brimstone of the deepest levels.) Regardless of the nature of the spirit, the natural explanation is that the weather fluxuates. The description of the sea can also be explained by the bio-luminescence of algae; there are several other examples but I think y'all get the point. The marinere externalizes his guilt for the failure of the voyage and natural demise of his crew by attributing it to the supernatural. This is supported by his references to religion, which evokes a moral questioning of his actions. He is driven crazy, and, psychologically, the natural becomes supernatural.

Religion: An instrument to critique Slavery

As I read these emblematic pieces of the Supernatural horror and Realist gothic literary genres, it is very interesting to see the way Religion is utilized in comparison to Walpole's Castle of Otranto and other Gothic horror pieces. Unlike in Walpole's novel, religion here is not used as an intrument to question its very own institutions, it is used as a very stable institution to attack the slave trade. In Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner" especially, Religion is not used as a literary device to overlap the supernatural and the natural realms. In fact, it is used to get rid of the supernatural and gothic that exists within the slave trade itself. One of the paintings we focused on today in the presentation really exemplifies this relationship between religion and nature. They work together to illuminate the atrocious aspects of society and the slave trade, specifically. It would be interesting to delineate how the gothic is changing in the way it is manipulated to portray slavery as the horrible. Religion is definitely one way in which the genre shifts its attention on religion itself and applies religious rhetoric to the social climate of 18th century.

Today the presenters highlighted the last stanza of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner:

"He prayeth best who loveth best
All things both great and small
For the dear God, who loveth us,
He made and loveth all."

and I couldn't quite remember what these lines reminded me of, but I just realized that some of Martin Luther King Jr.'s most powerful rhetoric is known for making a similar argument. In his "I Have a Dream" speech, King mentions several times that all people of all races are all "God's children", and should therefore be treated equally on God's earth. I find it interesting that the use of Christian principles was crucial to both the abolitionist movement and the civil rights movement almost 100 years later. Though the abolitionists may have been able to use religion in rhetoric alone, Christian principles of nonviolence, peace and the "golden rule" were intrinsic parts of civil rights organizations like the NAACP, SNCC and openly Christian organizations. Religion adds a moral dimension to any conversation, and Coleridge definitely makes both obvious and subtle use of it in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. On the obvious level, this ballad documents a crisis of faith, but closer reading shows that the author applies Christian values to denounce slavery. King would much more openly use Christianity to point out the evils of segregation years later. Clearly, religion has packed a powerful punch when it comes to bring about racial equality.

The Power of Religion and Suffering.

In both Southey's "The Sailor who Served in the Slave Traide" and Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancyent Marinere," there was a striking presence of faith for the ones suffering. However, rather than simply praying to overcome their troubles, both had accepted a life-sentence of their pain, and were actually playing that their life would therefore be ended shortly*. The most striking aspect of this, however, is how aware each seemed; both the Sailor and the Marinere were very sure only hell awaited their souls once their bodies died, yet both preferred eternal torment to that of the flesh. As much as I'm sure that I would want to end my own suffering in such a situation, I don't know if I would be praying for an eternity in hell as a way out.

*I do recognize that at the end of the "Rime of the Ancyent Marinere" he was actually praising his safe passage home; I am referring to when he witnessed the death of all his crew.

Also, one of my favorite movies references this poem. I'm sure many, many other movies have as well, but it's fun nonetheless. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21QEIYovTlo

The Sea as a Supernatural Force

In the three poems we were supposed to read (Southey, Robinson, Coleridge), there are parallels that I find interesting. The first is perhaps the most obvious, that all three poems deal with the ocean as a malevolent, supernatural force that is against man. This is most evidently seen in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," because throughout the entire poem the mariner has to battle the forces of nature (and the sea). Lines 107-118 of Part II in particular are some of my favorite lines of this poem,

"All in a hot and copper sky/ The bloody sun at noon, / Right up above the mast did stand, / No bigger than the moon.

Day after day, day after day, / We stuck, ne breath ne motion, / As idle as a painted Ship / Upon a painted Ocean.

Water, water, every where/ And all the boards did shrink; / Water, water, every where, / Ne any drop to drink."

These repetition in these lines suggest a tedious, hard struggle for survival out at sea. The fact that the ship's crew is surrounded by miles and miles of water that cannot be drunk is torture. The same sort of torment is emphasized in Robinson's poem with descriptive words (such as "deaf'ning roar" (line 7), and the ominous "cavern wide/ Its shad'wy jaws display'd" (14-15) that show the brutality and desolation of the sea.

The other main connection I see between the poems is the guilt that stays with the survivors. In Southey's poem, the man who killed the slave woman by flogging her to death says "I saw the sea close over her/ Yet she is still in sight; / I see her twisting every where; / I hear her day and night." (105-108). Robinson also refers to the idea that by the power of Heaven the fisherman should have a guilty mind and "wastes, in Solitude and Pain--/ A loathsome life away." (80-81). The sea is a force of nature that is cruel; it is a "Gothic Horror," and leaves the minds of the people who dare to venture out to sea in eternal torment.

The Song of the Gothic

Reading the Gothic poetry, one can't help to see the lyrical, sometimes whimsical nature of the rhyme scheme. They are like nursery rhymes, sounding like songs, and meant to be heard rather than read. However, given the dark subject matter of these poems, like Robert Burns's, "Tam O'Shanter. A Tale," why would these authors want their poems to sound like nursery rhymes?

Tam O'Shanter, as a narrative poem, must be heard to understand its intricacies. Written in a Scottish dialect, the message in the poem is simple, and is meant for the common man. Tam ignores his wife, gets drunk, and witnesses a disturbing vision on his way back to the bar. He sees witches, ghouls and even the devil, while getting his horse's tale cut off in the process. The rhyme scheme in the poem works well as a narrative song, which enforces Burns's message.

I feel that the advent of poetry as a consumer good caused this form of poetry to become popular. People wanted poems that they could recite as scary stories to each other, and these poems lend themselves to that tradition. "Tam O'Shanter. A Tale," serves as a whimsical warning of the dangers of over consumption, and is written in a common dialect for common people to enjoy. These poems must have been wildly popular compared to the more difficult, sometimes inaccessible poetry of the early 18th century, which was often written by the higher class for the amusement of the aristocracy.