Nothing to Be Done

Last year I read Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot after which I saw a version of the play in film form. Beckett’s writing has had a tremendous affect on me, especially Waiting for Godot. I was entranced by the characters and their discourse throughout the play. Through what seems to be an ambiguous dialogue we are shown insight into the human condition. Our ability to continue with a task day in and day out, without asking why, is an idea that I pull from the play. What I mean is the reasoning behind the things we do: to make more money, make better grades, personal gain, love or sex. But underneath all of that I wonder, what the true motivations behind the actions we take are. Waiting for Godot takes us underneath the façade of the human face and we get a picture of what we are on the inside; Estragon physical need and desire, Vladimir the mind/psyche or reasoning, Pozzo is blind ambition/pride, and Lucky is stoicism, with the Little Boy being the scent of the piece of cheese (Godot) at the end of the maze. All these characters together are the pieces that make up the whole play. In other words the characters together are the inner dialogue we have within us. For every choice we make there is this conversation that is held whether we understand it or not. The decision between need or desire. As Estragon says “Nothing to be done,” No matter what it is always there.

When the World Changed

In 1920s has a major affect on my life in numorous ways. One of the things is electricity. Whenever I think about it, I pretty much use electricity for everything in my life and I honestly would not how to survive without it. If you look around probably 95% of everything you see has something to do with using electricity in some kind of way. But out of everything in the 1920s as a women I would have to say the womens movement is what inflences me the most. I can now do and achieve pretty much anything a guy can in today's society because of the 1920s. I feel like having equal rights as men is the best achievement out of this time. Now anything a woman puts their mind to they can achieve just as a man can. Because of the 1920s, I got to choose where I wanted to get my college education from and what I wanted to do with my college degree. In addition, I get to pursue my career dream and go out into the world and do whatever it is that makes me happy without anything holding me back and I am very blessed for that!

After reading about the 20th century, I found a couple of things that have strongly influenced my life. Clearly, the women's right movement has impacted my life in countless ways. Without this movement, I would not be able to do so many of the things that I love in my life. The women that fought for women's rights made it possible for me to pursue a college degree, pursue a career, and ultimately become independent.

I also found that the Education Act of 1870 influenced my life. My major is early childhood education; I aspire to be an elementary school teacher. I have never considered the idea that elementary schooling was at one point in time not mandatory for young children. I'm thankful that this act came to pass in the 20th century. If it were not for this act, that made elementary schooling mandatory, I would not be able to pursue this career and do what I love.

Long-lasting Effects

The twentieth century has affected my life today in countless ways. First off, on page 1829 it states “..everyday life was undergoing rapid transformation during the first years of the twentieth century. Electricity was spreading, cinema and radio were proliferating, and new pharmaceuticals such as aspirin were being developed.” It is safe to say that we have all been affected by those rapid developments. Obviously I use electricity every day, listen to the radio, go to an occasional movie, and have consumed aspirin. Moreover, the scientific revolution that took place in the twentieth century has directly impacted my life today. I say this because as a result of the scientific revolution, I (and probably everyone else in this class) had or has to study certain scientific theories/topics in high school and in college. In fact, two of my classes this semester (Anatomy & Physiology and Intro. To Microbiology) embed a great deal of science which a lot of was probably discovered/developed in the twentieth century. Not to mention, devices such as X-rays, ultrasounds, and MRI imaging were developed in this century. All of these inventions are particularly important to me because I plan to work in the health field once I graduate. Overall, if it wasn’t for the scientific revolution then the world would not be so scientifically and technologically advanced today. Lastly, something that “jumped” at me in the reading that has personally affected my life is when the text mentioned that women were admitted to universities at different times during the later part of the century. If this hadn’t took place then I would not be where I am today, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to enroll at ETSU and major in whatever I chose.

The 20th Century

Obviously, a number of very important and influential events took place in the 20th century. Being a woman, I feel as if the women's rights movement is an obvious choice as to which of these events has meant the most to me personally. Being born in the last decade of the 20th century, women's rights is not always something that you think of as ever having been an issue. Growing up when I did, I never felt looked down on because of my gender, and because of this it is hard to imagine a time when women were. It means a lot to me that there were women strong and brave enough to stand up for what they felt was right in a time when things like that were unheard of. If not for these women, I wouldn't be who I am today: a college student with a job, living on my own, paying my own bills. If this event hadn't taken place, my dreams to graduate college and pursue a career in which I can support myself would be pointless.

Prompt: The 20th Century

Each of you was born in the twentieth century. Some of you are old enough to remember some, or many, of the events and literary trends mentioned in the reading. Others of you will hardly remember the last century. All of you, however, have been affected by, and are in some sense products of, the previous century. For Thursday, then, I would like for you to choose something (or a few things) from the reading and discuss how it has/they have impacted your life personally. Really think about this question and try to do it justice.

Thank you.

After Death Revenge

At the end of "After Death" the speakers is happy that "he" who did not love her living is still warm, meaning alive. She is happy he is alive so now he can pity her and now he relizes what he could of had, but now its too late. Just like some poets are not famous untill they die, the speaker is not noticed untill she dies. The sweet thing about this situation for the speaker is that she is dead and he has to live with not having her. This was the speakers sweet revenge in a twisted kind of way.

Damn You, Dad

Rossetti's "After Death" to me is a poem that shows she struggled to win over some form of affection with a male figure in her life. After looking over her corpse, the only actions the man does is say, "Poor child, poor child", he didn't kiss her, didn't tidy her up so as to make her more presentable, or even "...ruffle the smooth pillows" for her head. However, nor did she care. The poem states that the man did not love her while she was alive, but showed remorse and pity for her when she died.

"After Death" could be about her father. After a lifetime of receiving no love or form of affection, seeing him cry on her deathbed proved to her that there actually was an emotional connection. He also called her child, something my parents call me on occasion. She finally saw that the old man did have a warmth in his heart, which is what mostly all sons and daughters want, for their parents to love them.

Too Little, Too Late

In “After Death” the speaker is pleases at the end of the poem there was an emotional reaction from the “he” in the poem. It seems to me that while she was alive the man (whoever he is) was cold and unloving towards her. But now that she has died he feels sadness and pain, which was more than she when alive. I would also say that while she was alive that she had love and respect for him. But now she has passed and is”cold” she can feel that “he” actually cared for her. The two characters are opposites of each other; when alive she is warm and he is “cold” and death she becomes cold and he in turn becomes “warm.” The truth is I feel like the speaker is pleased with her death because, in a weird way, she has exacted a strange sort of revenge on him. Oh, now that I’m dead you show some feelings, some remorse. Ha, that’s too little too late.

People only like you after your dead

In this poem it explains how this person starts being nice and saying sweet things toward this person that is dead, even though when this dead person was alive he never said or done one sweet or nice thing towards that person. I see this happen alot. Whenever people die and several groups go over to the family's house to show their sympathy you will always see people that talked bad about the person that had just past away or been mean to them; however, they are over there acting like they were their best friend when really they are just being nosy and see how everyone is reacting and what exactly happened to cause the death. Another example is at funerals, there are always people there that were not even nice to that person but just act like they are so upset whenever they pass away. I feel like people dont need to act like they were such good friends with that person or that they were nice to that person after the fact they are dead. They know that the dead person can not defend theirselves therefore they say what the people want to hear whether is be true or not. I think if you have something to say to someone you should say it to them why they are alive and not wait til they are dead.

"A conciousness of gender.."

I believe that Rossetti is and should be considered a feminist writer. After reading through her poems, one will notice that she never states the speaker as a he but only as a she. Not every poem clarifys its speaker as a certain gender, but from the wording and rhyme of the poems one most likely will interpret the speaker as a woman. For example the poem A birthday, the speaker is not represented as a man or woman but when reading lines such as "My heart is like a rainbow shell that paddles in a halcyon sea, my heart is gladder than all these because my love is come to me", with a "sing song" rhyme and with dramatic wordings of love the gender of the speaker is most likely meant to be seen as a woman joyous for her love to come to her.

Also in her description she is without a father from the time she was an adolescent. She was very religious and never married. She stuck to what she believed and became a highly independent woman, helping fallen women in a female penetentary as a volunteer. She was very passionate with helping women and i believe that was represented through her poetry.

Existence

Life can be hard on everyone and I believe its much more difficult when the one you love has no feelings for you. In Christina Rossetti's poem After Death the speaker has passed away and her loved one said "Poor child, Poor child," showing he still had feelings for her but those feelings did not emerge till after she has passed away. The speaker continues to say, " He did not love me living; but once dead He pitied me; and very sweet it is To know he still is warm tho' I am cold." The speaker died happily because she died knowing she was still cared and loved for. I believe she may have felt as if she had existed even though she has passed away. That feeling of existence made her rest at peace.

I think that this poem can also be referring to relationships. Sometimes while your in a relationship you don't realize what is in front of you whether it be good or bad till it is gone. Sometimes you need a third person perspective to help you realize what has always been there, but was not expressed clearly. The speaker herself may have also been an outsider looking in that helped her feel pleased after death.

After Death

I believe the speaker was pleased at the end of "After Death" because she was not being loved when she was alive saying "He did not love me living, but once dead he pitied me; and very sweet it is". It is crazy to me that she looked past everything after death for the simple fact that he showed some type of love towards her after death. To me this shows how powerful that emotion is and at the end of the day the best feeling is knowing that you are loved. The entire poem is dark and sad about her dying and him not showing her any love, but the end ends on a brighter not just because he "pitied" her after death.

"He did not love me living.."

"He did not love me living; but once dead

He pitied me; and very sweet it is to know

He is still warm tho' I am cold."

Rossetti's poem After Death depicts a woman's realization that the mourner truly does love her. This idea is simple enough, until you consider that the woman made this realization when deceased. I found that having the woman narrate the story when she was, in fact, dead to be an interesting touch. Because Rossetti did this, we are able to envision the mourner from the dead woman's eyes, if you will.

Why would this woman be happy upon realizing her mourner was grieving for his loss? It is easy to assume that the reason she felt pleasure from his pain is that she did not feel this love and appreciation when living. She seems satisfied in knowing that he did, after all, love her and perhaps she's satisfied that now, it was too late for him to do anything about it.

More Than Just Heat

In Rossetti's poem "After Death", it starts out as a very dark poem filled with sadness and an unpleasant setting as we realize that the woman narrating the story is dead . "The curtains were half drawn, the floor was swept/And lay strewn with rushes, rosemary and may/ Lay thick upon the bed on which I lay" Flowers associated with death are surrounding her and it is obvious that she is lying in a coffin. It seems as if there is no way that this woman could be happy because her life has just ended. However, she express happiness towards a man that is at her funeral: "He did not love me living; but once dead/ He pitied me; and very sweet it is/ To know he still is warm tho' I am cold." I believe that when the woman expresses these cheerful feelings that she means much more than the literal interpretation of the word "warm". Of course she means that she is happy that the man is still living and "warm". However, I believe that she also is very happy that the man is finally expressing "warm" feelings toward her (even though it took her death for that to occur she is still thrilled that it has finally happened). This is the reason that the woman is truly happy. She has finally achieved the love that she has desired from this man, and that is even enough to keep her happy even after he mortal life has ended.

Life is a Work in Progress

To me, this title "In Progress" is something that anyone can relate to. The first two lines of the poem say, "Ten years ago it seemed impossible that she should ever grow so calm as this", I can relate to this, just as I'm sure most people can, because anyone who looks back ten years can see how they have changed over time. Life itself is a work in process, everyone grows, everyone changes, and everyone has to adapt to the different situations around them. The woman in the poem is "in progress" because she has changed through her life also, she has grown more calm as she gets older. The speaker expresses the fact that she would like to see "Her head shoot forth seven stars from where they lurk and her eyes lightnings and her shoulders wings". I interpreted this as one day they would like to see the woman actually have great emotions about something, since she is so "Mindful of drudging daily common things, patient at pastime, patient at her work". It's as if the woman has lost all of her spark as she has gotten older, she is just quiet and nonchalant about everything. I feel that this is the way a lot of people are in reality. There are many people I know that were pretty wild when they were younger but as they grew older they started to settle down.

"Funny when you're dead how people start listening."

When I first read “After Death” I thought the speaker was being sarcastic in the end when she states

“He pitied me; and very sweet it is
To know he still is warm tho’ I am cold.”

However, I now see that the speaker really is pleased to know that this male character pities her now that she is dead. I also got the impression that he cares more for her now that she has died than when she was alive which also pleases the speaker to know. This concept actually goes along with the song and video “If I Die Young” that we watched in class yesterday, especially the lyrics that say “Funny when you’re dead how people start listening” and “A penny for my thoughts, oh no I’ll sell them for a dollar they're worth so much more after I’m a goner.”
Moreover, I completely agree with these lyrics and this concept in general, it is somewhat ironic how people tend to pay more attention to someone or one becomes more “worthy” once they’ve passed on. Another instance of this is how some artists (like Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson for example) seem to be more famous in death than in life... Perhaps the speaker is pleased to know that she is loved more since she has passed away? I think this may be the case. Lastly, I’d like to mention that in the last line “To know he still is warm tho’ I am cold” I interpreted “warm” to not only mean his actual physical temperature (and the fact that he is still living) but also his new affection towards the deceased speaker.

I am happy he lives as I am dead

After Death
I think that this is a dramatic poem, it is sad full of despair but it should be, it is about death. Death is never a happy subject, with that in mind it was a morbid read. I think it is on the edge of being Gothic. After Death was easy to understand, but sad; some words rhymed but no pattern, there were no big vocabulary words, and no guessing what the writer meant. I see this poem as the speaker talking to a man that visits a woman's death bed. The only wonder is who is the man. Could it be one of her Two failed relationships that ended in refusal to marry because of there Christan beliefs or lack there of, but they can not be because she said he did not love her when she was alive. The reason why the speaker is pleased because I believe the man is still alive even though she is dead. I wanted to write on is Christina Rossetti a feminist or a writer of religious beliefs, the auto biography in one and one half pages does not make it clear. She never married she had a strong religious belief, stayed with her family, had some friends did not get out that much, stopped playing chess because she was to competitive, stopped going to plays for the vulgarity. One biography said that she was sexually abused by her Father, suffered from depression, and in latter years in life volunteered at a woman's prison, and add Two men she refused to marry. It could be religious or feminist

Christina Rossetti Prompts

For Thursday, please respond to one of the following prompts:

1. Can Rossetti be called a feminist writer? Why or why not?

2. Why do you think the speaker is pleased at the end of "After Death"?

3. Interpret the title of "In Progress." How is the woman in the poem "in progress"?

See you tomorrow!

O How Symbolic The Bar Is

In "Crossing the Bar," Tennyson told how he felt about death by used such symbolism that he made death seem like water hitting the shore on a high tide. The bar, also known as the sand bar is the place where the ocean meets the land or as he refers to as himself and the water which seems to be referred to as death. But, what is symbolic about this is at the end of the poem when he says,"For though from out our bourne (boundary) of Time and Place the flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face when I have crossed the bar." In this last four lines Tennyson uses symbolism by saying that when the time has come and you are in the right place death can overcome or "flood" you and take you to your God (Pilot) once you have entered the gate of heaven (the bar). He basically uses symbolism to relate a godly realm like heaven to the shore of an ocean and in a way to express how things can be washed up by the shore or disappear after a person's death. This shows his great ability to incorporate his use of symbolism because I can see how dying and being forgotten can be like a shore on a beach. Like for example, when a person walks on the beach close to the bar of the sand they leave footprints, but when a tide comes and washes over the shore the footprints disappear. The reason that he probably put this poem as the last poem in each one of his volumes was so that he will not be forgotten and the works of his symbolic writing will still be remembered after he is gone.

Art VS. The World

“The Lady of Shalott” is a poem about the battle between life and art. The Lady represents the artist who is naïve in a way to what is going on outside. When she decides to take a closer look at the world she receives a curse which leads to her death. Because she put her art aside, this represents her putting her life aside. I believe this also represents the struggle artist have in balancing art and there social life. They have to almost choose what is more important because they don’t want to mix the two. The fear of learning more about the world put a risk on taking the magic away from art.

Plato's myth of the cave as artist's life

Part 2 of "The Lady of Shalott" speaks of the lady's inability to pause in her weaving to experience the world that her tapestry draws upon from the sights reflected in her mirror. When she finally stops to taste the life she sees passing her by, she loses the ability to continue her work. She loses, in fact, her life. This is certainly an apt metaphor for the life of an artist. It often seems that those who create art, whether through a visual medium like paint or sculpture (or textile), performance mediums like music or storytelling or dancing, or a writer, must be allowed their method of self-expression in order to fully exist.
Artists create works that bring humanity closer to the fullness of life. Artists make songs that celebrate the feelings that we all hold in common, that return us to some magical place or time in our lives. Artists draw the pictures and take the photographs that transport us to the most perfect parts of the earth, real or imagined. Artists write the stories and the characters that are so real we find our understanding of what it means to be human forever altered, our understanding of life enlarged. Without art, we would be less fully alive, less fully human, and less fully endowed with an ability to appreciate the subtle colors, flavors, differences and commonalities we encounter.
This need artists have to create, and our need to be exposed to, and absorb their creations, gives birth to one of the great paradoxes of life. Artists may well be born, not made, but they are hardly sprung forth fully formed from some mythical forehead. More likely, a given person may have more or less need to exercise the imagination and powers of expression than his or her peers, which leads to that person finding a mode of expression which speaks to- or through- them. The artist then spends many hours and years honing and perfecting the skill set employed in the expression of their chosen medium. After all, in the end, art is metaphor, and if the artist hasn't learned to "speak" his language with perfect facility and the largest vocabulary possible, the metaphor of his or her creative expression is going to become muddled in the transmission from creator to audience. Passion will drive a true artist forward, and the urge to make more perfect the artistic expression will compel the artist to engage ever more in the art, which leaves less and less of the parts of life not concerned with art accessible. The artist is consumed in his or her passion, and the "real" world becomes only a faint, flickering shadow play on the wall of a cave of the artist's own, accidental creation.

Tennyson Prompts

1. Most scholars agree that Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott" raises questions about art and the artist's place in society. If the Lady represents an artist, what does the poem say about art, the role of the artist, the relationship between art and society, etc.?

2. Tennyson wrote "Crossing the Bar" three years before he died, and he meant for it to be the last poem in every volume of his published works. Look at the imagery (the descriptions) in the poem, which function as symbols. What are the symbolic of? Be specific.

3. Like Browning's "My Last Duchess," Tennyson's "Ulysses" is a dramatic monologue. The poem begins with an introspective, interior monologue, but then Ulysses turns to speak to his crew. How does the poem's tone and rhetoric change after this? Why is this important?

Restoring Hope

It is a sad trend that I have noticed growing in the world of relationships. Women have begun to lose faith in the goodness of men which seems to come from the lack of Chivalry in this world. My own relationships have certainly been affected by this. All too often in today's society a man will forget to hold the door open for a lady or neglect proper manners and common decency. It is sad, even though it is true, that the most common stereotype of men is that they think with their genitals and not with their heads or hearts. In Sonnet 32 Elizabeth Barrett Browning is writing of having lost that faith in the goodness of men and having it restored by Robert Browning. She believed that he was just like other men who's love would fade as time goes on, comparing the relationship to the sun setting and the moon rising. Then he proves her wrong by metaphorically playing sweet music on the "defaced" instruments of her heart. Sadly I have some experience here. My girlfriend's last couple of relationships were poor at best and the guys she dated treated her horribly. She had lost faith that guys can still be courteous and Chivalrous in this world, and then she started talking to me. I don't mean this to sound like me tooting my own horn or anything but she continues to tell me that I saved her. That she never thought guys like me could exist in the world anymore. That is such a sad thing to think about. That it is hard for people to believe that people can be good.

elizabeth barrett browning, in my opinion, is the first poet that has really and truly captured and written about true and enduring love. her poems captivate its readersand give faith and belief that there is love out there, and someday they can feel this way about another person. even with her father forbidding her to marry, her love was strong enough to disobey and do what she desired. and to me, that is something powerful.

in sonnet forty three barrett browning says,"in my old griefs, and with my childhoods faith. i love thee with a love i seemed to lose..". to me she is saying that she grew up as a child without being shown love from her father, and he even calls her an "invalid" in his home. and even though she lost that love growing up, she wants to love him with a love shes never shown anyone and with a childhood faith, and by that meaning trusting as a child would be, forgiving, and to love no matter what

Elizabeth Browning is one of the best love-based poets I've encountered, because in each of her sonnets a very unique yet necessary aspect of love is talked of:

Sonnet 21- This shows the beginning of how love is started in a relationship. The word and feeling associated is new and exciting, which is why the woman continually asks the man to repeat himself. This shows how much love affects a human, making a grown man or woman act almost as giddy as a child experiencing ice cream for the first time.

Another Sonnet I enjoyed is Sonnet 43 due to its very powerful aspect of love- where the woman comes to the realization that she loves this man with everything she's got, "with the breath, smiles, tears, of all my life!" This is the part of the relationship where the couple realizes that they are more than content with each other, allowing her to say things such as she never knew she could love some one that much. I believe that this degree of love is not often found with most marriages... but a husband and wife who do share this bond will last for a myriad of years. She ends the poem saying, "I shall love thee better after death". Robert should, if for some reason not by this point, know that this woman is in total bliss when around him. I would be satisfied with life if I could find a woman that I connected with to such a high extent.

"I love thee freely"

Sonnet 43 will always remain one of my favorite poems. I love everything about this sonnet. It shows Browning's love had no limits for her husband, and is truly romantic. The ending to this sonnet is "I shall love thee better after death." which I think is a brilliant ending to this sonnet, showing that even in death her love has no boundaries. I hope to have this kind of love for someone in my life someday.

The Greatest is Love

Elizabeth Browning definitely put a lot of emotion and power in her poetry. Reading one of her sonnets from Sonnets from the Portuguese you can just feel the emotion and love that she had for her partner, Robert Browning. Trust seems to be one of the underlining characteristics of her sonnets. To love someone is to put all of yourself into the relationship and give them your heart, you accomplishments, as well as your failures and trust that they will hold on to them. Sonnet 43 was my favorite out of all of them because I felt as if it were the easiest to read and the one I could relate to the most. Love is such an amazing feeling that so many people in the world feel, yet everyone may feel something totally different and independent from anyone else’s emotions; although being equally powerful. Line 11 in sonnet 43 stood out to me the most: “I love thee with a love I seemed to lose” I feel like she is saying that she did not know she had the ability to love someone such as she loved Robert. Maybe once before she had loved someone or something a lot, but loving him brought back a love and emotions that she had almost forgotten she had. Sometimes after going through a lot of pain and hurt loving someone is hard, but once you let the pain and hurt go loving them is the easiest thing to do. It’s amazing how much joy love can bring into a person’s life.

Love is expressed well by Elizabeth Browning. Love is a feeling that is pure and natural. I should not be a difficult feeling to express if you are truly feeling it for another, this love can be for either a lover or expressed toward children. Sonnets from the Portugese portrayed love as very natural and pure. Her love for Mr. Browning was strong, the speaker says, "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." Her love for him is as pure as a child's faith, which I believe is a great example as to learning what true love could be. A child only knows what he or she is thought and is not corrupted with other ides (it is still pure).

In Brownings poem Mother and Poet, the speaker expressed her love and loss of her children. She loves her country and wanted then to serve for their country but because the speaker lost her children in a war she is broken hearted. Love for ones country could lead to losing loved ones, which is a hard concept to grasp after a loved one is lost. Elizabeth Browning was abel to show that love is a feeling that should come with simple ease from the heart.

"I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears, of all my life!"

Of the four sonnets read from Sonnets from the Portuguese, I found 32 and 43 to stand out to me the most. These two sonnets depicted the extreme emotions that Browning was experiencing. I thought that the way these sonnets were written was very powerful and moving.

In Sonnet 32, Browning exposes her feelings of doubt and uncertainty. In the beginning, she speaks of her uncertainty of Robert's love. The line "the first time that the sun rose on thine oath to love me, I looked forward to the moon to slacken those bonds which seemed too soon" seems to mean that she is awaiting the end of this great love in order to "slacken the bonds" in preparation. She continues by questioning her worthiness of Robert's love: "and, looking on myself, I seemed not one for such a man's love!" She ends this sonnet by realizing that by being loved by a great man makes her great as well. I found the feelings she portrayed to be moving. Everyone has experienced this feeling of insecurity in relationships, not feeling worthy enough of the other's love. Reading this sonnet, containing such an eloquent description of Browning's insecurities, reminded me of my own insecurities felt in past relationships.

In Sonnet 43, Browning tells her lover all the many ways in which she loves him. "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." She spoke of how she loved him with a love that was pure and free, of how her love for him is as passionate as her childhood faith. This declaration of love was beautiful. Experiencing this kind of pure love is something that most have not and will not do in their lifetime. This alone makes what Browning has written that much more significant.

True, Unconditional, Pure Love

I enjoyed all of the Elizabeth Browing sonnets. However, there is one that sticks out and brings forth emotion much more than the others. This is Sonnet 43. This is a sonnet of pure and true love that is boundless and truly has no limits. I am currently engaged and when I read this sonnet it felt as if it were possible to put into words how I feel for my fiance then this would be it. "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." This is a perfect description of what an individual truly feels for someone that they love beyond love. This is how you feel only about someone that you could never ever live without. You can't even begin to count the reasons on why you love them because the reasons are endless, boundless, and unlimited in that new reasons arise every second of everyday. "I love thee with the breath,/Smiles, tears, of all my life!" When she says this, it means that she loves Robert with every single piece of her heart and soul and everything that she possesses. I know that this is a perfect description of how it feels to completely surrender every part of yourself to the one that you love. You give every single part of your being to this person and never expect anything in return. That is the feeling of pure, unconditional love. The strong and ever-growing emotion in this poem reminds me of how I feel every single day now. I wonder how I ever lived my life without my fiance by my side. When you truly find your one true love and soulmate, the world turns from a horrid, scary place into a perfect Heaven on earth. Because, with the power of this love and the person that has given it to you, anything becomes possible. Your life is endowed with a whole new meaning and you find your true reason for living, and everything that you have ever wanted comes rushing into your life and turns it to a pure Eden. This is what I got from this poem, and I am actually thrilled that I got to read such a happy and exciting piece.

His resentment down on paper

The lost reader, or should it of been called the sold out writer, and if it were would it have been published. Robert Browning wrote this poem to attack William Wordsworth another writer of poetry, Browning did not like how Wordsworth's life went after his rebel days in his early years of writing. That time was a time of titles and prestige and if it were me and I finally grew up I would probably become more conservative as I grew older. I would want something more stable so why attack Wordsworth? Just for a hand full of silver he left us; just for a trinket, just for fortune, we read his poetry admired him, gave him money, loved him, honored him, and as the poem goes on Browning writes, One more devils-triumph and sorrow for angels; that would be enough but he writes One wrong more to man; one more insult to God. and followed it with. Let him never come back to us;.
Wordsworth received a job and a title and became a church goer, got into politics. That was treason in the poetry world "I guess", so what would I do if my writings had me able to become worthy of the queens court? What would I do in another time so far in the past when titles and money were thrown at me? Would I turn it down? I think that there would be a day when I would think that this particular road is easier and better To just grow up."Get A Hair Cut And Get A Real Job".
Since Browning liked and admired Wordsworth's early writings he appointed himself the chosen one to slam his conserveted choice in his elder years. Well I like a dramatic poems but this one is pretty outrageous.
This poem has only 2 stanzas and 16 verses in each. The rhyme scheme is abab throughout, it is a angry poem, when I read it over and over, you could feel the anger you can see it being read to an audience.

Browning's sonnets on love

One thing I would say that showed how Browning felt about love are her lines "I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears, of all my life!--and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death." She is basically saying that love means everything to her and that she will love with everything she has. Even after death all she asks is to be able to love stronger and better. I think with her saying that it shows that when someone loves they love with everything and it is the most overpowering feeling. One expresses love with any and everything they have.

How do I love thee?

Sonnet 43 was my favorite out of the selected others. These sonnets show how much love Elizabeth Browning has for her husband. In the first line she states "How do i love thee? Let me count the ways." This is saying that she loves her husband for so many reasons and in so many ways. I feel like most couples today have lost that affection for their spouse after a short amount of time. However, Elizabeth Browning says she loves her husband with all of her soul and every day and night. I think that it is great how much love this shows that one person expresses towards another. She even says that she would still love him just as much when after he dies. I feel like couples today need to focus more on their love for each other and not let other obstacles get in the way of how they feel about each other. Love is a special thing and people need to cherish it instead of taking it for granted and Elizabeth Browning is definitely someone that does that.

"Let me count the ways"

Readers are taught many different things regarding love in Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "Sonnets from the Portuguese". As the introduction on Barrett Browning states, each sonnet represents a different stage in the author's growing love for her husband Robert.

In sonnet 21, the speaker encourages her lover to tell her over and over again that he loves her, even though in the beginning she recognizes that it seems very silly and girlish. However, the more she thinks about it, she realizes that no one ever complains about too much of anything in nature, ("Too many stars... Too many flowers"), and this justifies the repetition for her. This resembles the beginnings of a relationship, the need for fairly constant reminders of how much you care about someone, because you haven't quite made it to the point yet where "I love you" goes without saying.

In sonnet 22, the speaker tells of how content she and her lover are together, that nothing anyone can do can tear them apart ("what bitter wrong can the earth do to us, that we should not long be here contented?"). She has such a faith in their love that she would rather them stay on earth "where the unfit contrarious moods of men recoil away and isolate pure spirits" such as she and her lover than to move on to Heaven where she believes their relationship would thrive in perfection. This sonnet moves from the new, exciting beginning of the relationship to marriage; making the commitment with your love and being ready to face life's challenges together.

In sonnet 32, the speaker begins to have doubts, not about her feelings, but for her husband's. She worries that his love for her came too quickly, and "quick-loving hearts, I thought, may quickly loathe". Then she turns on herself, putting herself down by stating that it is very hard for her to believe that someone like her husband could ever love someone like her, comparing herself to "an out-of-tune worn viol" and he to "a good singer". But she soon realizes that by doubting herself in this way, she is also doubting her husband, when she should be entrusting herself to his talent, "for perfect strains may float 'neath master-hands, from instruments defaced". This represents a stage of doubt or questioning that even the most perfect of relationships tend to go through. It would be hard to find anyone, even someone claiming to have a fairy-tale relationship, that would claim to never have had doubts in their relationship on some level.

In sonnet 43, the speaker tells her lover of all the ways she loves him. You can tell that their relationship has evolved in many ways, because she is doing more than just telling him she loves him. She is explaining how she feels the love she has for him. Even deeper than an emotional level, she loves him on a free, pure, and soulful level. She loves him as fervently as her childhood faith, and "with the breath, smiles, tears, of all my life!" Basically, she loves him with everything she has and has ever had. This is the deepest and most basic level of love anyone can experience, and I think few people every truly get to this point in their relationships.

Lessons of Love

A couple of things I learned about love from Browning’s sonnets is that loving someone can be one of the most pure and selfless things one could ever do in their life. For example, in “Sonnets from the Portuguese” in Sonnet 43 she states “I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.” Next, I mentioned the word selfless because after reading all of these sonnets, I felt as if she loved her husband unconditionally and expected nothing in return. Also, I interpreted the last few lines of Sonnet 43 to mean that love can survive and endure all hardships when she writes “With my lost saints-I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life.” Basically her love is so intense and strong for her husband that it can undergo anything, and she expects to love him even after death.

Next, I agree with Browning’s idea when she states “Quick-loving hearts, I thought, may quickly loathe;” in Sonnet 32 simply because I have seen this happen quite often in relationships. Some people have the tendency to jump into relationships or “fall in love” before taking the time to truly get to know the other person and this usually results in the couple moving too fast and often breaking up sooner than if they would have took things more slowly. Then that couple usually ends up disliking one another because their feelings or pride may have been hurt. Of course this is not the case for every one that chooses to “quickly love someone” but I think you can see what Browning meant when she claims that “Quick-loving hearts, I thought, may quickly loathe.” Therefore, in that line alone, one could learn that love is not supposed to be rushed and cease but taken slowly and cherished while you have it.

Prompt for Thursday

Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote some of the most enduring love poetry in the English language. Her Sonnets from the Portuguese are really not translations from the Portuguese at all, but rather love poems to Robert Browning (you should read their love story in the book before reading the poems). The question for Thursday is simple: What can we learn about love from her sonnets? Please quote a specific passage or two and then comment on it/them. Feel free to bring in your own experiences as well.

Thanks.

same stuff, different day

There are some unfortunate parallels in the stories we read about the "Woman Question" in Victorian-era England and the modern us. Sadly, no matter how many women are now attending college, a relatively small number are studying what is referred to as the "STEM" subjects: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. in fact, according to Newsweek, only 18 percent of college degrees in computer sciences are earned by the 50% of the population who are female, and make up only 25% of the workforce in the computer science and math professions (http://www.newsweek.com/2010/06/29/steming-the-tide.html). Where once women were taught to feel shamed by their interest in philosophy, theological studies, or sociology because "it was not thought proper for young ladies to study very conspicuously; and especially with pen in hand" female children are now subtlely told that maths and sciences are somehow masculine, and require an unattractive level of studiousness to excel in (Norton 1589). According to Inside Higher Ed's online blog, one major factor in this trend is because among women who intially plan to pursue higher degrees in these STEM subjects, many consider dropping out or re-considering and focusing on a lower degree "during their doctoral studies because of issues stemming from discouraging advisors, uncomfortable work environments, sexist attitudes and other gender biases" (http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/11/08/stem).
This is signifigant because these are the same sort of problems women faced in the Victorian era when attemptng to fulfill their greatest potential, made only slightly newer by the passage of well over 150 years. No matter how equal we suppose ourselves to be, how modern our family lives, it seems still to be the female who must pay a heavy price for refusing to be circumspectly satisfied by staying quietly within the domestic sphere. The danger Martineau addresses on page 1589, that of being socially shunned if one does not seem to be conforming to the proper code of feminine acivity, is still a possibility. Anecdotally, professional women who happen to be mothers are not invited to socialize with "the mommy crowd." It seems a bit absurd. We might not expect high-achieving males to have a lot of buddies who are unemployed, but we as a society would definitely reward the high achieving men and (at least) socially punish the unproductive. Yet as a society we tend toward rewarding the "unproductive" female who stays home to care for her family as a good wife and mother, and socially penalize the high achieving female. Maybe in another 150-200 years this will change. I won't hold my breath, though.

No Movement

"The exulted pedestal on which woman were placed was one of the three principal obstacles to their achieving any alteration in status." This pedestal desribed previously (page 1581) is not the exact same pedestal as the woman of today are placed on. Although woman have made many advances towards approching equality with their male conterparts their is a still a gap in equality between the two. Woman are still thought to be gentle and delicate creatures. Woman are still thought to be unable to handle hard back breaking labor, which is not far from being the truth. Woman are inferior to men phycially. Pedestals are very similar to stereotypes; both have hendered the upward movement of woman is society. I recently heard someone say that a woman should never be president ,because once every month their would be another world war. Statements such as that among other sexist views are what hold woman back from achieving an equal status with men in the past and today.

Women: How Important are They?

During the Victorian period there seemed to be a problem with establishing the relationship between men and woman which is talked about on page 1581 in the book. Until Victoria reigned in the Victorian Age she established more more education for women because she believed in education. She gave support to her gender by founding a college for women in 1847. But, with Victoria reigning this era I noticed how womens rights in England were similar to the U.S. where here women were not allowed to vote or participate in voting or any kind of political activity which is the same in England during this time. Victoria, having been married had equal thoughts to marriage since her husband, Prince Albert died in 1847. But, Victoria did give women the chance to have rights, but even with those changes men still saw women as maintainers of the house. With women having the qualities of understanding, innocence, domestic affection, submissiveness, and other careful qualities they were seen or worshiped as an "angel in the house." This was expression was expressed by John Ruskin saying that "men and women are in nothing alike, and the happiness and perfection of both depends on each asking and receiving from one the other can only give." I understand how he feels, he thinks that men and women are not alike or unequal and that both of them depend on each other and that both of them have their strengths and weaknesses. But, when say a man is weak at nurturing a child that is where a woman comes in as a mother to help bring the child up in the world, that is what he is saying that what men cannot do well women help men by performing the task well and vice versa. I believe that neither man or woman are better than each other but are of equal quality and importance because one can always do something the other one cannot do.

Back to the Victorians...

For Tuesday, let's continue with the same prompt but relate it more specifically to issues surrounding "the woman question" and Darwin's writings. Here is the previous prompt again:

The reading you are doing sets the stage for what was a very tumultuous time in British history. Industrial and scientific "progress" meant that the whole face of Britain was changing at incredible speed, and British imperialism and colonization meant that the empire was spreading not just across Europe but across the entire globe. Many of the conflicts, tensions, debates, and questions that arose during Victoria's reign are similar to questions that have arisen in our own time. For Tuesday, then, I would like you to pick one topic or theme that is introduced in the reading and then find a contemporary parallel. Please be specific both in your selection from the reading (use a page number) and in your example.

The Picture Painted

In Alton Locke by Charles Kingsley he gives a very discriptive view of the slums of London. After reading this short peom I'm not sure I would ever want to visit any city written about in this fashion. "A ghastly, deafening, sickening, sight it was." This just goes to show that people were not happy with their standard of living at this time and were subjected to horrible living conditions within the city. If the living conditions were this bad then of course the working conditions were just as bad if not worse for most of the population. Kingsley also writes about the past that once took place where in the location he is describing. This house 100 years ago would have been seen as the epitome of wealth with its "grand staircase, with carved balustrades" and now its just a run down house holding way more people than was ever designed for making a slum. Alton Locke gives a feeling of hopelessness when you read about the girls in the story who have no warmth, proper clothing, and their infested with diseases. Im not much of a city person myself I like having to walk to mile or so to my neighbors house but after reading Alton Locke why would anyone want to visit a city described in that manner?

Dreams

From Sleep and Poetry was a poem that was about what you find in your dreams. Keats believes that poetry comes from a persons dreams that he has when he sleeps at night. . He says dreaming can be a book in lines 64-65. He discribes his dreams so beautifully. The charioteer in his poem is a vehicle in Keats dreams. It can be discribed as many things.

A Different View

Death is something that we all think about, it seems to be a mystery. I will sometimes think about what will happen to everything after I die. I will not make any difference. The streets I used to drive on will remain; the places I visited will still be there and another person will drive on the same road as I did and go to the same places as I did, but I would never go through those experiences again. Thinking about death is a bit depressing sometimes. I think that John Keats poems brings that feeling out in the reader and makes them ponder about the idea of death.

In John Keats poem "When I have fears that I cease to be",the speaker thinks about death and mentions that he will never be able to see the stars, and feel creatures, and also that he will never feel love again. and that all his experiences will become meaningless after his death. They will "sink" to nothing, and that is something that he fears. I think he wants to try and make an impact on people so that he can be remembered by it.

John Keats: It's a Hard Knock Life

As I read a brief introductory summary into the life of John Keats I could not help to notice how hard it was for him to grow up during the 1800s. He had a mother that walked out on him and his brothers and sisters for four years just to be with another man. I also like the fact that he studied medicine and tried to become a doctor, but abandoned his practice for apothecary-surgeon for poetry. I wondered why he wanted to become a a poet and not a surgeon, but he seemed to be influenced by friends. Leigh Hunt, the editor of the Examiner, was his first successful author influence. I also thought it was interesting to find out that when he turned 18 in 1816 the sonnet, "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer," made him finally find his voice in poetry. As Keats' go older he started to how his maturity in his works through all senses like tactile, gustatory, kinetic, visceral, visual, and auditory. John Keats also showed his deep passion for poetry in many of his writings such as in the poem, "When I have fears that I may cease to be." This poem describes a intimate description to nature, preferably autumn, is to the self like expressed in poems by poets like Wordsworth. Keats' seems to have the same passion for nature but describes it in a much more deep and intimate way but is this a better way to describe nature unlike how Wordsworth does?

"Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter"

In "Ode on a Grecian Urn", the speaker is thoughtfully examining the pictures on the outside of an urn. He approaches each picture on this urn with deep thought and consideration. He marvels at the thought that these pictures are standing still in time. He even refers to the urn as a "historian" that can tell the stories of time. The speaker was clearly engulfed by the pictures and the story that they told--that they would forever tell.

The stanza that I found to be the most interesting throughout this poem was the stanza that told of the young man and his lover. "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on." My understanding of this line is that those melodies that we can hear in mortal time may be sweet, but those that are unheard, as in those taking place in the picture on the urn, are sweeter because they are immortal. This is a melody that can withstand time. He continues this stanza by saying that the boy should not grieve, his lover's beauty will withstand time. He also mentions that the two's love will last forever, unlike the love that the humans experience above. I found that these ideas that the speaker presented to be thought provoking. People long to experience love that can withstand time. Here, on this urn, the two will be experiencing this undying love, however, these two lovers will be unable to kiss or simply touch. Should this love, that in which is frozen forever in time, be something that is desired by those privileged enough to experience the touch of their love? Should the reader desire to be like those others on the urn? Frozen forever in time?

when death is knocking at my door

In this poem, I believe that Keats is talking about the things he will do before he dies, kind of like a bucket list. He wants to have all of his affairs taken care of so he can "stand alone, and think till love and fame to nothingness do sink". This poem seems to be written to someone that he cares about, or perhaps a love because of the line "and when i feel, fair creature of an hour, that i shall never look upon thee more, never have relish in the fairy power of unreflecting love". Maybe this person is someone that he has admired from afar because he has not got the chance to yet experience the power of unreflecting love. This is something that he would want to do before death comes knocking, and this is his way of letting his love know how he feels.

Leaving this earth before your work is finished

In the poem, "When I have fears that I may cease to be" it talks about John Keats fearing he will leave this world before he can show everyone how good he is at writing. He feels like he will leave this world before he has time to show the everyone how talented he is in writing poetry. He is worried that he will die to young before fullfilling his dream in what he loves to do. I understand John Keats with what he is expressing throughout this poem. I feel like when you have worked most of your life on a certain sport or hobby, you want to show everyone how talented you are in the particular activity. However, if you die young you will not have the time to show the world how talented you were at that particular thing. For example, I am going to school to be a nurse, I have went to elementary schoool, middle school, high school, and now college to try to achieve that dream. It would be disappointing if I worked all this time to do something i have always dreamed to do and then got sick or in a accident and passed away before I could show the world what I have worked so hard for. On the other hand, God has a plan for everyone and if that means for you to die young then it is just meant to be.

when I die will I leave a trace of me behind

I sometimes think of dying and what would be left behind?what will be my legacy? Well pretty much it will be a few life insurance policies. When my sister divis up the will that will be that; no more Lou Capo.The world will not know me and I am ok with that.
When I have fears that I may cease to be: John Keats is reflecting what will it mean if I can not write poetry or worse if I do and no one reads it. If it becomes to late and I die will their be a master piece that people will read and make me immortal or will I die without fame and fortune and I cant write poetry because i cannot think clear. Writing is his profession and is made clear but a writer is not recognized in till his or hers work gets published and read, and Keats fear in this poem that his work will never be read and that he will never be famous for being a writer and if he dies before then it would really suck. He writes as though he will never be able to capture the forms in nature with his pen, and he carries this cloudy doom to love and he will not feel or experience it to. Deep very deep, sad poem mortality is not a happy subject so you are prepared to be sad. I do not care about fame and fortune their was a time in my life when I did but I was arrogant young and hungry now not so much. I am old and chose to go back to school.
I do not see any humility in this poem its all about me me me I did not like this piece for that.
This is a lyric, Keats is the one speaking to the reader it has a abab rhyme, and probublly the fear of all writers.

Living Forever

When I was reading John Keats's sonnet "When I have fears that I may cease to be" the moral of this work really hit home with me. I feel that Keats is reflecting on his fear of an early death (or just his death in general), and he is scared of losing what is most dear to him (writing poetry). He feels that he may die before ever being able to fulfill his full potential as a poet or before being able to write everything that he was meant to write. He expresses his potential when he says "And I think that I may never live to trace/Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance". He fears that he will not be able to use "the magic hand of chance" to "trace the cloudy symbols of high romance on a starry night"; which means that he cannot not store the results of this act as poems in books (of which he feels that his poems are as plentiful as fully ripened grain stored after a particularly bountiful harvest). When he says: "And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,/ That I shall never look upon thee more", he is saying that he is afraid that once he dies he can never experience the magic of writing again. And if this happens then he is alone in the world: "...then on the shore/Of the wide world I stand alone...", and his "love" and "fame" will sink into nothingness and cease to exist (writing is everything that he loves and treasures and without it nothing else could exist for him).

The reason that this hit home for me is because I feel that everyone experiences these moments in their life when they think about losing all that is precious to them. It is hard to express in words the painful emotions that one has with these feelings because it feels like if you somehow lost everything precious to you that nothing is worth living for in the first place. I feel like Keats does a terrific job of summarizing this feeling (through his personal feelings) in a sonnet.

"Thou wast not born for death"

In John Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale", the speaker addresses both life and death as themes. Throughout the speaker's melancholy, depressing thoughts, the lively song of the nightingale carries on. He wishes to join the nightingale in its carefree life, never again having to worry about the problems of mortal life. To the speaker, the nightingale seems immortal ("Thou wast not born for death..."). The speaker imagines himself with the bird, in an attempt to escape death. This is most likely related to the fact that Keats had lost both his mother and brother to Tuberculosis, and had just begun to show early signs of having the disease himself. This poem is an expression of the imminence of death, in whatever form. Towards the end, the speaker starts to wonder if his imagination has gotten the best of him, and made up the whole situation in his mind. Does this bird even actually exist? Maybe he feels so numb because he is, in fact, sleeping. Or maybe this feeling is what he wishes were truth. He has often thought of death, as he says in stanza 6, "...for many a time I have been half in love with easeful Death...", as a way to escape the pains of life. But then he is brought back from day-dreaming, still not really sure if he is truly awake.

John Keats Prompt

For Thursday, please read the selections from Keats listed on the assignment schedule. I would also like for you to read "La Belle Dame sans Merci" (899) even though it is not on the schedule. (I'm letting you out of Byron, so it's only fair!) I believe Dr. Johnson is going to talk about that poem, so I would like for you to have read it.

Because I won't be in class on Thursday, I am not going to give you a specific prompt or list of prompts to respond to. I want to leave it open this time. Please write something insightful about one of the poems or several of them. You might relate Keats's work to what we have read so far, or you might apply the lines to your own experience, or you might go another way entirely. It's up to you. I only have one request: please write something interesting and thoughtful. :)

Have a great week.

Coketown in 2011

Charles Dickens paints a lovely picture of a typical Industrial Age town in "Coketown" but he has also shown a glimpse at a modern day metropolis as well. Dickens describes buildings that appear exactly the same as all the others, people that follow the same monotonous routine every day, and people whose lives are based mostly on fact of what is real.

Dickens describes buildings that are so similar that one can confuse the jail for the hospital. Nowadays apart from floor designs there really isn't much difference between a jail and hospital in a large city. The same square, boxed design. Occasionally you get the exception that comes from the mind of a creative architect but normally it is the same.

Then there are the people who live in a modern "Coketown." People today usually go through the same monotonous routine in a large city: get up, go to work, get through work, hate it by the end of the day, come home exhausted, repeat the next day. Thus turning people into machines like the ones they man in the factories of "Coketown." Life in such a town often turns people into the same uninterested, uninvolved dull person who believes in nothing but solid fact and has lost most of their sense of art and beauty in the world.

This is not to say that everyone in a modern city is made as such. Significant enough improvements have been made, and populations increased to such an amount that the diversity allows for the arts to develop in "Coketown" as well, which is the major difference in today's world; the arts are returning to "Coketown" and giving it that rejuvenated life that it had lost in Dickens' age.

three hundred years in thirty

In Queen Victoria's long life, Mark Twain observes in the opening paragraph on page 979, the world had "moved farther ahead" than in any comparable period in England's history. This is certainly true of the current generation as well. As in Victoria's reign, there have been many shifts in world power over the past sixty to eighty years. The shape of world maps are fluid, shifting borders are more the rule than the exception. However, even with all of this flux in international politics, we are currently experiencing a time of change in the "mind and habits" of the average American, where technology and medicine have created new possibilities, and I could not help being caught up in the idea of not being able to recognise my own grandparents, as mentioned at the bottom of 979.
My grandmother was born in 1938 in Cherokee, NC. Her family had no electricity and water came from a hand-pumped well. they had a horse and a hand-made cart that my great grandmother, a widow, delivered milk, eggs, and vegetables to better-off neighbors on while my grandmother cut wood and cooked for her two younger brothers.
While my great-grandmother has passed on, my grandmother, who is now in her early seventies, is a small business owner who runs her own restaurant in Kingsport, TN. She is in the bloom of health thanks to medical improvements which allowed her to undergo microscopic surgery on a shoulder injury caused by years of heavy physical work that would have been crippling to a generation before and testing and constant monitoring of blood pressure and cholesterol. She is inseparable from her cell phone, which she uses to keep up with family that was too far away to hear from more than once a year or so in her youth, and she uses a laptop connected to her home computer to keep her profit and overhead on track. On a good day she runs out of some food stuff and can make a quick car trip to Sam's club and pick up safe, hygienically sound ingredients until her delivery arrives by truck. She keeps up with the latest advances in restaurant safety at special classes.
This is change on the order of what was seen in Victoria's reign. Railways then equal private vehicle ownership now. Universal compulsory education has its like in the availability of community colleges and vocational-tech schools funded to be available to the children of even the poverty stricken, or even the parents of those families. The telegraph, widely available printing press, and intercontinental cable can be likened to the Internet, cellular service, and cable news television. We are truly living "the life of three hundred years in thirty."

Media for the Masses

“The most significant development in publishing from the point of view of literary culture was the growth of the periodical.” (pg 993) The Industrial Revolution brought about many changes especially with the printing press. With a more readily available and cheaper way of producing literature, the exchange of ideas and knowledge could be had by any one. And in our time the same could be said about the Internet. It is open to all. And everyone can read and or comment on anything their hearts desire. As with the advent of publishing, the Internet has opened more opportunities for the free exchange of ideas. For example protests are becoming more organized through the use of social networks. Especially with the use of Smart phones, they are more able to mobilize large groups with the press of a button. Logistical data is just a Tweet or a Facebook update away. These technologies put the ability, even more so today, to act in the hands of everyday folks.

Just as in the Victorian Age with the printing press, the New Millennium technological advances are used by the masses to spread the ideals of each of those time periods. Granted it happens in the blink of an eye now. Both of these time periods are filled with people questioning the ideals of the “status quo,” trying to indoctrinate others to what they see wrong with society at large or to engage them into thinking about their situation or the plight of others. The only difference between then and now is that now our conversations are instantaneous rather than taking months for someone to write and publish their retort. Both technological advances provided an open forum for the exchange of different viewpoints and ideals. And in both cases the public at large has accepted this exchange with open arms.

The Cup Cake Factory

The Early Period (1830-48) is where I was able to link a present day America to the Victorian Age in England. On page 983 the book describes the Early Period as" A Time of Troubles". This is also A Time of Troubles in America. Unemployment, after a crash of the economy in 1837 the people of the Victorian age were faced with a huge loss of jobs."There is an immense and continually increasing population, and no adequate demand for labor" stated Charles Greville in a diary entry concerning the unemployment issue north of England. This issue is very similar to that of the present day situation facing the American people. Many people in America are being laid off from jobs that he or she has held for twenty years or longer, with no education to fall back on their opportunities are very limited. While the unemployment rate is high I don't believe it is due to a rise in population (not that he Victorian Age unemployment was solely based on the rise of population either). All the job sites that should be located in the United States are in other countries. I suppose these companies believe that cheaper labor is worth sacrificing the well-being of their own people. Another similarity that I found in the reading were the working conditions(983). Although our working conditions are no where close to the people of that time there are many factories who defiantly do not abide by the rules and regulations for their worker's safety. The Cup Cake factory. A friend of mine worked at such a factory for a short time, but the conditions under which these woman were working were unbearable. Scorching heat and thousands of unfrosted cupcakes flying at her at rapid speeds ended her short lived employment at the establishment. However, many women had to stay. While these conditions may not seem all that terrible to have, considering that of the The Early Period coal mines, the women who work there truly suffer under the extreme heat that the ovens produce, with close to no ventilation. The employers get away with such cruelty because these woman are mostly illegal immigrants; As my close friend fits the description of such a person, she was hired on, but she quickly found the harsh reality of "The Cup Cake Factory." Maybe the similarity between the times doesn't all lie with safety regulations, but with employers and their cruelty to people who are in desperate need of help and are at mercy of them. It seems as though while the times may change people never do. While I do not support illegal immigration I do support the saying of "treat others as you would like to be treated." Such a saying doesn't seem to be holding true for either time period.

Can the Victorian Age be linked to today?

In “The Victorian Age “on page 980 and 981 it discusses Queen Victoria, when she came to the throne, and how writers began to coin this period as a time of “change.” For example, in 1831 John Stuart Mill wrote “we are living in an age of transition” while Thomas Carlyle exclaimed “The Old has passed away, but alas, the New appears not in its stead; the Time is still in pangs of travail with the New.” The first contemporary parallel that comes to mind is the election of President Obama in 2008. Of course I do not mean to compare the leadership abilities of Queen Victoria to our president today or go into politics. But it only makes sense to compare the Victorian age to Obama’s presidency since both have been associated with “change.”

During Queen Victoria’s reign, numerous changes took place including the Industrial Revolution and overall social reform. Moreover, this was a time of technological, political, socioeconomic, and religious reformation. It was also a period of great literature with authors such as Oscar Wilde and Charles Dickens. Not to mention, page 980 states “Changes in the reproduction of visual images aided in making her the icon she became” which is yet another reason why Queen Victoria is quickly identified with a time of transformation.

Next, some American’s would quickly link Obama’s presidency to “change” especially since this was his slogan and enforced the idea throughout his entire campaign. First and foremost, Obama is a democrat which can be argued as a modest or an immense change for the White House since it had been ran by a republican for the last eight years. Next Obama can be associated with change in our country since he has vowed to cut taxes, end the war in Iraq, and attempt to break America’s dependence on Mideast oil. Not to mention, in his first 100 days of office he began to repeal and revoke policies that are identified with the Bush administration as a form of change. Finally, Obama played a major role in the health care reformation in the United States in 2010 as we all probably know.

Ultimately, Obama has not brought about an immense reformation like in the Victorian age, nor do I mean to bring about a debate on politics (and whether Obama has actually made a difference in our country), but I think one could easily unite the two periods (and their leaders) together under the idea of “change.” Lastly, I just realized that the two time periods are similar because not everyone (in the Victorian age and now) sees the multitude of “change” or “progress” as a good thing.

Prompt for The Victorian Age

For those of you that were not in class today (there were a lot of you missing, for some reason), there has been a  change to the reading schedule. For Tuesday, please read what is on the schedule for Thursday of next week, which is in the next section of your anthology (the red book). Then respond to this prompt: 


The reading you are doing for Tuesday sets the stage for what was a very tumultuous time in British history. Industrial and scientific "progress" (I put this word in quotation marks because not everyone saw the changes as a good thing) meant that the whole face of Britain was changing at incredible speed, and British imperialism and colonization meant that the empire was spreading not just across Europe but across the entire globe. Many of the conflicts, tensions, debates, and questions that arose during Victoria's reign are similar to questions that have arisen in our own time. For Tuesday, then, I would like you to pick one topic or theme that is introduced in the reading and then find a contemporary parallel. Please be specific both in your selection from the reading (use a page number) and in your example. In other words, avoid being abstract; don't just speak in generalities about "change" and "lots of things." 

For every rhyme, there is a reason.

In Percy Shelley’s Ode to the West Wind, there is a very unique rhyme, rhythm, and form to it. I believe that was done for a reason by Shelley. As her poem is named Ode to the West Wind, when you read it you imagine wind, and that it had blown right through the stanzas making them broken up abnormally, the rhyme being every other line and just the form altogether being tossed around. Also in her poem Shelley states, “by the incantation of this verse, Scatter..”. The word scatter may be an indication for the form chosen for this poem , and it’s verses. This poem isn’t bright and cheery and bouncy as one that rhymes every verse, so by Shelley having the rhyme only every other line, gives it a more dramatic feel, as I’m sure was wanted for this poem.

Immortalization is impossible..even for the "King of Kings."

Shelley's sonnet "Ozymandias" is clearly about a King who has tried to immortalize himself, as well as his "significance" and his power, and ironically all that is left are the ruins of his rein. I believe that the speaker has put this writing in third person to almost exaggerate the irony. He explains in lines 4-5 the face of the King (on the statue) and how serious the King is portrayed with a "wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command." He also goes on to say " And on the pedestal, these words appear: / My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings, / Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! " This shows the power which the king once held. Kind of like saying "look at what I've created and rule and will always rule." Then we are reminded that "Nothing beside remains. Round the decay / Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare. " Shelley is sure to make it clear that everything the King built has all decayed. I also think the reason he is exaggerating the fall of the King's rein is because, although his power was thought to be immortalized with his statue, it wasn't because of the constant changing world we all live in. He makes this point in "Mutability" also ( that change is constant ). The only thing that never changes in this world is change itself.

Ozymandias: Why speak in such a way?

Ozymandias had a very interesting way of explicating a meeting of a vast traveler from from an "antique" or as I see it old land. Percy Shelley seemed to write this poem in third person even though what he said was obviously in third person. He seems to be telling a story from another's point of view or experience. Shelley might as well be the one that experienced the antique land from his starting sentence, but as I kept reading it seemed to reveal more. My theory is that he wanted to be Ozymandias or was very interested in learning about him since he took an experience from him to make as a poem. At first he makes Ozymandias seem like a normal person experiencing the hot desert for the first time, but then he introduces himself as the "King of Kings" just to show how powerful he is and that nothing can keep him down in the lone and level sands so far away. He also goes into say how the traveler felt, like he was without a torso and how his legs felt so stiff he barely had filling in his legs, and how the desert was playing tricks on him and how he was tired of the lies of the desert. Ozymandias talking about how great he is and how he will overcome the obstacles the traveler faced shows the comparison between characters and how Shelley just seems to give favor to Ozymandias over the traveler. Maybe Shelley just wanted his readers to know how much he wanted to be immortal like a King so that he too can overcome almost anything.

effect of agelessness.

I believe Shelley wrote this story in the third person to put the reader into a frame of mind that this traveler is immortal or extremely old. Considering Shelley's age at the time this poem was written, he probably felt that he wasn't aged enough to speak personally of this timeless statue or maybe he didn't think he ever would be. Their is a focus on agelessness in Shelley's Ozymandias and writing it this way just helps drive the point home. Also, maybe he's trying to say that this traveler is the sculptor himself considering the way he has such personal insight into the themes, emotions, and ideas behind it. I don't always understand old writing but "yet outlive" may mean the sculptor has yet to outlive him and he wanted to tell someone how well he portrayed the king and his "passions." Either way, the effect is much greater, telling of an antique land, from someone who may be quite old or immortal himself.

Prideful Ozymandias

Shelly’s poem “Ozymandias” is written from an interesting perspective. The speaker of the poem is not the one who saw the crumbling statue of the king in person. I think she starts the poem like this so she can illustrate how word about the statue goes down the line. First it talks about the traveler, then to the sculptor that made the statue of King Ozymandias, then to the King himself, and lastly to the king’s people. The point is that his people are no longer there and neither is his land. The only thing left of him is his crumbling statue and the boastful words that were written with it. No one pays any attention to the broken statue that was once, obviously a very long time ago, a mighty king nor to the words that used to be of importance to the entire king’s people. None of that really matters to the world around the statue anymore.

Legacy of Time

Shelley uses a third person point of view in the telling of the story of Ozymandias as way showing how far the “King of Kings” has fallen. The lines, “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: / Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!” (Lines 10&11) in conjunction with the speaker’s telling of the story are the extremes of the poem. The words etched on the pedestal are filled with, pride, and ego. While the “traveller” tells the story of this broken statue of a nameless king lying in the sand that no one has heard of. The statue is one way that Ozymandias beats his chest for all to see how powerful he is. But the “traveller” shows us another side, the lost and forgotten great king an oddity from the past. The moral of Ozymandias (the Greek name for Ramses II) is that it doesn’t matter who you are that eventually time will erode away your mark left on the world. No matter how great or not so great one is we are all the same in the end. Eventually our legacy will be covered by the sands of time. Maybe one day to be found again and looked upon as some kind of curiosity of a past long forgotten.

The Importance of Unimportance

In Shelley's "Ozymandias", the whole poem is about a great king who thought that he was so mighty that his legacy would outlast time. However, instead of being known for his might and power, the king is forever known in time for one broken statue and the ruin and insignificance of his kingdom. I believe that this is why Shelley chose to give us the tale from an outsider and from a third-person perspective. He did this to make the king even more insignificant. The kings legacy and percieved might isn't even great enough for us to see what is left of it ourselves. Therefore, it gives the reader an even greater feeling of just how truly insignificant that the makings of humanbeings are to the passings of history and time. I feel like he is telling us something that we refuse to believe in most cases. We do not want to realize our own humanity and how little our actions affect history. However, I also believe that he is saying that our courageous and "good" actions can outlast any amount of time that is thrown at it due to the pure nature of these actions. However, if one's actions are done out of spite and just to boast about percieved power to make all others seem inferior without any intention of bettering the world for those around you, then "Nothing beside remains. Round the decay/Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare/The lone and level sands stretch far away." Conclusively, if you engage in the mindset and workings of Ozymandias, all that will remain of you is ruins.

"I met a traveller from an antique land.."

In Shelly's "Ozymandias", the fact that the story is not told in the speaker's point of view proves to be highly significant. This work tells the tale of a statue in an "antique land". The statue is that of the former king, Ozymandias, of the land that once existed. The speaker describes the description of the statue that he received from the traveler: "two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desart" and "half sunk a shattered visage lies". The statue, or its sad remains, is all that remains of this land, which proves to be highly ironic. From the description of the remnants, it is clear that the statue was to serve as a reminder of the greatness and power of the king. The speaker talks of the "frown and wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command" on the face of the king's statue and later the inscription on the base of the statue that read "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings, Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!" The king's proud nature is obvious and its clear that his intent was to forever be remembered through this statue and "his works", or the land. The irony lies with the fact that the only thing surrounding his statue is nothingness and the statue lies in shattered pieces in the sand.

The fact that the speaker heard this tale from "a traveller from an antique land" only adds to the irony. The land of the once powerful king and his eternal statue are so unimportant that the speaker did not hear about them first hand. He heard them through a random traveler that comes from a distant land, leaving us, the readers, to hear about them from someone who heard about it from someone else. Shelly frames his sonnet in this way, intentionally, as a way to further emphasize how the mighty king has certainly fallen.

Third hand of the story

I believe that Shelley wanted the reader to experience the story from the third person point of view because it adds more dramatization and mystery to the poem. Also, this makes you wonder who the traveller was and where this antique land is that he speaks of. Furthermore, what propelled this traveller to stop and tell the story of this place with the sunken ship. Is there a significance to this place? It makes the reader want to know the rest of the story. Also, if the ship is the only thing that remains around, why was the traveller there in the first place, and what was the purpose of the ship going to this antique land? This poem made me feel like I wanted to be a part of this conversation to find out more. I believe this was Shelley's personal way of engulfing the reader in his poem.

We change as the wind blows

Shelly's "Mutability" by now when I look at a poem, reading it for the first time I know that I just signed a contract. I know I need to invest my time in it to be able to receive it's gift.
This is a poem written as a Hey you know what? it is a poem of thought about the make up of human beings, who we are and what we do everyday, and how we change in a spicific moment in a given day, which is a gift. How we react with everything not just nature itself but human nature as a whole. When we wake up it is a new day and the only thing that is going to bring me to a negative moment a BAD day is me. I can mutate and I can breeze through the day with happiness and helping out when ever I am able, or I can focus on the woe of life forcing my way through it going across the grain all day long looking for that one person that will cross me, or I can drink the orange juice in the morning and mutate to the lighter side in life.
It is always the same we go to bed we wake up but the bottom line is did i open a door or hold a door for a person. The world is the same and will go on but here now why not try to mutate to the live, love and laugh side, before we know it we are our parents on the way to being our grand parents.This is a lyric poem it sings it needs to be sung and in the third stanza I think this is to poin out how easy it is to get caught up in the negative but we can mutate right out of it. The choice is mine. It is a ABAB poem through out a rhyme in every line, it tends to say that man kind is not the be all end all we are just an insignificant grand of sand on a big beach. WE CHANGE AS THE WIND BLOWS

Desiring Peace

Shelley's The Mortal Immortal, was greatly influenced by her life. Since she outlived her husband and both her children she has seen her loved ones go through their lives. After they passed a way im sure she felt as if she had no one. When Bertha died the speaker said, "She had been mine in youth, she was mine in age, and at last, when i heaped the sod over her corpse, I wept to feel that I had lost all that really bound me to humanity," he felt alone, as if he had no one to love him. He had lost the one he loved and just wanted to pass away with her. He continues to say, "Thus I have lived on for many a year-alone, and weary of myself- desirous of death, yet never dying-a mortal immortal. He has gone through so many experiences through life that he just wants to die, cannot feel anything new anymore. Shelly may have felt that way after she had out lived her loved ones and portrayed the speaker as herself.