In “My Last Duchess,” a poem by Robert Browning, Ferrara speaks of his first wife and the devotion and obedience he expected from her. Despite some evidence to the contrary it becomes obvious, through certain hints from Ferrara that he has killed his wife.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings
In "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings,” author Gabriel Garcia Marquez calls into question the typical idea of what an angel should be. When a very old man is found laying in the mud of the courtyard of Pelayo and Elisenda they take him to be nothing more than a ship wrecked sailor despite the vulture-like wings upon his back. Their neighbor, however, is quick to tell them that he is in fact an angel. When word spreads, curious people surround the “angel.”
The angel, however, is nothing like what the people would expect from a heavenly being. The conventional angel has wings that are white and majestic, is young and beautiful, speaks Latin and is to be held in awe. This poor sight is nothing like what an angel ought to be.
The reason for Marquez’s altered angel is to make the reader wonder why an angel must be so majestic. People have a mental picture of what an angel should look like but would they think anything less of a being if it did not have this conventional beauty? References to Jesus, thought by many to be the Son of God, show him as looking like nothing more than a man when he was on earth. He did not have a magnificent outward appearance that left people astonished.
Beauty holds great importance to people only when it is seen on the outside. People magazine wouldn’t top a list of the world’s most beautiful people with Mother Theresa. We value that which captures our eye like the maiden that was turned into a spider in the story.
Marquez is making the point that if angels are not that which we imagine them to be we will not hold them in such high regard. Similarly, the conventional appearance of an alien is a “little green man.” Since we assume this is what they look like, if we were to find a meteor that held an alien that looked just like a mosquito we would be disappointed. Perhaps, as Marquez suggests angels are much closer in appearance to ourselves than we would like to know.
The subtitle “A Tale for Children” is very important in showing what Marquez means to reflect in his story. Parents give their children a sugar-coated view on what the world is and so they picture the world as a generally happy and loving place. Only when they grow up do these children see the painful, harsh world as it is. Marquez is suggesting that we have a sugar-coated view of angels and we would be unwilling to see them as anything less than beautiful godly creatures. Without the beautiful outward appearance that we hope for they may become nothing more than a short-lived circus act.
The angel, however, is nothing like what the people would expect from a heavenly being. The conventional angel has wings that are white and majestic, is young and beautiful, speaks Latin and is to be held in awe. This poor sight is nothing like what an angel ought to be.
The reason for Marquez’s altered angel is to make the reader wonder why an angel must be so majestic. People have a mental picture of what an angel should look like but would they think anything less of a being if it did not have this conventional beauty? References to Jesus, thought by many to be the Son of God, show him as looking like nothing more than a man when he was on earth. He did not have a magnificent outward appearance that left people astonished.
Beauty holds great importance to people only when it is seen on the outside. People magazine wouldn’t top a list of the world’s most beautiful people with Mother Theresa. We value that which captures our eye like the maiden that was turned into a spider in the story.
Marquez is making the point that if angels are not that which we imagine them to be we will not hold them in such high regard. Similarly, the conventional appearance of an alien is a “little green man.” Since we assume this is what they look like, if we were to find a meteor that held an alien that looked just like a mosquito we would be disappointed. Perhaps, as Marquez suggests angels are much closer in appearance to ourselves than we would like to know.
The subtitle “A Tale for Children” is very important in showing what Marquez means to reflect in his story. Parents give their children a sugar-coated view on what the world is and so they picture the world as a generally happy and loving place. Only when they grow up do these children see the painful, harsh world as it is. Marquez is suggesting that we have a sugar-coated view of angels and we would be unwilling to see them as anything less than beautiful godly creatures. Without the beautiful outward appearance that we hope for they may become nothing more than a short-lived circus act.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
We Real Cool
We Real Cool
THE POOL PLAYERS.
SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL.
We real cool. We
Left school. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.
Even though all of you now reading my blog could quite easily open your reader to see this poem I just had to post it on my blog again because I just love how it looks, I love how it sounds, and I love how it reads. I’m not sure I can explain why but this poem is extremely appealing to me.
I mentioned in class how I relate it to “Only the Good Die Young,” by Billy Joel. At first, this may sound a bit peculiar, as these “bad boys” are obviously certain that they will die soon but this is not the main point. This group of guys, much like the character in the song has their way of doing things and is more concerned about fun than what others think and both are rebelling against the system.
These guys are, in fact, “sticking it to the man.” These guys are the true “American Dream.” Everyone wants to have fun but they are just too afraid of the consequences. People are afraid of sinning for fear of what the afterlife might bring. These guys are like James Dean, like the Rat Pack, like the Greasers in The Outsiders, and many other American “tough guys.” This is, perhaps, why I like it so much.
We all go to school and live our “proper” lives because that’s the way you are supposed to do it. These guys, the pool players, are not afraid to break the norm and do what they want to do. Why should they put themselves through the pain of school when they can just shoot pool with the guys instead? This poem embodies the people that people in the dominant culture secretly envy--the counterculture.
By the Way
By the Way
I borrowed
your trust
which I did
not earn
knowing that
you probably
wanted
some back
I’m sorry
that I
destroyed it
on accident
In my parody of “This is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams I mimicked the structure that he used. My poem consisted of very short lines with four lines in each stanza. The style is similar in that it is very straightforward and simply put. In the original poem the speaker is apologizing to a significant other for eating his or her plums. The style is very similar to a note one would leave as an apology on a simple piece of paper. However, one of the most intriguing parts of the poem is that the speaker does not simply stop at the apology but continues by telling the owner of the plums that they were delicious, almost in a mocking way.
In my poem, instead of something trivial, such as plums I used something that holds great significance in a relationship: trust. However, I maintain the simple, straightforward approach of the poem. The speaker in my poem shows little emotional regret at having destroyed someone’s trust. Moreover, the title of the poem is meant to suggest that the speaker finds trust to be trivial and his destruction of it to be nothing but a minor problem that can be solved simply using a note.
I borrowed
your trust
which I did
not earn
knowing that
you probably
wanted
some back
I’m sorry
that I
destroyed it
on accident
In my parody of “This is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams I mimicked the structure that he used. My poem consisted of very short lines with four lines in each stanza. The style is similar in that it is very straightforward and simply put. In the original poem the speaker is apologizing to a significant other for eating his or her plums. The style is very similar to a note one would leave as an apology on a simple piece of paper. However, one of the most intriguing parts of the poem is that the speaker does not simply stop at the apology but continues by telling the owner of the plums that they were delicious, almost in a mocking way.
In my poem, instead of something trivial, such as plums I used something that holds great significance in a relationship: trust. However, I maintain the simple, straightforward approach of the poem. The speaker in my poem shows little emotional regret at having destroyed someone’s trust. Moreover, the title of the poem is meant to suggest that the speaker finds trust to be trivial and his destruction of it to be nothing but a minor problem that can be solved simply using a note.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
The Spade and the Pen
Imagery is one of the most powerful tools a poet has. With imagery a poet can paint the picture of his or her emotions. Poets can use something that holds relevance in the lives of many to convey something much more abstract. Without this tool, it would be much more difficult to illustrate to the reader what love feels like or to describe places that many have never even seen. In many poems there are often multiple images but one that is especially important to the meaning of the poem. This image can be used to show the theme and to give meaning to the reader.
There are two main images that are used as two tools with the same purpose in the poem Digging by Seamus Heaney. At the beginning of the poem, Heaney uses the shovel to exemplify hard manual labor. The “spade,” as he calls it, is used by his father to plant potatoes and by his grandfather to dig down to the retrieve the best peat.
The image I used to represent th
is is a painting by Van Gogh that shows a man, back hunched, surrounded by bare earth. This is how I envision the speaker's father and grandfather, heavily concentrated on their work and their bodies suffering from their devotion to farming.
The way that both his father and his grandfather use the shovel leaves the speaker in awe of their skill. The speaker however, does not possess equal skill with the spade. He does his work with a pen. However, much like his grandfather used the spade for digging down to get the best peat the speaker uses his pen to dig down to express emotions through his writing. Not only this but the pen also acts as a way to plant things much like the shovel. Unlike the shovel, however, the pen will plant ideas rather than crops.
The image I used to show the author's use of the pen is one of a hand, armed with a pen, drawing itself. T
his image shows how the speaker wants to write about his heritage and his family. In addition, this image shows how the speaker will be digging deep within himself to show his own emotions.
These connected images are heavily used throughout the poem to reflect the author’s point that people can use different tools to make an impact on the world. Whereas the speaker’s family has, in the past, used farming as a way to feed and warm people and to make a living, the speaker, himself will use his pen to reach out to people and to express his own emotions. The pen in this poem acts as the speaker’s shovel, capable of piercing the surface level to get to something deeper. He describes his grandfather as “going down, down/For the good turf. Digging.” This is exactly what the speaker hopes to do with the pen that acts as his shovel. He wants to get to the best emotions, the best feelings in order to make his work better.
There are two main images that are used as two tools with the same purpose in the poem Digging by Seamus Heaney. At the beginning of the poem, Heaney uses the shovel to exemplify hard manual labor. The “spade,” as he calls it, is used by his father to plant potatoes and by his grandfather to dig down to the retrieve the best peat.
The image I used to represent th
is is a painting by Van Gogh that shows a man, back hunched, surrounded by bare earth. This is how I envision the speaker's father and grandfather, heavily concentrated on their work and their bodies suffering from their devotion to farming.The way that both his father and his grandfather use the shovel leaves the speaker in awe of their skill. The speaker however, does not possess equal skill with the spade. He does his work with a pen. However, much like his grandfather used the spade for digging down to get the best peat the speaker uses his pen to dig down to express emotions through his writing. Not only this but the pen also acts as a way to plant things much like the shovel. Unlike the shovel, however, the pen will plant ideas rather than crops.
The image I used to show the author's use of the pen is one of a hand, armed with a pen, drawing itself. T
his image shows how the speaker wants to write about his heritage and his family. In addition, this image shows how the speaker will be digging deep within himself to show his own emotions.These connected images are heavily used throughout the poem to reflect the author’s point that people can use different tools to make an impact on the world. Whereas the speaker’s family has, in the past, used farming as a way to feed and warm people and to make a living, the speaker, himself will use his pen to reach out to people and to express his own emotions. The pen in this poem acts as the speaker’s shovel, capable of piercing the surface level to get to something deeper. He describes his grandfather as “going down, down/For the good turf. Digging.” This is exactly what the speaker hopes to do with the pen that acts as his shovel. He wants to get to the best emotions, the best feelings in order to make his work better.
Friday, October 3, 2008
My Last Duchess Blog
In reading My Last Duchess there are a few things that the speaker says that might shock the reader. For example, he all but confesses to having his wife killed and despite being considerably wealthy the obvious object of his courtship of another young lady is for yet more money. However, the most shocking part of Ferrara’s tale is his attitude towards women. It is so disconcerting that it leaves the reader feeling nothing but disgust and disdain for this man.
One of the most evident character flaws in Ferrara is his love for objects. This becomes apparent early in the poem when he shows the envoy the painting of his first wife. He begins by discussing not the woman whose death ought to have had a large impact upon his life but the painter and the painting’s detail. Only after this does he go into detail about his first wife. This gives the reader an insight into the man’s priorities. This shows how the man is more interested in the monetary value of objects rather than the emotional value.
Further into the poem Ferrara begins to discuss what bothers him most about the woman. He says that she was overly joyful and, “too soon made glad.” He hints that she may have had other lovers but continues that she also enjoyed sunsets and cherries and other such pleasures. Somehow, he finds this to be offensive and rather than appreciating her warm-heartedness he detests it. Knowing this makes the reader almost understand her unfaithful ways as any man should seem to appear more appealing than a man whose most prized possession is his “nine-hundred-years-old name.” From this section one can deduce that the speaker believes that simple pleasures should not contend with the happiness that a good social standing provides.
Also, Ferrara shares his view on a woman’s position in a marriage. She is to obey her husband and to be pleased to share his name. His digression to his statue of Neptune taming a seahorse is important in showing his feelings towards what an ideal relationship ought to be. The man, in Ferrara’s mind, is to be the god and the one with all the authority whereas the woman needs to act as his obedient and tamed pet. He should be the only one to make her smile, he should be the only pleasure in her life and he should be obeyed at all times. His wife’s failure to comply with what he deemed to be proper was enough to anger him to the point of having her killed.
This stance, that men are the predominant gender and that women should obey, is shocking to the modern audience that lives in a time when equality is increasingly important. Moreover, Ferrara’s belief that women should only show happiness in the presence of their husbands is ludicrous and selfish. The speaker in Browning’s poem is shockingly heartless and his views on women and their “place” in a relationship are offensive.
One of the most evident character flaws in Ferrara is his love for objects. This becomes apparent early in the poem when he shows the envoy the painting of his first wife. He begins by discussing not the woman whose death ought to have had a large impact upon his life but the painter and the painting’s detail. Only after this does he go into detail about his first wife. This gives the reader an insight into the man’s priorities. This shows how the man is more interested in the monetary value of objects rather than the emotional value.
Further into the poem Ferrara begins to discuss what bothers him most about the woman. He says that she was overly joyful and, “too soon made glad.” He hints that she may have had other lovers but continues that she also enjoyed sunsets and cherries and other such pleasures. Somehow, he finds this to be offensive and rather than appreciating her warm-heartedness he detests it. Knowing this makes the reader almost understand her unfaithful ways as any man should seem to appear more appealing than a man whose most prized possession is his “nine-hundred-years-old name.” From this section one can deduce that the speaker believes that simple pleasures should not contend with the happiness that a good social standing provides.
Also, Ferrara shares his view on a woman’s position in a marriage. She is to obey her husband and to be pleased to share his name. His digression to his statue of Neptune taming a seahorse is important in showing his feelings towards what an ideal relationship ought to be. The man, in Ferrara’s mind, is to be the god and the one with all the authority whereas the woman needs to act as his obedient and tamed pet. He should be the only one to make her smile, he should be the only pleasure in her life and he should be obeyed at all times. His wife’s failure to comply with what he deemed to be proper was enough to anger him to the point of having her killed.
This stance, that men are the predominant gender and that women should obey, is shocking to the modern audience that lives in a time when equality is increasingly important. Moreover, Ferrara’s belief that women should only show happiness in the presence of their husbands is ludicrous and selfish. The speaker in Browning’s poem is shockingly heartless and his views on women and their “place” in a relationship are offensive.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
The importance of form in Sonnet 73
Form is something that is heavily played with in various types of poetry. However, sonnets, more so than many other types of poetry, is often heavily bound to its restrictions. This is especially true in the rhyme scheme for Shakespearean sonnets. Moreover, all of Shakespeare’s sonnets are written in iambic pentameter, which further prevents deviation from form.
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73 stays true to this common meter and rhyme scheme. Even though there are many restrictions upon Shakespeare’s poetic form he is able to creatively convey his ideas using the colorful vocabulary and imagery for which he was famous. In this particular sonnet, Shakespeare compares the human body to the fading seasons, the departing day and a vanishing fire. He sums up the poem with a concluding heroic couplet. This couplet is used to demonstrate the message that the author means to portray in his poem. In Sonnet 73, Shakespeare closes with this couplet:
“This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.”
In order to understand the poem it is crucial to comprehend these last two lines. The lines reflect a carpe diem theme, telling the person to whom the speaker is writing that seeing the nearness of death will make one’s love for life stronger. The speaker states that it is best to “seize the day” and love life and all its pleasures because it will end very soon.
By using the form typical of Shakespearean sonnets the author can use imagery to exemplify a point and end by stating it in a way that is more obvious to the reader. Structured form can serve as a palette for any poet to paint any masterpiece, however with a more free form, artists are able to leave the two dimensional canvas and create not just a painting but anything one could imagine. Therefore, the structure and restrictions set up sonnets stifles creativity to some degree. In a sonnet there are infinite things one could discuss but only a limited way to discuss them.
With that said, the form that an author uses can shape his or her poetry. When one gets beyond Shakespeare’s wonderful way with words his monotonous formula for poetry stifles the way that he could express himself. Form is important in showing what an author means to say and to use a form that is rarely changing suppresses what a reader can gain from a poem.
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73 stays true to this common meter and rhyme scheme. Even though there are many restrictions upon Shakespeare’s poetic form he is able to creatively convey his ideas using the colorful vocabulary and imagery for which he was famous. In this particular sonnet, Shakespeare compares the human body to the fading seasons, the departing day and a vanishing fire. He sums up the poem with a concluding heroic couplet. This couplet is used to demonstrate the message that the author means to portray in his poem. In Sonnet 73, Shakespeare closes with this couplet:
“This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.”
In order to understand the poem it is crucial to comprehend these last two lines. The lines reflect a carpe diem theme, telling the person to whom the speaker is writing that seeing the nearness of death will make one’s love for life stronger. The speaker states that it is best to “seize the day” and love life and all its pleasures because it will end very soon.
By using the form typical of Shakespearean sonnets the author can use imagery to exemplify a point and end by stating it in a way that is more obvious to the reader. Structured form can serve as a palette for any poet to paint any masterpiece, however with a more free form, artists are able to leave the two dimensional canvas and create not just a painting but anything one could imagine. Therefore, the structure and restrictions set up sonnets stifles creativity to some degree. In a sonnet there are infinite things one could discuss but only a limited way to discuss them.
With that said, the form that an author uses can shape his or her poetry. When one gets beyond Shakespeare’s wonderful way with words his monotonous formula for poetry stifles the way that he could express himself. Form is important in showing what an author means to say and to use a form that is rarely changing suppresses what a reader can gain from a poem.
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