Through examining Hemans’ The Grave of a Poetess in the context of broader romantic-literature, it becomes increasingly evident that the early 19th century writer imbibes the destabilising qualities of the elegiac tradition to reimagine her work in accordance with a newly feminized romanticism. By resisting the seductive pull of focalising one specific tradition, as reflected by critics’ approbation for her ‘innate sense of balance’(Rudy 547), Hemans’ disassociation of life and death and her infusion of detached reason and unfettered passion seems to suggest that the romantic-era traits found within this poem serve only an extrinsic purpose; potentially in eschewing the androcentric demarcations of the literary epoch in favour of a transgressive, necromantic model of gynocentric creativity.
Firstly, Hemans provides an unsettling problemization of romantic era characteristics as she deploys the solipsistic narrator technique heavily associated with the epoch whilst preserving a kind of collective voice with the deceased poetess. Crucially, the first word of the poem, following the epitaph dedicated to Tighe, is the first person “I” (line 1) which invokes the contemplative voice that critics have come to expect from early 19th century romantic work. Despite this, the poem transgresses this expectation as the monosyllabic tranquility of ‘The light of song’ (16) is gradually replaced by the ‘deep’ (46) musings on Tighe which suggest an irreconcilability between the ‘mortal
The text Burial Rites written by Hannah Kent focuses on the true story of the last woman to be executed in Iceland, her punishment for playing part in the murder of two men. She is sent to wait out her days on the farm of a district officer, Jón Jónsson with his two daughters and wife. Naturally, the family are horrified to have a convicted murderer in their midst. Borne from this, the family refuse to talk to her. A young man, Toti is appointed as her spiritual guardian in the last days of her life, throughout the text, he attempts to redeem her soul by asking her to recount her life.
Poetry written in the sixteenth century is not very different from modern-day poetry. Poets seem to continue to craft work based upon love and heartbreak more than any other topic. In Georgia Giscoigne’s 1573 poem “For That He Looked Not upon Her”, the speaker comes off as distraught over a girl, but actually has a more conflicting attitude towards her. The speaker feels desire towards this girl, but his desirer comes off as ambivalent at times. He shows indecisiveness about his feelings towards her, and at times comes off as regretful towards his past with her. Gascoigne presents a desiring, ambivalent, yet regretful attitude through his choice of title, diction, and use of metaphors.
The poem’s structure as a sonnet allows the speaker’s feelings of distrust and heartache to gradually manifest themselves as the poem’s plot progresses. Each quatrain develops and intensifies the speaker’s misery, giving the reader a deeper insight into his convoluted emotions. In the first quatrain, the speaker advises his former partner to not be surprised when she “see[s] him holding [his] louring head so low” (2). His refusal to look at her not only highlights his unhappiness but also establishes the gloomy tone of the poem. The speaker then uses the second and third quatrains to justify his remoteness; he explains how he feels betrayed by her and reveals how his distrust has led him
Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Thou famished grave” and “Mindful of you” both include the themes of death, however, “Thou famished grave” uses the personification of a grave as a starving beast, diction to add imagery of starvation, and an image of a strong will to live to show the resentfulness and bitterness that the speaker has towards death, while, “Mindful of you” uses the imagery and personification of the four seasons to remember someone close who has died, to express that although death may take people physically, but they live and are remembered through memories.
Both Poems are faced with the problematic situation of inner hassle. Piano’s narrator struggles with his oppression of his emotions in sentimentality. When he is listening to the sounds of the chant from the women singing he says “In
‘The Grave’ by Katherine Anne Porter is a story that illustrates the initiation of a child from innocence to experience. The underlying theme behind the central idea of innocence to experience is the cycle of life and death and rebirth. This theme is illustrated in the young protagonist, Miranda, and her epiphany on the concept of the cycle of life and rebirth. The dominant tone in ‘The Grave’ is melancholic, and that tone is created through the language elements of symbolism, diction, and imagery. The story’s tone is also supported by the fiction element character.
I will consider the way in which the two poets deal with the idea of love as timeless.I will also explore themes of authenticity and identity in their poems about love. In addition I will consider the extent to which their gender may have affected their view of love.
Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Sonnet IV” follows many of the conventions of the traditional Petrarchan sonnet. It follows the traditional rhyming scheme and octet, sestet structure. However it challenges the conventions of the typical subject of the Italian sonnet, unrequited love. In the octet at the beginning of the poem Millay uses images that give a sense of transience and in the ending sestet of the sonnet she contrasts the sense of impermanence given earlier with the idea that the speaker cannot forget the smiles and words of their ex-lover. This contrast between permanence and transience illustrates Millay’s interest in a fugacious relationship with everlasting memories. After further analysis of Millay’s highly structured rhyming scheme which puts emphasis on the last words of each line. She uses these words to further express her interest in exploring impermanent relationships by using words that are associated with an end or death.
One of the greatest poetic minds of the 20th Century once said, “Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emotions know what it means to want to escape from these things.” It was Solari’s chief aspiration to show this to the world. “The Death and Transfiguration of a Teacher” was the story of a classroom full of children that slaughtered their teacher out of the clear blue, and then, “cannibalistically disposed of her remains.”(Solari 198) The children are then individually questioned,
“The Lament of the Old Woman of Beare”, an Early Irish poem, is from the point of view of an old woman who has begun to reflect on her life. “The Wanderer”, is spoken by a bard who has been sent into exile after the death of his Lord. While in exile he begins to review his life, miss everything he has lost and look at life on a more spiritual level. Both speakers are experiencing what it feels like to be lonely because the people that were once there for them have either left or they have passed away. With a melancholic and nostalgic tone, both poems express the idea that people, youth, and the material world are all transient. However, both poems acknowledge that although the pleasures and good things in life are fleeting, the solutions to the problem is God.
The tone of the poem changes as the poem progresses. The poem begins with energetic language like “full of heroic tales” and “by a mere swing to his shoulder”. The composer also uses hyperboles like “My father began as a god” and “lifted me to heaven”. The use of this positive language indicates to the responder that the composer is longing for those days – he is nostalgic. It also highlights the perspective of a typical child. The language used in the middle of the poem is highly critical of his father: “A foolish small old man”. This highlights the perspective of a typical teenager and signifies that they have generally conflicting views. The language used in the last section of the poem is more loving and emotional than the rest: “...revealing virtues such as honesty, generosity, integrity”. This draws attention to a mature adult’s perspective.
Emily Dickinson was one of the many famous American poets whose work was published in the 19th century. Her writing style was seen as unconventional due to her use of “dashes and syntactical fragments”(81), which was later edited out by her original publishers. These fragmented statements and dashes were added to give emphasis to certain lines and subjects to get her point across. Even though Emily Dickinson was thought to be a recluse, she wrote descriptive, moving poems on death, religion, and love. Her poems continue to create gripping discussions among scholars on the meaning behind her poems.
In the famous poem “Bright Star”, dedicated to his lover Fanny Brawne, John Keats presents the essence of love in passion and in depth. As its form, a combination of Shakespearean and Italian sonnets suggests, the poem portrays love as a subject full of seemingly contradictive qualities. As a subjective matter, love is active and passive, physical and spiritual, mutable and eternal at the same time. Holding immortal love as the ultimate value of life, the speaker imagines a brave possibility of love transcending life for his romantic belief.
Ezra Pound’s (1885-1972) Homage to Sextus Propertius has stirred controversies after its first publication in Harriet Monroe’s Poetry magazine in March 1919. The poem is consisted of twelve sections and it was based on Propertius, a great Latin elegiac poet who lived during the first century. Pound’s poem provides a new interpretation of Propertius that differs from his predecessors. Pound finds a voice to critique the corrupted politics of his time. The poem, However, has enraged the Classicists for they viewed it as an utter mistranslation of Propertius. Such differing views over the poem have been, for quite long, the source of contention in the academic circles. This paper, therefore, discusses the views of the Classicists and
For this essay I will be unraveling two poems to find a deeper meaning from The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Volume B. The two poems are “A Lover’s Prize” by Beatrice of Dia and “The Wound of Love” written by Heinrich von Morungen. Heinrich and Beatrice are considered to be medieval lyric poets; however, Beatrice was a medieval lyric poet from France and they are known as troubadour. Beatrice just so happened to be apart of southern France’s trobairitz which was just a tribute to some of the best troubadour of their time. She was married to the Count of Viennois, Guilhem de Poitiers but she was having an affair with another troubadour who went by the name Raimbaut d’Orange and their poetic style was quite similar. However, when it comes to Heinrich von Morungen not much is known about him. From the little we know about Heinrich, we find that, his style of writing fit into the category of Minnesang which means “songs of love”. His lyrics (that have survived) are also some of the greatest in early German history. Nonetheless, these writers have both put forth some impressive work.