Analysis of "Seven Ages of Man" by William Shakespeare.

Seven Ages of Man By William Shakespeare. Seven Ages of man is a poem written by William Shakespeare. It's actually a speech given by one of his characters named Jacques in his play As You Like it. Jacques is a pessimistic character who the poet uses to portray the life of a man in seven different parts. The first line of the poem "All the worlds a stage is a metaphor in which the world is associated with a stage. It is also the central metaphor around which the entire poem revolves. The next few lines also use similar terminology related to theatre. The word "All" in the first line establishes universality and we are told that men everywhere go through the same phases of life. The next line "...Just like actors, men and women in this world are not free to do as they will and are directed and controlled by their destiny. And just like actors in a play, the people make their appearances and go away i.e. they are born into this world and die. Because Jacques looks more towards the negative, he mentions death as in "exit" first and then birth or "entrance". This is because he looks at life's negativities closely. And so, this man, a player who has probably made an entrance plays seven main parts in his life. These parts are referred to as acts as in the line "And one man in his time plays many parts. His act being seven ages." When the child is born, he is an infant who

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Compare and contrast the ways in which war is presented in 'The Charge Of The Light Brigade', 'Vox Militantis' and 'Drummer Hodge'.

Compare and contrast the ways in which war is presented in 'The Charge Of The Light Brigade', 'Vox Militantis' and 'Drummer Hodge'. The three poems 'The Charge of the Light Brigade', 'Vox Militantis' and 'Drummer Hodge' are set in the Crimean War and the Boer War. The Crimean War started in 1854 and in September of that year allies besieged Sebastpool in Crimea. In October the Russians attacked the British base at Balaclava. During this battle the Charge of the Light Brigade took place. The Charge of the Light Brigade was written immediately by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, after the reports came back to England. The Charge of the Light Brigade is different from the other poems because it is about a specific event whereas Vox Militantis and Drummer Hodge are more general. Drummer Hodge was written by Thomas Hardy; Hardy wrote this poem because he had heard of the death of a young drummer boy. The word Hodge was a word used for a 'country bumpkin' which he thought suitable because the young boy had lived in the country all his short life. Drummer Hodge is a very reflective poem and the only activity in the poem, Drummer Hodge being buried, only takes up two lines, showing not only that the burial was short and unceremonious but also that all of the activity of war is finished. The rest of the poem is about how strange it is that the drummer is now going to rest in this foreign,

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Lady of Shalott Analysis

The Lady of Shalott "Over 100 years after it was written, discuss why The Lady of Shalott is still fascinating and mysterious. Does it still have a message for us today?" The Lady of Shalott by Alfred Lord Tennyson was published in 1833. Although this poem was written almost 200 years ago, The Lady of Shalott is still fascinating and mysterious for readers. The reason for this is that Tennyson writes this poem in such a way that it makes readers think. This poem was written in a manner that still has a meaning for us today, and possibly many years to come. Often, in good literature and poetry there is no easy, correct interpretation of the author's intent. It is this intentional vagueness that allows multiple interpretations and keeps a work relevant through the ages. The poet's writing language and techniques is another feature contributing greatly to the fascination of the poem. The structure of this poem is very appealing. It is divided into four parts. Part one sets a scene for the story. "Willows whiten, aspen quiver," This quote suggests the scene is set in winter time, "willows whiten" illustrates that the trees are covered in snow, and the aspens "quiver" creates a cold atmosphere. Throughout part one, stanza one to four, there are many imagery used to help create a clear vision for the readers. For example, a metaphor, such as, "Long fields of barley and of rye,

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Short story on The Charge of the Light Brigade poem

Short story on "The Charge of the Light Brigade" poem What Miss Willby wants? * Lots of description (that fits in with the mood) * Colour of the land scape * Characters feelings * Time * Description /Feelings * Small Dialogue * Sense of contrast (light/ dark, sound/ silence, black/ white) "Oh my God, what was I doing?" It was the day before the daunting campaign; the grey storm clouds cast a dark shadow over our heads as we took shelter in the tents. I was sharing a tent with my friend James. I have known him for 5 years now and I had never seen such fear on his face as I saw then. My name is Sam Jones; I was one of six hundred men who were camping out a league away from "Death Valley". We had been told by our senior officer to take a Russian gun's outpost half a league down the valley. I had had a good job back home; I had a wife and kid. I will never forget the look on Tim's face when he said goodbye. This is what I was fighting for; I was fighting for my life, I was fighting for them. *** ...I remember the first time I met James, we were working together on the construction site, it was his first day and I was the one to "show him the ropes". At first I was uncertain of his character, but I grew to like him and we soon became the best of friends. I can recall one particular day at the construction site. We were up on some scaffolding, on the second

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English Literature Coursework - Nostalgia

Compare and contrast three poems from the English Literature Anthology where the speakers of the poems display strong nostalgic thoughts through theme, structure, language, mood and tone of the poems. Three poems where the speakers show strong nostalgic thoughts for the past are Piano by D.H. Lawrence, Poem at Thirty-Nine by Alice Walker and Crabbit Old Woman by Phyllis McCormack. They all display the common theme of wanting to return to the past, away from the pain, loneliness and the trials and tribulations of adulthood. In this essay, I will analyse how the poets convey their feelings through their use of literary structure, theme, language, mood and tone. The theme of nostalgia is expressed through each of the three speakers' different experiences. In Piano, the speaker is taken "back down the vista of years" and re-calls happier memories from his childhood. This happens when he hears a piano being played which is the trigger so that his "manhood is cast/Down in the flood of remembrance". This indicates that the poet yearns for the past and he feels less of a man when he reminisces. It also suggests that when he remembers his childhood and his memories rush towards him, reducing him to tears. In Poem at Thirty-Nine, the speaker remembers how she "learned to see bits of paper as a way to escape the life he knew". This shows that she remembers lessons like the value of

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Carpet Weavers Morocco

Carpet Weavers, Morocco An analysis of Carol Rumens poem 'Carpet Weavers, Morocco' This poem deals with the issue of child labour in Morocco. In Morocco you will find that most carpets have been made by children who should actually be at school. However their parents can't afford to send them there so they are made to work. Many of them start weaving from the age of five. They are sent to work early because there at least their parents will know that they are fed. This is what Carol Rumens saw when she visited Morocco which inspired her to write this poem. In the first stanza Rumens describes what the children who weave the carpets are like. Looms are the machine on which carpets are made but in the poem they have a second meaning which is that another world is coming into view for them. 'Another world' could be talking about their dreams. The fact that they have oiled and braided hair could indicate that the children don't have time or money to cut their hair so they braid it. 'Their dresses bright' is a metaphor for happiness as bright and colourful things are thought to be happy and joyful. Referring to their heights as melodious chimes is showing that the children are of all ages as they are tall and short. The next stanza describes how the children make the carpet. She refers to the knots in the carpet as television because that is their entertainment whereas in other

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Critical Analysis of The Forge by Seamus Heaney

Critical Analysis of The Forge by Seamus Heaney 'The Forge' is a sonnet with a clear division into an octave (the first eight lines) and a sestet (the final six lines). While the octave, apart from its initial reference to the narrator, focuses solely on the inanimate objects and occurrences inside and outside the forge, the sestet describes the blacksmith himself, and what he does. Interestingly, the transition from the octave to the sestet is a run-on or enjambment containing one of the key metaphors of the poem, the anvil as altar: Set there immovable: an altar Where he expends himself in shape and music. One effect of this is to enable us to experience the anvil or altar as a magical point of transition between the material and immovable world of objects and the fluid, musical world of human consciousness. The rhyme scheme of the sonnet is: abba cddc efgfef, a departure from the standard Shakespearean (abab cdcd efef gg) or Petrarchan (abba abba cde cde) sonnet form. The unrhymed 11th line He leans out on the jam, recalls a clatter is perhaps the most striking feature of the rhyme scheme, and, combined with the poem's second run-on, serves to emphasise the cacophony and disorder of the remembered horse-drawn carriages. The threefold full rhyme nose/rows/bellows gives a pleasing finality to the end of the poem, especially in contrast to other lines which tend more

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Planting a Sequoia

Commentary on Planting a Sequoia Planting a Sequoia is a poem written by Dana Gioia. The poem is about a father whose son had just died. He and his brothers bury the child in the orchard and decide to plant a tree on the grave to follow the Sicilian tradition. The narrator of the poem is the father. The poem is written in the 1st person. The Father plants a Sequoia tree in the place to celebrate the death. This is against the tradition because Sequoia trees are not seen as useful trees. The tree symbolizes the son and you see this because the narrator treats the tree as if it was his son. The first stanza is about just after his son has died and he and his brothers are burying the son. This stanza contains very dull imagery. An example of this is in line 3 when the narrator says "rain blackened the horizon, but cold winds kept it over the Pacific". This quote sets the overall atmosphere of the poem. It indicates that winter is coming and depicts a very miserable and negative image. The weather and the seasons represent how the narrator is feeling at that point in time. In the Second Stanza the mood stays negative with more dull imagery. The stanza starts "In Sicily a father plants a tree to celebrate his first son's birth- An olive tree or a fig tree-a sign that the earth has one more life to bear." The fact that the father has chosen a sequoia compared to a more useful,

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Compare and contrast the presentation of childhood memories in half past two, piano and my parents kept me from children who were rough focusing on the poets use of language, form and structure.

Compare and contrast the presentation of childhood memories in 'half past two', 'piano' and 'my parents kept me from children who were rough' focusing on the poet's use of language, form and structure.' The poems are different based on theme as piano has a theme of music taking on a memory. Half past two has a theme of life before not being able to tell time. Lastly my parents kept me from children who were rough have a theme of not being able to relive a bad memory. The three poems are contrasting on the meaning as 'My parents kept me from children who were rough' and 'piano' are about the poet's memories when they are older and 'Half past two' is an exploration of a child's imagination during his early years before he could tell the time. In Piano, Lawrence shows he is dealing with adult memories of childhood by in the first stanza, 'Taking me back down the vista of years.' The use of the word 'vista' shows that he is dealing with a long period of time. Similarly 'My parents kept me from children who were rough' Spender shows he is also dealing with adult memories of childhood as in the last stanza, 'I longed to forgive them, yet they never smiled.' The use of the words 'longed' and 'never' show that he is looking back to that time and is hurt that they never said sorry. In contrast to that 'Half past two' is about an exploration of a child's mind. Fanthorpe shows

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Analysis of "Preludes" by Thomas Sterns Elliot.

Preludes By Thomas Stearns Eliot "Preludes" is a poem by T.S Eliot about what life was like in the beginning of the twentieth century. The poet pictured a typical city which represents all others in the western world. The pictures portray society as it is today lacking morals and ethics and fear of god which is religion. The poet portrays his point in four parts. The poet introduces the technique of montage in which consecutive pictures that are linked are presented consecutively. The first two scenes or rather images depict the cityscape as it is in the evening and the morning and the scenes in the third and fourth parts portray modern women and men. Through this poem the poet conveys his thoughts on the modern western society as it turned out to be in the beginning of the twentieth century. Part I THE poem begins with the line "the winter evening settled down". Here the winter and evening symbolize the dying part of the year and day respectively. It is an unusual way for a poet to begin a poem- it could have begun with a picture of morning but the poet deliberately doesn't do so to set a decaying tone and create an image of something breaking down and decaying. This is how the poet sees the modern world. The city is crowded and smelly and congested. The word "smell" as in the line "with smells of steaks in passageways" doesn't sound very inviting and seems like the

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