Dickinson's BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH
Dickinson's BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH It has been the general difficulty with critical exegeses of Emily Dickinson's "Because I could not stop for Death-" that (1) "Death" and "Immortality" in the first stanza seem unaccountably syncopated, and (2) the "I first surmised the Horses' Heads/Were toward Eternity-" of the end of the poem remains equally enigmatically without derivation. I offer the following interpretive possibility. The crux of the poem's meanings, I suggest, is in the first two lines, "Because I could not stop for Death-/He kindly stopped for me-". We have tended mechanically to read this to mean that since the narrative subject of the poem finds herself rather too involved in the humdrum of living, with no thought of death, Death like a civil gentleman-suitor stops by in his chaise and four to take the busy -11- persona out for the final ride, paradoxically, to the accompaniment of "Immortality." I think the lines lead us into a simplistic literalness because of the deceptive surface. Read them as you would a prototypical "romantic" utterance and the problem begins to solve itself. To wit, translate the persona's not stopping for death into an imaginative perception of the nonreality of death. Death is death only to those who live within the time-bound finite world outside of the imaginative infinity of consciousness. That being so, the
The changing tradition of war poetry
The changing tradition of war poetry Before World War 1 war was described as a good thing and that it was sweet, good and honourable to die for your country. The soldiers were compared to knights and heroes. Even if they died in war they still died as a hero to the country and died a glorious death. If you didn't fight for your country then you were see as a coward and a traitor to your country. You would also become a hero when you return. There were lots of recruiting posters saying "your country needs you". These posters would make you feel guilty and you would feel isolated if you didn't join war. Also these posters would say what your future would be like if you didn't fight for your country. Also your children would think of you as a brave and honourable man. But if you didn't and your children asked you one day what you did at war you would be very ashamed of what to tell them. Some of the poems were written by women who had no experience of war. Most of them were written by generals in charge of the armies. They were educated and could read and write. Before war very few poems were written by soldiers who experienced war. These poems were inaccurate in showing the realties of war. They thought that war would end by Christmas but they were wrong as it carried on for four years. The soldier's attitudes changed as war progressed because they thought it was like a
Trickster: Shaman of the Liminal.
Trickster: Shaman of the Liminal The Native American Trickster is a figure who defies category. He is at once the scorned outsider and the culture-hero, the mythic transformer and the buffoon, a creature of low purpose and questionable habits who establishes precedent, dabbles in the creation of the world that will be, and provides tools, food, and clothing to the people who will inhabit that world. He may assume an array of contradictory personae in the course of a single narrative, moving from one to the other with the skill of a practiced shape-shifter while tripping on his tail at every turn. Trickster creates through destruction and succeeds through failure; his mythic and cultural achievements are seldom intentional. "Defining such a various creature," writes Jarold Ramsey, "is a little like trying to juggle hummingbirds" (26). Ramsey attempts to reconcile Trickster's inconsistencies by pointing out the tendency of Native American myth-narrative to carry out "a plurality of significant and interrelated functions simultaneously" (24), and goes on to outline an inductive/deductive approach to Trickster study that is "attentive to character features and role" (27). However, any effort to arrive at a more complete definition of this most illusive of characters must eventually leave the search for definition behind. Even Ramsey's emphasis on cultural perspective and
If you were directing 'Educating Rita', how would you seek to achieve the humour for an Audience?
Elegy What is this? In a simple sense it's a text about a dead person, or, in this case, persons. Before we look at this particular elegy I want us to think about memorial writing in general. It's clearly quite an important part of a social organisation-the way we control and manage death. And it's also an insight into the way we think about individuals in a wide variety of social contexts: * Grand memorial elegies * Small personal ones we place in newspapers, little poems * Obituaries * Letters of consolation in which the writer sets down memories of the dead person * Epitaphs on headstones and plaques We can recognise in all of these there is no direct contact between the writing and the dead person. We can see this in three ways: . Our awareness that this is a special kind of writing that cannot exist without the absence of the death person 2. Our acceptance of the intertextual nature of this writing: that there is a way of doing it which takes its meaning from other similar kinds of writing. An official obituary is very formal and stylised. The more unofficial kink in the newspaper columns is also extremely generic. 3. Our sense that the death of a person distances us from them and allows us to make sense of them as a person But what if we thought about this from another angle. Suppose we consider the possibility that memorial writing is not really a
Attitudes to mortality - Relationship and comparison between texts.
Attitudes to mortality Relationship and comparison between texts Mortality is defined as state of being subject to death and it means that all men are mortal and that no can escape death if it concerns a human. The words origin comes from the late English through the old French from Latin mortalitas, with 'mort' meaning death. The following poems deal with mortality in different ways, but all showing that death is unavoidable and that often it can influence other people. Death be not proud by John Donne The voice of this poem personifies death talking to death as if it's a person and throughout the poem has an argument revealing his feeling and insulting death, making this speech a very dramatic monologue. The poem begins by contradicting death's authority, showing that he isn't afraid of death and that death isn't as powerful as it seems " Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so" " Die not poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me," is a peculiar concept to understand therefore deliberately arouses the reader's curiosity, making this poem interesting as the poet is challenging death. Donne continues by giving a reflection of death, which is the state while we are asleep and also gives an image of being dead. He explains that death takes away the good people who die young and along with them their body and their soul is delivered to heaven, which is part of Christian
How is War Presented in Three WW1 Poems of Your Choice? Dulce Et Decorum Est, Fall In andThe Soldier
'How is War Presented in Three WW1 Poems of Your Choice?' In the year 1914, a global military conflict broke out, mostly taking place in Europe. The Great War left millions of soldiers, from both sides of the opposition, dead, or severely wounded. Moreover, it drastically re-shaped the modern world as a result of innovative ideas and developments. There are numerous views of war; the majority greatly vary from each other. Such contrasts, as it were, can be seen in the form of poems written at the time. Hence, from analysing the work of poets, it could be considered that the attitudes of war are presented in ways which differ, or perhaps, several of the poems may have established similar interpretations. Furthermore, most of the poets aimed to illustrate the ideas of their poem through the use of poetic techniques, allowing the reader to comprehend the various aspects of the poem with greater ease. Three poems of World War One highlight several of the different factors of war, each exploring the topic in their own way. 'Dulce Et Decorum Est' is about the horrific reality and atmosphere of war; it describes the trauma of experiencing a gas attack. 'Fall In' is a recruitment poem, which attempts to convince men to enlist war as a means of conveying elements of shame and guilt. 'The Soldier' is a poem laced with sentimentality and nationalism; a far cry from the themes of other
Explore how Owen, McRae and Brooke present the physical and mental horrors of war.
Explore how Owen, McRae and Brooke present the physical and mental horrors of war. All of the poems by the writers above share a common theme, the horror of war, but vary in their interpretations and views. "Peace", by Rupert Brooke, puts across the idea that war is not as bad as people believe, but an opportunity to prove oneself worthy. In contrast, "Strange Meeting" and "Anthem for Doomed Youth", both by Wilfred Owen, are very different poems. "Anthem for Doomed Youth" is filled with passive bitterness towards the war, while "Strange Meeting" describes an encounter that leads to a reflective monologue on the horror of war. Finally, "In Flanders Fields", by John McRae, portrays the consequences of war, and the sheer loss of life that comes from it. All the poems put across the horrors or glories of conflict in their own ways, but they all remain focussed on the idea of war, while portraying the respective ideas of the writers. Firstly, the key features of each poem. "Peace", by Brooke, is a pro-war poem subtly encouraging people to fight, and was published as part of 1914, a sonnet sequence. He first describes war as a divine intervention to be looked upon positively, shown by "God be thanked Who has matched us with His hour", describing how God has allowed people to partake in such a thrilling time. This religious attitude towards war was influenced by his belief in
Death in “Cold in the Earth”, “TheToys” and “Autumn”.
Death in "Cold in the Earth", "The Toys" and "Autumn" The theme that links my three chosen poems, 'Cold in the Earth', 'The Toys' and 'Autumn' is that of death. Each of the poems successfully cover different aspects of death and show how people cope and react to death in differing ways. The poem 'Cold in the Earth' deals with the loss caused by a death and how people cope when they experience feelings of loss. It is a subject to which many people can relate, so Emily Bront?, the authoress has written the poem in such a way that everybody who reads it gains something and can apply it to situations in which they have encountered or have been affected by death. On reading the poem, death is viewed from the viewpoint of the voice in the poem which has never accepted that 'my Only Love' has died. The narrator expresses the view of death as 'Cold in the earth and the deep snow piled above thee' and 'cold in the dreary grave'. This indicates that he/she has not truly acknowledged that the person has died and therefore will be unable to feel or sense anything like the cold ever again. The poet uses the repetition of 'far' in the phrase 'far, far removed', the purpose being to emphasise the fact that the narrator feels that his/her lover's grave is so far away in 'Angora' (Turkey). However, it makes the reader realise that their separation is much more than geographical, for they
The theme that links my three chosen poems, 'Cold in the Earth', 'The Toys' and 'Autumn' is that of death. Each of the poems successfully cover different aspects of death and show how people cope and react to death in differing ways.
The theme that links my three chosen poems, 'Cold in the Earth', 'The Toys' and 'Autumn' is that of death. Each of the poems successfully cover different aspects of death and show how people cope and react to death in differing ways. The poem 'Cold in the Earth' deals with the loss caused by a death and how people cope when they experience feelings of loss. It is a subject to which many people can relate, so Emily Bront?, the authoress has written the poem in such a way that everybody who reads it gains something and can apply it to situations in which they have encountered or have been affected by death. On reading the poem, death is viewed from the viewpoint of the voice in the poem which has never accepted that 'my Only Love' has died. The narrator expresses the view of death as 'Cold in the earth and the deep snow piled above thee' and 'cold in the dreary grave'. This indicates that he/she has not truly acknowledged that the person has died and therefore will be unable to feel or sense anything like the cold ever again. The poet uses the repetition of 'far' in the phrase 'far, far removed', the purpose being to emphasise the fact that the narrator feels that his/her lover's grave is so far away in 'Angora' (Turkey). However, it makes the reader realise that their separation is much more than geographical, for they are separated by death. Emily Bront? capitalises 'my Only
Badger by John Tripp.
3.11.02 Badger Poems Coursework Badger by John Tripp 2.11.02 First Draught The objective of this coursework is to compare two poems, based on badgers, by John Tripp and John Clare. In order to do this successfully, it has been recommended that aspects such as the way the poet describes the badger, the attitude of each poet towards the badger and references to what I found effective should be covered. Badger by John Tripp This poem is based on Tripp's personal encounter with a badger, during the early 20th Century. The opening lines introduce the reader to the compassionate, gentle nature of a badger. The human stereotype of a badger is that they are 'harmless', and 'loveable nocturnal things'. They appear so cuddly and cute. Teddy bears or cartoons of badgers often create this image. A badger is also being personified, when it is referred to as being 'a family man'. A vast majority of us would assume that families are a unity that only exist in the human race. This usually consists of a husband, wife and children. It seems so very civilised. Being humans, we would consider ourselves superior to other races. Relating humans to badgers makes them seem to be a more intelligent, and a supreme race in the animal kingdom. Some would see badgers as being rather shy and reserved. Tripp describes how 'he has an old reputation for remaining aloof'. In some
