Li Po as a Taoist
Li Po as a Taoist Is Li Po just a drunken poet or a true Taoist? Li Po shows many Taoist characteristics through his poetry. Taoist ideas such as mediation, simpler ways of life, mediation, virtue, immortality and an aversion to fighting. Li Po lived in the country, and lead a very simple life, which is a Taoist characteristic. As seen in Chapter 80 of Lao Tzu, a small farming community with a simple lifestyle is preferable to city living with a central figure. Li Po embraces this ideal in his poem "Clear Wet Dawn." It shows how he takes pleasure in simple, everyday things like flowers that look "tear-streaked" or a even simple fish pond (Five T'Ang Poets 53). He is not concerned with the judgements, or even the companionship of others; a reflection of a true Taoist. Other examples of his fascination of simple things are abundant in his other poems. For example, "High in the Mountains, I Fail to Find the Wise old Man", shows appreciation for nature rather than metropolis life when Li Po writes "rain-filled peach blossoms shower me as I walk" (Five T'Ang Poets 66). He seems to truly reject the lifestyle of 'jade and gold' described in Chapter 9 of Lao Tzu. He also appears to advocate simplicity in "Conversations Among Mountains". When asked why he lives in the mountains, Li Po response is "I smile can't answer I am completely at peace" (Five T'Ang Poets 69).
Daffodils by William Wordsworth
Daffodils by William Wordsworth When we think about nature, the first thing that may come to our mind will probably be some flowers. The same case is applicable while searching for wallpapers, because they do provide certain amount of beauty to the desktop, just like they do in the flower vase, in your living room! But flowers are quite common, and we usually avoid them, as we find nothing special about them and we go across lots of different flowers every day. But being a true nature lover and an inspired poet, Wordsworth has managed to produce a great work from this simple sight itself! William Wordsworth, one of the best English romantic poets ever, gave us this beautiful poem ''Daffodils''. Thanks to his Lyrical Ballads, we saw the the Romantic movement in literature. The Prelude is supposed to be the best work of this man, but this poem based on nature, happens to be one which we can't dare to avoid. I was forced to study this one more than once in my school days, which means that I still have every line going through my mind, especially while I am closer to the nature! Wordsworth was often called the poet of nature, thanks to his poems which gives new meaning to nature! He defines the time he spend with nature as ''the source of Joy of purest passion''. It is said that the visit to Glencoyne Park that gave Wordsworth the inspiration to write this poem. As he was
How do Blake and Wordsworth respond to nature and what other influences are there in their poetry?
HOW DO BLAKE AND WORDSWORTH RESPOND TO NATURE AND WHAT OTHER INFLUENCES ARE THERE IN THEIR POETRY? Poets, such as Blake and Wordsworth, had unique views on nature depending on the environmental influences; set upon them during the time they were composing their poems. This essay aims to expand on how Blake and Wordsworth responded to nature and what other factors had had an impact on their poetry. During the 1780's, came the 'Romantic Era,' in which poets, including Wordsworth and Blake, were seen as rebels against the work of their predecessors, the Augustans. Against a background of the tumultuous events shaping the modern world - the social, political, and economic upheaval initiated by the French and Industrial Revolutions - the Romantics attempted to form a new vision for mankind as their interests lay in the individual, the self, and the inner world of subjective experience. They wrote about the relationship between people and nature and between the individual and society and explored the creative powers of the imagination by looking into the darker recesses of human experience. While the Augustans, including Alexander Pope, wrote about aristocracy, as they believed that refined sophistication should be the aim of each individual, whereas the Romantics thought of aristocrats as artificially brought up individuals. The main intention of the Romantics was to rejoice
"Tintern Abbey" William Wordsworth
A preoccupation of the true Romantic authors was that of natural inspiration; a gathering of life experience, of knowledge and of wisdom through the untamed wilds of nature. In his poem "Tintern Abbey" William Wordsworth uses both physical and metaphysical wonderings to present a careful and yet sometimes confusing study of the cyclic nature of inspiration, knowledge and spirituality. Through the use of imagery, structure and juxtaposition, Wordsworth attempts and succeeds to teach a way to live through nature. The structure of the poem reveals one of the main themes: that inspiration, knowledge and nature are all cyclic. It is through this theme that his meaning becomes apparent. The poem begins with Wordsworth reflecting on the landscape before him. Repetitive use of terms such as "once again/ Do I behold," "The day is come when I repose again" and "once again I see" help place Wordsworth in the present and in a contemplative mood.1 Throughout the first stanza Wordsworth writes of the beauty of nature in an objective manner, describing the landscape exactly how he sees it. His metaphysical wanderings begin in this stanza too. When describing the land as being connected "with the quiet of the sky", we are led to see not only Wordsworth's belief of nature and spirituality being as one, we are also able to distinguish a link between the cycles of nature and the cycles
From Your Readings ofMid-Term Break, Diary of a Church Mouse and Prayer before Birth, what insights do you get about human behavior? What literary techniques are used to heighten the experience?
From Your Readings of"Mid-Term Break, "Diary of a Church Mouse" and "Prayer before Birth", what insights do you get about human behavior? What literary techniques are used to heighten the experience? By Emmanuel Sunil In all three poems, the poets give as insight into the various aspects of human behavior. MacNeice in "Prayer before Birth" emphasizes the negative aspects in which a person will be treated through out their life and focuses in on how people will enslave you, manipulate you etc. In "Mid- Term Break", Seamus Heaney comments on the nature of human behavior in public domain and how one reveals their true feelings in private. John Betjeman makes a satirical observation that people come to church for reasons other than spiritual satisfaction in "Diary of a Church Mouse". Each poet also uses different literary techniques to heighten the experience. "Prayer before Birth" is unique in that the speaker in an unborn child that has an awareness of what is going to happen in his life. Through the fetus, MacNeice tells us about all the negative ways in which others will treat you in all walks of life. One of the most important insights into human behavior is that people in power try to limit ones freedom (as in communist and fascist regimes) and MacNeice draws our attention to this in stanza 2, "I fear that the human race with tall walls wall me', where it suggests that
A103 Introduction to the Humanities
A210 - Approaching Literature TMA 03 'The Birth-Day' by Mary Robinson Write an essay of not more than 1500 words in which you analyse the poem and comment on the poetic form and language used and the way they contribute to the meaning and effects of the poem. 'The Birth-Day' uses various techniques to convey Robinson's indignation at the vast social differences of her time. It incorporates great social commentary and as was often typical of Romantic poetry, is highly politically motivated. Robinson's use of form and language conveys her attempt at poetry being "a force which reforms and is even at variance with society" (Romantic Writings, p.80). She is representing Percy Shelley's ideal of the poet embodying truth, as she attempts to convey the sufferings of the lower-classes. As Shelley states that "Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world" (Romantic Writings: An Anthology, p.366), Robinson endorses that viewpoint, as she endeavours to highlight the discrepancies of the social world, as she sees it. The title of the poem alludes not only to the celebration of the royal birthday, but is utilized to draw attention to the conflicting reactions of the pomposity from the upper-classes on a day which is usually a cause for celebration, compared with the inescapable misery of the lower-classes. This narrative poem is similar to a ballad form, as it tells
Mortality and Immortality in Romantic Poetry
‘When old age shall this generation waste, / Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe / Than ours, a friend to man’ (John Keats, ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’). Discuss responses to mortality and/or immortality in the work of at least two writers of the Romantic period. Eternity and immortality are phrases to which it is impossible for us to annex any distinct ideas, and the more we attempt to explain them, the more we shall find ourselves involved in contradiction – Wiiliam Godwin, Political Injustice. The writers of the Romantic period found in immortality a topic which was not only of great political concern at the time, but would be of human interest indefinitely. The topic leads to suggestion of differences in each writer’s ideas about the role of the poet in relation to both his work and his contemporaries; a dispute as to the future state of poetry; and highlights opposing ideas about the human condition. This essay intends to explore these differences of opinion amongst a key few of the Romantic writers who expressed their beliefs both through their creative and their scholarly works, focusing particularly on the writings of Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley and Byron. It intends to seek differences between the first and second generation of romantics, and see how changes in political viewpoints affected considerations towards life and death. During the 18th
Analyse the poem 'Ode to a Grecian Urn' and comment on the poetic form and language used and the way they contribute to the meaning and effects of the poem.
Analyse the poem 'Ode to a Grecian Urn' and comment on the poetic form and language used and the way they contribute to the meaning and effects of the poem. In the early 19th century it was not unusual to make a work of art, painting or sculpture a subject of a poem. Taken literally, the poem 'Ode to a Grecian Urn' is a poem about a vase, but Keats has inverted the traditional understanding of physical, tangible objects and transformed them into metaphors for abstract concepts, such as truth and time. An urn is primarily used to preserve the ashes of the dead. The theme of the Ode, accordingly, has to do with the relationship between imagination and actuality, and the supremacy and immortality of a work of art if compared to our ordinary life. With the masterful use of the device of figurative language, Keats has created a melodic, beautifully flowing poem which well serves the purpose he gives it. Keats himself can be assumed to be the speaker, the overall setting is unknown. The tone of the poem reflects the fact that Keats seems truly awed and astonished by the urn he considers. The poem is written in ten-line iambic pentameter throughout, which creates a flowing rhythmic effect. The rhyme scheme is unusual, but Keats breaks the form with this five-part poem. The rhyme pattern is A - B - A - B - C - D - E - D - C - E. There is a pattern of interwoven
Romantic Poetry Anthology
Nurses Song - Blake The Evening Star - Blake The Garden Of Love - Blake Frost At Midnight - Coleridge The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner - Coleridge This Lime Tree Bower My Prison - Coleridge Ode On A Grecian Urn - Keats Ode To A Nightingale - Keats To Autumn - Keats The World Is Too Much With Us - Wordsworth Tintern Abbey - Wordsworth She Dwelt Among The Untrodden Ways - Wordsworth Romanticism is not about love or romance, it is a system of attributes relating to poetic and artistic practice from the late 18th century to the 1830's. In fact the romantic era cannot be pin pointed to a particular century. Instead it is said that Romanticism started around 1789, when the French Revolution had begun, and ended when Queen Victoria took to the throne in 1836. Romanticism was a reaction against poetry of the previous period. 18th Century poetry was, amongst other things, harmonious, graceful and balanced. Romantic poetry was a revolution and an innovation. Wordsworth stated that it was the 'real language of men'. There are six key figures on Romanticism; the first generation consisted of William Blake, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The second generation, Lord Byron, Percy Shelley and John Keats. As there would be in many different eras and periods, there are certain characteristics of Romantic Poetry, although not all of them would be found in a single
Who was John Locke?
John Locke, a prominent English scholar of the 17th century, was one of the first of many philosophers who delved into the ideas of the laws of nature, state of nature, natural rights, and the social contract. By creating hypothetical situations in which humans interact with one another in an attempt to form a society and government, he formulated several theories about human nature itself. Using these situations, he also attempted to articulate the basic wants and needs of man. What resulted were clear-cut and fairly accurate theories about humankind. Making generalizations about the entire human race is a grand task indeed, however Locke faces the challenge exceptionally. Stating that there are laws of nature, laws which are active only in one's conscience, he explains that they oblige everyone not to hurt "another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions..." This is resting solely on the person himself - if this person has an active and good conscience, then this law will apply; not all people are good, however. This theory about the conscience of individuals is very accurate, especially in stating that people depend on a government to make sure that the laws of nature are enforced - and the government depends on the people's consent to enforce them. Without government, one would have no repercussions for violating the law of nature, and thus chaos would ensue, with