In Memoriam #54

Tennyson’s In Memoriam #54 leaves me feeling very uncertain. I’m not sure if he wants the audience to be uplifted or depressed. Regardless of this, I really enjoy this poem and I can definitely relate to it. Some of my favorite lines: “That nothing walks with aimless feet;/That not one life shall be destroy’d, Or cast as rubbish to the void” (5-8). “And every winter change to spring.” (16). These lines represent the main theme of the poem. That good will always triumph over evil. That death is not wasteful, but fulfills a greater purpose. Not to be cliché, but to totally be cliché, everything happens for a reason. All good sentiments, the first four stanzas comfort me. They remind me that, although we may not be able to understand it, there is a larger plan that we cannot control. We, as humans, might be just a small piece of the puzzle. There is a “God” that will ensure good will prevail and nothing will be in vain. Getting real philosophical here.

For me, the last stanza is humbling. Maybe this is just me, but you know when you’re looking at the stars and you’re like damn, I’m so tiny. But at the same time, it is magical that you are there. In this ridiculously vast universe, we get to experience life. The last stanza evokes similar feelings as when I’m star gazing, it makes me feel so insignificantly significant.

Bad Nature?

Throughout In Memoriam #56 Tenneyson seems to be questioning the true motive of Nature: does she truly care about the species and humans that surround her, instead of being sympathetic of the individual as we thought before. At the same time, why are we as humans concerned with being close to Nature in life when we will eventually become one with her in the afterlife, and why is this so good? First, we see the shift of theories from Blake and Wordsworth who thought it was every man for himself and he needed to spend every hour with Nature because she is the one thing that we have forgotten but will also bring us a wonderful life. Tenneyson is now showing us the same concept but from the perspective of Nature: she focuses on the population as a whole and if one or two fall off that is ok. The first line, “So careful of the type?’ but no.” is telling us that she isn’t much concerned with who they are as long as they are one unit and all together. I think it is interesting that Tennyson uses the work ‘type’ because he isn’t distinguishing between species, therefore making us all: plants, animals, humans, etc  the same. Reading this, I didn’t feel as strongly as I did about the Blake's poems mainly because it is very dark, which I do not agree with. I feel that Nature is something of great beauty and should be thought of as such. I understand that there are natural things that are bad but overall I generally tend to side with the softer side of Nature. 

In Memoriam #123

In #123 of In Memoriam, I saw an inner existential crisis being solved by ALT. In the first two quatrains ALT observes the ever-changing never absolute nature of nature. He's focused on the fleeting stability of the physical world. After numerous readings, I became particularly fixated on the words "and nothing stands." These words were what really made the first two quatrains sound like existential frustration, instead of metaphysical inquiry. (without fancy terms, the phrase "and nothing stands" made the descriptions problematic, and not simply explaining how the world is) I read the line, and hear ALT saying nothing remains defined, nothing stands the test of time, everything is subject to chance.  To justify my existential evaluation, it can be interpreted to mean nothing stands for anything, i.e., nihilism.
The last quatrain supports the idea that ALT is fighting against the understanding he conveys of the world in the first two quatrains.  I read the last quatrain as ALT using dualism to solve his troubles. He is saying, yeah this is how the physical world may be, but I live/exist in the spiritual world. Where things exist as long as he holds them true. Although things in the world may go away, he still holds them in his mind. The poem makes sense subjectless, but more than likely it is a reflection on the loss of his best friend, as the whole book of poems is in memory his friend. Since I need to fill some space, I'll make the deductive connection. ALT may have said good bye to his friend, i.e., at his funeral, but ALT will not let that "adieu" take away the feelings, understanding, and thoughts that exist concerning his friend. Arthur Hallam, ALT's friend, continues to live on in ALT's mind.

Mukharji's visit to Europe is a Funny, Interesting and Necessary Commentary on English Culture Awareness

T.N. Mukharji’s “A Visit to Europe” was actually quite fascinating to me.  The fact that the European men and women found their culture fascinating, almost in a barbaric sense was the thing that got to me.  For example, in the first paragraph when they talk to the waitress and one of the people that was in Mukharji’s party tells her that he has had around 250 wives and that he murdered the 40^th wife because she could not cook porridge well made me laugh out loud to be honest.  The fact that the waitress would even believe that he had over 250 wives and killed one is just plain absurd.  It just goes to show how culturally unaware the people of England were at the time when it came to cultures outside of Europe.  What also made this interesting is that India was a British colony at the time, and the people still had now idea of their customs.  Later on in the piece when he talks about the time he was sitting in a restaurant and he was getting glances from people all around the room was quite funny as well.  Just because he was dressed in a different manner, the people thought he was a complete outsider to their customs and English culture.  But when the young lady comes over and talks to him for a while, she realizes that he is in fact an intelligent man, who is good at speaking English and aware of English customs.  She even compliments the band that was playing that were from his country.  I will admit that this piece made chuckle and laugh quite a bit, due to the fact of how ignorant and oblivious were to Indian culture.  Most of them probably still viewed Mukharji and his company as uncivilized but in fact, they were the more intelligent ones, and were able to see just how culturally inept the English were at the time.

In Memoriam #120

 To begin I'd like to talk about what I found interesting about as a whole. If you didn't read the intro, In Memoriam is a book of poems inspired by the feelings and thoughts ALT had concerning the short life of his best friend. My fascination can be best explained via the questions I have. Did anything get lost when ALT translated his thoughts into the lyric rhyme scheme? Did the time that ALT spent crafting the thoughts into poems alter the initial ideas? I guess just in general what is the relationship between the lyric poem and the raw material of thought.
As for number 120 specifically, I did not find it entirely compelling. I did however enjoy the first two lines, "I trust I have not wasted breath:/I think we are not wholly brain." I felt it displayed the conundrum of these poems. I read it, I haven't wasted my time with these poems: I think you can hear me in a form beyond the physical. A metaphysical dilemma pops up. The brain is the source of tribute or form of communication, and yet he hopes there is something else that exist beyond, but can still comprehend in terms of brain functions, i.e., thoughts. After writing that, I am more confused than when I begun.

SHE...oh the irony!

So basically what I want to discuss about SHE by H. Rider Haggard, is how ironic it is that despite the title, this book still has a pretty anti-female theme going on.  I personally thought this title was a big step in the right direction for women in general for this time because it leads readers to believe that females are important enough to be the title and subject of a book!  However, I noticed a few little details within the book that led me to believe that females, along with people of color, still do not find themselves on the same playing field as white men.  We read in the second chapter of the book that while Holly is newly in charge of the baby Leo, and is looking for someone to help take care of him, he suggests, "I would have no woman to lord it over me about the child, and steal his affections from me.  The boy was old enough to do without female assistance, so I set to work to find a suitable male attendant."  Either Holly feels threatened by women taking the credit for rearing this small child, or he just doesn't see the importance of a woman in Leo's life.  We see a second example of this when even She suggests that she is but a woman despite her overwhelming age and power.  Though She knows how powerful she is, she understands the inequality of her gender versus the male gender.  We also see an apparent inequality of the races within this book as well between the African and Arabian people and the white European people.  I just thought it was ironic to see many suggestions of gender inequality with such an extreme book which focuses on the power of a single woman.

SHE! What a mean girl!

So I am particularly fond of Haggard's "She" and here is why:

I think it is super cool how this mystery starts off. I mean could you imagine someone giving you a gift and then telling you that you cant open it for 25 years?!? Its like a Christmas Eve that lasts 219,145 hours. I would go crazy.. But anyway. That's not why I love this story.

Ayesha is the original mean girl! I'm pretty in tune with my inner feminist and I love the idea of women being in power but COME ON~ this is a story of a women who killed her "true love" during a temper tantrum! I love how caddy she is because it makes for great entertainment. Ayesha is uber jealous of Ustane, which is also such a girly move because she thinks Ustane is trying to move in on Leo, who looks like the lover she killed. Are you still with me? MEAN GIRL.
As for my social commentary for the story: I don't know what side of female empowerment Haggard lies on but I don't think hes pro-feminism.While Ayesha is a great source of entertainment and her character "must be obeyed," you would think he's giving women some credit--- I think he is just really being sarcastic. No one really liked Regina George, the leader of the Plastics. She was a bitch that people made fun of. Ayesha is vein enough to bathe in the fountain of youth TWICE, which is also Haggard's critique on how women view the value of beauty, something that has thus been drilled into our heads so far this semester. This story definitely is comment on feminism.. It's just hard to figure out what team Haggard is really on!

The Visual Haggard

(Posted for Erica)
The visual Haggard is a digital archive intended to preserve novelist H. Rider Haggard's illustrations. I guess this guy was big on illustrations in his novels because there are atleast over 50 images. I even fooled around with the site and discovered some interesting illustrations. There are so many that it's crazy to think Haggard had the time to write all these novels and to get illustrators to create these images to go along with it back in the day. Some images are really graphic. One in particular was an illustration showing a dwarf jumping straight into the air with sharp knives coming in his direction. I can only assume that could be one crazy hell of a story. Another image was a gladiator type of man standing on the boat surrounded by dark lifeless bodies hanging off and on a ship. Although some of these images are disturbing, it's pretty cool that there are images that go along with the novels. This leads me to think that Haggard has a pretty creative mind. There are over 50 illustrations that go along with the texts and every single image seems like there is a bizarre plot behind it. Out of curiousity I researched Haggard and his work. Haggard has been praised for his literary skill and sheer imaginitive power. Through the images I already praise the guy. Also a fun fact I read is that Haggard created the character Allan Quatermain in one of his works and that character became the template for Indiana Jones. What a bad ass! Anyways, many readers have a hard time visualizing what they read. This is a problem especially for me when I read these old British literature texts because I am not use to it. This digital archive is a great way for readers to understand Haggard's texts a little bit better. The website also includes brief summaries of the novels. For instance, I looked at this week's reading She and the visual haggard displayed a brief summary of the plot and detailed information about when the novel was published. There is also a picture displayed that was probably included in the original text of the book. The picture is of the sherd of amenartas which was locked in Leo's fathers iron box and lead Leo, Holly, and their servant on their adventure to eastern Africa. They follow the directions on the sherd of amenartas, but from looking at the image I barely see any real directions. To me, it looks like gibberish. The only real words I can point out are "The Earth and She" which doesn't really help. Maybe it is written in a different old foreign language, but it's pretty weird to see this and make sense of what the characters followed in the story. I also discovered that there is a blog on the website. I guess this blog allows any reader to write any comments they want. This is interesting because most sites don’t have an option for readers to express their thoughts. Also weird because it is a site to preserve and share Haggard’s illustrations, I guess people still have a lot to say on the matter. 

Shelly's "The Mortal Immortal": Plagued by the Gift of Immortality

Honestly, I couldn't help but to think of Twilight before reading Mary Shelly's, The Mortal Immortal. But, thankfully, the plot line to this tale was a lot more realistic then a story about sparkling vampires. I enjoyed reading this story because Shelly was efficient in portraying the realities of living for forever. When you first think of immortality, obviously it sounds like the best thing in the world. I mean, dying is like the worst thing that could happen to you, right? And I couldn't tell you how many times my mother has complained about her incoming grey hairs and the wrinkles that seem to appear on her face overnight. Who wouldn't like to look like they were 20 for forever? There are so many anti-wrinkle creams on the market that I'm pretty sure the majority would agree.

Youth is idolized so much in society today, and media pressingly advertises that beauty is youth.  But Shelly puts a different spin on living forever, and the problems she proposes are legitimate. The narrator introduces the conflict of aging in the beginning of the story, "I detected a gray hair amidst my brown locks this very day- that surely signifies decay" (987). I found this line to be very interesting, and not only because I am very fond of rhymes. It is a very straight-foward statement, plus I was impressed that he was able to spot that single grey hair. To me, the rhyme that Shelly uses, charges this sentence positively. I laughed at the thought that the narrator probably wished he had more grey hairs. But, it also was foreshadowing all the negatives that the narrator, Winzy, would have to suffer due to his preserved youth. "Could I imagine that the despicable gifts of youth and good looks outweighted disgrace, hatred, and scorn?" (993) I think not, and the problem here lies with his lover, Bertha.

It is quite apparent that Winzy is madly in love with Bertha. The way he first describes her makes her seem to be a lovely girl with good morals. She appears like quite a catch for Winzy, ultimately because he is so poor and she lives in a castle. But after she was introduced, I had such a hard time finding anything to adore in her character. But, love is blind they say. Which is ironic because Bertha doesn't seem to return the favor when the tables turn. Bertha reveals her selfishness and immaturity when she said, "You pretend to love, and you fear to face the Devil for my sake!" Winzy, appearing wiser, immediately explained, "I protested that I had only dreaded to offend her- while she dwelt on the magnitude of the reward that I should receive" (988). These statements showed me how much Winzy did love Bertha, and it broke my heart to watch her get progressively more annoying as their relationship went on.

As a little side note, I picked up on a few interesting choices Shelly used as descriptive words. For example, "living waters," and "a year passed away." By stating things in this manner, I believe Shelly is trying to enforce the theme of life and death. Throughout the tale of The Mortal Immortal, Winzy is plagued by the gift of immortality.

The magic potion that Cornelius concocted was the most fascinating aspect of this tale. The way it looked was magical and beautiful, just like youth would appear to an older person. "I gazed on it in wonder; flashes of admirable beauty, more bright than those which the diamond emits when the sun's rays are on it" (989). It was a unbelievable to think that a potion this magnificent would stop a person from loving. It seemed like it would do the opposite, and in fact it did. The effects of the medicine on Winzy were awesome. Honestly, its seemed similar to that of an anti-depression drug at first, but Cornelius's potion surpasses any kind of medicine our scientists have created today. The potion granted immortality, which people have spent their lives in search of. Cornelius basically created the Fountain of Youth in a beaker.

 I wonder if Winzy would have not taken it if he knew what the side effects were, but then again, he was blindly in love with Bertha and probably could not imagine her become so jealous of him. He was instructed not to drink the potion in the first place "Do not touch the vessel- do not put it to your lips" (989). But he did anyway.

Its a shame Bertha took such a negative view on her husband's prolonged youth. They both could've enjoyed their life much better if she wasn't so jealous. There was no way he was going to leave her because he loved her so much. And Bertha, as self centered as she was, should of been pleased with a husband that never looked a day older than 20. I wish that the magic potion saved Cornelius's life so he could make some more, because I'd love to get my hands on some of that stuff!

The Mortal Immortal: Fear of Death in a Never Ending Life

             The fear of death is natural for all people. No one wants to die, especially without making an impact.  However, how long is too long to live? The narrator in Shelley’s The Mortal Immortal portrays just how painful time can be, especially when alone. He opens the story with a line that really stuck with me. He says, “The weight of never ending time – the tedious passage of the still succeeding hours” (986).  He shows just how long his life is dragging out, and he knows there is no end near. He then goes on to describe his life as boring and calls himself a victim. I find that very interesting because he brought this life upon himself. Everything bad that happens is due to his temptations and need for things he cannot have.  

            The narrator, “Winzy” raises the question, “Am I immortal?” He hopes that he only has been cursed with an extremely long life, and not one for all eternity. The interesting question, we as readers should ask is how did he get himself in this position? Struck by love and pain, he wanted to free himself from the curse of loving Bertha. Ironically enough, this trapped him in a new curse, the curse of immortality. On a side note, what did he see in Bertha? She was not very kind to him, pestered him all of the time and told him to go make a horrible deal to earn himself more money. But hey, love is love? Yuck.

...If only 

            The most interesting thing about the potion Winzy drinks is that at first it makes him feel incredible. He says, “my thoughts were in heaven” and he could see the “beauty of heaven and the earth”. This is some pretty peaceful and beautiful imagery for a man who on the previous page wanted sweet revenge from a “false and cruel” worthless girl who he detested and felt bitter scorn for. This potion tempts Winzy just as he was tempted by gold. He wanted something he could not have. First he wanted money to win Bertha’s love, and then he wanted to feel anything but love because she could not be with him. See a pattern here? Bertha kind of sucks.  So of course he ends up falling more deeply in love with her and they run off together. She says, “Take me to your mother’s cot; swiftly let me leave the detested luxuries and wretchedness of this noble dwelling – take me to poverty and happiness” (991). So now she doesn’t care about money? Interesting. She probably sees his new good looks acquired from the potion.

            When Bertha starts to age and Winzy stays young and healthy, it ruins their marriage. People shun them and believe he is cursed. She also feels self conscious of her aging and lack of beauty. A very interesting moment occurs when Winzy is speaking about Bertha dressing herself up to look young. He says, “I could not be angry – did I not myself wear a mask? Why quarrel with hers, because it was less succesfull” (994).  He points that she is simply trying to look younger, something he successfully has. He has a false appearance of youth that he cannot make go away. The difference is he wants to age and she is ashamed of her getting older.

            Winzy stays with his wife until she dies, despite the shame it brings her to be with him. For some strange reason, despite her constantly trying to prove he was aging and looking for faults in him, Winzy loves Bertha unconditionally. After her passing, his immortality becomes more unbearable.  He continues to wish that he wouldn’t live forever. Some of the most haunting and poetic lines in the story read, “Yes the fear of age and death often creeps coldly into my heart; and the more I live, the more I dread death, even while I abhor life. Such an enigma is man—born to perish—when he wars, as I do, against the established laws of this nature” (995).  He is saying that no matter how weary he grows of life, he is still afraid to die. This, is what makes him a mortal immortal. He feels, he longs, he dreads and he suffers. Though he cannot age nor die, he suffers the same fears and desires of any other man. However, for him, this pain and suffering can last a lifetime.  By writing this story, he is making his mark and leaving his impact. Although he may not be happy, he is making his impact on the world, and leaving his name and his story to be known.

Final comment, Tuck Everlasting totally ripped of this plot 

Bright Star

Jeez this poem really made me sad after reading it. The idea of death scares the crap out of all of us, some more than others. I speak for myself when saying I hate thinking about dying because it is obviously one of my biggest fears. We live like nothing can touch us, but not Keats. The poem’s opening lines are “My spirit is too weak- mortality” suggesting that he is weak and death is on his mind. After reading the poem focusing so much on death I did a little research. John Keats was diagnosed with terminal tuberculosis and dreamed of living long enough to achieve his poetic dream of becoming as great as Shakespeare. After learning this it broke my heart and felt bad for the guy. This whole poem is Keats pondering his mortality and making an effort to stay alive. This was suggested in the following lines “Weighs heavily on me like unwilling sleep”. UNWILLING SLEEP, yup that sounds scary to me. Then Keats takes us on this imagination ride. For instance, the lines “Like a sick eagle looking at the sky” definitely gives us this image of him being sick pondering at the sky. However, there might be this further meaning...I might be wrong eek… that Keats only way to be immortalized is through art or poetry. I think this because this guy is just struggling to do all such great things in the time he has left. After reading the poem a second time I think that it may be a message for us to achieve what we dream of with the time we have left. I know it sounds cheesey and maybe I’m just reading this poem totally wrong (wouldn’t be the first time), but I think Keats is suggesting to live every day like it’s our last or in other words YOLO. 
(Posted for Erica)

John Keats- “Bright Star, would I were stedfast as thou art”

In Bright Star, John Keats begins by giving a nod to Romanticism because he addressing the poem to a star. The way he used  the adjective “stedfast” to describe the star made me think of the North Star. This is because people used to navigate the seas and to find their way home because of its fixed, unchanging position in the sky. I thought that Keats might have made this connection to show how people search for guidance in their own lives. I read the part about his life in the textbook and he lost both of his parents at a young age and lived a life of poverty. I thought that by talking to an unchanging star Keats was showing how people look for stability in life which he lacked in his own life. My favorite lines in the poem were “Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask/ Of snow upon the mountains and the moors” because it was such vivid imagery (7-8). I thought the images that Keats presented for the reader fit the poem’s theme of loneliness well. Although the star in the poem lives a very unchanging life, it is all alone in the sky. Moors and mountains are devoid of humans and the “mask of snow”, while very pretty looking, only makes me think of these two settings as even more barren and deserted. I also really liked the last two lines of “Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,/ And so live ever- or else swoon to death,” (13-14). While the last lines may be a little dramatic, I liked the contrast between life and death in having the two lines right next to each other. I thought this emphasized the finality and permanence of death to the reader.

Ode to West Wind Thoughts

“Ode to The West Wind” took me on quite the whirlwind. Get it? I understand it was corny, but I tried all right? As a biology major for three years I understand wind from a scientific perspective, but I may be totally lost on my interpretation and analysis here. Please forgive me if I am off base or completely wrong. Split into 5 different sections, there is distinct analysis of the West Wind and its purpose along with the narrator's thoughts on it. I found the ode intriguing and will provide some analysis into the sections and an overall interpretation.

In the first part, the wind is seen as a preserver and destroyer in description as it mentions the spread of disease, but also the pollinator of plants. Therefore we see the two dichotomous natures of wind in that sense. In the second part wind in the sense of the heavens, bringing about storms and over the atmosphere is shown where precipitation an thunder commence (specifically in line 28). In the third part he speaks of its effect upon the sea and even there it's power is recognized. Like the first two sections “O hear” is mentioned. In the fourth and fifth pars the perspective and writing changes. Here the narrator asks to specifically be brought along with the winds and see what it sees and be used by it. In line 57 requesting to be used as a “lyre.” As Shelley progresses from season to season and the wind's purpose, it points towards that of the divine and sublime. The wind is a breath of life and is characterized to that of God. It's strength is vast and all spreading throughout the world and the seasons represents different times in life where God has a part in it. Spring as life, fall and summer as growth and slow decline, and then winter which he references in the last line as the end but also the prequel to a new cycle. As the wind can control that of death, spread life, and brings empowerment, the Wind is something Shelley calls upon to empower himself.

Wind also does this:

Not really relevant, but I thought it was cute.