God’s Grandeur
The young Duchess can be seem as the epitome of natural sexuality. Her nature was such that she gave in to her emotions and saw the emotions in others. In “My Last Duchess,” Robert Browning mirrors the sentiments of the Victorians of that period. By providing an insight into the character of the Duchess, the readers are given a preview of things to come and how the passionate personality of the Duchess would ultimately lead to her unenviable fate. 2. “… The glamour/Of childish days is upon me. ” (Points :5)
It does not take a lot to jog one’s memory or stir one’s emotions; an object, a familiar scent, a reminiscent scene. In the poem of D. H Lawrence entitled, “Piano,” he calls upon that familiar sensation or experience that we have all once felt when we encounter that stimulus that brings us back to days gone by. The glamour of the childhood days is truly so as it allowed the child to determine who he could be, before his manhood was cast. In this case, the memory is that of the piano and the cherished memories that it invokes. 3. “a moonmoth, folded into sleep” (Points :5)
It is strange how something as imposing and bulky as a “one ton temple bell” can provide the serene image of tranquility and peace as a “moonmoth, folded into sleep” rests gently on the massive metal frame of the temple bell. Yet, that is precisely the image that is provided in the haiku “On the one-ton temple bell,” by Taniguchi Buson. The temple bell had many uses, to warn of enemies approaching or to call the members of the temple to assembly. By providing the contrast of the moonmoth, it gives the peaceful reassuring message that it shall no longer be used for war.
4. “And for all this, nature is never spent. ” (Points :5) As we gaze at the environmental destruction that man has wrought upon the earth, we cannot help but hope that Gerard Manley Hopkins in “God’s Grandeur” was right that “nature is never spent. ” While this was written in a previous century, it is shocking that despite man’s wanton destruction nature still does exist and is never spent. Perhaps Hopkins was referring not to nature as quantity but rather as containing the essence of God.
With the resilience and splendor of the Holy Ghost, nature will always prevail even after man has long left this earth. 5. “the wild freedom of the dance, extasy silent solitary illumination, entasy. ” (Points :5) More than simple passion and emotion, this line provides the highlight of the poem as it attempts to describe what it takes to be a poet. It matters not so much that a poet is able to rhyme or reason. It matters not that he is knowledgeable of all things in life. The thing that matters the most is how all of that is encapsulated in a single verse, a single line or a single poem.
As Gary Snyder so aptly describes in “What You Should Know to be a Poet” once that has been accomplished there is no feeling quite like it, jubilant in the freedom that it provides yet at the same time “solitary” in the illumination that such epiphany provides. 6. “… with hooves always placed on firm ground in whose limbs there is latent flight. ” (Points :5) A “Simile” in every sense of the word, the lines reflect that different changes in one’s life. There are times that we feel as if we are unable to move or even unwilling to move for lack of direction or even for fear of failure.
Yet, in that moment of hesitance, the strength of character is revealed. It is not that one is incapable but rather that there is no drive to do so. Such “latent flight” shows the capacity to move forward but without the will or the mind to urge the hooves or the legs to move, one will always be planted on firm ground. It is this image that N. Scott Momaday shows in this poem “Simile. ” 7. “And each slow dusk a drawing down of blinds. ” (Points :5) There is nothing more terrifying than having to survive a war and remembering the death and suffering around, reliving every horrifying moment like it was yesterday.
The stench of death is one that is never cleansed once it clings to one’s body. This is the imagery that Wilfred Owen portrays in his “Anthem for Doomed Youth,” which was one of the first anti-war poems. In this poem, there are no candles, there are no flowers, there is only death that slowly creeps in, inevitable at the end of each day as dusk approaches. 8. “Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi’ the sun: And I will love thee still, my dear, While the sands o’ life shall run. ” (Points :5)
In the poem, “Oh, my love is like a red, red rose,” by Robert Burns, we see one of man’s numerous attempts to define in words the meaning of love. As love is immortal and ever lasting, it is compared to things that man perceives to be timeless. By comparing love to something as large as the sea or as old as the sun, Burns tries to portray that is love is as endless, boundless and unceasing as these things. He shows that he will love until he can until his very last breath. 9. “. . . I saw the new moone, wi’ the auld moone in hir arme. ” (Points :5)
A death foretold is usually one that is avoided but in this case there was no escaping his fate. “Sir Patrick Spence” was as loyal as a man could be to his King yet his loyalty was rewarded with death. Sensing that there was an impending storm that the skies foretold, and perhaps certain death, the warnings were left unheeded as he left the port and sailed to his demise. This is also reflective of the practice in the olden days of looking at the moon and the skies to judge whether it was good sailing weather. In this case, despite the clear indications, Sir Patrick Spence decided, against better judgment, to honor his king and sail.
10. “For entertaining Plated Wares Upon My Silver Shelf” (Points :5) Love can be sparked by many things, the scent of a loved one or even a token gift from a loved. In the same regard, Emily Dickinson in “It Dropped So Low – in My Regard,” speaks of the how something so cherished can easily lose its meaning once the person or loved one it is associated with also loses his or her meaning. Her silver which she regarded so highly before is now nothing more as it crashes to the floor, revealing its lack of value, its insignificance for which the author blames herself for ever being fooled. 11.
“The massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band. ” (Points :5) Coming from a society that is patriarchal in nature, it is refreshing to see a fresh perspective on women. Often times, the wedding band is construed as a ball and chain for men and not so much for women. Yet, in “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” by Adrienne Rich, it shows how a brilliant and talented woman is prevented from achieving her full potential because of “Uncle’s wedding band. ” Instead of liberating her and allowing her to explore, it acts like a ball and chain for her and prevents her from moving around. 12. “And like a thunderbolt he falls.
” (Points :5) Lasting not even a split second, a thunderbolt is so powerful and has so much energy that it can light up the sky even so briefly. Yet, in that brief moment, a powerful impression is burned into the onlookers eyes, long after the thunderbolt has fallen and disappeared. Alluding to the grandeur of an eagle, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, attempts to describe the beauty and majesty with which an eagle glides in the heavens and swoops down to the earth. While the entire action may happen in only a blink of an eye, the beauty of such an event is emblazoned in one’s memory.
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