Explication Of Ulysses In this poem, Tennyson reworks the figure of Ulysses by drawing on the ancient hero of Homer's Odyssey. Homer's Ulysses learns from a prophecy that he will take a final sea voyage after killing the suitors of his wife Penelope. Ulysses finds himself restless in Ithaca and driven by "the longing I had to gain experience of the world”. Ulysses says that there is little point in his staying home "by this still hearth" with his old wife, handing out rewards and punishments
An Explication of Washing Day One Source Cited The poem Washing Day by Anna Letitia Barbauld illustrates two different points of view of the events that are happening on washing day. The first view is how the people surrounding the author feel towards the chores to be done that day. The second is the view from the author when she was a child, observing all that is happening. The idea of the poem is to bring to the reader's attention the joy and innocence of childhood, while at the same
Assignment 1: Explication from Hamlet (1.3.111-137) (“My lord, he hath importuned me with love” … [end of scene]. Ophelia and Polonius have a father-daughter discussion toward the end of Act 1 where Polonius, concerned father that he is, warns his daughter Ophelia of becoming too involved with Hamlet. This warning comes just as Laertes, brother and son, has bid farewell. Laertes has just warned Ophelia himself of getting involved with Hamlet—this is the first time the audience is alerted to the
An Explication of The Garden of Love My original interpretation of "The Garden of Love" encompassed the speaker as a person who was scared to move on in their life and in love. I thought (he) was afraid of failure, afraid of losing childhood innocence in the wake of adulthood decisions and expectations. I funneled my theory into a neat little package that contained the Chapel as a symbol for marriage (or adult themes), and the Garden to stand for his life, or thoughts. I further belabored
An Explication of Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night In this poem Thomas makes a very personal appeal to his father as the latter approaches death. He pleads with him not just to surrender to death but to fight death as long as possible. His plea also becomes universal as Thomas addresses also all other people approaching death, not to accept death as inevitable, but rather to fight against dying. Whether men have been strong or weak throughout their lives, they should still make a stand
A Poetry Explication "Poetry is the revelation of a feeling that the poet believes to be interior and personal [but] which the reader recognizes as his own." (Salvatore Quasimodo). There is something about the human spirit that causes us to rejoice in shared experience. We can connect on a deep level with our fellow man when we believe that somehow someone else understands us as they relate their own joys and hardships; and perhaps nowhere better is this relationship expressed than in that of
Our universe is an ever-turning wheel that maintains a beautiful balance of life. On the spokes of this wheel the existence of all things is assured; life is given, bodies and souls are fed, each position on the wheel is cultivated by the next, and then one day we will pass away, only to start the circle again in another mysterious way. Take a moment to look around you and see the many cycles that exist for the sole purpose of keeping our wheel in motion, and then recognize how little these great
explication of e. e. cummings' poem since feeling is first e. e. cummings' "since feeling is first" is about feeling (802). This is immediately evident from the title and first line, which emphasize the word "feeling" in several different ways. The stresses on "feel-" and "first," as well as the alliteration between those two words, make explicit their connection and importance, and the repetition of the same line in both title and first line serves to enhance the effect. The meaning
An Explication of Tennyson's The Lady of Shalott Children often grow up listening to fairy tales. Repunsel is one fairy tale about a girl cursed to live a life of isolation in a tower. She longs to break free from seclusion and become part of the outside world. She eventually finds her one true love and risks her life to be with him. "The Lady of Shalott" by Lord Alfred Tennyson relates to Repunsel in many ways. In this poem, Tennyson tells a story of isolation. The woman in this ballad
Ogichidag I was born in war, WW Two. Listened as the old men told stories of getting gassed in the trenches, WW One. Saw my uncles come back from Guadalcanal, North Africa and the battle of the Bulge. Memorized war stories my cousins told of Korea. Felt the fear in their voices. Finally it was my turn, my brothers too. Joined the marines in the time for the Cuban Missile Crisis Heard the crack of rifles in the rice paddies south of Da Nang. Watched my friends die there then tasted
Explication of William Blake's A Poison Tree William Blake's "A Poison Tree" (1794) stands as one of his most intriguing poems, memorable for its vengeful feel and sinister act of deceit. This poem appears in his famous work Songs of Innocence and Experience: Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul (1794), placed significantly in the "Songs of Experience" section. As with many of his poems, Blake wants to impart a moral lesson here, pointing of course to the experience we gain
Explication of T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" In T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," the author is establishing the trouble the narrator is having dealing with middle age. Prufrock(the narrator) believes that age is a burden and is deeply troubled by it.. His love of some women cannot be because he feels the prime of his life is over. His preoccupation with the passing of time characterizes the fear of aging he has. The poem deals with the aging and fears
Sharon Olds’ poem “Late Poem to My Father” exposes the profound effect that childhood trauma can have on someone, even in adulthood. The speaker of the poem invokes sadness and pity in the reader by reflecting on the traumatic childhood of her father, and establishes a cause and effect relationship between the abuse he endured as a child and the dependence he develops on alcohol as an adult. The idea of emotional retardation caused by childhood experiences is not uncommon, especially in our modern
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Passage Explication (928 -1207) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written in the fourteenth century by an anonymous contemporary of Geoffrey Chaucer. It is a tale of bravery, adventure, and coming of age. This is the ballad of Sir Gawain, one of King Arthur's knights, who is challenged to seek the green knight whose head he chopped off during the Arthur's Christmas dinner. The Modern English translation by Marie Boroff (1967) makes the poem easier to read and
In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” a family of six set out on a vacation to Florida while an extremely dangerous criminal is on the loose. The family takes the grandmother, who is outraged that the family is traveling while The Misfit is scanning the countryside. Throughout the short story, O’Connor drops many hints to the reader, ultimately leading to the terrifying climax. Foreshadowing is more commonly noticed the second time a story is read as opposed to the first. Readers will
An Explication of “Falling Stars” by Jennifer Recchio The poem “Falling Stars” by Jennifer Recchio appeared within the 2012 Zephyrus, published by Western Kentucky University’s English department. This poem shows distinct strengths and weaknesses throughout, but overall I found this poem to be rather well done. The meaning of this poem comes through effectively, aided by the use of strong imagery, but hindered slightly by word choice that disrupts the flow a few times within, and a lack of punctuation
Travis VandeNoord English 3072O 708176 Assignment 7 Jan 2, 2014 Explication of “The Dead Baby” by William Carlos William The themes of the Modernist movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were often grounded in a sense of realism that was lacking in earlier fiction and poetry. William Carlos Williams focused his poetry on subject matter that revolved around the lives of typical Americans and the events and circumstances of everyday life. Like with other modernist poets, Williams
Abigail Williams: “I am but God's finger, John. If he would condemn Elizabeth, she will be condemned.” This quote is from the mouth of Abigail, the leader of the girls involved at the center of the plot. She is talking with John, and trying to rationalize the things that the girls are doing. Proctor knows what is at the heart of the matter as Abigail is merely trying to get rid of his wife so that they can be together, something that he no longer wants. This situation shows the reader that Abigail
Poetic and rhetorical devices are used to create the tone of a poem. With a defined and structured tone, the meaning of a poem can be more clearly and effectively conveyed. The poem “Jehovah buried, Satan dead” by E.E. Cummings has a distinct meaning that has been heightened by its tone. The tone is also accented through the use of rhetorical and poetic devices. A few of these devices include onomatopoeia, conceit, slant rhyme, the form, sound, and repetition. Starting with an evaluation of the meaning
In the seven-stanza poem “Jabberwocky,” Carroll tells the story of a fairy-tale, filled with beasts and bravery. He begins the poem as though the speaker knows voluminous descriptive details about the “Jabberwocky,” but as the reader we don’t know exactly what it is, or what it looks like. The poem itself might then be considered a disarray of words by the speaker in which he presents his description of a heroic action. Lewis Carroll, although using a jumble of words in his poem, never the less tells