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Sandburg, Carl. Modern American Poetry
Poem limited carl sandburg
Carl sandburg chicago poems 1916
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The beauty of the English language is that there is a word for all situations. Poets, Carl Sandburg and Ezra Pound were master wordsmiths. Pound tries to mesh the magnificence of nature with the metronomic rhythm of an underground rail-system in his poem “In a Station of the Metro”. Sandburg also attempts to unite nature and the cityscape. The pulse of Sandburg’s “Fog” plays out similar to Planet Earth. Unlike Planet Earth, which has hours of narrative explaining the grandeur of earth; “Fog” is able to mesh the city and nature in just six lines. Pound interlaces the urban landscape and nature as if he were mixing oil and vinegar. Pound pours nature into the city, but when you leave both at rest you can clearly see which is heavier. Sandburg is also mixing two metaphorical fluids, but his two liquids are Columbian dark roast coffee and non-dairy creamer. His words, just like coffee and creamer blend slowly until you cannot differentiate the difference between the two. Ezra Pound’s word choice is stunning, but he is unable to interlock the city with nature as well as Carl Sandburg does.
When arriving at the station of Pound’s poem we are already underground and isolated from nature. We start the poem with “The apparition of these faces in the crowd” (line 1). The speaker is clearly watching the train cars rapidity enter the station. Only slowing down fast enough to pick-up passengers, like trash being taken onto a garbage truck. The train’s passengers appear as apparitions, quick to fade in and just as quick to go.
The underground transit system is a complete separation form nature, no natural light dare travel down there. There is beauty in watching a train move through the untouched wilderness. The beauty, in part is the train...
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...fog comes in without bothering anyone and leaves in the same manner.
The unity of nature and the city is a difficult thing to merge together. Although Pound made a valiant effort in trying to combine the two were in vain. Pound took the city underground and in turn was missing out on all the wonders that were just a couple feet above. Man tried to separate himself from force of the natural world, but no matter how much concrete was placed on the walls life would still find a way to grow. Sandburg on the other hand beautifully mixed nature and the city like coffee and creamer. The fog would slowly drift over the city like a pet cat slowly walking across the living room. They both happen without warning, but we accept it and embrace the beauty. The unity between nature and the industrialized world in “Fog” is superior at interlocking the two units with such elegance.
In this poem, “On the Subway”, written by Sharon Olds brings two worlds into proximity. We will identify the contrast that develops both portraits in the poem and discuss the insights the narrator comes to because of the experience. The author refers to several literary techniques as tone, poetic devices, imagery, and organization. The poem talks about a historical view based on black and white skin. It positions the two worlds the point of view of a black skinned and a white skinned. The boy is described as having a casual cold look for a mugger and alert under the hooded lids. On the other hand, based on his appearance the white skinned person felt threatened by the black boy. She was frightened that he could take her coat, brief case, and
Foulcher’s Summer Rain represents a juxtaposed view of suburbia towards the natural environment throughout his poem, as he explains societies daily repetitive tasks. This idea is expressed through Foulcher’s use of simile, in the stanza “steam rising from ovens and showers like mist across a swampland.” This simile makes the comparison between average tasks completed in the urban world, such as cooking or showering to a natural situation such as a swampland, creating a feeling of bother and discomfort for the readers, as swamplands are generally humid, insect ridden and muddy. This effectively makes the readers feel this way, not of the swamplands that are compared, but of the tasks in the home that are conveyed. Similarly, Foulcher uses simile in “clutter on the highway like abacus beads. No one dares overtake,” to illustrate the lack of free will in society as abacus beads are on a set path, there is no freedom or individuality. This demonstrates how where everything is busy and cramped, there is no room in society to notice the small simplistic divinities in the natural world around them. The complexity and mundanity of society causes the simplistic beauties of nature to be
Chris McCandless: a man so infatuated with nature, he practically committed suicide to bring himself nearer to it. This extreme liking for nature, along with other ideals, makes up the core tenets of the transcendentalist philosophy. McCandless demonstrates other tenets of transcendentalism as well, most notably the supremacy of the individual, by detaching himself from the mammon of this world. Another way he shows the supremacy of the individual, by the belief that one should not conform to the usual policies of life, causes him great trouble in some cases. As well as the belief that the individual supersedes all else, McCandless received much of his inspiration from nature. Finally, always following what he believes correct, McCandless follows his own intuition to the point of death. Chris McCandless not only shows his transcendentalist beliefs by the way he acts and thinks, but also by how these actions and thoughts emulate those of the fathers of transcendentalism, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
There are times throughout the history of the United States when its citizens have felt the need to revolt against the government. There were such cases during the time of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau, when there was unfair discrimination against the Afro-American community and Americans refusing to pay poll taxes to support the Mexican War. They used civil disobedience to eventually get legislation to stop the injustice brought against them and their nation. Civil disobedience is defined as refusal to obey civil laws or decrees, which usually takes the form of passive resistance. People practicing civil disobedience break a law because they consider the law unjust, and want to call attention to its injustice, hoping to bring about its withdrawal.
Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau have very different views on the social contract largely based on their fundamental views of the state of nature in humanity. These basic views of natural human nature cause Hobbes and Rousseau to have views on opposite sides of the spectrum, based on two controversial speculations, that human is inherently good or that human is inherently inclined towards egotism and perpetual insecurity. Due to his belief that they are of this nature, Hobbes viewed an all-powerful sovereign of a rather totalarianistic nature to be necessary. Rousseau on the other hand, viewed that the sovereign should represent the common will of the people, the sovereign being agreed upon by all constituents. It is my assertion that Rousseau’s argument, although flawed in its own ways, is superior to Hobbes in that it has an answer for the inequalities that may arise in a society by Hobbes’ princples.
Thomas Paine was an activist for many causes throughout his lifetime including the abolition of slavery, government rule by democracy rather than a monarchy, and in later years about what he believed were falsehoods in the Bible. He was an advocate for freedom of the people and his writings were often controversial. He believed in democracy and leaned toward rule by the common man. After becoming a friend of Benjamin Franklin, he traveled to the colonies. While in the colonies his writings on the American Revolution caused him to become an enemy of the British Government. When he returned to Great Britain his writings as a proponent for the French Revolution caused him to have to flee to France to avoid arrest. His political stance in France eventually caused him to be imprisoned and he eventually had to flee again to the United States to escape long-term imprisonment. He traveled quite a bit and was able to see firsthand the American Revolution and the French Revolution. Thomas Paine was a gifted writer, and he was very devoted to his causes. He is extremely famous for his pamphlet Common Sense which he wrote about what he felt was the necessity for American independence and later had an input into the Constitution of the United States of America. There were a number of gifted male writers during this timeframe who wrote about the same issues, including Edmund Burke, so even though he was a revolutionary writer, he was not unique.
An influential literary movement in the nineteenth century, transcendentalism placed an emphasis on the wonder of nature and its deep connection to the divine. As the two most prominent figures in the transcendentalist movement, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau whole-heartedly embraced these principles. In their essays “Self-Reliance” and “Civil Disobedience”, Emerson and Thoreau, respectively, argue for individuality and personal expression in different manners. In “Self-Reliance”, Emerson calls for individuals to speak their minds and resist societal conformity, while in “Civil Disobedience” Thoreau urged Americans to publicly state their opinions in order to improve their own government.
Hobbes and Locke both abandoned the thought of the divine right of monarchy. Both did not agree with the fact that the ruler or assembly would have all power over its citizens. So basically they were against Absolutism and their views were that of rebels in their time period. Theses two philosophers both held similar ideas but also have conflicting ideas pertaining to the citizens "social contract" with their rulers, "Natural Condition of Mankind," and sovereignty.
the purpose to preserve was in vain" and he says they are all in the
John Winthrop and Ralph Waldo Emerson were two prominent figures in the literature and the political scene of the American history. Winthrop (1588-1649) was a governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He left England, along with a group of entrepreneurs in search of economic opportunities in the new world. Winthrop grew to become a strong puritan believer and possibly the pioneer of the Puritan faith. He believed that the English church was corrupted by its selfish leaders. Winthrop envisioned an idealized community in which all citizens would offer their lives to the service of God. On the other hand, Emerson (1803 –1882) was an American essayist, lecturer, thinker, philosopher, and poet. He was the leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the mid-19th century. He was regarded as a champion of individualism and a leader of the march against the pressure of society. His work and beliefs were documented in his published essays and lectures. Emerson gradually changed his views regarding religion and society. In the process, he developed his own way of thinking which revolved around the principles of transcendentalism and individualism. Winthrop and Emerson ideas of a utopia might have flourished from religious roots. However, their principals of Puritanism and transcendentalism were completely incongruent.
John Locke and Thomas Hobbes both believe that men are equal in the state of nature, but their individual opinions about equality lead them to propose fundamentally different methods of proper civil governance. Locke argues that the correct form of civil government should be concerned with the common good of the people, and defend the citizenry’s rights to life, health, liberty, and personal possessions. Hobbes argues that the proper form of civil government must have an overarching ruler governing the people in order to avoid the state of war. I agree with Locke’s argument because it is necessary for a civil government to properly care for its citizens, which in turn prevents the state of war from occurring in society. Locke also has a better argument than Hobbes because Hobbes’ belief that it is necessary to have a supreme ruler in order to prevent the state of war in society is inherently flawed. This is because doing so would create a state of war in and of itself.
Poems by Walt Whitman and Hanshan feature strong enlightenment ideals and prevalent references to nature as a way to achieve these ideals. Though the two men lived in very different times, their works carry similar messages. Following the path to enlightenment generally refers to the Buddhist Eightfold Path, though it has been adapted over time to refer to the state of understanding a person reaches, both of oneself and his or her surroundings, as well as of that beyond what can be sensed. Relying solely on one’s talents and denying society and worldly possessions are typically seen as characteristics of an enlightened person, as seen in the writings of both Whitman and Hanshan.
The water was calm, like the morning; both were starting to get ready for the day ahead. The silent water signals that although rough times occurred previously, the new day was a new start for the world. As I went closer to the water, I heard the subtle lapping of the water against the small rocks on the shore. Every sign of nature signals a change in life; no matter how slight, a change is significant. We can learn a lot from nature: whatever happens in the natural world, change comes and starts a new occurrence. I gazed over the water to where the sky met the sea. The body of water seemed to be endless under the clear blue sky. The scope of nature shows endless possibilities. Nature impresses us with the brilliant colors of the sky, the leaves, the water. She keeps us all in our places and warns us when we are careless with her. After all the leaves have fallen from the trees, she will offer us the first snows of the year to coat the earth with a tranquil covering. That will only be after we have recognized the lessons of autumn, the gradual change from warm to cold, rain to snow, summer to winter.
As the journey to the destination begun the atmosphere is horrid as they passed cheap motels half deserted streets and sawdust motels it all set a very bleak tone of lifelessness, to support this claim, “like a patient etherized upon a table.” (Eliot 368) although they also encountered a yellow fog most likely caused by industrialism it took a form of animal imagery finding comfort in its surroundings to support this claim, “The yellow fog that rubs t back upon the window-panes, the yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes, Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening.” (Eliot
John Locke, Berkeley and Hume are all empiricist philosophers. They all have many different believes, but agree on the three anchor points; The only source of genuine knowledge is sense experience, reason is an unreliable and inadequate route to knowledge unless it is grounded in the solid bedrock of sense experience and there is no evidence of innate ideas within the mind that are known from experience. Each of these philosophers developed some of the most fascinating conceptions of the relationships between our thoughts and the world around us. I will argue that Locke, Berkeley and Hume are three empiricists that have different beliefs.