Comparison of The Old Cumberland Beggar and Holy Thursday
Compare Wordsworth’s ‘The Old Cumberland Beggar. A Description’ (Romantic
Writings: An Anthology, pp.78-82) with Blake’s two ‘Holy Thursday
poems (Romantic Writings: An Anthology, pp.17 and 32). How do the
three poems differ in their treatment of the theme of poverty?
The title ‘The Old Cumberland Beggar’ (hereafter TOCB) immediately
gives us the concept that the poem relates in some way to poverty.
The words ‘old’ and ‘beggar’, conjuring up an image of an old man
wandering the streets. It is written in blank verse, creating an
informal tone, as in storytelling. With 3 stanzas of differing lengths
and no rhyme scheme, it comes across as a narrative rather than a
piece of poetry. This lack of rhyme and the use of enjambements all
the way through, makes it quite difficult to read as poetry. The
rhythm is of Iambic Pentameter, which does help it flow to a certain
extent, but this is hampered by the occasional awkward syntax. In
contrast, the ‘Holy Thursday’ from Blake’s Song of Innocence,
(hereafter HTSI), written in the form of 3 quatrains, or 4-lined
stanzas, has a rhyme scheme of aabb throughout, with a rhythm similar
to that of a hymn or nursery rhyme. This rhythm and the fact that the
language is very straightforward, creates a lively and easy to read
poem. Blake’s other ‘Holy Thursday’ poem, from Songs of Experience,
(hereafter HTSE), is written in simple language and is in the form of
4 quatrains/4-lined stanzas. The first has a rhyme scheme of abab,
but the remaining 3 stanzas have no rhyme pattern to them. However,
as the rhythm is fairly constant, being of iambic metre, it is quite
an easy read, having also a good syntax.
TOCB follows...
... middle of paper ...
.... Pages 161-181.
Chapter eight: Women Poets 1780-1830 by Amanda Gilroy. Pages 183-203.
Approaching Literature. Romantic Writings: An Anthology. Edited by
W.R. Owens and Hamish Johnson. OU A210anthi 1.2
Barrett Browning, Elizabeth L.E.L.’s Last Question.
Byron, George Gordon Don Juan: Dedication, Canto I.
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor Biographia Literia.
Gibson Lockhart, John from the Cockney School of Poetry.
Hemans, Felicia The Grave of a poetess.
Landon, Laeticia Elizabeth Stanzas on the Death of Mrs Heman.
Shelley, Percy Bysshe A defence of Poetry.
Smith, Charlotte Sonnet XXXII, To Melancholy.
Wordsworth, Dorothy Floating Island.
Wordsworth, William Preface to Lyrical Ballads 1802.
Audio
AC12, Band 2, reading of Charlotte Smith, ‘Sonnet XXXII. To
Melancholy’.
AC12, Band 2, reading of extract from Byron, Don Juan, Canto I.
Anne Boleyn in the spring of 1536 and the consolidation of power at court and in
For example, the metaphor; “Every breaths a gift, the first one to the last” (28). The use of this metaphor is to treat every day and breathing moment of your life as a gift. Therefore, your life should not be taken for granted and it is precious. Another poetic device is this lyric, “I believe that days go slow and years go fast” (27), this line is a form of paradox. This form of poetry is used to explain how the long days contradict the fast years and to cherish them. Life goes by in the blink of an eye, and it could have been wasted by regret, not making amends with people once trusted (forgiveness), and holding resentment. In addition, assonance is used frequently, for example, “I believe most people are good” (7) uses o’s is to elongate the sentence and create a slurred, calm feeling when the chorus is sung. Euphony is used in the lyric; “I believe them streets of gold are worth the work” (14), which creates a harmonious tone. The similar words “worth and work” sound the same so the sentence flows better together creating harmony. Finally, there is rhyming in most of the verses’, one of the examples is; “I believe we gotta forgive and make amends” (3), with “ ‘Cause nobody gets a second chance to make new old friends” (4). The rhyming of “amends and friends” aide the verse to become catchy which helps listeners enjoy the
Rhymes are two or more words that have the same ending sound. Songwriters and poets often times use rhymes to help their piece flow better, or keep the audience or readers engaged. Billy Joel’s song “We Didn’t Start the Fire” is filled with rhymes, with a rhyme in almost every single line: “Brando, the King and I, and the Catcher In The Rye / Eisenhower, Vaccine, England’s got a new Queen / Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye” (line 6-8). Billy Joel uses the rhymes to move from one topic to the next, and the song is even in chronological order from 1950 to 1989. The rhyme schemes of the song are end rhymes as well as perfect rhymes. On the other hand, the poem is completely free verse, or without a single rhyme. This makes the poem less artistic and harder to remain engaged and interested. In addition to rhyming, allusions are another way of displaying artistic
Lanston Hughes focuses more on rhythm then on rhyme, for example, the poem "The Weary Blues" reads like a blues song, which is what the poem is about. "Mother to Son" is a conversation a mother has to a child about what era life has been, and that no matter how hard life may seem, one should never give up climbing the "stairs". The poem seems to shift from good English to Black English and then back again, which to me shows...
Religion and government in England had always gone hand in hand, and if one group’s ideas did not coincide with England’s laws controlling the practice of religion they would be denied. The unification of church and state within European countries led to many wars, resulting in massive debt. As England declared themselves a Catholic country, Protestants who did not hold the same beliefs needed a new homeland where they could be free to worship in their own way. This new homeland was America, and it allowed Protestants, now calling themselves Puritans, to practice Christianity without government interference. While original settlers came to America to create a Christian homeland where they could practice their faith how they wanted, America quickly became a homeland for religious freedom through a mixing pot of differing religions, cultures, and ethnicities, enough open land for them to exist together, and the key idea of the separation of Church and State.
upon the natural ability of the race in song and is acknowledged to be Dunbar's
The tone of a poem can only by recognized when reading carefully and paying close attention to the words and what they might suggest. The rhyme scheme of My Papa’s Waltz is extremely relevant to the poem. For example, in the first stanza dizzy and easy create the rollicking rhythm, as does the following stanza’s with the same pattern. The structure of words create an almost "waltz" like melody. The phrase " we romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf" and " waltzed me off to bed" (Roethke 5-6, 15), convey a pleasant atmosphere to the reader. The title itself creates an affectionate attitude with the connection of Papa and waltz. The choice of words and details are used systematically to produce thoughts to the reader of happiness and affection, thus, establishing the tone of this poem.
rhyme. The poem has an A B A C D E A D rhyme. For instance, the words "Sense,"
Poetry is a distinct form of literature that is widely known for its ability to skillfully use words to paint an image in the minds of readers. Poetry often has great depth encouraging readers to look beyond the lines to reveal a hidden message. This style of writing is intended to convey an intense emotional response using repetition, rhythm, sound, and structure sometimes producing a music like quality. Lyrics similarly use repetition, rhythm, sound, and structure but are intended to be sung and heard through music. Song lyrics often lack a similar emotional depth, however, some lyricists have produced music that is able to capture the same components as poetry.
According to Eileen Gillooly, in Poetry for Young People: Rudyard Kipling, the flowing cadence of the poem is a well honed technique that Kipling often uses. She explains that Kipling worked carefully to make every word count and have a strong impact (4-5).
...ration, onomatopoeia, rhyme etc. One of the sound types I will be looking at is Full or perfect rhyme. This sound type is significant as in Dulce Et Decorum Est at the end of each sentence rhymes with the one before the last. This is significant as when reading this poem you notice this rhyming scheme and take more time to stop and ponder over the significance of the language it is based around and what connotations that word has: “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks” and “Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs”. This is one of the most effective rhyming schemes in the poem. Due to every second line rhyming this makes your remember what the poet was trying to put across in the previous lines as all the different lines have a way of tying in with one another.
and rhythm: " Come live with me and be my love " and the rhyme scheme
which each stanza is written in a quatrain gives the poem unity and makes it
The regular rhyme scheme -- A-B-C-C-B -- gives the poem a nursery-rhyme quality. In many places, the style seems to overpower the content: stanza 47 seems constructed solely to showcase the rhyme it contains: "Perhaps he's climbed into an oak / Where he will stay till he is dead" (ll. 233-234) is not really a worrisome fate, but it rhymes neatly with the last two lines of the stanza.
...fferent types of harmony, rhythm, and tuning that all music has in it is how we as people get things done whether you are an engineer or a doctor. I relate my life so much to music, because I might hear that beat that is going fast, and right then I might think I am living a fast-paced life and I want to change that, so then maybe I listen to a slower song that calms me down and slows time. Everybody’s life is a song and whether that song has lyrics or not is up to how we live our lives. My song would have lyrics and it would be a country song, but that is just me and I do so many of the things that country singers sing about. It could be a slow song sometimes or a fast song in country, it all depends on what I am going through in life. Everyone has their own song in life and it changes, mine has changed many times. Believe in yourself and make your life into music.