Mary Robinson’s The Haunted Beach
Mary Robinson’s “The Haunted Beach” tells a tale of a murder surrounded by mysterious supernatural activity, which ultimately culminates in a decisive, though equally intangible, moral judgment sentenced from above. The poem, characterized by juxtaposed contrasting images, unfolds neatly and rhythmically, as if determined by the hand of Fate herself. Like the “sea-birds hover’d craving” the reader fervently reads on, seeking some illumination on the “strong and mystic chain” which binds both men and nature’s actions which is never fully revealed. For all its semblance of order, the poem is marked by ambiguity and vagueness; pronouns have no clear antecedents, shadowy light covers the scene, and the events themselves are told in reverse order. Yet still Robinson strives to conclude with order and meaning, bringing together the strange mesh of seemingly opposed forces. Ultimately order does surface as unseen, intangible forces pass down a ruling, binding the fishermen to a slavish punishment.
For a poem “veil’d in gloom,” Robinson’s structure and rhyme scheme is oddly calculated and regular. The poem contains nine stanzas, each consisting of nine lines. The rhyme scheme of each stanza is also the same: ABCBDEDDE. The rhythmic regularity lends the poem the feeling of being controlled by an outside force, we if the hand of Fate guides the actors along their predestined path. Robinson constructs the poem in the past tense, save for the last two stanzas, further reinforces this sentiment, as we are led to a known outcome. The rhythm also lends itself to the powerful ocean imagery; the crashing waves and jutting cliffs mirror the inexplicable forces which unravel the story. The ordered stanzas co...
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...effectively mystifies the reader, imparting some sense of meaning and order behind the otherwise inexplicable events. Yet ultimately, even the order that is restored leaves the reader with probing questions about motivation, the circumstances surrounding the murder and to what degree non-human powers guided the events. Robinson’s poem strives to project meaning and order onto these happenings that are otherwise unknowable to the human eye. Her inability to ultimately assign reason to all happenings manifests in the contrasting imagery of order and disorder, natural and supernatural forces, passive humans and active nature. Just as Robinson reverses the transmission of her story, so she reverses the forces in the poem-world; the human beings attempt to control all facets of their lives and others, but cannot break out of the “strong and mystic chain” that binds them.
The timeline carries on chronologically, the intense imagery exaggerated to allow the poem to mimic childlike mannerisms. This, subjectively, lets the reader experience the adventure through the young speaker’s eyes. The personification of “sunset”, (5) “shutters”, (8) “shadows”, (19) and “lamplights” (10) makes the world appear alive and allows nothing to be a passing detail, very akin to a child’s imagination. The sunset, alive as it may seem, ordinarily depicts a euphemism for death, similar to the image of the “shutters closing like the eyelids”
John Hollander’s poem, “By the Sound,” emulates the description Strand and Boland set forth to classify a villanelle poem. Besides following the strict structural guidelines of the villanelle, the content of “By the Sound” also follows the villanelle standard. Strand and Boland explain, “…the form refuses to tell a story. It circles around and around, refusing to go forward in any kind of linear development” (8). When “By the Sound” is examined in regards to a story, the poem’s linear development does not get beyond the setting. …” The poem starts: “Dawn rolled up slowly what the night unwound” (Hollander 1). The reader learns the time of the poem’s story is dawn. The last line of the first stanza provides place: “That was when I was living by the sound” (3). It establishes time and place in the first stanza, but like the circular motion of a villanelle, each stanza never moves beyond morning time at the sound but only conveys a little more about “dawn.” The first stanza comments on the sound of dawn with “…gulls shrieked violently…” (2). The second stanza explains the ref...
In the poem The Glass Jar we witness the heart-wrenching episode in a little boy’s life, where he is made to discover a distressing reality. Putting his faith first in a monstrance and then in his own mother, he finds himself being betrayed by both. With the many allusions to nature (for example the personification of the sun and references to animals and woods and so on) Gwen Harwood constructs a dynamic backdrop which allow the responder to dwell on the subtle shifts in the child’s personality. The setting is the terrain of nightmares and dreams, where conscious will is suppressed and the reigns are handed to the subconscious mind.
The first two lines of the poem set the mood of fear and gloom which is constant throughout the remainder of the poem. The word choice of "black" to describe the speaker's face can convey several messages (502). The most obvious meaning ...
In Julia Alvarez’s poem “On Not Shoplifting Louise Bogan’s The Blue Estuaries”, Alvarez skillfully employs poetic devices such as imagery and personification to let the reader view the power of literature through the eyes of a young, poverty stricken, estranged woman, inspiring her love for poetry. Alvarez’s use of imagery paints a vivid picture of the setting and the narrator’s actions for the reader throughout her significant experience; all through the eyes of an alienated female. The use of personification and author’s tone brings “The Blue Estuaries” to life for the reader-just as it had appeared to the narrator.
The poem is notable for Hayden's characteristically accurate evocation of imagery. Just like his other poems, Hayden’s imagery in this poem is very vivid. The reader is able to imagine or see these images in their inner minds. Thus, the diver “sank through easeful/azure/swiftly descended/free falling, weightless/plunged” he described the diver’s carefree attitude and relaxed attitude as he dove into the sea. Thrilled and enchanted by what he sees in the wrecked ship, he lingers for more than intended. When he was brought to the reality of the danger he was in, he, “...in languid/frenzy strove/began the measured
Strand, Mark and Evan Boland. The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms. New
The setting of the poem is a day at the ocean with the family that goes terribly awry. This could be considered an example of irony, in that one would normally view a day at the beach as a happy and carefree time. In “Feared Drowned,” Olds paints a very different scenario, using dark imagery to create the setting: “…suit black as seaweed / Rocks sticks out near shore like heads.” The poem illuminates moments of intense fear, anxiety and the element of a foreseen sense of doom. Written as a direct, free-style verse using the first-person narrative, the poem opens with the narrator suspecting that her husband may have drowned. When Olds writes in her opening line: “Suddenly nobody knows where you are,” this signals to the reader that we are with the narrator as she makes this fearful discovery.
Elvis Aron Presley was born into a poor farming family in Mississippi on January 8, 1935. Originally a twin, Elvis’ brother Jesse died right after birth (Austin, 1994). Growing up, Elvis had a close relationship with his family; they regularly attended church where his love of music started to blossom (EPE, 2014). Despite his family’s financial struggles, at age eleven, Elvis received his first instrument, a guitar. Shortly after, Vernon Presley, Elvis’ father, struggled to hold down a job in Mississippi. He made the decisive decision to uproot the family to Memphis, Tennessee (Hirshberg, 1995).
Kenyon’s choice of a first person perspective serves as one of two main techniques she uses in developing the reader’s ability to relate to the poem’s emotional implications and thus further her argument regarding the futility of mankind’s search for closure through the mourning process. By choosing to write the poem in the first person, Kenyon encourages the reader to interpret the poem as a story told by the same person who fell victim to the tragedy it details, rather than as a mere account of events observed by a third party. This insertion of the character into the story allows the reader to carefully interpret the messages expressed through her use of diction in describing the events during and after the burial.
Welch, Gruhl, Rigdon and Thomas (2011) assert that, according to Article II of the U.S. Constitution, the executive power is granted solely to the President of the U.S. This clause of the constitution has continued to draw significant constitutional debate since the ratification of the Constitution. For example, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, in 1793 questioned whether the clause affords residual power to the President outside the enumerated powers stipulated in the Constitution. This debate is still significant in the contemporary times because it has a direct impact on the power of the President, and also, as an essential insinuation, it impacts on the freedoms and liberties of U.S. citizenry at home and in foreign countries. In this context, Pika and Maltese (2004) argue that, it is essential to mention a number of prominent Supreme Court cases that involve the outline of executive powers that have transpired, informed by in the perspective of foreign affairs, as well war. Therefore, it is not unforeseen that today, in the War on Terror, the...
It wasn’t easy to get to where he was. Mississippi born and raised, Presley didn’t live in luxury. His wealth and fame was a massive step from his struggling Mississippi life (Stones). This influenced others to pursue their dreams as well. Since he was raised this way, and grew up as a generous and kind person, he would always donate to the needy, which sparked the role model in him (Bergmooser). Only ten years old, Presley finally made his first public performance. He sang “Old Shep” for a contest and received fifth place (Stones). Later in his life, he made his first record working with Sun Records in 1953 (Stones). This eventually led to exposure in the music industry. More and more people listened and bought his albums as the years flew by. Added up, Elvis Presley sold more than a billion records worldwide (RIAA). Throughout his career, he performed many times and at countless different locations. In 1972, he sold out four Madison Square Garden shows (McShane). This is the place many artists only dream of achieving. Step by step, Presley grew his fame and aspired others to strive the same way. Without har...
In the first two lines of the poem the speaker established his or her tone, and justifies why poet 's write in such gloomy manner. The first two lines of the poem asks, "Isn 't the moon dark too, most of the time?" (line 1-2). This question prepares the readers to expect an argument to come from
Elegy in a Country Courtyard, by Thomas Gray, can be looked at through two different methods. First the Dialogical Approach, which covers the ability of the language of the text to address someone without the consciousness that the exchange of language between the speaker and addressee occurs. (HCAL, 349) The second method is the Formalistic Approach, which allows the reader to look at a literary piece, and critique it according to its form, point of view, style, imagery, atmosphere, theme, and word choice. The formalistic views on form, allow us to look at the essential structure of the poem.
Sam Phillips, the owner of the record label that Elvis made his first demo in, “Sun Studio,” took Elvis under his wing and so Elvis then started touring and making more music and his first single was “That’s all right,” and it was released in 1954.