Use of Angels in Smith’s Annunciation and Plath’s Black Rook in Rainy Weather
Since biblical times, people have looked to angels as sources of comfort, inspiration, protection, and solace. Yet very little is said in the Bible about what angels actually are; the Bible focuses mainly on their deeds, and leaves their nature to the imagination. Consequently, few people really understand them, and the very notion of angels is a rather open-ended idea subject to personal interpretation and design. Poets, never ones to let a chance at interpretation go by, have written about angels, using them as both subject and metaphor. Two poems of note where angels are used as metaphors are "Annunciation", by Kay Smith and "Black Rook in Rainy Weather", by Sylvia Plath. In these poems, angels are referenced not for their own sake, but rather for the metaphorical meanings which the reader may glean from them. In "Annunciation", Smith uses an angel to represent greatness left pursued yet unattained a life, while Plath uses angels to represent unusual occurences which brighten or add meaning to an otherwise dreary life.
"Annunciation" begins with a note about the standard artistic depiction of the Annunciation, in which the angel Gabriel appears to the Virgin Mary to declare that she will be the Mother of God. Smith notes that in paintings of the event, Mary is always reading a book; she seems trying to keep her place in the book, despite the arrival and great presence of Gabriel. In the poem, Smith herself paints a portrait of a young girl at a crossroads: two girls at a museum in Italy on some sort of trip. "We two sometimes women" (line 20) implies that the girls are fairly young, but since they seem to be alone together they have likel...
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...vene in the lives of the faithful in times of trial. Plath uses angels as a metaphor for strength and hope in a time of darkness.
Angels are so commonly felt but poorly understood that it is possible to attach many different meanings to them. In poetry, angels can represent a spectrum of ideas and feelings, from awe to hope to strength to fear, just to list a few examples. In "Annunciation", Kay Smith uses the majesty and biblical significance of the angel Gabriel to represent a feeling of greatness and destiny that the speaker let slip through her grasp. In "Black Rook in Rainy Weather", Sylvia Plath uses angels to symbolize the brightness and hope that make an otherwise bleak and dreary life livable. Clearly, angels, like our lives themselves, can have whatever meaning we choose endow upon them.
"In the arms of the angels, may you find some comfort here."
The ability to create a picture of The Annunciation in one’s mind is a key factor in understanding the analysis of the work. Francisco de Zurbaran approaches the painting with a naturalistic style. The painting features a room in which a woman – like angel is seen at the left kneeling on the ground before the Virgin Mary. The figure of Mary is placed between a chair and a small wooden table draped with a green cloth. Mary disregards an open Bible on the table, as she appears solemn while staring at the floor. Floating above the two main figures in the upper left side of the painting are cherubs resting on a bed of clouds. They happily gaze down at Mary with eyes from Heaven.
Edgar Poe uses these rhetorical devices not only to contribute to the theme, but also to make it possible for the reader to experience the same hopelessness and isolation the narrator feeling. “On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before” (line 10). In this simile the narrator is comparing his hopes to the bird’s ability to fly. He is saying that the bird will eventually fly away as did all his hope when his mistress died. Another example is when Poe writes, “Suddenly there came a tapping, as of someone gently rapping” (lines 3-4). The narrator is comparing the tapping of the raven with that of a human tapping, which reveals that the character is hoping at a chance that it is Lenore. As the poem goes on Edgar Allen Poe describes, ”All his eyes have all the seeming of a demon that is dreaming” (line 105). This line is comparing the raven’s eyes to a demon’s. Here, he is no longer seeing the raven as an angel but as a demon only there to deliver confirmation of his worst nightmare. Metaphors are also used several times throughout this poem to personify the raven. “But, with mien of lord or lady” (line 40). The author includes this metaphor to allow the reader to recognize that there is something unique about the raven. “Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil prophet still, if bird or devil (line 85). The narrator is comparing the raven to either a prophet or the devil. At
We study the beginning of America and the movement of settlers into a new land. Then we look at the formation of the United States through the Revolutionary War. But nothing has ever changed this country from the inside as much as the Ku Klux Klan invasion into the country. The Klan’s influence and ability to cause destruction within a society inspired leaders and dictators such as Adolf Hitler. During the height of the Klan’s power and influence, it was doing many things right. It had attracted mass amounts of people with a simple message and used them to complete a secret agenda. Had the KKK continued to find new ways of bringing people to their cause and working to achieve superiority first, they may have caused an unforeseen amount of damage to the United States. Mistakes that were made by the members grew attention to them and caused society to see them as they were. The Ku Klux Klan of the modern day is still alive. It is barely breathing but growing and changing everyday. The hate will live on through the young, but the good people in the world are the key to truly changing the world for the
"Radar during World War II." - GHN: IEEE Global History Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2014. .
The first wave of the Ku Klux Klan was the founders. This band of brothers lasted from 1866 to 1874. Their goal was to restore the white supremacy by using violence and threats, including murder against blacks, which later spread to including other racial groups. They took on the look of all white with masks and robes to complete their look and hide their identities when “attacking,” usually at night. Some of the members in the Klan claimed to be the ghosts of the Confederate solders to frighten superstitious blacks. At the end of 1867, there were one hundred ninety-seven murders and five hundred forty-eight cases reported of assaults. In April 1868, 1,222 Republican votes were casted but by the ...
The Ku Klux Klan was a white-supremacist organization that was a product of Civil War. The group's methods evolved over time, but the key goal was to promote white power by threatening minorities. After the Civil War ended in 1865, subsequently the Ku Klux Klan was created. It was created in 1865 by six college students for the purpose of horseplay and pure amusement and not with the intention of it becoming a white supremacist group. Once however the group gained great popularity and an increasing number of followers, the philosophy of the group changed. The group began targeting and harassing African-American’s but without the use of violence. Over time however the group changed their treatment towards African-Americans and began harassing them with extreme violence. The Klan was not alone in their practices and many other discriminating groups were forming at this time. The groups decided to meet with the Klan and joined forces, they collectively drafted a constitution. They also elected a central leader by the name Nathan Bedford Forrest, his title Grand Wizard.
Imagine thousands of people dressed in white robes and tall pointy hats burning crosses, burning churches, and murdering innocent lives across America. Sadly these kinds of people did exist. They were called the Ku Klux Klan. This organization had it planned from the beginning to keep the whites above everyone. They wanted to stay at the supreme power and no one could ever be higher than them. The Ku Klux Klan is known everywhere as the most infamous and oldest hate group in America. This group had the goals of keeping African Americans in slavery and preserving segregation, putting protestants and whites over every race and religion, and being known as one of the most violent and feared people around the world.
The Ku Klux Klan, was an extremist group that formed during the 1800’s. They used torture to gain power, especially in the South. They were a group of white men that shared the same political views and goals. They formed between December of 1865, and the Summer of 1866 in Pulaski Tennessee. Their original idea was to be a brotherhood, but that quickly changed. The Klan did not realize their potential at first, but they realized they could have as much power as they wanted if they worked for it, and thats what they did. They met in secret to plot their heart breaking attacks on African Americans, Republicans and many others. Finally, in the 1870’s laws were passed to limit their deadly actions. In 1869 they had earned notoriety and nationwide
The Ku Klux Klan, otherwise known as the KKK, was flourishing with its second era in the 1920’s. The KKK was reinvigorated by William J. Simmons, a man who was a frequent joiner of clubs, through the period of the 1920’s, The KKK launched a campaign of political correctness as well as a hidden, dark movement which included lynching, beatings, tarring and feathering, and at some points, even murder of what they believed was the inferiors. Although this status was short lived, it was a dark, mysterious portion of the United States’ history and should never be forgotten.
In the New Testament of the Bible, Lazarus is a man who rises from the dead at the command of Jesus Christ (John 11:38). The title of this poem, "Lady Lazarus"(the "Lady" without a doubt referring to Plath herself, as this is an example of confessional poetry; the "Lazarus" being an allusion to the biblical figure) is an accurate indicator of the content of the poem. "Lady Lazarus" is about Plath's third attempt at suicide, and her subsequent 'resurrection'. In lines 65-79, Plath develops the speaker's contempt for the doctors who brought her back to life. Through this, Plath develops the character's paranoia.
Starting in the first stanza we see that Annabel Lee is referred to specifically as a maiden. Maidens are unmarried women, and the word is often associated with virginity. From this we can conclude that Poe wants to emphasize Annabel Lee’s purity. The word choice in “maiden” lets the reader know early on that this poem is not about lust, but rather love and the genuine connection that comes with it. In the third stanza, as previously discussed, Poe goes out of his way to emphasize that both the narrator and Annabel Lee were children. However, the word choice of “child” is interesting because it is ambiguous whether it is literal or not. By choosing to portray the two lovers as children, Poe once again enforces the themes of purity, innocence, and virginity that children and maidens have in common. Poe wants the reader to understand that there is no sin between the two lovers, only an undying love. Knowing this it is now easy to see why Poe asserts that the angels would be jealous of their love, as the angels would believe only such a pure love should be reserved for God. Continuing to analyze the theme of holiness and purity, even more interesting details can be found in the word choice of sepulchre. A sepulchre is simply a tomb, however the word sepulchre itself is more often associated with religious
In the poem “The Raven” Edgar Allan Poe wrote about grief, sadness, and depression. He is writing about a young girl named Lenore. She is depicted as pure, beautiful, and the very thing that the main character lives for, his beloved Lenore. When he loses her, he is sent into a spiral of depression. This leads him to believe that a black raven pecking at his door was sent by Lenore. Through out the poem “The Raven” Poe uses many things to illustrate the theme darkness, such as the words he so carefully uses, the symbols that are chosen, and the description of everything.
Poems have really intricate meanings that can be portrayed in many different ways. They can be used to express feelings and emotions towards someone or something. Poems can be about love, hate, nature, or anything in particular. The poem “Annabel Lee,” by Edgar Allan Poe is a romantic poem, written during the Romanticism period. The poem is about the narrator, a young man, who is dealing with the tragic loss of his fair maiden, whom he fell in love with at a young age. The love between the couple is described as very childlike and innocent. Their love for each other is extremely passionate, for that reason, the angels became jealous and killed Annabel Lee. Although his wife passed away, the narrator does not want to give up on their love and
In aviation, radar system used to detect aircraft, weather formations and terrain. Radar system uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction and speed of objects. Primary Surveillance Radar (PSR) and Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) are installed in ground-based Air Traffic Control (ATC) radar system. PSR is a radar system that detects the positions of the aircraft within the control area and weather conditions. SSR is a radar system that detects the positions of the aircraft and receives additional information, for example, the aircraft's identity, altitude and distance. Both PSR and SSR antennas are co-located and work as an integral system. The Raytheon Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR-11) is a National Airspace System (NAS) certified ATC radar system and deployed worldwide to over 125 sites.
bird as the metaphor of the poem to get the message of the poem across