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Dickinson – An Alien in Her Own Society

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Dickinson in her short poems makes her feelings and messages more abstract without making them less powerful. In the prelude to the collection of poems, the biography states how Dickinson was a very introverted figure and kept to herself. In 435, a glimpse of her personality is expressed through her thoughts on social behavior. The poet makes a stark and ironic contrast by writing “Assent – and you are sane -; Demur – you’re straightaway dangerous” (Lines 6-7 484 Dickinson). In this written form, those who welcome social norms and duties are the “sane” or inferring into modern ramifications; normal. Those who do not conform are seen as a threat and, even though they may just be expressing their ways, people are punished so, or poetically “…handled with a Chain) (Line 8 484). In this poem, Dickinson is expressing her feelings of being alienated and how not living up to societal expectations is punishable. While she may be describing the struggle of others, Dickinson’s preference to be alone and society’s view upon that is likely to be the subject of 435.
In another of her poems, 449, Dickinson approaches different themes such as death and beauty. For example, the poem ends with an emphatic pair of lines, “Moss had reached our lips; And covered up – our names -“ (Lines 11-12 Dickinson 485). The dashes that Dickinson wrote around “our names” highlights the significance of a lost legacy. The “Moss” in this poem alludes to how death supersedes mortality and eventually consumes all. To pair with the darkness of the poem, Dickinson highlights the theme of beauty. The poem begins with “I died for Beauty” and another reference to “Beauty” is made in line 6. Dickinson’s writing about Beauty in the first parts of the poem but not the end highlights how beauty is temporary and is not forever, just like how everything – even names – are not forever.

Dickinson Assignment, Archives, and Resouces

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Emily Dickinson Archive: http://www.edickinson.org/

Includes manuscript versions of her poems, and a lexicon for definitions from her dictionary. After reading the assigned poems, choose two favorites, and look at the manuscript versions. In lieu of a quiz Wednesday, you should bring in a 1-2 paragraph response about looking the manuscript versions of the specific poems you chose (indicate which poems you looked at). Did it change your impression or experience of the poems at all? How so? If not, why?

This NYTimes article sums up some of the controversy surrounding her manuscripts and their digitization: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/23/books/enigmatic-dickinson-revealed-online.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=1&

And finally, Dickinson’s place setting from The Dinner Party (the Judy Chicago project–we looked at Wollstonecraft’s early in the semester):http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/place_settings/emily_dickinson.php

Emily Dickinson—I Dwell in Possibility

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I find all of Dickinson’s poems very appealing because they capture intense emotions in a remarkably short amount of lines. I also find her writing style very intriguing as it often forces me to ask myself questions such as, “Why did she add that dash, change her rhyme, or break the cadence of a line?”

After pondering several of her poems in the anthology, I was heavily drawn to think about one in particular. The poem is referred to as, “(657) I dwell in possibility.” After reading it aloud a few times through, I began to analyze it more closely.

The first stanza, “I dwell in Possibility— / A fairer House than Prose— / More numerous of Windows— / Superior—for Doors—” conveys such a strong message. My first thought was simply that, perhaps, she uses her poems as way to express her limitless thoughts. After a more careful analysis—paying careful attention to Dickinson’s background as well as capitalizations and dashes—I was able to take away more from this first stanza. Dickinson is someone who almost never left her home and made every attempt to avoid reticule from others for not conforming. I was encouraged to believe that the first stanza of the poem is expressing how Dickinson felt about the world. I also made the connection from the author’s introduction that she rarely published her work because it was too unconventional.

She is explaining that her realm of possibility is not just in her poetry but also safe from conformities (No wonder she begged those closest to her to burn all of her poems when she died.) You can keep your thought and beliefs limitless by keeping them private. The next two lines, “More numerous of Windows— / Superior—for Doors—” adds to how she views her private poetry in comparison to society and structured works, as there are more windows letting in light (To see things in the light of her own room.)

The next stanza goes on to show the reader that inside your own mind, untainted by others, the sky is the roof to your house. The sky is limitless, and thus possibilities are endless.

The last stanza drives home the message and draws a conclusion to why Dickinson chooses to live her life secluded and without many visitors, “Of Visitors—the fairest / For Occupation—This / The Spreading wide my narrow Hands / To gather Paradise—.” Because of what is mentioned in the previous stanzas, she chooses not to live her life to be condemned by rules, and rather write poetry for herself and allow her to believe  everything and anything she wants.

Here is what I believe Emily Dickinson sees out her window when she has poetry to express her thoughts.
Here is what I believe Emily Dickinson sees out her window when she has poetry to express her thoughts.

I also find that this poem relates to the naturalistic ideas of romanticism poems from William Wordsworth such as, “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey.” Dickinson uses metaphors relating to the trees and the sky. By the end of the poem, the first image of “Paradise” that came to my head was a beautiful natural landscape.

By

Tyler Bas

When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be

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John Keats created a masterful sonnet by making a division of three quatrains and a concluding couplet in order to explain his fears in a list like manner. In the first quatrain it appears that Keats writes about his fear of dying before he can finish all his writing. We can see in line 2, “before my pen has glean’d my teeming brain,” that he has so many thoughts that he wishes to extract from his brain and write down that the chance of passing away feels like an all too real fear for him. He also fears that he will not be able to experience the completed collection of his writings and quite possibly all the writings that he wishes to read, “before high piled books, in charactry, hold like rich garners the full ripen’d grain” (lines 3-4).

Moving on to the second quatrain, this time Keats talks about his fear not being able to witness and experience the beauties of this world after death. He wishes to write about all he experiences and worries that at a certain point, he will not be able to do so as can be seen in lines 7-8, “and think that I may never live to trace their shadows, with the magic hand of chance.” These shadows that he refers to are those of a night sky that he looks up to and experiences awe. When looking at the “huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,” he is imagining all the wonders that he has yet to discover and the possibilities that he can uncover.

In the third quatrain it seems that Keats is talking about a woman that he is probably in love with and is fearing that he will never get the chance to see her again, “and when I feel, fair creature of an hour, that I shall never look upon thee more” (lines 9-10). This feeling that he has shows how he worries that he will never get to enjoy the happiness he gets when he looks at the woman. His “unreflecting love” for the woman states how strongly he feels about her and how his love is far greater than any that can be reciprocated. This love for the woman might be his strongest emotion and could be what he fears the most of losing which is why he mentions it in the final quatrain.

In the concluding couplet, “of the wide world I stand alone, and think till love and fame to nothingness do sink” (lines 13-14), Keats shows that he is all alone and wonders about will come. He comes to the realization about his fears, he fears that death will take away everything, his love and and fame will sink to nothingness after his passing.

This poem is a classic example of Romanticism as Keats delves into his own emotions and explores his individual self. His emotions of the fear of dying and thoughts of all that he wants to witness come together in order to help not just him but the reader as well figure out what it is that they want and  what is it that they truly enjoy.

John Keats

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John Keats is considered one of the greatest Romantic poets, yet his career as a poet lasted only five short years. Common themes found in Keats’ poetry are aching desire, the dreadful coming of death, and the seductive power of beauty. William Wordsworth, a fellow Romantic poet, had a large influence on Keats and his poetry. Keats paid close attention to structure in his sonnets and his odes, but the complex structures of his works are meant to compliment his meditations on his subject matter.

“When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be” is a Shakespearean sonnet. In this sonnet, Keats discusses his fear of death. Specifically, he talks about his fear of dying before he is done writing all the poetry he is capable of and his fear of dying before having felt “unreflecting love” (Keats 12). Line 13 of the sonnet says “Of the wide world I stand alone,” meaning that Keats feels he is alone in the world; he ends the sonnet by saying he feels love and fame are worthless. “When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be” is a personal fear that Keats has of dying an early death like the other members of his family.

“Ode on a Grecian Urn” begins with Keats addressing an ancient Grecian urn. He focuses on the fact that the figures on the urn are frozen in time; he describes it as “still unravished bride of quietness” and “foster-child of silence and slow time” (Keats 1-2). Keats also repeatedly asks questions about the urn and its origins. Again focusing on the subject of time, Keats opens the second stanza with “Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter,” (Keats 11-12) meaning that unheard melodies are sweeter than normal melodies because they are unaffected by time. He focuses on the beauty of being frozen in time and how the beauty in the moments depicted on the urn will never fade away with time.

Bright Star

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In this poem, John Keats wants to be like this steadfast bright star, but at the same time he does not want to be like it. This idea of steadfast describes his life in ways where he does not like to interrupted but, at the same time, he does not want to be lonely and isolated. Then, there are scenes where the bright star encounters as it watches over the land and ocean. This description of this scenery indicates the lonely images the bright star experiences as it is being hung up in the air and how Keats does not want to be like the star in this way. Therefore, there are good qualities for being this bright star as well as bad qualities.

As we move on with the poem, it shows that Keats is resting on his girlfriend’s chest. Although he is resting on her chest, it shows that he likes the idea of steadfast and the desire for love (as mentioned earlier in this poem, he does not want to have the feeling of loneliness). As he lies on her chest, he mentions “awake forever in a sweet unrest”. This indicates that the desire for love keeps him up awake forever and allows him to have different sensations running through him and if he goes to sleep he would lose all these opportunities.

In the end, “And so live ever-or else swoon to death” tells us if Keats is not able to have these moments of steadfast, he would end up being that bright star  that watches over this planet and eventually dies from loneliness. This poem shows the desire and desperation for love is so strong that if he loses it then he will lose everything, even his own life.

This poem also uses the word “still” repetitively as seen in the second half of the poem. He first introduced this word at line 9, “still steadfast, still unchangeable”. It could be clearly seen that the word “still” is using the definition of “same”, or not changing. But at line 13, it gets a little bit more confusing when he uses this word. Which definition pairs with the word “still”? I believe the first “still” is used as the definition of “same”. To look closely into the usage of this word; after the description of the sensation of feeling on line 11 (“to feel forever its soft fall and swell”), it quickly changes to something that has no relation with senses. Therefore, to get back on track with the sensation he was describing, he would start off line 13 with the definition of “still” as “same” to remind readers that the sensations never changed. As for the second “still”, it would seen more clear and appropriate to use it as the definition of “not moving” in order to have that sensation of hearing her breathe.

William Wordsworth and Rosalia de Castro

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Romanticism lasted roughly half a century throughout Europe and in the Americas. It covers many different styles and subject matters, most notably the subject of nature, as seen with William Wordsworth. In “Romantic Poets and Their Successors,” the author gives two possible reasons for the shift towards a focus in nature during this time period. The first explanation is that nature’s beauty began to seem more scarce and valuable due to the emergence of factories and industrialization during the Industrial Revolution. This became a way to capture the fading view of nature that the people had. The second explanation for this new embracing of nature was that it was viewed as a break from absolute monarchies. The wildness of nature was seen as a type of freedom of expression that would replace the strict regulations of the time.

Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey” opens as the speaker recalls memories from five earlier of the same location. The full title of the poem is “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye During a Tour, July 13, 1798.” For a poem with such a specific title, Wordsworth does not describe the abbey; the poem is more of a reflection on his own life and memories. Wordsworth tries to describe the feelings which nature have brought him to his sister; he uses repetition when he refers to her as “My dear, dear Friend” (Wordsworth 116) and “My dear, dear Sister” (Wordsworth 121). While “Tintern Abbey” is a much longer poem, “The World Is Too Much with Us” is a sonnet. In this sonnet, Wordsworth says that people are too consumed in material things such as “getting and spending” (Wordsworth 2), and do not appreciate nature. This is an interesting observation for that time period, and it can still be applied today. In line three, Wordsworth capitalizes Nature, seeming to personify it showing its importance.

Compared to William Wordsworth, Rosalia de Castro’s poems are much shorter and seem to have simpler forms. De Castro even says that her form is strange in the opening lines of “You will say about these verses, and it’s true”, “that they have a strange, unusual harmony, / that in them ideas wanly glow” (de Castro 2). She also does not have as strong an emphasis on nature as Wordsworth does, but still has many romantic themes in her poetry. “Her intention, she said, was ‘to evoke all the splendor, and the sudden flashes of beauty, that emanate from every custom and thought of a people who have often been called stupid and sometimes judged insensitive or unfamiliar with refined poetry’” (Norton Anthology 505).

Molière, Tartuffe (Acts 4-5)

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In the first of chapter 4, Cleante bring out the arguments about the Christian’s behavior with Tartuffe. Cleante says” However, if there’s vengeance in your heart, and you act on it, tell me what’s the part that;s Christians in that? And you so base, you’d let a son fall from his father’s grace?” Then, Tartuffe response “ I’d just do that, if it were up to me. I blame him for nothing, don’t you see? “ In this response, we can cleanly understand that he has forgiven Damis. Later on, Tartuffe also said “Heaven’s best interests will have been served when wrongdoers have got what they deserved.” He mean Damis deserved the disinheriting as the wrongdoers have got what they deserved and Tartuffe happy to see this happen. It is very contradiction in Tartffe’s response. Even he doesn’t admit it, I believe that Tartuffe didn’t forgive Damis at all, oppositely, he hate Damis more. The reasoning he doesn’t admit the anger is because he afraid the anger will effect the impression of his art. However, he keep describe himself as a Saints, in order to achieve his purpose.

After that, Tartuffe claims that he despises wealth but he also allows Ogron to transfer his property to him. Tartuffe explain that he that” I’m saving, so everyone understands, This wealth from falling into the wrong hands. Waste of wealth and property’s a crime. But I would use it as part of my plan: For glory of heaven, and the good of man.” In this explanation, it is really ridiculous. He said the reason he take the property is stopped the property fall into the wicked and crimes. Obviously, Tartuffe is using the Saint’s title to take benefit from others. Even Tartuffe use some stupid fancily, Orgen would still believe Tartuffe because the affection of religions is very powerful. However, religions can be taken advantage of.

Cleante and Elmire: Characters of True Wit and Reason

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Through Acts 4 and 5, Cleante continues to display his character as the voice of reason in the play. While being the voice of reason, Cleante illustrates virtuous and enlightened qualities such as moderation, patience, and non-violence. The men in this play so far have not painted themselves as members of the enlightened French nobility. In one case Tartuffe is a pathological liar seeking profit and lust at any cost. Damis, Orgon’s son, throws huge fits of temper and rage without much consideration. Lastly, Orgon goes without much saying that he takes the extreme on any situation and does not often think through big decisions such as marrying off his daughter and signing away his estate. In fact, Cleante talks to Orgon about how why he can “…not be rational?” and that he “…never manage[s] to take the middle course” (Moliere 85). To throw out the word rational, the author, Moliere, is trying to communicate to his readers that rationality may be lost on even the most wealthy and powerful. In addition, Cleante questions Orgon’s ability to find the middle course. To align classical ideals and Enlightenment ideals, the “middle course” was seen as virtuous in the eyes of Aristotle and the prominent Western thinkers of the 17th and 18th centuries. With Orgon, Damis, and Tartuffe repeatedly embarrassing their own characters throughout the play, the reader is supposed to view Cleante’s words as wisdom and take his ideas and wishes seriously.

One pleasant surprise in the later half of the play was the emergence of Elmire’s character and intelligence. Playing a more dormant role in the first half, Elmire comes through in the end as being the primary character that foils Tartuffe’s grand scheme to rob the family. For one, Elmire expresses her intellectual capabilities by forcing Orgon to witness Tartuffe’s heinous acts live and by telling him to “Stay till the end, and be convinced completely” until Tartuffe uncovered his own façade (Moliere 80). Elmire, whether it was because she was Orgon’s wife or purely smarter in approach than any other character, was the only one who can persuade Orgon to steer away from his opinion. While other characters tried their approaches, they were too docile, critical, and/or impatient. Elmire through her grand plot against Tartuffe stood out as a model Enlightenment woman. Elmire was loyal to Orgon through the whole play and expressed admirable moderation, but when push came to shove, she came through as a hero who used wit to expose Tartuffe’s scheme. Elmire presents to the reader how even though some women may have had limited roles in the Enlightenment era (or in general), women have the capability to think through situations and persuade men to realize their wrong doings. In this case, she exposed Tartuffe as a liar and Orgon as corruptible and gullible. While Elmire’s character may have been downplayed throughout the play, her impact has been nothing but monumental.