Author Archives: angel

https://instagram.com/ancientliterature/

ENJOY.

Kill Bill, a Quentin Tarantino movie, focuses on the revenge of a woman whose child was taken away from her. Bill was her former lover, whose child she was bearing. She fled Bill because of the dangerous lifestyle he lived. Bill eventually found her, shot her, and took the baby from her womb. She awakes 4 years later from a coma. Her main goal is to find Bill and avenge her attempted death and her child’s death.

In the movie there is a lot of extreme violence and death, a main characteristic of a Jacobean drama. The “Bride” who is seeking revenge has to kill many of Bill’s underlings, and every kill usually involves a sword that produces projectile blood from every cut.

(more…)

Comparison of “Spending the Night in a Tower by the River” & “I’m Not Alone”

After reading “Spending the Night in a Tower by the River” by Tu Fu I was reminded of the song “I’m Not Alone” by Calvin Harris. In “Spending the Night” the narrator is situated in the study on top tower observing his surroundings. Tu Fu’s poem invokes a sense of contemplation and isolation. The song “I’m Not Alone” also invokes a sense of reflection, isolation, and nostalgia.

In “I’m Not Alone” the singer is constantly asking if he can keep up with his lifestyle while trying to convince himself that he is not alone. I think the narrator in Tu Fu’s poem is alone at night without being able to sleep because he “[worries] over battles.” Both works invoke a sense of being insignificant in the universe. The last line of “Spending the Night” is “I have no strength to right the universe.” The narrator feels that he is to small to correct the wrongs in the universe. That same feeling is shown in “I’m Not Alone” when the singer sings:

God, I can’t do this any more
Though I’ll be laid down on the floor
As many feet walk through the door
I’m not alone.

Tu Fu’s poem was written around the year c. 760, while “I’m Not Alone” was written 2009. It is interesting that throughout time humans have always questioned their significance in the universe, only to realize that we are very small and almost insignificant in the spectrum. I enjoyed reading Tu Fu’s poem because his style was easy to read which allows you to transport to the narrator’s point of view.