William Blake's Poetry Collections

William Blake's triumvirate of collective poems, Songs of Innocence and Experience and The Marriage of Heaven and Hell come together to create the portrait of man and life stages. Throughout each collection, nature is used in different ways to accentuate the images Blake's poems were meant to evoke.

Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience are two works that are defined by their names. In Songs of Innocence, the reader is taken back to childhood, where everything was a discovery, full of the beauty of nature. The animals in the collection are friendly and it is natural for the narrator to praise them, or even engage in conversation with them, "Pretty, pretty robin/ under leaves so green/ a happy blossom/ hears you sobbing, sobbing," (Greenblatt et al, 2006). 

Another example of the use of nature in Songs of Innocence would be the poem "The Flute", "Little lamb/ here I am/ come and lick/ my white neck," (Greenblatt et al, 2006). Questions of childhood, such as acceptance and the love of a mother and father are explored in a few of the poems, always circling back to nature as it pertains to a child's outlook. Even the introduction is harmonious with nature, "Piping down the valleys wild [...]/ On a cloud I saw a laughing child," (Greenblatt et al, 2006).

The introduction of the Innocence collection set the tone, just as the introduction of Songs of Experience sets the tone.

From brightness, innocence, and childhood, the reader is taken down darker, more adult avenues in Songs of Experience, "Hear the voice of the Bard! [...]/ whose ears have heard/ The Holy Word/ That walked among the ancient trees," (Greenblatt et al, 2006). Both collections depict nature and God, just in opposing fashions. New ideas are presented in this set of poems, like love, jealousy, misery, and poverty.

While Songs of Innocence and Experience are obviously complements to one another, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell could be considered the final piece of the trilogy. In connection, the two works could be allegories for childhood and adulthood, whereas The Marriage of Heaven and Hell could be the spiritual stage man takes in death and the afterlife; "The man kept his course along/ the vale of death," (Greenblatt et al, 2006).

References:

Greenblatt et al [Eds]. (2006). The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Romantic Period Through the Twentieth Century [vol. 2].

Swift Wants to Fry Up Your Baby and Make Sweet Bacon!

During the early 1800's, a general strife was ongoing in Ireland, if one can deduce such facts from the allusions in Jonathon Swift's "A Modest Proposal". In the beginning of his satire, Swift draws in the reader by lamenting about the conditions of his town and country, "see the streets, the roads, the cabin doors, crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags and importuning every passenger for an alms," (Greenblatt, et al, 2006). Apparently, the Irish countryside was flooded with beggars, many of them mothers with children in tow. Not only that, but the children born and raised in the degradation of perpetual poverty would only rise up to 'serve abroad' or likewise become beggars themselves. A last choice for the poor children of Ireland was to be a thief.

If the children truly wanted to aid society, Swift reasoned the only way for them to do that was to become a food source for the rich. The selling of children to the rich would help the oppressed people and made sense because, "this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children," (Greenblatt et al, 2006). In humorous tones, Swift goes on to describe the problems that the selling and eating of children would solve, such as 'lessening the number of papists [priests]', help tenants pay their rent, cause mothers to value their children even more (the ones they intend to keep at least), and it would cause men to appreciate their wives more because they would be more valuable as breeders, like cows, (Greenblatt et al, 2006).

All humor aside, what Swift really would have liked to have seen solved was taxes, pride, vanity, nationalism, fair dealings among merchants and shopkeepers, empathy from landlords towards their tenants, and an all encompassing goodness of man that would not so easily sell out his country or fellow man for nothing, (Greenblatt et al, 2006). His arguments were given more meaning because of the flippant way he made fun of them to begin with. There was truth in his humor and passion in his ending arguments that could not be denied.

Revolutionary writing like "A Modest Proposal" is necessary because it serves the purpose of illuminating the wrongs of society. It may not illustrate how to correct them, but by articulating the problems, change can occur over time once people begin to understand what is wrong and how it can be amended.

References:

Greenblatt, et al. [Eds]. (2006). The norton anthology english literature (8th ed.). New York NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Honor in Poetry

Poems are written to affect different genres and different moods. Elegies, epigraphs, and friendship are common themes found in poetry. An elegy is a piece of prose that is designed to strike a sadder note, and it can be used at a funeral. Thomas Gray wrote an elegy entitled, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”. Death is apparent throughout the lines of the poem, but is most affluent in lines 83-84, “In still small Accents whisp’ring from the Ground/ A grateful Earnest of eternal Peace,” (Greenblatt et al, 2006, p. A9).

Epigraphs are quotations, comments, or lead-ins to other literary works. An epigraph adds to a story or poem to sum up the overall theme, or it may relate to a previous work. “The Answer” is an epigraph Anne Finch wrote in response to Alexander Pope’s “Impromtu to Lady Winchilsea”. Pope’s poem makes fun of women, their wit, and most importantly, Finch’s writing capabilities: “Fate doomed the fall of every female wit,/ But doomed it then when first Ardelia [Finch’s pen name] writ,” (Greenblatt et al, 2006, p. 2596). To counter that, Finch’s poem consists of lines like, “Alexander! have a care,/ And shock the sex no more,” and, “We rule the world our life’s whole race,/ Men but assume that right,” (Greenblatt et al, 2006, p. 2596).

Friendship is a theme that is hard to discern, at least in Mary Wroth’s sonnet “103”. At first, the poem could be about love, or a lost love. When reading in between the lines, it becomes obvious that the narrator is describing a relationship beyond love; “Leave the discourse of Venus and her son/ To young beginners,” (Greenblatt et al, 2006, p. 1461). Wroth is perhaps saying that passion such as new lover’s experience is not a part of the relationship being depicted.

One common thread of these four poems is honor. In their own way, each poem mentions honor as it relates to the situation in the poem. For example, Gray’s elegy says “Large was his Bounty & his heart sincere;/ Heaven did a Recompence as largely send./ He gave to misery all he had, a Tear,” (Greenblatt et al, 2006, p. A11). The character being described is full of honor and misery, even shedding a tear in his sad state. Wroth’s form of honor in “The Answer” comes when she writes, “Our admiration you command/ For all that’s gone before,” (Greenblatt et al, 2006, p. 2597). “The Answer” is an epigraph that demands respect of women, or the same honor that is bestowed on any man. Wroth speaks of honorable traits in her poem, like “truth, which shall eternal goodness prove,” (Greenblatt et al, 2006, p. 1461).

Greenblatt, et al. [Eds]. (2006). The norton anthology english literature (8th ed.). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Lyrical Love Poems of the Renaissance

Sonnets are poems comprised of fourteen lines. An essential part of a sonnet is the rhyme scheme, which can flow like song lyrics. Many poets from the Renaissance era created a lyrical flow from their sonnets to express their thoughts about love, or to idolize their love of a woman with the use of blazons.

Thomas Campion's poem, "There is a garden in her face" compares a woman's face to a garden. The narrator of the poem describes the aspects of the woman's face to coincide with different parts of a garden. For example, the line "Those cherries fairly do enclose/ Of orient pearl a double row," refers to the woman's mouth (Greenblatt et al, 2006, p. 1230). Her mouth serves as the cherries that house her pearly teeth. To make sure that the reader understands that the woman is of fair repute, the narrator says of her mouth, "There cherries grow, which none may buy/ Till 'Cherry ripe!' themselves do cry," (Greenblatt et al, 2006, p. 1230). Although the woman has a delectable cherry mouth, she is not willing to let just anyone taste them. Other parts of her face guard her honor, like "Her eyes like angels watch them still;/ Her brows like bended bows do stand," (Greenblatt et al, 2006, p. 1230).

Other poets like Sidney, Shakespeare, and Spenser during the Renaissance era appeared to be preoccupied with the idea of love, or the idea of being in love with someone. Women were often compared with facets of nature, such as flowers. Women in the Elizabethan era must have been thought of as beautiful, dainty, and fragile if they were always being compared to flowers. In contemporary society, comparable lyrics from love songs are also preoccupied with love. However, instead of honoring love, modern lyrics lament love. The sad love song is more common and interesting than an uplifting love song.

Greenblatt, et al. [Eds]. (2006). The norton anthology english literature (8th ed.). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

The Satan of "Paradise Lost"

In John Milton's epic "Paradise Lost", one highly identifiable character would be Satan. During the story, he is referred to by several names, all of them associated with his opposition to God. A few names given to him by the author would be arch-fiend and apostate angel. He is also compared in size and intent to evil creatures such as the Titans Briareos or Typhon, or "that sea-beast/ Leviathan, which God of all his works/ created hugest that swim th' ocean stream," (Greenblatt et al, 2006, p. 1836). All of the recurrent motifs related to Satan showcase his ego and his aim to overthrow God. By comparing him to large creatures, he is center-stage and hard to miss. Not only that, but the creatures Satan was compared to have Christian ties to "Satan's revolt and punishment," (Greenblatt et al, 2006, p. 1836).

The reader is always reminded of Satan's combative nature with God, especially when his kingdom is described to be filled with lakes of fire, volcanoes, raging winds, stench and smoke, (Greenblatt et al, 2006, p. 1837). Satan himself details what Heaven looks like, and it is nothing like the Hell in which he must now reside: "that celestial light [...] Farewell happy fields/ Where joy forever dwells: Hail horrors, hail/ infernal world, and thou profoundest Hell," (Greenblatt et al, 2006, p. 1838). He has no problem renouncing the light of Heaven for darker pastures. Satan enjoys being as far away from God as possible, since distance is another form of rebellion.

References:

Greenblatt, et al. (Eds.). (2006). Teaching with the Norton anthology of English literature (8th ed.).New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company