13 Matching Annotations
  1. May 2024
    1. Alfred, Lord Tennyson, author of "Ulysses", portrayed by George Frederic Watts "Ulysses" is a poem in blank verse by the Victorian poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892), written in 1833 and published in 1842 in his well-received second volume of poetry. An oft-quoted poem, it is a popular example of the dramatic monologue. Facing old age, mythical hero Ulysses describes his discontent and restlessness upon returning to his kingdom, Ithaca, after his far-ranging travels. Despite his reunion with his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus, Ulysses yearns to explore again.

      Return of Ulysses (old age) to his kingdom, Ithaca. Even after returning home, he wants to explore.

    1. The Book of Hours was largely developed at the artist’s colony at Worpswede, but finished in Paris. It displays the turn towards mystical religiosity that was developing in the poet, in contrast to the naturalism popular at the time, after the religious inspiration he experienced in Russia. Soon thereafter, however, Rilke developed a highly practical approach to writing, encouraged by Rodin’s emphasis on objective observation. This rejuvenated inspiration resulted in a profound transformation of style, from the subjective and mystical incantations to his famous Ding-Gedichte, or thing-poems, that were published in the New Poems.

      Naturalism was prevalent in the time of Rilke (circa 1900s). Rilke, however, had a mystical experience in Russia? (did he literally have an experience of unity and bliss?) He combined this mysticism with the objectivity that he learned from Auguste Rodin.


      As a result, his writing had a mystical and objective bent to it. How exactly? Was this also present in his Apollo poems (1907)?

    1. The Miletus torso (c. 480–470 BC) at the Louvre has been suggested as the poem's subject. "Archaic Torso of Apollo" (German: Archaïscher Torso Apollos) is a sonnet by the Austrian writer Rainer Maria Rilke, published in the collection New Poems in 1908. It opens the collection's second part and is a companion piece to "Early Apollo", which opens the first part. The poem describes the impressions given by the surviving torso of an archaic statue, which for the poet creates a vision of what the intact statue must have been like.

      Archaic Torso of Apollo and Early Apollo are part of Rilke his New Poems (1908).

  2. Aug 2022
    1. Who's for the Game? - Jessie Pope


      Who's for the game, the biggest that's played,

      The red crashing game of a fight?

      Who'll grip and tackle the job unafraid?

      And who thinks he'd rather sit tight?

      Who'll toe the line for the signal to Go?

      Who'll give his country a hand?

      Who wants a turn to himself in the show?

      And who wants a seat in the stand?

      Who knows it won't be a picnic - not much -

      This line gives a bit of insight into Pope herself, she is very clearly not able to be a solider yet finds it admirable and heroic for the men who are sacrificing their lives. She encourages the foolish bravery and obliviousness of the young men, embraces it even further by comparing the upcoming carnage as not much unlike a picnic. A picnic is a universal sign of comfort, tranquillity, and peace. Pope is wanting the boys to perceive war to be a game they are able to tap out of easily so that they enlist, and enlist in large quantities. She is feeding into their optimistic, hopeful, and unfortunately naïve mindset that the war will not be on for long and that you simply need to wield a gun to defend yourself as your opposing side is the only danger. Pope describing war to be, to an extent, similar to a picnic with the phrase "not much" is distinctly manipulative and cunning yet not blaringly so, letting boys be swiftly influenced by the propaganda into joining so they can join in on the fun.

      Yet eagerly shoulders a gun?

      Who would much rather come back with a crutch

      Then lie low and be out of the fun?

      Come along, lads -

      The language/utilisation of 'along' indicates there being already a large mass of enthusiastic participants that you would join along with, along to. This emphasises how glorified and fulfilling each man or boy believes war to be. In a way it is igniting our inner Herd Mentality with each boy knowing he will be ridiculed if he is not an element of the incoming bloodshed.

      The use of the word "lads" highlights (spotlights) the target audience, young, proud, prideful, and foolish lads.

      But you'll come on all right -

      This line is clear evidence of Pope moulding the optimism that everyone, for the sake of their sanity and health, held onto tightly. It is the hopefulness that you will be able to go into a dangerous situation and be invincible, immortal, untouchable because you are unlike no other.

      The direct pronouns Pope uses in the poem are no mistake, the pronouns 'you', 'yours', etc were put in this poem for men and boys alike at the time to feel targeted personally by Pope, she is assuring him that she has faith in him and that he will come back practically untouched apart from a bit more blood under his shoes.

      She is moulding this optimism to say to the readers without explicitly writing it, "you're capable of being strong enough to come home while others might not. You are able to do this while others cannot. You will come home." She has faith in him, even if she does not know who he is.

      For there's only one course to pursue,

      Direct implication that war is the one thing you should, must do. Pope is almost guilting the reader into thinking his only purpose is to be a weapon for his country, his home and leave that home to possibly die alone and painfully.

      Your country is up to her neck in a fight,

      And she's looking and calling for you.

      FLIRTY: Form/fixture, Language, Imagery, Rhythm/rhyme, Tone/thematic concern, Your interpretation of the poem

    1. Does it Matter? - Siegfried Sassoon

      Does it matter?—losing your legs?...

      Repetition involving the thought of 'does it matter?' emphasises the pondering he does as to whether any of the losses he has dealt with truly means anything.

      For people will always be kind,

      He is wondering if it means anything to have experienced a loss right in front of your own eyes - possibly haunting you for eternity when you're both awake and asleep - when you will have the kindness, respect, and admiration from your peers until the day you die and possibly afterwards too.

      And you need not show that you mind

      When the others come in after hunting

      To gobble their muffins and eggs.

      Does it matter?—losing your sight?...

      There’s such splendid work for the blind;

      And people will always be kind,

      This repeated line almost verbatim to the one above stresses the bittersweet glory he gets for fighting and surviving long enough to process the propaganda that had most definitely been the main contributor to his eagerness to unknowingly pursue a harrowing ordeal.

      As you sit on the terrace remembering

      And turning your face to the light.

      Do they matter?—those dreams from the pit?...

      Noticeable shift in the question, it is now referencing a recurring event, 'dreams' is in a plural form, there is no word of it ending or having ended meaning that the memories have stayed with him in his mind where he can't control the frequency, the timing, etc. He is a slave to his own mind replaying his darkest days even when he came home 'in one piece' long ago.

      You can drink and forget and be glad,

      He now has the privilege to drinks and celebrations; the end of both his country and his own war, he has all the opportunities in the world to be praised, glorified, and made to be a hero, rightfully so. He now has the privilege to be joyful.

      And people won’t say that you’re mad;

      And the people who do see the side effects of the horrors will at most look on in pity, understanding in a way which is both ignorant and oblivious.

      For they’ll know you’ve fought for your country

      For he has done the greatest of services! He has fought and won, he has proven his worth to his country for grappling the heavy weight of death and destruction.

      And no one will worry a bit.

  3. Jan 2022
    1. “The Hare and Many Friends”

      “The Hare and Many Friends” is the final poem in John Gay’s collection of fables written in 1727 for Prince William, Duke of Cumberland. This collection is commonly known as Fables, but it is also known as Fifty-one Fables in Verse or Fables of John Gay. Gay’s poem opens with: “Friendship, like love, is but a name,/Unless to one you stint the flame.” The poem concerns the inconstancy of friendship, as exemplified by a hare that lives on friendly terms with a group of farm animals. The hare is refused help by each of the animals as she begs them to help her escape an approaching hunter. Each of the animals gives her a different excuse of why they cannot help, eventually leaving the hare to her death at the hands of the hunter.

      “A hare, who, in a civil way, Complied with ev'ry thing, like Gay, Was known by all the bestial train, Who haunt the wood, or graze the plain: Her care was, never to offend,<br> And ev'ry creature was her friend.”

      The poem is intended to teach readers that one with many friends has no true friends, so it is better to be close friends with a few than friends with many. However, beyond the lesson of friendship, there is a darker moral lesson in the poem intended specifically for the young women reciting it. Gay creates a connection between friendship and romantic love that sets up the poem as a description of the fatality that awaits women (symbolized by the hare) if they associate with the wrong people and lose their reputations. This foreshadows the risks that readers will witness Catherine experience in her new environment when she journeys to Bath.

      Both at the time of publication and for some 150 years afterwards, the poem won widespread popularity. Despite this widespread popularity, Gay’s hopes of Court preferment were disappointed and the story was put about by his friends that the fable had a personal application. Jonathan Swift in particular wrote “Thus Gay, the Hare with many friends,/Twice seven long years at court attends;/Who, under tales conveying truth,/To virtue formed a princely youth;/Who paid his courtship with the crowd,/As far as modish pride allowed;/Rejects a servile usher’s place,/And leaves St. James’s in disgrace.” (Heneage Jesse 88). But after a prose version appeared in a collection of Aesop’s Fables, Gay’s original authorship gradually slipped from the public memory. Nevertheless, Gay’s Fables went through repeated editions, and “The Hare and Many Friends” stood out as a particular favorite. As Austen’s narrator notes, it was a common recitation piece for children and was frequently shown off as part of a young lady’s accomplishments.

      See this illustration by John Wootton of "The Hare and Many Friends."

    2. “The Hare and Many Friends”

      “The Hare and Many Friends” is the final poem in John Gay’s collection of fables written in 1727 for Prince William, Duke of Cumberland. This collection is commonly known as Fables, but it is also known as Fifty-one Fables in Verse or Fables of John Gay. Gay’s poem opens with: “Friendship, like love, is but a name,/Unless to one you stint the flame.”<br> The poem concerns the inconstancy of friendship, as exemplified by a hare that lives on friendly terms with a group of farm animals. The hare is refused help by each of the animals as she begs them to help her escape an approaching hunter. Each of the animals gives her a different excuse of why they cannot help, eventually leaving the hare to her death at the hands of the hunter.

      “A hare, who, in a civil way, Complied with ev'ry thing, like Gay, Was known by all the bestial train, Who haunt the wood, or graze the plain: Her care was, never to offend,<br> And ev'ry creature was her friend.”

      The poem is intended to teach readers that one with many friends has no true friends, so it is better to be close friends with a few than friends with many. However, beyond the lesson of friendship, there is a darker moral lesson in the poem intended specifically for the young women reciting it. Gay creates a connection between friendship and romantic love that sets up the poem as a description of the fatality that awaits women (symbolized by the hare) if they associate with the wrong people and lose their reputations. This foreshadows the risks that readers will witness Catherine experience in her new environment when she journeys to Bath.

      Both at the time of publication and for some 150 years afterwards, the poem won widespread popularity. Despite this widespread popularity, Gay’s hopes of Court preferment were disappointed and the story was put about by his friends that the fable had a personal application. Johnathan Swift in particular wrote “Thus Gay, the Hare with many friends,/Twice seven long years at court attends;/Who, under tales conveying truth,/To virtue formed a princely youth;/Who paid his courtship with the crowd,/As far as modish pride allowed;/Rejects a servile usher’s place,/And leaves St. James’s in disgrace.” (Heneage Jesse 88). But after a prose version appeared in a collection of Aesop’s Fables, Gay’s original authorship gradually slipped from the public memory. Nevertheless, Gay’s Fables went through repeated editions, and “The Hare and Many Friends” stood out as a particular favorite. As Austen’s narrator notes, it was a common recitation piece for children and was frequently shown off as part of a young lady’s accomplishments.

      John Wootton’s illustration of “The Hare and Many Friends”

  4. Jun 2020
  5. 25000dawns.com 25000dawns.com
    1. I am all these things at once and cannot add up the sum

      https://poets.org/poem/song-myself-51

      Song of Myself, 51 Walt Whitman - 1819-1892

      The past and present wilt—I have fill'd them, emptied them. And proceed to fill my next fold of the future.

      Listener up there! what have you to confide to me? Look in my face while I snuff the sidle of evening, (Talk honestly, no one else hears you, and I stay only a minute longer.)

      Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, ==I contain multitudes.==)

      I concentrate toward them that are nigh, I wait on the door-slab.

      Who has done his day's work? who will soonest be through with his supper? Who wishes to walk with me?

      Will you speak before I am gone? will you prove already too late?

  6. Mar 2018
    1. And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,

      When he wrote this he was free to look any different animals for a bit or two.

    2. haunt

      When Keats use the word "haunt" as if something is appear.

    3. conscience

      The way,Keats use the word "conscience" in his poem as way to create feeling of sense of inner voice in him.

    4. Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,

      In this poem, the mood changing a little bit. In the first poem of "This living hand, now warm and capable" felt sad and in the{"When I have Fears That I May Cease to be", when he wrote "Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain" as a way for the reader feel his concerns and his doubts.

  7. Feb 2016
    1. Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a text.

      For this standard, students would have to read a variety of poems, plays and prose to understand the structural differences. Then the students must use the structural knowledge to properly write and speak about poems and plays. A good play for this standard would be Annie and a good collections of poems to understand structure would be from poet Roald Dahl.