"Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard" By Thomas Gray - Elegy

Elegies are written in honor of the dead and Gray's poem is no different. It follow the elegies elegant, somber mood that praises but laments for those who have passed away. The poem is in four line stanzas with iambic pentameter which means in each line consists of ten syllables and only the even ones are stressed while the odd ones remain unstressed. The lines also rhythm with each other in a ABAB CDCD… fashion. The poem also fits the parameters of an elegiac stanza which apparently only became used after Gray's poem.

The poem expresses the speaker's feelings for death and how special life can be. Life is short and even "glory lead but to the grave." Sometimes, people don't even get a chance to express themselves due to unfortunate circumstances. Their blooming "flow'r" can only "wastes its sweetness on the desert air."

Gray's first few stanzas helps set the scene of the Church-yard. The world goes to sleep and everything quiets down at night. In the church-yard, he describes the "rude forefathers of the hamlet" in deep slumber. It further describes the night by contrasting it against the day. "No more" shall "the breezy call of incense-breathing Morn" wake the rude forefathers because it is night. Morn here is personified, giving significance to the times of day. The next few stanzas go on to describe what these beings miss from the world. They'll never harvest again or see their wives because they are dead. Lines 29-36 compares and contrasts the poor and the rich. However, despite being poor or rich, all people still die. Even the "paths to glory lead but to the grave."

The next few stanzas talk about lost opportunity. The speaker wonders in someone buried in this graveyard could've been a king or was once "pregnant with celestial fire (Ambition, Ideas)." These people are then compared to the gems in an underwater cave or the flowers in a desert. A rare occurrence in a vast landscape of nothingness where no one dwells. These gems and flowers would waste their time and wither and disappear. Gray also brings in some historical characters in his next stanza. Milton (A fellow poet) and Cromwell are both brought up. Cromwell seems to be brought up in kinder terms. Apparently he was no responsible for the bloodshed of the English Civil War.

Gray continues talking about the plight of the poor and how because of their situation, was never given the chance to become great. Instead, they "kept the noiseless tenor of their way." Their lives would remain monotonous and boring as long as they continued. Gray then switches topics by talking about the simple graves that mark the scene and how those individuals must've looked back on their lives with a "ling'ring" sigh.

 

 

Link to the Poem
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"The Tyger" by William Blake - Favorite Poems

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare sieze the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art.
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

“The Tyger” moves extremely quickly, aided by the rhyming at the end of the lines (aabb ccdd…). This helps develop the image of the Tyger which is Blake’s ultimate intention. Tyger’s are quckly, deadly, hellish, dangerous, evil almost. The structure of the poem, it’s short lines and sentences, rhyming and short stanzas all contribute to its fast beat much like the Tyger.

Words like “hammer”, “chain,” “furnance,” and “anvil” give the Tyger a harsh appearance, as though he was from the depths of firey hell. Blake also comments on god and religion. He claims that both the lamb (good) and the tiger (evil) were created by the same being. “Did he who made the Lamb make thee.” By asking that question, Blake comments on the symmetry between all beings. Where there is good, there is evil. “Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?”

The religious intent comes through when Blake comments that god has created the Tyger. “Immortal” can only be a description of god and is used to symbolize him in Blake’s poem. Only a god could dare to create such a beast. The third stanza is dedicated entirely to the creation of the Tyger and describes it vividly. “Sinews of thy heart,” “dread hand” and “dread feet” all give off an aura of evil.

"The Soldier" by Rubert Brooke - Favorite Poems

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

“The Soldier” is poet, Rubert Brooke’s most famous poem and is part of a set of sonnets called “1914” that are all about war. He wrote these during World War I to express his idealistic visions of war. For a war poem, “The Soldier” is full of pride, propaganda and idealistic notions. This made sense since it was written leading up to the war when spirits were high and emotions wild. People were ready to give their lives for the nation in order to combat a great evil. Brooke’s poem would go on to inspire Britain’s servicemen in the early stages of WWI but most likely, his optimism and enthusiasm wouldn’t have lasted if he had lived past 1915.

The poem is a sonnet, divided into a Octet (ababcded) and a Sestet (efgefg). It’s neat, orderly structure inspires a sense of discipline, much like the army.

“The Soldier” starts out with “If” as to give the poem a dreamlike and surreal experience, full of pride and patriotism. “England” and the English are often referenced giving weight to its patriotic nature. Arguably, this could be a piece of propaganda. The Octet talks mostly about how a soldier’s death would enrich the land and give it to England. It is said that the dust of the English soldiers are superior to those of another country. England is also personified to give it a human and motherly touch. By casting his country as a beautiful motherly figure, he gives his nation a soft and caring touch.

Again, the poem is very idealistic, very optimistic and has a nature of propaganda. It inspires soldiers to fight for their country because of patriotism, honor, love and glory. It glorifies war and makes it seem like something to enjoy, not something to avoid.

Reading: http://www.truveo.com/Rupert-Brooke-The-Soldier-WW1-Poem-Animation-Movie/id/123651345

Evening News" by David Ferry - External Form

In Ferry's poem, we naturally jump from line to line like descending a staircase. The poem is done in an almost Q&A type form. A statement and a response, though some of the lines in the middle aren't case in that mold. It seems odd the sentences end on the right column except for the first sentence and sentences begin on the left column except for the second sentence.

I believe the author is making a criticism of the news and how in beautiful silence, some deaths are not covered and only from the distance is a village destroyed covered. However it is those sights that instruct our eyes and teach us about the world around us.

"beware : do not read this poem" by Ishmael Reed - External Form

I chose beware : do not read this poem because of its interesting title. It’s merely reverse psychology. Don’t read it? Ok I will. Anyways, the poem is very free form and the poet, Ishmael Reed, has done some interesting things with internal form, mainly with the use of white space and punctuation.(Like Cummings)

Externally, the stanzas are split into three parts. The first 3 stanzas are based around the story of a witch in her haunted house of mirrors. The next two stanzas are about poetry and how they compare to animals and mirrors. Finally the last stanza gives a statistic.

The first three stanzas don’t really make sense other than setting up the mirrors comparison. From my research, Thriller was a show back in the 60s and this particular narrative was one of the episodes they ran. Why any of this happened is not certain and the poet never explains but mainly, this section is to set up the concept of mirrors and their devouring nature.

The next section is once again a look at the power of words and poetry and how they devour people, even the reader who is devoured to the waist. The poem doesn’t ask people to devour, it just does. The poet tells us to go with the flow and not resist. Poems are compared to mirrors which we know to be devouring and lonely because of the way they draw people in.

The statistic is an interesting feature. It seems to suggest that poetry has such a strong effect on people that it causes people to disappear.

The entire poem is very odd. The odd punctuation, capitalization are used mainly to create unease and distress. The white space serves more purpose, to show loss and disappearance. “a space in the lives of their friends” is an especially useful line for showing Reed’s intention because of the space between the word space and in.

"Joy Sonnet in a Random Universe" by Helen Chasin - External Structure

Joy Sonnet in a Random Universe is considered a sonnet but fails to abide by any of a sonnet’s rules. (Other than the 14 line rule) Chasin of course was just poking fun at the strict nature of sonnets by applying its rules to a block of unrecognizable and unrelated phrases.

Since sonnets rely on rhyme and sound. She purposefully used nonsensical words that only have meaning when spoken. After analyzing Shakespearian sonnets and identifying iambic pentameter, it’s nice to read a poem like Chasin’s.

Chasin also starts her poem off normally with the phrase, “Sometimes I’m happy” before going off on a tangent trying to express her joy. It’s also interesting to note the periods at the end of the 4th, 6th and 14th line which suggests some semblance of order. The poem’s block structure also suggests order and rigidity. Most likely, Chasin stuck in some sort of order through her use of periods and structure only to destroy that through her use of words. It’s just another example of how Chasin parodies a sonnet’s rigidity.

"Nuns Fret Not" by Willam Wordsworth - External Structure

Nuns Fret Not is a fairly traditional Italian Sonnet with subtle differences. It follows an atypical rhyme scheme, abbaabba cddced which is slightly different from the commonly used abbaabba cdecde. It can also be said that the traditional 8-6 form is more of an 8.5-5.5 or 7-7 structure.

The sonnet and its rigid structure fits well with the meaning of Wordsworth’s poem: It’s better to have one’s choices constrained. The first five lines talk about various people and things who value constraint. A nun celebrates the confining nature of her work as a student celebrates his “pensive citadels” or a hermit values his “cell.” Since they make these choices voluntarily, they value the constraint their choices bring.

Their choices bring “blithe and happy” times and allow for people to soar as “High as the highest Peak of Furness-fells.” At the same time, Wordsworth is also making a statement about sonnets. Due to a sonnet’s confining nature, people feel that it can limit creativity and imagination. Wordsworth disagrees and instead believes that a Sonnet’s “scanty plot of ground” gives him solace from “too much liberty.” This concept is relatively new in a world where consumers are given as much choice as possible. In fact, a recent book was published on the very subject. The Paradox of Choice explores how too many choices can overload the human mind and cause the brain to freeze up in such situations. In some cases, more isn’t better.

It seems Wordsworth understood this concept before we did. By arguing his case through a sonnet’s restrictive nature, he walks the talk. The prison which we doom ourselves to is not actually a prison but a place of solace.

-Update, the 8-6 split lends to two different sections talking about two different subjects. In this case, the first ~8 lines talk about real life while the last 6 talks about sonnets. Both are related in that they both contain confinement.

A Reading of the Poem
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