Realness

Throughout many different time periods, we as a society have constantly argued about beauty standards and what we deem as ‘perfection’. William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 talks about a mistress in an almost downgrading manner, but ironically uses such descriptions to convey how real and beautiful his beloved really is. One of the themes regarding this poem included spiritual love. This idea goes along the lines of how love is beyond the physical features we see on someone. In the second to last line, Shakespeare concludes “I think my love as rare” (Line 13). I feel like this really suits the deeper message behind the sonnet because while he says the mistress doesn’t have the ideal features of ‘beauty standards’, he still considered him/her beautiful in their own way.

Catherine Tate’s skit was a very interesting one to watch because of how she portrayed her ill mannered student role. She constantly made fun of and interrupted the teacher when wanting to talk about Shakespeare. I found this skit a bit interesting and interpreted in a different way because I saw her as a representation of how most people see Shakespeare: misunderstood. The constant back and forth altercation between the teacher and student to me represents the massive language barrier between Shakespeare and those who read his work. I feel like this definitely has to do with the obvious different level of English that was once spoken in ancient times. In other words, language and culture barriers could play a huge role behind the obvious miscommunication. Therefore, it is hard for our generation to really understand what he means without having to search for a translated version or proper analysis. Taking this thought back to Sonnet 130, it’s easy for readers to immediately misinterpret and look down upon the poem until they read the last two lines because we assume he is criticizing his mistress. We take these words in a wrong way and automatically assume why Shakespeare is known as a controversial writer. Especially in todays generation, we are very outspoken about body shaming and loving everyone for however they look.

At the end of the day, not everyone will thoroughly understand William Shakespeare. Language barriers is something I feel Catherine Tate portrayed very well, when seen in the perspective of two people bickering at each other without listening to what one has to say.

Simranpreet Kaur

IX_/-1VI fRe E veR s E . L (we are who we are)

The works “I sing the body electric” by Walt Whitman, and “We are all Whitman, Song of/to/My/Your/Body” by Luis Alberto Ambroggio, are two very similar poems. Even before reading the short excerpt explaining how Luis Ambroggio was inspired by Walt Whitman’s writing, it’s easy to see just how much of a tribute “Song of/to/My/Your/Body” is to “I sing the body electric”. One of the most striking similarities is that both pieces entertain the same chaotic beat. Both Whitman’s and Ambroggio’s poems employ heavy use of commas, as they list off ideas in a rapid-fire-like manner, where they bombard you with things to consider from all different angles. Any line plucked from a body-stanza of either of these poems appears this way. Idea after idea spliced by nothing but a comma, uncomfortably jerking you through the message until you allow yourself to submit and just enjoy the rollercoaster ride for what it is- a crazy rollercoaster ride. Both poems read more like pros than lyrics, and bear no apparent rhyme scheme for you to lean on either. Additionally, both poems end with a more spiritual, “enhanced” conclusion sentence. “I sing the body electric” ends with “O I say now these are the soul!”, an emotionally charged sentence which drives home his narrative, enhanced to stand out against the rest of the poem with the use of an exclamation point. “Song of/to/My/Your/Body” uses the same tactic but puts it into play slightly differently, ending with “I celebrate myself, and sing myself.” Derived to serve the same purpose as the ending line in Whitman’s work, this line instead uses italics to enhance it’s conclusion. And finally, both the poems drive home the same overall idea; all special and we must learn to appreciate and love ourselves.

There are, however, some key differences between these two poems which should not be overlooked. The most major difference is clearly the topic at hand in each respective poem, and how they navigate their separate ways to the aforementioned conclusion. Starting with Ambroggio’s “Song of/to/My/Your/Body”, we can see themes of ethnicity (“This Self is Puerto Rican, Chicano, from Cuba free dancer of merengues, from Santo Domingo and all the Caribbean, from El Salvador and Nicaragua”) and politics (“It is harassed and startled by propellers and shrapnel, by ashes and the hammer’s hard-won pennies. Boss and day laborer; still the job’s slave, painter of trenches, resourceful creator of roofs,…” and “They will not manage to deny me or ignore me or declare me undocumented”), coming together with the help of Ambroggio’s beautiful descriptions to show us that basically, we are who we are. Whitman’s “I sing the body electric” we see that the content of this poem revolves exclusively around different parts of the male and female body, and how they come together to help illustrate the fact that we are who we are. So even though the poems are addressing two totally different topics, they are still almost carbon copies of each other based off of their structure and final messages. It was funny, after reading them back to back I felt as if I had read the same poem, only a different story.

Hayden Namgostar

Two Symbols Of Christianity

By Randy Hernandez

In the poems “Eater Wings” and “The Altar” by Gerorge Herbert they illustrate two very signficant and powerful messages to the christan religion. This being the day they celebrate Easter as it’s the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Then the altar as it’s present in every christian church and is the centerpiece of the chritian church. This is why I can not say one poem has a more powerful message to chrirtanity as both poems send a message relating to two very significant representation of the christian religion. 

Furthermore, the two poems by Herbert are somewhat the same in the sense that both speakers speak to Jesus. The speaker ask for help from Jesus and the guidance of his. In the poem “Easter wings” the speaker says to god “ O let me rise As Larks, Harmoniously And sing this day thy victories”. The speaker is telling god please help me rise and bring the life out of me. The speaker wants to  be reborn the same way Jesus had risen after the brutal crucifixion by the romans. This image of flight and wings is also present throughout the whole poem. We see it in the structure of the poem, the repetition of the word “flight”, also in the quote as the speaker says “O let me rise”. This only helps the reader understand the speaker and what he wants to accomplish from the help of Jesus. This new life in which he can be seen differently as he was “sickened and shame” in his past life. 

Equally important, in the poem “ The Altar” the speaker also asked for the power of Jesus. The speaker at the start of the poem shows the reader this mental image of a broken Alter. When saying something is broken you think it needs to be brought back to its functioning state. The speaker wants the reader to understand this concept of the Altar not being a place worthy of Jesus. In the poem the “worksman” can’t fix this broken Altar but only Jesus can. The speaker tells Jesus “As nothing but Thy power doth cut” the speaker is saying Jesus only your power can cut me and no man can do so. In other words use me as a sacrifice and make this Altar yours as this can fix the broken Altar in which the speaker presents. This in shown in the end of the poem as he tells Jesus to “Oh let thy blessed sacrifice be mine, And sanctify this Altar to be thine”. 

Consequently, I am able to pick a poem over the other at the moment as I strongly believe both poems are very powerful in their own way. They represent the christian religion well and to the point in which the speakers look for the help of jesus. 

Worthiness of the Lord

Kevin Vargas

George Helbert, a highly faithful Christian, wrote two poems titled “The Altar” and “Easter Wings.” In “The Altar” the speaker is talking to the lord through an implied broken Altar while in “Easter Wings” the speaker is directs his attention to the lord directly. “The Altar” creates a stronger poem due to the better uses of its thematic development. 

A man kneeled downed as if he punched the floor. Readers can visualize a terrified and remorse man in “The Altar” as this depressed state is felt through the whole poem. The rhymed couplet upon the first to fourth line explains the care and work upon the altar. Rears, as the realization of the broken stone, tears, as the realization, frame, as the displayed work, and same as the uniqueness of the altar. This format of rhyming couplets is held throughout the poem. Two couplets are followed in chunks of four lines. Additionally, in each chunk, the diction and thoughts of the speaker changes. For example, the introduction featured the speaker in remorse, followed by reflection, then through disappointment as the speaker questions the level of worship being worthy, and finally a worthy follower.  

“Easter Wings” contains a modified version of his rhyme schemes. Instead of using a direct sequential rhyme, a rhyme is used every other line. It enabled Herbert to produce a different kind of experience in which the tone of the poem is constant. The meter can be easily spotted in comparison to “The Altar.” Repeated low then true accents are more concise.  

                  Till he became 
 

                        Most poore: 
 

                        With thee (lines four through six) 

The tone of hope is felt with “victory” and “affliction shall advance the flight in me.” Also to note is the second stanza where the speaker talks about their sickness and their old age. This is important because the entire poem itself looks like a minute sand timer. In other words, the speaker is running out of time.  

Is an existential crisis more elaborate than of a remorse worshiper? “Easter Wings” may contain universal thought of pleading for more or better use of time. In theory, it is what most individuals would want. However, It is a different scenario to plead to be worthy of the lord through the single symbolical object of a broken altar. I say, the progress of thought is more effective in providing readers a better christian message about moving on with their lives when the lord is upon them.

That is what I find more unique and of a stronger essence in the two poems. (The Altar wins for me)

Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles.

The title of my blog post is taken from a Bible Verse (Isaiah 40:28-31).  The verse is as follows:

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;  but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

This is the Christian message that I believe Herbert does an exceptional job at portraying in “Easter Wings.” A message he portrays far more powerfully than the messages in “The Altar.”

After reading both poems, I was fascinated specifically by an element in “Easter Wings”: the paradox created by the theme of sin.  When we hear the word sin, we think of mistakes, we think of lying and cheating, we think of immoral people.  However, in “The Altar,” and in Christianity as a whole, sins are not entirely evil.  They do not solely come with negativity.  In fact, without sin, how could one form a relationship with God? It is through our sins that we are able to ask the Lord for forgiveness.  It is through the speaker’s sins that he or she is able to “rise” from his state of tenderness, and “combine” with Christ. This line is filled with Christ imagery, especially to the resurrection of Christ where he rises from the dead.

The singing lark that the speaker wishes to become is a symbol of freedom. One might imagine the speaker soaring upwards in the sky like a lark, up towards the heavens.  In order to do this, though, the speaker must embrace the imminent “fall” that comes from his sins.  The speaker suffers through sickness, shame, and sorrow as a result of his sins.  However, God does not punish the speaker for his sins; the speaker brings this punishment upon himself.  God instead punishes the sin, as noted in line 13 of the poem.  So, although sin has damaged the speaker’s wing, the speaker knows that the Lord will forgive him, and he can therefore rest upon the wings of the Lord in order to “advance [his] flight.”  Notice that this line is actually a modified repetition from line 10, where the speaker states “Then shall the fall further the flight in me.”  If you look carefully at the two sections within this poem, you will notice that numerous lines seem to parallel each other, and include large portions of repetition.  So why does this matter? Because, by the second verse, the Speaker has become the decaying man from the first verse.  He has become the singing lark from the first verse, as well.  And, by doing so, he has reached a point where he can rise, just as the Lord did.  He can become one with the Lord, just as the Lord became one with God.  This brings us back to the beautiful paradox that this poem portrays: that while sinning may seem so negative on the outside, it can be so beautiful on the inside.  We are all imperfect, and therefore we all will sin.  But the Lord knows this.  And he will forgive the sinners who ask for forgiveness.  And he will provide the speaker with wings that give him strength and bring him to the heavens, where he can combine with the Lord.  This forgiveness is what Christianity is all about. Because…

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;  but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

What could be more moving and powerful than that?

The Rose and the Rapist

When imagining a “sick” rose, one might picture the flower drooping to one side, with shriveled petals that have started to lose their vibrant color.  Without even reading Blake’s poem, one would expect that the tone of “The Sick Rose” would be dark and depressing in nature.  This is exactly what kind of tone Blake creates.  To quickly summarize, the poem involves a speaker talking directly to a figurative “rose,” which now faces destruction and sickness due to the actions of an “invisible worm.”  By talking directly to the rose throughout the poem, Blake does a tremendous job at humanizing the flower for the reader.  This should lead the reader to believe that the rose represents a particular person, or simply a type of person.  To determine what allegorical story Blake is conveying through the inclusion of a sick rose, I first focused on the theme of sexuality within the final four lines of the poem.  Blake references the rose’s “bed of crimson joy” and the worm’s “dark secret love.”  Obviously, Blake is talking about something more abstract than a bed of roses. I believe these lines portray a theme of sexuality that is not marked by passion or love, but by violence.  The fact that Blake labels the worm as “invisible” demonstrates that the worm’s so-called love was “secret,” and therefore not desired or expected by the rose.  As a result of this unwanted love, the worm destroy’s the state of the rose.  In my mind, this allegorical story is conveying a rape scene, and the effect that the rape has on the victim.  In this poem, the rose clearly represents the victim, while the worm represents her rapist.  Just as a parasite or pest might destroy a bed of roses, a rapist can destroy the life of his or her victim.  This sick rose represents a loss of innocence and a loss of spirit, which contribute to the rose’s overall sickness and destruction.  Traditionally, a rose might symbolize romance and passionate love.  So, it makes perfect sense that Blake would use a sick rose to portray something that so greatly contrasts with these positive elements.  “The Sick Rose” is a dark allegory that depicts what happens to a victim when love and sex become corrupt and violent.

Whitman’s Shadow

Ginsberg’s “A Supermarket in California” is filled with contrasting tones and imagery that parallel the intonation of Ginsberg’s voice as he recites the poem.  For the first few sentences, Ginsberg seems almost hopeful or excited.  A full moon rises in the night sky as he approaches a “neon” super market with a “hungry fatigue.” In my opinion, this imagery sets the stage for something; perhaps an eery event or an exciting experience.  The fact that Ginsberg uses the word “neon” to describe the supermarket leads me to believe that there is something iconic and memorable about this place.  All of this makes contrasts greatly against Ginsberg’s experience, which ends up being the complete opposite of memorable.  Instead, he experiences a normal, nothing-special stroll through an average supermarket.

Ginsberg still sounds upbeat in his recitation as he imagines himself wandering through the market with Walt Whitman leading the way.  It is clear by the way that the speaker winds his way through the store that he is in search of something, and the fact that he chooses to follow Whitman like a shadow throughout the isles demonstrates that the speaker has placed a tremendous amount of trust in Whitman’s hands.  Ginsberg describes the stacked cans that they pass as “brilliant,” further displaying that he feels like he is someplace special or beautiful.

However, when Ginsberg reaches the word “lonely” towards the end of his recitation, his tone of voice changes.  The word “lonely” specifically evokes a dismal feeling in the reader.  His voice becomes softer, deeper, and seemingly more tired as the recitation ends.  This parallels with what is occuring in the poem: a sudden loss of trust and an overwhelming sensation of disappointment.  The speaker finally understands that Walt Whitman, who typically wrote about very meaningful themes like nature, beauty, love, and the soul, does not have all the answers for him.  Even Whitman, someone the speaker clearly idolized, could not help Ginsberg escape the feeling of loneliness, a major theme throughout the poem, signified by the speaker constantly walking alone.  The only company he seems to have lies in his imagination.

The poem ends with a tone and image just as dismal as Ginsberg’s voice at the end of the recitation: with the idea of a boat disappearing on a river named the Lethe, a Greek word signifying oblivion and forgetfulness.

Artwork representing the Lethe