Wasteland Sec. 2 Explication

Most people at one point or the next follow Lady Gaga’s lead by playing a love game. It is one of oldest games and contains different elements for everyone. Part Two of the Wasteland by TS Eliot is called “A Game of Chess”. It then proceeds to describe a series of lovers, amorous situations and ultimately pitfalls of the great game. This section is ultimately comment on the social situations of woman, from wealthy to dirt poor. By going through different mediums such as form, starkly contrasting of scenes, and ultimately the parallel situation of the women.

            The form of the poem goes through stages. In the beginning a room is illuminated by a mystical fire of driftwood and copper. All manner of precious items like jewels, perfumes, ivory, and carvings are described in dazzling detail. Amongst the flowery descriptions there is a hint of uneasiness. Words like “strange”, “troubled”, “sad” emphasize a darker picture behind this opulent scene. The closest Eliot comes to explicitly stating that the room is a prison of sorts resides in lines twenty-one to twenty seven. The painting on the wall describes a legend in which a woman is raped by her brother in law. He cuts out her tongue to prevent Philomela from speaking the truth to her family. The next few lines expand upon the idea that the woman is in a jail, but not a physical one.

            Her speech, and the poem, becomes slightly erratic. As the woman with fiery hair converses with a counter part, it becomes clear the she is unwell. Her mania extends to her sense, claiming she hears things under the door, the wind preforming unusual acts, and worrying senselessly over her hair and the next day. The disturbed woman continues to ramble, leading the poem into the next and final segment.

            The last of this section carries on with the dialog, but evolves to a gossip session. Two women sit in a pub in England; one is explaining to other how a mutual acquaintance is losing her plot in life. This Lil in question is described as raggedy in appearance and is scorned by the woman describing her. She is entrapped by her social standing as an old, unattractive wife. Lil may have borne five children, been a model wife and mother while her husband Albert was away in WWI, but because she is no longer pretty, her status is in major question. This social jail is based on appearance; Lil is trapped by society and her uncontrollable own body.

            The two lives the protagonists lead in “The Game of Chess” are decidedly dissimilar – on the surface. The gaudiness of the first woman’s life is outwardly proclaimed by her decadent bedchambers.  Everything in the poem indicates her wealth, beauty, and power. The second woman is lower class, unattractive, and in a position of unimportance. However, besides a general feeling of entrapment, they also share another tragic aspect. The first woman is meant to represent Cleopatra, as the line, “The Chair she sat in, like a burnished throne,” is taken from Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. The second woman is random, but she a too is a representation of doomed love. Cleopatra’s legend of suicide due to love has been retold since the act. Although not as dramatic as Cleopatra’s love story, Lil too stars in a tragedy. She married a man for love and he has turned against her body decayed, there love withered away.

The Wasteland: Section 1 Summary

The preface for The Wasteland by TS Eliot features a rather ominous character. Sybil, a woman granted immortality and oracle powers by Apollo on her own wish, says she wishes to die. The backstory to her death wish is the immortality came without youth. Although this was a rather nasty trick on Apollo’s part, the moral of the story is to always ensure you have thought of all aspects of an action before you take it. The woman Sybil was carless and paid dearly for it.

The first part of the first section, The Burial of the Dead, is narrated though an unknown person. They speak of spring not as time of joy, but as an awakening of things left frozen in the winter. This suggests that there are things that are better left buried and the future uncertain. This is in stark contrast to the second half of the poem where spring is a fond remembrance. A dead woman reviewing earlier, happier times is the speaker for the second half of first stanza. Countess Marie, a close friend of the Empress of Austria, remembers a time before WWI, in the beginning of her life.  She describes a place of idle chatter and coffee houses. However, the very end of the stanza ends of an ambiguous note. “I was frightened… you feel free” the woman describes the feeling of fear as transforming into a freedom of sorts. The fear described in the beginning of the stanza is changed into an old fear, not a fresh one – so less intimidating, but still present.

Again a stanza opens with a depressing, but this time barren and waterless scene. The unknown narrator receives doomsday information from another unknown being. The prophet emphasis a lack of “water”, a reference to the idea of water as life. Very little life can survive without water, this is the epitome of a wasteland; this is a place without life physical, spiritual, or otherwise. The unknown thing continues with a promise to show the speaker his pasta or his future, “Your shadow at morning striding behind you/ Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;/ I will show you fear in a handful of dust.” This parting line solidifies the theme that any future is desolate and reminds us of Sybil who was granted the immortality for the years equal the grains of sand she held in her hand.

            The second half of the stanza presents a narrator in the presence of a young woman. This hyacinth girl seems to be a projection of beauty. However amazing the narrator once found her, the passion appears to have faded. As he views her in this stanza, the speaker glimpses nothing. The light of her soul has become empty of all meaning to him. The stanza finishes with a German line describing an empty, desolate sea, a reflection of his inner self upon viewing the hyacinth girl.

The third stanza continues the prophetic theme, with a psychic as the main feature. A woman is named to be a very famous European clairvoyant, tells the narrator’s supposed destiny.  She goes though an unusual tarot deck, including a drowned Phoenician Sailor, Belladonna, the wheel of life, a merchant, and another mysterious card. One of the cards picked up by this so-called psychic, she claims to be unable to understand. This gives lie to her ‘powers’. The narrator departs with a warning to “be so careful these days.” This stanza seems to be a continuation of an unfortunate fate theme. None of the cards are particularly pleasant and the outlook remains rather bleak.

The final stanza of section one is the most unsettling of all. London, England is described as a ghost town. Men shuffle, groan, and drag their feet along the pathways. The narrator sees a man he once knew, hinting he was an old war buddy. The speaker accuses the other man of having buries a corpse buried in his backyard, a disturbing notion. The corpse is not a physical one, but the humanity that all the blank people of London (and perhaps the world) has lost.

Elegy & Pastoral Lit. Terms

Elegy

·      Definition: a poem of serious reflection, often a lament for the dead.

·      Example: “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson

·      Explanation: “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” is serious underneath its humorous veneer. The author in this poem is talking about their own death and how it was inescapable. This is an elegy because of it’s serious discussion about the death of a person.

Pastoral

·      Definition: of, relating to, or being a literary or other artistic work that portrays or evokes rural life, usually in an idealized way.

·      Example: “Fern Hill” by Dylan Thomas

·      Explanation: A scene of glowing perfect pastures is evoked in “Fern Hill”. He describes the remembered scenes of his childhood with a great and fervent passion. There seems to be nothing wrong with the farm, it is a place of perfection. The reality of farms is they are often smelly, dirty, and often dangerous, but in this pastoral portrayal, it appears pristine.

The Death of the Hired Man Explication

            The actions of a people is reflective of their society and culture. In “The Death of a Hired Man” by Robert Frost, we get a glimpse into the lives of people in rural America. This poem is a commentary on the value of life and how that is determined. Frost uses different character’s opinions to emphasize and demonstrate how contrasting viewpoints lead to diverging values; the poet also utilizes the setting to show the basic struggle omnipresent in all aspects of life.

            The situation is described in third person which lends itself to the idea that the reader is getting a peek into the lives of normal, rural people. Unadulterated by airs or polite lies, this straight view is a truthful representation of a part of American society.

            Although the poem appears to describe a man’s, Silas, situation in life, it actually illustrates the two main characters. The husband and wife pair are farm owners.

The wife, Mary, represents a more understanding, generous, but conflicted view. “Be kind”, “wait”, “humble” are all words she uses. She urges caution and patience, despite being betrayed by a contract-breaking Silas previously. Her principles bring to mind what many portray as Christianity’s ideas. The description she creates of him is of someone to be pitied – an old, sick, and repentant man. The focus of her narrative is the good he’s done and his pitiable situation. If she was the only one in the poem, the readers would be lead to feel he was a man of value, if misguided and tragic.

            Warren is the colder, more analytical of the pair. He pinpoints the bad Silas has done 

describing how he “goes always when I need him most.”.  The husband’s portrayal of Silas details 

an inconsistent, untrustworthy man. Silas’ worth is judged, by the husband, according to his 

usefulness. Practicality is king in the man’s mind; this isn’t a bad trait, quite the reverse because 

it allows for survival.  He seems to have little value for any intrinsic value present in a human life, 

viewing that the person makes their own value. 

               The pair go back and forth, each trying to convince the other of their opinion and 

position. They attempt to balance moral values with basic needs. This suggestion plays at the 

idea that people are constantly trying to balance good morals with practicality, something not 

always easy to achieve.

               All of the struggle in the poem is fortified by the setting. Farm life is often a metaphor for 

simplicity and the basic needs of life. The raw fight with nature to survive is easily seen in rural 

living. The bleakness of their existence compares favorably with Silas’ fight for work and the 

husband-wife’s need for a well working farm. They are not united by their vision of value, but 

they all have the basic human needs.

A Valdediction: Forbidding Mourning

Valediction: Forbidding Mourning

Step Two

1.     What does the title suggest?

a.     Something or someone is preventing a farewell from being associated with sadness.

2.     What is literally occurring?

a.     The speaker is dying, so they are giving their farewells to a loved one.

3.     Tone of poem & words/phrases explain this?

a.     Determination undermined by sorrow permeates this poem. The poet speaks of “A breach, but an expansion”. This line reveals how determined the speaker is to remain connected with his lover though the universe though his shape will change. Before this, the speaker expresses how all men “pass mildly away,” The speaker acknowledges the improbability of forever, but continues to hope that there is something more after death.

4.     Main idea of poem?

a.     That love continues due to the force connecting the people, unbound by death’s chains.

Step Three

1.     What are the speaker’s requests in the first two stanzas?

a.     The narrator asks that there be no crying or wailing at his death. He wishes his lover to be calm and accept his death. This is enforced by the idea that the outside world shouldn’t see a change in her because she should be so steadfast in her devotion.

2.     In the third stanza, what causes ‘fear’?

a.     Great earthquakes cause immediate fear in humans.  

3.     What much greater force is ignored by humankind?

a.     The movement of earth through space, around the sun, is a far larger movement but it goes practically unnoticed in day to day lives.

4.     What does the speaker say about the quality of ‘sublunary lover’s love’?

a.     The average person’s love is constrained by physical restrictions, but the speaker in this poem scorns that. He calls it ‘dull’ and doesn’t believe it can hold a candle to true love.

5.     How is this love contrasted with the speaker’s love?

a.     The speaker in this poem believe that his lover and himself love in a spiritual way, unbound by physical restrictions. Therefore, the love between them will not disappear when his physical form dissipates, but will endure.

6.     Explain the relationship between the two lovers that the poet wishes to depict.

a.     The relationship of the man and his lover is compared to that of a compass. It has two individual legs, but they are connected at the top. The speaker expresses his opinion that their love transcends the physical world, connected by a greater and more important spiritual love that defies time and other earthly constraints.

Step Four

The poem, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” by John Donne expresses two different scenarios which love can take. The first is physical, relying on earthly bodies and the like to determine love. This form does not last long and is easily disintegrated by death, time, and host of other factors. Stanza four comment heavily on the ‘dull’ love of people concentrated on purely physical. The first half of the poem focuses on this inferior form of love. It describes what not to do - mourn him and focus only on what the five senses perceive.

            The second form of love is permanent and cannot be swayed by any barriers. “….love refined” the speaker calls it in stanza six. The speaker proposes that this is what he himself practices. The souls meld as one although they can go separate ways for a time, they two souls are intertwined.  The poet writes the speaker as dying, but not with the fear so commonly found in most peoples hearts when death approached. The narrator feels no apprehension because he knows that the love he shares with his companion is not bound by his time one earth. He believes it will carry on forever, both beings still connected. This second half of the poem is an illustration of  enduring love, it concentrates on mindful awareness and the connection of souls which isn’t seen, only felt.

One Sentence Poem Summary

Sunflower

Part 1: Sunflower Sonnet Number One is about the strength of desire whose roots are unattainable.

Part 2: Love is essentially endless sacrifice and perfection whithin a relationship does not exist .

The Friend Who Never Came:

The nature of existence is lonliness due to a certain awareness that there might be more, but that more is unnatainable for humans due to their limited lives and conscience .

Why That’s Bob Hope:

The irony that many believe hard work begets success permeates this poem, creating a causticly cynical view on government and orders from elsewhere besides yourself..

Sonnet Ending With a Film Subtitle:

The primary idea of the poem “Sonnet Ending With a Film Subtitle” is a lack of faith in humanity due to a previous injustice commmited against the speaker.

The Poet’s Final Instructions:

In this poem, the author’s idea is that a person’s life should be reflected in their resting place and burial honor; though this contains a sincere message, the irony in needing vindication to prove themselves is a indication of vanity, a weakness.

"Sonnet: To Time" by Sylvia Plath

In Sylvia Plath’s poem “Sonnet: To Time” the focus is on time’s passing. This subject is frequented in many texts as it is relevant to all humans, no matter the age or culture. The sonnet is English because it presents the issue of time, describing it in various situations and summarizing it in the final couplet describing time as a, “great machine of iron bars/ That drains eternally the milk of stars.” This turning point that occurs in the last two lines very obvious. It is separated from the previous quatrains and the language shifts as well. Previously, the poem was descriptive of time’s role in life. Then in the turn, it describes time as a machine that robs everything of life. The structured nature of the sonnet lends itself to the idea of time’s mechanical, and heartless, precision.

5 Types of Rhythm

·      Iamb

o   Definition

§  a metrical foot consisting of one short/unstressed syllable followed by one long/stressed syllable

o   Example:

§  “We romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf; / My mother’s countenance / Could not unfrown itself. “-Theodore Roethke: “My Papa’s Waltz

o   Explanation:

§  These lines are formed in iambic tetrameter, meaning three parts each consisting of one ‘iamb’. Stressed syllables are bolded. “We romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf …”

·      Trochee

o   Definition: a foot consisting of one long/stressed syllable followed by one short/unstressed syllable

o   Example:

§  Infant Innocence

The Grizzly Bear is huge and wild;
He has devoured an infant child.
The infant child is not aware
It has been eaten by the bear.

-A E Housman

o   Explanation: This is the revers of an iamb, it goes stressed syllable then unstressed. This poem is written in trochaic tetrameter, so three sets of a trochee. “The Grizzly Bear is huge and wild;…”

·      Anapest

o   Definition: a metrical foot consisting of two short/unstressed syllables followed by one long/stressed syllable

o   Example:

§  The Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;                                                                    The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;                      - Clemet Clark Moore or Henry Livingston

o   Explanation:

§  This poem is written in anapestic tetrameter so three ‘anapests’ per line. “Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house…” However it does cheat a bit, often when they are small single syllable words that, when spoken, can sound like one word, for example “not a” can easily sound like “nota” in normal speech.

·      Dactyl

o   Definition: a metrical foot consisting of one long/stressed syllable followed by two short/unstressed syllables

o   Example:

·      The Charge of the Light Brigade

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred….

-Alfred, Lord Tennyson

o   Explanation:

§  This poem contain many anapests, the first line is very clear and easy to understand as anapestic. “Half a league, half a league…” It is very intense sounding, as the two unstressed words come to a sort of crescendo at the final stressed syllable.

·      Spondee

o   Definition: a foot consisting of two long/stressed syllables

o   Example:

§  The exclamation “Hell no!”

o   Explanation:

Many curses are spondees. Spondees often have a very strong sound as there are constantly two stressed syllables. In the case of my example, both words in the phrase are stre

The Waking Explication 9.11

The circulatory system pumps blood throughout the human body. It brings used blood to the heart and takes fresh out. The bodily system is but one example of a circle in a spherical world. Humans have long recognized the circle’s importance and prevalence in the natural world.

Life itself has often been described as a circle. Things are birthed from the great unknown, live life on earth, and die, exiting into the great unknown. “The Waking” by Theodore Roethke follows two main themes, the circular path of existence and human indecision within their lives.

The very first line is puzzling. “I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.” It is a contradiction. What the speaker describes is a person quite unhappy with life.    His/her only desire is to get through their daily toil so that they may rest again in peaceful slumber. This repetition is a harsh cycle.

The form which this poem takes, a villanelle, is repetitive to the nth degree. Emphasis is given to the very first and third line of the poem, as ones appear, sometimes altered slightly, in each consecutive stanza. This reoccurrance strengthens the poem’s theme  of circles. The poem even ends with the first and third lines, as if the circle of thought is beginning again.

Although few, the images in this poem are potent. “The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;”. This symbol shows a creature slowly spiraling upwards, a physical representation of the theoretical ring of life.  This depressing picture also illustrates a certain hopelessness. The worm is a human who must always try and climb in life. A creature of the dirt, worms and humans alike struggle. Better food, more opportunities, happiness, the struggle for supremacy, or even survival continues from birth till death.

This fight reinforces the uncertainty present in every situation. To reach a decision, one must fight themself to decide the best course of action. “I hear my being dance from ear to ear.” This personification of thought shows it’s uncontrollability. A person’s thoughts may be their own, but it doesn’t give them any semblance of control over them.

The external world finalizes the lack of modification the speaker can impact on themselves and the world. “I learn by going where I have to go.” The speaker is not aware of the destination of his thoughts or his physical destiny.

Punk Pantoum 9.8

Thomas Jefferson once said, “…a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.” Politics often reflect a society due to the need for a government to, at least appear, to aqciest with the general public. Society is constantly shifting and changing. The Punk Movement embraced one of our founding father’s most famous quotes and proceeded to stage a mini-rebellion against the norm of the time.

 “The Punk Pantoum” by Pamela Stewart is a reflection of what caused people, especially younger ones, to turn to the Punk Movement.  The author uses the speaker to describe a generalized punk’s lifestyle and contempt for society, then compounds it with the style of chosen poem. THe poem is a realization of the Punk movement's true goal, to reverse the trend of society twoards self-gain and conformity.

One of the most striking images in the poem is that of a, “dismembered horse:/Rust-stained fetlock, gristle, bone and hoof”. This violent description touches three major components of this speaker’s life; his/her drug use, their upbringing and a tendency towards using everyday life as a representation of a greater evil in society.

A drug popular in the 70s era of Punks was heroin. The shift in America from marijuana to heroin being the most “popular” drug reflected a similarly disenfranchised youth, but with more of an edge as the 60s made way for the 70s. Horse was a street name for heroin and is very fitting in this description of a punk life.

The blending of heroin and a prim upper middleclass upbringing contrast well in this line. The butchered horse could equally represent the place from which the speaker came. “Bitch, let's be proud to live at Eutaw Place,” intones the speaker in line ten. Eutaw Place is a neighborhood in Baltimore known for being wealthy and primarily Jewish. One mention and we know the speaker is most likely at least middleclass, most likely even wealthier, and white. The town itself was home to the once famous Lexington Market. Markets are a place of trade and food was definitely sold. It would make sense for the occasional horse to be added to the pot.

The comparison of these to vastly different subjects, a dismembered horse and an affluent Jewish neighborhood, are meant to underline their hidden similarities. This grotesque self and capital obsession was barely hidden beneath the manners and money of the upper class, as viewed by many punks of the age.

The author chooses to accent this layering effect in her poem. She uses the Pantoum, a style of writing that repeats lines for emphasis. The continuation of one line to the next stanza is a reflection of how capitalism and self-value lead to a society that has lost what should be its values - individualism and creativity.

The author tempers this juxtaposition with a slight altering of repeated lines to better suit the stanza in which it is placed. “Remember how we met at the Flower Mart last Spring?” in stanza four transforms into “Remember how you burned your hair at the Flower Mart last May?” in stanza five. These modifications servers two purposes. Firstly, it helps provides greater clarity and continuity. The poem reads like a story, or perhaps a fable with it’s heavily laden moral tones, and most follow a general timeline. The second reason the author adjusted the lines is more ironic. It follows the idea of rebellion. The Pantoum has specific rules, but they were broken by altering the designated repeating lines. By fracturing the form, the author follows the described punks as they fracture the norm of society.