Caaedmon's Hymn Sparknotes

Indeed, this sound of sadness is an ancient entity since Sophocles long ago/ Heard it on the Aegean, and it brought/ Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow/ Of human misery. The eternal note of sadness has been important to writers and philosophers throughout time. Arnold believed this same sound existed in all the seas around the world. The waves, sounding of despair, also symbolize the curtailment of religious values. In stanza three the speaker describes the diminishing faith of religion in England: The Sea of Faith/ Was once, too, at the full, and round earths shore/ Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled. At one point Englands faith was like a high tide. It was similar to a belt being placed around the world, holding it together. During this time people believed in their religion, thus leading England into a state of order and tranquility. However, now the speaker only feels a troubled sense of blankness: But now I only hear/ Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,/ Retreating, to the breath/ Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear/ And naked shingles of the world. This passage emphasizes a mood of uncertainty and alienation in the world. In stanza four, the speaker ends on a note of melancholy. Love is offered as a possible solace from the sadness of the world, but quickly this idea is abandoned for the world,

The poem makes it clear that Eve is not the sole person to blame for humanities sin of eating the fruit of knowledge. In these lines, “If any Evill did in her remaine, / Beeing made of him, he was the ground of all;”

The study of any poem often begins with its imagery. Being the centralized idea behind the power of poetry, imagery isn’t always there to just give a mental picture when reading the poem, but has other purposes. Imagery can speak to the five senses using figurative language as well as help create a specific emotion that the author is trying to infuse within the poem. It helps convey a complete human experience a very minimal amount of words. In this group of poems the author uses imagery to show that humanity is characterized as lost, sorrowful and regretful, but nature is untainted by being free of mistakes and flaws and by taking time to take in its attributes it can help humans have a sense of peace, purity, and joy, as well as a sense of

In “The Savior must have been a docile Gentleman,” Dickinson shows her faith by discussing her interpretation of one of Jesus Christ’s trait based on his actions that are presented in the Bible. Dickinson does so in two stanzas, with an inconsistent rhyme scheme. This poem is influenced by her religious belief. In it, she uses various literary and poetic elements.

In the third stanza, the diction of “heaven” and “noble” allows the speaker to craft an image of an almost godlike juggler. This view of the juggler creates the tone of amazement and ardent which breaks through the previous gloomy description of the earth in the first stanza which “falls/ So in our hearts from brilliance” (lines 3-4). This reveals that the world the juggler has made, unlike the earth which the speaker doesn’t appear to have fond feelings of, is a joyful and light-hearted place that the speaker is easily captivated by. As the juggler “reels that heaven in” (line 16), creates an atmosphere of an almost unearthly experience. This description of the juggler as a master of spiritual elements allows readers to view how the speaker's attitude is uplifted and enlightened.

Intercession: an interposing or pleading on behalf of another person. In Mark Jarman 's poem, "If I Were Paul," the speaker displays many changes in tone and diction to illustrate the crux of his ideology. The first three stanzas are completely exalting in their nature. The speaker uses

The last sentence of the poem, ““There is still murder in your heart” (14), is a powerful claim that suggests that a routine consisting of prayer, communion, or hymn singing will not dissolve the sin of the heart. However, seeing this claim from a different standpoint, this can also suggest that this dull routine is convenient when it comes to preserving an appearance of purity and grace. There is an image in the middle of the poem, “light swords” (7), that possibly represents sharp members of the congregation trying to deceive the church authorities and God. Their comfort to the routine is remarkable because it does not really make a difference at the end; the only thing that truly matters is the masked life they are trying to keep hidden. Readers may consider the arguments presented in this poem as the truth reaching out to the contemporary church and its followers to improve their relationship with

First the explanation of the poem would be the starting ground into really analyzing what this is about. Do Not Go Gentle

The poet tells about “The Almighty making of the earth, shaping beautiful plains, marked off by oceans, then proudly setting the sun and moon to glow across the land and light it” (7-10). In the Bible, Genesis 1:1 reads, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

― Elizabeth Barrett Browning Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and John Henry Newman were all great poets of the Victorian Era. Though all three of these poets were successful and well known, they did have their differences. This paper is going to show the different views each of these poets had on religion. All three of them had different views; some were against the strict religion of the Victorian Era and more open to a relaxed version that would focus more on the body and the spirit and what it wants. Others didn’t have too much of an opinion on them and were open

This expression of doubt and the lack of emotion mitigated by Donne in his poetry can be seen as John Carey’s view on this topic. The different developments which their poetic works underwent throughout both poets career is also another point which must be considered.

This poem is generally a pantheism statement exemplified since it equates nature to be having the same powers as God. The poet indeed starts off by stating clearly that "The groves were God's first temples. Ere man learned" an indication that if man is inferior to God, yet God used nature

In the second stanza, the speaker beholds a piper joyfully playing under the tress for his lover to find him with song. “Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on; not to the sensual ear, but, more endeared. The use of imagery of the senses is effective here. For I consider poetry to be more musical in nature than literary text. The speaker claims to be hearing melodies emanating from the urn, which for me the sound transmission from the urn correlates to the finite aspects of fleeting love. While the nature of art of the urn seems to me to represent the exquisiteness and infinity of the universe. Indeed, the sounds of silence from art is akin to vastness of space and time. “She cannot fade, though, thou hast not thy bliss,” (line19). Keats is asking the readers to not grieve for him. Because, her beauty will not diminish over time it is everlasting.

“The relationship between the energies of the inquiring mind that an intelligent reader brings to the poem and the poem’s refusal to yield a single comprehensive interpretation enacts vividly the everlasting intercourse between the human mind, with its instinct to organise and harmonise, and the baffling powers of the universe about it.”

Book VIII of John Milton's Paradise Lost As Book VIII of John Milton’s Paradise Lost begins, the “new-waked” human Adam ponders the nature of the universe and the motion of the stars (ll. 4-38). When Adam has finished his speech, Milton takes the opportunity to describe Eve, who is listening nearby. We find Eve reclining in the Garden, but with grace, not laziness: “she sat retired in sight,/With lowliness majestic from her seat” (41-42). This “lowliness majestic” is the central phrase to understanding Eve’s character—she is both humble and glorious. Everything that beholds her is captivated by her “grace that won who saw to wish her stay” (43). Even in this paradise, every other beautiful creation is drawn to Eve. She walks