Writers and especially poets often use their media as a means to address political, social, and economical situations of their countries. In the case of the English poet William Wordsworth and the Saint Lucian poet and playwright Derek Walcott, that seems to be the case. In William Wordsworth 's “London 1802”, the speaker in the poem begins by addressing John Milton, a dead poet, regarding the dire and wayward situation that England is currently in. As for Derek Walcott’s “A Far Cry From America”, the speaker appears to be bewildered and indecisive between choosing the civilized Great Britain and choosing to support his native land as they are subjects to brutal treatment by the colonizers. Even though both both poems have distinct …show more content…
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As presented in the final five lines of “London 1802”, the speaker makes several more claims about who Milton was in and the effect he had when he was alive. Thus, it is said that Milton had a powerful poetry voice which sounded like the sea, he lived his life like common people do, and was such a tremendous human being who was not frightened to take even the not so glamourous tasks that life presented him. So the poet John Milton was a humble person whom the speaker, which in this case is Wordsworth himself, is inspired by, and had such an infectious presence with his larger than life heart. John Milton was a beloved English poet and William Wordsworth did fail to show so.
In Derek Walcott’s “ A Far Cry From Africa” be begins by describing a gory and bloody scene where Mau fighters from east Africa are “Batten upon the bloodstreams of the [open country]” (line 3). The imagery of this bloodshed is cemented with the illustration of the corpses “ [which] are scattered through a paradise” (line 4). The native Africans are being slaughtered and annihilated like the Jews were during the Holocaust and the question in consideration is “What is that the white child hacked in bed?” (line 9). Thus, it appears that a white child has been killed and the ensuing bloodshed was the consequence paid by the native blacks. The violence that Walcott illustrates is gruesome and he draws a comparison between what is considered the wild beast and the “upright
Dunbar’s purpose for making the last sentence about Douglass ability to “guide the shivering bark” ( Dunbar line 12) is to give the reader a sense of repulsion, like his own repulsion and therefore encouraging the reader to change. The last sentence in Wordsworth’s poem, on the other hand, is used to praise John Milton. This leaves the reader with the impression that Milton was in fact a great man, and that we should strive in order to become more like the person. Even though they are written in different sentences, the fact that this is even mentioned at all suggests that man kind has become repulsive and although they are expressed in different manners, it is clear that the eventual goal of these speakers is to make the readers change.
In this excerpt you are introduced to a young African boy, Olaudau Equiano, who begins to describe his everyday life before being captured. Olaudau, who is the youngest of six sons but not the youngest child, who in which is his sister. As a child, he was raised and trained in both agriculture and war, receiving a great deal of emblems in javelin throwing and shooting. However, at the age of eleven, Olaudau’s life changed forever. One day while the elders went to the fields, two men and a women invaded their camp and swiftly kidnapped Olaudau and his younger sister; thus beginning his life as a slave. “The first object which saluted my eyes when I
America is a country that has been through many different times of trials. Wars and disease have spread across that nation several times. During times of depression, though, a group of people seems to always emerge from the destruction. That group of people are the poets and writers of America. Through trial and strife, writers are able to find inspiration for their works, and are able to give readers hope for a better day. Walt Whitman was an amazing writer who wrote several poems concerning the great United States of America, talking about the people that have built the nation up from the dust. But, a group of people that Whitman forgot to write about on most occasions were the slaves and black people of which America thrived. Langston Hughes was a black man in the 20th century that took note of Whitman's poems, and their lack of recognition towards his people. Whitman wrote a poem called, "I Hear America Singing," in which Hughes wrote the poem, "I, Too Sing America," in response. In the poem by Hughes, there are several different ways that the writing interlaces with Walt Whitman's.
Sometimes, things that seem opposites at first glance turn out to be more similar after a second look. This is the case for the poems London, 1802 by William Wordsworth, and Douglass by Paul Laurence Dunbar. The major differences in these poems combine with the similarities to show the timeless need for revolutionary authors.
Thousands of flowers swaying in the wind, lined up like stars in the night sky. Just the thought of nature brings a smile to my face. The two authors, John Muir and William Wordsworth have two different styles of writing, but they share their love of nature to help us appreciate nature. We have two beautiful writings, written by two naturalistic authors, Williams Wordsworth and John Muir. Both authors have different ways of explaining what nature means to them, but at the end of the day both pieces of work are beautifully and creatively written. Wordsworth and Muir express their meaningful relationship with nature using descriptive words and witty writing.
Written in the first half of the 20th century, “Let America Be America” is a poem that documents and responds to the oppressed state of the United States, in both the past and present. The poem is a plea for a return to the original principles of freedom that our country has seemingly forgotten. Additionally, the speaker sees America as the broken home to oppressed people who have lost sight of the ultimate goal of freedom and happiness. Although America is often perceived as the “land of the free,” Langston Hughes’s poem contradicts this ideology by not only painting a vivid picture of oppression in America but also by providing a desperate hope for the future.
The second and final work I am critiquing is from a book entitled, ‘The Life of William Wordsworth: A Critical Biography’ written by John Worthen. I have selected a chapter which pairs nicely with article mentioned above. The chapter features both Wordsworth and Coleridge as well. However, it is not as critical as the article, it is more biographical and informational which is to be expected in a biography. The chapter focuses on the years 1806 to 1807. It begins with the mention of the death of Wordsworth’s brother, John. According to Worthen, this deeply effected Wordsworth and he had little success with the poetry he was writing during this time. Worthen then, points to ‘Elegiac Stanzas’ which confronts his late brother’s death, displays a new sense of reality, and again redeems him as a poet. Worthen states, “The poem makes the narrator 's youthful state of ecstatic, thoughtless love for the natural world — ‘of lasting ease, / Elysian quiet, without toil or strife’ — utterly unreal, in contrast with the realities of life as he now knows them. A ‘fond delusion of my heart’ he calls that old love, ‘to be pitied’ not believed in” (328). The author implies that the death of his brother drastically changed his worldview. The bleak reality of a world without his brother led to Wordsworth becoming more mature and wise after experiencing loss. The author then shifts to discussing ‘Tintern Abbey’ and his reflections during a time of youth. I believe that the author mentions the
It also gives a reference to 'God', which immediately gives the poem a more heavenly and important meaning. This isn't to say Wordsworth does not use any devices to help deliver his thoughts to the reader. He uses personification a lot throughout the poem, 'in his first splendour,' is a good illustration of this. It also mentions that it 'houses seem asleep And all that mighty heart is lying still!' which suggest this image that London isn't an industrial and mechanical city, but is
Comparing Wordsworth and Keats’ Romantic Poetry. Both Wordsworth and Keats are romantic Poets, they express ideas on nature and send us the message to respect it. They say we have to admire the beauty of nature in different ways. Wordsworh uses simpler language in his poems wether to express simple or complex ideas, by which we understand he aimed his poems to lower classes. Keats instead, uses much more complex language to describe and express his ideas, so we know he aimed his poems to the educated.
To better understand this poem some history about London during the time the poem was written is helpful. London was the “. . . undisputed cultural, economic, religious, educational, and political center” of England in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds. It was a city of “warehouses, docks, factories, prisons,
One way in which the title can be interpreted is to symbolize the interior of Africa called the Congo. The text considers the deep jungle of Africa as the heart of darkness both for its untamed and hostile wilderness and for its supposed "savages" who hang out there practicing certain non-European customs such as cannibalism. The major and significant
America by Allen Ginsburg. In this poem, Walt Whitman is upset with America. In the specific lines Walt Whitman talk about his anger towards the government and more. He then goes on to talk about how America once inspired him to become a saint. When he says such, he starts to refer to the American dream. America inspired him to become pure by doing the opposite of what the country was doing. The speaker energy changes in throughout the stanza. Instead of ranting he just wants to come to a mutual agreement with the U.S. Then he refers to another writer William Burroughs who was known for being a good writer, killing his wife during a drunken game, and being a drug addict. The speaker does this to express how his close friend moved to Tangiers to get away. However, when he went he continued to write and do drugs, in other words, he continued to sin. Mr. Ginsburg is asking if America is sinister like Mr. Burroughs. At the end, the speaker has not come to his point, however he’s getting closer to doing so. This stanza shows how the speaker switches from being upset with America to bringing other countries into the
Derek Walcott, born on January 23, 1930 in St. Lucia, became a well renowned African-American author, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1972 for his substantial work in poetry. Many of his poems deal with the idea of race and British imperialism in the 19th century and the poem “Ruins of a Great House” is no different. Walcott reflects on the effects of slavery and British colonization in the Caribbean, continually referring to England as the “empire”. “Ruins of a Great House” is written from Walcott’s perspective in the 19th century Caribbean and tackles the destruction of the Caribbean culture using vivid imagery, allusion, word choice, and metaphors. Derek Walcott eloquently conveys the frustration of the native peoples, in the Caribbean, when he portrays the deterioration and disarray of post British rule throughout this work.
William Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey" celebrates imagination and emotion over rationality and reason, and intuition over science. It is the beginning of English Romanticism in the 1800's and Wordsworth was one of the leading poets of that era. He introduced the readers to grasp nature and fully appreciate all aspects of it. "Tintern Abbey" focuses on Wordsworth's nostalgic experience on returning to the Abbey, but pays much attention to the poem's theme of emotional beauty and nature. In this poem, the reader finds Wordsworth's intense and loving memory of natural scenes.
Imagery has been one of the most pivotal movements in the cultural and intellectual history of English Literature. The comparison is not only among the works of their own rather it also includes the differences and traces of similarity with the works of others writers of different ages. The analysis is done by reading the actual text and interpreting the meaning by understanding the deep phrases hidden in the poetry. Different critics showed different aspects by their research. Some found out merits and some found out demerits in the works of Wordsworth and Coleridge. The merits includes uniqueness, healing power of poetry, and interpretation of their imagination for things whereas the demerits include slack of humour, lack of range and lyricism in their poetry. On a whole Wordsworth and Coleridge works have gained lot of interest and tempted many critics to write on their methods and strategies which they adopted in their work.