Freedom and Liberty in Wordsworth's Prefatory Sonnet Essay

Freedom in this poem is symbolized as steel in the line “The steel of freedom does not stain.” Although freedom is literally not steel and cannot be “stained” the author uses this word choice to clarify what freedom should be. The reality of the freedom described in this poem is that Hughes view on the different ethnic classes “ juxtaposes the beauty that the American dream holds for everyone of every color.”

“American Sonnet to my Past and Future Assassin” by Terrance Hayes is a modern American sonnet whose focus is a black man struggling to comprehend his place in society. The speaker of the poem illustrates his dilemma through comparisons to the respected black musicians of the twentieth century to whom he feels a deep connection to. The tone of the sonnet is one of contemplation, or even uncertainty, as the speaker outlines his thoughts in reluctance, questioning both himself and his audience.

While reading the works of great writers and thinkers like Jefferson, Wollstonecraft, Woolf and Stanton, whom inspired the America we know today, I was proud by how far we as a nation have come. I was also surprised by how much contextual knowledge I had missed from my past readings of these works and became even more impressed with the genius of these writers. However, in the true American spirit of competition, there is one who reigns supreme, which in my opinion, is Wollstonecraft. This is ultimately due to the fact that Wollstonecraft not only masterfully maintained good form, controlled the effect her words had on her separate audiences, made sure to relate her personal life as an educated American woman to the events and needs the world was experiencing in that point in time but she did so while framing it as a beautiful work of art with the use of inspired yet purposeful language. Likewise, although these works are all significant and important pieces in the fabric of American history, Wollstonecraft’s “An End to Blind Obedience” seems to be the most complete, meaningful and beautiful in nature.

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.

In modern times, youth and beauty is an image seen everywhere. For example, a Versace billboard, magazine ad, TV commercial, all of which displays images of beautiful people. But what happens when this beauty fades? Shakespeare in his 12th sonnet talks about his experience and fading beauty. The purpose of this poem is to encourage a young man to not lose his beauty to the ravages of time. In order to do this, one must reproduce so beauty will live.

During one semester of Mr. McGee’s class, one will read more texts and novels than they ever have in the rest of their English career combined. With that in mind, clearly there has to have been several important texts. Each and every text had their place in American literature and each one served a purpose, but some had more meaning to certain people than others. For one, these three texts could be The Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson, My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass, and To Build A Fire by Jack London. The Declaration of Independence is an inspirational text, in which Jefferson and the founding fathers declared the American Colonies independence, establishing their freedom, from Great Britain.

As the poem starts with the remarkable notion that he wishes to bring to the attention of everyone else, the opinion that justice and liberty are inconsistent and should be reviewed. Just the mentioning of some of these instances and understanding that we have multiple systems based around the principles of liberty and justice, the trivial conclusion is up for speculation. One critical observation when comparing the past to the present it seems that justice and liberty are not in the favor of the meek. “IN 1775, DURING heated debates between Great Britain and its American colonies over issues of taxation and government, Samuel Johnson famously asked: “How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes?”1 Johnson

Hughes personifies liberty but dresses her in a wreath crown with fake patriotism. The land he seeks would be rid of this deception. Americans boast of liberty and freedom, but it is not for all because equality is not “in the air we breathe.” Hughes’ use of personification brings the idea of liberty down to a human level and makes it more realistic. This use of figurative language calls for a realistic view of the situation.

· But line 3 of stanza 1 becomes the rhyme sound for the first, second

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself / and what I shall assume you shall assume” (Whitman 1-2). These lines not only open up the beginning of one the best poems of the American Romantic period, but they also represent a prominent theme of one of this period’s best poet, Walt Whitman. In Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself, Whitman deals with his time period’s most prominent theme of democracy. Whitman tells readers that they must not only observe the democratic life but they must become one with it. As Whitman states, “For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you” (3). Democracy provides a connection with all people. It is as if Joseph Stella felt this connection and decided to depict it in his collection of paintings entitled “Americans in the Rough.” The individual is of no greater or lesser worth than anyone else. Beatrice Marovich states that, “It is a song for fellow Americans, about the American body politic” (349). An analysis of Song of Myself portrays that understanding and becoming one with democracy through political collectivity essentially sets the stage for the American democratic self. Joseph Stella does a great job of interpreting and depicting Whitman’s ideals of democracy through his illustrations representing every facet of an American democratic life.

has the gentle heart of a woman but is not inconsistent as is the way

Lines 17 and 18 are interesting because the alliteration crosses over from the th sound of thoughts and

“Sympathy” by Paul Dunbar and “Bury me in a Free Land” by Frances Watkins Harper are two African American poems that differ in tone and style. Both of these poems however, despite their differences, address prominent historical aspect of African American slavery and present the misery of Black men living in America during that era. These poems, through numerous rhetoric devices, present the struggle of African Americans facing the clash between bondage and freedom.

     The sonnet, being one of the most traditional and recognized forms of poetry, has been used and altered in many time periods by writers to convey different messages to the audience. The strict constraints of the form have often been used to parallel the subject in the poem. Many times, the first three quatrains introduce the subject and build on one another, showing progression in the poem. The final couplet brings closure to the poem by bringing the main ideas together. On other occasions, the couplet makes a statement of irony or refutes the main idea with a counter statement. It leaves the reader with a last impression of what the author is trying to say.

During the Renaissance period, most poets were writing love poems about their lovers/mistresses. The poets of this time often compared love to high, unrealistic, and unattainable beauty. Shakespeare, in his sonnet 18, continues the tradition of his time by comparing the speakers' love/mistress to the summer time of the year. It is during this time of the year that the flowers and the nature that surround them are at there peak for beauty. The theme of the poem is to show the speakers true interpretation of beauty. Beauties worst enemy is time and although beauty might fade it can still live on through a person's memory or words of a poem. The speaker realizes that beauty, like the subject of the poem, will remain perfect not in the