In her ‘Preface’ to Hymns in Prose for Children, Anna Laetitia Barbauld affirms that:
That Barbauld is a believing woman is incontrovertible: she seeks, after all, to ‘impress devotional feelings’ upon the minds of her young readers. It is also evident, however, that Barbauld is not especially interested in communicating scriptural minutiae and theological specificities to her readers: the Hymns, as Lynne Vallone notes, mostly ‘“preach” analogically to the children of privilege’ – children for whom ‘the pastoral world of the Hymns’, where praising God ‘is the only imperative’, is a recognisable world – ‘to love God: as [they] respect and are awed by the beauty of nature so should [they] be thankful to and praise the God who is the Creator of Nature’. Barbauld intimates, in fact, that the phenomena and processes of the ‘natural’, or physical, world corroborate the existence of a divine presence; in discussing the natural order of things, and in encouraging the reader to both look out for and make note of ecological patterns and quirks, Barbauld seems to insinuate, in turn, that religion cannot be taught in churches and classrooms – that it must, instead, be learned spontaneously through one’s observations of the universe.
It is, of course, possible that Barbauld believed children incapable of grasping orthodox constructions, or interpretations, of God and His designs. In her ‘Preface’ to the Hymns, she mentions, for example, that poetry – ‘an elevation in thought and style
We can’t but we can reflect on the lady bug and all its kin in the world of species beyond humans, finding them to be intensely important if overlooked subject of religious value. (p.g xvii) I found it unfair to choose only one of these five assertions and find that each one plays a role in creating a better understanding between theology and the natural world. We can infer that the evolving world of plant and animal species can connect with religious stories.
Throughout my selected text, Johnson focuses on the church along with the subsequent androcentric image of God, and how it impacts woman around the world. She explains that throughout history, with the help of the church’s patriarchal nature and society’s values as a whole, woman have been seen “as a ‘defective male’…that must live in obedience to her [male counterpart,]…[ and who are often also referred to as the] ‘second sex’” (Johnson 92). This
Upon first reading “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves,” it might seem like an imaginative fantasy and nothing else. The story focuses on the daughters of a pack of werewolves, and it takes place in a world where the werewolves and their daughters are nothing out of the ordinary. But upon closer examination, this is a story rooted in reality. This inventive tale parallels several real world phenomena. Karen Russell uses allegory in “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” to objectify western society’s views of people outside of that society and of outsiders in general, and compare them to the views that people have of wild animals.
Throughout the course of humanity’s history many questions have risen that have posed a problem to us as a species. Questions such as the following: What is the proper relationship between individuals and society? What is beauty, and why is it important? Is there purpose in human existence?, and many others have caused enough trouble in humanity’s short existence on the earth to cause a near identity crisis. However, all of these questions fall under the shadow of the main question that has been asked since the creation of Adam- “What exactly is the real relationship and purpose of humanity towards the divine?”
Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor are two poets who are puritans. They are able to use writing and language to portray their ideas on G-d and religion. Upon the Burning of Our House, July 10th, 1666 by Bradstreet and Huswifery by Taylor are similar in the sense that G-d is always a part of their poems, whether it’s direct or through the use of complex writing. Through the use of language and metaphors, Bradstreet conveys that a connection with G-d could be strengthened through destruction while Taylor reveals that a connection can be reinforced through creation.
“Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space” (Oscar Scott Card). The puritan poets Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor write of their lives and of God and where these two things intertwine. God, however, is an enticing mystery that these poets attempt to understand, and in their exploration, they use the metaphorical reasoning to explain what they’ve discovered. Bradstreet and Edward Taylor implement metaphors to create the greatest understanding in the smallest space by using common complexities to describe uncommon intricacies.
“Contemplations” by Anne Bradstreet is a poem of thirty-three seven-line stanzas. It has an ABAB CCC rhyme scheme. This complex poem exists as a justification of writing as a unity with God that ends with the questioning of humanity’s placement in the hierarchy of the universe. The theme is presented as a tightly woven structure of different concepts, nature and religion go hand and hand. The poet is conflicted because she has hopes of being able to glorify God, but is hindered by a sense of her own insufficiency. The word contemplation is another word for meditations; therefore, this poem provides the reader with several different scenes of meditation. Some of the scenes include the poet mediating on how God made nature and how it is supposed to mirror Heaven. The poet believes that humans need to meditate on this fact on a daily basis and remind themselves of their placement within the universe. “Throughout the poem the poet ultimately resolves that God alone is eternal and human-made objects, designs and history will fade eventually”
In the first stanza it is the semantic field of water: ‘waters’ (twice), ‘sea’, ‘drowning’ and ‘being drawn’. As I mentioned earlier, water is often the symbol of life but it also evokes tears, sadness and despair.
Church and Religion in the Songs of Innocence and Experience Throughout “Innocence” and “Experience,” many poems incorporate religious views and imagery. Blake presents many contradicting views on the Church and religion, the contrast being particularly clear between “Innocence” and “Experience.” Within the “Songs of Innocence” a child-like portrayal of Church and religion is portrayed.
The ideas that are received from the poems of John Donne and George Herbert present us with a very distinct view on God, and more generally, religion. Both were writing in the late 1500s and early 1600s; however the methodologies used by each are very distinct.
The battle for equality snowballed since the birth of feminism. At the frontline of the battle, have been women enraged at the thought of the superiority of men. However, some women believe in taking a violent approach to demolish the ideas of oppression. In the poem “The Rights of Woman,” Barbauld reveals that the oppression of women emanates from impulsive anger by showing the power of emotion in decision making, the ineffectuality of paroxysm, and the irrefutable rule of nature. Barbauld attempts to undermine the false pride of women who believe men are evil and who resort to irrationally regarding the only solution to oppression as attacking the will of men. She takes an interesting approach in arguing against feminist rage by having the narrator seemingly side with violence and later suddenly display the imprudence of acting on impulse.
There are plenty works of poetry that have been published, but none that match the intellect and beautiful writing aura like those of Phillis Wheatley’s. Phillis Wheatley was America’s first black female poet who learned to read and write at an age where blacks were either unable to learn or restricted from these opportunities. Most of Phillis Wheatley’s poetry consists of religion, death and the hardships and burdens blacks endured throughout slavery. With the will to overcome slavery, she went on to express her thoughts, views, and ideas through poetry. Her writing talents and deep intellect towards her works separate her from other writers and place her in a category of her
This poem is therefore widely a statement of pantheism, which is a position that god and nature are the same. According to Matt Slick, (2011) the word pantheism is derived from Greek words "Pan" meaning all and the other section from "theos" meaning God. This then implies that all nature found in the universe, from the stars, mountains, planets, wind, rain, storms are all part of what God is hence pantheists contest that God is all and all nature is part of God. This should not be confused with the Christian perspective that God created all nature but these are inferior to him and are in no way equal to him.
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
Some of the recurrent themes and motifs in Hopkins’ poetry include the idea that the world resembles a book written by God, through which he expresses himself in order to provide humans with an opportunity to understand and approach him (Gardner 11). In ‘God’s Grandeur’ Hopkins can be seen to express his concern about the spiritual crisis of the Victorian period. During this time of urbanization and industrialization, Hopkins voiced his distress about human indifference to destruction. This poem is one of the very few which he wrote during the time when he served as a priest.