Truth in Keats' Ode on a Grecian Urn and Cummings' since feeling is first
Truth remains a mysterious essential: sought out, created, and destroyed in countless metaphysical arguments through time. Whether argued as being absolute or relative, universal or personal, no thought is perceived or conceived without an assessment of its truth. In John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and E.E. Cummings' "since feeling is first" the concern is not specifically the truth of a thought, but rather, the general nature of truth; the foundation which gives truth is trueness . Both poets replace investigation with decision, and that which would be argumentation in the hands of philosophers becomes example and sentiment in their poems. Each poet's
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The importance of the flowers (whose beauty explains their existence) parallels the importance of pleasure for pleasure's sake emphasized in lines seven and eight: "kisses are a better fate than wisdom." Lines 10-11,"The best gesture of my brain is less than your eyelids' flutter," lend importance to the uncontrolled, pristine expressiveness of the body (contained in an "eyelids' flutter") which over-shadows the contrived, socially conventional action connotated by "gesture." Furthermore, the anatomically specific "brain" defines the gesture as a solely rational act without creativity. The "laugh" of line 13, a spontaneous expression of joy, further contrasts with the "gesture" and finds the "lady" addressed in line nine "leaning back in [the speaker's] arms," "arms" which associate strength with the human expression of love and emotion. Cummings' assertion that "Life is not a paragraph" fosters a sense of freedom by reinforcing the absence of universal rules and structure begun in line three ("syntax") and continued in lines 10 and 11 ("best gesture... flutter"). Finally, "death i think is no parenthesis" encourages the emotional freedom promoted throughout the poem by characterizing death not as a temporary interrupter of a greater progression, but as an ultimate end. "Since feeling is first" finds a life of reason unfulfilling ("life's not a paragraph"), and
The poem “since feeling is first” is written by E.E Cummings in a stanza form with a total number of 16 lines. The sentences carry no more than nine words and no less than four words. It is about a man expressing his love to his beloved women. Cummings use of literary devices such as; metaphor, personification, imagery and denotation to express his feelings. “Since feeling is first” is a romantic poem that teaches a lesson about life. Its use of literary devices make the poem appealing to the readers.
The last few lines in the poem are sentience that have been chopped up into different lines, to help
Furthermore, there are many people that are scared of death and for good reasons. Although death is final and cannot be undone, it is a beautiful thing. Mr. Justice shows this by using the literary device of contrast. During the poem, Death is amid the rose gardens. When people think of roses, they usually think of
The fact that enjambment is used throughout the poem such as in the lines, “like a colour slide or press an ear against its hive” portrays a lack of structure and therefore emphasizes the initial enjoyment one feels when reading a poem before the chore of analyzing it begins. This is also emphasized through the fact that the poem is a free verse poem.
His previous “cold reprieve” has been warmed by the leaves that “burn red” before dying in nature. The short but beautiful life of the leaf is a metaphor for what life should be - beautiful regardless of the time given. This juxtaposition of life as a “cold reprieve” changing into the image of a leaf burning “red” shows how the voice’s view on life is changing throughout the poem by the echo’s prompting. Realizing that nature is beautiful in death, he now understands that life is a beautiful journey leading up to death that should be cherished in all of its beauty. Dying is a process that can bring “ecstasy” in its wake. Waiting for death is not so bad when a beautiful life surrounded by joyful experiences is so readily available to all that are willing to think positively. Regardless of the beauty that can come with life, it can seem to become a burden that people suffer through until death. The grief that comes with “life’s long disease” will be resolved in death. Death is not an “enemy” to be feared, but a natural part of life that must be accepted. In contrast, the worst enemy of the voice is himself - his own uncertainty and worry have caused all of his pain. All of the rhetorical questions that he asks display the extent of his worry about the unknown future, but his subconscious begins to soothe his worries and comfort him with the
The poem begins with the poet noticing the beauty around her, the fall colors as the sun sets “Their leaves and fruits seemed painted, but was true, / Of green, of red, of yellow, mixed hue;” (5-6). The poet immediately relates the effects of nature’s beauty to her own spiritual beliefs. She wonders that if nature here on Earth is so magnificent, then Heaven must be more wonderful than ever imagined. She then views a stately oak tree and
These lines further describe her daughter when she was very young, as these words could be used to describe an infant. Also, the color pink is used to represent girls, especially little girls, and this color often represents love, compassion, and nurturing. The use of alliteration with the words “petals,” “pale,” “pink,” and “perfect,” make these lines stand out. The last two lines are a metaphor for the young girl dying: “kissed by the first frost / that selfishly captured her only bloom” (6-7). These lines personify nature and death by giving these forces the ability to “kiss” and through the use of the word “selfishly.” These lines also show the mother’s anger that her daughter was taken away from her so
The Poem begins with a personification of death as "kindly" (3). By doing this, the speaker introduces a portrayal on death that might have conflictions. Most of the times, death has a negative connotation. Whether it is an inevitable or tragic view, it opposes to what is seen in the poem. The speaker accepts death as a friendly invitation when the time is right, rather than something that is bound to happen. The speaker then joins immortality, personified as a passenger in a carriage. Immortality simply cannot be a passenger as it is a non-living thing. The reasoning for this could be that immortality ties together the link between the speaker and death, ultimately introducing the voyage to come. The first stanza sets a precedent of a meter to follow throughout most of the poem. The first line contains eight
Analysis of Since Feeling Is First by E.E. Cummings In the poem “Since Feeling Is First”, poet E.E. Cummings writes about how people focus on their emotions and not their own thoughts. This poem seems like it has to do with a personal feeling. I interpret it as someone who is in love or has experienced to love. Despite the structure of words being said, some people will listen to their own gut feeling. As the era has changed people don’t always follow the same typical behavior that was used traditionally.
There are several lines within this poem referring to motifs that revolve around pain and emotional outlet. The lines “to thrust all that life under your tongue!— / that, all by itself, becomes a passion / death’s a
In the second stanza, the poem compares his love to a plant that does not bloom. The flowers are hidden deep within the plant. The text is expressing that while most would not appreciate a flower that does not bloom, the love described here goes far beyond that of anyone else’s. Inner beauty is admired. The narrator is not ashamed of his love. Yet, he feels as though he cannot compare her to anything of this world. He is entirely consumed by the spirit within her.
becoming any worse in the future since “a thing of beauty is a joy for
The twenty-four old romantic poet John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn” written in the spring of 1819 was one of his last of six odes. That he ever wrote for he died of tuberculosis a year later. Although, his time as a poet was short he was an essential part of The Romantic period (1789-1832). His groundbreaking poetry created a paradigm shift in the way poetry was composed and comprehended. Indeed, the Romantic period provided a shift from reason to belief in the senses and intuition. “Keats’s poem is able to address some of the most common assumptions and valorizations in the study of Romantic poetry, such as the opposition between “organic culture” and the alienation of modernity”. (O’Rourke, 53) The irony of Keats’s Urn is he likens
John Keats’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn” is written through the power of eternity, beauty and truth regardless of existence, as Wordsworth showed likewise. Keats illustrated his poem through love in its sublime. For example, in the first stanza he says, “What wild ecstasy?” (Keats 930). If ecstasy is a huge feeling of