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on London by William Blake, on November 15, 2004Meaning:
The poet is quite easy to understand meaning-wise, as the poet writes about the things he sees, hears and feels as he walks through the London streets. However, the initial meaning is not the only one this poem has to offer. The poet tries to represent the Londoners' sorrow in his words, as he talks about the contrast between rich and poor, and so, brings out the harsh realitites faced everyday by the oppressed. The poem shows hints of the sense of rebellion the people of Blake's times were feeling against the church and royalty, both of which were ignoring the rest of the country's cry for help.
Technical:
The piece is composed of four quatrains, and each line is eight sylables long. The rhythm of the poem, added to the alternate rhyme, bring out the sense of monotony and restriction the poet feels as he walks through the "chartered" streets.
It is interesting to note that the author divides the poem in this particular and appealing way:
First stanza : appeals to sense of sight
Second stanza : appeals to the sense of sound
Third stanza : appeals to the sense of sight and sound
Fourth stanza : appeals to the sense of sound
Hence, the poet plays around with senses and appeals to the readers in many different dimensions.
Diction:
in terms of wording, the poem is very strong, and relies on a lot of imagery to portray its meaning graphically. The use of repeated words such as "marks", "chartered" and "every" serve to stress certain points in the poem, and add to the sense of apathy the poet feels. Some words also create a lot of contrast, such as soft, calm words like "flow", "woe" "sigh" and "cry", which when put against others with harsher connotations, like "plagues", "blackening" and "ban" create a gulf between the two worlds represented in the poem.
Opinion:
A beautiful poem which is so rich in all the ways a poem should be. It's technically sound, appeals to the senses, sounds amazing wen read around and means something important. What more could I ask for in a poem?
Edited on Nov 15, 11:53 because ''. -
on The Cave Of The Unborn by Thomas Hardy, on November 14, 2004In this poem, I understood that Hardy was describing a kind of cave or giant womb, perhaps belonging to God (the Head), in which all the unborn babies were waiting expectantly to be born.
I think this is a very beautiful poem of Hardy's. I love the contrast created between the words of hope spoken by the babies, and the negativity pervading through Hardy's decription of the cave and the babies. Hardy seems to pity them because they have no choice but to be forced out of the womb into the world, where they have to face the things he had to. His references to the world are, in fact, quite negative, and he refers to certain ideas which are considered good in a context which is negative, which kind of removes their goodness.
It is interesting to note that the questions asked by the babies are rhetorical. They do not expect an answer, but a confirmation, which seems to confirm the idea that they are very expectant and excited of the world awaiting them. However, Hardy's look inserts doubt into the babies' minds, thus informing them that the world is in fact Not awaiting them, for they are unimportant.
The last stanza uses a lot of words with interesting sounds, like "helter skelter" and "rabble rout", which to me, seem to evoke images of a kind of riot, or a large, loud crowd which is unceremoniously thrown out of the cave.
It is interesting to note that the last word in the poem is "Will". To my knowledge, Hardy believed that will was what controlled human life, above all other factors, and this shows through in the way the babies have no control on whether they are born or not.
If there was anything that I would change in this poem, it would be the fact that it is written in a kind of free verse. For some reason, I expected the poem to rhyme when I first started reading it, and I was disappointed when it did not. Other than that, I think it is one of the most beautiful I have ever read.
Edited on Nov 14, 3:09 p.m. because ''.
To be honest, I had to read this a couple of times to make sure I completely understood what Owen was trying to say. In summary, I think the author was criticising the church for using Christ as a symbol of what the soldiers should aspire to in the war, when after all, Christ did not believe in violence. Owen's style is as sarcastic and powerful as ever, as he brings together images of holiness to those of war, and dishes out the result of that combination for all the readers to see, without trying to soften the images, or make his message more "politically correct".
Technical:
From what I can see, the poem was written in free verse, with no particular attention being given to rhythm or stress. However, Owen maintained his use of alternate rhyme, which is quite common is his poetry. The use of punctuation, for example the caesura in the third line of the first stanza, serves to halt the reader and make him/her appreciate what the poet was trying to say.
Diction and Imagery:
The image of "the Church Christ" in the first line is immediately intriguing. Are there any more types of Christs, besides the church Christ? Owen was probably trying to say that the church was exploiting Christ as a sacrifice, and ignoring all his other teachings and beliefs.
The fabricated atmosphere surrounding the "serries" saints, and the Virgin, who is referred to as "one" of many, all serve to mock the holy imagery which is merely a show, for most Catholics do not practice what they preach. In fact, Owen pictures the Virgin with a tin hat belonging to a dead soldier for a halo, smiling on at war as if she depends on the gore for her sainthood to be preserved. This image of the Virgin is, in my opinion, one of the most powerful in Owen's poetry.
The roles of illusion or make-believe, and reality are reversed in the final line, for Owen refers to the battlefield as "hell", which will "batter" the metaphysical, i.e. the Virgin.
Opinion:
I personally like the sarcasm and mockery Owen uses in this poem. It was totally called for, owing to the atrocities he, along with his fellow soldiers, was forced to suffer from. I believe that this style was a very effective way of making a powerful statement through literature, for flowery language would not have contained in the same way the anger Owen felt towards the political and religious authorities of his times for not standing up for the soldiers at war.