LATE: Blog 3, Love Poems

Two contrasting views of love that I found were in the poems "Love Is Not All" by Edna St. Vincent Millay and "Weighing the Dog" by Billy Collins. In "Love Is Not All", the speaker has love and is able to place it in a relatively healthy context. The speaker is able to recognize the difference between the emotions that he/she feels in that moment and how those feelings subside and become less meaningful over time. Perhaps this is not a realistic view of true love, as the speaker in "Weighing the Dog" might assert, as he/she is in a very different position. The speaker in that poem is definitely dwelling on some lost love, being reminded of it in the totally random act of weighing a dog. This person is unable to put their emotions in the context of the speaker in "Love Is Not All" and sell their love for peace, which I think is a pretty neat phrase. Instead, the love has festered and is disturbing normal, everyday activities that should not be disturbed. I think that the speaker in "Dog" should take a leaf out of the "All"'s speaker's book and get over him/herself. You left your lover! If it meant so much to you, go back. If it didn't, get over it! Regardless, quit confusing your pet and make a decision. Jeez.

LATE: Blog 1, Identity and Culture

I know that I wrote a lot and I know that the prompt said 350 words, but I felt like I should because this is late and all.

The poem "The Quiet Life" by Alexander Pope depicts a very zen existence. All this guy wants is to chill on his farm and be one with nature, to be content with the harmony of the land around him. Unambitious, healthy, and completely at peace, the speaker values his relationship with his little plot of land above all else, with absolutely no desire for anything glorious or material. Having just finished my meaning of life project, I just revisited my thoughts on The Iliad in which the Greeks have the exact opposite mentality. compare and contrast! yay! To the Argives of old, the greatest accomplishment of a mortal is to be remembered forever, which is the closest thing a mortal could get to immortality. This is a bizarre contrast in it's own right because these men, as it is pointed out in the story, are the only creatures in existence who are doomed to die and know that they're doomed to die, so they try desperately to avoid it by gaining glory on the battlefield, but in this quest for glory they almost invariably die. This leads to the conclusion that these soldiers value their posthumous recognition more than their mortal existence, the exact opposite of Pope's poem. However, a significant chunk of the story is about Achilles essentially rejecting that whole idea. Insulted, tired, and sick of the fighting, the Greeks' greatest warrior simply stops caring about glory one day and plans to return home and chill on his farm, much like Pope's speaker. Achilles realizes that glory doesn't matter because it doesn't contribute to a man's actual happiness. And how could it? You're dead! Even if everyone in the world had a statue of you on their front lawn, you would never see them. Is a the spirit of man comprised of the aggregate thoughts of other people?

"They say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time.” - Banksy

I have no idea, but the idea of existing through others after your dead is as fascinating to me as it is divergent from this discussion. The point is that Achilles decides to value his own experience on this Earth above all else, and, even though he does rejoin the fighting (and dying) by the end of the book, he does so out of a hulk-esque display of vengeance for his slain friend rather than any change in his meaning of life philosophy. So, are Achilles and Pope's speaker right, or are the Argive warriors right? I mean, according to the opposing philosophy, Pope's speaker should just bury himself in his neighbors crops so that the plants can use the chemicals in his body as nutrients. 'What's the point', they would cry, 'of a life that impacts nothing?'. And he would probably retort, 'You are one of 7 billion people on a speck hurtling through an infinite sea of mystery and nothing, so what's the point of all your effort if you can be content with just a quiet farm?'. Personally, I think Pope's speaker's view is pretty terrifying, but does that make it any less true? On the other hand, everything becomes pretty meaningless when viewed in the entirety of the macrocosmos, so if you can find meaning in a good fight, why not go for glory? [in a perfect Mr. Pope impersonation] I don't know!



The second poem that I chose is "Identity Card" by Mahmoud Darwish. This poem reminds me of a list of useful fears that I have been slowly growing:
1) The patience of an enemy
2) A fool with a following
3) The anger of a gentle man
This poem definitely ignites that third one pretty hard.
Anyway, I think that this poem relates to the discussion above because the speaker doesn't really have the luxury of choosing which side of this dilemma he's on. His life is basically one big struggle to stay calm and resist the external forces that are disrupting his way of life. The life he describes in the poem suggests that he is just trying to provide for his family, which is leaning more towards the Quiet Life camp, but what would Pope's speaker have to say about defending your farm from those who would see it ruined? The speaker in "Identity Card" doesn't have anything close to what Pope's speaker has and probably doesn't have the resources to perhaps move somewhere else and buy a new farm. I think that the question of how far you should go to protect what you have needs to be addressed when discussing these matters, and this poem definitely raises that question.

"News Report, September 1991" by Denise Levertov

The Black Mountain poets were a group of poets in the mid-20th century centered around Black Mountain College, an experimental educational institution in Black Mountain, North Carolina that emphasize the study of art as central to a liberal arts education. Black Mountain College attracted various prominent intellectual and educational figures at the time, including Charles Olson, Robert Creely, and Denise Levertov. Black Mountain poets tended to focus on progressive themes and were also revolutionary in developing an innovative poetic form known as projective verse or "open field" poetry, which was espoused by Charles Olson in his 1950 essay "Projective Verse." Open field poetry was designed by Olson to replace more restrictive forms of poetry black Mountain poets believed limited the creative process.

For this blog, I chose to analyze the poem "News Report, September 1991" by Denise Levertov, one of the more renowned Black Mountain poets. In this poem, Levertov criticizes the rationale behind the Persian Gulf War--and in general, all war. Levertov was known throughout her life to be an adamant anti-war activist, and many of her poem, such this one, concerned the futility of war. Satirizing the death toll incurred by military operations in the Persian Gulf, Levertov remarks that the body count was "impossible" and also includes commentary from Lieutenant Colonel Hawkins: "Schwartzkopf's staff estimated fifty to seventy thousand killed in the trenches." Levertove concludes by mentioning the although U.S. military operations in the Persian Gulf resulted in massive human losses, it was "cost-effective," further condemning the actions of the U.S. military in pursuing war.

In addition to its exploration of progressive themes, a major characteristic of Black Mountain poetry, "News Report, September 1991" complex with the form often associated with Black Mountain poetry; that is, it employs the open field style of poetry devised by Charles Olson. As a result, the form of this poem is based around each line, with each line constituting a single though or "utterance." In summary, this poem is a highly appropriate example of a typical Black Mountain poem.

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot

Symbolism was a middle to late 19th century artistic and intellectual movement than served as a link between the romantic and modernist movements. Originating in French, Russian, and Belgian poetry and other arts, most notably with the publication of poetry collection Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil, 1857) by Charles Baudelaire, symbolism was largely a reaction against naturalism and realism, advocating for the depiction of ideals and transcendence in the arts and literature as opposed to the harsh realities of daily life. In their yearning for transcendence, symbolists often stressed imagination and dreamlike, surrealistic settings and made extensive use of metaphors and symbols in their works, thus the name "symbolism." Renowned symbolists include Oscar Wilde, Arthur Symons, W.B. Yeats, and T.S. Eliot.

For this blog, I chose to analyze the poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot in the context of its overall meaning and its compatibility with symbolist ideas and motives. This poem, like many by Eliot, is extremely difficult to comprehend. This attribute is typical of symbolist works; after all, as previously mentioned, symbolists sought to imply ideas through symbols, so a great deal of their work is highly obscure in meaning. Nonetheless, from what I understand, I believe that "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" concerns humanity's social and psychological state in the modern world, more specifically men's social and psychological state in the modern world. This poem was written in either 1910 or 1911, during a transitionary period in which Americans began to renounce the puritanical morals of the Victorian Era in favor of the decadence and debauchery characteristic of the Jazz Age that would soon follow. The women's suffrage movement was also beginning to gain various successes across America at this time while the horrors of World War I would soon be unleashed upon an unsuspecting world. In essence, the United States in the early 20th century was undergoing dramatic societal change, which Eliot attempts to capture in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." The speaker of this poem, according to Eliot's perspective, is the ordinary modern man, educated (to at least some degree), conflicted, hesitant, and anxious of the change that is occurring around him, yet totally unable to prevent such change from coming to fruition. Throughout the poem, Prufrock seems to be addressing a woman he loves, a woman who apparently does not share his feelings of affection. Though he would like for his relationship to the woman to progress, Prufrock is afraid of possible rejection, stating his many inadequacies as evidence that there could never exist any sincere relationship between him and the woman: "Time to turn back and descend the stair, / With a bald spot in the middle of my hair-- / (They will say: 'How his hair is growing thin.' / ...(They will say: 'But how his arms and legs are thin.')." By the end of the poem, Prufrock concludes that he is only mediocre in status--that he is "not Prince Hamlet"--and is therefore unworthy of the woman's love.

Through Prufrock and other symbolic imagery, Eliot conveys the increasing fragility and emasculation of the modern American man in the early 20th century as a result of drastic society changes occurring during this time. The poem in its entirety embodies the characteristics of the symbolist movement due to its extensive sue of metaphorical imagery and idealistic lamentations.

Amiri Baraka - "Ka 'Ba"

A closed window looks down
on a dirty courtyard, and black people
call across or scream or walk across
defying physics in the stream of their will

Our world is full of sound
Our world is more lovely than anyone's
tho we suffer, and kill each other
and sometimes fail to walk the air

We are beautiful people
with african imaginations
full of masks and dances and swelling chants

with african eyes, and noses, and arms, 
though we sprawl in grey chains in a place
full of winters, when what we want is sun.

We have been captured, 
brothers. And we labor
to make our getaway, into
the ancient image, into a new

correspondence with ourselves
and our black family. We read magic
now we need the spells, to rise up
return, destroy, and create. What will be

the sacred words? 

Amiri Baraka was the founding artist behind the Black Arts Movement, a largely literary movement which emerged from the reaction to Malcolm X's assassination. The Black Arts Movement (or BAM) has been characterized at times as the aesthetic equivalent of Black Power - indeed many of the works of the movement are very explicitly in favor of black power & black seperatism. Ishmael Reed, an artist often associated with the movement but who never formally joined it, characterizes BAM as the beginning of a political multiculturalism which rejects the assimilation of marginalized groups in favor of "doing your own thing."

In "Ka 'Ba", Baraka clearly reflects on these themes. The title immediately elicits a connection to Islam, as the Kaaba is the most sacred place in Islam, a shrine in the religion's most sacred mosque. Islam was often associated with Black Power, as the Nation of Islam provided much of the leadership for this movement. Baraka thus agrees with the Nation of Islam in that he seems to view Islam as integral to the development of a black seperatist identity.

BAM works are also often defined by their open celebration of blackness and black people, and this is clearly evident in Baraka's work - he says that black people "[defy] physics in the stream of their will" and that their "world is more lovely than anyone's / tho we suffer." This radical celebration of blackness, even whilst acknowledging the hardships of black people in America, is fully characteristic of the concept of Black Power endemic to BAM. Baraka closes the poem by asking "What will be the sacred words?" that will free his people from bondage. Given the title of the poem, we may be led to believe that these "sacred words" are Islamic, but perhaps the words he has just used are indeed the words he speaks of - BAM could then fulfill its ambition as the literary wing of black liberation.

Alexander Pope - "Argus"

When wise Ulysses, from his native coast 
Long kept by wars, and long by tempests toss'd, 
Arrived at last, poor, old, disguised, alone, 
To all his friends, and ev'n his Queen unknown, 
Changed as he was, with age, and toils, and cares, 
Furrow'd his rev'rend face, and white his hairs, 
In his own palace forc'd to ask his bread, 
Scorn'd by those slaves his former bounty fed, 
Forgot of all his own domestic crew, 
The faithful Dog alone his rightful master knew! 

Unfed, unhous'd, neglected, on the clay 
Like an old servant now cashier'd, he lay; 
Touch'd with resentment of ungrateful man, 
And longing to behold his ancient lord again. 
Him when he saw he rose, and crawl'd to meet, 
('Twas all he could) and fawn'd and kiss'd his feet, 
Seiz'd with dumb joy; then falling by his side, 
Own'd his returning lord, look'd up, and died! 

Alexander Pope was an Augustan poet. Augustans were early-18th century poets marked by their political themes, satire, and revivals & translations of classical texts.

In "Argus," Pope draws on the story of Odysseus and his dog, Argus. When Odysseus returned home after many years at sea, he went unrecognized by everyone he once knew, even his own wife. Only his faithful old dog, Argos, recognized him. Argos mustered the last of his strength, walked over to his master (who could not acknowledge his old friend, as he was undercover) and died.

Pope takes a new, witty spin on the story by dedicating the second stanza to recounting Argos' viewpoint. Much of the irony and wit of this stanza comes from the dramatic & overwrought style in which the viewpoint of a dog is recounted - "longing to behold his ancient lord again" is absurdly grandiose language & in fact obscures the simplicity of Odysseus and Argos' relationship which is frequently viewed as central to the story's significance. Pope thus implicitly satirizes the tropes of his medium, applying its styles in a way which reveals what it lacks. There is also a possible political satire here - Argos sacrifices all of his strength & life for his "ancient lord", who barely acknowledges him. The directness with which Pope describes Argos' death - "look'd up, and died!" - satirizes the idea that such a death for a higher noble would be honorable and worthwhile. Indeed, this death is unglamorous and sudden. It seems Pope sees no honor in the sacrifice of self for an uncaring lord.

Stylistically the poem matches the patterns of Augustan poetry - it is written with heroic couplets in iambic pentameter.

Gregory Corso was the man

Gregory Corso was a poet of the Beat period that really resembled the spirits of that generation. Fulfilled by the anti-establishment spirit, he wrote on many topics that seemed to be satirical and angry of societal norms. I read "Marriage", one of his most famous poems, and actually really enjoyed it. The whole poem is focused on his different imaginations of marriage and different situations of who he would marry and imagining the life he would have someday. He asks many rhetorical questions, common with the Beat characteristic of sharing a "sense of personal frankness". This can be expressed through his frank questions, an example being the opening line and theme throughout the whole thing: "Should I get married? Should I be Good?" The entirety of the poem goes into these thoughts of his almost cynical attitude towards marriage and all of his doubts of meeting her parents. There's a significant shift between the second to last stanza when he brings up the topic of love. Obviously, love is, or should be, the basis of marriage, but Corso is taking a cynical look on it because he talks about how he's forgotten about love going into a marriage. This is incredibly significant to the Beat period, as the tone of this period, according to the site, is "satirical, angry, and ranting as well as tender and meditative". Corso completely demonstrates these characteristics in his poem, Marriage.

Jack Nicholson with longer hair??