I read the poem "If I can stop one heart from breaking" by Emily Dickinson. I believe this poem is about Emily wanting to be able to use her writing to influence other people. Because she writes a lot about her own personal heartbreaks and problems, it would make sense that she wants to be able to use her writing to keep someone else from having their own heart broken. People always want to impart their own knowledge to people.
She also uses the symbolism of a bird falling out of its nest as a symbol of helping someone who is afflicted in the following lines:
"If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain."
So basically this poem is talking about how she wants to be able to help people who are wounded to get back into their "nest" or the place that they belong. When a bird falls out of its nest it is unable to get back into it by itself because usually it is only a baby bird that falls out of the nest. Sometimes they are injured and unable to get back up, so if they do not have help they cannot. So Emily Dickinson is saying that if she can assist anyone in getting back where they belong like that, she will consider her life worthwhile.
This is an important life lesson in my opinion. So many people want to spend their lives changing the entire world. But for some people, that just is not in the cards for them. So the ability to consider helping a single person to be a worthwhile venture is important. Because even if you are not literally changing the world, if you change one person's hold world it is in essence the same thing. I think this is the main idea of the whole poem, and it is a good one.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Walt Whitman's "Look Down Fair Moon"
"Look Down Fair Moon" is a powerful, albeit brief, poem that can be found in the "Drum Taps" section of "Leaves of Grass." It is a poem about the beautiful and somber moon shining down upon a field where dead bodies are strewn. Because the poem is so short, I will include it in the following paragraph:
"LOOK down fair moon and bathe this scene,
Pour softly down night's nimbus floods on faces ghastly, swollen,
purple,
On the dead on their backs with arms toss'd wide,
Pour down your unstinted nimbus sacred moon (Whitman)."
The first thing that struck me about this poem was it's use of the word nimbus, especially because it is used twice (Whitman). Dictionary.com defines nimbus as "a shining cloud sometimes surrounding a deity when on earth." I find this to be particularly interesting because it seems to suggest the spirituality of these corpses laying on the battle field. If nimbus means a cloud that surrounds a deity when on earth, that seems to suggest the importance of the things which the moon was surrounding. If this is the case, this means that Whitman believes that when a person dies he or she takes on a kind of holy aspect. This would flow along well with Whitman's idea that there is a spiritual afterlife that comes after death. This is a perfect example of Whitman demonstrating the ideas of spirituality and Christianity in his writings. The Christian faith teaches that when a person dies he is given a new heavenly body that is holy. This would fit along well with this idea of a body warranting a nimbus light to surround it.
According to Randall Huff, during the American Civil War certain battles would drag on for many days at a time. As a result of this, oftentimes corpses had to be left where they fell on the battle field due to a lack of ability to go back and pick them up. The author of this analysis believes that this poem is based upon Whitman's plea for the moon to look down on such battlefields and clean and purify the bodies of the wounded (Huff). Whitman does not specify or speak out for either side of the war, he simply wants all of the bodies to be purified equally (Huff). This idea of wanting to respect and honor the dead when the accepted way of doing this is not possible is also incredibly spiritual and respectful. In this poem Whitman shows the way that he believes in the purification and spirituality of death and how it is also an important part of life.
The second line of the poem also struck me when reading it, particularly the sequence of the adjectives describing the corpses. It seems as though they are being described as the speaker gets steadily closer. First he simply sees that they are ghastly, then that they are swollen, and finally he sees that they are purple (Whitman). I think this is an important image because it draws the reader to the scene and makes one feels as though they are there (Whitman).
Selected Bibliography
Huff, Randall. "'Look Down Fair Moon'." The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CPAP0247&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 11, 2011).
Whitman, Walt. "Look Down Fair Moon." The Walt Whitman Archive. Web. 11 Mar. 2011..
"LOOK down fair moon and bathe this scene,
Pour softly down night's nimbus floods on faces ghastly, swollen,
purple,
On the dead on their backs with arms toss'd wide,
Pour down your unstinted nimbus sacred moon (Whitman)."
The first thing that struck me about this poem was it's use of the word nimbus, especially because it is used twice (Whitman). Dictionary.com defines nimbus as "a shining cloud sometimes surrounding a deity when on earth." I find this to be particularly interesting because it seems to suggest the spirituality of these corpses laying on the battle field. If nimbus means a cloud that surrounds a deity when on earth, that seems to suggest the importance of the things which the moon was surrounding. If this is the case, this means that Whitman believes that when a person dies he or she takes on a kind of holy aspect. This would flow along well with Whitman's idea that there is a spiritual afterlife that comes after death. This is a perfect example of Whitman demonstrating the ideas of spirituality and Christianity in his writings. The Christian faith teaches that when a person dies he is given a new heavenly body that is holy. This would fit along well with this idea of a body warranting a nimbus light to surround it.
According to Randall Huff, during the American Civil War certain battles would drag on for many days at a time. As a result of this, oftentimes corpses had to be left where they fell on the battle field due to a lack of ability to go back and pick them up. The author of this analysis believes that this poem is based upon Whitman's plea for the moon to look down on such battlefields and clean and purify the bodies of the wounded (Huff). Whitman does not specify or speak out for either side of the war, he simply wants all of the bodies to be purified equally (Huff). This idea of wanting to respect and honor the dead when the accepted way of doing this is not possible is also incredibly spiritual and respectful. In this poem Whitman shows the way that he believes in the purification and spirituality of death and how it is also an important part of life.
The second line of the poem also struck me when reading it, particularly the sequence of the adjectives describing the corpses. It seems as though they are being described as the speaker gets steadily closer. First he simply sees that they are ghastly, then that they are swollen, and finally he sees that they are purple (Whitman). I think this is an important image because it draws the reader to the scene and makes one feels as though they are there (Whitman).
Selected Bibliography
Huff, Randall. "'Look Down Fair Moon'." The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CPAP0247&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 11, 2011).
Whitman, Walt. "Look Down Fair Moon." The Walt Whitman Archive. Web. 11 Mar. 2011.
Journal 32
Christmas is one of my favorite times of year. Every year when Christmas break happens my family decides to put up the Christmas tree together. My family is pretty busy most of the year, what with everybody running around and doing their own various activities, but every year we somehow find a day that we can all get together and participate in the putting up and decorating of the Christmas tree. This is a pretty exciting ordeal for us, and although it has lost some of its appeal since we were younger and believed in Santa Claus, it is still an important part of the Christmas routine.
This year was no different. A few days into Christmas break mom told us it was time to put up the Christmas tree, so we all went downstairs and helped move around boxes of junk in the storage area of our basement so that we could get to the Christmas tree box. Finally we got to it and we hauled it out and up the stairs to the spot that we keep our Christmas tree in the living room. Then we set to work dividing the branches into piles based upon the stripes on their bases. Each different level of branches has a different colored stripe. When we got them all sorted out we began to fan them out and put them on the Christmas tree.
While all of this was taking place, mom turned on some typical Christmas music and we were all dancing around and singing at the top of our lungs. My family likes to do weird things like that. When the Christmas tree branches were all put on, we got out the box of ornaments. We all dove on the box in order to get to our own various ornaments that we have been collecting since we were little kids. Each one is special to us, and we put every single one on the tree. Lastly, we put the angel on the top of the tree. When all of this was complete we set back on the couch, basking in the glow of the lights and admiring our accomplishment. This is one of my favorite parts of Christmas.
This year was no different. A few days into Christmas break mom told us it was time to put up the Christmas tree, so we all went downstairs and helped move around boxes of junk in the storage area of our basement so that we could get to the Christmas tree box. Finally we got to it and we hauled it out and up the stairs to the spot that we keep our Christmas tree in the living room. Then we set to work dividing the branches into piles based upon the stripes on their bases. Each different level of branches has a different colored stripe. When we got them all sorted out we began to fan them out and put them on the Christmas tree.
While all of this was taking place, mom turned on some typical Christmas music and we were all dancing around and singing at the top of our lungs. My family likes to do weird things like that. When the Christmas tree branches were all put on, we got out the box of ornaments. We all dove on the box in order to get to our own various ornaments that we have been collecting since we were little kids. Each one is special to us, and we put every single one on the tree. Lastly, we put the angel on the top of the tree. When all of this was complete we set back on the couch, basking in the glow of the lights and admiring our accomplishment. This is one of my favorite parts of Christmas.
Journal 33
Obviously one thing that is particular to our region is the dedication to the honoring of Abraham Lincoln. He spent a lot of his lifetime around Illinois and therefore honoring him is seen as particularly important around these parts.
Clearly there are many attractions that can be visited to honor the memory of Abraham Lincoln. In Springfield we now have a museum called the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum that is filled with artifacts from Lincoln's time and presidency. The unveiling of this museum was a huge deal around these parts. I remember the day that the museum celebrated its grand opening there was a large laser light show and a bunch of people went out to see the grand opening. This was considered a huge deal.
Also, every year at the Illinois State Fairgrounds they have an Abraham Lincoln 10k run called Abe's Amble. This run takes place through the fairgrounds and then around some of downtown Springfield. It was created in memory of Abraham Lincoln and is run every year in order to honor him. I participated in this event in August of 2009. I believe that the money raised by the race goes to some kind of Abraham Lincoln fund, however I am not sure of this. In any case, it is a great way to commemorate Lincoln while also doing some good and getting some good exercise.
Also, there is a place downtown that Lincoln lived before he became the president that has been turned into a museum. People can walk through room by room, and it has been restored to look like a genuine house from that time period.
There is also Lincoln's tomb in Oakridge Cemetery out by the airport. This is located near Lincoln Park, which is a park dedicated to Abraham Lincoln. Also we have the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield that is the public library for Springfield. This is also located downtown.
Clearly, we are big Lincoln fans around here. So, I think it is pretty much safe to say that honoring Lincoln was not only a thing started around here but is also something that is still extremely prevalent and important.
Clearly there are many attractions that can be visited to honor the memory of Abraham Lincoln. In Springfield we now have a museum called the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum that is filled with artifacts from Lincoln's time and presidency. The unveiling of this museum was a huge deal around these parts. I remember the day that the museum celebrated its grand opening there was a large laser light show and a bunch of people went out to see the grand opening. This was considered a huge deal.
Also, every year at the Illinois State Fairgrounds they have an Abraham Lincoln 10k run called Abe's Amble. This run takes place through the fairgrounds and then around some of downtown Springfield. It was created in memory of Abraham Lincoln and is run every year in order to honor him. I participated in this event in August of 2009. I believe that the money raised by the race goes to some kind of Abraham Lincoln fund, however I am not sure of this. In any case, it is a great way to commemorate Lincoln while also doing some good and getting some good exercise.
Also, there is a place downtown that Lincoln lived before he became the president that has been turned into a museum. People can walk through room by room, and it has been restored to look like a genuine house from that time period.
There is also Lincoln's tomb in Oakridge Cemetery out by the airport. This is located near Lincoln Park, which is a park dedicated to Abraham Lincoln. Also we have the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield that is the public library for Springfield. This is also located downtown.
Clearly, we are big Lincoln fans around here. So, I think it is pretty much safe to say that honoring Lincoln was not only a thing started around here but is also something that is still extremely prevalent and important.
Journal 40
I think that Self is a very important part of who we are. It is all about the way that we perceive ourselves and wish to portray ourselves to others. I think Self is both a sense of who you are and also who other people think you are. However, who you personally think you are is way more important than who others think you are because sometimes you keep parts of yourself back from people because you are too afraid to let them see your true Self. Still though, the way other people perceive you is also important because sometimes we can become jaded and think that we come off a certain way when in fact we are not.
I know several people who think they act and are one way, but in fact they truthfully are not like that at all. They believe they are selfless people who always work for others when in reality they spend all of their time preoccupied with themselves and not doing anything for anybody else. Sometimes people work so hard to eliminate certain bad qualities in themselves that other ones come shining out. For example, some people work so hard to suppress their anger that they become preoccupied with other things such as looks or something else that they become susceptible to due to their focus on the other aspect they are trying to work on.
I think Self is the person that you are deep down inside yourself that has not been touched by anyone else. However, I still think that experiences that people go through in their lives are part of what shapes them to become who they are. But your true self is still just the person that you are without trying to emulate anyone else. We spend so much of our lives trying to be like other people that we never quite stop to figure out how we would handle a certain situation ourselves, without the opinion of others. That personal opinion that comes to you all on your own, that gut feeling, is the one that comes from your true Self. It is incredibly important that we each find a way to access our true selves.
I know several people who think they act and are one way, but in fact they truthfully are not like that at all. They believe they are selfless people who always work for others when in reality they spend all of their time preoccupied with themselves and not doing anything for anybody else. Sometimes people work so hard to eliminate certain bad qualities in themselves that other ones come shining out. For example, some people work so hard to suppress their anger that they become preoccupied with other things such as looks or something else that they become susceptible to due to their focus on the other aspect they are trying to work on.
I think Self is the person that you are deep down inside yourself that has not been touched by anyone else. However, I still think that experiences that people go through in their lives are part of what shapes them to become who they are. But your true self is still just the person that you are without trying to emulate anyone else. We spend so much of our lives trying to be like other people that we never quite stop to figure out how we would handle a certain situation ourselves, without the opinion of others. That personal opinion that comes to you all on your own, that gut feeling, is the one that comes from your true Self. It is incredibly important that we each find a way to access our true selves.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Journal 36
My favorite meal would probably be my dad's chili and cornbread on a cold winter day. The following will be a description of how he makes it.
First he takes a giant silver pot out of the cupboard and places it on the stove. Next he takes two giant cans of foul-smelling, (in my opinion), Campbell's tomato juice and he pours them into the pot. He then takes a cutting board and chops up a white onion into tiny little pieces and puts them into the pot as well. He does not cry when peeling the onions, which I find incredibly strange. Anyway, the smell of the onions is sharp and I love being in the kitchen when he's cutting them. There is a sort of crisp smell to them.
Next he gets out five or six orange cans of Ray's chili. This is an incredibly unhealthy mixture of beans, meat, and a heck of a lot of grease. You can look at the surface of it and see the orange dots of grease and nastiness, but it tastes wonderful. Anyway, he scrapes all of that out into the giant pot as well and sets it on simmer. Slowly you can start to smell the chili smell.
Next he takes out a pan and a large chunk of defrosted ground chuck meat and puts it in the pan. He then cooks it until it is browned all the way through. The smell of the meat as the smoke wafts up from the pan is wonderful. You can smell the meat all throughout the house and pretty soon my brothers and sisters come to investigate where the wonderful smell is coming from. My dad makes sure that all of the meat is perfectly brown and not a single ounce of it is pink in any way, and then he sweeps all of that with a spatula into the giant pot as well.
Lastly he puts in all sorts of spices. I do not have those memorized because most of the time he is just messing around with them anyway, there is no specific plan for how he puts them in. Still, he must do something right because they make the chili perfect.
First he takes a giant silver pot out of the cupboard and places it on the stove. Next he takes two giant cans of foul-smelling, (in my opinion), Campbell's tomato juice and he pours them into the pot. He then takes a cutting board and chops up a white onion into tiny little pieces and puts them into the pot as well. He does not cry when peeling the onions, which I find incredibly strange. Anyway, the smell of the onions is sharp and I love being in the kitchen when he's cutting them. There is a sort of crisp smell to them.
Next he gets out five or six orange cans of Ray's chili. This is an incredibly unhealthy mixture of beans, meat, and a heck of a lot of grease. You can look at the surface of it and see the orange dots of grease and nastiness, but it tastes wonderful. Anyway, he scrapes all of that out into the giant pot as well and sets it on simmer. Slowly you can start to smell the chili smell.
Next he takes out a pan and a large chunk of defrosted ground chuck meat and puts it in the pan. He then cooks it until it is browned all the way through. The smell of the meat as the smoke wafts up from the pan is wonderful. You can smell the meat all throughout the house and pretty soon my brothers and sisters come to investigate where the wonderful smell is coming from. My dad makes sure that all of the meat is perfectly brown and not a single ounce of it is pink in any way, and then he sweeps all of that with a spatula into the giant pot as well.
Lastly he puts in all sorts of spices. I do not have those memorized because most of the time he is just messing around with them anyway, there is no specific plan for how he puts them in. Still, he must do something right because they make the chili perfect.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Analysis of Walt Whitman's "A Song of Joys"
Walt Whitman's "A Song of Joys" is a very happy poem about all the wonderful things that life has to offer. As pointed out by Charles Oliver, Whitman represents life and leaves in the following lines (Oliver):
"O to make the most jubilant song!
Full of music—full of manhood, womanhood, infancy!
Full of common employments—full of grain and trees (Whitman)."
In the last line of this excerpt Whitman sums up what most of his literary work is about. Grain is used to represent life, because it is the way in which people are fed and given sustenance. Trees are the representation of leaves which are very important and prominent in Whitman's poems, especially because the name of his collection is called "Leaves of Grass."
Whitman also covers the Everyman in this poem by referencing all different types of people (Whitman). He references the drivers of locomotives, horsemen and horsewomen, firemen, fighters, mothers, fishermen, boaters, miners, soldiers, orators, whalemen, and farmers. He references the joys that are accompanied by each of these professions and how exciting it would be to participate in them. He speaks about each one with a certain kind of wistfulness that is beautiful and wonderful (Whitman). It seems as though he is romanticizing the work of even the most laborious jobs and things. In this way his optimism shines steadily through.
He also makes references to all sorts of wildlife and nature in his poem. He talks about different types of fish that one would find in the rivers and about the voices of all the animals in the world (Whitman).
In this poem Whitman discusses everything you can possibly think of and puts a beautiful spin to it. Even death is not left untouched in his optimistic whirlwind. He talks about the joys of thinking about death (Whitman). He references the feeling of dying as a gentle touch, and then he talks about how his body will figure out the "great spheres of time and space (Whitman)." To me this line suggests a hint of spirituality in the idea of the heavens and space.
Spirituality is hinted at mainly in Whitman's lines about Death in this poem. The folowing lines illustrate my point:
"Myself discharging my excrementitious body to be burn'd, or
render'd to powder, or buried,
My real body doubtless left to me for other spheres,
My voided body nothing more to me, returning to the purifications,
further offices, eternal uses of the earth (Whitman)."
In these lines Whitman is talking about how his physical body will break back down to become part of the earth yet again and be used for whatever the earth needs. Yet he says that his real body will leave him for other spheres. I believe this is a reference to his spirit or soul going on to his afterlife. As his body is left behind here on the earth, his soul goes on to live in heaven, because he believes in the Christian faith. This belief in an afterlife is a common thread found in a lot of Whitman's poems and is a clear indication of his belief in a higher power beyond our sight. By talking about the wonder that one will find in the afterlife, he is able to make even Death look like something to be excited about.
Selected Bibliography
Oliver, Charles M. "'A Song of Joys'." Critical Companion to Walt Whitman: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCWW436&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 1, 2011).
Whitman, Walt. "A Song of Joys." The Walt Whitman Archive. Web. 01 Mar. 2011..
"O to make the most jubilant song!
Full of music—full of manhood, womanhood, infancy!
Full of common employments—full of grain and trees (Whitman)."
In the last line of this excerpt Whitman sums up what most of his literary work is about. Grain is used to represent life, because it is the way in which people are fed and given sustenance. Trees are the representation of leaves which are very important and prominent in Whitman's poems, especially because the name of his collection is called "Leaves of Grass."
Whitman also covers the Everyman in this poem by referencing all different types of people (Whitman). He references the drivers of locomotives, horsemen and horsewomen, firemen, fighters, mothers, fishermen, boaters, miners, soldiers, orators, whalemen, and farmers. He references the joys that are accompanied by each of these professions and how exciting it would be to participate in them. He speaks about each one with a certain kind of wistfulness that is beautiful and wonderful (Whitman). It seems as though he is romanticizing the work of even the most laborious jobs and things. In this way his optimism shines steadily through.
He also makes references to all sorts of wildlife and nature in his poem. He talks about different types of fish that one would find in the rivers and about the voices of all the animals in the world (Whitman).
In this poem Whitman discusses everything you can possibly think of and puts a beautiful spin to it. Even death is not left untouched in his optimistic whirlwind. He talks about the joys of thinking about death (Whitman). He references the feeling of dying as a gentle touch, and then he talks about how his body will figure out the "great spheres of time and space (Whitman)." To me this line suggests a hint of spirituality in the idea of the heavens and space.
Spirituality is hinted at mainly in Whitman's lines about Death in this poem. The folowing lines illustrate my point:
"Myself discharging my excrementitious body to be burn'd, or
render'd to powder, or buried,
My real body doubtless left to me for other spheres,
My voided body nothing more to me, returning to the purifications,
further offices, eternal uses of the earth (Whitman)."
In these lines Whitman is talking about how his physical body will break back down to become part of the earth yet again and be used for whatever the earth needs. Yet he says that his real body will leave him for other spheres. I believe this is a reference to his spirit or soul going on to his afterlife. As his body is left behind here on the earth, his soul goes on to live in heaven, because he believes in the Christian faith. This belief in an afterlife is a common thread found in a lot of Whitman's poems and is a clear indication of his belief in a higher power beyond our sight. By talking about the wonder that one will find in the afterlife, he is able to make even Death look like something to be excited about.
Selected Bibliography
Oliver, Charles M. "'A Song of Joys'." Critical Companion to Walt Whitman: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCWW436&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 1, 2011).
Whitman, Walt. "A Song of Joys." The Walt Whitman Archive. Web. 01 Mar. 2011.
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