The seasons and nature have become very common allegories in modern poetry. Many of my class readings for this semester (Shakespeare, Pope, Milton, etc.) draw heavily on the seasons especially -- to a point where it almost becomes cliche.
Like we said in class, Eliot had a knack for using inversion and working themes/cliches against themselves, and I think this helped him actually enforce his messages and themes. The Wasteland is the first piece of poetry I've ever read to condemn Spring and exalt Winter... and I slowly drew a connection between The Wasteland and The Lovesong through a well-known phrase that goes something like, "the greatest moment of excitement is in the anticipation of the event." It seems that in The Lovesong the speaker always talks himself down from the anticipation of anything actually happening because he doesn't want to disappoint himself. He closes himself off from love because he has experienced it and knows there are strings attached, strings that will sully the excitement of his anticipation.
I see The Wasteland as a kind of progression that Prufrock could possibly make from a shut-in to a total inversion of himself. I can see Prufrock actually taking pleasure in the unpleasant things in life and accept them as an alternative to the "illusion" of happiness that he walks us through in The Lovesong.
It would totally be in character for Prufrock to comment on the sanctuary of Winter and contentedly shut himself in with a blanket and a good novel instead of walking outside during Spring and experiencing beauty only to realize that it will, in time, fade.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Blog #3 T.S. Elliot
First of all, I FINALLY GOT THIS TO WORK!!
T.S. Elliot was primarily focused on how cultural life was shaped after the civil war. He focuses mainly on the place men were forced into society after the war. In "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," Elliot explains the modern man and his personality traits. He presents the man to be educated, emotionally stunted, and neurotic in a dramatic monologue. Although throughout the poem the main masculine character seems to be attempting to address a lover, but holds himself back because he believes he can see past the thrill of it. Throughout the entire poem the mans main concern is his inadequacies, and scolds himself over his emotional thoughts. He seems to have a emotional distance from what he believes the rest of mankind to have. The character seems to be growing older throughout the poem, which poses another insecurity for him, so he attempts to stay young.
In "Tradition and the Individual Talent," Elliot presents the masculine struggle to find their place in society through his explanation of tradition, and how its changed the place where men reside in society from where they once were in the past.
In "The Waste Land" Elliot explores again culture and society after WWI and modern civilization through four speakers.
Throughout each of these works, Elliot focuses specifically on how the war affected society and how people found their place in it after the war.
T.S. Elliot was primarily focused on how cultural life was shaped after the civil war. He focuses mainly on the place men were forced into society after the war. In "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," Elliot explains the modern man and his personality traits. He presents the man to be educated, emotionally stunted, and neurotic in a dramatic monologue. Although throughout the poem the main masculine character seems to be attempting to address a lover, but holds himself back because he believes he can see past the thrill of it. Throughout the entire poem the mans main concern is his inadequacies, and scolds himself over his emotional thoughts. He seems to have a emotional distance from what he believes the rest of mankind to have. The character seems to be growing older throughout the poem, which poses another insecurity for him, so he attempts to stay young.
In "Tradition and the Individual Talent," Elliot presents the masculine struggle to find their place in society through his explanation of tradition, and how its changed the place where men reside in society from where they once were in the past.
In "The Waste Land" Elliot explores again culture and society after WWI and modern civilization through four speakers.
Throughout each of these works, Elliot focuses specifically on how the war affected society and how people found their place in it after the war.
Planting New Roots
I was having trouble last week getting on to the blog, but here's what my thoughts were from last week's readings:
I was particularly drawn to the poetry of Langston Hughes.
Hughes was greatly concerned with the black man's role in a predominantly white America at the time. Many of his poems seek to find the African-American voice in the constant buzzing of the Modernist period. One poem in particular that highlights this concept is "The Negro Speaks of Rivers." In it Hughes depicts a close relationship between his roots and his relationship to Mother Earth.
For instance, Hughes rattles off the names of three ancient rivers in the third stanza: the Euphrates, the Congo, and the Nile. He then mentions a fairly "new" river in the Mississippi. To try to understand Hughes's meaning in the poem, I tried to look at this middle stanza in pairs. For example, "I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young./I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep" depict a time of innocence followed by a time of tranquility. The next two lines deal with more profound images. Hughes mentions raising pyramids before the Nile and also the singing on the Mississippi as Lincoln sails down it. Although the pyramids may at first seem like a great accomplishment, I think Hughes is actually writing with a sarcastic tone because he knows it was slaves that built the awesome structures. This line is then contrasted with the image of Lincoln wading through the South. It is an incredible vision of freedom.
This poem hit a chord with me because it made me realize that Hughes was trying to portray the black man's history in the new world. I think it was also a chance to show that the proud black race has been putting down new sturdy roots in America.
In a time period when much of the world was fractured, Hughes's poetry was an attempt to let new roots sprout through the cracks of society.
I was particularly drawn to the poetry of Langston Hughes.
Hughes was greatly concerned with the black man's role in a predominantly white America at the time. Many of his poems seek to find the African-American voice in the constant buzzing of the Modernist period. One poem in particular that highlights this concept is "The Negro Speaks of Rivers." In it Hughes depicts a close relationship between his roots and his relationship to Mother Earth.
For instance, Hughes rattles off the names of three ancient rivers in the third stanza: the Euphrates, the Congo, and the Nile. He then mentions a fairly "new" river in the Mississippi. To try to understand Hughes's meaning in the poem, I tried to look at this middle stanza in pairs. For example, "I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young./I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep" depict a time of innocence followed by a time of tranquility. The next two lines deal with more profound images. Hughes mentions raising pyramids before the Nile and also the singing on the Mississippi as Lincoln sails down it. Although the pyramids may at first seem like a great accomplishment, I think Hughes is actually writing with a sarcastic tone because he knows it was slaves that built the awesome structures. This line is then contrasted with the image of Lincoln wading through the South. It is an incredible vision of freedom.
This poem hit a chord with me because it made me realize that Hughes was trying to portray the black man's history in the new world. I think it was also a chance to show that the proud black race has been putting down new sturdy roots in America.
In a time period when much of the world was fractured, Hughes's poetry was an attempt to let new roots sprout through the cracks of society.
Defense!
Although i agree with everyone's post about "the love song..." it's depressing, meek, and well...tedious. but i feel like we're all ganging up on elliot. think about some of the other people who write depressing poems, in today's culture they sound something like "save me from the nothing i've become" by evanescence or "scars" by papa roach. at least this peom is thoughtful and he deeply is involved in his feelings, and not cutting or hurting himself like we do in today's society. so this really isn't that bad in all that. and also, who doesn't over analyze themselves and their appearence. we spend too long in front of mirrors and we hardly find something we like. maybe this was one of his moments (or apparently a long stretch of moments) where he was feeling a little down about himself. so back off! haha just kidding.
my question is from waste land. why is april the cruellest month, liliacs out of hte dead and all that. generally that is why people like spring is because flowers and life come back and are plentiful and beautiful again from the long death of winter. i think this man is just angry and feels he needs to flex his writing muscle. mauybe i think he's the cruellest person because he's so angry about everything!
my question is from waste land. why is april the cruellest month, liliacs out of hte dead and all that. generally that is why people like spring is because flowers and life come back and are plentiful and beautiful again from the long death of winter. i think this man is just angry and feels he needs to flex his writing muscle. mauybe i think he's the cruellest person because he's so angry about everything!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Misery Loves Company
Ah, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." If you're depressed, this would not be the poem to read (Dr. Seuss might work a bit better at cheering you up). Gone are Romanticism's majestic views of a nature whose only purpose is to inspire joy and love to the euphoria-seeking humans. Instead, Eliot invites us to wallow in a cesspool wherein misery and regret strangle our aspirations. However, beneath all of the pessimism, lies an important message. But more on that later...
Poor J. Alfred Prufrock...Here we have a man who has spent his entire life worrying about his appearance and never taking the time to look closer to find the beauty around him (that's a not-so-subtle reference to the great film American Beauty). Throughout the poem, Prufrock's pessimistic outlook permeates every aspect of the world around him and his personality. He talks of having "to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet," i.e. masking his true self to show people what he thinks they want to see. If one does that long enough, he becomes the illusion he has created. Inevitably, this leads to an identity crisis as the person in question has spent his whole life cultivating a fake persona and now becomes a prisoner of it. Prufrock has never truly been himself and now wastes away, the victim of his own social poison. As a result of his inner emptiness, he cannot view the world as anything but a dismal place. He reduces the beauty of the evening sky to a patient pumped full of numbing drugs. People lack identities to him because he cannot comprehend his own.
Does Prufrock have any hope? Doesn't look like it. "And time for yet a hundred indecisions,/And for a hundred visions and revisions." The poor guy is never satisfied. He is insecure and indecisive. Coupled with that, he fears breaking the mold and attempting to venture into anything outside his comfort zone. He repeatedly contemplates as to whether or not he dares to disturb the universe. The irony, of course, is that he has spent his entire life wondering if he should do so while life has passed him by.
In a bizarre sense, the poem acts as a warning to people who do not live their lives to the fullest. If you spend your life putting up fronts instead of being yourself and exploring the various aspects of life, you will come to the same end as Prufrock: broken and alone. He wonders "Would it have all been worthwhile?" People who have stayed true to themselves would answer: definitely. Unfortunately, Prufrock will probably never know. In an unexpected way, Eliot uses his anti-hero as a warning to those of us who fear living life to the fullest. Prufrock did not disturb the universe, and look how he turned out.
Poor J. Alfred Prufrock...Here we have a man who has spent his entire life worrying about his appearance and never taking the time to look closer to find the beauty around him (that's a not-so-subtle reference to the great film American Beauty). Throughout the poem, Prufrock's pessimistic outlook permeates every aspect of the world around him and his personality. He talks of having "to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet," i.e. masking his true self to show people what he thinks they want to see. If one does that long enough, he becomes the illusion he has created. Inevitably, this leads to an identity crisis as the person in question has spent his whole life cultivating a fake persona and now becomes a prisoner of it. Prufrock has never truly been himself and now wastes away, the victim of his own social poison. As a result of his inner emptiness, he cannot view the world as anything but a dismal place. He reduces the beauty of the evening sky to a patient pumped full of numbing drugs. People lack identities to him because he cannot comprehend his own.
Does Prufrock have any hope? Doesn't look like it. "And time for yet a hundred indecisions,/And for a hundred visions and revisions." The poor guy is never satisfied. He is insecure and indecisive. Coupled with that, he fears breaking the mold and attempting to venture into anything outside his comfort zone. He repeatedly contemplates as to whether or not he dares to disturb the universe. The irony, of course, is that he has spent his entire life wondering if he should do so while life has passed him by.
In a bizarre sense, the poem acts as a warning to people who do not live their lives to the fullest. If you spend your life putting up fronts instead of being yourself and exploring the various aspects of life, you will come to the same end as Prufrock: broken and alone. He wonders "Would it have all been worthwhile?" People who have stayed true to themselves would answer: definitely. Unfortunately, Prufrock will probably never know. In an unexpected way, Eliot uses his anti-hero as a warning to those of us who fear living life to the fullest. Prufrock did not disturb the universe, and look how he turned out.
Mermaids
T.S. Eliot's "Prufrock" character IS just the way that he sounds, prude. He seems to be afraid of female sexuality, though he wants to experience it. In "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," Prufrock seems to be speaking of or to a prospective lover. But unfortunately he feels too inadequate to make the relationship work or at least to go through with consummation (with the woman). The poem is about women and his uncertainity about them.
Prufrock feels isolated from the so-called normal feelings of society and as a result the poem is actually a tragedy (Ironic that "Love song" is in the title of the poem). I do like the lines,
"I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each./ I do not think that they will sing to me."
Despite my adoration of the line and the beautiful metaphors, it is a sad comment on the harsh reality of the modern world.
It is ironic that Eliot chose mermaids as the ending image, because Prufrock feels insignificant enough for human women and mermaids are known to be one of the most beautiful mythical creatures. Along with the mermaids, is the presence of the sea and dark waters (though a bit disorientated). Because Prufrock is isolated he places himself in the "chambers of the sea" due to the lonely isolation that he feels from society. The ending of the poem is quite dreamlike however at the end of the dream he ends up drowning.
Prufrock feels isolated from the so-called normal feelings of society and as a result the poem is actually a tragedy (Ironic that "Love song" is in the title of the poem). I do like the lines,
"I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each./ I do not think that they will sing to me."
Despite my adoration of the line and the beautiful metaphors, it is a sad comment on the harsh reality of the modern world.
It is ironic that Eliot chose mermaids as the ending image, because Prufrock feels insignificant enough for human women and mermaids are known to be one of the most beautiful mythical creatures. Along with the mermaids, is the presence of the sea and dark waters (though a bit disorientated). Because Prufrock is isolated he places himself in the "chambers of the sea" due to the lonely isolation that he feels from society. The ending of the poem is quite dreamlike however at the end of the dream he ends up drowning.
Where is the talent?
In the first part of the excerpt from Tradition and the Individual Talent, Eliot writes: "In English writing we seldom speak of tradition, though we occasionally apply its name in deploring its absence." Here, he acts as a critic on the relationship between poet and tradition. My question once I read that first line was, well how can Eliot expect poetry to evolve if everyone just follows the "norms" of their predecessors? This issue was cleared up when he wrote: "Yet if the only form of tradition, of handing down, consisted in following the ways of the immediate generation before us in a blind or timid adherence to its successes, 'tradition' should be positively discouraged." He's saying that we need to see and know what happened in poetry's past, but we should not copy it. Rather, he feels that the best work is where past poets' influence "assert their immortality most vigorously."
In the second part of the excerpt, Eliot focuses more on emotions in poetry. The sentences that really got me thinking-- "Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of course only those who have personality and emotions know what it means to want to escape from these things." The only way this makes sense in my head would be to mean that poets need to write poems that aren't too personal or too emotionally specific to just themselves, so that way everyone can relate to it and it becomes timeless. Or is that too much of a stretch?
And one more thing... I found the title misleading. There is no mention of talent.
In the second part of the excerpt, Eliot focuses more on emotions in poetry. The sentences that really got me thinking-- "Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of course only those who have personality and emotions know what it means to want to escape from these things." The only way this makes sense in my head would be to mean that poets need to write poems that aren't too personal or too emotionally specific to just themselves, so that way everyone can relate to it and it becomes timeless. Or is that too much of a stretch?
And one more thing... I found the title misleading. There is no mention of talent.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)