LIGHTHEARTED I walked into

the valley wood

In the time of hyacinths ( imagery)

Till beauty like a scented cloth ( similie)
Cast over, stifled me. I was bound
Motionless and faint of breath ( imagery)

By loveliness that is her own eunuch.(Metaphor)

Now pass I the final river
Ignominiously, in a sack, without a sound, ( imagery)
As any peeping Turk to the Bosphorous. ( similie  and symbolism)

  Wow! I must say that when I initially read this poem I was all sorts of confused. There are so many poetic and rhetorical devices, and words and references that just didn't quite make sense to me at first. Now fully understanding what the poem means, my mind has been blown to a million little pieces! 
  One very interesting thing to take note of is that the tense in this short 10 line poem changes. Lines 1-7 are in the past, and lines 8-10 are in the present.  With the change over of tenses you can infer that Hulme's physical and even psychological presence, in lines 1-7, are different than lines 8-10. Imagery is the most often used poetic device in this poem. Hulme uses it to set the scenery of springtime in the forest in lines 1-3, and he uses it again in line 6 to describe his physical reaction to great beauty. I would also like to clarify that the word hyacinth is one not known by many unless you've studied horticulture. Hyacinth is the plant also known as Baby's Breath.  Line 7 is also one that really gave me a challenge when analyzing it. What makes this a metaphor, are the clauses "by loveliness" and "her own eunuch". Metaphors compare two things that are seemingly unlike. Eunuch, is simply a man who is castrated for religious purposes, opera purposes, or class system purposes. The sight he saw was not actually pleasant but one that frightened him and maybe even disgusted him. In lines 8-10, the tense changes to the present. My interpretation of this might be a bit outlandish, but I believe that Hulme is dead. When he says that he's "passes the final river" it's a symbol for passing through the final stages from life to death. Ignominiously is another word for shamefully. I believe that the entire poem is describing the feeling of dying. The last line is relating the motion of passing through the river to Turks passing through the body of water that separates Europe from Asia.

You Are Old, Father William Poem Analysis

'You are old, Father William', the young man said,
'And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head --
Do you think, at your age, it is right?

''In my youth', Father William replied to his son,
'I feared it might injure the brain;
But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again.

''You are old', said the youth, 'as I mentioned before,
And have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door --
Pray, what is the reason of that?'

'In my youth', said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
'I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment - one shilling the box -
Allow me to sell you a couple?'

'You are old', said the youth, 'and your jaws are too weak
For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak -
Pray, how did you manage to do it?

''In my youth', said his father, 'I took to the law,
And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,
Has lasted the rest of my life.

''You are old', said the youth, 'one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose -
What made you so awfully clever?

''I have answered three questions, and that is enough,'
Said his father, 'don't give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I'll kick you downstairs!'

This poem is a parody of Robert Southey's "The Old Man's Comforts and How He Gained Them"

In this poem, the son is very age-obsessed because he keeps reminding his father of how old he is. The son repeatedly tells the father that he is old and asks him why he does the things he does now. The father tells his son that when he was young, he was scared of doing things that are risky or scary but now, his age does not matter to him and is just a number. The son is very arrogant in a way because all the thinks of his father is a age and questions his actions. Despite the fact that the father is old, he seems pretty content with the fact he is getting older and at the end seems annoyed with his son. This poem has end rhythm, the rhythm scheme is ABAB, the poem has anapest, and it is burlesque it also has hyperbole in it. This poem is repeative in the sense that the son tells the father he's old, the son questions the father, the father rebuddles back and shuts the son up.

We are going back again
To the mud and the rain
Where the guns complain
And the stones stain.

We are leaving the mountain snow.
Once more it is our turn to go
Back to the advanced foe.
It is just we know . . .

We are going back again
To our comrades' graves on the plain,
To the graves sunk in the rain

We do not complain.

We say nothing: but think only
(Heart-constricted, a moment lonely):
"Who will be killed this time
And for what crime?"

-John Gawsworth

As I Walked Out One Evening Analysis

As I Walked Out One Evening is not the traditional love poem. The first time I read it, it was obvious that the main subject was love. But just like every poem I read, I knew it was much deeper than that. While reading the poem a second time, I realized that the tone changes twice; each time representing a new narrator. The three different narrators have their own opinion about the battle of love versus time. The first narrator is the lovers. They believe that their love is timeless as if time was an avoidable object that could be ignored. They make their love seem perfect as if it could only be stopped when “China and Africa meet.” At the point where they say they hold “The Flower of the Ages, And the first love of the world” the clocks ring as if their love was a lie and time intervenes. The clocks speak for time and they believe that time is unconquerable and it will spare nobody. The love that the lovers share will not be able to last forever because time will take its toll on it. The “t” in Time is capitalized which personifies it and gives it a place in society. Lines such as “Time watches from the shadow and coughs when you would kiss” show Time’s human like qualities and how it can ruin love. The lovers’ “Flower of the Ages” will not be around forever because Time says “Into many a green valley rifts the appalling snow; Time breaks the threaded dances and the diver's brilliant bow.” The last narrator is the narrator of the poem whom I believe to be Auden himself. He believed that neither time nor love could be conquered. Time is constant and cannot be changed but it is not cruel as suggested by the clocks. His perception of love was probably more lenient than most for it is said that he was homosexual. “You shall love your crooked neighbour with your crooked heart” is his opinion of love. I believe that he thought love was an occurrence that happens on its own. A person cannot choose whom they love.

This poem which is told from a 1^st person point-of-view makes use of many poetic devices. The most obvious is imagery. Auden uses lines like “The crowds upon the pavement were fields of harvest wheat” to create the setting of the poem. His use of personification is what makes the element of time an intriguing figure. The poem has an “abcb” rhyme scheme in every stanza which flows with the meter of the poem. There are a few acts of alliteration throughout and he uses repetition at key points during the poem.

-BOOMTOWN

William Blake's Devine Image

William Blake’s “The Divine Image” reveals how he sees God in our world. In the poem, Blake express man prays when he/she is in distress or in need of something. There are four words Blake makes huge emphases on. Mercy, pity, peace, and love are all words God says we should live with. Then Blake makes these words as a human that we pray to. When you pray to this human of the four words, these words and God will live permanently in your life.

To Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love (alliteration) (repetition)
All pray in their distress; (end rhyme)
And to these virtues of delight
Return their thankfulness. (end rhyme)

For Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love (alliteration) (repetition)
Is God, our Father dear,
And Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love is man, (alliteration) (repetition)
His child and care. (consonance)

For Mercy has a human heart,
Pity a human face, (personification)
And Love, the human form divine,
And Peace, the human dress.

Then every man, of every clime,
That prays in his distress,
Prays to the human form divine,
Love, Mercy, Pity and Peace. (stanza)

And all must love the human form,
In heathen, Turk or Jew;
Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell
There God is dwelling too.

Analysis of John Milton's "On His Blidness"

The poem that I have chosen to analyze is “On His Blindness” by John Milton. The main theme of this poem is John’s exploration of his emotions. The subject of this poem is how John has wasted his sight and how he disregarded his spirituality. The basic meaning of this poem is that while he was able to see John wasted this ability he also neglected his spirituality now he is surrounded by darkness.

On His Blidness by John Milton

When I consider how my light is spent (Metaphor)
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide (Alliteraiton),
And that one talent which is death to hide,
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest He returning chide,
'Doth God (Allusion) exact day labor, light denied?'
I fondly ask. But Patience to prevent
That murmur soon replies (Personification), 'God (Allusion) doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts. Who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed,
And post o'er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait

Imagine

In this poem, John Lennon is basically asking us to imagine a world without many of the things that cause problems in the world. Even though this poem was reflecting the times in which it was written, these problems are still prevalent today. In the poem, Lennon asks you to imagine a world with no religions, no countries, nothing to kill and die for, no possessions, no greed or hunger, and no heaven or hell. The poem explains that if this were possible, “the world will be as one.” The poem says that people will be living for today and living in peace as we share the world. Though this is a wonderful idea, I don't think it could ever become a reality. I join Lennon as a "dreamer;" however, I feel that this idea will remain only as a dream.


Imagine there's no Heaven (parallelism)
It's easy if you try (end rhyme)
No hell below us
Above us only sky (end rhyme)
Imagine all the people (repitition)
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries (parallelism)
It isn't hard to do (end rhyme)
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too (end rhyme)
Imagine all the people (reptition)
Living life in peace (alliteration)

You may say that I'm a dreamer (internal rhyme)
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one (alliteration)

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can (end rhyme)
No need for greed or hunger (internal rhyme)
A brotherhood of man (end rhyme)
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world (parallelism)

You may say that I'm a dreamer (internal rhyme)
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one (alliteration)

"At The Window"
The pine-trees bend to listen (Personification) to the Autumn wind as it mutters
Something which sets the black poplars ashake with hysterical laughter (Synesthesia);
While slowly the {house of day (Metonomy for day) is closing its eastern shutters}metaphor (Personification).

Further down the valley the clustered tombstones recede,
Winding about their dimness the mist's grey cerements (metonomy for fog) ,after
[The street lamps in the darkness have suddenly started to bleed (End Rhyme).] metaphor

The leaves {fly over the window and utter a word (Personification) as they pass} Paralleslism
To the face that leans from the darkness, intent, with two dark-filled eyes (Imagery)
That watch for ever earnestly from behind the window glass.

"At the Window", a structured poem by D. H. Lawrence, is full of personification and imagery of the outdoors. It is in third person from the point of view of an onlooker at a window. The living and nonliving aspects of the outdoors are given human qualities; this devise is called personification. It is as if the weather and outdoor objects are communicating in conversation. The imagery gives the poem a more real and vivid description of the view the person sees from the window. The reader should be able to see the trees laughing and the mist physicallly covering the graveyard. D. H. Lawrence wonderfully allows the reader to feel and relate to the emotion in the outdoor scene. I think that he adds in the last two sentences about the onlooker because the readers can put themselves in the place of the watcher in order to more emotionally feel connected to the scene. The first stanza has a happy anf joyful mood because the trees are laughing and listening to the wind. It ends with the closing of day and is followed by the second stanza which describes night. The imagery is more eerie and dark, using words like "bleed" and "cerements". The last stanza describes the messenger as wind giving a message to the onlooker. The change in mood throughout the poem gives it more emotion and substance.

Response Rubric

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Poem Analysis

A Boat Beneath the Sunny Sky
By Lewis Carroll



A BOAT beneath a sunny sky,
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July —
Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear —
Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die:
Autumn frosts have slain July.
Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.
Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.
In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream —
Lingering in the golden gleam —
Life, what is it but a dream?

alliteration
end rhyme
metaphor
personification
allusion
repition


A Boat Beneath A Sunny Sky is a seemingly lighthearted and whimsical poem about the boatride that Charles Dodgson went on with Alice Liddell and her two sisters. It was on this boat ride that Dodgson told the three girls the story of Wonderland, which served as his rough draft version of the Alice books. This poem begins as a remembrance of this specific ride. The tone of this first stanza seems happy and alluring, as it is summer time and the group is on a leisurely boat ride on the river. The tone changes suddenly in the third stanza; words like "die," "fade," and "slain" show that something negative has occurred. I believe this specific stanza to relates to Alice's growing up, and the falling out between the Liddell's and Dodgson. Alice's change has saddened Charles, as he was in love with her childhood self, and the imagination and innocence it entailed. He goes on to talk about how Alice "haunts" him, which further reiterates that she has grown up, but the younger version still is on his mind, constantly reminding him of his obsession.
The fifth stanza lightens the mood a bit, because it talks of new youngsters- "children yet"- that will hear and carry on with them the tale of Wonderland. Carroll finally alludes to the tales of Alice in Wonderland in the first line of the fifth stanza, but combines it with the suggestion of the passage of time. It's depressing how this stanza shows hope for the eternity of childhood, but then proceeds to admit that these children will too grow up and forget their youth by saying "dreaming as the days go by...summers die."
The very last stanza reverts attention back to the actual setting of the boat ride, where Carroll uses a metaphor to relate the boat to life, and then calls life "a dream." I think this is Carroll's way of saying that in reality life is just the way it is, people grow old, memories are forgetten, and there's not much to do about it. In the last line he gives the solution to this fact by claiming life to be a dream, and since it's no longer reality, Carroll makes the point that nothing matters because it's all just make-believe anyway, which is extremely characteristic of Carroll.
The basis for this poem is the loss of Carroll's loved one. Alice grew up and forgot her childhood, which was everything he loved about her. This poem is Carroll's reflection of the sad truth that everyone grows up, leaving behind all the great things about being young and naive, and that no matter how hard you try, nothing stays the same. In a broader sense, the message Dodgson was trying to get across was to enjoy the times of youth, because that in itself is more beneficial than anything else.


ASHLEY

As I Walked Out One Evening by W.H. Auden

As I walked out one evening,
Walking down Bristol Street,
The crowds upon the pavement
Were fields of harvest wheat.

And down by the brimming river
I heard a lover sing
Under an arch of the railway:
'Love has no ending.

'I'll love you, dear, I'll love you
Till China and Africa meet,
And the river jumps over the mountain
And the salmon sing in the street,

'I'll love you till the ocean
Is folded and hung up to dry
And the seven stars go squawking
Like geese about the sky.

'The years shall run like rabbits,
For in my arms I hold
The Flower of the Ages,
And the first love of the world.'

But all the clocks in the city
Began to whirr and chime:
'O let not Time deceive you,
You cannot conquer Time.

'In the burrows of the Nightmare
Where Justice naked is,
Time watches from the shadow
And coughs when you would kiss.

'In headaches and in worry
Vaguely life leaks away,
And Time will have his fancy
To-morrow or to-day.

'Into many a green valley
Drifts the appalling snow;
Time breaks the threaded dances
And the diver's brilliant bow.

'O plunge your hands in water,
Plunge them in up to the wrist;
Stare, stare in the basin
And wonder what you've missed.

'The glacier knocks in the cupboard,
The desert sighs in the bed,
And the crack in the tea-cup opens
A lane to the land of the dead.

'Where the beggars raffle the banknotes
And the Giant is enchanting to Jack,
And the Lily-white Boy is a Roarer,
And Jill goes down on her back.

'O look, look in the mirror,
O look in your distress:
Life remains a blessing
Although you cannot bless.

'O stand, stand at the window
As the tears scald and start;
You shall love your crooked neighbour
With your crooked heart.'

It was late, late in the evening,
The lovers they were gone;
The clocks had ceased their chiming,
And the deep river ran on.

-BOOMTOWN

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

In analyzing the 18th Shakespearean sonnet, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day,” I have come to attain a great amount of information about this poem. Let’s start with simply what the poem is saying:

Shall I compare you to a summer's day?
You are lovelier and more constant:
Rough winds shake the beloved buds of May
And summer is far too short:
At times the sun is too hot,
Or often goes behind the clouds;
And everything beautiful sometime will lose its beauty,
By misfortune or by nature's planned out course.
But your youth shall not fade,
Nor will you lose the beauty that you possess;
Nor will death claim you for his own,
Because in my eternal verse you will live forever.
So long as there are people on this earth,
So long will this poem live on, making you immortal.

Shakespeare starts by questioning whether to compare her to a summer’s day. He doesn’t realizing that she is far superior to a summer’s day. He then states the reasons that place her above a beautiful summer’s day. He describes that her traits are moderate, comfortable, and that she has welcoming qualities. The third line suggests that the rugged winds of summer can be disastrous to the buds of flowers. In saying this, he is saying that this woman possesses no such qualities to be harmful. He advances to say that summer is short and limited, while her beauty has no end, no limitations. The poem then takes us into discussion of temperature. He explains to us how the summer is hot, humid, and unbearable. He says that clouds also sometimes diminish the beauty of summer. These qualities are in complete contrast to the glamour and elegance of her. Line 7, which has a very literal meaning, communicates that everything beautiful will at a time lose its beauty. He claims that all beauty tarnishes except that of his lover. In the next line, Shakespeare essentially supports why beauty doesn’t last forever, offering that this happens by misfortune or by nature taking its course. In the next line, which is considered the turning point of the sonnet, he signals that something is changing by using the word, “but.” In the following lines Shakespeare says that her beauty will not change, fade, become lost, or die. Line 11, describes that she will never die, that death will never claim her beauty. The last three lines explain that she will not die, because her beauty will live and grow in his poem for eternity. Shakespeare is saying that as long as there are people on this earth, his poem will live along with her, making her immortal.


Shall I compare thee to(Alliteration) a summer's(Assonance) day?
Thou art more lovely and more(Internal Rhyme) temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds(Assonance) of May,
And summer's lease hath all too(Internal Rhyme) short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion(Internal Rhyme) dimm'd;
And every fair from fair(Alliteration) sometime declines(Assonance),
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall(Alliteration) not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal(Consonance) lines to time thou(Alliteration) growest(Consonance):
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see(Assonance),
So long lives this and this gives(Assonance) life to thee.

Charge of the Light Brigade

Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward,All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred."Forward, the Light Brigade!"Charge for the guns!" he said:Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.

"Forward, the Light Brigade!"Was there a man dismay'd?Not tho' the soldier knew Someone had blunder'd:Theirs not to make reply,Theirs not to reason why,Theirs but to do and die:Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon in front of them Volley'd and thunder'd;Storm'd at with shot and shell,Boldly they rode and well,Into the jaws of Death,Into the mouth of Hell Rode the six hundred.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,Flash'd as they turn'd in air,Sabring the gunners there,Charging an army, while All the world wonder'd:Plunged in the battery-smokeRight thro' the line they broke;Cossack and RussianReel'd from the sabre stroke Shatter'd and sunder'd.Then they rode back, but not Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon behind them Volley'd and thunder'd;Storm'd at with shot and shell,While horse and hero fell,They that had fought so wellCame thro' the jaws of DeathBack from the mouth of Hell,All that was left of them, Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?O the wild charge they made! All the world wondered.Honor the charge they made,Honor the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Just Over Seven-Hundred Words Describing the Great Life of William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was born in his hometown of Cockermouth, England on April 7^th, 1770. The town is located in Cumberland County in the Lake District, the Northwestern part of England. This area was noticeably less settled than the rest of England. It had many forests, mountains and obviously that Wordsworth could explore. He loved to take hikes and he deeply appreciated the natural beauty that was all around him; His first poem is even titled “An Evening Walk”. He lived in his hometown from his birth to the age of seventeen and from age twenty-nine until his death.

He was the second son of John and Ann Wordsworth. They were a lower-middle class family, who did, however, have the most impressive house in Cockermouth. The house came with Wordsworth’s father’s job as personal lawyer to the unpopular Sir James Lowther, Earl of Lonsdale, who gave the family a bad reputation. Wordsworth’s father made him memorize poems and/or parts of poems at a very young age; he became well accustomed to the complex language of poets such as William Shakespeare and John Milton. This helped him develop an extremely good memory and a keen interest in poetry, which probably heavily influenced his choice to become a writer.

He was enrolled in Hawkshead School at age eight when his mother died from pneumonia, which left John Wordsworth unable to care for five children. The school had a great reputation for making its students well-prepared for university. Wordsworth was educated in mathematics, science, English grammar and composition, the Classical languages, French, and Dancing. He loved the scenic area around the school and often went roaming, tree-climbing, skating, swimming, fishing and hunting with his friends. When he and his best friend went walking they would recite nature poems, sometimes making up their own lines and; though, Wordsworth also enjoyed exploring nature on his own. His father died in 1783 around the same time that Wordsworth had decided that he wanted to be a poet.

He later entered Cambridge University, where his interests had shifted entirely towards languages and writing. One of his uncles, who had some political influence, had made plans to set up a career for him as a clergyman, but Wordsworth did not want to follow in those footsteps. In his second year he wrote his first extensive poem entitled “An Evening Walk”, which reaches nearly four-hundred lines.

He was associated with a small group of free thinkers, including radical philosophers. Wordsworth was a strong follower of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Around the same time, he became very interested in the French Revolution and a French lady named Annette Vallon, who was very different from him politically and personality-wise. Annette gave birth to their first child, Anne Worsworth, but Wordsworth had to leave France when he could no longer support himself financially. He published his first two extensive poems in books, but eared little profit. He did, however, gain the attention of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who became a very close friend whom he would spend a lot of time with. His next major works included two lyrical ballads, or literary ballads; these were initially not well accepted, but are now viewed as breakthroughs in English Poetry. Wordsworth faced a lot of criticism, but was determined to show the world that he was as great a poet as he saw himself to be.

After he had been writing and publishing productively, having created multiple volumes of poetry, he eventually got the recognition that he deserved. He was a very popular poet in the 1820s, when he was in his 50s. Wordsworth had launched a major revolution in poetic style, exemplifying Romantic ideologies and obsoleting Neoclassicism. In 1839, He was given the honorable title of Poet-Laureate of England, even in his less productive old age, in a time when poets of that title were usually expected to productively create poems for public occasions. He lived to be eighty-one years old, dying of Pleurisy in 1850. His last work was a philosophical, autobiographical poem, which he never finished. He is criticized for this and for being, as some critics say, egotistical. Though, it cannot be denied that William Wordsworth was an incredibly influential poet, who defined British Romanticism and was an expert in stirring emotions and describing aesthetically the beauty all around him.

Sources:

Bloom's BioCritiques: William Wordsworth; Bloom's BioCritiques; 2003, p5-52, 48p

Cyclopedia of World Authors, Fourth Revised Edition; January 2003, p1-2

Critical Survey of Poetry, Second Revised Edition; September 2002, p1-12

A Ballad Sent To King Richard - Boza

This is the poem I have chosen by Geoffrey Chaucer.

Sometime this world was so steadfast and stable,
That man's word was held obligation;
And now it is so false and deceivable,
That word and work, as in conclusion,
Be nothing one; for turned up so down
Is all this world, through meed and wilfulness,
That all is lost for lack of steadfastness.

What makes this world to be so variable,
But lust that folk have in dissension?
For now-a-days a man is held unable
But if he can, by some collusion,
Do his neighbour wrong or oppression.
What causeth this but wilful wretchedness,
That all is lost for lack of steadfastness?

Truth is put down, reason is holden fable;
Virtue hath now no domination;
Pity exil'd, no wight is merciable;
Through covetise is blent discretion;
The worlde hath made permutation
From right to wrong, from truth to fickleness,
That all is lost for lack of steadfastness.

L'Envoy.

O Prince! desire to be honourable;
Cherish thy folk, and hate extortion;
Suffer nothing that may be reprovable
To thine estate, done in thy region;
Show forth the sword of castigation;
Dread God, do law, love thorough worthiness,
And wed thy folk again to steadfastness.

Beauty, Mistress Immortal

The poem that I have chosen out of Ivor Gurney’s vast collection is one of my favorites, titled “Beauty.” This poem describes beauty as an immortal being that can heal what is wrongfully done. The writer is searching for this mystical being throughout the seasons, although every time he is just not quick enough to grasp this immortal concept. This poem demonstrates a vast ray of characteristics that the author has woven into his poetry, such as personification and ending-rhyme. I love this poem as it contributes a greater perspective on what beauty truly is and about those who search for it shall find it eventually.

The original poem for those interested:

Beauty
I cannot live with Beauty out of mind.
I search for her and desire her all the day;
Beauty, the choicest treasure you may find,
Most joyous and sweetest word his lips can say.
The crowded heart in me is quick with visions
And sweetest music born of a brighter day.

But though the trees have long since lost their green
And I, the exile, can but dream of things
Grown magic in the mind; I watch the sheen
Of frost, and hear the song Orion sings.
Yet O, the star-born passion of Beethoven,
Man's consolation sung on the quivering strings.

Beauty immortal, not to be hid, desire
Of all men, each in his fashion, give me the strong
Thirst past satisfaction for thee, and fire
Not to be quenched . . . . O lift me, bear me along,
Touch me, make me worthy that men may seek me
For Beauty, Mistress Immortal, Healer of Wrong

The Life Of Ivor Gurney

Ivor Gurney was born on August 28, 1890 in the town of Gloucester. Gloucester is the small town that got its name for the protected shipping port on the River Severn called Glevum. Ivor Gurney was a well educated child growing up, and went to all the most prestigious schools, for his family was moderately wealthy during this time. The school he attended mainly was the school of the King, or the King’s school. Ivor was a very well behaved student and was so advanced in his studies that he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in 1911 when he was just twenty-one years of age. At the beginning of his education, although, he suddenly began to suffer from a condition referred to as Dyspepsia, which in today’s society is basically an upset digestion system, or an irritation to the stomach. Physicians, however, chalked up his illness as a nervous breakdown, and sent Mr. Gurney back to his hometown sometime in June of that year. Later, historians believed that that this illness was the first sign of having a bipolar illness, but this theory can’t be proven entirely. If this breakdown had not occurred, then it is believed that he would have had a very successful career as a composer, for he showed a remarkable talent for it. He also was a decent poet at the time, but his work began to flourish soon after his condition, as a result of the oncoming war.
When the First World War first broke out, Ivor Gurney was among the first to volunteer his services for the war by joining the Army. However, after much of the testing that Ivor had to go through had been completed, the Army finally turned Mr. Gurney down for they found out that he had bad eyesight. Although dishearten, Ivor continued his support for the troops. Then as a change of events occurred, the British Army was beginning to lose more men as planned and became short-handed. Ivor was thus allowed to join in the year 1915. He had to complete a rigorous training program before he joined the troops on the field. He was first trained on the Western Front first, and then was transferred to Albert to learn the Offensive of the battle. He turned out to be a very good soldier after completing his training, but as the tables turn as the seem to do, Ivor Gurney was shot on the battlefield on April 7, 1917 and was thus sent to the army hospital in Rouen. He did not take long to recover; in fact, he rejoined his regiment the following month. Ivor did not remain a solider for his entire life and two months after the rejoinment of his regiment, he was transferred to a machine Gun Company in Buysscheure, or Northern France.
Shortly after, an unfortunate event happened short after, which landed Mr. Gurney right back to the hospital in Edinburgh, in Scotland. During his time in the hospital, he began writing war poems including the ones titled, Severn and Somme, which soon appeared in newspapers nationwide. Ivor Gurney’s name became famous because of his writings, furthering the support of the war until it had ended in 1918. After the war, however, Mr. Gurney spent most of his time in different hospitals for the accident that had happened to him during his duration at the Gun Company, where he was gassed, so his lungs where never the same after the incident. Gurney was finally discharged from hospital and the army on 4th October 1918. Ivor Gurney wrote quite a few poetry books that contained his most prized work, although he couldn’t completely live off of his work. His second book of poems was titled War’s Embers which was published in May 1919. Aside from writing his poems, he was a farm laborer, a piano player in a cinema, and much, much more.
Sadly, Ivor Gurney's mental state was never the same, and after several attempts at suicide he was committed to a mental asylum back in his hometown in Gloucester. Shortly after his admittance to the physic ward, Ivor Gurney was legally declared insane on September 28, 1922, and was moved to the mental hospital in Dartford. Here, he continued his writings and shortly after, his work was published in the London Mercury.
Ivor Gurney died of bilateral pulmonary tuberculosis at the City of London Mental Hospital on 26th December, 1937. Five days later he was buried at Twigworth, Gloucestershire.


http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWgurney.htm

charge of the light birgade

1.
Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward,All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred."Forward, the Light Brigade!"Charge for the guns!" he said:Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.
2.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!"Was there a man dismay'd?Not tho' the soldier knew Someone had blunder'd:Theirs not to make reply,Theirs not to reason why,Theirs but to do and die:Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.
3.
Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon in front of them Volley'd and thunder'd;Storm'd at with shot and shell,Boldly they rode and well,Into the jaws of Death,Into the mouth of Hell Rode the six hundred.
4.
Flash'd all their sabres bare,Flash'd as they turn'd in air,Sabring the gunners there,Charging an army, while All the world wonder'd:Plunged in the battery-smokeRight thro' the line they broke;Cossack and RussianReel'd from the sabre stroke Shatter'd and sunder'd.Then they rode back, but not Not the six hundred.
5.
Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon behind them Volley'd and thunder'd;Storm'd at with shot and shell,While horse and hero fell,They that had fought so wellCame thro' the jaws of DeathBack from the mouth of Hell,All that was left of them, Left of six hundred.
6.
When can their glory fade?O the wild charge they made! All the world wondered.Honor the charge they made,Honor the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred.

Citing your sources

Heads up bloggers! As you are posting the biographies of your poets, please remember that you need to be including the sources that you are using to gather your information. You can do this at the bottom of your post, or as a comment. Also make note of the fact that you were given direction to use only valid academic sources for this assignment. I have included the instructions below. Please go back and make adjustments as necessary. Thanks!
G. Lehmann

Your primary research tool...
is the Galileo Literary Reference Center.

"Moving Back" from Out of Africa (1944)

We are going back again

To the mud and the rain

Where the guns complain

And the stones stain.

We are leaving the mountain snow.

Once more it is our turn to go

Back to the advanced foe.

It is just we know . . .

We are going back again

To our comrades' graves on the plain,

To the graves sunk in the rain
We do not complain.

We say nothing: but think only

(Heart-constricted, a moment lonely):

"Who will be killed this time

And for what crime?"

-John Gawsworth

At the Window- D. H. Lawrence

At the Window

The pine-trees bend to listen to the Autumn wind as it mutters
Something which sets the black poplars ashake with hysterical laughter;
While slowly the house of day is closing its eastern shutters.

Further down the valley the clustered tombstones recede,
Winding about their dimness the mist's grey cerements, after
The street lamps in the darkness have suddenly started to bleed.

The leaves fly over the window and utter a word as they pass
To the face that leans from the darkness, intent, with two dark-filled eyes
That watch for ever earnestly from behind the window glass.

Imagine

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

John Lennon

The Beatles are arguably one of the greatest bands to have ever existed. Their music lives on and their influences can still be seen to this day. One of the cofounders of The Beatles was the late John Lennon. He played guitar, sang, and wrote many songs for the band.
John Lennon was born on October 9, 1940 in Liverpool, England. At age five, Lennon was separated from his parents after they refused to raise him, and was forced to live with his strict Aunt, Mimi Smith. As a teenager, he had developed a lot of anger in the wake of his circumstances, but he turned that anger into brilliance. At 16, he founded a band that would eventually evolve into The Beatles.
The Beatles was mainly a joint project between Lennon and Paul McCartney, with both bringing their own musical styles. McCartney had more of a pop style, while Lennon offered a more rebellious rock-and-roll style. Lennon and McCartney both shared their interest in American rock-and-roll and first played together in 1957. With the addition of George Harrison and Ringo Starr, the Beatles were formed and music was revolutionized. Their variety and styles of music, as well as the meanings that it held, made them extremely popular. Much of this style can be accredited to Lennon.
At age 21, Lennon married Cynthia Powell; however, they divorced in 1968. When he was 28, he then married Yoko Ono, a Japanese artist. By 1970, the Beatles formally broke up. Lennon and McCartney began fighting and had many personal disagreements. All of this was elevated by the stress of trying to help symbolize a generation. The band then separated, with each member going off on their own. McCartney went on to form a new band, which was fairly successful. Starr and Harrison also had somewhat successful careers as solo artists. Lennon produced a set of songs with his wife, Ono.
As Lennon began his detachment from the Beatles, he became closer to Ono, as he was very fascinated with her. He continued to make music, with much of it influenced by his political beliefs, especially his disapproval of the Vietnam War. He also expressed a lot of political commitment to feminism. At that time, his music and his writing was clearly showing his opposition to the Vietnam War and President Nixon. Nixon and his administration even attempted to deport him for his opposition to the war. Amidst all of this controversy, Ono left him.
The next period of his life was called the “long weekend.” After Ono left him, he went through a year of heavy drinking and making irregular music in Los Angeles. This period ended when Ono came back, and they soon had a son, Sean, on Lennon’s birthday in 1975. He then left music in order to focus on being a househusband, leaving Ono to handle the business matters. John Lennon’s life ended on December 8, 1980 when he was shot by a psychotic fan outside of his Manhattan apartment building. Lennon might be dead, but his voice is still alive and well.


Works Cited:

"Lennon, John" Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition.
Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 26 Apr. 2011.<http://school.eb.com/eb/article-9438280>.

James E., Miller. "Beatles, the." Britannica Biographies (2010): 1. History Reference Center.
EBSCO. Web. 26 Apr. 2011.

Robert, Christgau. "Lennon, John." Britannica Biographies (2010): 1. History Reference Center.
EBSCO. Web. 26 Apr. 2011.

The Divine Image

The poem I chose was “The Divine Image” by William Blake. This poem is written with religious beliefs of God and his vision the divine image. He wrote many poems of love, religion, and rebellion but this poem caught my attention by the title. I wanted to know what William Blake’s divine image was.

The Divine Image
By: William Blake (1757-1827)

To Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love
All pray in their distress;
And to these virtues of delight
Return their thankfulness.

For Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love
Is God, our Father dear,
And Mercy, Pity, Peace and LoveIs man,
His child and care.

For Mercy has a human heart,
Pity a human face,
And Love, the human form divine,
And Peace, the human dress.

Then every man, of every clime,
That prays in his distress,
Prays to the human form divine,
Love, Mercy, Pity and Peace.

And all must love the human form,
In heathen, Turk or Jew;
Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell
There God is dwelling too.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/172912

Alfred, Lord Tennyson Biogrpahy

My original post was filled with inaccurate information, sorry about that. I also learned some things that our generation may find amusing may not be shared with the previous generations. Sorry for the problems. But it is what it is. It's real life. –Mike O’Real

Alfred, Lord Tennyson was poet laureate of the United Kingdom. A poet laureate is a poet assigned by the government to write poems for certain occasions. In Britain the poet laureate is the official poet of the King of Queen. He also wrote many poems, some that were received in high regard. He wrote such poems as The Charge of the Light Brigade, Tears, Idle Tears, Break, Break, Break, among others.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson was born on August 5, 1809 in England. His parents were George Clayton Tennyson and Elizabeth Fytche Tennyson. His father was a reverend. Tennyson’s given name was simply Alfred Tennyson. He was later given the title Lord later on in his life.
Alfred began writing poetry at the age of 8, by age 14 he had written a play. In 1827, Tennyson entered Cambridge University; upon his enrollment he befriended many other peers such as Edward FitzGerald and Arthur Henry Hallam. Tennyson was shocked when Hallam suddenly died in 1833 due to an Apoplexy. An Apoplexy is a type of stroke, which leads to bleeding in the brain.

Tennyson was devastated, that same year he began work on one of his better known books, In Memoriam: A.H.H., dedicated to his friend who passed away. Tennyson later named his son after Arthur, Hallam Tennyson was born in 1852.

In 1830, Tennyson met Emily Sellwood. They fell in love, were engaged in 1839 and were married in 1850. It took twenty years for them to marry because, Emily’s father was upset that Alfred’s opium addicted brother was courting his other daughter. When the married they married in secrecy. During the time Alfred and Emily were separated he traveled the world and devoted his time to writing poetry. He spoke many different languages, including Persian and Hebrew. Two of his children were born in the 1850’s. Hallam in 1852 and Lionel in 1852.
In 1842, Tennyson was a famous poet. He became famous after the publication of his works, Poems. That same year doctors told Alfred that he was in bad health and to put a hold on his work for a while. This recess lasted 2 years, at some point Alfred was not even allowed to read.

Around 1850, after several of his works were published, including The Princess, the United Kingdom was looking for a new Poet Laureate. William Wordsworth had just died so the role was vacated. Several men turned down the role, including Samuel Rogers, who was reallllyyy old at the time. Like 87! After Prince Albert read his work, In Memoriam, he offered the role to Tennyson, he accepted gladly. Tennyson cherished his new role as Poet Laureate, but didn’t care for the attention he attracted from complete strangers.

After Several years on the job as Poet Laureate, the Queen habitually offered Alfred the offer of being knighted and becoming Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Tennyson was shy and declined the offer. It wasn’t until 1884 that Tennyson accepted the Queen’s offer. For the rest of his life he was known as Alfred, Lord Tennyson, or Lord Tennyson. This is a tremendous honor in the United Kingdom.

In the 1870’s Alfred’s health, along with Emily’s began to fail. His work slowed down. He feared f he started something his health wouldn’t allow him to finish it. Due to his bad eye sight, Emily would write down Alfred’s poems. She did this until she became in bad health and his son, Hallam took over. Tennyson suffered a major blow in 1886, when his son Lionel died at sea due to a fever. Tennyson continued his writing slowly during these times. In 1889, Hallam’s first son was born, he named him Lionel. He had another child shortly thereafter in 1891. His name was Alfred Tennyson, Jr. on October 6, 1892, Alfred’s life ended, when he died. It was thought he may have died of gout. His wife and son were by his side when he took his final breath. He was buried in the Poet’s corner of Westminster Abbey.
Tennyson is still regarded to this day as one of the elite poets of all time. Many of his works are still popular today. He definitely set the tone for future writers.

Conversion: By T.E. Hulme

LIGHTHEARTED I walked into the
valley wood
In the time of hyacinths,
Till beauty like a scented cloth
Cast over, stifled me. I was bound
Motionless and faint of breath
By loveliness that is her own eunuch.

Now pass I the final river
Ignominiously, in a sack, without a sound,
As any peeping Turk to the Bosphorous.

W.H. Auden Biography

Wystan Hugh Auden was born on February 21, 1907 in York, England to George Augustus Auden, a physician, and Constance Rosalie Bicknell Auden, a trained missionary nurse who never served. He became known as W.H. Auden because he signed his works with that name instead of his birth name. Auden, the youngest of three boys, found his style of writing by reading and studying English literarture in Christ Church, Oxford. In 1908, Auden and his family moved to Harborne, Birmingham because his father had been appointed the School Medical Officer and Lecturer of Public Health. It was then that Auden's lifelong interests began inside his father's library. When he was eight, Auden started to attend boarding schools and would only come home for holidays. Auden's first boarding school was St. Edmund's School, Surrey. While there, he met Christopher Isherwood, who later became a famous novelist. At the age of thirteen, he attended Gresham's School in Norfolk in 1922, where his friend Robert Medley suggested that he should write poetry. In 1923, Auden's first published poems appeared in the school magazine. In 1925, Auden went to Christ Church, Oxford with a scholarship in biology. In his second year he had switched to studying English. He left Oxford with a third-class degree in 1928. During his four years at Christ Church, Auden was reunited with Christopher Isherwood. Isherwood became Auden’s mentor. Auden would send his poems to Isherwood for comments, criticism, and feedback. They often collaborated to produce works of literature and they wrote three plays and a travel book by 1939. In the fall of 1928, Auden left Britain for nine months to go to Weimar, Berlin. Part of the reason that Auden left Britain was to rebel against the English government who tried to control people’s sexual tendencies. Auden was homosexual. When he returned to Britain in 1929, he worked briefly as a tutor. In 1930, he published his first book, Poems. After publishing his first book, Auden became a schoolmaster in two different boys' schools until 1935. From 1935 until he left Britain again in 1939, Auden worked as a reviewer, essay writer, and lecturer. He began working with the G.P.O. Film Unit, a documentary filmmaking branch of the post office. This is how he met Benjamin Britten, who he collaborated with on plays, songs, and a libretto in 1935. During the 1930s, most of his poems were inspired by love. In January of 1939, Auden and Isherwood sailed to New York. They entered on temporary visas. Many British people saw their departure as a treacherous act and Auden's reputation in Britain suffered from it. Around April of 1939, after Isherwood moved to California, Auden met Chester Kallman, a poet. They became lovers and lived with each other from 1953 until Auden’s death even though Kallman stopped the relationship in 1941. In 1941 and 1942 he taught English at the University of Michigan. He was drafted for World War II but was rejected for medical reasons. He was also awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, a type of American grant, in 1942, but he didn't take it. Instead he chose to teach at Swarthmore College from 1942 to 1945. In 1945, after the end of World War II, Auden ventured to Germany on a trip that would inspire his work. When he returned to the United States in 1946, he became an American citizen. His life from that point was seemingly simple. He continued to work at various universities and traveled to many parts of Europe. His main source of income was lecture tours or writing for magazines. He continued this lifestyle until he died in Vienna in 1973. Auden’s work includes about 400 poems (seven long poems and two that were book-length) and over 400 essays and reviews about literature. His style was “encyclopedic in scope and method.” When he wrote, it would range from a modern feel to a traditional feel and he had various tones. His main subjects were religion, politics, and love.- BOOMTOWN

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/120

http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/whauden.htm

http://www.notablebiographies.com/An-Ba/Auden-W-H.html

Geoffrey Chaucer Biography - Boza

Geoffrey Chaucer, born in 1343, was a public servant for the majority of his life. Many records indicate that his jobs ranged from page to working for the king. He was a courtier, page, diplomat, and civil servant. Also being a military man he was captured during the siege of Rheims, but King Edward paid his ransom and he was released. He traveled a lot as a messenger and is also believed to have gone on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. He married around 1366 to Phillipa of Hainault, who was a lady in waiting to Edward III’s queen. They had several children but only 4 are actually cited. He then became a member of King Edward III’s Court. Around this time he wrote The Book of the Dutchess in honor of Blanch of Lancaster, the wife of john Gaunt, who died in 1369. Around the year 1374, a time where poetry and other forms of art were generally rewarded, Edward III granted Chaucer a gallon of wine daily for the delivery of one of his works (it is unknown which work it was). He continued to collect the wine until Richard II came to power. In the same year he gained the position of Comptroller of the Customs, which he kept for 12 years. This was a long time for this type of position in that time, but it is during this period that he is believed to have begun his more famous works. His work was the first to be written in English in a time where writing was generally done in more “courtly” languages like French and Latin. Thus garnering him the name “Father of English Literature.” In his position as Comptroller he was appointed a commissioner of peace for Kent, when a French invasion was a possibility. He became of Member of Parliament for Kent and it was during this time that he began work on the Canterbury Tales. He was robbed on June 17, 1391 which caused him to resign from his positions and he began working as a deputy forester days after the incident. Chaucer is believed to have stopped working on Canterbury tales around the end of this decade. After the overthrow of Richard II, Chaucer falls from historical records. Although the new king renewed his grants, his work Complaint of Chaucer to his Purse alludes that these grants were not honored. Chaucer dies of unknown causes on October 25, 1400. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, because of his status as a tenant, but his remains were moved in 1556 making him the first writer to be buried in the Poets’ Corner.

-Boza

Hate to have two of these...William Blake.

William Blake, born November 28^th, 1757, was the third of seven children in his family. Hailing from the Soho District of London, he began school at a young age. However, he only remained in school long enough to learn to read and write. After reaching that stage in his education, he was homeschooled by his mother, Catherine Wright Armitage Blake, due to his unruliness. His father was a hosier, meaning that he sold hosiery for a living. He spent a great deal of his young life around the edges of town and in the countryside of London.

It has been said that around the age of ten, Blake saw his “first vision.” As he gazed upon a tree, he began to see angels. By this time, he stated that he had already begun to read the works of Milton and Isaiah. These were great influences as he began to write not much later in his life.

Soon after his vision, but not related, Blake was sent to an art school in Strand. During his time in Mr. Pars’ Drawing school, he spent most of his time copying plaster molds of ancient sculptures. At the age of 14, he was placed at the apprentice level for an engraver because his father could not afford a lead painter. His master was named James Basire and was an engraver at the London Society of the Antiquaries. Due to this fact, Blake was sent to Westminster Abbey to draw tombs and monuments. After this, he began collecting the works of Michelangelo and the literary works of Elizabethan writers such as Shakespeare.

In August of 1779, Blake was admitted to the Royal Academy. Paying his way by producing art, he eventually ran into a bit of a difference with some of his teachers. Some said that his paintings were “too Michelangelo” or “too extravagant.” After his completion of school, he married Catherine Boucher in 1782. Two years later, Blake’s father died and left the hosiery business to William’s older brother. Later that year, William’s brother, Robert, was struck with illness and eventually died. William, being with Robert when he passed, claimed to have seen Robert’s soul travel through the ceiling.

This was not the only time that William saw his younger brother’s soul. Later, Robert’s came to him as a “vision in the night.” This vision gave him the insight to combine poetry with visual art. By 1789, he had his first copy of his book titled The Songs of Innocence. The entire book, “except the manufacturing of the paper,” was done by Blake and his wife. By 1795, he began printing in full size paintings along with his works.

Blake then moved to Sussex where he began to truly enjoy the true beauty of nature around him. He was hired to paint many pictures of many people, but by 1802, he tired of this trivial task. After a run-in with the military in 1803, Blake moved back to London before he faced trial for sedition. By 1810, Blake had fallen to poverty and paranoia. On August 12, 1827, Blake died. As he began to pass from illness, it is said that he was “singing of the things he saw in heaven.”

http://www.tate.org.uk/learning/worksinfocus/blake/gothic/life_intro.html

PS - I couldn't find this man on Galileo. This site should work though, it was cleared by Dr. Boza.

William Blake Biography

William Blake was born to James and Catherine Blake on November 28, 1757. During his early childhood, Blake encountered God in many visions. First he was inspired to become an artist at the age of ten. His parents sent him to drawing school. Admiring many famous artists such as Raphael, Giulio, and others caused him to stay in drawing school for five years. Two years later, he started to write poetry.
At the age of 14, Blake apprenticed with an engraver due to the fact that art school was too expensive for his family. In his seven years there, Blake sketch tombs with variety of Gothic styles. After those seven years, he started back his of art at Royal Academy of Art. William married Catherine Boucher in 1782 and then opened a print shop in 1784. Even though the business didn’t last long, Blake did manage to complete “Island in the Moon”.
Blake return to engraving tombs and tested the waters in illustrating books and magazines. During this time Blake taught his brother Robert how to draw, paint, and engrave. Then Robert fell ill during the winter of 1787 and died. As he died, William saw his brother’s sprit rise up through the ceiling. In 1788, Blake completed his illuminated book “Songs of Innocence”. William believed Robert helped him in learning the printing method of illuminated works and in his book. Then in 1794, he published “Songs of Experience”. “Songs of Innocence” was considered a children’s book due to its illustrating.
Living during the revolutionary times, Blake’s main influences came from his society. Being a nonconformist, many of Blake friends were radical thinkers. Over some time, he became disgusted with the society he lived in. Blake’s religion and political ideas became radical. In 1800, Blake moved to Felpham. While living there, Blake taught himself Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Italian. His religious beliefs became stronger. This prepared him to write more mature writings and paint more mature art.
Blake believed his poetry could be read and understood by common people. But Blake wanted him and his writings to become popular pieces. Before pasting away, Blake final years were spent in poverty but with admiring friends of artists who called themselves “the Ancients”. Dying at the age of 69 in 1827, his family name died with him. Leaving a legacy as a complex man with many artistic talents will remain strong now and in centuries to come.

-http://www.poemhunter.com/william-blake/biography/

Lewis Carroll Biography!

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, was born in Cheshire, England on January 27, 1832 and died on January 14, 1898. He was the eldest son and the third born of a family of seven girls and four boys. His mother, Frances Jane Lutwidge, was the wife of Rev. Charles Dodgson. His mother was a gentle and caring soul, very patient with all of her children. Lewis’s father was the children’s tutors and he raised them very well.

Lewis and his family lived in a little country village and had few acquaintances outside of their family but had no problem entertaining themselves. At the age of 12, Carroll created a magazine named “The Rectory Magazines”, that his family was supposed to contribute to for fun. He also made up games, wrote poems and stories for his brothers and sisters.

In his early years of education, Lewis attended Richmond School, Yorkshire in 1844 to 1845 then switched to Rugby School through 1850. During this time, he got very sick and went deaf in his left ear. After Rugby School, his father tutored him for a year, during his enrollment in Christ Church, Oxford. Carroll excelled in his mathematical studies, coming out at the head of his class. He then preceded a Bachelor of Arts degree that same year. Carroll graduated in 1854, and in 1855 he became a mathematical lecturer at the college. In the year 1861, Lewis became a deacon because of the permanence of the job and he needed to remain unmarried.

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson had a frustrating love for little girls throughout his whole life and this love, some say, contributed with his poetry. Some people feel that Carroll never attained real adult love. If he would have tried to grow up and marry, some say that he was not psychologically ready for anything pertaining to adult love. As said in one of my sources, The Many Lives of Lewis Carroll, “He loved little girls, but, like Peter Pan, he had no intention of marrying them.”

While being a deacon, Lewis was a reserved, fussy bachelor who refused to get caught up in the political and religious storms that troubled England. Lewis Carroll, however, was a delightful, lovable companion to the children for whom he created his nonsense stories and poems.

One solution is that he had two personalities: "Lewis Carroll" and "the Deacon Mr. Dodgson," with the problems that go along with having a split personality. There were peculiar things about him—he stammered ever since he was a child, he was extremely fussy about his possessions, and he walked as much as twenty miles a day. But another solution seems more nearly correct: "Dodgson" and "Carroll" were parts of one personality. This personality, because of happiness in childhood and unhappiness in the years thereafter, could blossom only in a world that resembled the happy one he knew while growing up.

Themes that weave in and out of his poetry are: looking through an eye of a child, love, reality and nonsense, life and death, heroic quests, and the tragic and inevitable loss of childhood innocence. Not all of these themes co-exist is all of his poems, but all of these are a lot of themes that weave in and out of his awesome peotry.

http://library.thinkquest.org/10977/carroll/

http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ca-Ch/Carroll-Lewis.html

http://web.ebscohost.com/lrc/pdf?sid=0af6d54a-3bb5-4048-8b92-88b827898f4a%40sessionmgr4&vid=2&hid=10

T.E. Hulme Biography

It all began at hip London café called where one of the founders of modern poetry began setting his place in poetic history. T.E. Hulme was part of the poetry group known as the “School of Images”. Although he only published six works of poetry before his death- called the Complete Poetical Works- Hulme and his fellow poets, like F.S. Flint, and Edward Storer, rebelled against the set themes, rhythms and meters of the Romantic era and created poetry based off day-to-to images at the start of the twentieth- century.

Thomas Ernest Hulme was born on September 16, 1883 to a wealthy household in Endon, Staffordshire England. At an early age he took much interest in questioning and rebelling society around him. He attended St. Johns College, at Cambridge where he first studied Mathematics but did not finish because he was thrown out not once, but twice for multiple occasions of outlandish behavior. Hulme was quite a character who enjoyed heckling actors on stage at plays and kept a set of brass knuckle duster near him at all times for leisurely or emergency use. Many of Hulme’s close friends and colleagues say “his charm was his straightforwardness”, as said in the British publication of the Guardian. After being thrown of St. Johns he began attending the University College of London where he took up philosophy and later he worked and studied in Canada and Brussels.

While teaching in Brussels around 1907, Hulme’s became closely familiar with contemporary works of French philosophy and poetry. One in particular whom he met and developed a close relationship with was Henri Bergson. It was he who influenced Hulme’s deep interest and inspection of nineteenth- century French psychologists, which led to the development of his idea of “imagist theory and thought” as labeled in an article from the Poetry Foundation. Accompanying Hulme in his deep interest in French philosophy to create a literary movement was his disdain for Romanticism. In several instances he expresses his whole hate for it in saying that, “romanticism is dead in reality” or in his definition of romanticism and the movement that came before it classicism:

"Here is the root of all romanticism: that man, the individual, is an infinite reservoir of possibilities; and if you can so rearrange society by the destruction of oppressive order then these possibilities will have a chance and you will get progress." Classicism is precisely the opposite: "Man is an extraordinarily fixed and limited animal whose nature is absolutely constant. It is only by tradition and organization that anything decent can be got out of him."

Hulme believed that image, “was the untouched material of experience”, and the analysis of the works of his mentor Henri Bergson further set Hulme in his new way of understanding art imagery. Bergson specialized in the forms of awareness in which he believed there were only two different types: awareness is intuition and awareness is based in intellect which applies its knowledge to action. In 1913 a translation of Bergson’s book by Hulme Introduction to Metaphysics was released.

Hulme was inspired by another French great, poet Gustave Kahn who resisted following strict modes of poetry that included writing with exact rhythms, meters, and rhymes, but instead letting the authors thoughts wander freely. In 1908 Hulme returned to England , where he established the Poets Club he and other philosophers and poets convened to discuss and debate ideas of image and modern poetry. But this group soon faded when in 1909 the Poets Club was discontinued and the Café Tour D’Eiffel group began. It was in this group where Hulme is now accredited with influencing great American poet Ezra Pound and later T.S. Eliot.

Robert Ferguson the author of the book The Short Sharp Life of T.E. Hulme summarizes Hulme’s writing style as, “overhearing someone in the process of thinking”. Hulme set out to revolutionize an entire era of thinking and writing and depending on how you view the world , he succeeded. In August 1914 , Hulme entered the military where he served with the Royal Marine Artillery in France and Belgium. He was killed on the frontlines in at the age of thirty-four in1917, but his ideas, thoughts, and works still credit him with creation of modern poetry.

Sources

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/t-e-hulme

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/dec/08/biography.poetry

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/mar/25/hulme-modern-poetry-ezra-pound-imagists

http://www.jrank.org/literature/pages/4499/T-E-Hulme-%28Thomas-Ernest-Hulme%29.html