Relfective Essay

Oh ENGL322…how am I failing myself in you?

Seventeenth Century British Literature, I must admit, is a scary thought. I hesitated to click the “add” button for it during registration because I anticipated this kind of literature would be dense and difficult to understand. And I was right. Knowing how hard the material is, I’ve made sure to read all the assigned reading (usually by Thursday’s class instead of Tuesday’s…), highlighting it as I go along. I must admit, though, that I could take more time to try and understand what exactly the authors are getting at, but for the most part I get it. At least, I can usually follow the Norton essays. It is difficult sometimes to understand the references to specific works and authors because I am not familiar with a good deal of the writing and scholarly criticism associated with this time period. But I know pretty much all students in this class are in the same boat, so a little cluelessness is to be expected.

Another reason why I might be struggling a bit is because while reading the poetry, I don’t really take the time to try and analyze what the author is trying to do with the poem- I usually just read through it once and move on, whether or not I understand it. Admittedly, this is not the best way to approach a reading. But sometimes this stuff is completely over my head without a little context. It really helps me to go over specific poems in class so I get a feel for what kind of language the author uses, typical symbolism, and other strategies so then I can look back at the author’s other works and gain more of an understanding of the material.

I will admit that some of the poems we’ve been reading are more interesting than I thought they would be. Marvell’s anti-pastoral poetry, for example. “Damon the Mower” and “To His Coy Mistress” are far more sexual and violent than I would have expected. I didn’t think there would be so much overt (and covert) sexuality in the literature of this time period, but Marvell has proved me wrong.

Robert Burton’s “Anatomy of Melancholy” is also a surprisingly satirical and humorous read. I don’t know why, but for some reason I came into this class assuming that everything we were going to read would be horribly serious, safe, and boring. I was relieved to learn the contrary. I think, though, that with a little more critical and close reading, I will get a lot more out of the material.

I’ve started gathering articles for my research portfolio using on-line databases and books from the library. So far, from what I’ve read, there have been a lot of religious interpretations of readings, specifically Donne’s readings. Most of the books I’ve checked out from the library deal more with the cultural and social context of the works we’ve been studying, rather than the works themselves. Both kinds are pretty interesting and helpful in the understanding of this literature.

Overall, this class is still pretty intimidating, but I think I can handle it…

Irony and Imagery in “The Lesson”

Okay, so I didn’t exactly pick a 17th Century author. But she did say ANY poem! And so I ran with that…

Through the strategic employment of imagery, irony, and other literary devices, Maya Angelou illustrates her relentless yearning for life in “The Lesson.” Angelou’s imagery of youth juxtaposed with that of death creates a sharp contrast that insinuates the struggles she has faced in her life. She incorporates elements of irony when referring to certain episodes of her life as “death“, when she is clearly still alive to write about them. Angelou’s syntax, structure, diction, and symbolism also contribute to the general sense of persistence and longing to be alive that she strives to convey in this poem.
“The Lesson” contains several striking images that contrast to create feelings of confusion and display unusual resilience on the speaker’s part. Lines 2-4 render a description of death directly contrasted with a powerful image of youth: “Veins collapse, opening like the / Small fists of sleeping / Children.” She is comparing her death to the motions of children in deep slumber. With this disparity, Angelou allows that the “death” that she experiences is not really death, but rather more like sleeping, as she is very much still alive. Much like the sleeping children, Angelou has a great deal of life in her, but in these “deaths” that she describes, her vivacity is diminished and lies dormant. The subsequent image is one of death: “Memory of old tombs, / Rotting flesh and worms” (lines 5-6). This graphic image contrasts harshly with the previous one of young life. Angelou, however, insists that these symbols of death do not make her want to give up on the struggles of life, because she knows it is worth it to be alive. Even though these images may scare some, she is not deterred by their implications and does not fear whatever death may bring. The final image Angelou represents in her poem is that of her wrinkled face: “The years / And cold defeat live deep in / Lines along my face” (lines 8-10). The personification of “years” and “defeat” further delineates the intensity of the struggles she has endured in her lifetime as it gives them lives and intensity of their own. This image incorporates both of the previous images: the fresh life of the children is shown through personification- giving life to inanimate objects, and the deathly symbols relate to aging, wrinkling, and getting closer to death. The combination of these three illustrations creates an interesting dynamic that attempts to explain Angelou’s life of struggles and “deaths.”
From the opening line to the closing statements, Angelou incorporates puzzling irony that becomes perhaps the most important rhetorical agent in “The Lesson.” The poem begins with the striking line: “I keep on dying again.” This is ironic because, obviously, the speaker must still be alive in order to tell this story, so the fact that she says that she keeps on dying implies that death has another meaning besides the typical. In order to make sense of the irony in this poem, one must question the meaning of this “death” of which Angelou writes. Since this “death” does not just occur once, but rather it becomes a pattern, it must be indicative of a series of struggles and broken-down periods in the speaker’s life. Death, to her, implies a situation in which she is still alive but perhaps in a state of deep contemplation brought about by a particularly difficult experience or devastating defeat. According to the text, the speaker has endured many hardships, and these “death-states” seem to occur in their wake.
The last lines of the poem similarly express the irony that Angelou strives to achieve: “I keep on dying, / Because I love to live” (12-13). These lines are nonsensical upon first reading, but it becomes clear that the speaker’s definitions of living and dying are skewed. One does not die because he or she loves to live, but rather one lives because he or she hates to die. Angelou purposely interchanges these lines to illustrate the contrasts between her life and experiences and those of others. Life, for her, has been a series of struggles, defeats, and losses that make her feel as though she has experienced death a number of times. Alternatively, the word “dying” as used in the poem could carry a connotation of yearning or longing. In this sense, the speaker is perhaps expressing her passion for life, as in she is “dying to live.” Either way, the irony in these last lines of the poem is a strong force in the overall sense of the speaker’s persistence and strength that “The Lesson” conveys.
Other literary devices, such as structural syntax, word choice, and symbolism further the development of the themes of determination and struggle described in the poem. A simple sentence opens the poem, followed by several more complex and descriptive sentences. This progression perhaps reflects the simplicity of childhood and the beginning years of life, and how everything grows more and more complicated as life goes on. Another interesting literary device is the diction in the ending words of lines 1 and 7 (again and against). These words are almost identical, but their meanings and uses defy each other. In the first line, “again” is used in reference to the repetition of the speaker’s “deaths” whereas the word “against” refers to the speaker’s perseverance in life and overcoming challenges. The diction in this instance creates an unexpected dynamic between the different uses of these two similar words. Another example of strategic word choice can be found in line 11: “They dull my eyes.” Angelou chooses the word “dull” for several reasons. “Dull” carries connotations of diminished intensity, zest, or keenness, allowing its allusion to the lack of sharpness in the speaker’s eyes, as in, she is no longer the clever, witty, youthful person she used to be due to her age and the wrinkles on her face. Also, in a more literal sense, this statement could mean that the lines on her face literally cause her eyes to appear less lustrous or powerful. In any case, Angelou carefully chose her words to allow for many different interpretations and connotations of the poem.
One particularly telling example of symbolism in “The Lesson” can be found in the fifth line: “Memory of old tombs.” The tombs in this line represent those who gave up, those who allowed death to overcome them. Angelou refers to the tombs in this line and not the people they represent to show how easily people are forgotten. The memories she mentions are not of people, but of the tombs they left behind. The speaker of this poem wants to be remembered for living a good and productive life, so she downplays the likelihood of an average person’s being remembered by only mentioning “old tombs.” This strategy further stresses the speaker’s desire to live a full life.
“The Lesson” is a poem in which Maya Angelou utilizes a number of literary tools to the end result of creating a work that evokes feelings of persistence, durability, and resilience. With striking imagery, perplexing irony, and interesting syntactical, symbolic, and diction choices, she conveys to the reader how her life has been a series of obstacles that she has worked hard to overcome. In reference to the title, perhaps the lesson Angelou is trying to teach the reader is that, no matter the difficulty of the challenge or the degree of defeat, one should continue to persevere because living life is worth it.

The Climate of Herbert’s Mind

“The climate of the mind is positively English in its variableness and instability. Frost, sunshine, hopeless drought and refreshing rains succeed one another with bewildering rapidity. Herbert is the poet of this inner weather. Accurately, in a score of lyrics unexcelled for flawless purity of diction and appositeness of imagery, he has described its changes and interpreted, in terms of a mystical philosophy, their significance. Within limits he achieves a real perfection.”- Huxley

In this evalutation of George Herbert’s poetry, Huxley has clearly taken notice of Herbert’s broad range of poetic styles, techniques, subjects, and points of view. His poetry captures such a variety of emotions and moods that there is little consistency to be found among all of it as a whole. This is what Huxley means by Herbert expressing his “inner weather.” His poems are dictated by whatever he is feeling at the moment, whether it be joy, anger, melancholy, sadness, etc. All people are affected by changing moods and internal feelings, but Herbert is especially gifted in articulating these feelings as they come to him. Some may call him agile, able to make quick turnarounds from one raw emotion to the next. This, I think, is part of Huxley’s aim in his descriptions of Herbert’s poetry.

Also, within each poem, there lie imagery and articulation of these ever-changing feelings. Harshly opposing symbols create jolting distinctions between Herbert’s points, and his diction, syntax, and structure should not be disregarded.

Afterall, Huxley even ventures to say that Herbert has acheived perfection in the art of poetry, within limits. His ability to incorporate elements of language and emotion to express his ever-changing thoughts and moods reflects the likeness of his talent to the weather in England. It is even oftentimes hard for us, as readers, to understand or follow the rapidity with which Herbert changes direction with his writing. As Huxley notes, we may end up bewildered by the variability in his poetry. Huxley’s criticism is insightful and helpful in the analysis and closer reading of Herbert’s poetry.