Sunday, February 27, 2011

Reflections on a Nature Walk

Nature has a calming effect. I don't know how, perhaps because nature is what we were made for and are drawn towards. The Romantics drew their inspiration from nature. Silent meditation on nature was believed to be far more productive than reading a book. Due to the fantastic weather we've been having I decided to go for a walk by the river and see what inspiration came of it.

At the beginning one can feel awkward walking somewhere by themselves, especially in an unknown environment such as the Broad River. We're so used to constantly being surrounded by people (especially in college) that when we are by ourselves it is at first uncomfortable. It's almost sad how some of us become so accustomed to no alone time. It's important to have time alone with your thoughts. It's simply mentally healthy.

On the banks of the river it was a bit muddy. With special attention I could see the tracks of the different animals that had come out of the clustered safety of the woods the the edge of the river for a drink. I came across some opossum, muskrat, and deer tracks. This got me thinking about the consideration we should have for things even though we may not always be able to see them. Aside from conserving what untouched nature we do have this can also relate to everyday life. Sometimes we get in negative moods and unknowingly spread them to the people we come into contact with everyday.

Also along my walk I would see trash that had washed along the river. People should be more aware of how their trash can have an effect downstream. Keep in mind that things you do today will effect tomorrow.

Slowing down and learning from nature is productive. I may not go as far as to say it's more important or less important than reading a book, but we can learn a lot from the analogys of nature.

Ode to the West Wind

In Percy Shelley's poem "Ode to the Wests Wind" wind is a the central poetic factor. The poem can be hard to understand at first read, but by breaking it down it can be understood more easily. Each stanza has a sort of theme. What is the significance of the wind?

Stanza one talks about the death of people, such as "cold and low," "dark wintry bed," and "ghosts." Leaves are the main natural image here.

Stanza two is talking about a sort of apocalypse, in ways such as "angels of rain and lightening," "black rain and fire will burst," and "fierce Maenad." The main natural force in this stanza is clouds. There are illusions to Greek Mythology.

In stanza three it is speaking of the ruins of the old being all that is left behind, such as "saw in sleep old palaces and towers," "azure moss, and flowers" cover the ruins. The main natural force is the waves. The ruins give a Mediterranean, Greek feel.

Stanza four is asking for help from the wind, "prayer in my sore need." Helping is being asked of the wind because it can control all the other things: leaves, clouds, and waves. The wind is "tameless, swift, and proud." The grouping of words "I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!" give an illusion to Christianity and Jesus.

The last stanza, stanza five, is about how the writer wants this change, or rebirth. He is getting old but stills wants to be used for change, "to quicken a new birth." The phrase "The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind," certainly points out this is a poem from the Romantics, because they thought they were the prophets of their times.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Songs of Innocence OR Songs of Experience?

William Blake wrote a series of poems, "Songs of Innocence and of Experience" in the late 1700's. On a quick read through, many of the poems convey overly happy tones for life and the world, if you will. However, when one slows down and truly reads into Blake's poetry, one sees quite the opposite of happiness. Instead of sheer innocence you can see he actually is meaning for it to be almost sarcastic, or seen as the opposite; a binary (good/bad, innocence/experience, etc).

In his poem, “The Echoing Green,” Blake uses beautiful imagery:

“The sun does arise,
And make happy the skies;
The merry bells ring
To welcome the spring;”

One cannot help but picture a warm, sunny spring day. Blake continues on to tell how the elderly are laughing as the innocent children playing happily. They also reminisce of the innocent playing they did on beautiful day when they were young:

"Such, such were the joys
When we all, girls and boys,
In our youth time were seen
On the Echoing Green."

But the adults and elderly are not laughing because of the joyful memories they have. They are laughing because they know the hardship and struggle the children will one day face. The hardship that will end the happiness the children once found so easily.

“Till the little ones, weary,
No more can be merry;
The sun does descend,
And our sports have an end.”

Blake uses the happiness of spring and the innocence of children to draw the readers to the opposite thought. Thoughts of how happiness ends and the harshness of reality the children will one day face. The reader must also keep in mind this poem was written after the Industrial Revolution. The urban-carefree lifestyle was becoming unheard of. The “Green” was becoming unheard of; Leading to only its “Echo” left behind.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Mary Wollstonecraft's Effect on Women's Rights

Mary Wollstonecraft was a leading figure in the feminist rights movement. In a culture that put women on the level of animals and children Wollstonecraft spoke out. Through her writing she spread her logic to others in 18th century Britain. Through her lifestyle she lived all that she preached. Today her words are just as true as they were when she first put them to paper.

Today, I personally believe, women are almost completely equal to men. "Women cannot, by force, be confined to domestic concerns," Wollstonecraft wrote. This was not possible when she originally began her writing, but today a woman is just as excepted working outside of the home as men are. However work on women's equalities is still preceding. On average the salary of men is still higher than women. Luckily this gap is closing between men and women.

Women were once taught "should they be beautiful, every thing else is needless..." We are lucky to live in a society that now can value an intelligent women. We cannot be ignorant that appearance is still valued though; however it is also now valued in men as well. Take for example the Miss America Pageant. On the Miss America website they say, "Miss America represents the highest ideals. She is a real combination of beauty, grace, and intelligence, artistic and refined. She is a type which the American Girl might well emulate." This values a well-rounded women, a renaissance women if you will, not solely based on looks.

Regarding marriage, Wollstonecraft says love will cease to exist "and the time will inevitably come." She believes marriage is unnecessary and if it must happen it should be of friendship and companionship, not "passion that sinks into mere appetite." This belief is certainly understood today where less and less people are getting married, despite the increasing population. Perhaps people now can marry out of true love and companionship, unlike previously where it was necessary to marry to gain possessions and gain children to help care for the household.

In modern times one can see obvious progressions in women's rights and equality to man from what it once was. We women now can acceptably work outside of the home, have the choice of independence in contrast to marriage, and true intelligence and personality can now be appreciated.