Yet, as a rebel fronts a king in state, I stand within her walls with not a shred Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer.
This reminds me of Sterling Brown's "Strong Men" in which both poems discuss prejudice and struggle but there is a layer of hopefulness and resilience throughout the pieces.
Ah, stern harsh world, that in the wretched way Of poverty, dishonor and disgrace, Has pushed the timid little feet of clay, The sacred brown feet of my fallen race! Ah, heart of me, the weary, weary feet In Harlem wandering from street to street.
Similar to Sterling Brown, McKay doesn't shy away from speaking about the difficulties the black community has faced.
hypocrite lecteur!—mon semblable,—mon frère
This translates to: hypocrite reader, my likeness/twin, my brother.
Frisch weht der Wind Der Heimat zu Mein Irisch Kind, Wo weilest du?
This is from an opera called Tristan und Isolde. It's a tragic love story from the 1860's that is very similar to Romeo and Juliet that ends with two people in love, unable to be together in life so choose to be with each other in the afterlife.
April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
Both the content and the form of this poem keeps us on our toes. Eliot is going against the cliches of spring and winter, almost swapping the two and what feelings most people associate with these seasons. His use of enjambment coupled with his nonconformity to seasons and their stereotypes creates a feeling of uncertainty.
Sweeter than peaches and pears and cream
One of my favorite lines in this poem. It is euphonious and rolls off the tongue easily unlike some of the other lines of this poem.
Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold
blue mottled clouds
Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink Nor slumber nor a roof against the rain;
Millay is interesting because she, like Frost in my opinion, mixes traditional rhyme schemes with more modern and forward thinking ideas that seem to go against the social constructs of their time. Both her and Frost exhibit parts of life in their realities, not trying to convince themselves nor others that life (and in this case love) is perfect.
Provide, provide
Frost does not candy coat his perspective on life. I believe what he is saying in this poem is to provide yourself with the life you want. "Make up your mind to die in state", provide yourself with the life you not only want to live with but the one you're happy to die with.
Too many fall from great and good
To me it seems as though Frost is trying to tell us that many things, if not everything, that are good are temporary. Beauty and fame, according to this poem, are certainly temporary.
Life is too strong for you– It takes life to love Life.
This has been my favorite poem from the readings. It's clear that Lucinda Matlock did many things in her 96 years of life, both good and bad things. She went to dances and was married for 70 years, raised 12 kids (she lost 8), and a myriad of other things. This poem characterizes her as a fiercely formidable woman that I think is really encapsulated in this last line. I'm sure there are many interpretations of this line but my take away from it is that there will always be difficult times in life, but you must face life head on and with conviction anyways.
The snows and the roses of yesterday are vanished; And what is love but a rose that fades?
Both Masters and Robinson build many of their poems around the passing of time. Masters especially characterizes his narrators as being dissatisfied with how they spent their time on earth. These memories and experiences are carried with tinges of regret: "Blind to all of it all my life long."
For auld lang syne
I looked up this phrase because I've seen it so many times before and can never remember its meaning or where it comes from. In 1788 Robert Burns sent a poem called "Auld Lang Syne" to the Scots Musical Museum. According to him it is an old ancient song but no one else had recorded it on paper before. The phrase itself can be roughly translated into meaning "for old times' sake". It is meant to be used in terms of old friendships and the preservation of passing time.
Now why should that man have fainted? But he did, and right across my path by the wall, so that I had to creep over him every time!
I've read this story a few times and this ending always haunts me. The image of her creeping around the outskirts of the room, with the wallpaper stripped off, as she steps over the body of her passed out husband as if nothing was the matter. It leaves me with so many questions. I feel like the ending leaves me with a cliff hanger. I would love to know what takes place after this situation. How does John react to her illness now? What happens when he awakes?
I quite enjoy the room, now it is bare again. How those children did tear about here! This bedstead is fairly gnawed! But I must get to work. I have locked the door and thrown the key down into the front path. I don’t want to go out, and I don’t want to have anybody come in, till John comes. I want to astonish him.
The narrator becomes much more terse and short with these few lines. It feels like she's trying to force as much information out with as few words as possible and very quickly. It makes the pace of this section feel rushed and almost panicked. You feel the narrator's desperation rising.
but shut out from their world by a vast veil
The veil that Du Bois speaks about reminds me of the force from Adams' piece. Both the veil and the force are things we cannot see but still exist in our everyday lives. They hold this power over us and compel us to live a certain way.
Through history, the powers of single black men flash here and there like falling stars, and die sometimes before the world has rightly gauged their brightness. Here in America, in the few days since Emancipation, the black man’s turning hither and thither in hesitant and doubtful striving has often made his very strength to lose effectiveness, to seem like absence of power, like weakness.
This section reminds me of Adams lamenting the fact that he had looked at all the art pieces and absorbed all the knowledge he could about Karl Marx and historical doctrines, yet he could not find a way to use and apply this knowledge. Similar to Adams' inapplicable knowledge, Du Bois is speaking on the stripping of power of the African American man. They have the abilities, the intelligence, the brightness, but repressive America "has often made his very strength to lose effectiveness." Both Adams and Du Bois speak of abilities they are unable to apply and use.
They felt a railway train as power, yet they, and all other artists, constantly complained that the power embodied in a railway train could never be embodied in art. All the steam in the world could not, like the Virgin, build Chartres.
That division between religion and technology and what they can be and offer to society appears again. Adams seems to differ on this, believing that the "force" we feel with religion and the "force" we feel with technology are the same. During the medieval period people felt a pull towards Christianity and during the 1900's people felt a pull towards technological advancements.
Adams might as well have stood outside in the night, staring at the Milky Way
I find it very interesting that Henry Adams wrote his autobiography in the perspective of the 3rd person. This perspective almost makes me forget I am reading his autobiography. It reads more as a story for me. I wonder why he chose to write it in this way and I wonder how this book would've been received if he had written it in 1st person. I also notice that with 3rd person he creates this slightly self-deprecating humor and humility that is showcased in this line.
Great Exposition of 1900
The World Fair held in Paris, France. These fairs are meant to exhibit the achievements of nations and are held in various places around the world. It was at the 1900 Great Exposition that diesel engines, escalators, talking films, and telegraphones were publicized. These fairs are places of unique, worldly exploration and education which, understanding Adams' desire for higher learning, makes it unsurprising that he "haunted it" and ached to "absorb knowledge".