He's forgotten his life before, forgotten the "swell of the sea". It's clear he drowned but I am interested in the language and imagery of "picking his bones in whispers". Could it be that now in this society, water (which is one of the main things humans need to survive, which flows and brings us life" has now become a symbol of death? Is it a release from the world they inhabit that is unkind and does not comfort them anymore? Is it perhaps another kind of cleansing that brings them to a better world (the afterlife)?

Foreshadowed earlier in the tarot card reading - fear death by water.

Possibly a biblical reference, but also using the imagery of the river sweating oil and tar to show that this society that was once pure, or balanced, is corrupted. Often in literature water is representative of rebirth – usually mental – or some type of cleansing or healing process. By showing a lack of water, or stagnant or corrupted water, the narrator suggests his way of life has been removed. There is no change or movement. They are stuck.

Following the last sentence, the narrator names different types of water, and even the sound of it, which evokes a sensory response (drip drop drop drop drop drop) - but again, "there is no water"

Again, we see the motif of water but now in the present tense: the narrator repeats "if there were water" several times.

I'm choosing to follow the motif of water (wet/dry.) I notice in this sentence that the river is pure (free of trash, as the narrator notes.) Often in this poem, it seems the narrator is reminiscing on sitting by the water and how it feels pure, unlike the landscape he is in right now.

I wonder if the first-person narrator is the same person throughout the poem or if it's different characters' perspectives.

I notice repetition of "so many." I also wonder why Eliot chose to make this part more centered around realism ("Under the brown fog of a winter dawn") in contrast to the more metaphorical description of a corpse growing from the garden.

I looked it up and apparently this and the other German line are a reference to an opera. I'm curious as to why Eliot included this so randomly in the middle and end of this passage, or why he even included the reference at all.

It seems like the narrator is writing and rewriting a letter and putting much consideration into it. They seem to eventually settle on cordially yours, although, is that really what they want to say? (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/265430971760785690/)

Reminds me of this painting called "Mahogany" this line is very visually stimulating (https://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/1/mahogany-samuel-pye.jpg)

Reminds me of this painting where everything is very peaceful, I was interested in the next line which suggests it's fragile (made of glass?) (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/24/f3/e1/24f3e1b9fd2f3e28fbab1efc9671af8d.jpg)

This line shows that the girl is not "conventionally" beautiful and the near impossible beauty standards that women have always been held to. The next line goes on to criticize her for wanting male attention and being materialistic, but still wearing "cheap jewelry." It does raise questions about her motivations, but given the language, could also be a commentary on how men will constantly criticize women no matter what they do.

Immediately, this poem appears to be the exact opposite of Spring, which is its title. The "contagious hospital" suggests that perhaps someone is dying. The passage goes on to describe the landscape beyond the road. It mentions "the waste of broad, muddy fields brown with dried weeds." This paints a picture of desolation and decay. The text also includes "patches of standing water." This detail adds to the overall sense of dampness and melancholy in the scene. Puddles or stagnant water often symbolize stagnation or a lack of progress.

The use of the word "flecks" suggests small, fragmented pieces. The text also mentions that "something is given off" in these isolated flecks. This could imply that even in moments of solitude or isolation, something meaningful or important can still be expressed or emitted. The phrase "no one to drive the car" can be seen as a metaphor. Driving a car typically involves steering and controlling one's direction. In the absence of someone to drive the car, it may signify a lack of guidance or control in the speaker's life or actions.

This actually reminded me of the opening scene of Macbeth: "Fair is Foul, Foul is Fair" and the paradoxical nature of that statement. It's like one cannot exist without the other. In light of the poem, it also reminds me of the saying "Every rose has its thorn." Again, one cannot exist without the other. And rather, something good (rose, fair,) cannot exist without something bad (thorn, foul.) Just the nature of human existence, I suppose. Some interesting external connections to be made from this poem.

I interpreted this poem as the fact that when we die, we are all the same, even the "greatest" of men. He is said to be at his "prime," and "riveted pride," and full of "power," but in the end none of these things mattered. No one mourned him but the sea, and there is an "empty shore" (no people there.) You can have all the power and glory in this life but if there's no one to share it with, you ultimately die alone and are forgotten. Pretty sad stuff. The beginning reads like a eulogy as well - "here lies," but instead of talking about him as a person, it's mostly achievements. That's my personal interpretation of it.

This is the first time the narrator questions if she would actually get rid of love for something else in a difficult time - "I may be driven to sell your love for peace," but ultimately decides that she does not think she would. The word think is interesting here, she seems to have some uncertainty.

After much deliberation, the speaker chooses the second path. This means that they will never get the chance to experience the other road and can never know which was "less traveled." The speaker shies away from this by confidently announcing that they are just saving "the first [road] for another day!" But, eventually, reality sets in: "I doubted if I should ever come back." Every choice may be a beginning, but it is also an ending. The person choosing will never know if they made the "right" choice. In the end, it doesn't matter which path they took. The speaker would regret their choice either way.

I do think it's interesting, and rather dark, how Frost explores the idea of it the inevitability of decay and decline. In this poem, that has a double meaning: the decline of success and wealth, as well as the decline into death. Frost suggests that despite all the material success, there is always "the fate" of ever-present underlying emptiness or dissatisfaction. The only way out is an early death. The phrase "No memory of having starred" implies that our individual achievements and existence will be forgotten and insignificant.

It's a really interesting opening line. He says he thinks he knows whose woods these are, but is ultimately uncertain. Later in the poem, the horse asks if there is some mistake that they are stopping in the middle of the dark woods with no one around. It's almost as though the woods are luring him in against the logic of being alone in the dark forest. Perhaps I'm reading way too much into it, but do these woods indeed belong to the unnamed man in the village, or something else?

This poem explores an individual struggling with change and isolation, connecting to Charlotte Perkins Gilman's exploration of women's roles and constraints in a changing society, as seen through the narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper." Both Robinson and Gilman highlight the tension between conformity to societal norms and the longing for a sense of personal identity. The thought of strangers shutting the doors friends would have opened is sad - there is a longing for connection that can no longer be filled as people grow more separate.

I see this as a poem about the monotony and endless machine of 9-5 work, where they are torn between chasing creativity and being "sublime" and the work they must continue to do to make a living. This poem relates to W.E.B. Du Bois' concept of "double consciousness," as the clerks live in a state of conflict between their aspirations and the reality of having to work. Du Bois examined the complexities of identity in a changing society. Very prevalent to today.

The concept of the "Dead Village, "an abandoned ghost town community that once thrived, reminds me of the rapid urbanization in "The Dynamo and the Virgin." Adams discusses the changes brought about by modernity and the forgotten nature of traditional social structures. I find the concept of a strange and unrememberable light quite interesting, and how God was frowning. It reminds me a lot of the themes of religion Adams equates to the dynamo.

The way the narrator personifies the wallpaper, and tells us about how she was scared of blank walls in her childhood, makes me believe she has been struggling with a mental illness for a long time, and she finally trusted her husband enough to tell him. However, since he doesn't believe her, it grows into worse and worse hallucinations until she finally mentions suicide in the last paragraph.

As a woman, she has no choice but to listen to her husband. We see this later when she says it weighs on her not to do her duty as a wife, and how her husband continues to tell her there is nothing wrong. Clearly, we can see by the end she is suffering from some kind of severe mental illness. If he would have just listened to her in the first place, the story would have been so different.

I do wonder if the figure is a projection of her feeling trapped in her marriage where her husband doesn't care. He refers to her as "little girl," making me think he completely doesn't trust her to do anything, much like a child. He gives her no autonomy or say in her own health.,

I wonder if there really is anything behind the wallpaper that she's hallucinating is something else (like mold, fungus, etc) or if there genuinely is just nothing there.

What will happen if she does not get the paper off in two days?

This reminds me of the end of Henry Adams, "(...) laboriously striking out, altering, burning, experimenting, until the year had expired, the Exposition had long been closed, and winter drawing to its end, before he sailed from Cherbourg, on January 19, 1901, for home." While Adams has the choice to give up on education and continue on with his old life, Dubois and other black students don't have as much of a choice. It's hard work, and the "horizon is dark," but in the end they became more self aware and independent.

Though a very different reason, Dubois questions the authority of the ideals of the past, and proposes we learn for ourselves, rather than listening to outdated ideas. He emphasizes that he doesn't want the past to repeat himself, and instead embraces the changing of ideals. This differs from Adams, who hesitates to accept the rise of science. It shows how Dubois has more at stake inherently due to the prejudice he faces as a black man. He must learn, rather than choosing to.

Here, again, we see the idea of ignorance - but this time, education is born from it. "Book-learning" is the new vision in the changing world, similar to times changing in Henry Adams where people crave education.

Similar to Henry Adams, Dubois longs to learn about everything education has to offer (reading law, telling wonderful tales.) He has a hunger for knowledge despite the obstacles he's had to overcome.

Why does he have such an intense obsession with the Great Exposition of 1900? Why does the author describe Adams as "haunting" it?

This ending is really interesting, especially after the imagery of the dynamo and energy and the story, it ends pretty suddenly and without much resolve. I guess despite all this education the pursuit still proved to be pointless. This paragraph mentions that "the secret of education still hid itself somewhere behind ignorance" though earlier it was implied education made one ignorant. I'm confused.

The line "Paradise of ignorance" is interesting - it reminds me of the concept of blissful ignorance. I am also intrigued and confused as to the several uses of the word throughout a story focused on education. I think nowadays we wouldn't think of extremely educated people as ignorant, but maybe in this story the people are genuinely ignorant. Who knows.

What is so powerful about this force that he continuously compares it to the morality of Christianity, and says that one began to pray to it? What does he mean when he says "Radium denied its God?"

Confused about the motif of the pig compared to the Lion in this poem

This is a very confusing line, it feels very different in terms of tone from the rest of the poem. What is the symbolism of the five arms and hands, the white sins forgiven, and the car passing under the stars? Also, who is feeding on who?

Who is the singular "he" that Levine is referring to in this line? I thought maybe it was a biblical reference (God) but I feel like "he" would be capitalized.