NOTE: For TR classes, Thursday's questions are below this one...
Reading/Discussion
Questions for
Songs for the Open Road III , "Home, Rest,
and Final Voyages"
Read the following poems for Friday:
· McKay,
"The Tropics in New York
· Bronte,
"Home"
· Dunbar , "Anchored"
· Rossetti,
"Up-Hill"
· de la
Mare, "The Listeners"
· Dickinson
· Hopkins
· Shelley,
"Ozymandius"
Answer 2 of the 4 questions that follow...
How does McKay's discussion of home differ from Bronte's? What does the concept of "home" mean to each one? Is one more literal than the other? What metaphors does each associate with home?
Compare two of the poems that discuss death as a "final journey": what metaphors translate the experience of travel to death itself? How obvious is this from the poem? Which poem do you feel helps you "see" the experience of death more clearly?
Two of the poems, de la Mare's "The Listeners" and Shelley's "Ozymandias" are more about the journey after death than the journey to it. What does each poem seem to suggest about life after death? What kind of "ghosts" do we leave behind?
How might Dunbar's poem "Anchored" and Hopkins' poem "Heaven-Haven" be almost the same poem, written from a slightly different perspective? What keeps Dunbar "anchored" from going on his final journey, and why has Hopkins "desired to go," and "asked to be" in a place rather than the place he is in now? What keeps them both--and perhaps, all of us--from going on a great adventure that beckons us from afar?
Faith Armstrong
ReplyDelete1. McKay talked about the things that reminded her of home, and Bronte compared her view of home more to the weather and the different seasons. McKay was longing for her home and she was sad whenever she thought about it, but she was used metaphors to paint a picture of her home. Bronte also did the same thing, but she used it in a different way.
3. I think that these poems are suggesting lonliness. I don't know what they're supposed to be suggesting to be honest, but I get the feeling of lonliness when it talks about no one answering the door, and the other poem talks about the "visage lies", and the frowns and wrinkles. All of those things seem depressing and lonely to me.
Angel Wade
ReplyDelete2. Heaven haven shows the serenity oh heaven "where springs not fail...where no storms come... And a few lilies blow" this poem just paints a picture in the viewers eye of a simple place. A place of rest. Up Hill on the other hand compared death to a resting place for those who are travel sore "shall I find comfort, travel sore and weak?... Will there be beds for me and all who seek? Yea, beds for all who come. I think up-hill does a better job showing the anxiety and reassurance that comes from joining the unknown.
4. Both poems are successful, through utilizing imagery. Anchored shows the vastness of life and the ability to be overwhelmed, while Heaven-Haven is anticipating the destination not the journey there.
Elyse Marquardt
ReplyDeleteQuestion 1: McKay happily remembers home as vibrant, dewy, and luscious, full of every good thing. Bronte, on the other hand, is glad to recall her own home as the cold, windswept moors and a "wilderness of heath." McKay calls the hills "nun-like," implying that he pictures his home as humble and quiet, but still sacred in memory. Bronte paints a vivid image of her moor home when she describes it as "barren hills where colder breezes lie," indicating that she knows how unattractive it could be to outsiders, but because she is familiar with it, she wishes only to be back among those barren hills.
Question 3: Each of these poems suggests that death is lonely. "The Listeners" portrays a group of ghosts who, though they hear the frantic knocking on the door of their house, they are unable to do anything to answer it. Because they are only shadows left behind, they are physically unable and perhaps emotionally incapable of caring to answer the door -- thus, they are desperately ostracized from the living world. Likewise in "Ozymandias," the statue of the dead king is falling apart, indicating that he did all he could to be sure his name was remembered. But even the chunk of stone which he carved has become a ruin. Though he lived well, he is now a forgotten shadow, isolated from even a memory in his death.
Amber Simpson
ReplyDelete1.) McKay talks about how exotic New York is, and when he looks out the window at his home, he wants to relive old memories. Bronte talks about the nature of her home and how man has built houses and such on the beautiful land. And, although the homes are beautiful, she misses the beauty of the land she once lived on. Either that or she used to live in the country and had to move into a city and does not like it. McKay uses tropical descriptions as a metaphor to show us he lives in paradise. Bronte uses wintery forest-like place (“woodland”) as a metaphor to show us she lived in some type of winter wonderland.
1.) In the poems, "Up-Hill" and "The Chariot" we have two poems that show us what to expect from death. "Up-Hill" makes up look for the comforts of death. Rossetti says "Yea, beds for all who come" allowing us to welcome our tiresome selves into a comfortable bed. Having a bed suggests a nice place to sleep and most of all, comfort. In "The Chariot" we don't feel the same comfort like we did in the other poem. She uses the metaphor of a house for a grave. She says "We paused before a house that seemed/A swelling of the ground;" It is not quite as welcoming as the thought of going to bed forever.
ReplyDelete3.) In the both poems "The Listeners" and "Ozymandias" you get the feel that life death is lonely. In "The Listeners" the guy keeps trying to get the attention of people, and it is almost as if they just look past him and do not acknowledge his existence. He feels very lonely throughout the poem. In Ozymandias" he had this great city that had been built and had his statue created for all to admire, but after he died nobody took care of his city and all that was left of his statue was a pair of legs and his head on the ground covered in sad. It makes us show that we take nothing from this life into the afterlife and though his statue is there, legacy's fade and all we leave behind is how we made people feel and that only lasts for one generation.
Q1. In McKay’s poem, there is someone sitting in front of a window staring at different fruits from his home… longing to be in his old home. While looking at the fruits he sees the trees, the people, and the fields of his home land. Whereas, for Bronte’s poem Home, was reminded of her old him because of the weather. They both missed their old homes but both where reminded of home differently.
ReplyDeleteQ3. Both poems show that death is lonely. In The Listeners, no matter how hard he tries people do not see him as if he were already a ghost. Making him feel alone. In Ozymandias a king had great cities and huge statues built in his name for all to see in awe, yet when he died no one cared to care for it and let it break and be buried in the sands. Later in time a lone traveler finds it. A city of ruin, alone, that was left to die.
Ryan Jolly
ReplyDeleteQuestion 3:
In both poems, life after death is shown to be very lonely. In "The Listeners", the Traveler tries to get someone to answer the door, but "Their stillness answered his cry." In Ozymandias, it seems that after death, we leave behind nothing. Ozymandias had created a massive city, but was now nothing but decay.
Question 4:
In both poems, there is a longing to leave the place that they are in. In "Anchored", it seems like there is a call that is keeping someone from taking their greatest journey, possibly like someone keeping them stuck in a place where they don't want to be. In "Heaven-Haven", it seems that someone desperately wants to leave and go to a place where "no storms come", indicating that they don't like where they are and want to leave. It seems that in both poems, it may ultimately be their conscience that is keeping them, and all of us, from leaving a place that we don't want to be in.
Bessie-Mei Soh
ReplyDelete1) McKay's is definately more sorrowful, while Bronte's is wistful at the most. McKay uses a few metaphors, while Bronte's is almost nothing BUT metaphors. McKay seems to be painting an image of benevolant perfection, especially in comparing the hills to nuns. Bronte acknowledges the "faults" of her homeland, asking for her cold, barren hills, but still longs for it.
4)Dunbar and Hopkins both speak of dreams to be somewhere peaceful. Dunbar acknowledges that there are more important things in life than peace, and he finds priority in staying near someone who he cares for but finds suffering at times when with them, but still wants to stay. Hopkins is focused on the dream of leaving, and doesn't look at what might be worth staying the possible tempest he is currently in. I think they could be the same situation, but Dunbar is able to see what he DOES have while Hopkins is focused on the green grass afar.
1. McKay's discussion of home is one of longing and saddens upon thinking he can never return. In his poem he talks about "A wave of longing through my body swept, And, hungry for the old familiar ways, I turned aside and bowed my head and wept." Meaning he's very homesick and longs to go back to his place of old, whereas Bronte is describing a place he loves, like he has been there enough to not be phased by it. He speaks of their trees and sky and things among them, but you never get the sense he misses it enough to weep over it.
ReplyDelete3. Each of these poems seems to give a sense of nothingness once you die. Almost like you have to live your life to the fullest now because nothing awaits on the other side. They both speak of a traveler coming in and speaking, maybe trying to meet with someone, but it seems this traveler never can catch a break and find what he is looking for. Both speak of ghost that listen yet do not move, never raising a voice but always listening intently.
2. Rossetti talks about the final voyage as a sort of path to the after life, much like Dickenson in The Chariot. the first two lines of Rossetti's poem state: "Does the road wind uphill all the way? yes, to the very end," I immediately think of the road being the path of our life, and the end being death. then as I read on I see the road ends at the inn. I believe the inn is a metaphor for the afterlife, and that it will be our final rest and there will be plenty of room for everyone. Dickinson takes a different approach and basically says that death is merely a stop along an eternal road. it says hints that some people do not stop for death but that it is patient and just joins us. it is very deep and thought provoking because when we think about it, we really don't know what happens after we die.
ReplyDelete4. the two poems are practically the same because they both see the final voyage as something grand and beautiful, yet neither of them are able to go yet. it seems like Dunbar is anchored because there is someone in his life that needs him more than he wants to go on the voyage, so he puts it off until he is able. Hopkins desires to go on the voyage but it seems he is afraid, like everyone, to take the leap, so to speak, and go himself. instead he is asking to go and is not getting a response so he waits and keeps on longing and desiring the final, magnificent, voyage. the two poems show that most all people have something or someone that is keeping them from their final voyage, or are afraid to take the chance.
Preston Hawkins
ReplyDelete1. Both poems describe their homes in a lot of detail but in different ways that is very hard for me to explain. Mckay talks remembers his home and weeps at the thought of it, Bronte remembers her home and remembers the fond memories of it. I know that Mckay pretty much felt like he was trapped in New York and so he felt a deeper longing to be back home. I'm not entirely sure of Bronte’s situation though, It feels that she is separated from her home but maybe it was a slow transition of separation or maybe much time has past since she was last home, making the memories more fond to think of.
3. The feeling of death differed a bit in both poems. In Ozymandias the stone spoke of the great and powerful king and it told to look around at his greatness. Now the king head is half buried in the sand and his greatness is no longer. It gives a very different vibe than than the listeners. What I took from the listeners is ,that on his word, a traveler was journeying to a kingdom. Upon his arrival the traveler was not answered nor after he knocked multiple times. I presumes everyone inside is dead.
Question 3
ReplyDeleteIn Ozymandias it almost suggests that no matter how hard we try our lives will not be remembered after death. We can carve “trunkless legs of stone” stating our legacy but the world will move on without us and our work and lives will be forgotten. In the listener it is almost as if the ghosts of hopes, dreams, memories, and desires left behind after death. The living counterparts no longer able to comply to the wishes they had leave the traveler in silence and he is forced out on his own.
Question 4
They are both wanting to leave the place they are now to be where the grass is greener. The difference is that Dunbar despite his desire to travel has a reason to stay for he understands that although he feels there is much to be explored there best place to be is with his love because there is nothing greener.
Savannah Lincoln
ReplyDeleteQ1.
McKay has a small piece of his home in his window sill, but looking at it makes him remember and long for the real thing, growing naturally. Bronte longs for the things that she couldn't bring if she wanted to. She wants the trees, and air, and grass. Even though she lives in a large, nice house, she misses the simplicity. Home for McKay is a holy place, something untouched and beautiful. Home for Bronte is the surrounding and environment, so imperfect yet wonderful.
Q3.
I think that they're both suggesting that life is lonely after death. Their may be something, but it's not what most people like to think. It's constant wondering, maybe not the place you want it to be. Life after death is cruel, and dark. Perhaps they're talking about a hell, because it seems there is no happiness.