I'm going down

Monday, June 29, 2009

My favourite poet is Edgar Allan Poe. He has been deemed by many, including his fellow critic James Russell Lowell, "the most discriminating, philosophical, and fearless critic upon imaginative works who has written in America." Not only was he one of the most succesful poets in the 1800s, he was also the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career. However, he remained undaunted, and through sheer perseverance, he became recognised as one of the greatest ever poets in history. His determination and willigness to risk and fail is greatly admirable.

Edgar Allan Poe's Background:

Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor and literary critic.

He was born as Edgar Poe in Boston, Massachusetts; his parents died when he was young. Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan, of Richmond, Virginia, but they never formally adopted him. Poe's publishing career began humbly, with an anonymous collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), credited only to "a Bostonian".

Poe switched his focus to prose and spent the next several years working for literary journals and periodicals, becoming known for his own style of literary criticism. His work forced him to move between several cities, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. In Baltimore in 1835, he married Virginia Clemm, his 13-year-old cousin. In January 1845, Poe published his poem "The Raven" to instant success. His wife died of tuberculosis two years later. He began planning to produce his own journal, The Penn (later renamed The Stylus), though he died before it could be produced. On October 7, 1849, at age 40, Poe died in Baltimore; the cause of his death is unknown and has been variously attributed to alcohol, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, heart disease, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis, and other agents.

Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields, such as cosmology and cryptography. Poe and his work appear throughout popular culture in literature, music, films, and television. A number of his homes are dedicated museums today.

Examples of Poems Written By Edgar Allan Poe:

1. A Dream Within a Dream:

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow:
You are not wrong who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand--
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep--while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

2. Spirits of the Dead

Thy soul shall find itself alone
'Mid dark thoughts of the grey tomb-stone;
Not one, of all the crowd, to pry
Into thine hour of secrecy.

Be silent in that solitude,
Which is not loneliness — for then
The spirits of the dead, who stood
In life before thee, are again
In death around thee, and their will
Shall overshadow thee; be still.

The night, though clear, shall frown,
And the stars shall not look down
From their high thrones in the Heaven
With light like hope to mortals given,
But their red orbs, without beam,
To thy weariness shall seem
As a burning and a fever
Which would cling to thee for ever.

Now are thoughts thou shalt not banish,
Now are visions ne'er to vanish;
From thy spirit shall they pass
No more, like dew-drop from the grass.

The breeze, the breath of God, is still,
And the mist upon the hill
Shadowy, shadowy, yet unbroken,
Is a symbol and a token.
How it hangs upon the trees,
A mystery of mysteries!

3. Alone

From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were--I have not seen
As others saw--I could not bring
My passions from a common spring--
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow--I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone--
And all I lov'd--I lov'd alone--
Then--in my childhood--in the dawn
Of a most stormy life--was drawn
From ev'ry depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still--
From the torrent, or the fountain--
From the red cliff of the mountain--
From the sun that 'round me roll'd
In its autumn tint of gold--
From the lightning in the sky
As it pass'd me flying by--
From the thunder, and the storm--
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view--

Sean Seewent down at 6:03 PM

Sunday, June 28, 2009

" A Dream Within A Dream"
by Edgar Allan Poe

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow--
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand--
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep--while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

1. How is the figurative language used in the poem? Give the specific word(s), explain what type of figurative language it is and why the poet chose to use this figurative language?

Ans: There are a few types of figurative language in this poem.

Firstly, the use of words such as "O God" repeatedly are an example of the "hyperbole" type of figurative language. It relates the reader of this poem to the emotions of Edgar Allan Poe.

Secondly, there is also personification in this poem. As quoted from the poem:

"Grains of the golden sand--

How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep"

This is an example of personification, where the grains of sand, though they are inanimate objects, are given human qualities such as being able to "creep through the author's fingers to the deep".

Lastly, there are examples of metaphors, where the author claims that " days have been a dream". Literally, days cannot be dreams, hence this is a metaphor which claims that days can be dreams.

2. Tell why you like this poem in no less than 100 words.

Ans: This poem is relatively interesting, and allows the reader to be drawn into the author’s train of thought, and through the author’s strong usage of figurative language such as metaphors, symbolism and personification, the whole picture is well-described. From the poem, we can tell that the author is trying to portray the significance of dreams, composed using his imagination. Furthermore, the author uses the personification technique very strongly, describing days as dreams, hope being able to fly away, and the golden specks of sand creeping through his fingers to the deep waters. Overall, this poem is an intriguing, fascinating poem, which relates extremely well to the reader.

Sean Seewent down at 5:43 PM

Title: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle
Author: C.S. Lewis

The chronicles of Narnia are a collection of stories – inculcating both fantasy and reality in all seven books. Though the story is fictional, it is really based on the bible, where Aslan, the great lion in the stories, is presumed to be Jesus Christ. The Last Battle is the last of the chronicles, where the last king of Narnia, King Tirian, fights the Last Battle of his life against the evil forces, the Calormenes, who are enemies of the Narnians.
The story begins at Cauldron Pool, where an Ape and a donkey reside. The ape, who is highly intelligent, uses his gift for evil deeds. Upon finding the skin of a dead lion floating down the stream, he forces the gullible donkey down to get it. Later, he even tricks the donkey into wearing the lion’s skin and posing as Aslan. With his newfound “puppet”, the Ape commits all sorts of evil deeds and conspires with the Calormenes to sell the Narnian animals into slavery.
Later, when King Tirian finds out the Ape’s evil doing, he gets into a fit of rage and, with the help of his trusted unicorn, Jewel, he brutally murders two Calormene slave drivers. He is soon filled with remorse at his rashness and quickly gives himself up, along with Jewel. Later, two children from the past adventures of Narnia come into the story and help King Tirian escape. From here onwards, the main bulk of the story is about how King Tirian and his two helpers struggle to turn the Narnian animals from the lies of the Ape and to rally them together.
The climax of the story is undoubtedly at the stables, where the ape attempts to get the animals to believe that the Calormenes are really their allies, and that Aslan and Tash (the Calormene God), are simply one person, Tashlan. This turns out to be too much for King Tirian, and once again, he is taken over by rashness. Tirian leaps forth, with his followers, namely the two children and some Narnian beasts to attack the Calormenes. Yet, it might have been better if he had not. Tirian is severely outnumbered, but the battle ends abruptly in the middle, as Tirian and his followers are all thrown into the stables. Later, he finds that he is surrounded by Kings and Queens from the earlier books of the chronicles. The story more or less ends here, as Tirian is happily reunited with the royal kings, including his father.
Though this story might seem relatively old-fashioned and childish, it is really an entertaining, complicated book where fantasy and reality are intertwined. The story is bound to keep its reader on the edge of his seat, tight with suspense.

Sean Seewent down at 4:34 AM