. . . [H]ow everything turns away
Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may
Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,
But for him it was not an important failure (Lines 14-17).
As exemplified by these lines from the poem “Musée des Beaux Arts” by W. H. Auden, one of the shortcomings of the human condition is the difficulty in noticing the suffering of others when it does not concern oneself. Occasionally, a particular issue may become a cause célèbre, encouraging people to look outside themselves and thereby inciting much compassion and beneficial change. While cause célèbres do bring about positive impacts, such impacts are often trivial. Furthermore, cause célèbres may draw attention away from far more significant issues. This
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In the first two stanzas, the idea of quietness is mentioned four times. In the first stanza, moments of silence are the result of various disturbances in nature, likely referring to the tragedy of the child’s death; for example, “all humbling darkness / Tells with silence the last light breaking” (Lines 3-4). The fact that the darkness that silently foreshadows the end of light is “all humbling” (Line 3) demonstrates that tragic events make people realize the transient status of the peaceful status quo they have established. Afterwards, there is a “still hour / . . . come out of the sea tumbling in darkness” (Lines 5-6), which likely stands for the time of announcement of the child’s death. The contrast between the two elements of natural disturbances and silence highlights the nature of tragic events: they disrupt the previous order in such a way that the world itself seems to stop, hence the coming of the “still hour” (Line 5). Later, in the second stanza, the speaker mourns at “the synagogue of the ear of corn” (Line 9). He then asks if he “[s]hall . . . let pray the shadow of a sound” (Line 10). Clearly, the idea of quietness is associated with mourning in the second stanza. One of the two places the speaker enters to mourn is the “synagogue of the ear of corn” (Line 9), which is rather paradoxical because there is no such synagogue and the “ear of corn” (Line 9) is …show more content…
Clearly, the speaker is not truly asking whether or not he should mourn quietly - he wants to point out the inefficacy of grieving the child’s death. This is further supported by the speaker’s use of descriptions such as “salt seed” (Line 11) and “least valley of sackcloth” (Line 12). Both descriptions deride a place of mourning - the “Zion of the water bead” (Line 8) - as being infertile, thereby demonstrating that the practice of mourning itself results in nothing. Another interesting description in this sentence is the use of the word “majesty” (Line 13) to describe the “burning of the child’s death” (Line 13). While there is a certain, albeit macabre, grandeur to the fire that results from an air raid, majesty has far too positive connotations for such a horrific tragedy. Therefore, its use is for the purpose of further emphasizing the pointlessness of grieving, as it is obviously pointless to grieve a majestic occurrence. Finally, in the last instance of skillful wordplay, the speaker states that he will not “murder / the mankind of her [the child] going with a grave truth” (Lines 14-15). The word “grave” (Line 15) hearkens back to both the child’s death and the word murder. Interestingly, “grave” (Line 15) is used to describe the word truth. However, as a truth cannot literally murder a person,
This is shown through the tone changing from being disappointed and critical to acceptance and appreciative. The speaker’s friend, who after listening to the speaker’s complaints, says that it seems like she was “a child who had been wanted” (line 12). This statement resonates with the speaker and slowly begins to change her thinking. This is apparent from the following line where the speaker states that “I took the wine against my lips as if my mouth were moving along that valved wall in my mother's body” (line 13 to line 15). The speaker is imagining her mother’s experience while creating her and giving birth to her. In the next several lines the speakers describe what she sees. She expresses that she can see her mother as “she was bearing down, and then breathing from the mask, and then bearing down, pressing me out into the world” (line 15 to line 18). The speaker can finally understand that to her mother the world and life she currently lived weren't enough for her. The imagery in the final lines of this poem list all the things that weren’t enough for the mother. They express that “the moon, the sun, Orion cartwheeling across the dark, not the earth, the sea” (line 19 to 21) none of those things matter to the mother. The only thing that matter was giving birth and having her child. Only then will she be satisfied with her life and
For example, one line, “Soon our pilgrimage will cease; Soon our happy hearts will quiver, with the melody of peace,” which is saying that one day we will die, and you can’t stop that. “Lay we every burden down; Grace our spirits will deliver, and provide a robe and a crown,” also reveals that you should appreciate what we’ve had, and what was given to us. This song is telling you, in every line, that you can’t live forever, but appreciate what you have, while you
The third stanza is describing the snowstorm beginning; “Unwarmed by any sunset light The gray day darkened into night”
... “There were no bourns./There were no quiet rooms” (18-19). Unlike the rest of the poem, this stanza has two definite sentences, making for a more emphatic, choppy rhythm. This sudden shift, combined with the words in the stanza, show very clearly that the noise and the choices will never end and he will never find peace. It is frightening to think that this could be humanity’s fate.
The author is able to so descriptively express this common event by dedicating each stanza to a different perspective involved. The author begins the poem with a protruding inexplicit situation, captivating the reader’s interest and provoking curiosity to help create imagery. Much like a thesis of an essay, the author states “blurring to sheer verb” at the end of the first stanza, he restates the true simple nature of this topic. Wilbur next describes the surrounding in reaction to the fire truck, showing the reader the flamboyancy and power of the fire truck. At the end of the second stanza, the author italicizes the line “thought is degraded action!” This could be interpreted as the speaker’s thoughts, suggesting that those ringing bells remind him that thinking is but the inferior form of action. In the third stanza, the author focuses on the effects of the fire truck on the speaker, helping relate the reader to the thoughts of the speaker as he experiences this event. Corresponding to the ending of the second stanza, the speaker is reminded of the true nature of thoughts, thus letting go of his worries “I stand here purged of nuance and my mind a blank. All I was brooding upon has taken wing.”
It seems that with each word and image the speaker’s mood or view of the topic is shown. “Truth” accurately depicts the speaker’s mind through the questions and thoughts that are stated. For instance, the first line says “And if sun comes/ How shall we greet him?” (1-2). These words clearly reveal that the speaker is questioning what he or she may do when greeted with this “him”. The question creates an image of the sun, it becomes a person that someone might not want to greet or speak to. The speaker seems very nervous and anxious through these lines. Lines four through six state “Shall we not fear him/ After so lengthy a/ Session with shade?” which continues the speaker’s questions and brings in the image of “a session of shade”. This continuous questioning is brought together with the continuous time of darkness or a period of time without truth. The word choice makes the speaker seem curious and slightly angry at the fact that the truth hurts. The rapid fire of questions leads one to believe there is an aggressive shot, directed at the painful side of the “perfect” truth. Stanza two shows the speaker in a more personal way with the inclusion of the words, “Though we have wept for him,/ Though we have prayed/ All through the night-years—“ (7-9). This is more of a sad tone, which leads the reader into the speaker’s mindset. The image shows that the speaker feels he or she wasted time or energy wanting the truth. It depicts the speaker praying on his or her knees, crying and begging for the truth. The inclusion of the word “him” lets one see this almost as a let down from an actual person. The stanza moves on and says “[We] Hear the fierce hammering/ Of his firm knuckles/ Hard on the door?” (11-13). This image is such a great glance into the speaker’s brain. It uses words such as “fierce”, “hammering”, “firm”, and “hard” which provoke a thought that the truth is a danger. The
The first stanza describes the depth of despair that the speaker is feeling, without further explanation on its causes. The short length of the lines add a sense of incompleteness and hesitance the speaker feels towards his/ her emotions. This is successful in sparking the interest of the readers, as it makes the readers wonder about the events that lead to these emotions. The second and third stanza describe the agony the speaker is in, and the long lines work to add a sense of longing and the outpouring emotion the speaker is struggling with. The last stanza, again structured with short lines, finally reveals the speaker 's innermost desire to "make love" to the person the speaker is in love
One of the more confusing parts of the poem for me was the last two lines in the second stanza. Stephen Mitchell has a mystic almost dark tone when he is translating the following:
The “fat and …bone” are compared to symbolize the difference between whites and blacks. The second stanza compares black and whites to rivers and the sea; one is fresh and the other salty, but both are bodies of water. The third stanza uses a metaphor to compare living out lives alone while pitching a tent in solitude, all alone in our own little world. It also uses the “sun and shadow” to symbolize whites and blacks. In stanza four grief and joy are contrasted with the use of personification. While joy only favors a few, grief is a common factor shared by all people, making it a common ground one in which anyone can come together. The fifth stanza or the last uses similes to give the message that although it is sometimes painful and unpleasant to share other’s grief it is something that must be done in order for everyone to live in harmony. It also relates grief to a weapon, calling it a “blade shining and unsheathed that must strike me down”. It also compares sorrow to a crown of “bitter aloes wreathed”. The overall poem contains Biblical allusions. It sends the message that everyone should rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. Cullen is calling all Americans to do as Jesus did and be a man of the people
There is also a sense of acuteness as the words in this stanza are short and sharp, and the lines clash and seem to contrast greatly. " Whispering by the shore" shows that water is a symbol of continuity as it occurs in a natural cycle, but the whispering could also be the sound of the sea as it travels up the shore. The end of this section makes me feel as if he is trying to preserve something with the "river mud" and "glazing the baked clay floor. " The fourth section, which includes four stanzas of three lines, whereas the third section included four-line stanzas and the second section included two-line stanzas, shows continuity once again, as if it's portraying the water's movement. "Moyola" is once again repeated, and "music" is also present, with "its own score and consort" being musical terms and giving the effect of harmony.
The line, ‘nor any voice of mourning save the choirs’ suggests that no amount of mourning can save these men from their inevitable deaths. This is very effective because it makes us feel bad for these men, achieving the author’s aim of encouraging negative feelings about the
In the opening stanza, in lines one and two the speaker is saying that she was unable to stop for death and so he had to stop for her. In line 2, the speaker says “he kindly stopped for me,” by using the word “kindly” it shows that death is not cruel nor is he frightening, but rather a guide leading her ...
If you love your child, the death of your child is more painful than the death of any of your loved ones, including one’s own parents. And because of this devastation, I do not wish this pain even to my enemies.
In the beginning, there is a peaceful, blissful atmosphere to the poem. Imagery of light amidst the darkness of the night is created by the use of words such as "gleams," "glimmering" and "moon-blanch'd". The speaker seems excited by the sweet night-air and the lively waves that fling the pebbles on the shore as we see by the exclamation marks in the sixth and ninth lines. The waves "begin, and cease, and then again begin," much as life is an ongoing process of cessation and rebirth. The first stanza is quite happy until the last two lines when the "tremulous cadence slow, and bring/ the eternal note of sadness in." This phrase causes the poem's tone to change to a more somber one
The poet is watching his infant daughter sleep. In the first stanza he starts with describing the setting of the poem. It is stormy outside, there is a kind of dark and gloomy weather and he prays for her. And he says that he has gloom in his mind and we will understand that what gloom is that in his mind.