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The role of religion in American literature
The role of religion in American literature
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The poetry of Stephen Crane, at first glance over, might be taken as poetry against religion, depicting the god in a harsh, cold manner. But Stephen Crane does not write his poetry to denounce religion and a god, but he writes it with the mindset to disillusion the fanatics who only see one side of the equation. For Stephen Crane sees more to know better than to just blindly accept the religion he’s a part of, or any predominant religion for that matter, as wholly good and just based solely on the fact that it’s a religion following a god. In the poem “A Man Adrift on a Slim Spar”, the phrase “God is cold” (Crane) is repeated constantly throughout. This phrase is only written in this poem, but it is apparent in the telling of the other poems, that “God is cold”, and that it’s expected for that point to come across to the reader. And if they hadn’t read “A Man Adrift on a Slim Spar”, they would of found, most likely, through the other poems that it is implied that “God is …show more content…
They ask if this life of virtue “can offer [them] a gardened castle? A flowery kingdom?” (Crane), and find out that the only thing it can offer is hope, they renounce the thought of following this religion and the god with it, not seeing the worth in parting with what they already have for something they don’t have a need for. What the person is keeping instead of renouncing by following this new faith is important, because the fact that they’re accepting something more physical, possibly something more natural than the romanticized religion proves that they show more care for nature than for a ‘man-made’ way of living. Because of this, the person most likely doesn’t lose sight of the importance of the natural world, and they most likely live with content for most of their life, given the style and thought process of Stephen Crane with his
...t is arguable that the birds fight is also a metaphor, implying the fight exists not only between birds but also in the father’s mind. Finally, the last part confirms the transformation of the parents, from a life-weary attitude to a “moving on” one by contrasting the gloomy and harmonious letter. In addition, readers should consider this changed attitude as a preference of the poet. Within the poem, we would be able to the repetitions of word with same notion. Take the first part of the poem as example, words like death, illness
The poem Fire and Ice is nine line long and is an example of a briefly ironic literary style of Frosts work. Fire and Ice ranges between two meter lengths. The poem uses interwoven rhymes founded on “ire,” “ice,” and “ate.” Although the meter is irregular it does keep up an iambic foot throughout the poem. The first line of the poem is a tetrameter followed by a dimeter which is followed by five line of tetrameter, ending with two lines of dimeter. The division of the line lengths is to render natural interruptions in the poem causing the reader to stop and reread what they have just read in order to comprehend the meaning of the lines containing the dimeter. For example when the reader reads “ Some say in ice” they go back to the first line of the poem to reread the topic of what some are saying about the end of the world. The rhyme scheme of “Fire and Ice” is ABAABCBCB style. The words “fire” and “ice” are being rhymed with themselves. By using this scheme it means that the poem falls soundly and flows. By using the rhyme scheme Frosts creates a connection between the words. For example “fire” and “desire,” which make it clear that the words are related on a deeper level. As well the rhyming of “fire” and “ice” with themselves made it work to cre...
Stephen Crane was a realistic author who often times wrote about the difference in ideal life versus reality. He is seen as one of the most groundbreaking writers of his time. Crane’s poetry was unique during his time period because most of his poems told a story; they were narratives. In Crane’s poem “In the Desert” he shows that a person who can overcome their mistakes and not let the negative aspects of life overwhelm the positive is a person who is human.
Giving off the feeling of warmth, the speaker of "Sonnet 18," expresses his love towards her by using imagery that revolves around a "summer's day." The speaker starts off by stating that the "rough winds," will blow away the flowers that sprout in May, which portray a cold picture associated with a chilly sensation. However, as the speaker continues to describe the feeling of love, he states that even if the sun's "too hot", he still loves her. Using the sun's ray to be too hot, shows that even if the feeling is really warm to the point it burns, he will still love her. The transition between cold and warm creates a suttle jesture, allowing the readers to get connect to get a better grasp of the warm feeling. Meanwhile, in "I Am Offering this Poem," the speaker also uses a similar style of imagery. Icy and chill, the speaker introduces the poem with the winter season. Stating, "winter comes to cover you," paints the readers with the images of snow and ice. However, he dusts the cold feeling by saying "warm coat," to show that his feeling can be drawn out of the cold with the feeling of warmth. He declares that his feelings towards her is like a "pot of yellow corn to warm your ...
Even though religion is an issue to the characters, their identity pushes that concept to the side so that they can do what they desire most. I believe that the author is trying to stress the point that these people are not obeying the word of God and leading themselves into their own temptations. Olds compares the truly religious to the ‘lovers’ by introducing them as people who have sex without being in love by saying, “These are the true religious, the purist, the pros, the ones who will not accept a false Messiah, love the priest instead of the God” (Olds 740). Part of this poem is ironic because the author
“The First Snowfall” and “The Snow-Storm” compare in that both poems share the influence of nature, the imagery, and the infinite concepts of Romanticism, but, the two poems only truly compare in using the same rhetorical strategy of over-detailing their settings to convey imagery; the two poets, Lowell and Emerson, both use figurative language to express an influence of nature in their works, but they use two different types of figurative language: similes and personification. In showcasing the infinite aspect of Romanticism, one poem directly mentions God, “The First Snowfall,” while the other indirectly mentions him through acknowledging events in the Bible, “The Snow-Storm.”
...traight from the tavern world – survival is more important to him, unlike those of the court world who live by honour, and care not if it leads to their death, but only that they one day may come to be ‘honourable’, whether dead or alive. He closes with the comment that what he has told us is his ‘catechism’. This suggests an idea that his religion is to avoid honour, and ever to question its value.
...importance of virtue here is that, virtues are needed for living well; But in order to obtain
Doubting Religion in Wallace Stevens' Sunday Morning Voice is an integral part of Wallace Stevens' "Sunday Morning. " The voice of the poem is not the woman's, but that of an outside narrator who seems to give words to the feelings that the woman experiences. A dramatic situation is created during the first stanza. The woman, still in her peignoir, is taking "late coffee and oranges in a sunny chair" on a bright Sunday morning instead of attending church. The quiet of the scene is evident, and the "holy hush" provides the woman with the perfect environment for introspection.
At this point in my search for meaning in Frost뭩 poem, I could understand only what it was talking about. However, I wished to understand what the message this poem is sending to the reader. The last lines of the poem, beginning with line five, which states 밄ut if it had to perish twice,?are key to this message. I believe Frost is simply trying to tell us that desire and hate are equally destructive.
...a silence deep and white” (Line,4) they are talking about how the white snow is beautiful and, how it looks like to me this is a love of nature to some maybe not.Last one is Intuition over fact in this quote “Father,who makes the snow?” (Line,22) says his daughter, “And told of the good All father” (Line,23) and lastly “Who cares for us here below” (Line,24) he is talking about and all father which i believe he is talking about god,and this is a great characteristic for this poem.
The shortest poem we will be focusing on, Dust of Snow, even proves the thesis to be right. In the beginning of the poem, Frost states, “The way a crow Shook down on me,” (Frost, Lines 1 and 2). Frost could be hinting at him feeling pressure or stress from an outside source. Further down,
Poetry is a craft of near-paradox. Poets often say that they aim to encase the abstract within the concrete, describe without adjectives or adverbs, and expound upon concepts with the utmost concision. To meet these formidable challenges, they keep several important literary devices at their disposal, one of which is the conceit. Commonly defined as an elaborately extended metaphor, the conceit often allows poets to capture complicated ideas through comparison with images closer to readers’ everyday experiences. If the concept that the poet wishes to illustrate comes from the theological or philosophical fields, figurative language like the conceit can rescue the poet from didacticism as well as opacity. “On a Drop of Dew,” a short poem by the metaphysical poet Andrew Marvell, employs the conceit for just this purpose. Marvell’s use of the conceit allows him convey the Christian story of the human soul in his poem with subtlety and simplicity, from its birth in heaven through its placement on earth and eventual reunion with God in heaven.
Frost uses the first four lines of the poem to give us a mental image of how powerful the ocean water is:
Frost’s diction could be described as simplistic. Frost does not use large vocabulary words, but rather uses simpler everyday words that most people word use. By using a simpler vocabulary it allows the one to understand the meaning of the poem more clearly. The language used is a testament to Frost’s style of writing that he is known for. The language used is clear in this poem, such as “And both that morning equally lay / In leaves no step had trodden black. / Oh, I kept the first for another day!” (11-13). This type of diction helps the reader to analyze and interpret the poem more deeply. As the use of everyday language allows the poem to become more relatable and reach a more diverse audience. Diction is an important element of this poem as it adds to the poem’s