Traditional Scottish ballads encompass some of the most haunting and beautiful poetry ever composed. From 1500-1765, some of the authors of the poetry are anonymous, making it all the more striking. In this time period, society operates in a feudal system containing many divisions of rank and power. Kings, lords and knights have lives of luxury and leisure, while those of lower rank such as sailors and peasants are duty bound to obey the higher ranks, even die for them. The ballad, “Sir Patrick Spens”, portrays various kinds of power involving the forces of nature, the king, the knight and the captain Sir Patrick Spens.
In the first stanza the audience meets the powerful king, who “sits in Dumferling town,/Drinking the blood-red wine” (1-2). Kings sit on thrones and hold court, but this king apparently occupies the entire town, signifying how places become identified with powerful political figures. The blood-red wine is found early in the ballad foreshadowing the king's careless decisions, which result in the deaths of innocent people. He rules as though he does not care for his p...
In literature, insights into characters, places, and events are often communicated to the reader by symbolic references within the text. This is the case in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In this Medieval romance, the colors and textures of fabrics and jewelry are used heavily by the poet not only as a descriptive tool, but also to give the reader information about the characters’ personalities and roles within the story.
... This line implies that the drinking will never end and that no one can stop him from drinking no matter what you do. This poem is a poem that has beautiful imagery that consistently connects the reader to what’s going on in the actual poem like these lines from “Country Western Singer”, “And the blood I taste, the blood I swallow / Is as far away from wine / as 5:10 is for the one who dies at 5:09” (37-40). These lines have to do with the final push of the alcoholic and the fact that they lost the battle against alcoholism and did in fact pass away.
”(Crosby 10) While suicide on a battlefield may not be an ideal death, the story of Fiddlers’ Green reassures that all good cavalrymen end up in an eternal paradise, and in doing so romanticizes the idea of dying while fighting for one’s
The following is a list of explications pointing towards British and Celtic myths and figures. While pursuing the Celtic influences of Middleton's novel, I found myself searching for the meaning of other present mysteries. This author's twist of two cultures creates a spectrum for possible explication. It seems that the Celtic material melds into British society throughout this novel. In search of specific markers I found myself concentrating mostly on Haydn Middleton's use of names.
Murder, ghosts, and floating daggers are the usual attractions for most that read William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and yet there is an important theme that some might overlook. Written in the early 17th century, Macbeth is believed to be based upon historical events listed in Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles of Scotland and other current events of the time. Shakespeare constructs the memorable world of Macbeth with a mysterious and sinister atmosphere, incorporating diabolical elements into this world with the appearance of Hecate, witches, prophecies and ghostly apparitions. Throughout his story, Macbeth becomes controlled by desire for power, by allowing himself to be influenced, using evil means to gain and maintain power to the point that Macbeth is blinded to all else. In Macbeth, Shakespeare vividly demonstrates a recognizable theme of the weighty pull that power holds over those with authority.
Knights, L.C. "Macbeth." Shakespeare: The Tragedies. A Collectiion of Critical Essays. Alfred Harbage, ed. Englewwod Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964.
Ferguson, Margaret W., Salter, Mary J., and Stallworthy, Jon. The Norton Anthology of Poetry. fifth ed. N.p.: W.W. Norton, 2005. 2120-2121. 2 Print.
The essence of Macbeth lies not only in the fact that it is written by the universal talent William Shakespeare; the royal-conspiracy, the political unethical activity, the killin...
The purpose of this essay is to analyze and compare and contrast the two paired poems “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning and “My Ex-Husband” by Gabriel Spera to find the similarities presented within the pairs. Despite the monumental time difference between “My Last Duchess” and “My Ex-Husband”, throughout both poems you will see that somebody is wronged by someone they thought was a respectable person and this all comes about by viewing a painting on the wall or picture on a shelf.
Holbrook, David. Llareggub Revisted: Dylan Thomas and the State of Modern Poetry. Cambridge: Bowes and Bowes, 1965. 100-101.
Johnson, Vernon Elso, ed. "Shakespeare's Macbeth." Social Issues in Literature: Power in William. San Francisco: Greenhaven, 2009. N. pag. Print.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was first edited and published in 1839 by Madden, whose entire name in uncertain. He called the untitled poem Syr Gawayn and the Grene Knyyt. The poem did not receive much attention at all until the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1916, George Lyman Kittredge’s ongoing study of the poem contained extremely valuable research of the sources and analogues of the poem. Many other authors focused on the text, language, and possible authors of the work. In the 1930s and ‘40s there was a rise of mythic criticism of the poem, as many scholars sought to interpret Sir Gawain and the Green Knight with new knowledge of medie...
Holinshed R. Historie of Scotland (2nd Ed. Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland 1587) "Historie of Scotland"
Even before the hero’s appearance, the narrator already establishes the strong heroic code that dictates honorable conduct in Scandinavian kingdoms. This is depicted in the court of Hrothgar, ruler of the Scyldings. Early in the poem, the narrator shows how rulers like Hrothgar were very dependent on the allegia...
Most people of today would agree that they would wish to be younger again. Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas, exemplifies this feeling of wishing to return to our days of youth. The poem itself is six stanzas long and is lyrical in structure. The speaker is older and is looking back on his life where he spent his childhood on a farm. He harkens back to how he misses his days of youth and encourages others to enjoy their youth while it lasts.