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Pessimism in Thomas Hardy's poetry
An essay on Thomas Hardy's novel
William wordsworth compared to
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Relationships with the Dead in Wordsworth's We Are Seven and Hardy's Digging
"[One] can outlast death not in a divine after life but only in a human one. If the poet dies or forgets his beloved, he murders her" (Ramazani 131); Thomas Hardy's belief of the "poet's duty of remembrance" establishes the basis for his, "Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?". "[Fearing] he abandoned his own wife before her death," Hardy wrote the poem to assume "the memorial responsibilities of the poet" (Ramazani 131). Whereas Hardy tries to atone for his sins "by continually grieving over his dead wife", the fuel behind William Wordsworth's "We Are Seven," is a question of being and existence (Trilling 57). This question stems from the fact "that nothing was more difficult for [Wordsworth] in childhood than to admit the notion of death as a state applicable to his own being" (Noyes 60). Despite the vastly different intentions of the poets, Hardy and Wordsworth both depict relationships between the living and the dead in their poems; however, while Hardy humorously satirizes how the living forget the dead, Wordsworth demonstrates a child's refusal to acknowledge the dead as being gone.
In their poems, Hardy and Wordsworth both elicit the use of conversation; however, the fictional conversation in "Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?," contrasts the non-fictional dialogue in "We Are Seven". Hardy's poem "uses the ballad convention of 'The Unquiet Grave'- a dialogue between living and dead" (Johnson 48), in this case, between a deceased woman and her dog; Wordsworth's poem consists of an actual confrontation he had with a little girl when he traveled through Europe. Hardy's willingness to use disembodied voices for the intended purpose of creating...
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...ument Wordsworth brings up, the girl replies, "Nay, we are seven!" (Wordsworth 1333). She lacks the ability to accept death and "this [absence] of awareness [makes] the poem so touching" (Drabble 51).
What began as a simple everyday conversation finished as a didactic and somewhat emotional poem. Wordsworth, through a real life conversation, presents "the obscurity and perplexity which in childhood attend our notion of death, or rather our inability to admit that notion'" (Noyes 60). In direct contrast to Wordsworth, who did not intend to writie a deep, meaningful poem, Hardy knew exactly what he wanted to accomplish by writing, "Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave." People too easily remove the dead from their memories, and Hardy wanted to admonish his readers of the importance of remembering the dead; just because the dead are gone, they should not be forgotten.
...r the new century to come. As it turns out, he was mainly right when just fourteen years later, the Great War erupts in Europe when Austria declares war on Serbia, Russia declares war on Austria, Germany declares war on Russia, then tries to invade France through Belgium, which is allies with England, all in all the big mess of the Great War proves that Hardy’s loss of hope was right. The final text of “Ah are you Digging in my Grave?” mainly focuses on the loss of a loved one, which no one remembers. This is the poem I can connect with the most, because I know one day I will die, hopefully not any time soon, but several decades after my death, people will most likely forget about me and who I was. This is a scary thought.
What is religion? Each person’s definition of religion is different. Each person’s faith is different. This is a question that has been asked for centuries, and regardless of the answer given there is no right or wrong answer. Religion can be defined as a group of people who have shared beliefs who feel their life has purpose or meaning. This feeling or belief that their life has meaning can come from outside of themselves, as well as within. Taking this one step further, these shared beliefs put into action in the form of worship, can be easily identified because they happen regularly. It can be said the Primal religions were in fact not religions. Some may argue Confucianism is not a religion. Others may say Taoism is not a religion. However, one argument can be made. All three of these “religions” share “features.” Huston Smith, author of World’s Religions, says “six features of religion appear so regularly as to suggest that their seeds are in the human makeup.” These six features discussed in World’s Religions are as follows: authority, ritual, explanation, tradition, grace, and mystery (World’s, Page 67). First is authority, Smith argues religion is so complex that people will need assistance or guidance from those held in a higher light, or of a higher authority. Next is ritual, which can be happy (a wedding) or sad (a funeral), rituals are shared between people of the same religion in many forms as a sign of common beliefs. Following rituals, some explanation is required. Many of a religion’s followers ask for explanations, some ask, “What is my purpose in life?” Others may ask, “Who is God?” Depending on one’s religion, the questions or
Although death seems to be a theme for many literary poems, it also appears to be the most difficult to express clearly. Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “death” as, “A permanent cessation of all vital function: end of life.” While this definition sounds simple enough, a writer’s definition goes way beyond the literal meaning. Edwin Arlington Robinson and Robert Frost are just two examples of poetic writers who have used death successfully as the main theme of their works. Robinson, in the poem “Richard Cory,” and Frost in his poem, “Home Burial,” present death in different ways in order to invoke different feelings and emotions from their readers.
Christianity is defined as, “A major religion, stemming from the life, teachings, and death of Jesus of Nazareth (the Christ, or the Anointed One of God) in the 1st century AD.” (Shelton) It has become the largest of the world’s religions. Yet in Ancient Rome in the first century A.D. they were not welcome. Christians were burned and tortured, and persecuted for just over three hundred years because of their beliefs. Why? We may never fully know, but I believe it was mostly out of fear. Fear of the new, and fear of change.
The broadest definition of Christianity is also perhaps the simplest. Across the history and branches of the religion, “it is faith in Christ, not the scrupulous and religious keeping of the law...which is the basis of salvation” (McGrath 15). The religion that is now a major global force has grown out of a small group tucked away in one corner of the world, breaking and changing over time, yet united by a faith in this revolutionary man who claimed to be the son of God, Jesus Christ.
In His Immortality by Thomas Hardy, the theme of the circle of life is in the form of memories. As some memories are passed down from generation to generation, others memories can die just as easily. This poem describes a person who dies. This person is very kind and effects many people through his life. After he passes away, the memories of him venture on. Time goes by, there were only one soul in which those memories lie in. The person who owns that soul is the speaker of this poem. This man is starting to grow old while all of his friends are passing taking those memories of the initial man is the ground with them. When his day came to say goodbye to the world, the memories of his late and kind friend will die as well. A new circle will be born soon after this occurs. This latest man has affected many people as did the initial man. At the beginning of the poem, the speaker of the poem sees his dead friend saying he “saw a dead man’s finer part” (Hardy). The first man’s great qualities have made people keep his memory alive. Sadly, after time passes, the memory of this man is fading fast. This man’s friends are dying off, alongside with the memory of him. Those loving memories in many are now only in one, “And find in me alone, a feeble spark” (Hardy). When this man dies so will the memory of the first ...
Part I is particularly anecdotal, with many of the poems relating to the death of Trethewey’s mother. The first part begins with an epitaph from the traditional Wayfaring Stranger, which introduces the movement of the soul after death, and the journey towards the ‘home’ beyond. In “Graveyard Blues”, Trethewey examines the definition of “home” as a place of lament, in contrast to the comforting meaning in the epitaph beginning Part I, and the significance of the soul’s movement after death. The ‘home’ described in the epitaph is a place of comfort and familiarity, where the speaker returns to their mother. In contrast, Trethewey describes the ‘home’ she returns to after her mother’s death as a hollow place, the journey back to which is incredibly
The two poems, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”, by Dylan Thomas and, “Because I Could Not Wait for Death”, by Emily Dickinson, we find two distinct treatments on the same theme, death. Although they both represent death, they also represent it as something other than death. Death brings about a variety of different feelings, because no two people feel the same way or believe the same thing. The fact that our faith is unknown makes the notion of death a common topic, as writers can make sense of their own feelings and emotions and in the process hope to make readers make sense of theirs too. Both Dickinson and Thomas are two well known and revered poets for their eloquent capture of these emotions. The poems both explore death and the
Christianity began circa 30 CE in Palestine, known today as Israel. God sent an angel to a woman named Mary that told her that she would be having a baby. While in a stable in Bethlehem, she gave birth to Jesus, who would eventually become the founder of Christianity. At the age of 30, Jesus was baptized, or welcomed by the Christian faith, by his cousin John. Jesus' followers believed that he was their "messiah," or savior, and God in human form. However, as Jesus began to spread Christianity, his popularity threatened Jewish authorities, resulting in the arrests of many Christians. Despite this, Christianity still spread throughout the world.
Many people find it hard to imagine their death as there are so many questions to be answered-how will it happen, when, where and what comes next. The fact that our last days on Earth is unknown makes the topic of death a popular one for most poets who looks to seek out their own emotions. By them doing that it helps the reader make sense of their own emotions as well. In the two poems “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickenson and “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas, the poets are both capturing their emotion about death and the way that they accepted it. In Dickenson’s poem her feelings towards death are more passionate whereas in Dylan’s poem the feelings
Religion has many classifications, such as tribal, classical, transcendental and cosmological, usually based on one's belief and understandings. Religion also has many definitions, usually based on one's experience. A particular definition that I found was Religion originates in an attempt to represent and order beliefs, feelings, imaginings and actions that arise in response to direct experience of the sacred and the spiritual (Connelly, 1986). Religion also has many characteristics such as rituals, symbols and myths which play in an important part in how religion is viewed. We will take a look on how the definition, classification and characteristics of religion and how it ties into our understanding of the universe and our relationship with it.
“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is a poem composed by Thomas Gray over a period of ten years. Beginning shortly after the death of his close friend Richard West in 1742, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” was first published in 1751. This poem’s use of dubbal entendre may lead the intended audience away from the overall theme of death, mourning, loss, despair and sadness; however, this poem clearly uses several literary devices to convey the author’s feelings toward the death of his friend Richard West, his beloved mother, aunt and those fallen soldiers of the Civil War. This essay will discuss how Gray uses that symbolism and dubbal entendre throughout the poem to convey the inevitability of death, mourning, conflict within self, finding virtue in one’s life, dealing with one’s misfortunes and giving recognition to those who would otherwise seem insignificant.
Spirituality plays a very sub sequential role in my personal life. First of all, spirituality helps me govern what is right and what is wrong in my life. Many of the decisions that I make everyday, I believe are a direct result of my spirituality. For as long as I can remember I have been raised to believe that I should live my life the way God would want me to live it. Therefore, whenever I have a decision to make, I have to consider, what is right? And what is wrong? Second of all, it also helps me to feel more secure about what will happen to my spirit once my life here on earth is over. I believe that there is a better place for our spirits once we leave this earth.
Religion is a very important part of life. There are many types of religion practice. Religion guide believers' lives and allow them to develop hope. Spiritually has a profound affect on your everyday life. The Koran is the book that is used by the Muslims, as is the Bible used by the Christians. No matter what book you use you are all believers of God. If you believe in God anything is possible. Spiritually has a profound effect on everyday life. People who believe in God are spiritually empowered and miracles are developed through belief.
The Theme of Death in Poetry Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson are two Modern American Poets who consistently wrote about the theme of death. While there are some comparisons between the two poets, when it comes to death as a theme, their writing styles were quite different. Robert Frost’s poem, “Home Burial,” and Emily Dickinson’s poems, “I felt a Funeral in my Brain,” and “I died for Beauty,” are three poems concerning death. While the theme is constant there are differences as well as similarities between the poets and their poems. The obvious comparison between the three poems is the theme of death.