A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem ‘A Musical Instrument’ was published in 1860; a year prior to her death. The poem in its entirety tells the story of Greek God Pan and how he created his musical instrument ‘pan flute’ which is famously associated with him as well as music. But that wasn’t the only thing that Browning had in mind when she composed the poem. Her poem focuses on deeper realities of arts and human nature. This can be further explored through her word and story choice and what it symbolises, behaviour of life forms around the river and what it conveys. The poem’s hero or rather a villain (as he causes destruction) is Pan – Greek God of pastures, shepherds and flocks, rustic music and companion of nymphs. In Greek Mythology one of the famous tales involving Pan is his creation of pan flute. It is said that once Pan came across a wood-nymph of Arcadia named Syrinx and was smitten by her. Syrinx, on the other hand, tried to escape his urgency to safeguard her chastity. She asked help from her sisters who then turned her into a reed. Pan who was still infatuated with her cut some of the reeds from the river as he was unable to identify which one she was exactly. He then carved it into a
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When Pan causes destruction, the lilies died and the dragonfly fled away whereas when Pan carves his destruction into a sweet melody the lilies are revived and the dragonfly come back. The flowers and the insect were sad at the death of the reed but when they realised what was its outcome they instantly changed their moods and were in praise of its creator. Even the narrator’s tone shifts at this point in the poem (sweet, sweet, sweet, O
Nature influences a lot that's going on in the poem and passage for instance when Daedalus made his son wings most of the items that he used for the wings came from nature. The items that he used were wax and feathers, you may
seen as a hero if we look at the poem in the corrupt figures point of
To briefly summarize this poem, I believe that the poem could be separated into three parts: The first part is composed in the first and second letters, which stress on the negative emotions towards the miserable pains, illnesses that the parents are baring, and also their hatred of the birds. The second part, I believe will be the third and fourth letters, which talks about the birds’ fights and the visiting lady from the church. And the last part, starts from the fifth letters to the rest of them, which mainly describe the harmonious life between the parents and those birds.
and > “whale-road� is an ocean. A king or important noble is > called a “ring-giver� many times throughout the poem. > There are several similes is the poem.
As delineated in paragraph one, Coleridge’s poetic field is one rampant with erratic thought and ultimate change. The proposed subject of the poem, an eolian harp, is virtually abandoned and replaced with veneration of a God as well as a lover. One would think that such a fickle publication would be kept isolated by its author. Although, Coleridge may have staked importance in showing his adoration for God publicly. Hence,
... to understand one another. Furthermore, while both poets encase aspects of the fish into their poems, Bishop’s interpretation of the fish places it at a distance because her block of text loaded with descriptions is how she sees the fish, which gives the image that she just feels pity for the fish but doesn’t really feel the need to delve deeper in understanding the essence of the fish. By contrast, Oliver’s interpretation of the fish embodies its’ essence because she does not rely on its appearance to understand it but rather when she consumes the fish, its’ spiritual aura merges within herself. Oliver captures the soul of the fish within her poetic writing as evidenced by the constant alliteration with “f” letter words including, “first fish”, “flailed” , “flesh”, “fall”, “feed”, and “feverish”, which give the image that the poem is alive and is the fish.
To that end, the overall structure of the poem has relied heavily on both enjambment and juxtaposition to establish and maintain the contrast. At first read, the impact of enjambment is easily lost, but upon closer inspection, the significant created through each interruption becomes evident. Notably, every usage of enjambment, which occurs at the end of nearly every line, emphasizes an idea, whether it be the person at fault for “your / mistakes” (1-2) or the truth that “the world / doesn’t need” (2-3) a poet’s misery. Another instance of enjambment serves to transition the poem’s focus from the first poet to the thrush, emphasizing how, even as the poet “[drips] with despair all afternoon,” the thrush, “still, / on a green branch… [sings] / of the perfect, stone-hard beauty of everything” (14-18). In this case, the effect created by the enjambment of “still” emphasizes the juxtaposition of the two scenes. The desired effect, of course, is to depict the songbird as the better of the two, and, to that end, the structure fulfills its purpose
The purpose of the poem was to express my interests of nature and how I felt and what I experienced when I was in the woods at that time. There’s also that life and death aspect in this poem, in which the bird has the lizard in his mouth and also by the word “fire”.
The piece itself begins with the cello playing a solo melody fairly high up the fingerboard, with the viola and violin 2 playing a simple syncopated rhythm for harmony. What is notable for this movement is that the first violin doesn’t even begin playing until measure 24, where it picks up the melody that the cello began with. For both the cello and first violin, their melodies are labeled with the instructions “cantabile ed espressivo.” This means that the solos are meant to be played in a “singing style, and with much expression” (Italian Musical Terms). From the beginning of this movement up until measure 47, the timbre and rhythm is decidedly the same. The melody is passed on from the cello to the violin 1, and little change is seen in
“The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop illustrates the art of capturing a fish from water, an act once used merely as a food source. When the narrator first caught the fish, she felt sickened by it. As the poem proceeds, the narrator starts to develop an admiration towards the fish. This poem is saturated with colorful imagery and sufficient descriptions, which helps the reader envision the narrator’s view of the fish transform. At first glimpse, the reader would believe that this poem is just about a regular fishing trip, but the central theme has a much greater meaning. Through imagery, similes, and paradox Bishop demonstrates that beauty and bliss can be uncovered in the most ambiguous things.
Within Elizabeth Bishop’s The Fish, the Fisherman holds the fish in his hands, staring deeply with contemplation into the clouded and scratched lens of the eyes. Inadvertently, a shift of light causes a stir of the fish’s eyes, returning the Fisherman’s gaze. Yet, depth is understood by the Fisherman, who exalts this interaction to divine revelation. Similarly, all of us grasp for an understanding of personal experience. Fantasy replaces stark reality. Religion projects a personal distortion of events. However, the raw and grueling nature of truth reveals the imperfections ignored with perspective amnesia. Within the poem, the fish exists as both a warrior and priestly figure – secular and religion – to fully represent the facets of human nature
On Sunday, September 25, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. Flutiest Wayla J. Chambo performed contemporary music pieces based on Poems. The program included solo flute pieces, flute with electronic music and also some world premiere pieces. All pieces from the concert were based on the Poems by Chambo herself. This project aims to present interactions of text and music, and it was impressed through the whole concert.
bird as the metaphor of the poem to get the message of the poem across
Nature is often a focal point for many author’s works, whether it is expressed through lyrics, short stories, or poetry. Authors are given a cornucopia of pictures and descriptions of nature’s splendor that they can reproduce through words. It is because of this that more often than not a reader is faced with multiple approaches and descriptions to the way nature is portrayed. Some authors tend to look at nature from a deeper and personal observation as in William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, while other authors tend to focus on a more religious beauty within nature as show in Gerard Manley Hopkins “Pied Beauty”, suggesting to the reader that while to each their own there is always a beauty to be found in nature and nature’s beauty can be uplifting for the human spirit both on a visual and spiritual level.
Through the ingenious works of poetry the role of nature has imprinted the 18th and 19th century with a mark of significance. The common terminology ‘nature’ has been reflected by our greatest poets in different meanings and understanding; Alexander Pope believed in reason and moderation, whereas Blake and Wordsworth embraced passion and imagination.