Brit Lit Semester 2 Final Exam

Allusion

A reference to a well-known person, event, object, or work from history or literature.

Oxymoron

A statement that contradicts itself. Words such as bittersweet and pianoforte (literally, "soft-loud) are oxymorons. John Milton uses an oxymoron in Book I of Paradise Lost when he describes the flames of Hell as giving no light but rather being "darkness visible".

When I Was One-and-Twenty

Author: A.E. Housman Era: Victorian Summary: Our speaker gets some advice from an older, wiser person: don't bank too much on love. Like any young person, he promptly ignores the advice. Did we mention that he's 21? Keep that in mind. It'll be important later. Flash forward: now he's 22. And as it turns out, the advice he got was pretty good. Love hurts.

Ulysses

Author: Alfred Lord Tennyson Era: Victorian Summary: Ulysses (Odysseus) declares that there is little point in his staying home "by this still hearth" with his old wife, doling out rewards and punishments for the unnamed masses who live in his kingdom. Still speaking to himself he proclaims that he "cannot rest from travel" but feels compelled to live to the fullest and swallow every last drop of life. He has enjoyed all his experiences as a sailor who travels the seas, and he considers himself a symbol for everyone who wanders and roams the earth. His travels have exposed him to many different types of people and ways of living. They have also exposed him to the "delight of battle" while fighting the Trojan War with his men. Ulysses declares that his travels and encounters have shaped who he is: "I am a part of all that I have met," he asserts. And it is only when he is traveling that the "margin" of the globe that he has not yet traversed shrink and fade, and cease to goad him. Ulysses declares that it is boring to stay in one place, and that to remain stationary is to rust rather than to shine; to stay in one place is to pretend that all there is to life is the simple act of breathing, whereas he knows that in fact life contains much novelty, and he longs to encounter this. His spirit yearns constantly for new experiences that will broaden his horizons; he wishes "to follow knowledge like a sinking star" and forever grow in wisdom and in learning. Ulysses now speaks to an unidentified audience concerning his son Telemachus, who will act as his successor while the great hero resumes his travels: he says, "This is my son, mine own Telemachus, to whom I leave the scepter and the isle." He speaks highly but also patronizingly of his son's capabilities as a ruler, praising his prudence, dedication, and devotion to the gods. Telemachus will do his work of governing the island while Ulysses will do his work of traveling the seas: "He works his work, I mine." In the final stanza, Ulysses addresses the mariners with whom he has worked, traveled, and weathered life's storms over many years. He declares that although he and they are old, they still have the potential to do something noble and honorable before "the long day wanes." He encourages them to make use of their old age because " 'tis not too late to seek a newer world." He declares that his goal is to sail onward "beyond the sunset" until his death. Perhaps, he suggests, they may even reach the "Happy Isles," or the paradise of perpetual summer described in Greek mythology where great heroes like the warrior Achilles were believed to have been taken after their deaths. Although Ulysses and his mariners are not as strong as they were in youth, they are "strong in will" and are sustained by their resolve to push onward relentlessly: "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

Casabianca

Author: Felicia Dorothea Hemans Era: Romantic Summary: Casabianca was posted on the deck. The chieftain, who was his father, had ordered him not to leave the deck without his permission. The ship caught fire. The flames started rolling on towards the deck. Casabianca kept asking for permission to leave the deck. However, he did not know that his father lay unconscious. He did not leave the deck and sacrificed his life in carrying out his duties. Casabianca shows the true spirit of a brave soldier. Romantic Elements: Romantic because it shows the love of a boy for his Father. Emotion over reason.

Shooting an Elephant

Author: George Orwell Era: Modern Summary: On this day, Orwell learns that an elephant has broken its chain and it is undergoing a bout of "must" (a passing hormonal disorder that causes elephants to become uncontrollably violent). The elephant is rampaging through a bazaar, wreaking havoc. Feeling compelled to do some decent policing, Orwell sets out with a small rifle to see what's happening. He states that he has no intention of killing the elephant. When he arrives in the shanty town area he finds the mess the elephant has made. It has trampled grass huts and turned over a garbage disposal van and it has killed a man. Orwell sends for an elephant rifle, though he still has no intention of killing the elephant. He states that he merely wants to defend himself. With the rifle, he's led down to the paddy fields where he sees the giant elephant peacefully grazing. Upon laying eyes on the elephant he instantly feels that it would be wrong to kill it. He has no inclination to destroy something so complex and beautiful. He describes the beauty and great value of the animal. It would go against everything in him to kill it. He says it would be like murder. But when looks back to see the people watching, he realizes that the crowd is massive—at least two thousand people! He feels their eyes on him, and their great expectations of his role. They want to see the spectacle. But more importantly, he feels, they expect him to uphold the performance of power that he is meant to represent as an officer of the British Empire. At this stage Orwell has the clear revelation that all white men in the colonized world are beholden to the people whom they colonize. If he falters, he will let down the guise of power, but most of all, he will create an opportunity for the people to laugh. Nothing terrifies him more than the prospect of humiliation by the Burmese crowd. Now, the prospect of being trampled by the elephant no longer scares him because it would risk death. The worst part of that prospect would rather be that the crowd would laugh. In this way, he realizes that the entire enterprise of the empire is kept afloat by the personal fear of humiliation of individual officers. He thus gets down on the ground, takes aim with the powerful elephant gun with cross-hairs in the viewer, and he fires at the elephant's brain. He hits the elephant and the crowd roars. But the elephant doesn't die. A disturbing change comes over it and merely seems to age. He fires again and this time brings it slowly to its knees. But still it doesn't go down. He fires again and it comes back up, dramatically rising on hind legs and lifting its trunk before thundering to the earth. Still however, it remains alive. Orwell goes to it and finds that it's still breathing. He proceeds to unload bullet after bullet into the elephant's heart, but it won't die. The people have swarmed in to steal the meat. Without describing his shame or guilt, he leaves the elephant alive, suffering terribly. He learns later that it took half an hour for the elephant to die. There's some discussion among the other police officers about whether or not he did the right thing. The older ones think he did. The younger ones feel that it's a shame to shoot an elephant for killing a Burmese collie.

Ode on a Grecian Urn

Author: John Keats Era: Romantic Summary: A man is whispering sweet nothings to a Grecian urn, an ancient Greek pot that is covered in illustrations. He thinks the pot is married to a guy named "Quietness," but they haven't had sex yet, so the marriage isn't official. He also thinks that the urn is the adopted child of "Silence" and "Slow Time." Then the speaker gives us the urn's profession: it's a "historian," and it does a much better job of telling stories than the speaker possibly could. The speaker looks closer at the urn and tries to figure out what's going on in the pictures that are painted on it. Illustrated on the urn is some kind of story that might involve gods, men, or both. It looks like a bunch of guys are chasing beautiful women through the forest. People are playing pipes and beating on drums. Everyone looks happy. The scene is chaotic and the speaker doesn't know quite what's happening. Not only is the urn a better storyteller than the poet, but the musicians in the illustration have sweeter melodies than the poet. The poet then tries to listen to the music played by the people in the image. That's right: even though he can't hear the music with his ears, he's trying to listen to it with his "spirit." He looks at the illustration of a young guy who is playing a song under a tree. Because pictures don't change, the man will be playing his song as long as the urn survives, and the tree will always be full and green. Then the speaker addresses one of the guys who is chasing a maiden, and he offers some advice: "You're never going to make out with that girl, because you're in a picture, and pictures don't change, but don't worry - at least you'll always be in love with her, because you're in a picture, and pictures don't change." The speaker thinks about how happy the trees must be to keep all their leaves forever. It's always springtime in the world of the urn, and every song sounds fresh and new. Then he starts talking about love and repeats the word "happy" a bunch of times. He is jealous of the lovers on the urn, because they will always be lusting after each other. Seriously. He thinks the best part of being in love is trying to get your lover to hook up with you, and not the part that follows. We're starting to think that the speaker needs a cold shower. The word "panting" threatens to send the poem careening into X-rated territory. Things were getting a bit steamy, but now the speaker has moved to a different section of the urn. He's looking at an illustration of an animal sacrifice. This is pretty much the cold shower he needed. A priest is leading a cow to be sacrificed. People have come from a nearby town to watch. The speaker imagines that it's a holy day, so the town has been emptied out for the sacrifice. The town will always be empty, because it's a picture, and pictures don't change. The speaker starts freaking out a bit. He's basically yelling at the urn now. Whereas before he was really excited about the idea of living in the eternal world of the illustrations, now he's not so sure. Something about it seems "cold" to him. He thinks about how, when everyone he knows is dead, the urn will still be around, telling its story to future generations. The urn is a teacher and friend to mankind. It repeats the same lesson to every generation: that truth and beauty are the same thing, and this knowledge is all we need to make it through life.

Paradise Lost

Author: John Milton Era: 17th and 18th Centuries Summary: Milton opens Paradise Lost by formally declaring his poem's subject: humankind's first act of disobedience toward God, and the consequences that followed from it. The act is Adam and Eve's eating of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, as told in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. In the first line, Milton refers to the outcome of Adam and Eve's sin as the "fruit" of the forbidden tree, punning on the actual apple and the figurative fruits of their actions. Milton asserts that this original sin brought death to human beings for the first time, causing us to lose our home in paradise until Jesus comes to restore humankind to its former position of purity. Milton's speaker invokes the muse, a mystical source of poetic inspiration, to sing about these subjects through him, but he makes it clear that he refers to a different muse from the muses who traditionally inspired classical poets by specifying that his muse inspired Moses to receive the Ten Commandments and write Genesis. Milton's muse is the Holy Spirit, which inspired the Christian Bible, not one of the nine classical muses who reside on Mount Helicon—the "Aonian mount" of I.15. He says that his poem, like his muse, will fly above those of the Classical poets and accomplish things never attempted before, because his source of inspiration is greater than theirs. Then he invokes the Holy Spirit, asking it to fill him with knowledge of the beginning of the world, because the Holy Spirit was the active force in creating the universe. Milton's speaker announces that he wants to be inspired with this sacred knowledge because he wants to show his fellow man that the fall of humankind into sin and death was part of God's greater plan, and that God's plan is justified. Immediately after the prologue, Milton raises the question of how Adam and Eve's disobedience occurred and explains that their actions were partly due to a serpent's deception. This serpent is Satan, and the poem joins him and his followers in Hell, where they have just been cast after being defeated by God in Heaven. Satan lies stunned beside his second-in-command, Beelzebub, in a lake of fire that gives off darkness instead of light. Breaking the awful silence, Satan bemoans their terrible position, but does not repent of his rebellion against God, suggesting that they might gather their forces for another attack. Beelzebub is doubtful; he now believes that God cannot be overpowered. Satan does not fully contradict this assessment, but suggests that they could at least pervert God's good works to evil purposes. The two devils then rise up and, spreading their wings, fly over to the dry land next to the flaming lake. But they can undertake this action only because God has allowed them to loose their chains. All of the devils were formerly angels who chose to follow Satan in his rebellion, and God still intends to turn their evil deeds toward the good. Once out of the lake, Satan becomes more optimistic about their situation. He calls the rest of the fallen angels, his legions, to join him on land. They immediately obey and, despite their wounds and suffering, fly up to gather on the plain. Milton lists some of the more notable of the angels whose names have been erased from the books of Heaven, noting that later, in the time of man, many of these devils come to be worshipped as gods. Among these are Moloch, who is later known as a god requiring human sacrifices, and Belial, a lewd and lustful god. Still in war gear, these fallen angels have thousands of banners raised and their shields and spears in hand. Even in defeat, they are an awesome army to behold. Satan's unrepentant evil nature is unwavering. Even cast down in defeat, he does not consider changing his ways: he insists to his fellow devils that their delight will be in doing evil, not good. In particular, as he explains to Beelzebub, he wishes to pervert God's will and find a way to make evil out of good. It is not easy for Satan to maintain this determination; the battle has just demonstrated God's overwhelming power, and the devils could not even have lifted themselves off the lake of fire unless God had allowed it. God allows it precisely because he intends to turn their evil designs toward a greater good in the end. Satan's envy of the Son's chosen status led him to rebel and consequently to be condemned. His continued envy and search for freedom leads him to believe that he would rather be a king in Hell than a servant in Heaven. Satan's pride has caused him to believe that his own free intellect is as great as God's will. Satan remarks that the mind can make its own Hell out of Heaven, or in his case, its own Heaven out of Hell. Satan lands atop Mount Niphates, just north of Paradise, the Garden of Eden. He becomes gripped with doubt about the task in front of him; seeing the beauty and innocence of Earth has reminded him of what he once was. He even briefly considers whether he could be forgiven if he repented. But Hell follows him wherever he goes—Satan is actually the embodiment of Hell. If he asks the Father for forgiveness, he knows it would be a false confession; he reasons that if he returned to Heaven, he still could not bear to bow down. Knowing redemption or salvation cannot be granted to him, he resolves to continue to commit acts of sin and evil. He does not notice that during his internal debate, he has inadvertently revealed his devilish nature. He is observed by Uriel, the archangel he tricked into pointing the way. Uriel notices his conflicting facial expressions, and since all cherubs have permanent looks of joy on their faces, Uriel concludes that Satan cannot be a cherub. Satan now approaches Eden, which is surrounded by a great thicket wall. He easily leaps over it like a wolf entering a sheep's pen. Inside he sees an idyllic world, with all varieties of animals and trees. He can see the tallest of the trees, the Tree of Life—and next to it, the forbidden Tree of Knowledge. He perches himself on the Tree of Life, disguised as a cormorant, a large sea bird. Finally, he notices two creatures walking erect among the other animals. They walk naked without shame, and work pleasantly, tending the garden. Satan's pain and envy intensifies as he sees this new beautiful race, created after he and his legions fell. He could have loved them, but now, his damnation will be revenged through their destruction. He continues to watch them, and the man, Adam, speaks. He tells Eve not to complain of the work they have to do but to be obedient to God, since God has given them so many blessings, and only one constraint: they must not eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Eve agrees wholeheartedly, and they embrace. Eve tells Adam of her first awakening as she came to life and how she wondered who and where she was. She found a river and followed it upstream to its source. Her path led to a clear, smooth lake, and Eve looked into the lake, seeing an image in its surface, which she soon discovers is her own. She hears a voice explaining to her that she was made out of Adam, and with him she will become the mother of the human race. Overlooking Adam and Eve, Satan sees his opportunity. If the Father has given them a rule to follow, then they might be persuaded to break it. He leaves the two for a while, going off to learn more from other angels. Meanwhile, Uriel comes before the Archangel Gabriel, at the gate of Eden, and tells him about the shape-changing spirit that he saw from the hilltop. They both suspect that it might be one of the fallen ones. Gabriel promises that if the spirit is in the garden, they will find it by morning. Around this time, Adam and Eve finish their day's work. They go to their leafy bower, praising God and each other for their blissful life, and after a short prayer, they lie together—making love without sin, because lust had not yet tainted their natures. Night falls, and Gabriel sends search parties into the Garden. Two of his angels find Satan, disguised as a toad, whispering into the ear of Eve as she sleeps. They pull him before Gabriel, who recognizes him, and demands to know what he is doing in Paradise. Satan at first feigns innocence, as they have no proof that he means harm. But Gabriel knows him to be a liar, and threatens to drag him back to Hell. Enraged by this threat, Satan prepares to fight him. The two square off for a decisive battle, but a sign from Heaven—the appearance in the sky of a pair of golden scales—stops them. Satan recognizes the sign as meaning he could not win, and flies off.

Dover Beach

Author: Matthew Arnold Era: Victorian Summary: The sound of the waves makes the speaker think first of ancient Greece. Then he turns the sound of the surf into a metaphor for human history, and the gradual, steady loss of faith that his culture has experienced. The poem ends on a gorgeous, heartbreaking note, with the couple clinging to their love in a world of violence and fear and pain. People are starting to not believe in God.

The Soldier

Author: Rupert Brooke Era: Modern Summary: The speaker informs his audience what to think should he die. He tells them only to consider that a portion of some foreign field will be "forever England" as a result of his death. The soldier, who was raised and nurtured by his country, England, will be buried in the earth. After he dies, the soldier will go to a peaceful, English heaven, where he will re-experience all his English memories. Good times! Right?

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Author: Samuel Taylor Coleridge Era: Romantic Summary: Three guys are on the way to a wedding celebration when an old sailor (the Mariner) stops one of them at the door (we'll call him the Wedding Guest). Using his hypnotic eyes to hold the attention of the Wedding Guest, he starts telling a story about a disastrous journey he took. The Wedding Guest really wants to go party, but he can't pry himself away from this grizzled old mariner. The Mariner begins his story. They left port, and the ship sailed down near Antarctica to get away from a bad storm, but then they get caught in a dangerous, foggy ice field. An albatross shows up to steer them through the fog and provide good winds, but then the Mariner decides to shoot it. Oops. Pretty soon the sailors lose their wind, and it gets really hot. They run out of water, and everyone blames the Mariner. The ship seems to be haunted by a bad spirit, and weird stuff starts appearing, like slimy creatures that walk on the ocean. The Mariner's crewmates decide to hang the dead albatross around his neck to remind him of his error. Everyone is literally dying of thirst. The Mariner sees another ship's sail at a distance. He wants to yell out, but his mouth is too dry, so he sucks some of his own blood to moisten his lips. He's like, "A ship! We're saved." Sadly, the ship is a ghost ship piloted by two spirits, Death and Life-in-Death, who have to be the last people you'd want to meet on a journey. Everyone on the Mariner's ship dies. The wedding guest realizes, "Ah! You're a ghost!" But the Mariner says, "Well, actually, I was the only one who didn't die." He continues his story: he's on a boat with a lot of dead bodies, surrounded by an ocean full of slimy things. Worse, these slimy things are nasty water snakes. But the Mariner escapes his curse by unconsciously blessing the hideous snakes, and the albatross drops off his neck into the ocean. The Mariner falls into a sweet sleep, and it finally rains when he wakes up. A storm strikes up in the distance, and all the dead sailors rise like zombies to pilot the ship. The sailors don't actually come back to life. Instead, angels fill their bodies, and another supernatural spirit under the ocean seems to push the boat. The Mariner faints and hears two voices talking about how he killed the albatross and still has more penance to do. These two mysterious voices explain how the ship is moving. After a speedy journey, the ship ends up back in port again. The Mariner sees angels standing next to the bodies of all his crewmates. Then a rescue boat shows up to take him back to shore. The Mariner is happy that a guy called "the hermit" is on the rescue boat. The hermit is in a good mood. All of a sudden there's a loud noise, and the Mariner's ship sinks. The hermit's boat picks up the Mariner. When they get on shore, the Mariner is desperate to tell his story to the hermit. He feels a terrible pain until the story had been told. In fact, the Mariner says that he still has the same painful need to tell his story, which is why he stopped the Wedding Guest on this occasion. Wrapping up, the Mariner tells the Wedding Guest that he needs to learn how to say his prayers and love other people and things. Then the Mariner leaves, and the Wedding Guest no longer wants to enter the wedding. He goes home and wakes up the next day, as the famous last lines go, "a sadder and a wiser man."

Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave

Author: Thomas Hardy Era: Victorian Summary: In "Ah, Are You Digging On My Grave?" a deceased woman carries on a dialogue with an individual who is disturbing her grave site. The identity of this figure, the "digger" of the woman's grave, is unknown through the first half of the poem. As the woman attempts to guess who the digger is, she reveals her desire to be remembered by various figures she was acquainted with when she was alive. In a series of ironic turns, the responses of the digger show that the woman's acquaintances—a "loved one," family relatives, and a despised enemy—have all forsaken her memory. Finally, it is revealed that the digger is the woman's dog, but the canine, too, is unconcerned with his former mistress and is digging only so it can bury a bone. Though the poem contains a humorous tone, the picture Hardy paints is bleak; the dead are almost completely eliminated from the memory of the living and do not enjoy any form of contentment. This somber outlook is typical of Hardy's verse, which often presented a skeptical and negative view of the human condition.

A Room of One's Own

Author: Virginia Woolf Era: Modern Summary: Woolf tells us that the best way to address the topic of "Women in Fiction" is to give us a work of fiction that describes how she got to the conclusion that, in order to write fiction, "a woman must have money and a room of her own" (1.1). Woolf's fictional narrator, Mary Beton, sits by a river on the campus of Oxbridge, a fictional-but-not-really university. She's thinking some thoughts, but her meditations are interrupted by several woman-unfriendly interactions: she's ordered off the grass that only "Fellows and Scholars" may walk on and is denied entrance to the library (1.3). Church? She doesn't even bother trying to go in there. Time for lunch! It's a super nice one, and, after the scrumptious meal, she has some highbrow conversation with the other lucky people there. Unfortunately, seeing a tailless cat sort of derails the conversation. After lunch, she walks to a nearby all-female college, Fernham, for dinner. It's... not good. In fact, it's so bad that she can't even have a good conversation with her friend. We guess because their tummies are upset? The next day, Mary visits the British Museum to try to understand more about why her experiences the previous day at the men's university and the women's college were so different. She decides she'll search for information about women. Unsurprisingly, she ends up with a lot of books to consult. Surprisingly (to her), most of these books are written by angry men. Unable to find anything useful and rational at the library, Mary then checks out the history books on her own bookshelf, trying to answer the question of why women have always been too poor to, for instance, endow a university with enough money for a good dinner. Surprise, surprise, no one has ever bothered to write a women's history. Finally, the narrator turns to her imagination and tells us a story about Shakespeare's (fictional) sister, Judith, who has all of Shakespeare's genius but none of his opportunities. She concludes that she would end up pregnant and then kill herself without having written a word. But what about actual women writers? Mary mulls over women's writing and thinks that, except maybe in Jane Austen's books, every book is ruined by the writer's bitterness and anger. She pulls down a (fictional) book by (fictional) Mary Carmichael called Life's Adventure. While it broaches topics that other writers have never put on paper before, like a friendship between two women, Mary decides that the book is still flawed. Maybe in another hundred years, a woman will be able to write a book of true genius. The next and final day of the story, Mary looks out her window to the streets of London. She sees a man and a woman get into a taxicab together. Hm, this gives her an idea. Maybe genius works of literature need to be gender-neutral. Each person has a male and a female in their own mind, and they must unite in order to make a truly great book. At this point, Woolf stops speaking as Mary Beton and tells women that they should work toward having five hundred pounds a year and a room of their own in which to write. And then, someday, women will produce a writer of true genius.

How are Wordsworth's poems "The World is Too Much with Us" and "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge" paradoxical? Paradox definition: a situation, person, or thing that combines contradictory features or qualities.

He expresses both admiration for nature and the past in one, but also a city and humanmade structures.

In Blake's "The Tyger," what question does the author ponder?

How God could have made a vicious tiger as well as a gentle lamb.

What facet of life do Blake's "London" and Wordsworth's "The World is Too Much with Us" lament?

How people are detached from nature.

How is Burns' "To a Mouse" typical of poetry from the Romantic era?

It is concerned with nature over humans.

What is Mary Wollstonecraft's main argument in the excerpt we read from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman?

Men keep women protected and innocent and then complain women care about silly things.

MLA Format

Name Teacher Class Day Month Year

Realism

Realism: Portraying authentic, detailed descriptions of everyday life, especially its darker aspects The philosophy that works of art should accurately portray reality. The theory that the purpose of art is to imitate life is at least as old as Aristotle. The eighteenth-century development of the novel, with its attention to details of character, setting, and social life, presents a step toward Realism. However, the term Realism is generally applied to literature of the late nineteenth century, created in reaction to Romanticism and emphasizing details of ordinary life.

Anaphora

The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. In How do I Love Thee, Browning uses the repetition of "How do I love thee?" to emphasize the amount of love the speaker has. Also can refer to the use of a word referring to or replacing a word used earlier in a sentence, to avoid repetition, such as do in I like it and so do they.

Blank Verse

Unrhymed poetry written in iambic pentameter. John Milton wrote the epic Paradise Lost in blank verse, which was unusual at the time for works outside drama. In doing so, he set a precedent that eighteenth-century poets would follow.

Diction

When applied to writing, refers to the author's choice of words. Much of a writer's style is determined by his or her diction, the types of words that he or she chooses.

Background Information of the Romantic Era

• Were romantic artists rebelling against in their works from previous eras? - Throughout the late-eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, artists, philosophers, and writers rebelled against the rational, orderly forms that had been popular during the previous era. • What did romantic artists celebrate? - Romantic artists created works that celebrated *emotion over reason, nature over human artifice, ordinary people over aristocrats, and spontaneity and freedom over decorum and control*. • Instead of the nobility, whom did romantic artists tend to focus on in their art? - The shift from Neoclassicism to Romanticism also reflected a newfound respect for *ordinary people as opposed to the nobility*.

*Grammar*

*Grammar*

*Important Works*

*Important Works*

*Key Terms*

*Key Terms*

*Other Works*

*Other Works*

*Romantic Period Quiz*

*Romantic Period Quiz*

Allegory

A work in which characters, events, or settings symbolize, or represent, something else. In a naïve allegory, of the kind found in Everyman and in *The Pilgrim's Progress*, characters, objects, places, and actions are personifications of abstractions such as Good Deeds, Beauty, Vanity, and the journey to the Celestial Kingdom.

Oroonoko

Author: Aphra Behn Era: 17th and 18th Centuries Summary: Oroonoko, an African prince, is deceived by an Englishman and sold into slavery. He falls in love with Imoinda, the daughter of one of the king's generals. Unfortunately, the king loves Imoinda as well. When he learns that Oroonoko has secretly visited her, he is angry. Imoinda lies to the king to save her life, and the king decides to sell her into slavery. In the meantime, Oroonoko is away at battle. Oroonoko returns to find that Imoinda is gone. He and his men go to sell war captives as slaves to the British and he is taken captive. On the ship, he and his men go on a hunger strike until the captor unchains Oroonoko. Him and his men are sold into slavery.

To Althea, from Prison

Author: Richard Lovelace Era: 17th and 18th Centuries Summary: The poem begins with the speaker imagining his lover, Althea, arriving in his prison cell. In the second stanza the speaker imagines a festive celebration with his friends, and in the third he talks of singing with a "shriller note" than caged songbirds. In all three the speaker claims to be "freer" than just about everything and everybody else. In the final stanza, the speaker wraps up by reminding us of the power of the human imagination to overcome any situation.

Satire

Humorous writing or speech intended to point out errors, falsehoods, foibles, or failings. It is written for the purpose of reforming human behavior or institutions. Examples: Gulliver's Travels, A Modest Proposal, The Onion One of the most famous satires is Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal," which criticizes political and social institutions.

Song (Why so pale and wan)

Author: Sir John Suckling Era: 17th and 18th Centuries Summary: A young man who is failing in his schemes to win the heart of a young lady receives advice from a friend. In the first stanza, the friend asks the young man why he looks so pale and sickly. If the young lady did not like him when he was well, the friend says, why would she like him when he appears ill? In the second stanza, the friend asks the young man why he is so sullen and withdrawn. If his conversations with the young lady failed to impress her, not speaking to her at all certainly will not arouse her interest. In the third stanza, the friend advises the young man to cease wooing the young lady. If she refuses to return his love, nothing he can do or say will change her mind.

Why so dull and mute young sinner? Prithee why so mute? Will, when speaking well can't win her, Saying nothing do't? Prithee why so mute?

"Song" ("Why so pale and wan')

In which poem does the speaker seem to be unconcerned about his physical imprisonment because love has set his soul free?

"To Althea, from Prison"

Stone Walls do not a Prison make, Nor Iron bars a Cage; Minds innocent and quiet take That for an Hermitage. If I have freedom in my Love, And in my soul am free, Angels alone that soar above, Enjoy such Liberty.

"To Althea, from Prison"

When Love with unconfinèd wings Hovers within my Gates, And my divine (omitted) brings To whisper at the Grates; When I lie tangled in her hair, And fettered to her eye, The Gods that wanton in the Air, Know no such Liberty.

"To Althea, from Prison"

An hundred years should go to praise Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze; Two hundred to adore each breast, But thirty thousand to the rest; An age at least to every part, And the last age should show your heart. For, lady, you deserve this state, Nor would I love at lower rate. But at my back I always hear Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near;

"To His Coy Mistress"

In which poem is the speaker trying to combat his love's shyness by persuading her to enjoy life while she can?

"To His Coy Mistress"

Tell me not (Sweet) I am unkind, That from the nunnery Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind To war and arms I fly.

"To Lucasta, Going to the Wars"

What poem includes a speaker that tells his love that his sense of patriotism and honor outweighs his love for her?

"To Lucasta, Going to the Wars"

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying; And this same flower that smiles today Tomorrow will be dying.

"To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time"

Which poem contains a speaker who is trying to urge chaste women to hurry up and get married?

"To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time"

Which poem involves a speaker urging women to enjoy themselves, since life is short?

"To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time"

In Milton's "Paradise Lost," which is an example of an oxymoron used by Milton?

"Yet from those flames ' No light, but rather darkness visible"

Naturalism

A literary movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that saw actions and events as resulting inevitably from biological or natural forces or from forces in the environment. Generally, these forces are deemed beyond the comprehension or control of the characters subjected to them. Much of modern fiction, with its emphasis on the influence of social conditions on the characters, is Naturalistic. The short stories and novels of Thomas Hardy *(The Darkling Thrush and Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?)*, in which the characters may be victims of fate, are Naturalistic.

Ballad

A poem that tells a story and is written in four-to six-line stanzas, usually meant to be sung. Most ballads have regular rhythms and rhyme schemes and feature a refrain, or repetition of lines. Folk ballads, passed by word of mouth from generation to generation, have enjoyed enormous popularity from the Middle Ages to the present. Examples include "Sir Patrick Spens" and "Bonny Barbara Allan". Literary ballads, written in imitation of folk ballads, also have been popular. A famous example is Samuel Taylor Coleridge's *"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"*.

Neoclassical

A revival during the European Enlightenment of the eighteenth century of the ideals of art and literature derived from the Greek and Roman classics. These ideals included respect for authority and tradition, austerity, clarity, conservatism, decorum, economy, grace, imitation of natural order, harmony, moderation, proportion, reason, restraint, self-control, simplicity, tradition, wit, and unity. Neoclassical literature was witty and socially astute but tended toward excessive didacticism and an excessive distrust of invention and imagination. Notable British Neoclassical writers include John Dryden, *Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, Aphra Behn, Samuel Johnson*, James Boswell, and Joseph Addison.

Paradox

A seemingly contradictory statement, idea, or event that may actually be true. William Wordsworth's statement that "the child is father to the man" is an example of a paradox that can be resolved, on analysis, into a coherent noncontradictory idea. An example of an unresolvable paradox is the statement "This sentence is a lie." If the sentence is true, then it is false; if it is false, then it is true.

Dialect

A version of a language spoken by the people of a particular place, time, or social group. A regional dialect is one spoken in a particular place. A social dialect is one spoken by members of a particular social group or class. Writers often use dialect to give their works a realistic flavor, as does Robert Burns in *"To a Mouse"*.

A Modest Proposal

Author: Jonathan Swift Era: 17th and 18th Centuries Summary: His proposal, in effect, is to fatten up these undernourished children and feed them to Ireland's rich land-owners. Children of the poor could be sold into a meat market at the age of one, he argues, thus combating overpopulation and unemployment, sparing families the expense of child-bearing while providing them with a little extra income, improving the culinary experience of the wealthy, and contributing to the overall economic well-being of the nation.

Gulliver's Travels

Author: Jonathan Swift Era: 17th and 18th Centuries Summary: Is a wicked satire of 18th century British politics. In Lilliput, he spies on an invading countries fleet, ties up all of their boats, puts on glasses to shield his eyes from arrows, and brings them to the King. The King gives him an honorary position in the government. The king wants to rule over the captured peoples country, but Gulliver disagrees, the council agrees with Gulliver. The people are one twelfth Gulliver's size and proportionally small minded and petty, Gulliver often gets his way. In Brobdingnag, the people are 12 times larger and view Gulliver's race as a pernicious race of little odious vermin. Gulliver is respected less and doesn't get his way. Gulliver describes gunpowder super casually (understatement) and the King is struck in horror at how such evil ideas could be in such a small person's head.

Which Victorian work does NOT illustrate Victorian sentiments that promoted unrealistically rigid expectations for women's behavior and their submissive role in relationships?

Promises Like a Pie-Crust

In Christina Rossetti's "Promises like a Pie Crust," what does the speaker reject?

Promises of romantic commitment

What major theme runs throughout all of the Cavalier poetry we analyzed in class?

Seize the day

In Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess," what is a reason that the Duke provides for being displeased by his wife's behavior?

She didn't appreciate his family's legacy enough

In Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott," what causes the Lady of Shalott to leave her loom, look out the window, and crack her mirror?

She hears Sir Lancelot singing

In Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "How do I love thee," what sentiment displays influence from the Romantic period still bleeding into the Victorian period a little?

She will love him forever, even in the afterlife

Background Information of the 17th and 18th Centuries

• Benefits and hardships families face because of the Industrial Revolution - Benefits: Farming and industrial innovations (crop rotation, improved methods of transportation, and the enclosure of several small plots of land to produce large farms;, cloth trade innovations (inventions that sped up the spinning of wool and weaving of cloth); steam and coal-powered factories were built in and around London, drawing people from outlying communities who wanted jobs and money; new towns sprang up near factories in northern England, attracting people from the countryside in search of work. - Hardships: Families lost the common rights land they had farmed for generations when new laws allowed landlords to enclose fields and operate them as private, for-profit farms that employed a much smaller labor force. People who had spun wool and woven cloth in their homes for extra income were put out of work. Moreover, life in factory towns was grim. Because of children's small size they were made to crawl beneath large pieces of machinery and perform other dangerous works. Families across Great Britain earned barely enough to survive. • The Age of Reason (Enlightenment) - Time characterized by dramatic revolutions in science, philosophy, society and politics; especially in Europe o Solving problems with reason o Laissez faire ("let it be") - English Economist, Adam Smith - A system of natural laws that work in an ordered and rational way, if not interfered with by governments or monopolies. • Classical Influence o How did it get infused into Neoclassical writing?

In which poem is the speaker's advice to the subject of the poem to abandon the quest for his love's affection?

"Song" ("Why so pale and wan')

Which journal about the plague has a more somber, descriptive tone of the terrible ways in which people suffered from this illness?

"Journal of a Plague Year" by Defoe

*Cavalier Quiz*

*Cavalier Quiz*

*Essay Questions*

*Essay Questions*

*Metaphysical Quiz*

*Metaphysical Quiz*

*Neoclassical Quiz*

*Neoclassical Quiz*

*Victorian Era Quiz*

*Victorian Era Quiz*

Ode

A lyric poem on a serious theme, usually with varying line lengths and complex stanzas. John Keat's "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is an example.

What do the metaphysical works that we looked at in class have in common?

A theme of man's duty is to serve God

In Memoriam

Author: Alfred Lord Tennyson Era: Victorian Summary: An elegy written in response to the death of a close friend. The verses cover a wide range of topics, all of which return to his friend's death and his attempts to cope with grief. The poem is a moving record of his struggle through loss, grief, and doubt toward spiritual renewal. Canto 5 Sad and in pain. Numb. Sadness cannot be expressed in words. Canto 54 He doesn't know if good really does come out of bad. Canto 59 He wonders if the sadness can make him wiser. Canto 75 Sad, but accepting. He will get what he deserves in heaven. Canto 130 He loves the person more, and can still hear the person in the wind and water.

How Soon Hath Time

Author: John Milton Era: 17th and 18th Centuries Summary: John Milton regrets that he has just completed twenty-three years of his age but he could not produce anything worthwhile this time. His days are flying hastily. The poet looks younger than his actual age. He is not inwardly matured to create anything significant. Though many writers are endowed with timely spirit to achieve something but the poet has not produced any worthwhile yet. Then the poet expresses his hope that soon or late, less or more his spirit will be led to the lot by the will of god. He will have god's grace to use his talent and he will prove himself worthy in the eye of god, his great task master.

When You Are Old

Author: William Butler Yeats Era: Modern Summary: This is a poem that many see as highlighting the unrequited love between the speaker, presumably Yeats, and his former lover. The speaker, talking directly to his muse, instructs her to open the book in which this poem can be found and to re-read it. While re-reading, she should recall how many people loved her for both true and false reasons, namely because of her beauty. The speaker goes on to tell the lover that there was one man, probably the speaker, who loved her completely. In the final stanza, the speaker tells his former lover that she should remember that this love did not last, and she should be filled with regret because of it.

What is a likely overall theme to A. E. Housman's "To an Athlete Dying Young"?

Death is inevitable, while fame is temporary

In Milton's "Paradise Lost," why is Satan cast out of Heaven?

Disobedience and pride

In Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress," what does Christian's allegorical journey symbolize?

Each person's journey toward salvation

What romantic element is present in Hemans' "Casabianca"?

Emotion is praised over logic

In "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey," how has the speaker's view toward nature changed as he has aged?

He appreciates nature for more than its visual beauty

In Milton's "When I consider how my light is spent," what message does the character Patience give the narrator?

He can still serve God

In Milton's "Paradise Lost," what is ironic about Satan's view of Adam and Eve?

He expresses love for people who seem divine

In Milton's "Paradise Lost," what motivation does the narrator identify for writing this selection?

Justify the ways of God to men

In Tennyson's "Ulysses," what is the main idea of the poem?

Live life to the fullest

While Thomas Hardy's "Ah, Are You Digging on my Grave?" has a surprising, even humorous ending, how does the work exhibit the Victorian tendency to write in a realistic and pessimistic manner?

No one misses her and intends to visit her grave

In "Ode on a Grecian Urn," how does Keats romanticize the images he sees on the urn?

The images will be happy and alive forever

In Gulliver's Travels, Gulliver visits two groups of people. What is the most striking difference between the groups?

The sizes of individuals

How does A. E. Housman convey the idea that youth is a time of excitement and immaturity in "When I Was One-and Twenty"?

The speaker ignores advice given to him from an older man

What is Joseph Addison's satire in "A Young Lady's Diary" commenting on?

The trivial concerns of the upper class

Burney's "The Diary of Fanny Burney" gives readers a glimpse into the world and interactions of what group of people?

The upper class

In Milton's "How soon hath Time," why does the narrator wish to be a great poet?

To serve God

In Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress," what does the fair symbolize?

Worldly temptations

Background Information of the Modern Era

• How did WWI and WWII shape art during this time? - The British people's experiences in WWI and WWII only increased pessimism. Artists and intellectuals turned to new methods of expression as they questioned political systems, class structures, accepted moral standards, and roles of individuals. • What two ideologies were popular or even in conflict during this time? - The literature of the early twentieth century in Great Britain was characterized by a clash between the established traditions of the Victorian Age and the emerging ideals of the new Modern Era. • What are two ways in which artists viewed war in their art? - Some artists promoted patriotism and nationalistic pride. They thought that it was noble to die for your country and encouraged citizens to do their part and fight for their nation's glory. - Other artists were disillusioned by the brutal conditions and horrifying deaths on the front lines. They acknowledged the horror and despair of war. Some of these artists argued that it was still necessary to achieve peace and progress. Cynicism, despair, and disillusionment.

Cavalier

1. A gentleman trained in arms and horsemanship 2. A mounted soldier: knight 3. Capitalized : an adherent of Charles I of England 4. A lady's escort or dancing partner : gallant

Semicolon Rules

1. A semicolon is most commonly used to link (in a single sentence) two independent clauses that are closely related in thought. Example: Some people write with a word processor; others write with a pen or pencil. 2. Use a semicolon between two independent clauses that are connected by conjunctive adverbs or transitional phrases. Example: But however they choose to write, people are allowed to make their own decisions; as a result, many people swear by their writing methods. 3. Use a semicolon between items in a list or series if any of the items contain commas. Example: There are basically two ways to write: with a pen or pencil, which is inexpensive and easily accessible; or by computer and printer, which is more expensive but quick and neat. 5. Use a semicolon between independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction if the clauses are already punctuated with commas or if the clauses are lengthy. Example: Some people write with a word processor, typewriter, or a computer; but others, for different reasons, choose to write with a pen or pencil.

Metaphysical

1. Often capitalized : of or relating to poetry especially of the early 17th century that is highly intellectual and philosophical and marked by unconventional figurative language. 2. Characterized by intellectual wit and rational examination and features conceits and complex imagery.

Colon Rules

1. To announce, introduce, or direct attention to a list, a noun or noun phrase, a quotation, or an example/explanation. You can use a colon to draw attention to many things in your writing. The categories listed below often overlap, so don't worry too much about whether your intended use of the colon fits one category perfectly. Lists/series example: We covered many of the fundamentals in our writing class: grammar, punctuation, style, and voice. Noun/noun phrase example: My roommate gave me the things I needed most: companionship and quiet. Quotation example: Shakespeare said it best: "To thine own self be true." Example/explanation example: Many graduate students discover that there is a dark side to academia: late nights, high stress, and a crippling addiction to caffeinated beverages. 2. To join sentences. You can use a colon to connect two sentences when the second sentence summarizes, sharpens, or explains the first. Both sentences should be complete, and their content should be very closely related. Note that if you use colons this way too often, it can break up the flow of your writing. So don't get carried away with your colons! Example: Life is like a puzzle: half the fun is in trying to work it out. 3. To express time, in titles, and as part of other writing conventions. Colons appear in several standard or conventional places in writing. Here are a few examples: With numbers. Colons are used to separate units of time (4:45:00 expresses four hours, forty-five minutes, and zero seconds); ratios (2:1), and Bible verses and chapters (Matthew 2:24). In bibliography entries. Many citation styles use a colon to separate information in bibliography entries. Example: Kurlansky, M. (2002). Salt: A world history. New York, NY: Walker and Co. With subtitles. Colons are used to separate titles from subtitles. Example: Everest: The Last Frontier After the salutation in a formal business letter. A colon can be used immediately after the greeting in a formal letter (less-formal letters tend to use a comma in this location). Example: To Whom it May Concern: Please accept my application for the position advertised in the News and Observer.

Lyric Poem

A highly musical type of poetry that expresses the emotions of a speaker. Lyric poems often are contrasted with narrative poems, which have storytelling as their main purpose. Prominent English lyric poets include John Keats and Gerard Manley Hopkins.

To Lucasta, Going to the Wars

Author: Richard Lovelace Era: 17th and 18th Centuries Summary: In short, this is a very brief poem that Lovelace wrote about a man saying goodbye to his lover before heading to war. He pleads for his lover to understand why he must leave the safe and sweet comfort of her presence, begging her not think him unkind for going away. While he admits that he very much loves his mistress, he admits that he loves war even more, and he willingly flies to the battlefield.

Comma Rules

1. Use commas to separate independent clauses when they are joined by any of these seven coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet. 2. Use commas after introductory a) clauses, b) phrases, or c) words that come before the main clause. 3. Use a pair of commas in the middle of a sentence to set off clauses, phrases, and words that are not essential to the meaning of the sentence. Use one comma before to indicate the beginning of the pause and one at the end to indicate the end of the pause. 4. Do not use commas to set off essential elements of the sentence, such as clauses beginning with that (relative clauses). That clauses after nouns are always essential. That clauses following a verb expressing mental action are always essential. 5. Use commas to separate three or more words, phrases, or clauses written in a series. 6. Use commas to separate two or more coordinate adjectives that describe the same noun. Be sure never to add an extra comma between the final adjective and the noun itself or to use commas with non-coordinate adjectives. 7. Use a comma near the end of a sentence to separate contrasted coordinate elements or to indicate a distinct pause or shift. 8. Use commas to set off phrases at the end of the sentence that refer back to the beginning or middle of the sentence. Such phrases are free modifiers that can be placed anywhere in the sentence without causing confusion. 9. Use commas to set off all geographical names, items in dates (except the month and day), addresses (except the street number and name), and titles in names. 10. Use a comma to shift between the main discourse and a quotation. 11. Use commas wherever necessary to prevent possible confusion or misreading.

Integrating Quotes

1. You can use a full sentence followed by a colon to introduce a quotation. Examples: - The setting emphasizes deception: "Nothing is as it appears" (Smith 1). - Piercy ends the poem on an ironic note: "To every woman a happy ending" (25). 2. You can also begin a sentence with your own words, then complete it with quoted words. Note that in the second example below, a slash with a space on either side ( / ) marks a line break in the original poem. Examples: - Hamlet's task is to avenge a "foul and most unnatural murder" (Shakespeare 925). - The speaker is mystified by her sleeping baby, whose "moth-breath / flickers among the flat pink roses" (Plath 17). 3. To quote a critic or researcher, you can use an introductory phrase naming the source, followed by a comma. Note that the first letter after the quotation marks should be upper case. According to MLA guidelines, if you change the case of a letter from the original, you must indicate this with brackets. APA format doesn't require brackets. Examples: - According to Smith, "[W]riting is fun" (215). - In Smith's words, " . . . - In Smith's view, " . . . 4. Another way to introduce a critic's words is to use a descriptive verb, followed by a comma. Avoid using says unless the words were originally spoken aloud, for instance, during an interview. Examples: - Smith states, "This book is terrific" (102). - Smith remarks, " . . . - Smith writes, " . . . - Smith notes, " . . . - Smith comments, " . . . - Smith observes, " . . . - Smith concludes, " . . . - Smith reports, " . . . - Smith maintains, " . . . - Smith adds, " . . . 5. If your lead-in to the quotation ends in that or as, don't follow it with a comma. The first letter of the quotation should be lower case. Examples: - Smith points out that "millions of students would like to burn this book" (53). - Smith emphasizes that " . . . - In Smith's view, " . . . - Smith interprets the hand washing in Macbeth as "an attempt at absolution" (106). - Smith describes the novel as "a celebration of human experience" (233).

In the excerpt we read from Preface to Lyrical Ballads, how does Wordsworth believe people should write in order to create the best poetry?

A and D

Irony

A difference between appearance and reality. There are three types of irony: dramatic irony, in which something is known by the reader or audience but unknown to the characters; verbal irony, in which a writer or character says one thing but means another; and irony of situation, in which an event occurs that violates the expectations of the characters, the reader, or the audience.

Metaphor

A figure of speech in which one thing is spoken or written about as if it were another. A metaphor invites the reader to make a comparison between the writer's actual subject, or the *tenor* of the metaphor, and another thing to which the subject is likened, or the *vehicle* of the metaphor.

Mock Epic

A form of satire in which the writer uses the structure, style, and classical elements of an epic poem but chooses a trivial social issue to be the poem's subject. Example: The Rape of the Lock

How does Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock" show that people during this time had an interest in classical works, such as the heroic epic?

Pope's use of the card game

What happens to the pilgrims at the fair at the end of the story?

They are beaten and caged to be future attractions

In the textbook's excerpt from "Oroonoko," how do the slaves attempt to stand up to the captain?

They go on a hunger strike

How is Byron representing nature in stanza 91 of "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage"? Nor vainly did the early Persian make His altar the high places and the peak Of earth-o'ergazing mountains, and thus take A fit and unwalled temple, there to seek The Spirit, in whose honour shrines are weak, Upreared of human hands. Come, and compare Columns and idol-dwellings, Goth or Greek, With Nature's realms of worship, earth and air, Nor fix on fond abodes to circumscribe thy prayer!

As a more spiritual place than a church

In "A Modest Proposal," which of the following is NOT one of the six advantages of Swift's proposal?

Allow Ireland to become and independent nation from England

In "A Modest Proposal," who assures Swift that babies nursed to a year old are "most delicious"?

Americans

How is nature presented in Gerard Manley Hopkins' "Spring and Fall to a Young Child"?

An example that shows how everything dies

In Milton's "How soon hath Time, "what motivation does the narrator identify for writing this poem?

Approaching adulthood

How is Tennyson's character The Lady of Shalott a symbol of how he feels about art?

Artists should live apart from the ordinary world and devote themselves to their art

To an Athlete Dying Young

Author: A.E. Housman Era: Victorian Summary: You can probably tell from the title that "To an Athlete Dying Young" is a bit of a downer. It is, surprise surprise, about an athlete who dies young. The poem starts off cheerfully enough, with the speaker remembering when the athlete won a big race and everyone in town celebrated by carrying the winner around the marketplace. Sounds like good times, right? We don't get to enjoy it very long, because the second stanza puts us at the athlete's funeral. Bummer. The stanza is basically an extended metaphor for death: the road of life, going "home," moving from the land of the living to the land of the dead—that kind of thing. Things take an unexpected turn starting in stanza 3 and continuing through the poem's last stanza. The speaker starts listing why it's a good thing that the athlete died young. He makes some solid points, but in the end it's tough to argue the merits of a young person dying.

The Rape of the Lock

Author: Alexander Pope Era: 17th and 18th Centuries Summary: Belinda arises to prepare for the day's social activities after sleeping late. Her guardian sylph, Ariel, warned her in a dream that some disaster will befall her, and promises to protect her to the best of his abilities. Belinda takes little notice of this oracle, however. After an elaborate ritual of dressing and primping, she travels on the Thames River to Hampton Court Palace, an ancient royal residence outside of London, where a group of wealthy young socialites are gathering for a party. Among them is the Baron, who has already made up his mind to steal a lock of Belinda's hair. He has risen early to perform and elaborate set of prayers and sacrifices to promote success in this enterprise. When the partygoers arrive at the palace, they enjoy a tense game of cards (Ombre), which Pope describes in mock-heroic terms as a battle. This is followed by a round of coffee. Then the Baron takes up a pair of scissors and manages, on the third try, to cut off the coveted lock of Belinda's hair. Belinda is furious. Umbriel, a mischievous gnome, journeys down to the Cave of Spleen to procure a sack of sighs and a flask of tears which he then bestows on the heroine to fan the flames of her ire. Clarissa, who had aided the Baron in his crime, now urges Belinda to give up her anger in favor of good humor and good sense, moral qualities which will outlast her vanities. But Clarissa's moralizing falls on deaf ears, and Belinda initiates a scuffle between the ladies and the gentlemen, in which she attempts to recover the severed curl. The lock is lost in the confusion of this mock battle, however; the poet consoles the bereft Belinda with the suggestion that it has been taken up into the heavens and immortalized as a constellation.

An Essay on Man

Author: Alexander Pope Era: 17th and 18th Centuries Summary: Philosophical poem examining human nature, society, and morals. It features the optimism of Popes age regarding the nature of the universe and humans place in it. The poem attempts to warn people that, despite what they think, they are not the center of the Universe and must seek salvation though God. Poor cautions against intellectual pride by vividly describing the *uncertain "middle state" (isthmus)* in which humans have been placed. Between God and Beast, thinking too little or too much. Two Paradoxes: "Great Lord of all things, yet a prey to all." "Born but to die and reasoning but to err." Another important quote is "The proper study of mankind is Man." Means you have to examine yourself, and "presume not God to scan." Meaning God can't do it for you

The Lady of Shalott

Author: Alfred Lord Tennyson Era: Victorian Summary: Part 1: The poem opens with a description of a field by a river. There's a road running through the field that apparently leads to Camelot, the legendary castle of King Arthur. From the road you can see an island in the middle of the river called the Island of Shalott. On that island there is a little castle, which is the home of the mysterious Lady of Shalott. People pass by the island all the time, on boats and barges and on foot, but they never see the Lady. Occasionally, people working in the fields around the island will hear her singing an eerie song. Part 2: Now we actually move inside the castle on the island, and Tennyson describes the Lady herself. First we learn that she spends her days weaving a magic web, and that she has been cursed, forbidden to look outside. So instead she watches the world go by in a magic mirror. She sees shadows of the men and women who pass on the road, and she weaves the things she sees into her web. We also learn that she is "half sick" of this life of watching and weaving. Part 3: Now the big event: One day the studly Sir Lancelot rides by the island, covered in jewels and shining armor. Most of this chunk of the poem is spent describing Lancelot. When his image appears in the mirror, the Lady is so completely captivated that she breaks the rule and looks out her window on the real world. When she does this and catches a glimpse of Lancelot and Camelot, the magic mirror cracks, and she knows she's in trouble. Part 4: Knowing that it's game over, the Lady finds a boat by the side of the river and writes her name on it. After looking at Camelot for a while she lies down in the boat and lets it slip downstream. She drifts down the river, singing her final song, and dies before she gets to Camelot. The people of Camelot come out to see the body of the Lady and her boat, and are afraid. Lancelot also trots out, decides that she's pretty, and says a little prayer for her.

To His Coy Mistress

Author: Andrew Marvell Era: 17th and 18th Centuries Summary: "To His Coy Mistress" is divided into three stanzas or poetic paragraphs. It's spoken by a nameless man, who doesn't reveal any physical or biographical details about himself, to a nameless woman, who is also biography-less. During the first stanza, the speaker tells the mistress that if they had more time and space, her "coyness" (shyness) wouldn't be a "crime." He extends this discussion by describing how much he would compliment her and admire her, if only there was time. He would focus on "each part" of her body until he got to the heart (and "heart," here, is both a metaphor for sex, and a metaphor for love). In the second stanza he says, "BUT," we don't have the time, we are about to die! He tells her that life is short, but death is forever. In a shocking moment, he warns her that, when she's in the coffin, worms will try to take her "virginity" if she doesn't have sex with him before they die. If she refuses to have sex with him, there will be repercussions for him, too. All his sexual desire will burn up, "ashes" for all time. In the third stanza he says, "NOW," I've told you what will happen when you die, so let's have sex while we're still young. Hey, look at those "birds of prey" mating. That's how we should do it - but, before that, let's have us a little wine and time. Then, he wants to play a game - the turn ourselves into a "ball" game. He suggests, furthermore, that they release all their pent up frustrations into the sex act, and, in this way, be free. In the final couplet, he calms down a little. He says that having sex can't make the "sun" (time) stop moving. He says, we can't make time stop, but we can change places with it. Whenever we have sex, we pursue time, instead of time pursuing us.

In Flanders Field

Author: John McCrae Era: Modern Summary: The poem "Flanders Field" by John Mcrae paints us a picture of rows of crosses with poppies coming up between them. Birds are flying overhead while guns go off honoring the dead. The author creates the image that the dead are buried beneath the crosses but not long ago they had been alive. They had been real with love and eyes that had seen the dawn. He is then explaining that those who are left behind must not let the others have died in vain and must carry on fighting the enemy.

Promises Like Pie-Crust

Author: Christina Rossetti Era: Victorian Summary: Promises like Pie-Crust is a Rossetti poem about promises. The first Stanza opens with a radical thought from the Victorian era, the idea of two lovers' that don't hold promises to one another, and whose relationship is free from commitments. In stanza 2 is a bit tougher to decipher. At some point, someone has had a former lover, which they may have had something better in some ways than what they have now. And someone who has grown bitter to love may have been full of it at an earlier time. Because Rossetti covered the past, she also referred to the future in the 3rd and 4th couplets of the 2nd stanza. Because no one knows the future, promises can never be fulfilled. The third and final stanza explains that promises are easy to break, and only cause grief. Promises are flaky and fall apart. Promises get broken like pie-crust. Promises shouldn't be made because you don't want to be tied down. Promises take away liberties.

How do I Love Thee?

Author: Elizabeth Barrett Browning Era: Victorian Summary: he speaker asks how she loves her beloved and tries to list the different ways in which she loves him. Her love seems to be eternal and to exist everywhere, and she intends to continue loving him after her own death, if God lets her. The poet while trying to express her undying love for her beloved begins to count the ways in which she loves him. By counting the number of ways, the poet is trying to show that the love in her heart for her soul mate is present in all her walks of life. It is a way of expressing the beautiful fact that everything in and around her leads her to that love. The poet says that the love which she feels for her beauty is so strong that it fills every pore of her soul. The adoration which Elizabeth carries in her heart is a part of her existence which is why when she tries to map the out of sight boundaries of her soul and the world around her, she realizes that her love for her beloved extends just as far. This means that her affection defines her existence and the world around in ways which is not apparent to the mortal sight. Only the poet feels the power of that true love which envelops her. After adding this hint of divinity to her poem the poet transcends to a more down to earth description of her love. She says that her lover is her everyday need. She is so deeply in love with her soul mate that he is as important as the basic necessities of life. She wants to see her love in the light of the sun and by the candle-light. This means that she wants to be with her love at all hours of the day such that every minute of her existence is filled by him

Spring and Fall to a Young Child

Author: Gerard Manley Hopkins Era: Victorian Summary: The speaker is talking to a kid named Margaret, who is crying her little eyes out over something or other. The speaker decides that she's crying because all the leaves in the forest of Goldengrove have died and fallen off the trees. The speaker tells the child that as she gets older, she might not notice or care as much, but he also says that crying over the fallen leaves means something else: it shows that Margaret is starting to think about mortality and, yes, her own eventual death. That's right! This is a poem about death, addressed to a young child.

The Pilgrim's Progress

Author: John Bunyan Era: 17th and 18th Centuries Summary: The narrator defends the story he is about to tell, which is framed as a dream. He explains that he fell asleep in the wilderness and dreamed of a man named Christian, who was tormented by spiritual anguish. A spiritual guide named Evangelist visits Christian and urges him to leave the City of Destruction. Evangelist claims that salvation can only be found in the Celestial City, known as Mount Zion. Christian begs his family to accompany him, unsuccessfully. Christian leaves the City of Destruction. Two citizens, Obstinate and Pliable, of the City of Destruction were sent to fetch Christian. Obstinate did not follow Christian, and Christian would not return to the City of Destruction. Pliable goes with Christian because he fears that he and Obstinate are wrong. Christian and Pliable enter Vanity and visit its famous fair. They resist temptation and are mocked by the townspeople. Eventually the citizens of Vanity beat Christian and Pliable, besmeared them with dirt and then put them into a cage, that they might be made a spectacle to all the men of the fair.

On First Looking into Chapman's Homer

Author: John Keats Era: Romantic Summary: At the start of the poem, Keats tells us that he's no backwater bumpkin; he's read lots of books and seen all the different worlds that authors can create. Particularly, he's heard and read a lot about the world of the ancient Greeks and all the surrounding areas. He's even heard of Homer. He explains that he never truly experienced that world until he read Chapman's translation of Homer's work. When he read that book, it was a moment of pure discovery. He tells us that he felt like an astronomer who just discovered a new planet in his telescope, or like the explorer who stood on the western edge of the Americas and looked out on the Pacific Ocean for the first time. Romantic Elements: Romantic because he exaggerates how great reading Homer was for the first time, it is an intense experience

When I Have Fears

Author: John Keats Era: Romantic Summary: Keats' speaker contemplates all of the things that he wants in life: namely, success, fame, and love. Here's the problem: the speaker is also pretty sure that his life will end long before he'll be able to achieve any of these goals. That's why his description of his desires is so tinged with desperation - chances are, his life will be over far, far too quickly. This poem charts both the speaker's desires and his despair (in that order). Romantic Elements: Romantic because he wants to experience life intensely and wonders if he will before death.

Ode to a Nightingale

Author: John Keats Era: Romantic Summary: The poem begins as the speaker starts to feel disoriented from listening to the song of the nightingale, as if he had just drunken something really, really strong. He feels bittersweet happiness at the thought of the nightingale's carefree life. The speaker wishes he had a special wine distilled directly from the earth. He wants to drink such a wine and fade into the forest with the nightingale. He wants to escape the worries and concerns of life, age, and time. He uses poetry to join the nightingale's nighttime world, deep in the dark forest where hardly any moonlight can reach. He can't see any of the flowers or plants around him, but he can smell them. He thinks it wouldn't be so bad to die at night in the forest, with no one around except the nightingale singing. But the nightingale can't die. The nightingale must be immortal, because so many different kinds of generations of people have heard its song throughout history, everyone from clowns and emperors to Biblical characters to people in fantasy stories. The speaker's vision is interrupted when the nightingale flies away and leaves him alone. He feels abandoned and disappointed that his imagination is not strong enough to create its own reality. He is left confused and bewildered, not knowing the difference between reality and dreams. Romantic Elements: Romantic because nature over humans and admiring beauty of a bird.

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

Author: Lord Byron Era: Romantic *Byronic hero* "Childe" is a title from medieval times, designating a young noble who is not yet knighted. Disillusioned with his aimless life devoted to pursuing pleasure, Childe Harold seeks distraction by going on a solitary pilgrimage to foreign lands. The first two cantos describe his travels through Portugal, Spain, the Ionian Islands, and Albania, ending with a lament on the occupation of Greece by the Ottoman Turks. In the third canto the pilgrim travels to Belgium, the Rhine Valley, the Alps, and the Jura. On each segment of the journey, Byron evokes associated historical events and people, such as the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Napoleon before the Battle of Waterloo. In the fourth canto the imaginary pilgrim is replaced by the poet himself, speaking in the first person about Venice, Ferrara, Florence, and Rome and the artists and heroes associated with those cities. To Byron's literary public, the work offered a poetic travelogue of picturesque lands and gave vent to the prevailing moods of melancholy and disillusionment. The world-weary Childe Harold came to personify the so-called Byronic hero, thus becoming one of the best-known types of the age. The work also voiced with a frankness unprecedented in the literature of that time the disparity between romantic ideals and the realities of the world. Romantic Elements: Romantic because he talks about how great nature is. "I love not man the less but nature more"

She Walks in Beauty

Author: Lord Byron Era: Romantic Summary: The poem is about an unnamed woman. She's really quite striking, and the speaker compares her to lots of beautiful, but dark, things, like "night" and "starry skies." The second stanza continues to use the contrast between light and dark, day and night, to describe her beauty. We also learn that her face is really "pure" and "sweet." The third stanza wraps it all up - she's not just beautiful, she's "good" and "innocent," to boot. Romantic Elements: Romantic because it talks about the beauty of a woman and he outpours his emotion for her.

To All Writing Ladies

Author: Margaret Cavendish Era: 17th and 18th Centuries Summary: Duchess of Newcastle implores fellow women to take advantage of their moment in history and to make a name for themselves so their names live on after death and show women are capable. "Though we are inferior to men let us show ourselves to be above beasts." Begins the work with saying man is naturally influenced in different ways throughout time. Says some ages man is devoutly religious , and in some ages he is atheistic. Some ages man seeks absolute power and war is a result, other times man is peaceful. These examples go on for a while.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

Author: Mary Wollstonecraft Era: Romantic Summary: Wollstonecraft doesn't waste a whole lot of time in getting to the point in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. She says from the get-go that humanity's greatest gift is its ability to reason. And since men and women are born with the same ability to reason, women should enjoy just as much education, power, and influence in society as men do. The only reason women don't seem as smart as men, she says, is because they aren't given the same education. The one thing she's willing to admit is that men might have an advantage in physical strength. But in a modern civilization, this advantage shouldn't really mean anything. For a gentleman living in Wollstonecraft's time, there were very few (if any) occasions in life where he would be called upon to use all of his strength. Once she gets into her argument, Wollstonecraft goes after some writers who have claimed that women's education should focus solely on making young women pleasing to men. In other words, popular opinion in Wollstonecraft's time states that women shouldn't busy themselves with too much reading or studying. They should focus on dressing nicely and being quiet. Wollstonecraft tears these arguments to shreds, saying that they end up causing a lot of social problems. For example, how can people expect a woman to raise children well if she has no education and no ability to reason? Further, how can women be moral and virtuous if all they're ever taught is how to look moral and virtuous? This kind of education focuses only on appearances and makes women totally superficial. As the book continues, Wollstonecraft argues that education should be available equally to both boys and girls regardless of how wealthy their families are. That's why she thinks that there should be a national public school system that is free for children up to a certain age. That probably sounds familiar; it's a lot like today's public school system. Wollstonecraft closes the book with one last flurry, summing up all the arguments she's made and showing once and for all that there's no possible way to support the oppression of women without being a bully and a tyrant. In the end, Wollstonecraft states that a future with educated women will be much brighter than a future without them.

To a Skylark

Author: Percy Bysshe Shelley Era: Romantic Summary: "To a Skylark" doesn't exactly have a plot. You might want to think of it more like a bunch of observations about a single idea—a stretched-out description of the song of a bird. The poem opens up with the speaker calling out to a bird (which he calls a "Spirit"). He tells the bird how much he loves its singing. Then he describes how it shoots up into the sky at dusk, into the purple evening. After that, he compares the bird's song to a bunch of different things, including a star, the planet Venus, a poet, a maiden, a worm, a rose, and so forth. Then he starts to talk about how all of the beautiful things that human beings make can't compare to the song of this bird. All human songs are sad, but this bird's song is just pure joy. Finally the speaker dreams of being able to sing with as much joy and freedom as this happy bird. Romantic Elements: Romantic because nature over humans.

Ozymandias

Author: Percy Bysshe Shelley Era: Romantic Summary: The speaker describes a meeting with someone who has traveled to a place where ancient civilizations once existed. We know from the title that he's talking about Egypt. The traveler told the speaker a story about an old, fragmented statue in the middle of the desert. The statue is broken apart, but you can still make out the face of a person. The face looks stern and powerful, like a ruler. The sculptor did a good job at expressing the ruler's personality. The ruler was a wicked guy, but he took care of his people. On the pedestal near the face, the traveler reads an inscription in which the ruler Ozymandias tells anyone who might happen to pass by, basically, "Look around and see how awesome I am!" But there is no other evidence of his awesomeness in the vicinity of his giant, broken statue. There is just a lot of sand, as far as the eye can see. The traveler ends his story.

Ode to the West Wind

Author: Percy Bysshe Shelley Era: Romantic Summary: The speaker of the poem appeals to the West Wind to infuse him with a new spirit and a new power to spread his ideas. In order to invoke the West Wind, he lists a series of things the wind has done that illustrate its power: driving away the autumn leaves, placing seeds in the earth, bringing thunderstorms and the cyclical "death" of the natural world, and stirring up the seas and oceans. The speaker wishes that the wind could affect him the way it does leaves and clouds and waves. Because it can't, he asks the wind to play him like an instrument, bringing out his sadness in its own musical lament. Maybe the wind can even help him to send his ideas all over the world; even if they're not powerful in their own right, his ideas might inspire others. The sad music that the wind will play on him will become a prophecy. The West Wind of autumn brings on a cold, barren period of winter, but isn't winter always followed by a spring? Romantic Elements: Romantic because he admires the Wind and asks favors from it (lift my thoughts and prayers to heaven) nature over humans.

My Last Duchess

Author: Robert Browning Era: Victorian Summary: The Duke of Ferrara is negotiating with a servant for the hand of a count's daughter in marriage. During the negotiations, the Duke takes the servant upstairs into his private art gallery and shows him several of the objects in his collection. The first of these objects is a portrait of his "last" or former duchess, painted directly on one of the walls of the gallery by a friar named Pandolf. The Duke keeps this portrait behind a curtain that only he is allowed to draw. While the servant sits on a bench looking at the portrait, the Duke describes the circumstances in which it was painted and the fate of his unfortunate former wife. Apparently the Duchess was easily pleased: she smiled at everything, and seemed just as happy when someone brought her a branch of cherries as she did when the Duke decided to marry her. She also blushed easily. The Duchess's genial nature was enough to throw the Duke into a jealous, psychopathic rage, and he "gave commands" (45) that meant "all smiles stopped together" (46). We're guessing this means he had her killed although it's possible that he had her shut up somewhere, such as in a convent. But it's way more exciting if you interpret it as murder, and most critics do. After telling this story to the servant of the family that might provide his next victim - er, sorry, bride - the Duke takes him back downstairs to continue their business. On the way out, the Duke points out one more of his favorite art objects: a bronze statue of Neptune taming a seahorse.

Porphyria's Lover

Author: Robert Browning Era: Victorian Summary: The unnamed speaker of the poem sits by himself in his house on a stormy night. Porphyria, his lover, arrives out of the rain, starts a fire in the fireplace, and takes off her dripping coat and gloves. She sits down to snuggle with the speaker in front of the fire and pulls his head down to rest against her shoulder. The speaker realizes for the first time how much Porphyria loves him. So...he strangles her with her hair. Then he opens her eyes, unwraps the hair from her neck, and spends the rest of the night cuddling with her corpse.

To a Mouse

Author: Robert Burns Era: Romantic Summary: The speaker is plowing a field and accidentally turns up a mouse's nest. The mouse is shivering and terrified. The man stops his work to try to comfort the mouse. He tells her to relax. He didn't mean to break into her nest. But then the speaker starts thinking more about it—the mouse is, after all, pretty justified in being freaked out. Mice should be scared of humans. We set traps for them, we set cats after them, and we plow up their winter nests. The speaker apologizes on behalf of all humankind. He says that the mouse might steal little bits of food from human farms, but who cares? That one little mouse doesn't eat much. And now her little winter house is all in a ruin. He imagines the mouse planning ahead carefully for the winter—she worked so hard to make her nice little nest, and then, BOOM. The plow goes right over it. But hey, says the speaker—that's life. Whether you're a mouse or a man, your plans—however well-laid—often get messed up. And after all, the mouse has it easy, compared to a human. Mice live in the present moment, while humans look to the past with the regret and to the future with fear. Lucky mouse.

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

Author: Robert Herrick Era: 17th and 18th Centuries Summary: From the title, we can tell that the speaker is addressing this poem to a group of virgins. He's telling them that they should gather their "rosebuds" while they can, because time is quickly passing. He drives home this point with some images from nature, including flowers dying and the sun setting. He thinks that one's youth is the best time in life, and the years after that aren't so great. The speaker finishes off the poem by encouraging these young virgins to make good use of their time by getting married, before they're past their prime and lose the chance.

The Mark of the Beast

Author: Rudyard Kipling Era: Victorian Summary: In the story, a British soldier in Colonial India gets drunk and causes harm to a sacred Indian statue. An Indian priest sees this and curses the soldier with a mark to his body. The next day, the soldier behaves like a beast. The priest is located and forced to remove the curse, causing the soldier to return to normal. It is a criticism of the interaction between the colonizers and the colonized, and the way the Indians have been treated.

Kubla Khan

Author: Samuel Taylor Coleridge Era: Romantic Summary: This poem describes Xanadu, the palace of Kubla Khan, a Mongol emperor and the grandson of Genghis Khan. The poem's speaker starts by describing the setting of Emperor's palace, which he calls a "pleasure dome." He tells us about a river that runs across the land and then flows through some underground caves and into the sea. He also tells us about the fertile land that surrounds the palace. The nearby area is covered in streams, sweet-smelling trees, and beautiful forests. Then the speaker gets excited about the river again and tells us about the canyon through which it flows. He makes it into a spooky, haunted place, where you might find a "woman wailing for her demon lover." He describes how the river leaps and smashes through the canyon, first exploding up into a noisy fountain and then finally sinking down and flowing through those underground caves into the ocean far away. The speaker then goes on to describe Kubla Khan himself, who is listening to this noisy river and thinking about war. All of a sudden, the speaker moves away from this landscape and tells us about another vision he had, where he saw a woman playing an instrument and singing. The memory of her song fills him with longing, and he imagines himself singing his own song, using it to create a vision of Xanadu. Toward the end, the poem becomes more personal and mysterious, as the speaker describes past visions he has had. This brings him to a final image of a terrifying figure with flashing eyes. This person, Kubla Khan, is a powerful being who seems almost godlike: "For he on honey-dew hath fed/And drunk the milk of paradise" (53-54). Romantic Elements: Romantic because it's admiring nature and has a mysterious element of the vision

The Rear-Guard

Author: Siegfried Sassoon Era: Modern Summary: A soldier gropes along a dark tunnel (trench) trying to escape. The soldier trips in the third stanza, and it points out that he is still unaware of his surroundings as he continues down the tunnel. He seems to be looking for answers to escape this trap but can't find anything to help. This stanza also shows him envying a sleeping comrade. We interpreted this as "sleep vs. death." This soldier realizes he was asking a dead man for help to guide him through this "stinking place." The terror of the war is depicted especially in this stanza due to the fact that he has no one to turn to. The final stanza is the soldier realizing that he's got to escape on his own. He helps himself out as he "unloads hell step by step" towards the twilight air. "Boom of shells in muffled sound" drew us back to "rosy gloom" in the second stanza. Rear-Guard: Last group of people to come through the trenches to check for bodies.

The Darkling Thrush

Author: Thomas Hardy Era: Victorian It's the very end of the day. In fact, it's the very end of the year. The countryside is frozen into an icy, unwelcoming landscape. It's not quite Hoth, but it's close. As our speaker stares out into the gloom, he's reminded that everything around him is on the fast track to death and decay. We're not saying that our speaker is a downer. He's just not exactly a "glass half full" sort of guy. The speaker seems to obsess over the barren British countryside. Things go from dull and depressing to outright dismal. No life seems to stir. Anywhere. ...Until, that is, our speaker hears the most unexpected sound: a bird singing. The little thing isn't in the best of shape. It's been beaten badly by the weather, and it seems as old and death-bound as the year itself. That doesn't stop it from belting its heart out, though. It's bound and determined to share every last ounce of joy in its soul. Why be joyful when the world is so crummy? Well, that's a good question. In fact, that's exactly the question that our speaker asks himself. He can't figure out why in the world anything - let alone a bird - would waste its last breath in a song that no one will hear. Unfortunately, our feathered friend doesn't give him any answers. Strangely enough, our speaker doesn't even try to figure it out. He's content to know that something out there sees a reason to exist and to be joyful - even if he can't comprehend the reasons himself. But, don't worry, folks - one birdsong isn't going to turn this guy into an optimist. He's a hard skinned realist. No doubts about it. Nonetheless, he's able to appreciate happiness when he sees it. And that's something....right?

Dulce et Decorum Est

Author: Wilfred Owen Era: Modern Summary: It's just another day on the battlefields of World War I. As our speaker lets us know right away, however, "normal" isn't a word that has any meaning for the soldiers anymore. They're all mentally and physically ravaged by the exertions of battle. And then it gets worse. Just as the men are heading home for the night, gas shells drop beside them. The soldiers scramble for their gas masks in a frantic attempt to save their own lives. Unfortunately, they don't all get to their masks in time. Our speaker watches as a member of his crew chokes and staggers in the toxic fumes, unable to save him from an excruciating certain death. Now fast-forward. It's some time after the battle, but our speaker just can't get the sight of his dying comrade out of his head. The soldier's image is everywhere: in the speaker's thoughts, in his dreams, in his poetry. Worst of all, our speaker can't do anything to help the dying soldier. Bitterly, the speaker finally addresses the people at home who rally around the youth of England, and urge them to fight for personal glory and national honor. He wonders how they can continue to call for war. If they could only witness the physical agony war creates - or even experience the emotional trauma that the speaker's going through now - the speaker thinks they might change their views. In the speaker's mind, there's nothing glorious or honorable about death. Or, for that matter, war itself.

The Tyger

Author: William Blake Era: Romantic Summary: "The Tyger" contains only six stanzas, and each stanza is four lines long. The first and last stanzas are the same, except for one word change: "could" becomes "dare." "The Tyger" is a poem made of questions. There are no less than thirteen question marks and only one full sentence that ends with a period instead of a question mark. Addressing "The Tyger," the speaker questions it as to its creation - essentially: "Who made you Mr. Tyger?" "How were you made? Where? Why? What was the person or thing like that made you?" The poem is often interpreted to deal with issues of inspiration, poetry, mystical knowledge, God, and the sublime (big, mysterious, powerful, and sometimes scary. Ever heard the phrase, "To love God is to fear him"? That's talking about something sublime). But it's not about any one thing: this is William Blake. For better or worse, there really is no narrative movement in "The Tyger": nobody really does anything other than the speaker questioning "the Tyger." The first stanza opens the central question: "What immortal hand or eye, / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?" The second stanza questions "the Tyger" about where he was created, the third about how the creator formed him, the fourth about what tools were used. The fifth stanza goes on to ask about how the creator reacted to his creation ("the Tyger") and who exactly was this creator. Finally, the sixth restates the central question while raising the stakes; rather than merely question what/who could create the Tyger, the speaker wonders: who dares. Romantic Elements: Romantic because the poet expresses his awe for the Tigers beauty and dominance, asks if he could be made by the same creator as Lamb, Nature themed

London

Author: William Blake Era: Romantic Summary: London was a bad place back in the 1790s. Just ask the speaker of this poem, who takes a walk around an area near the Thames. He can hear all kinds of cries, from adults and kids alike. He sees people who look just awful, a church that's getting blacker all the time, and a palace that appears to have blood on its walls. Eesh. While walking at midnight, he hears something really bad: a harlot (prostitute) cursing her infant for crying. All in all? Bad times, y'all. Romantic Elements: Romantic because he talks about how bad it must be to live in the city, nature is better

The Lamb

Author: William Blake Era: Romantic Summary: To make this poem a little more fun, let's imagine it from the lamb's perspective. There we are, munching on some grass in a beautiful English valley, when suddenly some little rug-rat kid comes running up for a chat. He asks if we know who made us, to which our answer is, "(Munch, munch) This grass is delicious!" He asks if we know who gave us life and made us eat this sweet, sweet grass as we roam through fields and next to streams. He asks if we know who gave us our "clothing wooly bright" (6) and our pleasant voices. Then he says he's going to tell us who made him. He says our creator is also called a "Lamb" because he was so "meek" and "mild" (15). Despite being a lamb, this creator also "became a little child" (16). Finally, he blesses us twice in the name of God and runs away. Romantic Elements: Romantic because he praises the beauty and tenderness of a Lamb (nature). Also an outpouring of religious emotion for the Lamb of God (Jesus).

Sailing to Byzantium

Author: William Butler Yeats Era: Modern Summary: Sailing to Byzantium tells the story of a man who is traveling to a new country. Byzantium was an ancient Greek colony later named Constantinople, which is situated where Istanbul, Turkey, now stands. While the speaker does take an actual journey to Byzantium, the reader can interpret this journey as a metaphorical one, perhaps representing the journey of the artist. In the poem, the speaker feels the country in which he resides is no place for the old—it is only welcoming to the young and promising. The speaker thus decides to travel to Byzantium, and later, to eternity, where age is not an issue, and he will be able to transcend his physical life.

The Second Coming

Author: William Butler Yeats Era: Modern Summary: The poem begins with the image of a falcon flying out of earshot from its human master. In medieval times, people would use falcons or hawks to track down animals at ground level. In this image, however, the falcon has gotten itself lost by flying too far away, which we can read as a reference to the collapse of traditional social arrangements in Europe at the time Yeats was writing. In the fourth line, the poem abruptly shifts into a description of "anarchy" and an orgy of violence in which "the ceremony of innocence is drowned." The speaker laments that only bad people seem to have any enthusiasm nowadays. At line 9, the second stanza of the poem begins by setting up a new vision. The speaker takes the violence which has engulfed society as a sign that "the Second Coming is at hand." He imagines a sphinx in the desert, and we are meant to think that this mythical animal, rather than Christ, is what is coming to fulfill the prophecy from the Biblical Book of Revelation. At line 18, the vision ends as "darkness drops again," but the speaker remains troubled. Finally, at the end of the poem, the speaker asks a rhetorical question which really amounts to a prophecy that the beast is on its way to Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christ, to be born into the world.

The Wild Swans at Coole

Author: William Butler Yeats Era: Modern Summary: The speaker describes seeing fifty-nine swans swimming at twilight on a gorgeous October evening. Apparently, he's been watching these swans for 19 years. And while he's watching, they all take flight in a big flurry-hurry. As it turns out, this kind of breaks this poor young guy's heart. That's because his life has changed so much since the first time he saw these swans. The swans on the other hand, haven't changed much at all. They haven't grown old, and they still go where they please. But in his heart, the speaker knows these swans won't be around forever, and he wonders where exactly they'll be hangin' when he wakes up to find that they've finally ditched him for greener pastures (or clearer waters, as the case may be).

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

Author: William Butler Yeats Era: Modern Summary: The speaker says he's going to go to Innisfree to build a small, simple cabin. There, he will have nine bean-rows and a beehive, and live alone in the glade loud with the sound of bees ("the bee-loud glade"). He wants to live alone in peace with nature and the slow pace of country living. In the last stanza, the speaker restates that he's leaving and explains it's because every night he hears the water lapping against the shore (of Innisfree). Even though he lives in a more urban place with paved roads, deep down inside he's drawn to the rural sounds of Innisfree. It's all about rustling trees, not bustling buses for this speaker.

Preface to Lyrical Ballads

Author: William Wordsworth Era: Romantic Summary: In the Preface, Wordsworth proposes that poetry should be written in the voice of the ordinary person. In other words, poetry should be natural, not artificial. Wordsworth says that poetry should be imaginative and dramatize simple things. It should present things in an unusual or interesting way. Romantic Elements: Making something uninteresting interesting

Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey

Author: William Wordsworth Era: Romantic Summary: The poem opens with the poet visiting a place called Tintern Abbey on the banks of the River Wye in southeast Wales. He's visited it before, but not for five years. He remembers almost every detail: the sound of the "mountain-springs," "this dark sycamore," and the "hedge-rows." He looks back on the past five years that have gone by since his first visit to the place, and remembers how much the memory of this scene meant to him when he was cooped up in the city. In fact, he practically relied on his memories of the beauty of the place to keep him sane while he was living in "the din/ Of towns and cities" (25-6). Now that he's finally back in the same spot again, he finds himself looking out at the landscape and experiencing an odd combination of his present impressions, the memory of what he felt before, and the thought of how he'll look back on this moment in the future. He imagines that he'll change as time goes by from what he was during his first visit: a kid with a whole lot of energy to "boun[d] o'er the mountains" (68). Back in the day, nature meant everything to him. Now, though, he's learned how to look at nature with a broader perspective on life. He doesn't just look and say, "Holy cow, the view from up here is pretty awesome!" and then run "bound[ing] o'er the mountains" again. In other words, he used to enjoy nature, but he didn't fully understand it. Now he looks and is able to sense a deeper, wider meaning to the beauty in nature. He sees that everything in nature is interconnected. It turns out Wordsworth's sister is with him during his present tour of the area, and he says that she still looks at nature in the same way that he did when he was a kid. He imagines how his sister will go through the same development and transformation that he did. One day she'll be able to look out at nature and imagine the interconnectedness of things, too. Then he imagines her coming back to the same spot years in the future, after he's dead, and remembering the time she came here with her brother. Romantic Elements: Romantic because he says how beautiful nature is and makes something that could be short, long (via emotion).

The World is Too Much With Us

Author: William Wordsworth Era: Romantic Summary: The speaker complains that "the world" is too overwhelming for us to appreciate it. We're so concerned about time and money that we use up all our energy. People want to accumulate stuff, so they see nothing in Nature that they can "own." According to the speaker, we've sold our souls. We should be able to appreciate beautiful events like the moon shining over the ocean and the blowing of strong winds, but it's like we're on a different wavelength from Nature. We're kind of like, "Eh." The speaker would rather be a pagan who worships an outdated religion so that when he gazes out on the ocean (as he's doing now), he might feel less sad. If he were a pagan, he'd see wild mythological gods like Proteus, who can take many shapes, and Triton, who looks like a mer-man.

Composed Upon Westminster Bridge

Author: William Wordsworth Era: Romantic Summary: The speaker declares that he has found the most beautiful scene on earth. You'd have to be someone with no spiritual sense, no taste for beauty, to pass over the Westminster Bridge that morning without stopping to marvel at the sights. London is wearing the morning's beauty like a fine shirt or cape. London, you're lookin' good. The time is so early that all is quiet. The various landmarks visible from the bridge, including St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London, stand before him in all their grandeur in the morning light. Fortunately, there happens to be no "London fog" to obscure the view. The speaker compares the sunlight on the buildings to the light that shines on the countryside, and he seems surprised to feel more at peace in the bustling city than he has anywhere else. The River Thames moves slowly beneath him. In a burst of emotion, he pictures the city as blissfully asleep before another busy day. Romantic Elements: - Heroic individual - Romantic because he makes the uninteresting, interesting. Finds beauty in a mundane city

What poetic device is used in lines two and three in Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind"? O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being, Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing, Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red, Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O thou, Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed The winged seeds, where they lie cold and low, Each like a corpse within its grave, until Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow Her clarion o'er the dreaming earth, and fill (Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air) With living hues and odours plain and hill: Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere; Destroyer and preserver; hear, oh hear!

Enjambment

In canto 75 of Tennyson's "In Memoriam," what can be determined about the speaker's religious views? I leave thy praises unexpress'd In verse that brings myself relief, And by the measure of my grief I leave thy greatness to be guess'd; What practice howsoe'er expert In fitting aptest words to things, Or voice the richest-toned that sings, Hath power to give thee as thou wert? I care not in these fading days To raise a cry that lasts not long, And round thee with the breeze of song To stir a little dust of praise. Thy leaf has perish'd in the green, And, while we breathe beneath the sun, The world which credits what is done Is cold to all that might have been. So here shall silence guard thy fame; But somewhere, out of human view, Whate'er thy hands are set to do Is wrought with tumult of acclaim.

He believes in an afterlife

How does Thomas Hardy's "The Darkling Thrush," display how Victorian writing strayed from ideals that were popular during the Romantic period?

He describes nature in a gloomy and depressed manner

In Rudyard Kipling's "The Mark of the Beast," what does Fleete do to spark the conflict of the story and display how Victorians looked down upon the cultures of the people they traded with?

He extinguishes his cigar on a religious statue of the locals

In Milton's "Paradise Lost," why is Satan content to remain in Hell?

He feels he is free in Hell and serves no one

In Robert Browning's "Porphyria's Lover," what explanation does the speaker offer to justify the murder of his lover?

He feels that her love for him gives him ownership of her, and this way, he is always her only love

What was the mistake that set all of the mariner's problems in motion in Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"?

He killed an albatross

In the textbook's excerpt from "Oroonoko," after the Prince ends the hunger strike among the slaves, in what way does the captain fail to live up to his end of his deal with the Prince?

He sells them as slaves anyways

What is Alexander Pope's claim about humans in "An Essay on Man"?

Humans have a mix of conflicting traits

What romantic element DOES NOT exist in the following excerpt from Coleridge's "Kubla Khan"? A damsel with a dulcimer In a vision once I saw: It was an Abyssinian maid And on her dulcimer she played, Singing of Mount Abora. Could I revive within me Her symphony and song, To such a deep delight 'twould win me, That with music loud and long, I would build that dome in air, That sunny dome! those caves of ice! And all who heard should see them there, And all should cry, Beware! Beware! His flashing eyes, his floating hair! Weave a circle round him thrice, And close your eyes with holy dread For he on honey-dew hath fed, And drunk the milk of Paradise.

Inner struggles of people

How is "Ozymandias" romantic?

It expresses how the powerful fall and are forgotten

Which selection from Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" conveys typical Victorian ideals that starkly contrast previous Romantic sentiments? Dover Beach Related Poem Content Details BY MATTHEW ARNOLD The sea is calm tonight. The tide is full, the moon lies fair Upon the straits; on the French coast the light Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand, Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay. (5) Come to the window, sweet is the night-air! Only, from the long line of spray Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land, Listen! you hear the grating roar Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling, (10) At their return, up the high strand, Begin, and cease, and then again begin, With tremulous cadence slow, and bring The eternal note of sadness in. Sophocles long ago (15) Heard it on the Ægean, and it brought Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow Of human misery; we Find also in the sound a thought, Hearing it by this distant northern sea. (20) The Sea of Faith Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled. But now I only hear Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar, (25) Retreating, to the breath Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear And naked shingles of the world. Ah, love, let us be true To one another! for the world, which seems (30) To lie before us like a land of dreams, So various, so beautiful, so new, Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; And we are here as on a darkling plain (35) Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, Where ignorant armies clash by night.

Lines 33-34

In Milton's "When I consider how my light is spent," what motivation does the narrator identify for writing this poem?

Losing his vision

Citations

Parenthetical citation format: (Author's Name Page #) In a bibliographical citation, the elements should be listed in the following order: 1. Author Begin the entry with the author's last name, followed by a comma and the rest of the name, as presented in the work. End this element with a period. 2. Title of source Books and websites in italics Periodical (journal, magazine, newspaper article) and song or piece of music in quotation marks 3. Title of container Website title or tv series title It is italicized 4. Other contributors Editors, illustrators, translators, etc. 5. Version If a source is listed as an edition or version of a work, include it in your citation. 6. Number If a source is part of a numbered sequence, such as a multi-volume book, or journal with both volume and issue numbers, those numbers must be listed in your citation. 7. Publisher The publisher produces or distributes the source to the public. If there is more than one publisher, and they are all are relevant to your research, list them in your citation, separated by a forward slash (/). 8. Publication date 9. Location Optional elements 1. Date of original publication 2. City of publication 3. Date of access 4. URLs 5. DOIs

At one point in Rudyard Kipling's "The Mark of the Beast," the author displays the Victorian trait of repressing aspects of life citizens would have found unpleasant when he writes, "Strickland shaded his eyes and we got to work. This part is not to be printed." What unpleasantness in the story is Kipling omitting?

Strickland and the speaker torture the leper

What glaring difference exists between the Ulysses in "Ulysses" and the Lady of Shalott in "The Lady of Shalott"?

The Lady of Shalott is imprisoned while Ulysses is an adventurer

In Milton's "When I consider how my light is spent," what is the narrator mourning that he has lost?

The ability to write

In Margaret Cavendish's "To All Writing Ladies," why does the author believe women must hurry to produce writing in order to be remembered?

The current age is good for women, but conditions may shift away from this.

What is being satirized in the following passage from Gulliver's Travels? That the largest balls thus discharged, would not only destroy whole ranks of an army at once, but batter the strongest walls to the ground, sink down ships, with a thousand men in each, to the bottom of the sea, and when linked together by a chain, would cut through masts and rigging, divide hundreds of bodies in the middle, and lay all waste before them. That we often put this powder into large hollow balls of iron, and discharged them by an engine into some city we were besieging, which would rip up the pavements, tear the houses to pieces, burst and throw splinters on every side, dashing out the brains of all who came near. That I knew the ingredients very well, which were cheap and common; I understood the manner of compounding them, and could direct his workmen how to make those tubes, of a size proportionable to all other things in his majesty's kingdom, and the largest need not be above a hundred feet long; twenty or thirty of which tubes, charged with the proper quantity of powder and balls, would batter down the walls of the strongest town in his dominions in a few hours, or destroy the whole metropolis, if ever it should pretend to dispute his absolute commands.

The destruction gunpowder causes

In "Ode to a Skylark", why is the poet jealous of the skylark's song? Hail to thee, blithe Spirit! Bird thou never wert, That from Heaven, or near it, Pourest thy full heart In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.

The skylark's art is natural while the poet's art is a product of much thought

How do the metaphysical works discussed in class differ from the cavalier works?

There is less emphasis on enjoying worldly pleasures

Background Information of the Victorian Era

• Impact of new scientific and technological advancements. *Industrial Revolution* - Causes rapid population growth - Middle class increases - Great Britain is first country to benefit from Industrial Revolution, making them able to trade and manufacture a ton, developing a large Navy and merchant fleet - By the end of the 1800s, British Empire holds territories on every continent - Becomes the wealthiest country • Evangelical movement and its impact on values. - Emphasized "a Protestant faith in personal salvation through God and living according to a strict moral code" (778). - Charity work/organizations increases (Salvation Army, YMCA). • Social Darwinism - Herbert Spencer applies Darwin's findings to people, creating Social Darwinism *Social Darwinism argued that the strongest and fittest people should survive and thrive in society, while the weak and unfit should be left to die*. Favored laissez-faire. *Many use this to justify inequalities based on race, ethnicity, economic/social class, and gender • How is the tone and message of many Victorian selections different from Romantic works? - Women had more freedom - Shift away from Romantic's passion