Reasons for Attendance

I thought "Reasons for Attendance was an interesting poem. The poem appears to be about a guy who is contemplating to go into a dance hall with "dancers-all under twenty-five" or not. I thought the phrase "on the beat of happiness" because it was a great way to combine the music playing with the emotions and actions of the young couples dancing. I found the space in between the second and third stanza's interesting because there is no punctuation at the end of the second stanza. The sentence carries from the end of the second stanza through the begining the third stanza without a comma or period or anything. The division of stanza's in this poem are interesting because each stanza does not have a certain subject, time or space or rhyme pattern, just 5 lines to each stanza with the same thought dragging throughout. My favorite part of the poem is the last stanza where he states "Therefore I stay outside.....they maul to and fro...both are satisfied...if no one has misjudged himself." I liked how this is the conclusion of his thought, which is what the poem is a persons internal debate to go and dance or stay outside and watch. I do not know why the poet uses "himself" instead of "themselves" because it is clear he is talking about "they" implying couples or youth in general (people inside dancing).

John Donne, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”

I thought this poem was a beautiful way to express parting from a loved one and the loss that accompanies it. The second stanza stuck out to me and set the tone for the rest of my reading. Donne shows here that he is romanticizing the idea that he and his lover should not tell other outside their love about it, that doing so would defile their love. “‘Twere profanation of our joys/To tell laity our love." These last two lines of the second stanza stand apart from the rest of Donne's poem where he and his lover feel a higher love that will always connect them and lead Donne back to his lover. This left me wondering, why is mourning so disrespectful to their love?

Becaus I Could Not Stop For Death

I have read this poem by Emily Dickinson before, and everytime it strikes me simply because of the nature of the poem when in comparison with the life of the author. Obviously the speaker is a woman, it is possible that this woman was considered passive agressive suicidal due to the first line with "Because I could not stop for death", or possibly at an older age and waiitng for death to come to her. In addition there is no concept of after-life to which the speaker retires but rather just a stateless non-existent. An idea which is rather depressing for the very fact that it lacks any faith or questioning on some form of existence after life, such acceptance of bland endlessness is unique. I found it important how the narrator described the common society around her as the scenes she is passing by, if this poem was based on the pysche of Emily Dickinson, these would be astonishing and important scenes to her, as throughout her lifetime she never/rarely ventured outside of her home. Does anyone know if this a more autobiographical work?

More on 'Disabled'

After class I was still caught by the line that we were discussing at the end of class, the three line stanza where the issue was whether or not it was comedic.

"Some cheered him home, but now as crowds cheer Goal.
Only a solemn man who brought him fruits
Thanked him; and then inquired about his soul."

The image that came up with this, as I believe Sofia mentioned, is possibly that a priest is doing rounds on the wounded soldiers and wishing them well, most likely before they die.

I'm aided by a bit of background information - I read this article in my history class last semester, where it concerned what exactly the soldiers wanted who returned from the front. What is more unique about this soldier was that he was so young, and he will die so young as well. But it seemed that each soldier, when they returned from the horrors of the front, wanted a more gender-traditional female to take care of them and nurse them back to health. Instead they found more modern women, women who dressed like men and sadly for them, few women who filled out the image that they dreamed of while they were fighting and losing comrades in the trenches. In this particular situation, where "he noticed how the women's eyes/ Passed from him to the strong men that were whole", these women are not described as being more modern, but they still ignore him.

This is supposed to get back to the idea that the gratitude given to him by the priest, or simply well-wisher, is what he wants and that there isn't anything comedic about it.

"Because I could not stop for Death" notes

To me, this poem was about the inevitably of death and the eternity that comes with it. There is only one period in the whole poem and it lyes at the end of the first stanza. I believe this signifies the end of the speakers life and the start of a new beginning. Death is the new beginning while the lack of periods and presence of dashes signifies how death is infinite. The words with capitol letters imply significance, although i could not decipher the meaning for all of them. In the fourth stanza the words "Gossamer", "Gown", "Tippet", and "Tulle" all imply the absence of a shield from the "chill" of death. In the fifth stanza, the words "Ground", "Roof", and "Cornice" relate to a coffin.

Herbert's poem, "The Collar"

Herbert’s poem; “The Collar” is set up to reveal religious meaning through the last lines. For example, the ending lines, “Methought I heard one calling, Child!” “and I replied, My Lord” reveal the religious context of the work. The word “Child” suggests that the “I” in the poem is a “child’ of the “Lord.” The parting phrases of the poem enable the other lines and details to become cohesive. For instance, the title, “the collar” becomes symbolic of perhaps a Clergyman’s attire. However, the collar is ambiguous because it also symbolizes an actual collar that restrains (like a dog collar). The “I” in the poem jumps from line to line questioning being “free” from the restraints of this “collar” yet the parting lines of the poem serve to lasso the “I” back into the chokehold of the “collar.” Herbert’s language throughout the work suggests a sense of captivity with the words, “cage,” “rope,” and “tie.” I think the poem is about a man wavering about his faith and servitude towards God. The man questions freedom in juxtaposition with the “suit(ing) and serv(ing) of God.” Ultimately he is pulled back by the “calling” of God, which ends the “raving” of the man, just as the poem ends as well.

Study notes for "Reasons for Attendance" and "Sestina"

I just posted study notes for Larkin's "Reasons for Attendance" (515) and Bishop's "Sestina" (392). Be sure to read them before class -- and don't forget to post something on the blog!