Mixed Emotions, Love, and Misunderstanding
I am torn with poetry. Sometimes I love it! Other times I hate it, and the very thought of it frustrates me. When I was reading Blake's poems, I had a mix of emotions because some of them just seemed so plain and without much depth. I'm not saying a poem has to be sad to have depth, though. Even a wonderfully passionate poem of love and joy can have the depth of a sorrow poem.
So, I didn't enjoy Blake's poems as much as some others I have read prior, but there were a few that made me think twice. My favorite ones were "The Lamb" and "A Cradle Song" (the first one 'p.15" on page 5). "A Cradle Song" was beautiful to me. The mother here is one I hope to be in every aspect of my life. She begins adoring her sweet child, and then she turns in focusing on God and Jesus' love for us in every way. I just personally love this poem so much.
In contrast to the prior, there are definitely poems that I believe have a deeper meaning or metaphor that I simply cannot grasp such as in "The Little Girl Found" and the poems surrounding it paralleled in a way to the previous poems of the boy. Also, why in the world are there more than one poem with the same title? I do not know if this is normal for poetry, but it bothers me to no end.
Now when it comes to Wordsworth, I was hooked from the first poem. I definitely do not understand a lot of what is going on in his writings, but his complexity of words and punctuation and such is all very intriguing. I do not mean to put Wordsworth's poems on the same level as the Bible, but many times when I read something like this, I am reminded of the Old Testament. It can be so difficult to read sometimes, but the reward of finally understanding the context and relations while reading the Old Testament is so rewarding. It can be a treasure or a burden all depending on how you personally want to see it.
P.S. I commented on Sophia's and Michael's posts
So, I didn't enjoy Blake's poems as much as some others I have read prior, but there were a few that made me think twice. My favorite ones were "The Lamb" and "A Cradle Song" (the first one 'p.15" on page 5). "A Cradle Song" was beautiful to me. The mother here is one I hope to be in every aspect of my life. She begins adoring her sweet child, and then she turns in focusing on God and Jesus' love for us in every way. I just personally love this poem so much.
In contrast to the prior, there are definitely poems that I believe have a deeper meaning or metaphor that I simply cannot grasp such as in "The Little Girl Found" and the poems surrounding it paralleled in a way to the previous poems of the boy. Also, why in the world are there more than one poem with the same title? I do not know if this is normal for poetry, but it bothers me to no end.
Now when it comes to Wordsworth, I was hooked from the first poem. I definitely do not understand a lot of what is going on in his writings, but his complexity of words and punctuation and such is all very intriguing. I do not mean to put Wordsworth's poems on the same level as the Bible, but many times when I read something like this, I am reminded of the Old Testament. It can be so difficult to read sometimes, but the reward of finally understanding the context and relations while reading the Old Testament is so rewarding. It can be a treasure or a burden all depending on how you personally want to see it.
P.S. I commented on Sophia's and Michael's posts
The reason Blake had many poems with the same name is because he was contrasting the same ideas from different perspectives. The first half of his poems are from the perspective of innocence, the second half are from experience, which is why most of them are darker than the ones in the first half. His goal was to show the different halves of human soul, so if you noticed a difference between the poems with the same titles, then you have the basic idea.
ReplyDeleteBlake's writings, I would contend, are written more for the layman and delivery of specific messages. Wordsworth writes more for the sake of the art and showing his emotion through the chosen art-form. I found some of Blake's work more humorous than anything, while Wordsworth led me into deep contemplation of the topics presented.
ReplyDelete"The little girl found" made me have a lump in my throat, in all honesty. It's really beautiful.
ReplyDeleteSlightly useless comment, but I find it funny that so many people in class are posting their love of Wordsworth, and all I can think of is how much W. H. Auden roasts him as a fellow poet. It is just slightly humorous to me. If you would like to read it, I'm sure the essay is available online.
ReplyDelete