Chapter 27 - English Literature

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1 Chapter 27 - English Literature Charles Dickens It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us From A Tale of Two Cities By Charles Dickens Determination is a recurring theme in many English novels. Louis Pasteur confided Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity. Charles Dickens life conveyed the same message. He wrote about the life of crushing poverty in a newly industrialized society, something he had experienced firsthand. When Dickens was young, his father was put in debtor s prison and he himself worked in a label factory, which qualified him to write about the life of poverty in the newly industrialized society. However, focus and self-education, his career as a writer took off. As Dickens popularity grew, so did the length of his novels. Some of his novels were long and contained many different characters because he was paid by the word and his stories were serialized in magazines. His novels included David Copperfield, Sketches by Boz, the Picwick Papers, A Christmas Carol, Nicholas Nickleby, Great Expectations, Oliver twist, The Old Curiosity Shop, Hard Times, and A Tale of Two Cities. To read Charles Dickens is to become acquainted with yourself. 1

2 Gerard Manley Hopkins The Grandeur of God The world is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod? Generations have trod, have trod, have trod; And all is seared with trade; Bleared, smeared with toil; And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod. And for all this, nature is never spent; There lives the dearest freshness deep down things; And though the last lights off the black West went Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs-- Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings. The boldness of Gerard Manley Hopkins shines through his poetry. He wrote God s Grandeur during the year that he became an ordained priest. The line that best summarizes the theme of this poem would be The world is charged with the grandeur of God. / Why do men then now not reck his rod? Some may suggest the question raised in line four is that the speaker is asking why, considering the omnipotence of God, we do not heed His word. Lines five through eight indicate that humankind has trod on and smeared God s grandeur in nature. But line nine indicates that in spite of our actions, His grandeur is undiminished since nature is never spent. 2

3 A. E. Housman To an Athlete Dying Young The time you won your town the race We chaired you through the market-place; Man and boy stood cheering by, And home we brought you shoulder-high. To-day, the road all runners come, Shoulder high-high we bring you home, And set you at your threshold down, Townsman of a stiller town. Smart lad, to slip betimes away From fields where glory does not stay And early though the laurel grows It whithers quicker than the rose. Eyes the shady night has shut Cannot see the record cut, And silence sounds no worse than cheers After earth has stopped the ears: Now you will not swell the rout of lads that wore their honours out, Runners whom renown outran And the name died before the man. So set, before its echos fade, The fleet foot on the sill of shade, And hold to the low lintel up The still-defended challenge-cup. And round that early-laurelled head Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead, And find unwithered on its curls The garland briefer than a girl's. 3

4 The sympathetic emotions that rise up from our reading of poetry result from us seeing ourselves in that living mirror of life. The theme of To an Athlete Dying Young could be described as the poignancy of early death. The main character is a runner and his main accomplishment is that he has won a race for his town. The occasion for the poem is that the runner has died and is being carried to his grave. The speaker s tone and what seems to be his true feelings toward this happening are melancholy yet resolved. In lines 9-20 the speaker assumes that in later years the athlete s record would have been broken and his glory would have faded anyway. This assumption is based on the evidence that this often happens to athletes as they grow older. The speaker s attitude about fame is apparently one of distrust. When I Was One-And-Twenty By A. E. Housman WHEN I was one-and-twenty I heard a wise man say, "Give crowns and pounds and guineas But not your heart away; Give pearls away and rubies But keep your fancy free." But I was one-and-twenty, No use to talk to me. When I was one-and-twenty I heard him say again, "The heart out of the bosom Was never given in vain; 'Tis paid with sighs a-plenty And sold for endless rue." And I am two-and-twenty, And oh, 'tis true, 'tis true. 4

5 A. E. Housman also wrote the poems When I was One-and- Twenty and Loveliest of Trees. The central theme of When I was Oneand-Twenty is the self-importance of youth while the theme of Loveliest of Trees is savoring life s fleeting joys. In When I was Oneand-Twenty the speaker says he heard a wise man say to give away money and jewels but not his heart. According to lines 7-8 the speaker ignored the advice. In the last line the speaker comments that he now realizes that the wise man gave good advice. What could have changed the speaker s mind is that the speaker could have been hurt in love. You might wonder how deeply A. E. Housman was wounded in just this very way. "Loveliest of Trees" By A. E. Housman LOVELIEST of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough, And stands about the woodland ride Wearing white for Eastertide. Now, of my threescore years and ten, Twenty will not come again, And take from seventy springs a score, It only leaves me fifty more. And since to look at things in bloom Fifty springs are little room, About the woodlands I will go To see the cherry hung with snow. The speaker in Loveliest of Trees decided to watch the cherry tree in bloom because he wanted to enjoy each moment fully. All three poems by Housman reveal a preoccupation with the passage of time. 5

6 The Rossettis Silent Noon By Dante Gabriel Rossetti Your hands lie open in the long fresh grass,-- The finger-points look through like rosy blooms: Your eyes smile peace. The pasture gleams and glooms 'Neath billowing skies that scatter and amass. All round our nest, far as the eye can pass, Are golden kingcup-fields with silver edge Where the cow-parsley skirts the hawthorn-hedge. 'Tis visible silence, still as the hour-glass. Deep in the sun-search'd growths the dragon-fiy Hangs like a blue thread loosen'd from the sky:-- So this wing'd hour is dropt to us from above. Oh! clasp we to our hearts, for deathless dower, This close-companion'd inarticulate hour When twofold silence was the song of love. More often than not, when parents firmly believe in something, they teach their children to share the same passion they have for it. In the Rossetti household, the parents were lovers of literature and the arts. For this reason, Dante Rossetti and Christina Rossetti were dedicated writers and fans of the arts in general. One of Dante Rossetti s works is Silent Noon. The central message of this is that some emotions are too deep for words. Believed by some to be the greatest woman poet, and the female Shakespeare of poetry, Christina Rossetti wrote five collections of verse along with other books of poems. 6

7 A Birthday By Christina Rossetti My heart is like a singing bird Whose nest is in a water'd shoot; My heart is like an apple-tree Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit; My heart is like a rainbow shell That paddles in a halcyon sea; My heart is gladder than all these Because my love is come to me. Raise me a dais of silk and down; Hang it with vair and purple dyes; Carve it in doves and pomegranates, And peacocks with a hundred eyes; Work it in gold and silver grapes, In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys; Because the birthday of my life Is come, my love is come to me. After reading this poem, your heart may feel like singing. In the first stanza a singing bird, an apple tree, and a rainbow shell are compared to the speaker s heart. The image of a rainbow shell paints images of an excited heart paddling in the water of life (blood). She feels as she does because her love has come to her. In the second stanza, the birthday of my life has arrived and the speaker asks for an elaborate dais. The image in the poem that appeals primarily to the sense of touch is a dais of silk and down. This poem s theme is the regenerative power of love. 7

8 Recessional By Rudyard Kipling GOD of our fathers, known of old Lord of our far-flung battle-line Beneath whose awful Hand we hold Dominion over palm and pine Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest we forget, lest we forget! The tumult and the shouting dies The captains and the kings depart Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice, An humble and a contrite heart. Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest we forget, lest we forget! Far-call'd our navies melt away On dune and headland sinks the fire Lo, all our pomp of yesterday Is one with Nineveh and Tyre! Judge of the Nations, spare us yet, Lest we forget, lest we forget! If, drunk with sight of power, we loose Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe Such boasting as the Gentiles use Or lesser breeds without the Law Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest we forget, lest we forget! For heathen heart that puts her trust In reeking tube and iron shard All valiant dust that builds on dust, And guarding calls not Thee to guard For frantic boast and foolish word, Thy Mercy on Thy People, Lord! 8

9 Born a few decades after the Rossetti s is Rudyard Kipling. He is the masterful artist of several children s classics such as The Jungle Books, Captains Courageous, and Kim. He also wrote poetry. The central idea of the poem Recessional is the potential abuses of imperial power. His refrain, lest we forget, reinforces the idea of caution. Our pomp of yesterday as lines suggest, ultimately crumbles into either nothingness or obscurity, as did the ancient capitals. The speaker begs for the mercy of God on his people in the last line. Thomas Hardy The Three Strangers A setting is a time and place in which events in a story occur. The setting of The Three Strangers, by Thomas Hardy takes place at night in a poor shepherd s cottage. It s storming outside. The first stranger is about forty years old, gaunt, 5 8 tall dressed in a black coat. The second stranger is several years older with frosted hair, bristly eyebrows and whiskers; his face is full and flabby with a nose marked by grog blossoms; he wears a cinder-gray suit and a greatcoat. Shepherd Fennel assumes the third stranger to be the sheep stealer because of the terrified look on his face when he discovers who the hangman is. A central idea of The Three Strangers is the role of fate in human justice. Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave? Another one of Hardy s works is Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave? In the first stanza we find that the dead woman suspects her 9

10 widower is digging on her grave. In the second stanza, she believes it is her relatives, and in the third her enemy, while in fact the digger is her dog! The woman responds that a dog is more loyal than any human. But the reason the dog gave for disturbing her grave is that it was burying a bone and quite forgot that this was his mistress s grave sight. Whoops! The point about human vanity and self-esteem that Hardy is trying to make is that people are never as important as they think they are. This reminds us of the old joke that the quickest way to make a profit is to buy a man for what he is worth, and sell him for what he thinks he s worth! Another Hardy website for the ambitious is: The Thomas Hardy Association There is luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves, we feel no one else has a right to blame us. Oscar Wilde As we are getting close to the end of our English Literature course, and hopefully this is only the beginning of a happily ever after status with you and the authors. Oscar Wilde is outrageous The Importance of Being Earnest - is a must read, must see. Perhaps the greatest compliment you could pay Hardy, Shakespeare, Shelley, and Wilde would be to create a poem, short story, or play of your own. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. Use their works to pattern your creation. The first step might be poems of appreciation to Mom, Dad, or friends who may never have had a poem dedicated to them. (How many poems of appreciation have you received lately?) Until next time 10

The Second Coming. William Butler Yeats, 1921

The Second Coming. William Butler Yeats, 1921 The Second Coming William Butler Yeats, 1921 Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,