Poem #1

I chose to use the same poem that I used for my paper because it has some very Romantic traits that would be worthwhile for the class to see.

"To the Lake" By Edgar Allen Poe

In spring of youth it was my lot
To haunt of the wide world a spot
The which I could not love the less-
So lovely was the loneliness
Of a wild lake, with black rock bound,
And the tall pines that towered around.

But when the Night had thrown her pall
Upon that spot, as upon all,
And the mystic wind went by
Murmuring in melody-
Then–ah then I would awake
To the terror of the lone lake.

Yet that terror was not fright,
But a tremulous delight-
A feeling not the jewelled mine
Could teach or bribe me to define-
Nor Love–although the Love were thine.
Death was in that poisonous wave,

And in its gulf a fitting grave
For him who thence could solace bring
To his lone imagining-
Whose solitary soul could make
An Eden of that dim lake.

The poem is about a man who gets enjoyment out of finding beautiful places in nature. Two of the most visible Romantic traits in this particular poem are the connection between man and nature and the individualism in which the speaker portrays.

The speaker is obviously infatuated with this lake. There is a strong connection between this place in nature and the speaker which becomes evident when he refers to the night as a woman in line 7. It seems as though the speaker is attracted to this place as a man is attracted to a woman, and vise verse.

Individualism is also very apparent in this poem as the speaker talks about how lovely the loneliness is in line 4. He would rather be alone with nature than a part of society, which is a very strong characteristic of the Romantics. Furthermore, he states that this place would be a perfect place to die. The speaker doesn't want to die while in society, but out in nature all alone.

Poem #2

"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth

I WANDERED lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze

There is an obvious connection with nature in this poem, as a part of nature is mentioned in every line exept line 4. Right away I noticed individualism in that the speaker is out in nature and sees a crowd of people. Wordsworth then leaves it up to the reader to fill in the ending. What action does the speaker take when he sees the crowd of people? Does he approach the people or stay with nature? Knowing that Wordsworth is a Romantic I would say that the speaker remains with nature because Romantics tend to shy away from society while enjoying being alone with nature.

Ch. 13 The Enlightenment

John Locke

John Locke saw property in both a broad and narrow image. The broad concerned the individual interest and aspirations, while the narrow concerned material goods. Locke stressed that property is a right and obtained by labor. By this he means that nothing in life comes free and everything worthwhile take some work, which I agree with. He also believed that owning unused property was an insult to nature.

Locke concerning the self stressed an empty mind that is formed by experience. He says that our sensations and reflections create all of our ideas. For example, an individual must have a sensation to do something. Once that person does it they reflect on the experience and create ideas from it.

Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke was a supporter to the American Revolution but opposed to the French Revolution. He firmly believed in maintaining the status quo, or gradual change, by avoiding large radical changes to a society.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft was an early feminist who strived to be "the first of a new genus" by deciding to become an author even though it was very hard for a woman to make a living in that profession at that time. In 1792 she wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Here she discussed her views in that men are not superior to women naturally. What separates the two sexes, she says, is a lack of educational opportunities for women. This obviously would have caused an uproar because this type of thing was unheard of in her time. Wollstonecraft was a very brave woman who is well respected for her impact on feminism.

Sidney and Prufrock

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock talks of a man's sexual and social difficulties and his inability to act upon what he wants, which in this case is women. Eliot is quick to point out the decaying phisical features of his character: "His arms and legs are thin" (44) and "his hair is growing thin." (41) The man in the poem wants to talk to the women but he does not "after tea and cakes and ices have the strength to force the moment into crisis," (79-80) or to talk to a woman. The man's intimidation of women continues in that they are "mermaids singing, each to each, I do not think that they will sing to me," (124-125) a clear sign that the man shows a lack of confidence towards the opposite sex.



Im not sure that this poem would work for Sir Philip Sidney. The poem is full of dark simbolism in nature and other things which Sindney points to. However, Sidney believed " that man is made in the image of God is most profoundly expressed in man's replication, on a lower level, of God's function as a creator." If man is made in the image of God, or a replica, then why does Prufrock lack confidence towards the opposite sex, or in society in general, and focus on his physical flaws?

The Later Middle Ages

The Later Middle Ages is best associated with the theory of scholasticism, which was largely based on Aristotelianism. At this time a widespread focus to took place on the education system with the rise of universities. These universities focused on a broader system of education, including grammar, rhetoric, dialect, mathematics, arts, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. Men like Boethius, Peter Abelord, and Anselm of Canterbury helped spread the movement of scholasticism throughout the later middle ages.

Peotry at this time was most apparent in the Grammar curriculum. The text states that there was three charactistic types of treatise. The first being commentary, the second, ars metrica, and the third, accessus, which included the prologue to an author.

The Early Middle Ages

Everything was controlled by the Church in the Middle Ages. The text states that the Christian Church was the "official mentor" during this time (153). Neo-Platonism thinking was still present at this time along with the very similar "Christian tradition of allegorical interpretation" (155). The Early Middle ages were a time of disease, poverty, and illiteracy. Because of this people started seeing life as worthless and began preparing for the after life, using their current life as a way to get there.

Generally the philosiphers of this time agreed with Plato's criticism to art, in that is it a false image of the truth. Also like Plato, they believed that art could "distract a man from his righteous path" (155)

St. Augustine is responsible for many of the happenings during the Early Middle Ages. Augustine believed that it is the original sin, cause by a man's self love, that is responsible for man's departure from God.

Instances of Sublimity

Longinus describes sublimity as being moved or obtaining a higher feeling.

I have had a couple occurances of the sublime in my life, one happening just this last summer. I was working on a remodel on the outskirts of Bellevue, a very nice city neighboring Seattle. It was my first day on this particular job. I remember walking out on the back porch of the house, a porch that stood on the second story, and seeing the most amazing view i had every seen. Off in the distance I saw Lake Union and the surrounding banks covered in evergreen trees. On the right I saw the Bellevue skyline and on the left, the Seattle skyline. It was a beautiful day outside, without a cloud in sight. I remember just standing there staring at the view. It must have been at least a couple of minutes before i realized that I was supposed to working, not looking at the view. I now realize that I was in a state of sublimity at that time.

Another instance of sublimity I have had occured in the summer of '04. I was playing summerball for Snohomish and pitched against the Washington Wave, a pretty good ball club. I remember that I had everything going that day. I ended up throwing a no-hitter, just one hit batsman away from a perfect game. The funny thing is is that I didn't even realize I had throw a no-hitter until someone told me. I think it was the feeling of sublimity that made me not realize how well I was pitching that day.

Driving around the logging roads Levenworth...it's beatiful out there.

Set it Off by Audioslave: the song makes me feel good everytime I hear it

Beating Cascade in football on Homecoming Senior year. Cascade was good that year and we were pretty bad. But, we worked hard all week during practice and it paid off. I'll never forget the feeling I had when we won.

Longinus

Throughout the chapter the author refers to the fact that Longinus greatly stressed the sublime and giving the audience or reader a sublime feeling. He says "we can control our reasoning but the sublime exerts a power which we cannot resist," meaning that if the audience is presented with a feeling of sublimity they will be interested in the literature that is being presented which will stick with them forever. Furthermore, Longinus argues that it is one thing to be a skillfull writer but sublimity hits the audience like "a bolt of lightning," which will adds power to the speaker.