"Expostulation and Reply" and "The Tables Turned"

The two poems for today both deal with the same theme of nature being the greatest teacher of all. In the first poem "Expostulation and Reply", Wordsworth's friend asked him why he sits on a stone by himself and says that it is a waste of time. Wordsworth reply is that it is not a waste of time. Rather sitting on the rock is helping him understand nature in a better way. The message that Wordsworth conveys from this poem is that you can learn a lot more from going out and examining the world, than what you can learn from reading a book. When you read a book to learn about things, the book does not convey the same feelings and emotions as actually visualizing something in person. In addition, the facts in books are set in stone and unchanging once they are published. Meanwhile, nature changes at every moment so you are able to learn more. we are constantly seeing, feeling, and experiencing nature all the time.

The second poem, "The Tables Turned", also is a reinforcement of the idea that nature is the greatest teacher of all. In the poem, the speaker tells his friend he needs to get up and go outside instead of reading books. Again we see the speaker saying that nature can teach a person more than books can. In this poem, there is a better description of mother nature. To emphasize, the speaker says that mother nature has an abundance of wealth and is ready to give her gifts to us. One of the strongest lines in the poem is "One impulse from a vernal wood may teach you more of man." This line resonates again the fact that nature can teach you a lot. It can teach you the difference between good and evil. All you have to do is sit back and watch.

Both of these poems were probably thought to be radical because they went against the ideas of the time. Before the Romantic Period, learning was probably more pertained to books and people probably weren't allowed that much creativity in their way of thinking. Wordsworth idea of nature being the greatest teacher goes against the structure of that time. Thinkers of the previous time would see Wordsworth's ideas as being very radical. But this poem helps to show what the Romantic Period's idea of thinking was about.

We Are Seven

This poem is one that I found to be very cute. Some may disagree with me and find it disturbing, but it depends on how one views life. to emphasize, the poem is about a little girl who is part of a family with seven children. Two are away at sea, two are at a seaport, and the other two have died and are buried in the church yard. She tells this to the narrator and he tries to argue that there are only five of them because two are dead. In lines 35-36, the narrator says "If two are in the church-yard laid, Then ye are only five." When the narrator says these lines, I interpret as the narrator not felling the emotional side to death. He reduces it to a simple case of subtraction. In my opinion this shows that he is not as deeply emotional about death as others may be.

The little girl in the story is unwilling to relent to the narrator and his idea that there are only five of them. In line 37 she says "Their graves are green, they may be seen." My interpretation of this line was that the little girl still views them as being alive in a way because the grass is green. Out of their deaths, new life is able to spring. So the little girl has the view that people never fully die and are still present with us in a way. Opinions on the little girl will vary from sweet to disturbing. This is interesting to me because this poem was written in the 1700s but the idea is still prevalent today. It is not uncommon to hear someone talk about a loved one as still being with them. They may not be there physically, but spiritually the loved one is looking over everyone.

Also, what I found cute about the little girl is that she is unwilling to give up what she believes in and stands up to the narrator. In line 64 shes says "O Master! we are seven." She says this very adamantly and even reiterates it at the end of the poem. The little girl is stubborn and no matter what the narrator says, the "we" is unbreakable in the little girls eye. No matter how much time passes and what happens, the little girl and her siblings will always be seven.

Goody Blake and Harry Gill

Although we have only read a few poems so far this semester, "Goody Blake and Harry Gill" has been my favorite thus far. First off, it is a true story and the events of the story still happens in modern times. So it is something that I can relate to. Also, the poem has a rhyming scheme that is easy to pick up because of the rhyming scheme. I am not sure what the name of the rhyming scheme is but for every four lines, the first and third rhyme with each other and the second and fourth rhyme with each other. Because of the rhyming scheme, it makes reading the poem easier and also exciting.

The poem does a good job of drawing the reader's attention with its use of words and how it is written. The poem does a good job of describing the characters on the bottom of page 59. One can see that Harry had rosy cheeks and a voice of three, which I think means he had a deep voice. Goody Blake was old and poor and very thin because of this. When it was cold, Goody Blake's bones would shake. Also, on page 61 near the bottom their is the use of dashes in the lines. This is when Harry hears a noise and knows it is Goody. The use of the dashes in the lines makes it stand out because their is a sense of excitement in the lines. It helps to build the suspense of the action.

One of the main reasons that I like the poem is because of the message behind it. Here we have a rich guy who is warm during the frigid months of winter. Then there is a poor old lady who struggles staying warm during the same time. She steals sticks from this guys hedge just so she can survive. He is against this and tries to catch her in the act and scorn her. But because he is the one unwilling to help out a lady stay warm, he is cursed for the rest of his life by being cold forever. There is a righteous element about this poem because the rich is not helping out the poor. It is similar to the parable from the bible about the beggar. Overall, I like the message the poem is trying to tell us: help out those who are less fortunate than us.

The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere

This week's poem was a poem that I really enjoyed because it was more of a narrative. It tells the story of a mariner that tells the tale of his journey to a guest at a wedding. When reading the poem, one can vividly picture different scenes. The poem can also be seen as a lesson not only for the characters in the narrative but also the readers. To clarify, the poem follows the adventure of the mariner as he goes through trials and tribulations until he is free in the end. But in the process of being free, he lost all of the men on the ship that was with him. This shows that he must suffer before he can be saved.  Readers can take this lesson away from the poem and see it in their own lives because it is very true. As a person goes through life, everyone will have to endure some kind of suffering or else they would not be human.

Additionally, the whole idea of suffering in the poem is related to the story of Jesus Christ. Jesus had to suffer for us on the cross and died because of our sins. Eventually, he was born again. Metaphorically, the mariner kind of goes through the same thing. He suffers after he shoots the albatross with having to suffer through thirst and his crew members dying. In the end he realizes what he has done and starts to have a more positive outlook. For example, the slimy things in the water become more beautiful to him. At the beginning of the poem, he saw them as just ugly slimy creatures. In the end, he sees their true beauty and blesses them. As he is praying the albatross falls from his neck and so does his guilt. Depending on a person's interpretation, the mariner is born again at this point and is free. This is how I came to interpret the poem.