Music and Cowper's poems

Several of Cowper's abolitionist poems were set to music borrowed from other poems and songs.

"The Negro's Complaint" was set to the tune of "Hosier's Ghost," which was a popular 18th century song with very specific historical and political content:

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Admiral_Hosier%27s_Ghost

As you can see, "Hosier's Ghost" adopted its music from another song, "Come and Listen to my Ditty, or the Sailor's Complaint":

http://erato.uvt.nl/files/imglnks/usimg/3/3c/IMSLP134000-WIMA.0b2c-sailor-watts.pdf

And the "Sailor's Complaint" which was set to music by George Frideric Handel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j1CUKkSv0M

What do these musical associations add to the poem? How do they help advance the abolitionist agenda of Cowper's poem?

As the chorus suggests, "Sweet Meat has Sour Sauce" was intended to be sung to the tune of "For he's a jolly good fellow." 

This tune became popular in the early 18th century by association with the French song "Marlborough s'en va-t-en guerre" ("Marlborough Has Left for the War"), a burlesque on the false report of the Duke of Marlborough's death at the battle of Malplaquet in 1709. Here's a recording of the tune with the French lyrics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqRpPMOaMIA

This is John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough:

Again, when Cowper sets his poem to this tune, what is the effect of the reader? How does it work with the message of the poem?

Sentimentalism and Slave Suicides

In the latter half of the 18^th century, we see an increase of slave narratives in novels and poetry with an abolitionist theme.  These literary forms served as the catalyst for the spread of anti-slave trade/anti-slavery ideas by connecting foreign distress to the middle-class social realms. In an earlier post, someone noted the use of shock value in Cowper’s poem, “The Slave Trader in the Dumps.” With the use of shock value and slave narratives to “defamiliarize” the status quo perceptions of slaves, and slavery, there came a certain Euro-American sentimentalism spreading via novels and poetry regarding the conditions of the slaves. Because of these horrific conditions, while on the ships and even after they have landed, suicide among the slaves was quite common. The Africans saw suicide not only as a means to escape the wretchedness of their inhumane treatment, but also, according to their religious beliefs, a way to return to Africa (provided that their corpse maintained its integrity). The idea of corporeal integrity was mainly caused by a fear of European cannibalism (why else would the Europeans capture and treat the Africans like they did?) *this actually did happen, when the sailors had run out of food, for them or for the slaves*. In addition to the use of suicide for freedom, the slaves also used suicide to punish their masters; the slaves were a commodity, bought and maintained for the specific purpose of the accumulation of wealth. I believe that some of the slaves had an understanding of this and killed themselves for this reason. However, suicide was not always the solution, because no matter what the master did to the slaves, they were still human beings – with the intelligence and resentments of human beings. *Enter slave revolts*

The cultural importance of this literature in the 18^th century added with the slave revolts, specifically with the success of the Haitian slave rebellion, and with the work of the abolitionists allowed for the legal abolition of the slave trade and the abolition of slavery in British colonies.

Shock Value in "the Slave Trader in the Dumps"

Looking back on Cowper's "The Slave Trader in the Dumps", it is interesting to note just how often shock value was used in famous works of that time period. He disturbs us with this narrator who seems to delight in the misery of the slaves. Jonathan Swift  told the poor to feed their babies to the rich in A Modest Proposal, and Robert Browning creeped out his readers with the sinister implications in My Last Duchess. Shock value seems to have been a typical way that points were gotten across to audiences back then. It certainly got my attention.

Cowper's Veiws

After reading "The Negro's complaint" and "Pity for Poor Africans" I found it fascinating how he approached each poem. The first poem, he takes on a different perspective by writing as a black man who is trying to understand why he is a slave, why it exists and why there has to be suffering so that other people can profit. In "Pity for Poor Africans" is another character who lets the reader know that slavery is bad, yet doesn't want to change it since it's so beneficial to society. I'm just curious as to how the readers of the time took each of these poems concerning slave trade, because they are both so powerful. And also, it seems as though Cowper was almost nontraditional in a sense by displaying such concern for free trade and slavery issues.

James Hogg

According to the biography on pages 197-8, James Hogg is one of the unfortunate writers whose rise to prominence did not occur until after his death. Even his friends and contemporaries felt his work was substandard. Sir Walter Scott once stated in a letter: "Hogg's Tales are a great failure to be sure. With a very considerable portion of original genius he is sadly deficient not only in correct taste but in common tact" (197).I however found Hogg's works to be just as, if not more so, gripping than the other works we have read this week. Why is it that despite being looked down upon by his contemporaries Hogg has found himself in their company all these years later? My guess is it was not Hogg's work that was found lacking, but rather his background. It was a well known fact that Hogg worked as a shepherd and was illiterate in his early life. His fellow Romantic authors who spoke so boldly about the aristocracy seem to have some of their own preconceptions of class and worthiness.

The Thorn

Wordsworth's "The Thorn" tells the tragic story of Martha Ray and her troubling life. Represented by the thorn in the poem, she is plagued by heartbreak and the death of her child, which have led to the destruction of her life. Those events "all have joined in one endeavor/to bury this poor Thorn for ever" and as a result, she spends her time upon the hill, crying and lamenting her losses. Her life, once a promising one filled with love, is now one of tragedy and warning to the reader. Her story is mysterious; the narrator is unaware of the circumstances regarding her baby's death. Though she is alive, she has become a sort of ghostly, haunting figure, weeping on the hill for twenty years over the death of her child and the loss of her love. She is unable to escape the tragedy of her past, it is made clear that "the Thorn is bound/with heavy tufts of moss that strive/to drag it to the ground," and she is left to haunt the hill with her misery.

Gothic imagery in Address to the De'il

In Robert Burns' Address to the De'il, I found several instances where gothic images are present. For example, in lines 27, Burns mentions "ruined castles," the color "grey," and mentions a "nod to the moon." The use of light is also evident throughout the poem including the light of the moon as well as how the stars "shot down wi' sklentan (or slanting" light."(line 38)
Burns also mentions spectors and the sounds of "eldritch croon," or ghastly moans throughout the work. The effect of adding the multiple elements of gothic imagery throughout the poem solidifies that this work is gothic, but can it fit into any other genre? Does this imagery comment on the state of the church during this time period, or of political involvement in religious views?

Dreams

James Hogg is a fascinating character. I found his mixing of genres interesting, especially in “The Expedition to Hell” which begins seeming like a serious discussion on the nature of dreams, but ends with the curious case of George Dobson who in unable to escape his dreams. I’m not sure what to do with this inability to escape this nightmare. It’s as if the hell in his mind is real enough to make the real world irrelevant.

In the beginning of “The Expedition to Hell” Hogg talks about the lack of control people have in their dreams. Ideas you try to repress pop up, and those you try to dream about, you never seem to. Some of the poems we’ve read this week have the air of a nightmare that’s come true or rather a dream that turns into a nightmare. I’m thinking about “Ellenore” mostly. The return of William is a dream come true but it ends as a nightmare as she ends up dead. She has no control of her situation once she gets on the horse. She goes in search of the dream, but ends up with the nightmare instead. 

I’m probably overreaching now, but it does make me think about the French Revolution. People had a dream that they tried to create, but then they lost control and it became a nightmare.

The symbol of the thorn

That Wordsworth's poem is about more than a simple thorn on a simple hill is easily enough discerned in the text. The tale of Martha Ray and her woeful cries on the hill that may hold the body of her infant child is one of betrayal, anguish, and love lost. It is a tale of a thorn. The thorn becomes a symbol for her whole ordeal. It is the prick of her lovers betrayal.  It is the stab of finding herself alone and with child. The thorn, overgrown, is the child she may have killed. Just as the story of betrayal is an old tale, so is the thorn itself. This is not the thorn of a rose, balanced with the sweet smell of the flower.  This is the thorn of bitter anguish, without redeeming grace. The scarlet of Martha's cloak echoes the blood this thorn draws.  Just as the thorn is bound with moss to the hill, so is Martha bound to the hill. This is something that transcends the mortal realm. The hill itself has become a symbol, something wholly "other". The hill itself rebuffed the townspeople's intent to find the bones of the infant, it rebuffed mortal intrusion into its otherworldly realm. We can but look upon the hill, we can but mark this sad tale, unable to change it. We are observers, who may, if we are fortunate, glean some lesson from the hill, the moss, the thorn, the pond, and the woman. While Martha may have once been mortal, she is now wholly symbol, undying, unchanging, like the hill itself. And the thorn, which never lives, yet never really dies, like her pain, and the death of her child.

What Is In a Name?

The name Eleanor is of Greek origin meaning "sun ray" or "shining light."Discovering this after reading the ballad conveyed the irony of her name. When thinking of the sun or of shining light, positivity and hope come to mind - in terms of a sense of self or a perspective on life. Eleanor is the complete opposite of this. The way she speaks in the poem portrays here deep sense of hopelessness; that life itself is dark, meaningless, and that there is no longer a reason to live it. As another student mentioned in their blog, Walpole contradicted his character's personalities with their Greek names as well. It is not clear whether this was intended or not be either author, but the contradictions and twists revealed by this irony of name has a great affect on Gothic literature. The characters are not portrayed as they "should" be.

A Twist in my Story

I've always paid attention to imagery, and I love the twist of love that was seen in "Ellenore." Love is always seen as something that brings people closer to life and even light itself. Love is usually as a warm glow through depictions of art and literature, pushing towards a positive point in their life where they truly start living. I thought the correlation that this had with the Christianity belief of love was very interesting as well. In Christianity, that remains the same as well. Love is equal to God (or rather God is love), and to be without God was the same as being without love, ultimately leading to death of oneself or life in the end. What really brought this to my attention was the contrast between Ellenore’s mother and Ellenore in their beliefs in God at the beginning of the poem. The contrast between the two really drew out the similarities of the Biblical views of love. I feel almost as if Ellenore's stance against God because of her dead William was the twist of love in her own destiny in life. It was through William that she found love, but now that he was taken away, she was resistant against God, the one who gave her love according to the Biblical beliefs of which her mother held onto so tightly. It was because she didn't want anything to do with God that she followed her own death as she accepted William’s hand and traveled further and further away from living with him, similar to the Devil dragging the sinners who do not believe into the demise of death with him.

"Ellenore's" Impact As a Ballad

"Ellenore" by William Taylor originally by Gottfried August Burger had an immense effect and strong influence on the English ballad writing revival. It was so popular that it has been translated into many different languages including russian, italian, norwegian and french since its original publishing in german in 1774. Its gothic imagery such "And hollow howling hung in air, And shrikes from vaults arose, then knew the mayd she might no more, Her living eyes unclose", has influenced many other authors like Edgar Allen Poe. Its influence on Romantic literature can still be seen in todays gothic and horror genres like Sleepy Hollow.

Portraying Women: Otranto vs Glenfinlas

In the tale of Glenfinlas by Sir Walter Scott, two men are seduced by a women in green who bears a striking resemblance to the mythological seductress archetype of the "otherworldly" women. This is in clear contrast to the women of The Castle of Otranto who are forced to manipulating events or quietly accepting their fate. The fact that The Lady of the Wood is in charge of her femininity, in that she is complete control of who she loves and is accountable to no one but herself for her actions. Contrasting this is Hippolita who gives up everything of herself for her husband who leaves for a younger woman. These women portray to opposite but important sides of how women were thought of by society, where as Hippolita portrays self sacrifice for the so-called good of her family the Lady of the Wood is purely unchecked desire with no thought or caring beyond what she wants.

It could have been worse

I feel sorry for the Lady rather than the Barron.  I think the ending, having the Lady become a nun and the Barron a monk is the moral of the story.  She had an affair, he killed her lover without knowing it.  The lady is rather bold in her invitation to the Knight.  I think it's great that considering the time, the only thing that happened to her was being branded and becoming a nun.  The Barron could have very easily, and in that time semi-legitimately, killed her.  Despite the fact she became a nun and he never spoke again, they both got off easily.

"The Thorn" and Moss

"The Thorn" is about the energy that resists change, and how that energy can be found both in nature and in society.  The first natural example Wordsworth uses is that of the moss pulling down the thorn: "With plain and manifest intent/To drag it to the ground."  Here the moss acts on behalf of nature; there is almost a natural drive for the thorn to be with ground yet again.  Wordsworth then extends this metaphor to the baby by having the moss cover it in a similar way.  The baby offered change for the woman by bringing "Her senses back again".  The woman's reputation in society was momentarily lifted, but the moss, red with the baby's blood, has laid claim to something again, and has returned that thing with the earth.  Wordsworth may be arguing that, at least at the time, equality for woman was 'out of tune' with the society he lived in, but at the very least he is stating that the same energy, the energy that resists change, can be found in nature as well as in society.

Ghost irony

"The Eve of St. John" by Sir Walter Scott was an ironic poem to say the least.  In popular tradition, bonfires are made to symbolize the warding off of evil and giving thanks for bountiful harvests.  Thus introducing the paranormal spirits into the gothic genre of the tale.
The poem begins with the Baron of Smaylho'me returning home, there he converses with his foot-page of his fair lady's actions.  The foot-page describes to his Lord of a knight who met with the lady the last two nights speaking of a lover's meeting.  Unaware of the true existence of the knight and claiming the union as a fated meeting between lovers, the Lady calls upon the knight into her bower upon midnight.  The Baron's foot-page describes the colors and crest of the knight and the Baron remembers the identity of Sir Richard of Coldinghame, the knight he'd slain nights before.  The Baron is pale and shocked thus he meets his Lady and tells her of the knight's slaying.  Later during the night, Sir Richard appears before the Lady in her bower as she insisted earlier in their meetings but instead of returning for the love of the Lady, he comes to leave a mark of infidelity. "Who spilleth life, shall forfeit life; / So bid thy Lord believe; / That lawless love is guilt above, / This awful sign receive."  It is next revealed that the lady became a nun who avoided the day and her husband, the Baron, a mute monk who spoke none of the ghostly sprite.
There is some good use of blending para-normalcy with character in developing Sir Richard as well as the finale of irony when in fact the lady loves the spirit of the slain knight that her Baron struck down.  Hope this makes some sense.

Prophecies & Morality

Throughout Walpole the prophecy  is displayed as being a symbol for chaos and change for the characters in The Castle of Otranto. Manfred views the prophecy as a symbol of evil in that his name and family will be brought to ruin, leaving him to slowly become insane throughout the course of the book, as he manipulates family and friends to hopefully thwart the will of the prophecy, which only ends in the end of his household. The prophecy itself is chaotic in that it wants the rightful person on the throne and has no qualms about driving people into insanity, committing murder, and manipulating people to achieve it's goals. In many ways the prophecy is a doppelganger to Manfred in that morality and compassion aren't as important as fulfilling the his goals , Manfred to continue his household and the prophecy to put the rightful Lord of Otranto in-charge. This willingness to exempt oneself from morals and compassion is shown by Manfred in his willingness to commit atrocious acts of murder and unwillingness to accept responsibility for his actions.The prophecy itself commits murders and drives people to insanity, setting  up the fall of everyone except Theodore and Isabella so the prophecy can be fulfilled.

Women and Power

As SMJ points out, in “The Castle of Otranto” women have a subservient role. Isabella, Matilda, and Hippolita endeavor at all times to do what is right by God and their male authorities. A key component of the plot is that Isabella acts in a manner that seems rebellious to Manfred by running from him. She, though, is serving a higher authority, which is Providence, and protecting her innocence.

All three women find themselves at one point torn between what the male authorities ask of them and what is right. Manfred and Frederic both have moments where their priority is to obtain a young woman, and they use their power to try to do so. It is fitting then that Theodore keeps his passion in check, and although seemingly of lowly status he treats the female characters with the most respect.

Walpole seems to be making a political statement and commenting on those in power following their misguided whims as opposed to what is right. Manfred and Frederic both act on their passions without regard for those involved. Theodore, however, can’t act on his love for Matilda and is not in the place to force her into marriage as Manfred and Frederic have the power to do with whomever they desire. Perhaps Walpole is using the female characters as a vehicle to portray the corruption caused by excessive use of power?

Influence of the Church

One of the interesting aspects of the story is how the influence of religion tries to give the some of characters more control over their emotions and convince them to do what is right. In one scene you have Isabella residing in a safe house in a church from Manfred. Towards the end of the story at the church setting, the image of the church becomes more of a conscience being that affects the fate of all the characters. These scenes are examples of how the aspect of the ideology of the church has a huge impact to all the social classes  of the characters. The church portrayed  in the story is more of a hospital or community service center, which is the role to aid its members. Because of this belief, if not most of the cast behaves according to what they perceive as who is the good guy and who is the bad guy  buy there belief system they hold.

Fatalism in The Castle of Otranto

The "The Castle of Otranto" by Horace Walpole revolves around fatalism such as the prophecy of the ruling families demise. Fatalism or determinalism tends to have a dark effect since as human beings we like to believe we have a will that is free. The events in the story are the mechanical workings of the higher power that operates the universe rightfully called both God and Nature. Superstitious elements enter into the story when God is given the characteristics of humanity; the will of God is quite human insofar as it concerns the morality of the human characters (punishment). Within the story, God is the effective cause of everything and even seems to be acting transiently or with abrupt and impulsive actions such is the case with the moaning statue as a reaction. By giving God human affections, Walpole creates a superstitious atmosphere, where we can and will be judged at any moment by an all powerful and vengeful God. The fatalism present within the story operates in a way that is contrary with our logic on some regards; however, the adaption of a higher power concerned with our actions conforms to our broken, egocentric logic. This I believe to be superstition.

Divine Providence

In "The Castle of Otranto", divine providence is a key theme throughout the story. Divine Providence is benevolent, as we see with the case of Theodore and Isabella being wed, and becoming the lord and lady of Castle Otranto. We also see divine providence as a more wicked, more dangerous force, as with Conrad, who is crushed to death by a giant helmet, and with Matilda, who is accidentally stabbed by her father. Manfred becomes mentally unhinged by some of the acts from divine providence. Divine providence is one of the main themes that is driving the story, hand in hand with the supernatural and darkness.

Small Instances of Atypical Female Behavior

I found that in "The Castle of Otranto", I was really intrigued by the characteristics of the women in the novel. Mostly uniform with the attributes of female characters displayed in literature both prior to and in the 18^th century, the women are portrayed mainly as obedient and kept individuals who lack independence in thought, choices, and identity. However, two of the female characters do display moments of uncharacteristic and surprising behavior. Firstly, there is Isabella, who despite her initial role as simply a bargaining tool, becomes the only character to attempt to control her own fate. While her hope to escape is entirely in response to the actions of Manfred, she escapes and saves herself from what would have been a future of compliance and submission. The other main example of defiance of the typical female character is Matilda, in that she releases Theodore from prison, completely and entirely knowingly defying her father. I found it very interesting to see quite strong instances of self aware and defiant behavior in two women from a time of passive, obedient, and disinteresting female literary characters.

Prophecies and Destruction

I found it interesting that the central force behind this story was a prophecy. Prophecies seem to always be the subject’s self-destruction. This story is a perfect example of self-destruction based on a character’s fear of prophecy fulfillment.  The prophecy states, “the castle and lordship of Otranto should pass from the present family, whenever the real owner should be grown too large to inhabit it". In the beginning, Manfred fears his people’s whispers of the prophecy. It seems to loom over him. After the death of his only son, Manfred goes to extreme lengths to try and secure his lineage. He still has Matilda, but due to the perceived necessity of a male heir, he ends up killing his daughter and only other heir. This fulfills the prophecy he tried so incredibly hard to disprove. He made it true by trying too hard to disprove it and ended up losing his family over it.

Rightful Inheritance and the Supernatural

It's interesting to note that throughout  the story when a mysterious situation takes place, typically the supernatural elements correlate to one of the themes; one theme in particular being rightful inheritance. Conrad's death, resulting from the fallen helmet that resembles Alfonso's helmet, is an unnatural way to die. It puts emphasis on the supernatural aspect of the helmet killing Conrad, son of Manfred and it seems that the main focus is the importance of the helmet and Alfonso and what he reflected.  Alfonso reappears other times in mystical forms and alludes to rightful inheritance. Rightful inheritance that specifically doesn't belong to Manfred, but instead Theodore.

Repetition as a Foundation of the Uncanny and Strange

Linking the past, present and future is a key theme of ‘The Castle of Otranto’- but it is the recurrent use of time and human emotion as a link between the characters and their determined fates that presents itself as repetitive, and therefore, uncanny.

Human experience places a sense of superstition and unease around anything that repeats, mirrors, doubles or seems too coincidental to be natural. We see this in our fears and fascination regarding doppelgängers, mirrors (as bad luck), or twins as elements of potential horror plots. It all creeps us out, often at a very basic or unconscious level. Theodore seems to be a doppelgänger to Alfonso the Good, the true heir (as seen in the portrait in the castle) and causes a panic in Manfred upon sight.

At a basic narrative level the novel employs repetitive use of exclamations and shouts of terror or understanding. “The prince! The prince! The helmet! The helmet!” (18) is shouted by Manfred’s domestics upon their discovery of the young Conrad’s mysterious demise. Repetition of “the hand! the giant! the hand!” (90) on Manfred’s part also adds to the sense of something uncanny and overly strange at the end of the novel, bringing things full circle and repeating the link of past and present.  
     Readers can also regard the castle itself as a remnant from the past, and something that links the histories of two fated families. The mysterious prophecy presented at the beginning of the novel invokes a sense of determined fate, and creates a link between past and future. These recurring repetitions alongside uncanny coincidences and parallels, as well as the overall sense of the cyclical nature of past/present/future all lend toward the creation of what we call the ‘Gothic’ novel.

Names

Something I noticed while reading the novel was that the names of most of the main cast of characters are entirely opposite of what they mean when it comes to nomenclature. For example Manfred traditionally comes from Germanic words meaning "Peace" or "strength", and can mean "Man of peace". Manfred is, as we see, a very violent and irrational man at times. Hippolita, his wife, gets her name from the Greek Queen of the Amazons; implying she would be a strong female character who is not so easily ruled by her husband. Conrad means "brave, bold ruler or counsel" and from the little glimpsed of Conrad, he seems not to have been the type to be brave or bold, or really given the chance to be so considering his sickly frame.

Why must you lie to us Horace?

Did anyone else find the "Preface To The First Edition" a bit strange? If you haven't read it, it is essentially Horace Walpole saying that this story was found, and that he translated it rather than wrote it. In fact, the original title was:

THE CASTLE of OTRANTO, A STORY.

Translated by WILLIAM MARSHAL, Gent. From the Original ITALIAN of ONUPHRIO MURALTO, CANON of the Church of St. NICHOLAS at OTRANTO.*

This meant that, originally, he didn’t even claim authorship for the work. Normally, pseudonyms and other deceptions were used when the author was writing something particularly controversial, or if said author was a controversial figure him or herself. However, there doesn’t really seem to be anything that controversial in the book, and the author was male and of the upper classes, so writing was completely acceptable for him. Any thoughts on this?

* Found at "http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ecco/004864584.0001.000/1:1?rgn=div1;view=fulltext"