Romance of the Forest

Opinions of legal system -
Higher status people (aristocracy) had sole power. No substantial evidence is required or obtained. Basically their word must be taken as proof or as true. The legal system is very random.

Absentee of law - law circulatory outside of characters and readers knowledge.

Why would the people stand by and accept or tolerate this kind of legal system? Overall there is no real order or sense of law or justice.

Narration change similar to legal system -
It is very jumpy, random, and drastic. Just as the legal system makes known their power, Radcliffe does a similar thing with the narration change; it is more direct and authoritative, she telling you what to do or what is to be done just as the legal system does; what they say goes. Total control.

Why does Radcliffe choose to construct the narration in this way? What purpose does it serve?

Use of poems in Radcliffe

 The poetic introductions to chapters seem to be more vague or pertaining to the abstract while the verses inside are almost always aesthetic or emotional such as the various sonnets and  page 7. description of Adeline's eyes. Verse inside the chapter is impulsive such as page 262 where the "scenery inspired" this verse "soothing each gust of passion into peace/ All but the swelling of the soften'd heart/ That waken, not disturb, the tranquil mind". The sonnets often time convey a very real emotion of one of the characters while the meaning of the poetic quotations at the beginning of the chapter tend to be uncovered gradually as the chapter progresses. I liked the begining of Chapter V "A suprise-An adventure- A mystery" which is actually pretty descriptive of the chapter. The suprise being La Motte's paranoia of his creditors and the adventure would be Adeline going to the town while the mystery is the stranger's identity.

literature the bridge to friendship

Other than all of the depressing themes in the story, one positive scene I saw in the story that stood out was how Maria had read the books that was available to her and then help her lead up to the man Darnford and Jemima. After some conversations with each other, all three characters begin to open up with each other. It is sort of strange how the whole destiny of their meetings were triggered by the books. However, the content of the books which started the whole thing was unique because the story itself refers to Milton’s Paradise Lost and Dryden’s Fables. Some of these works are very influential for the time as is today. However, one could say that the books themselves took an identity in which guided all the characters to meet. Books themselves present people with the transfer of knowledge, but could they be also a guide for people to meet with others with the same understanding of the story itself? Nevertheless, Maria had found some escapism of the world around her in the books and found some moment of peace with the idea of what the books presented.  

Reference Points

It seems to me that Radcliffe uses the excerpts of poems as introductions to foreshadow and set the tone of the chapter ahead. An obvious example of this is the introduction to chapter 4:

“Full of, unknowing and unknown,

He wore his endless noons alone,

Amid th’ autumnal wood:

Oft was he wont in hasty fit.

Abrupt the social board to quit.”

This excerpt literally describes La Motte’s behaviour during the following chapter. I think these excerpts are a reliable way to frame the reader’s mind for what is about to happen. I don’t think they are necessary for the story but they are definitely a welcome addition. I wonder if Radcliffe searched for excerpts that fit her story or based the story on the excerpts.

To the Lilly

On pg. 75 we get the “Sonnet to the Lilly” which Adeline sings while she is sitting in the forest. She has been feeling sad because she has lost Madame’s affection and she doesn’t know why. However, this morning nature calls to her and she finds herself in a picturesque scene. The paragraph leading into the poem describes how the scene make Adeline feel better. 

Radcliffe actually wrote this poem for the novel, so unlike the epigraphs at the start of each chapter that set the scene, the poem is consistent with the character and expresses Adeline’s emotions. The poem expresses a very Romantic idea of finding comfort in nature. A few paragraphs before Adeline lamented the state of her relationship with Madame LaMotte saying, “I have lost that affection which was my only comfort.” However, in this beautiful environment she is able find comfort and hope. 

Placing a poem in the middle of prose also changes the pace of the chapter. Up till this point, Adeline hasn’t said much. The narrator tells us what she is feeling, but in the poem we get to see her emotions fully expressed, even if it is through song. It reveals a certain amount of innocence to Adeline. I remember in Catholic school being told that lilies represent virtue and purity and I think the lily represents the purity and innocence of Adeline. I think you have to have quite a bit of innocence in you to be able to be moved to hope by nature when everyone you care about seems to be turning away from you. She does not harden her heart; she opens it to other things.

Mystery & Sanity

"Hence, horrible shadow!

Unreal mockery, hence!" 

These lines are spoken by Macbeth upon seeing Banquo's ghost, an event that symbolizes Macbeth's descent into madness. Lady Macbeth begins to lose trust in her husband and his sanity at this point. Similar, this quote begins a chapter in which many of the characters continue to lose trust in La Motte. His wife still believes that he is having an affair with Adeline, and his private meetings with the Marquis leave the rest of the inhabitants of the abbey uneasy. La Motte's behavior becomes increasingly mysterious throughout the chapter, specifically in his encounters with the Marquis, leaving both Adeline and Madame La Motte worried for his well being. Adeline suffers from "anxiety for the welfare of La Motte" in the same way that Lady Macbeth does during her husband's insane outburst at the banquet. Madame La Motte views "the mysterious conduct of La Motte" with "a pang of self-accusation," and feels guilt similar to Lady Macbeth's guilt over planning the murder of the king. Quoting this specific act from Macbeth makes the reader skeptical of La Motte's sanity and intents as well, and adds to the mystery of the novel. The quote also lends a gothic tone to the chapter by referencing such a well known scene with supernatural elements.

Macbeth and La Motte

I chose the opening excerpt from Macbeth on page 85

"'Hence, horrible shadow!
Unreal mockery, hence!'
                   Macbeth"        

I think this excerpt serves as a comparison to the way La Motte feels like he's constantly being pursued.  First, he feels pursued by the officers of justice.  Then there is the state of horror that La Motte cannot escape,  "The same image has pursued me in my midnight dream..."  (pg.88-89).  The 'mockery' could be applied to Madame who is unable to get a direct answer out of La Motte or to how La Motte feels about Marquis who is unshakable and perhaps not exactly what he appears to be.

Overall the frantic, paranoid nature of the excerpt matches La Motte's inner voice perfectly and gives the rest of the chapter the same frantic feel. It also makes the reader compare La Motte to Macbeth.  The two are not the same, but there are some characteristics both characters share, (obsessive paranoia being one of them).

Story of a Girl

Odes of Passion (page 172)

"And Hope enchanted smil’d, and wav’d her golden hair;

And longer had she sung-but with a frown,

Revenge impatient rose…’"

It’s only three lines, three small lines, but those three lines describe so much about that girl, the one girl who is gorgeous beyond simple world but carries on too much in the world. As I read it, that was the pressing thought in my mind. I seem to have a pressing thought for every text that we read (which I suppose is the main point of doing these readings in the first place). It also reminded me of the song “Story of a Girl” because that is the entirety of the song, it is a story of a girl who cried a river and drowned the whole world, but while she looked so sad in photographs, I absolutely loved her, when she smiled (and I digress). Seriously, you all should listen to the song if you haven’t already. That is the song of my childhood.

At first glance, this poem evidently is meant to show something about the female main character Adeline. That seems simple enough, and the ode itself does present that. Standing by itself, I would have just assumed that it was meant for any normal girl because for every girl, and every person for that matter, has been through something that makes them a rose stuck in a bushel of thorns. Put before the chapter however, the “Ode to the Passions” leads the reader into this belief that its placement is obviously of some significance. Similar to a post that I read before, the ode acts as the music before a battle or love scene in a musical or movie before it leads into the actual actions, focusing the audience on that raw emotion to help intertwine them with the story and the characters. It is meant to draw attention to Adeline and her beauty that took Theodore’s heart, which is exactly what the following two paragraphs tell of. It describes the encounters that Theodore had with Adeline and his thoughts on her, how her presence had touched it along with his remembrance of another poem that too describes beauty.

“Oh! Have you seen, bath’d in the morning dew,

The budding rose its infant bloom display;

When first its virgin tints unfold to view,

It shrinks and scarely trusts the blaze of day?

SO soft, so delicate, so sweet she came,

Youth’s damask glow just dawning on her cheek.

I gaz’d, I sigh’d, I caught the tender flame,

Felt the fond pang, and droop’d with passion weak.”

The different poems both resemble each other in that regards, showing painted words of beauty and comparing the girl to a sweet rose. The third paragraph following the second poem though, continues on the second part of the ode, telling why Adeline was “but with a frown, revenge impatient rose” because it is here that Theodore realizes about how Adeline has been hurt, how this entire situation had marred her, leaving her but a delicate rose on the outside and a very impatient, hurt, and scarred by thorns of circumstances. True the second poem serves to amplify Theodore’s initial view on Adeline and her beauty; however, the ode shows us more than her superficial characteristics. It shows us the state of her heart. What stuck out to me even more is that the chapters coordinate with the three lines of the ode, first of her beauty, then of her unrest, and lastly of her brokenness. 

Deserved comeuppance

"Drag forth the legal monster into light,
Wrench from his hand Oppression's iron rod,
And bid the cruel feel the pains they give."

This quote at the beginning of chapter 22 tells us what is going to happen next. Line 1 means that deads of the Marquis de Montalt will be identified and laid out for all to see what he has done and that happens with the testimony of Du Bosse and La Motte. With this he is arrested and can no longer go after Adeline. Line 2 means that his ability to have power over others and adversely affect their lives has been taken away with his arrest for trying to kill Adeline who is now out of his reach. Line 3 voices the hope that he have to feel and experience the cruelty and hardship that which he made everyone else have to go through in his mission to kill his daughter because he did not want to recognize her or deal with the fall out of people finding out he had a child with her mother. This poem like many in the book when in place at the beginning of a chapter if read carefully can give you insight into what will happen, it helps move the story along and gives you a preview. This use of poems as a way to move the story and tie together ideas makes for a very interesting read because it is a different way to follow the story that I have not experienced before.

Identity and Radcliffe

Throughout the novel Adeline is horrified by the actions of her father and is terrified at the fact of being sent back to him and she is terrified at the prospects of her future due to her background. Throughout the novel this sense of melancholy over her sense of identity is changed in that she is adopted by Luc who is unknown to the audience Theodore's father, making the two lovers related. This fact makes a a very complicated problem for Theodore and Adeline adding to the Gothic feel of the novel. The most important identity reveal is that the Marquis who was said to be a relation of Adeline is a fraud which adds to the mystery of whether or not her family that she was raised with actually was her family. When the fake marquis is revealed Adeline gets all the wealth making her seemingly to forget her feelings of inadequacy and live a happy life.  I think that this a big flaw in the novel in that I wish Adeline had faced her fear of her father and received some closer in this because it's a big problem for her throughout the novel and for her family identity to not be closed just seems like too big of a plot hole to leave open.

Poems of Love and Irony

Throughout reading this book I found it ironic how many of the poems portray love as something that should be avoided, ignored, or something to be wary of, and throughout the events of the story love is something that causes Theodore to be almost killed, Adeline to nearly go insane from, and for every other character, misery. In "Ode To The Passions" the character of Hope is holding a rose of revenge. I thought it was pretty ironic in relation to the plot in that Adeline's inability to hope for a good future for herself causes her to fall into despair and her lack of hope for Theodore when he's faced with the death penalty causes her to go nearly crazy, causing her to be easily manipulated into the Marquis plans of revenge. Reading the novel without the poems I think would take away a lot of the tension in the novel in that when you read them they give a sense of weight to the plot and the characters decisions that because you can't see inside their heads, and just have to believe that their sincere, the poems kind of ground the book in a more real world sense that just because you love someone doesn't mean that circumstances aren't going to turn out badly or that it won't lead to the characters death.

Beyond Words

I found it interesting to note that the lack of dialogue did not hurt The Romance of the Forest. Radcliffe's description of the character interactions are more than enough. It is especially impressive because it is not a first person narrative, which would have made it easier to get away with. Here's a prompt for you: what other books or films have gotten away with no dialogue in dramatic moments. Here is an example from On The Waterfront: http://youtu.be/geh_Mu622SY (start at 1.25 if you want).

Pierre vs Byronic Heroes

Something I noticed while reading "Romance of The Forest" was that there were several heroes in the story. One in particular jumped out to me, and his name is Pierre. Pierre is a very dark hero, but he is still a hero. In some ways, he reminds me of Heathcliff from "Wuthering Heights". As much as he hates Adeline, and as many problems as she creates for him, he still seems to care for her in some aspect, whether it's romantic or not. He has opportunity to kill her when he takes her in, and yet...he doesn't. It was interesting to think about a Byronic hero within this story.

Aesthetic movements; sublime & picturesque in painting; ruins

Here is the main info from the presentation Mitch and I did:

Picturesque:
The picturesque is an aesthetic ideal that emphasizes a harmonious relationship with nature.  The picturesque is generally pleasant to observe and has little sense of danger or tension.

Examples of the picturesque in paintings:

"Entrance to Copenhagen" by J.C. Dahl




"Crossing the Brook" by J.M.W. Turner
In this painting there is a more distinct interaction between people and nature (woman at river bank).  There is also a solid structure in the background, emphasizing human beings harmonious relationship nature.





"The Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog" by Caspar David Friedrich
This painting is where picturesque and sublime meet.  Nature is portrayed in a slightly more chaotic light, but the spectator is still on safe ground.  Nature also borders on the sublime due to its awe inspiring characteristic.




Now for the sublime.
Sublime:  Described by Victor Hugo as a combination of the "grotesque and beautiful", the sublime is an aesthetic ideal that emphasizes natures awe inspiring power and generally diminishes man to the role of a passive observer.  Notice how small man is in relation to nature in both paintings.

Some examples of the sublime:

"The Great Day of His Wrath" by John Martin



"Hannibal and His Army Crossing the Alps" by J.M.W. Turner



Finally, ruins are important because they give an impression of a time of greatness that has passed.  They are simultaneously a symbol of a time when the structure was great, and an aesthetic structure within themselves, presenting its own decay to the observer as an aesthetic experience.

"The Chancel and Crossing of Tintern Abbey" by J.M.W. Turner

Heroes and Heroins

One thing I noticed about the characters in Romance of the Forest was the use of several heroes. Pierre, Peter, and Theodore all do heroic things to save Adeline’s life. Pierre takes her in and refuses to kill her even though it will fix all his problems. Peter warns her several times of imminent danger and Theodore is her true hero and true love. While Theodore is the main hero of this novel, both Pierre and Peter played a role in saving Adeline’s life too. This novel uses several heroes in addition to Theodore to further the plot and show that Adeline’s life is worth saving. I think it is also worth mentioning that the heroin uses her influence at the end to save the hero’s life. It switches up the concept of the heroin being completely helpless and allows her to save someone’s life instead of being saved herself.

LaMott's continuous faliures

LaMotts charecter continues to make mistakes, even though he has lost everything, his house, fortune and ability to love( his wife) he still dosent change his ways. He insists in keeping his luxuiries life style " He is a man whose passions often overcame his reason, and time after time, silenced his conscience "pg 2. Even when he reaches the house in the woods, he dosent think before he enters, especially since its in the middle of nowhere, he dosent even go out in search for help armed especially since he is a wanted man. He then proceeds to take the young and beautiful Adeline with him dispite of his situation. His strong impolses might end up leading him to even further consiquences that might include his capture or even death.

Usage of the setting to the character

I believe what the author does so well in the story is that he doesn't reveal the character’s true identity till later on in the story. The characters actions reflect on what they do, but in this particular instance the environment they are in is what defines the identity of the characters. In most traditional story telling the environment only plays the role of what the characters walking through, but the setting plays a role in the decision making of what the characters do as the result of what the environment does to them. A scene that I believe is an example is the scene where Pierre is forced to take Adeline because there is really no other route to escape.

Overture of Emotional Range

"'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less.'"

   - Lewis Carroll*

The passage by Walpole at the beginning of Chapter 2 serves as a beautiful example of establishing a mood or tone before even including the plot. This passage serves a similar purpose to an overture in a musical. In a musical, the overture introduces the audience to the general range of melodies that will be heard throughout the work. This passage serves to direct the emotional responses of the audience. The first line, which talks about “antique towers and vacant courts,” parallels and in fact seems to describe the “Gothic remains of an abbey” in the first sentence of the chapter. From this small initial similarity, a larger chain is established. The chapter then becomes the aesthetic stimulus to spark the emotions explained in that opening passage. The two pieces ultimately share a symbiotic relationship. The poem offers the statement or argument which the chapter then serves to enforce. Equally, the chapter presents the sensory details, with the poem providing the perspective.

*Quote courtesy of brainyquote.com

Radcliffe's Style to Produce Emotions

Our class discussion over Radcliffe's style and her ability to produce emotional tensions through the narrative made me look for more instances like this. It wasn't a particular scene that struck me, but as Volume II progressed I noticed the writing style changed slightly. After Adeline is rescued by Theodore and as they leave the ruins, though the tensions are high, the emotions produced aren't as strong and powerful as they had when the abbey was present. Even though they encounter difficulties, Radcliffe's writing style seems to alter. There are less descriptions of scenery and even though Adeline and Theodore are still in great danger it doesn't have the same affect as before. It isn't until Adeline is captured and nearing the ruins that the Gothic writing style appears again, which I think is used purposefully by Radcliffe as a way to generate high, powerful emotions once Adeline returns.

Passionate Emotions of Radcliffe's Male Characters

Radcliffe represents her characters’ emotions as determinate of their coinciding actions, especially when male characters are involved. At the beginning of the novel La Motte is described as an emotionally driven person (as opposed to someone of rationale), insofar as “his conduct was suggested by feeling, rather than principle … a man whose passions often overcome his reason” (Radcliffe 2). The quotation suggests that La Motte (and possibly the other men in the novel) are mostly driven by their passions and feelings rather than reason and principle. When Adeline rejects her father’s request to become a nun, her father is driven by anger and violence rather than reason to send his daughter to her (probable) death. 

In contrast, La Motte is seen by Adeline as her salvation, but still as a character driven by emotion. At the beginning of the novel La Motte is affected by Adeline’s grief and beauty as “She sunk at his feet, and with supplicating eyes, that streamed with tears, implored him to have pity on her.… he found it impossible to contemplate the beauty and distress of the object before him” (Radcliffe 5). His feeling and sentiments toward ‘beauty in distress’ overcome his reason; he takes in Adeline without thinking of the consequences. However, later in the novel La Motte’s feelings overcome his sense of principle rather than his reason, and he deceives Adeline with the Marquis to serve his own advantage and sense of security. La Motte (fearing imprisonment) is overcome by his ‘passions’ of self-preservation and in turn Adeline is betrayed a second time by the character who is supposed to be her protector and security. Both father figures in the novel are portrayed as suppressors; dangerous, irrational figures rather than a protector and a source of security. Adeline’s innocent trust in two male figures that both fail her places her in a role of the naive damsel, and although the two men succumb to their passions in different ways, they both end up betraying their duties and principles in favor or ‘fits of passion’. 

Moreover, the Marquis is thought (at first glance) to be a very noble and mature noble man of status; typically someone seen as proper, rational, and moral. At a second look we see that he is also driven by his passions... for Adeline. Reason does not seem to be a consideration when the Marquis declares his feelings for Adeline, namely when “the Marquis threw himself at her feet, and seizing her hand, impressed it with kisses” (Radcliffe 122). This scene is totally unexpected based on the description of the Marquis, and in many ways reflects the expected actions of an ‘unreasonable’ female affectation.

The idea that men, and not just women, can be driven by their emotions and passions must have been a relatively shocking idea up until the Romantic period. Radcliffe succeeded in portraying men and women in an equally unflattering light, while lifting the female heroine to a position of higher influence within the novel. This flip of stereotypical gender roles helps add a layer of the unexpected to the novel.

William Blake: Innocence and Experience Presentation

“Title page for Songs of Innocence” from Songs of Innocence and of Experience, copy A, 1795 (British Museum)

"Title page for Songs of Experience" from Songs of Innocence and of Experience, copy A, 1795 (British Museum)

Above are the original covers of the songs of innocence and experience. Blake makes a connection between innocence and children, and between experience and loss. Ideas of children and the concept of childhood changed greatly in the Romantic period. The concept of childhood as something that should be appreciated was a Romantic idea. The Romantic poets saw children as being the symbol of innocence and having a unique, important viewpoint because of their closeness to nature and not yet being affected by experience. They had not yet learnt to rationalize, so could see the world for what it really was and identify what was important. Whilst William Blake initially published Songs of Innocence on its own, he never published Songs of Experience on its own. This suggests that he believed that one cannot understand experience without first having innocence. Innocence can exist on its own, but experience is defined by the loss of innocence.

Blake handmade every copy of the Songs of Innocence and Experience published in his lifetime. Each book is unique. If we agree that the illustrations around a poem affect our reading of it, then the reading of a poem will differ slightly depending on the manuscript. With "Little Black Boy", The colors differ between each copy of the book which raises the question of whether Blake’s conception of race was changing with each etching he made. Also how is our reading of the poem affected by the images we see.

“Little Black Boy” from Songs of Innocence and of Experience, copy A, 1795 (British Museum)

Songs of Innocence and of Experience, copy B, 1789, 1794 (British Museum)

Songs of Innocence and of Experience, copy C, 1789, 1794 (Library of Congress)

The concept of a future society, usually a heavenly one, in which inequalities are resolved, is very common of Blake in his Songs of Innocence. Blake focuses on the fact that Christ “became a little child,” suggesting that adults, men and women, must return to a childlike state to regain the innocence that was stripped away by the social cruelties of the world.

In this poem, the black child narrator speaks of a longing for validation from the white opposition. The line “but O! my soul is white,” conveys this longing and despair for recognition and understanding. This is seen again in the last line, “And be like him and he will then love me.” He is truly seeking the love of the white boy.    

The first two stanzas describe the past, stanzas 3-5 is the mother speaking in the present, and the last two stanzas are the black boys words that he will say to the English boy in the future. The poem progresses as a timeline from past (the learning), to the present (the lesson itself), and then to the future (the practical outcome of the lesson).

The equality of people is the main message of this poem – portrayed by the image of God creating the world; the sun in particular that shines and warms everyone – a readiness for the light and heat that is His love.

The poem has a sense of hopefulness in relation to the black boy envisioning a heaven where he is equal to the English boy when they are in heaven together. Not only does the little black boy lack “light” in regard to his skin color, even though he has accepted God, the poem gives a sense that his soul is automatically judged by others to not have a holy “light” or redemption, all based on the color of his skin. This slightly ties into slavery and racism; the superiority of whites – which Blake dissolves in his works with the idea that we will all be the same in the end.

In the third stanza, the mother tells her son that God lives, and gives his “light” and heat away to all things – nature and men alike. This is the point that Blake is trying to convey through the little black boy; although he is black, he is not excluded from God’s “light” and love. Once the little black boy learns to love himself, and their souls learn to bear the heat God gives, the cloud, like a shady grove, will disappear and they will hear Gods voice tell them to come from the grove and rejoice with him in His “light” and His love. 

Sources

Black, Joseph, ed. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature- The Age of Romanticism. 2nd ed. Vol. 4. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview Pr, 2010. Print

"Songs of Innocence and Experience." Blake Archive http://www.blakearchive.org/exist/blake/archive/work.xq?workid=songsie&java=no

The Chimney Sweeper

Not all of the poems have direct opposites, but the sweeper is one in particular that struck me.  In Songs of Innocence, poor little street urchins are making the best of their situation.  An older boy tries to console little Tom.  Tom dreams of others dying, but it's not a bad dream, it's a good dream in Tom's eyes.  It gives him hope.  In Songs of Experience, the boy is not named, but he understands he is being used.  He sees the cycle he is placed in and has no way out.  The innocent boys don't understand how badly they are being abused but as they get older, they not only know, they know they cannot escape it.   Innocence is full of hope and peace, experience is full of acceptance and resignation.

Religion and The Role of the Poet

The brief introduction to Blake in the textbook refers to Blake as "a voice crying in the wilderness", which is a phrase from the Bible that refers to John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus in the Gospels. Blake uses the line as an introduction to his poem "All Religions Are One." I find it interesting how much Blake's religion feeds his work despite his distaste for organized religion. Blake believed that God spoke to him. He seems to be positioning the poet as a type of prophet.

In "Introduction" in Songs of Innocence, the piper is told to "Pipe a song about a Lamb", and then to "sit thee down and write in a book that all may read." I'm reading this as the Lamb referring to Jesus. It seems the knowledge of Jesus begins in art, then the poet writes it down so that all may know it too. In "Introduction" from Songs of Experience, it is the bard "Who Present, Past & Future sees/Whose ears have heard the Holy Word." If the poet is a prophet, then poetry brings the reader closer to God. Poetry then, is not mere art. This idea might explain why Blake's work is quite different from other poets. Blake has no fluff poems that are merely entertaining. Each poem has a message that it is trying to convey. and, as corny as it may sound, a higher purpose.

Presence of the Yew Tree in "All Alone"

Throughout Mary Robinson's poem "All Alone", I noticed the amount of imagery used throughout the work. In particular, I noticed the presence of the yew tree and how it is mentioned twice in this poem. This brought to mind the question, what is the significance of the yew tree and what does it symbolize in this particular piece of poetry?
Traditionally, the yew tree is noted to having a "longstanding relationship with man-kind" according to Davies, (who wrote "The Iconography of Landscape") and they typically grow in church yards. As seen in line 33, "And still, the yew-tree shades amoung, I heard thee sigh thy artless woe," while the child is sitting in front of his mother's tomb stone. The yew tree appears again in line 64 and also includes the moon. In class, we discussed that the image and appearance of the moon is a staple of gothic literature and gothic works. Is the appearance of the moon and how it "peeps through the yew-trees shadowy row" more impactful than just saying that the moon is shining through the branches of a tree?

The Problem with A Poison Tree

Of all the poems in the songs of Experience I thought the Poison Tree was a good take on explaining how hatred and envy can destroy someone. I thought it was very odd  though how in this set of poems with such a clear message of morality would have a poem about destroying another person, even if that person is someone you don't like and killing them without it being admonished or shown in a light of horror or disgust. The only reason I can think of to do this is that it's a allegory that the foe is killed but the narrator is just as "dead" as their foe because they had to "feed" the seed of hatred with tears of fear and deceit a clear showing of that hatred and wrath change a person yet their are no ultimate consequences for the narrator. The religious symbols of a snake and a apple are clear references to Lucifer and the ultimate sin of pride and envy that got him and a third of the host kicked out of heaven, so perhaps the narrator is lucifer with the fow being humanity, a very disturbing idea.

What is true?

As I was reading the Songs of Innocence and Experience, I just had this replaying thought of innocence pounding in my head matching to the drumbeat of a song I was listening to. Clearly, this is a theme that is evident in the poems. It is even in the title, but the twists that Blake uses with innocence caught me off-guard with both of the chimney sweepers. At first, I thought that the child in the Songs of Experience was the depiction of innocence. After all, that's how most children come into the world, innocent, naive and free from the troubles and the hardships of life, but then I saw the depiction of experience and innocence in the Songs of Experience being stripped from his innocence by his parents so that he may know the woes of the world. It was as if they were saying that innocence can only be truly innocence if taken away first. This is seen in both poems. In the Songs of Innocence, the chimney sweepers endured great hardships and were near death cleaning the chimneys. These were but small children forced to do the hard labors of man. They had no one to protect their innocence because it was taken away from them forcefully. Yet in both poems, it was God and heaven, the holiest of holies,  that brought back their innocence that had been stolen from them. Innocence was eventually returned to them but only after death and only after hardships. I thought to myself, could this truly be what innocence is? I always thought that innocence had always been that pure untouched spirit. That word untouched was the key to innocence. You had to be untouched by the deeds of the world; but in these poems, innocence was found after trauma, after experience, after being soiled so what is innocence after all? It's a fragile state of being, but once broken, can it really be brought back to its pure state even after death? Perhaps that is the point. Perhaps, this was just the hope that the chimney sweepers had to hold onto through their hard times as slaves to keep them going, that someday they would eventually return to their blissful state in heaven when they are children again without care in a world full of blissful innocence under the arms of their God once more.

Juxtaposition of Blake's Artwork

I found it interesting to compare the frontispieces, title pages, and introductions of Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. Looking at the artwork didn't necessarily give me any insight that I couldn't have gained from reading the work alone, but it did reinforce the difference between the two books. Several poems are contained in both Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience but told from different perspectives, the artwork mirrors this. The frontispiece for Songs of Innocence shows a musician or bard at the beginning of a journey looking up curiously at an angel. The frontispiece for Songs of Experience shows a figure walking forward with eyes ahead, grasping an angel firmly and carrying it. The introduction page for Songs of Innocence reminds me of a children's book while the introduction page for Songs of Experience shows a figure floating on a cloud in the night sky which gives me a feeling of loneliness. The title page of Songs of Innocence shows children gathered around their mothers lap reading what I think is a book. The title page of Songs of Experience shows two young people mourning a dead woman which I believe is the same mother and children from the Songs of Innocence title page. These images impart to me the same feelings I get from reading the text but they use no words. The images from Songs of Innocence are more whimsical, bright, hopeful, and of course innocent. The images from Songs of Experience are more focused and somehow darker than their counterparts. Maybe Blake was telling us that the price of gaining awareness, intelligence and experience is the loss of some of our innocent optimism. All of this artwork and more is located at the William Blake Archive.

Songs of Innocence Frontispiece

Songs of Experience Frontispiece

Songs of Experience Introduction

Songs of Innocence Introduction

Songs of Innocence Title Page

Songs of Experience Title Page

The Horror of Parallels

In both the Songs of Innocence and the Songs of Experience, there exists the poem of The Chimney-Sweeper. This tale of chimney sweepers is a far darker thing than the rosy falsehood portrayed in Mary Poppins. The life of a chimney sweep was hard. Young boys were essentially sold into slavery to work as chimney sweeps. When young Tom dreams of fellow sweepers "locked up in coffins of black" this is more than a simple nightmare. Being suffocated or burned alive in chimneys as narrow as 9 square inches was a common fate for these children. The flues were so narrow that only small bodies could climb them, often nude, or clog them if the child was unlucky, or lucky, depending on your perspective. These were narrow, sometimes burning columns of jagged angles and suffocating blackness that became the world for these young unwanteds. Young Tom is dreaming of fellow children he knows who died in those flues, whose short life was suffocated in that searing blackness. Tom awakes and goes about his duties. Tom is happy and warm, and fears no harm because even that suffocating blackness brings relief from the life he knows. And this is the song of Innocence. An innocence ripped from these children. An innocence that only death will preserve.
In the Songs of Experience, we see the loss of this innocence. Death blankets the child in this story, His clothes stained black with soot, his face ashen and woeful due to his duties. This child may "dance and sing," but it is the song of the doomed.  Even sweeps that survived the flues were deformed by their cramped work, and developed cancer in their late teens and 20's. This was a short, brutal, and woeful life. The boy notes that his parents have gone to "praise God and His priest and king," but this God has abandoned this "little black thing," or at least this is what he believes. The song of the damned is his only song; the dance of the cursed is his only dance. He has no use for the pretty nightmares that Tom finds respite in. Death has not found him, though it has marked him as Its own. Their parents abandon them, their bodies betray them, and death has yet to take them. That is their experience, not life but a living death.

Innocence Versus Experience

Blake has an interesting way of defining innocence and it relates closely to why he links Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. The distinction between the two is seen in The Chimney Sweep; however two separate poems written under the same title in books with two separate motives. The version of The Chimney Sweep told in the Songs of innocence speaks of a young boy sold after the death of a parent. He does his job and finds joy and peace in his dreams of freedom granted by God. However, The Chimney Sweep in Songs of Experience speaks of a young boy who has two living parents who basically force him into misery. The end of the poem speaks of heaven as the cause of misery on earth due to the authoritative figures of the time. The link between misery and heaven could be a cynical statement often linked as far back as medieval religion in which a more miserable life on earth ensured prosperity in the afterlife. Perhaps Blake is using this as a way to define innocence as one’s undisturbed thoughts versus the cynic and corrupted effect of society on a person’s attitude. The authoritarians use religion to keep the civilians enslaved in a self perpetrated and pitiful life to retain power, causing the boy’s repressed childhood and loss of innocence through the gaining of experience. Also making an underlying statement that innocence is known until it is lost through experience, otherwise meaning we cannot acknowledge and appreciate our innocence until it is gone.

Joining of Two

One of the things always wondered on was why does the Mariner tell his story at a wedding. With the talk being about the slave trade why would you want it to take place there. Having the talk at a wedding seems like such an inappropriate place for this to take place but it makes sense when you look at it as a joining. A wedding is a joining of two people into one and a celebration. I think this fits with the slave trade because England is so intertwined with the slave trade it is like they are married. Getting out of it is hard, takes time and a lot of money. With the Mariner stopping a guest from going into the wedding and joining in with the celebration he is trying to enlighten the guest and broaden that guests thinking because staring with the base of the people and having those thoughts work there way through the people slowly changing how they think is how social change happens.

Songs of Innocence - The Little Black Boy

William Blake's poem The Little Black boy upholds the reoccurring concept in which he believes in a future society, usually a heavenly one where inequalities are resolved. The poem has a great sense of hopefulness and faith in regard to the little black boy envisioning a heaven where he is equal to the English boy when they are both in heaven together. However, even though the little boy has accepted God, the poem conveys that the little black boy lacks "light," the holy "light," or redemption - based on the color of his skin. This also ties back to abolition and slavery; the superiority of whites - which Blake dissolves in his writings; maintaining the idea that we will all be the same in the end - that God gives his "light" and his love to all things, both men and nature.

a clod of pebbles

In this poem, Blake describes the concept of love through a piece of trodden clay who is depicted as innocent.  The clay has a selfless attitude towards love and finds composure in the malleable nature of adapting.  The clay's passive viewpoint makes sense that love "builds a heaven in hell's despair" because it is use to being shaped by the forces of others.  However the theme of Innocence takes a turn with a 'But' when Blake introduces the pebble from the brook, hard-minded and desensitized.  The pebble declares that love is selfish, wishes to please only itself, and takes joy in the losses of others.  The pebble represents an Experienced persona and through human's natural selfishness "builds a hell in heaven's despite."
The balancing lines of "heaven in hell's despair" and "hell in heaven's despite" along with the neutral 'But' cancel out any noticeable bias in Blake and allow the readers to think for themselves.  The irony for me is that if selfishness dominates selflessness in nature, and selflessness dominates selfishness in spirit, who is right in the end?  Who wins in the end?

We Are Seven

In "We Are Seven" Wordsworth argues that children are capable of understanding death on a more abstract level than adults.  Wordsworth starts by having the speaker inquire into the limits of knowledge children have when it comes to death.  Wordsworth then sets up a mock philosophical discourse between the speaker and a child to explore this question.  What is interesting, is that the speaker is mostly concerned with facts, namely, how many of her siblings died.  When the little girl replies "we are seven" over and over again...it's not because she can't count, despite what the speaker might think, I think the meaning behind "we are seven" is more abstract.  The little girl does not make the same distinction between the alive and the dead; for her it is possible to be with someone who is no longer alive.  Whether this is just in memory no one really knows, but she feels able to be with the dead in a way the speaker cannot grasp.

Tyger, Tyger, Tyger Tyger Tyger!

William Blake's Poem "The Tyger" makes an interesting point with the line "Did he smile his work to see?" in which the poet seems to be asking God if He deployed the Tyger upon Earth as a means for humanity to discovering God's divine plan. It is ambiguous if the "smile" is that of God or that silly smile the Tyger wears on the accompanying engraving; however, the aim of the question is made clear from the following line "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" which  expresses that the Lamb is clearly Good while it is hard to find the purpose or virtue of the Tyger in the mind of God. In a way, the Tyger is what makes the Lamb virtuous but this relationship is symmetric as the poem implies; that is to say, both animals or modes of existence (fierce or passive) are Good insofar as one cannot defined in allegory without the presence of the Other. In this case, they are both Good because of faith. Faith in the Lord leads one to believe that their is deeper meaning in what inspires terror into our hearts such as the Tyger and that God has given the Tyger to humanity just as God has given us the martyring Lamb. It sounds almost as if the poet is implying that things seem Evil only because we do not have an adequate understanding of their cause (God).

Songs of Innocence and Irony

While reading these poems it made me think of how ironic in the Songs of Innocence a poem about a child working in miserable conditions as a chimney sweeper would be in this set of poems meant as an ode to the innocent ways of children. To me this was a deliberant way of shocking the audience with the hopelessness situation the child was in, and bringing awareness of the plight that these children were suffering. The hopeful way the boy describes life after their work, either death or a imaginary world where their all safe and happy shows the resilience that the narrator has that his life and those of his friends gives the reader, or atleast myself a sense of cynical hopefullness.

William Cowper 'The Negro's Complaint'

William Cowper's poem 'The Negro's Complaint' raises ethical questions from an ontological prospective by showing the absurdity in enslaving a race of human-beings who share the same human capacities of both thought and emotion. It is ridiculous to exclude people from their "people-ness" due to their skin color.  The lines in particular "Skins may differ, but affection/ Dwells in white and black the same." reminded me of Spinoza in his "Ethics: Demonstrated in Geometric Order" with the concept of "affect"; it follows that "affection" or the capacity for change(both psychologically and physiologically) is the haecity and is closest thing we have to essence or eternal form. That is why it follows equal capacities means equal en su genre. Their is no deviating substantial essence that can be identified to deviate from actual potentials. The poem demonstrates the same affections that black people face to that of any human-being by expressing the suffering that slavery imposes on them. I really liked the closing lines "Prove that you have human feelings/ Ere you proudly question ours!". The prospectives that the poet used were effective in exalting his argument in critique of the unmoral society.

Hope

A recent theme in some of the stories being read is hope. Now, what's the difference between "The Brownie of Black Haggs" and the hope portrayed in that story, as compared to "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"? In "The Brownie of Black Haggs", hope is portrayed in three different ways. One is the colley that will never hunt again, for fear of the gun; that is completely against it's nature, and so maybe there is some hope for humanity. On the mirror side, the hound that chases the fox almost to the point of death, til it cannot physically chase it's enemy anymore; chasing the enemy is natural, but it is supernatural to chase the fox to the point of near death, and so maybe humanity will follow this route. But some of humanity is expressed through Mrs. Wheelhope, who, literally, has no hope of survival. Her supernatural obession destroyed her relationships with everyone she knew, and, in the end, it took her life.
Compare "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner". In that story, it is, at points in the Mariner's story, hopeless. And yet...something happens, and hope is restored. Maybe it is an act of God. Maybe it's the fact that when things go wrong, such as the death of the Albatross, the Mariner is shamed and guilty, and is either punished or punishes himself, laying down his pride and anger and grief. Or maybe it's sheer dumb luck. But if you mirror the actions of the Mariner to humanity, we may destroy something unintentionally, but if we lay down our pride, and apologize and do what we can to fix the mistake(s) we made, perhaps salvation and hope will again rise up with us.

The Poetry of Nature

I thought it was interesting that Coleridge says in the “Origin of ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’” that he uses the combination of moonlight and sunlight to portray “the poetry of nature”. The supernatural is viewed in both darkness and light in this poem. He speaks of this woman referred to as “Life-In-Death” who kills all of his shipmates and takes him for herself. Right when he fears there is no hope for him, Heaven’s angels come and recuse him and help steer the ship back to his land. Coleridge uses the moonlight to show the Mariner praying for help and then watching the angels by moonlight come to rescue him. This is the most obvious use of light and dark. However, I think Coleridge was using light and dark to portray “nature” in many different ways. Besides the obvious use of darkness and moonlight, and light and dark supernatural events, I believe Coleridge was also describing human nature in “the poetry of nature”. The Mariner made a great mistake and suffered, but once he was given redemption, he decided to devote his life to love and reverence. It starts off dark and ends with a light at the end of the tunnel so to speak. I believe Coleridge used many forms of nature by using light and dark to show actual nature, supernatural nature, and human nature. The combination is the true poetry of nature to Coleridge.

"As Idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean."

Like many of the other readers, I was incredibly struck by the imagery in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.  In a more literal interpretation, I could not help but think of some of the major painters of the Romantic Era in art while reading about the themes of isolation and the sea. Two artists that are primarily known for these themes were Casper David Friedrichs and J.M.W Turner. Friedrich's paintings often deal with desolation and somberness, and the background of our blog is actually a piece of his, entitled The Sea of Ice, which is incredibly fitting to the story. The majority of Turner's paintings are depictions of a savage sea, with a few that emulate the imagery expressed in the poem.  The passage I found particular represented by a painting was, “Day after day, day after day, We stuck, nor breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean.” While several of Turners paintings are very fitting to this passage, one that I feel represents it wonderfully is Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth. While the sea depicted is very violent, the boat is ultimately and entirely stagnant, just like the ship and sailors are in the poem.

Imagery with Emotion and the Sun

In the ancient mariner, I believe the storyteller uses a lot of imagery description to best describe the sailor’s emotional ordeal they are going through.  An example would be the scene where he attempts to pray, but a bad whisper discourages his heart, which may be the other part of him that wishes to give up all hope. The poems imagery and the characters emotions go in harmony with each other in order for the reader to be able to obtain a better grasp of the tragic scenes played out and the agony the character endures. Also one thing to note is the sun is represented as a vengeful god that punishes the sailors while the moon seems to be a calming figure that gives peace to the sailors. Perhaps the author was referring God as the sun who gives and takes life in the poem.