Abstract While Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "In Memoriam" and Gerald Manley Hopkins's sonnets appear to be complete opposites in terms of their development, both poets have a common theme involving a firm connection to God running throughout their works. The paper shows that, specifically, within the hopeful parts of their works, both poets relate to God through the same type of philosophy and dispel newly found scientific reasoning that the existence of man is but a meaningless and random occurrence using science's own language. It shows, too, that in the doubtful parts of their works, both connect to God through feeling him in their pain and woe.
Paper Outline:
I. Introduction
II. Hopkins's Philosophy in "God's Grandeur" and "As Kingfishers Catch Fire"
III. Tennyson's Philosophy in "In Memoriam" Part 95 and 118
IV. Hopkins Direct Connection to God through Suffering in "Carrion Comfort"
V. Tennyson's Connection to God through Suffering in Parts 1 and 124 of "In Memoriam"
VI. Conclusion
From the Paper "This revelation (described by Tennyson in the footnote) is instated by the "repeating [of] my own name two or three times" similar to Hopkins's idea of instress, Tennyson describes entering a state of intense "consciousness of individuality" where he comes to a realization of man's place in the world as his individuality "seemed to dissolve and fade away into boundless being" (pg. 95, footnote 1). This boundless being matches closely with Hopkins's idea that when looking at any object's (including one's own) inscape a person sees God's plan and purpose for that object within the scheme of the time and the universe."
Abstract This paper looks at the theme of the poem, "The Dirty Word", and the different literary techniques that can be seen throughout the poem. Examples of Shapiro's use of metaphor, analogy, and symbolism are provided and their meaning explained. The paper also draws a comparison between the power and significance of words within the poem and the significance placed on words in Jewish theological tradition.
From the Paper "Karl Shapiro's poem, "The Dirty Word" compares a young boy hearing a dirty word to a young boy keeping a vulture. The vulture acts as a metaphor, and the way it interacts with the boy offers examples of the way that hearing a dirty word might affect a young child's mind and how a young boy might both delight in the pleasure of a using a forbidden word and transgressing boundaries even as he is ultimately ashamed and repulsed by the dirty word's offensiveness. Equally important in the poem is the theme of death"not only is the dirty word compared to a carrion-eating vulture, but the boy's funeral is described, and the narrator also claims to have murdered the dirty word in his own mind. The poem then, reveals itself to be an elegy, but the exact kind of elegy is not clear until the poem's final lines. In the final lines of the poem, the speaker reveals that his story about the boy and the dirty word was in fact autobiography and that his poem is an elegy for himself"an elegy for the death of the innocent and youthful child that the speaker once was."
Abstract This paper describes and compares the form, style, poetic techniques, and effectiveness of four poems. The poems, Hopkins's "As Kingfishers Catch Fire, Dragonflies Draw Flame" and ?Carrion Comfort? , and Yeats's "An Irish Airman Foresees his Death" and "Sailing to Byzantium", are considered in detail, and their strengths and weaknesses are described. In addition, the poems are rated as either effective or ineffective.
From the Paper "This first line describes a strong wind removing the chaff from the wheat, so the grain can be seen. This represents how the suffering may have been positive, in that it pushed away the outer layer to reveal the poet's good character. The poet then asks who he should cheer. First, he wonders if he should cheer God when God has made him suffer. Then he wonders if he should cheer himself for enduring. The poet does not find an answer to this question, with the poem ending with him still wondering whether he can thank God for making him suffer. Considering that the entire poem is a narrative of the poet's journey out of depression, there is a suggestion that at some point later in time the poet will resolve this issue and manage to look back thankfully on what has happened. Overall then, this is a poem that offers hope."
