Category: Poetry
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Analysis of “Nuances of a Theme by Williams”
The title of Wallace Stevens’ poem “Nuances of a Theme by Williams” implies that he intends to comment on, possibly celebrate, and almost certainly explore the potential distinctions and variations available in the poem by William Carlos Williams titled “El Hombre.” Stevens includes “El Hombre,” in its entirety minus the title, in the opening four…
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The Theme of Redemption in Manfred by Lord Byron
Manfred, in the dramatic poem of the same name, written by Lord Byron, is a character that possesses many flaws. As Manfred mourns the loss of his beloved sister, it is revealed that their incestuous relationship was deemed illegal by and disgusted their society. As a result of this as well as his sister’s passing,…
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Gender and Nature in Alice Oswald’s Daisy
In ‘Daisy’, Alice Oswald uses the evolving imagery of a narrator considering her actions towards a daisy to symbolise the meekness and conformity socially linked to womanhood- and the poem’s progressively aggressive tone mirrors her desire to reject these feminine ideals. Nonetheless, the constant focus on the image of a flower is able to portray…
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Skipping Church on Sunday Morning: an Examination of The Rejection of Systems of Truth in Wallace Stevens’ Poem “Sunday Morning”
Wallace Stevens, it seems, never spoke a great deal about his poem “Sunday Morning.” Because Stevens gives us very little insight into his own thoughts, it is important to examine the thoughts of other critics before analyzing a poem such as “Sunday Morning.” In an essay titled “Pound/Sevens: Whose Era?” Marjorie Perloff brings together criticism…
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The Human Experience in Bruce Dawe’s Poetry
A poet who energetically contemplated the world around him, Dawe wasn’t just a devoted Australian wordsmith with a dream that his work would one day be analysed. He was a book full of ideas, complex ideas, often about the essence of life and beyond. Through his poems Bedroom Conversations, Up The Wall, and Enter Without…
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Attraction and Desire in Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty”
Lord Byron’s ‘She Walks in Beauty’ was inspired by Mrs Wilmot, his cousin, Robert Wilmot’s wife. Byron’s glimpse of Mrs Wilmot, as well as the environment that surrounded them, contributed to the images of darkness in ‘She Walks in Beauty,’ from the mourning clothes she and others worn, correlating to themes of spiritual darkness which…
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Battle Between Good and Evil in The Destruction of Semnacherib
In The Destruction of Semnacherib, Byron uses different types of imagery to illustrate contradictory feelings about victory in war. In this poem, the complete demolition of the Assyrian people is described in both a horrific and peaceful way, demonstrating how success in war is always tainted with the atrocities of death on the other side.…
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Postmodern Spirituality and The Culture of Individualism
The Romantic Era was a period in which poets and intellectuals challenged the emphasis on reason and science espoused by the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution. Lord Byron, or George Gordon Byron, was a leading who lived during the nineteenth century and was best known for his epic poem Don Juan. Byron’s poem follows the…
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Man and The Natural World
Byron’s “The Prisoner of Chillon”[1], a dramatic monologue narrated by a prisoner, Francois de Bonnivard, was written immediately after the poet’s famous sailing expedition on Lake Geneva with Percy Shelley. When visiting the thirteenth-century Castle of Chillon, Byron must have heard of and felt a great interest in the pathetic story of the Genevan patriot.…
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The Role of The Self in The Works of Byron and Keats
The primary source of feeling comes from within the Self. At least, this is what Lord Byron’s Manfred and “Lara: Canto the First” and Keats’ “Four Seasons Fill the Measure of the Year”, tell us. The implications of this are that once the internal Self has begun a process of inner torment, there is little…