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Friday, January 18, 2013
Dickinson Blog #2
Read and annotate poems:
95 ("The Soul selects her own society)
11 ("Success is counted sweetest")
122 ("After a great pain, a formal feeling comes")
and 274 ("One need not be a Chamber -- to be Haunted").
Then write 2 blog posts, one each for two of those poems. For each post, do what we have practiced: identify key metaphors, key words, points of confusion, and links to other poems or books we've read. But you also need to respond to another post on that poem. This means that if you're the first to post about this poem, you catch a break.
Put your poem number at the top of each post, and post your writing in reply to a post on the same poem. This way we have separate threads for each poem.
If it looks like you spent half an hour writing your two blog posts, you get full credit. Posts are due by 8 am Wednesday.
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11-
ReplyDeleteThis poem is saying we want what we cant have and it seems that when we don't have something we can appreciate those who have it more. In the first two lines it says that "success is counted sweetest by those who ne'er succeed". I think that when she mentions the sweet nectar she is saying that you have to first really desire something and not have it in order to be able to fully appreciate it when you get it. in the second stanza she talks about the people who took the flag. the purple host, purple signifies royalty and superiority. They have achieved victory so they can't give an accurate definion. The third stanza explains that it ia the defeated that have lost that can truly decribe victory. They lie on the ground defeated. Their forbidden ear hears the victorious trumpet, meaning that because they lost they arent supposed to hear the celebratory trumpet. The trumpet further tortures them because they know they cant have victory; it teases them.
122- I think that this poem is about love and loss. The first line means that when you've been hurt you are very torn up abpout it and you sulk and cry or whatever but then a formal feeling comes. I think this is a mask. of course the pain isnt gone yet but the first stanza talks about the cermonious tomb like, stiff heart formal feeling. This is the robaotic facad that hides the internal pain. The second stanza describes this. Even though there is great pain inside, the external self like a robot moves on in routine. but inside, a quarts continent like a stone. Then in the last stanza she talks about moving on and she talks about snow. In its prime snow is cold and stiff, like a sad person, but then it softens and melts. This is a person letting go and moving on.
Alex 11
DeleteFirst of all, I would have to say that this poem is specifically referring to people who are naturally good at things, or have a lot of things, because these people, according to Dickinson, are not able to appreciate what they have. Specifically, when she says "success is counted sweetest by those who ne'er succeed," she is implying that those who are used to succeeding cannot appreciate success in the same way as those who do not naturally succeed in what they do. I feel that there is some bitterness or resentment in this poem, possibly because of something that she was not able to obtain or achieve, because of the lines "To comprehend a nectar / Requires sorest need." The strangest thing about the poem for me is that in the last stanza, she seems to imply that those who achieve victory do not really obtain victory, but that those who fail are the ones who truly obtain victory. This comes from my interpretation of the lines "As he defeated - dying - / On whose forbidden ear / The distant strains of triumph / Burst agonized and clear." Perhaps she merely means that those who are defeated realize true victory, but something about the tone of this poem leads me to believe that there are hints of a very different meaning.
Brian 11
DeleteI don't agree that this poem is talking specifically about people with natural talent. I think that this relates more to the poem about the sailors. In that poem, only the people on shore could truly understand the experience of going out to see, just like only those who fail can truly experience success. It seems to relate more to Zoe's idea that people want what they can't obtain or attain. If one were to work hard at something, then be successful, it would probably still apply that they too do not anymore understand what it means to succeed. They would no longer have the "sorest need", and their understanding of this need would pass.
Poem 11:
DeleteReggie
What I took from this poem is the feeling you get when achieving victory is best right before achieving it. You gain a sense of immortality after accomplishing a task that took hard work and strive to obtain. It is similar to the bee escaping his hive to travel a distance to the flower. Upon getting to the flower the bee is rewarded with the nectar of victory. The feeling of victory is what helps a person build an ego and make them feel untouchable or unstoppable. As if nothing can break their mental barriers or get to them. It is a feeling that restrains us to the higher image of ourselves that we see when achieving victory. It is great pain and agony that brought us to this feeling and it is great pain and agony that can take away this feeling. In conclusion those who have not experienced victory before will better understand it unlike those who have already experienced. I agree with what Brian is saying
Alex 95
ReplyDeleteThis poem is primarily about shutting yourself off from the rest of the world, whether physically, or by creating your own mental reality. "The Soul selects her own Society" could mean a variety of things, including the fact that some people deny reality and create their own reality inside of their minds. Dickinson also repeats the word unmoved, which could mean that our souls are not really connected to the outside world in any way, and that we are only pretending to be affected by it. I'm not sure what experiences in her life would have led to this assumption, but it is certainly a very dark one. The last stanza is very confusing because she skips words, but I think that it may be something to do with the hardening of one's emotions in order to protect oneself from the pain of life, which would seem to fit in with many of the poet's habits.
Kenny 95 "reply"
DeleteI found the first stanza to be more about one not having control on how one's inner-soul really is. By using "her" to describe "The Soul," Dickinson is trying to state The Soul is basically another being, and could be separate from the external person containing the Soul. The House being a metaphor for hiding one's id shows up here: "Then- shuts the door." Dickinson is trying to state how there are almost two completely different people: the soul, which is behind a shut door (not viewable to the rest of the world), and the outside of the house, or what others see. The last two stanzas I also see as dark and how certain events effect one's character. Very confusing.
Mason- 95 reply to Alex
DeleteIn response to 95, I really like Alex's idea of creating one's "own mental reality." I feel this definitely has some validity especially concerning the metaphor of "shutting the Door to her divine Majority." Why is the Majority divine though? What I'm not sure is if she is referring to a "Majority" that she wishes to belong to (thought wise), or the "Majority" being almost the body of the soul. The Soul is its own small entity in the body, therefore making the entire body the "Majority." I think "divine" is key because it has great meaning. First, it could be that the "Soul" respects the body and thinks it is divine because the body is what acts for the Soul. The Soul is what the body believes, but it is up to the body to enact the Soul's dreams and wants. When looking at the poem as a whole though, I see that the poem may represent how our Soul makes brief changes of heart every now and then. It "closes the Valves of her attention," setting the beliefs or dreams in "Stone." But where my logic is flawed is knowing that the writer is typically pessimistic, unlike Whitman. That being said, she wouldn't be optimistic here, even though the poem doesn't seem to pessimistic. It is almost neither nor. But what still gets me is the "Chariots - pausing."
Brian 274
ReplyDeleteKey words I noticed were House, interior Confronting, Unarmed, and superior spectre. The major metaphor in this poem is the brain having hallways, or corridors. Dickinson first brings up the idea of a haunted house, but then goes on to say that other things can be haunted other than rooms and houses. The haunting of a brain is actually worse, to Dickinson, than an encounter with an actual ghost. The reference of a haunted mind could be a reference to her own thoughts, which scare her. She feels as though she would rather experience one of these spetres, rather than deal with the bad thoughts of her mind. At the end she talks about if an assassin were to be in one’s house, the person would hide with a gun, but is “O’erlooking a superior spectre-/ Or More-” If that person is alone with their thoughts, it may be more dangerous than being with the assassin. I am not sure about the Unarmed part. It seems like she may be saying that one has no defense against the evils of one’s mind, but I am not sure. The idea of a person being a room, or in this case containing corridors, is relatable to Whitman, and the haunted idea is also relatable to another Dickinson poem. This can be related to the poem in which the soul is trapped, and encounters both a ghastly fright and a goblin.
Mason- 274 reply to Brian
DeleteI agree with Brian in that the soul is trapped because I believe that the poem is about someone on the cusp of committing suicide. I love the metaphor of "ourself behind ourself, concealed" because it's a true statement about our ego and our inner self. Hidden away is our true soul, but visible is the facade we place on display for the external world. Dickinson is saying that if people were able to see our inner selves, they would be frightened, more frightened than being startled by an assassin. But I also feel like she is making a statement in defense of people that are "Haunted" inside. She is saying that because people feel they have to keep things cramped up inside, they're dying on the inside. Because, as I concluded on the previous poem 11, the tries body acts on behalf of the soul, therefore the Body "borrows a Revolver" to kill himself because the soul is dying on the inside. What confuses me a bit is the "superior spectre." I'm not sure if it refers to the ghost that is already dead, or an idol the person looks up to.
Morgan
ReplyDelete11: The first stanza of this poem seems to be talking about the old cliche of not knowing what you have until you no longer have it, but reversed. People who never have success know what success means more than people who do. The "nectar" is reffering to what is sweetest in life, and that people that lack this understand it better. An example of this today would be our government, we, the U.S., are told by foreigners that we do not understand what we have with this peaceful transition of power, and that other countries who do not have peaceful transitions of power understand it better then we do. Essentially, we take it for granted. That's the only example I can really think of at this time. The "purple Host" in the second stanza makes me think of a recipent of the Purple Heart, someone who was wounded in battle. It is confusing because I cannot tel whether it is saying that these people cannot give a definition of victory, or they can. I think it is saying that they cannot. They do not actually feel victorious because of their wound, and what they have sacrificed. They do not understand victory because to understand victory you must lose. The man who is dying in the last stanza understands victory. He lost the battle, and he is dying, but he is slightly victorious.
122: In the first stanza it seems that Dickinson is writing that after suffering or a great tragedy in life one is left numb, and questing whether "He," God, is responsible for this pain one just experienced. Or possible it is accepting the fact that what has happened is God's will. Everyone will experience their own hour of death and we must accept it. Regardless of who we are we are all moving towards that point. There comes a the feeling we will die, followed by a state of unconsiousness, and finally death. I cannot tell if this is a positive outlook on death or a cynical, somewhat disturbing one.
Sam 11-
DeleteIt is interesting how she says that for people who never succeed, the feeling of success is always sweeter. I can definitely understand that because people who never succeed have no idea what it is like to succeed, therefore, when they do succeed, it is wonderful. It's like taking a drug: the first time you do it is always the best because you've never done it before. What is most confusing to me about this poem is in the last stanza she says "The distant strains of triumph burst agonized and clear!" Why would triumph be agonized? Shouldn't triumph and agony be near opposites? Maybe there is agony involved in gettting to the triumph... I have no idea what to make of the second stanza except: Why are "flag" and "victory" capitalized?
274 Kenny
ReplyDeleteI saw a lot of comparisons between 274 and 95. Clearly both poems use a house metaphor and both seem to talk about what humans have control over and don't. By saying the brain has corridors, Dickinson confirms a metaphor related to the one she used in 95. "surpassing Material Place" stands out as an important line to me. Dickinson seems to battle a lot with what is innately unchangeable and what is influenced by material. the fourth stanza seems really important to me... "Ourself behind ourself, concealed - Should startle most." The two different ourselves represent the two different beings I discussed on 95, which is how The Soul is basically a separate being from the person. The rest of the poem seems to be the battle the person has between their self and the soul.
Sam
ReplyDelete122 - I think this poem deals with the stages of grief after one loses someone or something that one truly loves. First comes the great pain, which is the initial shock of finding out that the person or thing is no more. Then comes the formal feeling (I think of the funeral, where everyone is sitting up straight, all is quiet, the people in black are wearing faces of stone.) Of course, then comes the questions "why did this person have to die?" "Who or what could have done this?", "Was it fate that determined his death?" (The poem mentions "yesterday, or centuries before?") Beyond the questioning stage of grief, one is just going through the motions of every day life "The Feet, mechanical, go round -" and regardless of the pain that one feels every day "A wooden way regardless grown". What really confuses me is the last stanza. I just have no idea what to make of that whatsoever.
Poem: 122
ReplyDeleteImportant Words:Nerves,Tombs,Heart,Yesterday,Centuries,Feet,Ground,Air,Ought,Wooden,Quartz,Freezing,Snow,Chill,Stupor
Important Metaphors:"The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs" "A Quartz contentment, like a stone"
Important Phrases: "Hour of Lead"
This poem is describing a person being frozen in the snowy weather. The pain and suffering he endured before freezing to death making his body motionless and unable to function. Being stiff and frozen like this gives the appearance of being content. This would be an experience worth remembering if he were to live through it all. If he were to live through it he would have his first chills the sign of disease then experience actual symptoms of the disease then dying. I get the impression that before death this person was climbing a mountain in a location that snows like in the North and South Poles. I'm confused with the phrase "Hour of Lead"
Poem 95:
ReplyDeleteImportant Words:Soul,Society,Door,Majority,Unmoved,Chariots,Gate,Emperor,Valves,Stone
Important Metaphors: "Then close the Valves of her attention Like Stone"
Important Phrases: "Choose One"
What I took from this poem is that the soul decides on her own place of refuge after death like the choice to go to heaven or to hell. Upon the choice the doors are shut off from those of the divine majority as in the doors are shut towards those who are still alive worshiping God. She is present no more in society. The chariot will stop at the gate of her choice. An emperor is beneath her thus why he kneels to her. She used to be part of a large prosperous nation could possibly be the United States. “Choose one” possible meaning chose a society like the soul did in the beginning of the poem. Closing the valves of her attention “Like Stone” means stop her making her motionless similar to a stone. I'm confused with the meaning of this poem whether it focuses on the soul or the living individual. Isolating your self from society of deciding on the path you will follow upon death.
Jay
ReplyDelete122
This poem deals with how we react after the loss of something very important to us in our lives. At first she talks about a still pain that comes with the death, this pain is the first thing that we feel when we find out about the loss, and its something that makes us "numb" with either grief or sadness. I agree a lot with Sam on the second part where she addresses the formal part of death which is a lot like a funeral, where everything is proper and has a set way of being. As the poem ends, Dickinson talks about a "freeze" and "chill" that comes over the body. I believe that this chill that you feel is the final part, that comes a good bit after that person is gone, where you finally come to the full realization that, the person you cared so much about is truly gone in your life. This is a feeling a hopelessness and the blood freezing feeling that you get once you come to this realization.
Jay 11
I believe that this poem is talking much about what Morgan and Zoeie talked about, which is how we want the things in life that we do not have and that we wish to one day posses. It talks about how this "nectar" that we want is only wanted in life because we do not have it. This makes sense to me because the things that we don't have in life are always the things that we strive to get. As I read through the comments, Brian's stuck out the most to me. I thought the same thing as him when I read this poem, it made me think of the seaman story and how only the people on the shore can truly appreciate being on the sea. It has the same basic idea as what Dickson is preaching in this poem, that only the unsuccessful can really appreciate success.