I chose the song "Love Song" by Sara Bareilles because the way the singer sings the song really caught my attention. Starting at the beginning of the song, I analyzed just what exactly I thought the song means. I believe that this songs talks about a singer/writer who is not sure about men. I think that she believes they are fake and unreal as to the way they treat women. I would have to say that the song doesn't block the listeners/audience from understanding what is being said, I actually believe that the writer does a good job of saying what is needed to be said, and discussing her true opinion and of how she feels.
The way the writer of this song presents allusions is amazing. It seems to me that the only allusion that the writer really refers to, that is to my understanding, is the allusion of love. Note the name of the song.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Comparison of tone in "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" and "To His Coy Mistress"
“To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” by Robert Herrick, tells about using time wisely because it can soon run out. Lines 3 and 4 say “and the same flower that smiles today,/tomorrow will be dying,” meaning time can go so quickly without even realizing it, so make the most of it; seize the day. In contrast to “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell, Herrick’s poem says “then be not coy, but use your time” (13). “To His Coy Mistress” tells of how the man will be doting to the woman and “an hundred years should go to praise/ thine eyes, and on they forehead gaze, / two hundred to adore each breast, / but thirty thousand to the rest” (13-16). This shows how although you should make good use of your time, you can imagine and wish how time would go. Both of these poems use “carpe diem” as their theme, yet they take a different approach to the saying. “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” has a more light-hearted tone than “To His Coy Mistress” through implying that you better use your time wisely or it will be over before you know it. “To His Coy Mistress” has more imaginative and dreamlike tone. The promises made to the woman are unrealistic and not as infinite as the statements made in “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time.”
To His Coy Mistress
The speaker is celebrating his love for his mistress by telling us all of the wonderful things about her and all the wonderful things he will do for her. In lines thirteen through sixteen the speaker remarks “a hundred years should go to praise thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze, two hundred to adore each breast, but thirty thousand to the rest.” Even though all these comments are unrealistic to the actual years a human can live they are very complimentary towards his mistress. The speaker shows he has everlasting feelings for this woman and his feelings shall never die down. The speaker quotes “love should grow vaster than empires” (11-12). He feels as if he has all the love in the world to give her. The speaker celebrates himself through his passionate love for her. He is happy that he has someone to love. His only problem is time; they will both eventually age and die and his love can’t be expressed. Throughout the poem he is very positive until he gets the ending. He is worried about how much time he really has to love her. He says “time’s winged chariot hurrying near” (22). He uses this to show that he will eventually run out of time to love her and the time is coming near. The only line that appears to be slightly negative towards his beloved is in line twenty five, when he replies “thy beauty shall no more be found”. I believe he is directing this towards her as she ages. He feels that when she ages she will no longer have beauty.
"Tim McGraw" by Taylor Swift
When I first read the question on page 871, I immediately thought of Taylor Swift’s song “Tim McGraw”. I definitely think that using Tim McGraw as an allusion works for her in this song. It helps to create a feeling of love and passion. I think it works so well because anyone who listens to country music knows of Tim McGraw and the passion he puts forth in his love songs. If you listen to his music, it makes you want to be in love and feel what he feels. It is that reason that Taylor Swift used him as an allusion in her song. If people know Tim McGraw’s music then they can have an even greater understanding of how she was feeling at that very point in time. I believe the lyrics go something to the effect of : “When you think Tim McGraw, I hope you think my favorite song. The one we danced to all night long, and then you’ll turn your radio on. I hope it takes you back to that place….” Later on in the lyrics she says that she hopes when he (unknown) thinks of Tim McGraw that he thinks of her. She obviously knows how powerful his music is and how powerful it was for them at that time and hopes that the man associates her with his powerful and passionate music. It also helps us as listeners to know how she was feeling.
A Comparison of Figures of Speech in "A Rose for Emily" and "Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone."
In the poem “Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,” by W.H. Audenir, and in the short story “A Rose for Emily,” written by William Faulkner, both female protagonists are dealing the loss of a loved one and are hindered by their emotions; unable to move forward with their lives. The figures of speech used in both writings helps the reader to picture the women and better understand their emotional and physical states.
In both stories, the protagonists lose someone that is dear to them. For Emily, the loss of her father leaves her lonely and unhappy. Emily is compared to “…a fallen monument” (206,) which means that she is an unchanging object, that stays as it is for the entirety of it’s existence. This loneliness scars her and leaves her terrified of living life without a loved one by her side. “Her skeleton was small and spare…” (207,) is a hyperbole, because if she is alive, she is unlikely to look as skinny as a skeleton; this description makes me imagine a frail, miserable woman. Also, the speaker describes Emily’s eyes using the simile “…looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into a lump…” (207,) which helps to give the reader an image of a sad, lonely woman with emptiness and a cold, blackness in her eyes. Likewise, the female in “Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone” is mourning the loss of her male partner, whom she loved deeply. Her loss scars her by leaving her in this world alone, without the happiness that love had brought her. She tells the aeroplanes to circle the funeral “...moaning…” (line 5.) This personification leads me to think that she herself is probably moaning in pain over the loss of her beloved.
Emily and the woman in Auden’s poem are both emotionally scared from their losses and have a hard time accepting the passage of time. One man recalls that Emily’s body is as “motionless as that of an idol” (208,) showing how grim and unhappy she is and that she does not change over time, like a statue, an inanimate object, does not change over time. Emily cannot deal with the idea of time moving forward; needing to have things stay constant; life never changing. Emily is said to “…look like a girl, with a vague resemblance to those angels in church windows---sort of tragic and serene (208.) This simile paints a vivid picture of Emily, an innocent being who is depressed and in need of companionship. She doesn’t want time to move forward and she doesn’t want life to alter. As with Emily, the woman of Auden’s poem cannot grasp that time must move on, even if she has lost the man she loves. This woman is completely in love with her mate, saying “He was my North, my South, my East and West” (line 9). When he dies, she wishes, and even commands, that life stops moving forward. The personification “Silence the pianos…” (line 3) shows that she wishes for even sound to stop. She has an obvious fear of time moving forward. The thought of moving on with her life alone, without her the man she loves so deeply, is an incomprehensible concept. She even wants to “Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun” (line 14,) a personification that leads the reader to believe she is not thinking clearly and in her grief, she is going as far as to wish to pack the moon in a box and store it away; an impossible task.
Both Emily and this mourning woman can’t live alone and if they are forced to, they wish for time to halt. The use of similes in “A Rose for Emily” helps to paint the image of a lonely, sad woman in my mind. In “Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,” it is the personifications that help me to understand that the woman is in such agony over her loss that she is unable to function normally anymore, unable to decipher between what is possible and what is impossible.
In both stories, the protagonists lose someone that is dear to them. For Emily, the loss of her father leaves her lonely and unhappy. Emily is compared to “…a fallen monument” (206,) which means that she is an unchanging object, that stays as it is for the entirety of it’s existence. This loneliness scars her and leaves her terrified of living life without a loved one by her side. “Her skeleton was small and spare…” (207,) is a hyperbole, because if she is alive, she is unlikely to look as skinny as a skeleton; this description makes me imagine a frail, miserable woman. Also, the speaker describes Emily’s eyes using the simile “…looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into a lump…” (207,) which helps to give the reader an image of a sad, lonely woman with emptiness and a cold, blackness in her eyes. Likewise, the female in “Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone” is mourning the loss of her male partner, whom she loved deeply. Her loss scars her by leaving her in this world alone, without the happiness that love had brought her. She tells the aeroplanes to circle the funeral “...moaning…” (line 5.) This personification leads me to think that she herself is probably moaning in pain over the loss of her beloved.
Emily and the woman in Auden’s poem are both emotionally scared from their losses and have a hard time accepting the passage of time. One man recalls that Emily’s body is as “motionless as that of an idol” (208,) showing how grim and unhappy she is and that she does not change over time, like a statue, an inanimate object, does not change over time. Emily cannot deal with the idea of time moving forward; needing to have things stay constant; life never changing. Emily is said to “…look like a girl, with a vague resemblance to those angels in church windows---sort of tragic and serene (208.) This simile paints a vivid picture of Emily, an innocent being who is depressed and in need of companionship. She doesn’t want time to move forward and she doesn’t want life to alter. As with Emily, the woman of Auden’s poem cannot grasp that time must move on, even if she has lost the man she loves. This woman is completely in love with her mate, saying “He was my North, my South, my East and West” (line 9). When he dies, she wishes, and even commands, that life stops moving forward. The personification “Silence the pianos…” (line 3) shows that she wishes for even sound to stop. She has an obvious fear of time moving forward. The thought of moving on with her life alone, without her the man she loves so deeply, is an incomprehensible concept. She even wants to “Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun” (line 14,) a personification that leads the reader to believe she is not thinking clearly and in her grief, she is going as far as to wish to pack the moon in a box and store it away; an impossible task.
Both Emily and this mourning woman can’t live alone and if they are forced to, they wish for time to halt. The use of similes in “A Rose for Emily” helps to paint the image of a lonely, sad woman in my mind. In “Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,” it is the personifications that help me to understand that the woman is in such agony over her loss that she is unable to function normally anymore, unable to decipher between what is possible and what is impossible.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
To His Coy Mistress
In "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell I feel the speaker describes how he feels towards his beloved. He describes himself has being shy in the second line "This coyness, lady, were no crime.He also describes his love as being young and that it is growing for her more than she would ever know. In line 25 "Thy beauty Shall no man be found..." might appear negative to the reader but he is only trying to make known the essence of time. "Time is winged chariot hurrying near" (22) Is a great example for time creeping up on him. He wants to cherish his love and be with her for eternity. In the end the speaker explains how your can't make the sun stand still shows me that he wants to hold on to her love forever.
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