QUOTE:
“The Brain is deeper than the sea - / For – hold them – Blue to Blue - / The other one will absorb - / As Sponges – Buckets – do –“ (Dickinson 632).
SUMMARY:
This quote seems to be Dickinson explaining that the brain is able to absorb the whole entire sea. The rest of the poem is also about the brain having the most capacity.
RESPONSE:
I had to write about another “brain” quote since Dickinson seems to know about the enormous amount of potential the human brain actually has. Ever since I’ve experienced first hand how the brain can recover from injury, I know that the potential for the brain is all about building connections. The coolest thing about the brain is that it can always build new connections, which can help make up for lost or damaged connections. I’m not really sure if that much was known about the brain in 1863, and even if doctors and scientists did know what is known now, it seems very intelligent for Dickinson to write about it.
She definitely seems like a woman in love with her own brain, and especially because she never really left her room! I think a lot of people who can spend most of their time alone are usually very imaginative, which means they use their brains a lot too. I wonder if a lot of Dickinson’s ideas for her poetry came from random thoughts that entered her brain, and especially the ideas for all of her poems about death and being dead. I guess all of those poems make me think of Dickinson having many daydreams about her own death or being dead. She kind of sounds morbid in most of those poems, but morbid works for a lot of people! I’m not sure if I necessarily enjoy that type of poetry, but I can appreciate her skill and her approach in all of her poems. I know that my favorite poems of hers now will be the “brain poems!”
Friday, January 11, 2008
Journal #4 Emily Dickinson: Her Message Is- Don't Judge Me!
QUOTE:
“For love of Her – Sweet – countrymen - / Judge tenderly – of Me” (Dickinson 87)
SUMMARY:
It almost seems like Dickinson is asking for people in the world to not judge her harshly in this poem. There are also a lot of random capitalizations of letters, which possibly emphasize a deeper meaning within each word.
RESPONSE:
The message in this poem seems to be that the “World” is ignoring Emily Dickinson, but God Herself told Dickinson that She wants everyone to “be nice.” This seems like the “message from God” that most people believe to be true: Judge not lest ye be judged. (I’m pretty sure that’s the saying.) So it sounds like Dickinson is beseeching her readers to think of her kindly while they read her poetry. It sort of reminds me of certain female writers we read in 48A, or any female writer who would include in her work that she is only a helpless woman; so readers shouldn’t judge her like they would a male author. I guess it could be a defensive way to protect Dickinson’s self-confidence, even though she probably knew that her writing was very good.
As far as technical aspects in this poem, when I first read the poem I right away noticed Dickinson’s capitalizations in what seems like random places for random words. I thought her capital letters could possibly be highlighting certain words that she really wants her readers to pay attention to. I then turned my attention to the capital “H” in “Her,” which made me think of how people capitalize the “H” in “Him” when referring to God. Since Dickinson writes about “Her Message” reaching all the people she cannot see, I think it further stands out that “Her” could very well likely represent God. On the flipside though, it wouldn’t surprise me if the capitalized “H” really doesn’t have anything to do with God because Her Message could be Dickinson's message: Don't Judge Me! But I guess it also wouldn’t surprise me if it does in fact represent God as a woman.
“For love of Her – Sweet – countrymen - / Judge tenderly – of Me” (Dickinson 87)
SUMMARY:
It almost seems like Dickinson is asking for people in the world to not judge her harshly in this poem. There are also a lot of random capitalizations of letters, which possibly emphasize a deeper meaning within each word.
RESPONSE:
The message in this poem seems to be that the “World” is ignoring Emily Dickinson, but God Herself told Dickinson that She wants everyone to “be nice.” This seems like the “message from God” that most people believe to be true: Judge not lest ye be judged. (I’m pretty sure that’s the saying.) So it sounds like Dickinson is beseeching her readers to think of her kindly while they read her poetry. It sort of reminds me of certain female writers we read in 48A, or any female writer who would include in her work that she is only a helpless woman; so readers shouldn’t judge her like they would a male author. I guess it could be a defensive way to protect Dickinson’s self-confidence, even though she probably knew that her writing was very good.
As far as technical aspects in this poem, when I first read the poem I right away noticed Dickinson’s capitalizations in what seems like random places for random words. I thought her capital letters could possibly be highlighting certain words that she really wants her readers to pay attention to. I then turned my attention to the capital “H” in “Her,” which made me think of how people capitalize the “H” in “Him” when referring to God. Since Dickinson writes about “Her Message” reaching all the people she cannot see, I think it further stands out that “Her” could very well likely represent God. On the flipside though, it wouldn’t surprise me if the capitalized “H” really doesn’t have anything to do with God because Her Message could be Dickinson's message: Don't Judge Me! But I guess it also wouldn’t surprise me if it does in fact represent God as a woman.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Journal #3 Emily Dickinson: How Does A Funeral In The Brain Feel?!
QUOTE:
“I felt a Funeral, in my Brain, / And Mourners to and fro… / Kept beating – beating – till I thought / My mind was going numb” (Dickinson 84)
SUMMARY:
This poem feels like Dickinson is exploring deeply into her own mind. She uses death or a funeral as a metaphor for most likely something else, however that seems like the usual speculation for her poetry.
RESPONSE:
Even though it may be somewhat cliché to say that pain brings the most beautiful poetry or art, it seems like there is a lot of pain or sorrow in this poem (and something about it is really beautiful to me). Most of the poem sounds agonizing, but only in the speaker or Dickinson’s mind. Although it’s not clear to me what is causing everything in this poem, it seems like the last stanza at least brings understanding or some sort of sense to her mind. However the last stanza isn’t necessarily a “happy” ending.
Maybe to me it can seem possibly uplifting at the end because “a Plank in Reason, broke” (line 16), and that seems better to me than suffering without knowing why. However, I then think about how ignorance is bliss for some people, so maybe having too much reason brings pain? I somehow doubt that this ending is as painful as the beginning sounds though.
I guess anything that has to do with “the brain” is going to stand out to me though. When I was first recovering from my traumatic brain injury (it was 4 years ago on January 4th) I guess I felt like really depressing thoughts (like a funeral) were always in the back of my mind. I’m not suggesting that Dickinson had any injury to her brain however; I guess I think that’s probably how I can relate to this poem. Certain lines stand out to me too, such as, “A Service, like a Drum - / Kept beating – beating – till I thought / My mind was going numb” (line 6-8). It kind of reminds me of when I get horrible pounding headaches - like my skull is squeezing my brain. (I know that sounds fun.)
“I felt a Funeral, in my Brain, / And Mourners to and fro… / Kept beating – beating – till I thought / My mind was going numb” (Dickinson 84)
SUMMARY:
This poem feels like Dickinson is exploring deeply into her own mind. She uses death or a funeral as a metaphor for most likely something else, however that seems like the usual speculation for her poetry.
RESPONSE:
Even though it may be somewhat cliché to say that pain brings the most beautiful poetry or art, it seems like there is a lot of pain or sorrow in this poem (and something about it is really beautiful to me). Most of the poem sounds agonizing, but only in the speaker or Dickinson’s mind. Although it’s not clear to me what is causing everything in this poem, it seems like the last stanza at least brings understanding or some sort of sense to her mind. However the last stanza isn’t necessarily a “happy” ending.
Maybe to me it can seem possibly uplifting at the end because “a Plank in Reason, broke” (line 16), and that seems better to me than suffering without knowing why. However, I then think about how ignorance is bliss for some people, so maybe having too much reason brings pain? I somehow doubt that this ending is as painful as the beginning sounds though.
I guess anything that has to do with “the brain” is going to stand out to me though. When I was first recovering from my traumatic brain injury (it was 4 years ago on January 4th) I guess I felt like really depressing thoughts (like a funeral) were always in the back of my mind. I’m not suggesting that Dickinson had any injury to her brain however; I guess I think that’s probably how I can relate to this poem. Certain lines stand out to me too, such as, “A Service, like a Drum - / Kept beating – beating – till I thought / My mind was going numb” (line 6-8). It kind of reminds me of when I get horrible pounding headaches - like my skull is squeezing my brain. (I know that sounds fun.)
Journal #2 Walt Whitman: The Real Walt Whitman!
QUOTE:
“An unseen hand also pass’d over their bodies, / It descended tremblingly from their temples and ribs…They do not think whom they souse with spray” (Whitman 37).
SUMMARY:
This section of Whitman’s “Song of Myself” can be very ambiguous because it is unclear whom exactly Whitman is referring to. There is a woman, the speaker, and the twenty-ninth bather, however those may all be the same person.
RESPONSE:
When reading the eleventh subdivision of “Song of Myself,” a first-time reader will probably think Whitman is writing literally about a spinster woman who is spying on a bunch of half-naked young men. However the idea that Whitman himself is actually the “woman,” or possibly the twenty-ninth bather in the poem, was brought up in class. Whitman could have been referring to himself as living “Twenty-eight years of womanly life and all so lonesome” (line 201), but that would probably only work if he wanted to represent his homosexuality as “womanly.” Thinking of Whitman as the woman may be too simple of an explanation though, because there is also an “unseen hand” that is touching the young men’s bodies as they bathe themselves and splash each other.
There are so many different possibilities to answer the question of where Whitman may show up in the poem (if at all), and no one can ever really know the truth. However, I don’t necessarily think anyone really needs to know because I wonder if Whitman himself even knew! He probably did know, but maybe the poetic master in him liked to imagine the future debates on his poetry between grad students? I think it’s fun coming up with really mysterious or complicated explanations for poetry, and especially ones that make me see some aspect in a whole new light.
I’m really happy that we’ve read Walt Whitman in class though, because I’ve never actually read his poetry before, even when I feel like I’ve seen so many references to him. When we were discussing Whitman in class, I kept thinking about Homer Simpson. In one episode, Homer’s upset because his father always told him that his mother was dead, but when he finally decides to go look at the supposed grave up close, it’s Walt Whitman’s! Homer then yells, “My mother’s grave belongs to WALT WHITMAN??!! I hate you Walt Whitman! Leaves of grass my ass!” I guess I’ll repeat that I’m glad to have found out about the "real" Walt Whitman now.
“An unseen hand also pass’d over their bodies, / It descended tremblingly from their temples and ribs…They do not think whom they souse with spray” (Whitman 37).
SUMMARY:
This section of Whitman’s “Song of Myself” can be very ambiguous because it is unclear whom exactly Whitman is referring to. There is a woman, the speaker, and the twenty-ninth bather, however those may all be the same person.
RESPONSE:
When reading the eleventh subdivision of “Song of Myself,” a first-time reader will probably think Whitman is writing literally about a spinster woman who is spying on a bunch of half-naked young men. However the idea that Whitman himself is actually the “woman,” or possibly the twenty-ninth bather in the poem, was brought up in class. Whitman could have been referring to himself as living “Twenty-eight years of womanly life and all so lonesome” (line 201), but that would probably only work if he wanted to represent his homosexuality as “womanly.” Thinking of Whitman as the woman may be too simple of an explanation though, because there is also an “unseen hand” that is touching the young men’s bodies as they bathe themselves and splash each other.
There are so many different possibilities to answer the question of where Whitman may show up in the poem (if at all), and no one can ever really know the truth. However, I don’t necessarily think anyone really needs to know because I wonder if Whitman himself even knew! He probably did know, but maybe the poetic master in him liked to imagine the future debates on his poetry between grad students? I think it’s fun coming up with really mysterious or complicated explanations for poetry, and especially ones that make me see some aspect in a whole new light.
I’m really happy that we’ve read Walt Whitman in class though, because I’ve never actually read his poetry before, even when I feel like I’ve seen so many references to him. When we were discussing Whitman in class, I kept thinking about Homer Simpson. In one episode, Homer’s upset because his father always told him that his mother was dead, but when he finally decides to go look at the supposed grave up close, it’s Walt Whitman’s! Homer then yells, “My mother’s grave belongs to WALT WHITMAN??!! I hate you Walt Whitman! Leaves of grass my ass!” I guess I’ll repeat that I’m glad to have found out about the "real" Walt Whitman now.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Journal #1 Walt Whitman: The Beauty In Biology!
QUOTE:
“My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this air, / Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents / the same” (Whitman 30).
SUMMARY:
This stanza is from the opening section of Whitman’s Song of Myself. He is introducing himself and his origin, which he describes in biological terms, but still uses poetic techniques for this poem.
RESPONSE:
When I first read these lines I immediately thought that Whitman must have just finished attending a biology lecture before writing the opening section of Song of Myself. However, the “scientific” language he uses is very descriptive and rich, so Whitman seems to have turned science into art with this section of his poem. Words such as “tongue,” “atom,” “blood,” and “soil,” may just be nouns, but they are used almost like adjectives (if that makes any sense). Whitman’s vocabulary is still simple even though it is scientific, but since he arranges his words almost like how I think song lyrics are usually arranged, they express something much more complex than just stating: “My family and I come from nature and earth.”
After reading the introduction for Whitman in Norton, however, it makes so much more sense why Whitman’s scientific language stands out to me. Since Whitman “would address all ‘the facts of the animal economy, sex, nutriment, gestation, birth,’ [and] he put the living, breathing, sexual body at the center of much of his poetry” (Norton 17), reading his poetry can feel like witnessing the beauty of nature, in a way. I think his innovative techniques in his poetry help display just how beautiful language can be, as well as how beautiful nature and the natural occurrences of life can be.
On a side note though, I think I just may be too squeamish to find beauty in blood or other biological things. That’s why I’m not a Science Major! I’ve always hated doing labs in any science class I’ve ever had to take, so it really impresses me when people can make all of that gross stuff sound beautiful!
“My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this air, / Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents / the same” (Whitman 30).
SUMMARY:
This stanza is from the opening section of Whitman’s Song of Myself. He is introducing himself and his origin, which he describes in biological terms, but still uses poetic techniques for this poem.
RESPONSE:
When I first read these lines I immediately thought that Whitman must have just finished attending a biology lecture before writing the opening section of Song of Myself. However, the “scientific” language he uses is very descriptive and rich, so Whitman seems to have turned science into art with this section of his poem. Words such as “tongue,” “atom,” “blood,” and “soil,” may just be nouns, but they are used almost like adjectives (if that makes any sense). Whitman’s vocabulary is still simple even though it is scientific, but since he arranges his words almost like how I think song lyrics are usually arranged, they express something much more complex than just stating: “My family and I come from nature and earth.”
After reading the introduction for Whitman in Norton, however, it makes so much more sense why Whitman’s scientific language stands out to me. Since Whitman “would address all ‘the facts of the animal economy, sex, nutriment, gestation, birth,’ [and] he put the living, breathing, sexual body at the center of much of his poetry” (Norton 17), reading his poetry can feel like witnessing the beauty of nature, in a way. I think his innovative techniques in his poetry help display just how beautiful language can be, as well as how beautiful nature and the natural occurrences of life can be.
On a side note though, I think I just may be too squeamish to find beauty in blood or other biological things. That’s why I’m not a Science Major! I’ve always hated doing labs in any science class I’ve ever had to take, so it really impresses me when people can make all of that gross stuff sound beautiful!
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