01-23-2015, 06:22 PM
Well, I wrote a good 600-word response, and then the Internet ate them. The highlights are: organize your essay by first rehearsing the basic narrative of each poem, second noting the tonal and emotive elements/entities of each, and only then move on to the compare contrast. Discuss Meditations first, because it's the fall poem and Darkling Thrush is winter--it'll just come out smoother that way. Throughout the essay, demystify the imagery:
eye of day is the sun
Summer candles are flowers
bine is a vining plant, basically
The blast is a strong wind
"Grieves" probably means complains, and not mourns
And the Darkling thrush is a daring thrush of mystery, the champion of night (jk)--"darkling" doesn't mean a creature of darkness, but rather it means a creature *in* darkness, so that the darkling thrush is just a songbird singing at night
"Life's debris" is, apparently, the dead narrator and the dead hawk lying under the snow
Authoritative definitions of terms are essay gold.
I'd go after that into a discussion of dichotomies in each poem individually--for instance DT has a terrestrial vs ethereal dichotomy that references heaven, I'm guessing, whereas Med goes after a displayed vs actual condition setup. Then talk about mirrored images between the poems--the birds, the noises the make, daffodils vs bine stems (both are symbolic), and so on.
You can't quit the essay without talking about sin and death, so just collect, identify, and compare the death omens and the sin referents.
If you have spare room after that, discuss the weird and effortful pronoun usage in each poem and attempt to locate or define the identity of each poems' narrator.
Something like that, I think, would be an essay that gets all the points. I hope.
Let us know!
(Also, Milo, that was a rad breakdown up top)
Lastly, I'd
eye of day is the sun
Summer candles are flowers
bine is a vining plant, basically
The blast is a strong wind
"Grieves" probably means complains, and not mourns
And the Darkling thrush is a daring thrush of mystery, the champion of night (jk)--"darkling" doesn't mean a creature of darkness, but rather it means a creature *in* darkness, so that the darkling thrush is just a songbird singing at night
"Life's debris" is, apparently, the dead narrator and the dead hawk lying under the snow
Authoritative definitions of terms are essay gold.
I'd go after that into a discussion of dichotomies in each poem individually--for instance DT has a terrestrial vs ethereal dichotomy that references heaven, I'm guessing, whereas Med goes after a displayed vs actual condition setup. Then talk about mirrored images between the poems--the birds, the noises the make, daffodils vs bine stems (both are symbolic), and so on.
You can't quit the essay without talking about sin and death, so just collect, identify, and compare the death omens and the sin referents.
If you have spare room after that, discuss the weird and effortful pronoun usage in each poem and attempt to locate or define the identity of each poems' narrator.
Something like that, I think, would be an essay that gets all the points. I hope.
Let us know!
(Also, Milo, that was a rad breakdown up top)
Lastly, I'd
A yak is normal.