Reading Response #3

   A Question of Nature: Byron and Wordsworth written by J. Andrew Hubbell of Susquehanna University. Is an article about how nature in Wordsworth poetry differs from nature in Byron's description of the Byronic hero and where Hubbell is using the terms :dwelling" and "nature". Wordsworth believes that nature is the antithesis of culture, whereas Byron replaces nature with environment. Hubbell describes how dwelling and wandering are opposites in a way that tourists are detached to the environment. Hubbell goes on saying that the dwelling-wandering binary helps emphasize other binaries that inform how the eco-criticism has used to study nature-culture. Byron recognizes that nature is represented in art, that it becomes a part of culture; there is no nature in art, here Byron is creating an example where culture and nature are combined. While Wordsworth thinks the opposite, in which he presumes that nature is an ecological understanding and that nature is isolated from culture.
   Reading throughout and annotating "A Question of Nature: Byron and Wordsworth really impact me. Hubbell really continues to contradict Byron's and Wordsworth's beliefs and opinions about nature. In addition to this Hubbell questions the reason why Byron thinks that culture and nature coincide. Wordsworth's dwelling epistemology has been over-emphasize; much of his environmental heroes, is derived frm wandering. Hubbell states that Byron poems about Greece were his first "ecopoesis"and "binary thinking of ecocriticism". Byron is ignored by many critics throughtout this article. but he still is a good nature writer.

Prose Poem: Tell Me Why

This prose poem is in memory of my aunt that passed away since 2 years ago.
  
   Its been a couple of years,
 since you left my heart behind.
   Crying all my tears out
 as my eyes become blind.
   Nothing feels the same,
 because I'm use to being with you
  family and friends would be concerned of me,
but never would I tell
That I was getting hurt by
 the person I really loved so much.
The one who was created
to be sent to me from
      above.
I still don't know what went
 wrong, or why you had to go.
Not only were you my aunt,
but you were my
   best friend.
And now it seems like I've
lost everything I ever had.
Everything worth living for,
flying away from my hands.
  Living everyday
questioning myself
why you left without a reason,
  leaving me all alone.
Tell me why, Tell me why
   you had to go.

And Thou Art Dead

The poem And Thou Art Dead, as Young and Fair is about the teller of the story experiencing the death of someone who was close to him. It also talks about his feelings for the deceased and how death cannot conquer love. Although this person has died, they are still being loved as shown in stanza II.

And thou art dead, as young and fair

As aught of mortal birth;

And form so soft, and charms so rare,

Too soon return'd to Earth!

Though Earth receiv'd them in her bed,

And o'er the spot the crowd may tread

In carelessness or mirth,

There is an eye which could not brook

A moment on that grave to look.



I will not ask where thou liest low,

Nor gaze upon the spot;

There flowers or weeds at will may grow,

So I behold them not:

It is enough for me to prove

That what I lov'd, and long must love,

Like common earth can rot;

To me there needs no stone to tell,

'T is Nothing that I lov'd so well.



Yet did I love thee to the last

As fervently as thou,

Who didst not change through all the past,

And canst not alter now.

The love where Death has set his seal,

Nor age can chill, nor rival steal,

Nor falsehood disavow:

And, what were worse, thou canst not see

Or wrong, or change, or fault in me.



The better days of life were ours;

The worst can be but mine:

The sun that cheers, the storm that lowers,

Shall never more be thine.

The silence of that dreamless sleep

I envy now too much to weep;

Nor need I to repine

That all those charms have pass'd away,

I might have watch'd through long decay.



The flower in ripen'd bloom unmatch'd

Must fall the earliest prey;

Though by no hand untimely snatch'd,

The leaves must drop away:

And yet it were a greater grief

To watch it withering, leaf by leaf,

Than see it pluck'd to-day;

Since earthly eye but ill can bear

To trace the change to foul from fair.



I know not if I could have borne

To see thy beauties fade;

The night that follow'd such a morn

Had worn a deeper shade:

Thy day without a cloud hath pass'd,

And thou wert lovely to the last,

Extinguish'd, not decay'd;

As stars that shoot along the sky

Shine brightest as they fall from high.



As once I wept, if I could weep,

My tears might well be shed,

To think I was not near to keep

One vigil o'er thy bed;

To gaze, how fondly! on thy face,

To fold thee in a faint embrace,

Uphold thy drooping head;

And show that love, however vain,

Nor thou nor I can feel again.



Yet how much less it were to gain,

Though thou hast left me free,

The loveliest things that still remain,

Than thus remember thee!

The all of thine that cannot die

Through dark and dread Eternity

Returns again to me,

And more thy buried love endears

Than aught except its living years

Reading this poem out loud made me realize that when you love someone so much and something happens to them you feel guilty for not spending more time with them. And as the years go by you still rember the person you love so much, and you can not feel the same way for someone else. As the teller of the story couldn't bare to see his love die and he felt guilty forever knowing that he wasn't there in the last moments of her life. This poem was sad and really inspired me a lot.

When we Two parted

HEN we two parted

In silence and tears,

Half broken-hearted

To sever for years,

Pale grew thy cheek and cold,

Colder thy kiss;

Truly that hour foretold

Sorrow to this.

 

The dew of the morning

Sunk chill on my brow--

It felt like the warning

Of what I feel now.

Thy vows are all broken,

And light is thy fame:

I hear thy name spoken,

And share in its shame.

 

They name thee before me,

A knell to mine ear;

A shudder comes o'er me--

Why wert thou so dear?

They know not I knew thee,

Who knew thee too well:

Lond, long shall I rue thee,

Too deeply to tell.

 

I secret we met--

I silence I grieve,

That thy heart could forget,

Thy spirit deceive.

If I should meet thee

After long years,

How should I greet thee?

With silence and tears.

     This whole poem is about Lord Byron and his lover, probably the married woman, and how they were forced to break it off and also about the betrayal of loved ones. The betrayal in the poem is her promising to always remember him and for Byron to always be her favorite man but then she goes and has another affair with someone else. It is said that Lord Byron engaged himself in bisexual relationships. They didn't want to break up but they had to. She is shocked and upset, and then angry, hence her kissing him goodbye coldly. He is saying, basically, I told you so in the sixth and seventh lines. Then her vows of fidelity and monogamy are broken. Later, in the third verse, he is expressing how he can't believe he ever loved her, but we see in the fourth verse that he really does love her and still wants her, but knows they can never be together again.
     My interpretation of what this poem is about is his affair with Lady Caroline Lamb who was married to William Melbourne. Their affair lasted for about four months before he broke it off, because of the pressure of society. He loved her, but couldn't be with her.
     Most likely this was some secret love that could not be expressed, it tells us about the morning when they had to see each other for the last time and the sadness Byron felt was less than what he feels now.
"The dew of the morning
Sank chill on my brow
It felt like the warning
Of what I feel now."
Byron says that when her name is spoken he feels despair and that all the promises they had made to each other cannot be kept, due to all those circumstances. As the poem ends it says I miss you secretly and wishes that she does not forget him, or her "spirit deceives". To conclude Byron asks her, If should we ever meet again how will we meet, as if there was two normal people meeting for the first time? Or as two lovers joining together once again?
     However, as you read it over and over again, it seems to be about a death of one of his lovers. It seems that the line, "Pale grew thy cheek and cold," is the subject matter of this poem has passed away. Later on in this poem, it says, "Thy vows are all broken," which stuck out at me right away. Because I know that Byron did once have an affair with a woman who was married. And now that she is dead, it appears that both her marriage vows as well as vows to Byron, are all broken. Also this is about a women that cheated on her husband with Byron is shown in the line, "In secret we met," which is quite obvious that their affair was annything but advertised.

Review on: The Blake Blog (Community Blog)

      I found The Blake Blog that's Better than the "Best Blake Blog" , created by Austin Schwartz, MJ Roy, Veronica Sanchez, and Erika Hewgley, to be helpful and thrilling. Their blog is devoted to the romantic poet William Blake; the posts contain information about his life and his love of poetry. This wonderful blog really helped me to learn more about the life and poetry of William Blake.
     I really liked reading this blog especially all the posts that the group provided. It was well put together though the layout was simple, but very unique. The picture at the top was a nice touch and got my attention right away, especially the big title. The blogs were very interesting to read and were very informative.
     The Holy Thursday post was very appealing and I really enjoyed it. While reading this, I understood how the orphans were innocent. I connect well to this poem, because I barely have anything and I have such a big heart and I am very happy. In order for me to be happy and to have a big heart I don't need to have a lot of things. In the last sentence of this post it says, "that it's a sad lesson and the lesson many children on today should learn." In my opinion I agree with it, because if kids now days would realize that they dont need a lot of things to be happy, and that they can find happiness having a big heart and not regreating what they have now.
     While reading the Bibliography of Blake post, I understood the kind of person he was as an adult and child. Even though he lived very poorly he pursued in writing and painting. This post brought Blake to life and it was an interesting post to read.
     In overall the William Blake blog was presented very well and nicely. It had good information about Blake and it was really informative. I learned a lot about William Blake due to the great posts they had that were explained very well and nicely. This site was very easy to explore, which is very helpful for someone that does not know anything about William Blake. I believed that the group worked really hard on this blog, and I really enjoyed visiting their site.

Lord Byron's Biography

Lord Byron was one of the most important figures of the Romantic Movement; a period when English Literature was full of virtuous heroes and themes of love and thriumph. Byron's work, active life, and physical beauty came to be considered the perfect image of the romantic poet-hero. He was born on January 22,1788 in London into a noble family and died on April 19,1824 in Missologhi, Greece. His father was captain "Mad Jack" Byron and his mother was Catherine Gordon. Byron was born with a birth defect known to be called clubfoot, it is a defect where he would walk using only the balls and toes of his feet, and he was highly sensitive about his deformity.To add on, Lord Byron discovered that he was attracted to both men and women in his early teens. His affection for both genders made him to live a seperate, secretive, and remote life in his youth. Lord Byron's childhood was full of play and adventures. Byron's names changed throughout his life, he was christened "George Gordon Byron" in London. Later on his father changed his own name to claim his wife's estate and took the surname "Gordon", but after this change Lord Byron called himself George Byron Gordon. His mother-in-law named Judith Noel died and in order for Byron to inherit half of her estate he had to changed his name once again, to Noel Byron. Even though Lord Byron was so popular throughout society, his bisexual relationships made him widely disliked.