Sunday, May 8, 2011
Reflection of Hopkins and Wilde's Poems
Hopkins "Spring and Fall" poem starts off being about a child grieving fall turning into winter as the leaves fall from the trees. It says that as the child becomes older she will care not grieve about this topic as much because there will be much worse in her life. She will not care as much for the changing of the seasons as she matures and becomes older. More important things will arise in a teenager's life. Soon, the child becomes an adult. Then she will grieve for spring to come and winter to leave, knowing this old feeling, yet she cannot yet tell it is no longer the seasons she weeps for, but for her own, Margaret's mortality. The poem expresses her aging throughout the poem and this idea is clearly stated. Wilde's poem "The Harlot's House" is about I'm assuming a couple "we" who go down a street to Harlot's House for a party where music is being played. Everyone at the party is dancing around, their silhouettes on the walls, and laughter echoing throughout the halls, some try to sing. It seems that there is some type of puppet show, with mentioning of "Sometimes a clockwork puppet pressed/ A phantom lover to her breast" and a marionette. The last four stanzas are clearly when the party shifts. The girl from the couple goes inside, attracted to the violin's sound. Everyone stops dancing and there is no more waltzing anymore. The room becomes silent and no more shadows appear. It is as if this girl as transformed the whole party. I am curious because I have no clue as to why. Is there something she did that everyone at the party knew about to suddenly stop everything as soon as she walked in? What happened for the sudden pause/transformation of the party and its change of tone?
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Perhaps, just perhaps, there is more to "Harlot's House." Try to take more time and quiet thought with poetry and go beyond the obvious presentation to a deeper, symbolic level. There you will find much, much more for the soul!
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