Blog #13: Compare/Contrast Poetry Presentation Essay (Eros)

The two poems by Anne Stevenson and Robert Bridges are depictions of the Greek god of love, Eros. Known for his ability to enchant others with true love, Eros has the uncanny misfortune of not being able to find love himself. The two poems demonstrate this adversity in his life through the differences in collaboration of tone shifts and rhyme scheme in relation to the common theme of love and loss defined in the poems. Stevenson and Bridges incorporate these techniques to emphasize the selflessness of Eros in providing his services to a mercenary society.

Although used differently in each poem, the tone shifts are significant indicators in portraying the common theme of the longing of love Eros feels. Stevenson’s poem immediately sets an initial tone of disappointment and disgust. The descriptive imagery of Eros invokes a contrast between the expectation and reality of the appearance of love upon the speaker’s view of him as a “thug with a broken nose and squinty eyes” (Stevenson). Bridges, however, sets a positive impression on the reader with an initially dreamy and complementary tone. The speaker thinks highly of Eros, describing him as an “idol” and “flower of lovely youth” with “flesh so fair” (Bridges). The two poems continue to evolve inversely, with Stevenson utilizing a change in perspective from the disgusted woman to Eros himself. Utilizing this technique, Eros “cries” and defends his “long overuse”, blaming it on the “blows [her] lust delivered” (Stevenson) and evoking a hurt and distressed tone. In contrast, Bridges maintains a mellow and contemplative tone in which the personification of time is used to show the complicated nature of Eros through his enigmatic face showing an “unchristen’d smile” and “neither love nor guile” (Bridges), thus concealing the Eros’ emotions rather than explicitly expressing them. Stevenson ends her poem with zeugma portraying a pointed tone, in which Eros bluntly blames the woman for his unappealing nature through candid phrases such as “we slaves”, “your fate”, and “you create” (Stevenson). Meanwhile, following another shift, Bridges ends the poem with a pitiful and depressed tone in which the speaker makes a complete shift from praising to pity and wholly understands why there is “nothing in [Eros’] face” and “why is [Eros’] though” (Bridges). In contrast to Stevenson’s poem, Bridges portrays Eros as the “victim” who is left in the “darkness” because “none… hath cared to look upon [his] face” (Bridges).

The rhyme scheme of the poems is a mutual indicator of the emotions each evokes. Although they are dissimilar from each other, the rhyme scheme in both poem express the common theme of the love that Eros wishes to indulge in and the loss that involuntarily swallows him. Stevenson’s poem presents a XAXA XBXB rhyme scheme consistently to convey her message while Bridges deviates from a traditional AABB rhyme scheme towards the last stanza’s unconventional CCXXDDD rhyme scheme to convey the same attitude towards Eros.

Blog #12: Benchmark Compare/Contrast Poem Revision

In order to depict the complexity of their works, authors often publish revised versions of their previous works as the situations regarding the subject evolve. In this manner, William Blake's two poems, both titled The Chimney Sweeper and published in 1789 and 1794, attempt to establish the treacherous conditions faced by young chimney sweepers during the time period. Although written by the same author, the poems are representative of the differences in the industrious time periods in which they were published. Throughout both poems, Blake contrasts the innocence and resentment of the children towards their occupations through the careful placement of rhyme scheme and ironic diction, all the while highlighting the disparities in the tone of the speaker in each poem. Blake's response provides a emotional yet firm insight into the hardships faced during the industrious lifestyle of the time period.

The 1789 poem presents Blake's initial response to the chimney sweepers and highlights the innate innocence of the working children. The poem's rhyme scheme is obtrusively present and maintains a consistent pattern throughout the work. Following the 'AABBCCDD...' scheme, the instantaneous repetition of the sound in the previous line emphasizes the children's need to continuously adhere to a routine set by their authorities and instantly follow all directions given to them. This strict rhyme of the poem is therefore representative of the strict and meaningless lifestyle led by the children. Additionally, Blake utilizes ironic diction symbolically numerous times throughout the poem to depict the concrete differences in two contrasting ideas. "As Tom was a-sleeping he had such a sight" (Blake l. 10) is a depiction of the restricted freedom presented to the children and to those of the industrial period as only through dreams in their sleep are they able to see clearly without obstruction of outside influences. The irony present simply asserts this contrast with more emphasis, thus presenting a hopeless society in which dreams are unattainable in reality. When an Angel "open[s] the coffins & set[s] them all free" (Blake l. 14), the ironic contrast between the presence of an Angel, a symbol of purity, and some coffins, a symbol of death, is a representation of the ability of solely angels to appease the struggles the children remain immersed in. The workers themselves are unable to gain the freedom they seek and must be assisted by a purer, external force in receiving the guidance towards happiness. In general, the rhyme scheme and ironic diction present throughout underscore the darker aspects of the poem, leading to a misconception of the initially perceived optimistic and innocent tone of the poem.

In the 1794 poem, Blake presents an altered response to the chimney sweepers by depicting the misery faced by the children to a greater extent. The AABB CDCD EFEF rhyme scheme, a more complex form than that of the previous poem, shows the wavering thought process of the children and their tendency to grow resentful and envious of others of higher authority.The first stanza's rhyme pattern is consistent with that of the 1789 poem, a representation of the innocence carried forward to the speaker as he quietly accepts the fact that his parents "are both gone up to the church to pray" (Blake l. 4). However, as the poem progresses, the speaker's tone changes as the rhyme scheme does. The pattern begins to waver as the tone and emotions turn darker. Instead of his naive and obliged self, the speaker is grows resentful towards his parents and towards God, blaming them for "a heaven of our misery" (Blake l. 12). While the 1789 poem did not define any significant tone shifts, this poem's rhyme scheme sets a significant precedent for the emotions portrayed by the speaker. Ironic diction is also used more explicitly in this poem, as the second stanza serves to contrast the "happy" (Blake l. 5) child with the "clothes of death" (Blake l. 7) and "notes of woe" (Blake l. 8). The symbols in the stanza provide yet another shift in tone that can be recognized through its irony; indeed, it is in this stanza that the speaker first begins to show signs of resentment towards his parents, who appear to ignore their child's happiness and well-being by burdening him with a miserable workload. They are indifferent towards their child's "smil[es] among the winter's snow" (Blake l. 6) and present to him the "clothes of death" (Blake l. 7), diminishing the child's happiness to a life of struggle. This poem's tone shifts, depicted through its ironic symbolism and rhyme scheme, strengthens the intent of the author in depicting the industrious lifestyle that was forced upon the children.

Blog #11: Benchmark Compare/Contrast Poem

In order to depict the complexity of their works, authors often publish revised versions of their previous works as the situations regarding the subject evolve. In this manner, William Blake's two poems, both titled The Chimney Sweeper and published in 1789 and 1794, attempt to establish the treacherous conditions faced by young chimney sweepers during the time period. Although written by the same author, the poems are representative of the differences in the industrious time periods in which they were published. Throughout both poems, Blake contrasts the innocence and resentment of the children towards their occupations through the careful placement of rhyme scheme and ironic diction, all the while highlighting the disparities in the tone of the speaker in each poem. Blake's response provides a emotional yet firm insight into the hardships faced in industrious lifestyle of the time period.

The 1789 poem presents Blake's initial response to the chimney sweepers and highlights the innate innocence of the working children. The poem's rhyme scheme is obtrusively present and maintains a consistent pattern throughout the work. Following the 'AABBCCDD...' scheme, the instantaneous repetition of the sound in the previous line emphasizes the children's need to continuously adhere to a routine set by their authorities. The strict rhyme of the poem is therefore representative of the strict and meaningless lifestyle led by the children. Additionally, Blake utilizes ironic diction numerous times throughout the poem to depict the concrete differences in two contrasting ideas. "As Tom was a-sleeping he had such a sight" (Blake l. 10) is a depiction of the restricted freedom presented to the children and to those of the industrial period. Merely through dreams are they able to see clearly without obstruction of outside influences. When an Angel "open[s] the coffins & set[s] them all free" (Blake l. 14), the irony between the presence of an Angel and coffins, a symbol of death, is a representation of the ability of solely angels to appease the struggles the children remain immersed in. The rhyme scheme and ironic diction underscore the darker aspects of the poem and thus emphasize the overall optimistic and innocent tone of the poem.

In the 1794 poem, Blake presents a altered response to the chimney sweepers by depicting the misery faced by the children to a greater extent. As used in the previous poem, the AABB CDCD EFEF rhyme scheme shows the wavering thought process of the children and their tendency to grow resentful and envious of others of higher authority. Ironic diction is used more explicitly in this poem, as the second stanza serves to contrast the "happy" (Blake l. 5) child with the "clothes of death" (Blake l. 7) he is made to wear.

Reflection

For this assignment, we were to analyze a question from the 2005 AP prompt that dealt with a compare/contrast format of two poems by the same author. I found it interesting that the poems were written by the same author and were given the same title, though published in different years, and attempted to incorporate this into my response. The meaningful experiences of this task were the ease I found in analyzing two poems compared to one and the extent to which I was able to apply what I have learned from in-class presentations over the past few weeks. In previous benchmark essays, I have been unable to develop a firm thesis statement that presents a substantial argument. Although my current thesis is still in need of improvements, I felt more confident in my ability to make a argument and justify its implications. Alternatively, I was unable to analyze the poems as thoroughly as I would have liked because of time restrictions, especially in the case of the second poem. This is a significant aspect I have to improve on to help develop my essays not only in this class, but in other subjects as well. The Literature and Composition book helped me in analyzing these poems and recognizing the similarities and differences between the two. As recommended, I created a chart of literary devices that I had identified in both poems which helped me explicitly see the similar and different ways in which the author incorporated them. The book also described some techniques to organize the format of my essay. I chose to use the 'text-by-text organization' method because of time constraints, although the 'element-by-element' method may have better suited to my needs. Before the revision, I will once again read the sample essay provided in the book to better guide me. Overall, I currently perceive my essay at a 3-4 level, simply because of my lack of elaboration on my main points and complete inability to analyze the second poem within the time limit.

Blog #10: Mythology Presentation

Blog #9: Fairytale Presentation

Blog #8: Poetry Presentations