Comparison Of A Psalms Of Life By Longfellow

The poems Remains, by Simon Armitage and War Photographer, by Carol Anne Duffy both discuss the topic of war. In both poems, you can see how war affects people and how memories of what they have seen haunt them forever. In War Photographer, attempts are made to put order to the chaos created by war, unlike Remains, which shows how chaos is created.

Literature can be funny, happy, lovely, and dynamic in all its forms, but literature that strikes a chord and evokes deep gut-wrenching feelings is often that of realistic fiction that contains tragic events in which the characters are involved. War is just one of the events that seems to captivate audiences. Literature like the story “The Things They Carried” and the poem “Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” paint the truth of events that happen during war. Death appears in both of these works and is the tragic event that changes the theme of the pieces. But what if the theme begins with death and then discussed its effect on the tone of the characters? This very thing happens in “When I have fears that I may cease to be.” This causes the same

Romanticism introduced contradictory values of the rationalistic values. Romantics believed in feeling and intuition while rationalists believed in reason. Two authors that shared these romantic views were Henry Longfellow and Ralph Emerson. Both Longfellow and Emerson used the power of nature and their romantic values to discover truths about life.

“Success is counted sweetest by those who never succeed.” This statement by Emily Dickinson expresses that you will never truly understand the meaning of success unless you have undergone failure. Emily Dickinson faced adversity throughout her fifty-five years of living as she experiences several losses. Because of this, the main theme in her poems is death as they are filled with constant bereavement however the themes of love, religion and nature are also present.

How can different perceptions about one topic be expressed in poetry? The main theme that the two sets of poems convey is war, but it’s expressed in different point of views through the use of diction that builds tone. The tones of these poems play a big role in conveying the differences between the different eras that these poems are written in, and shows how societies have changed from the Victorian era till the time of World War I.

Emily Dickinson is famous for writing about death time and time again. Her poem, 479 or “Because I could not stop for Death”, is no exception. The speaker within this poem is communicating with us from beyond the grave. They begin to describe their journey with death, who is personified or given human characteristics, in the first stanza by saying “Because I could not stop for Death-/He kindly stopped for me.” Dickinson starts this poem with the word “because”. This immediately assumes that the speaker is giving an explanation to an argument on death and why she could not stop. The speaker has no time for death as they are too busy living the life that they already have so Death, being the “kind” individual that he is, waits for her. This makes the poem seem more alive and active, unlike others who take on a more observant position. The civility that he shows causes her to give up on the things that has made her so busy- “And I had put away/My labor and my leisure too”- and enjoy the carriage ride that he takes her on. It is implied, to the reader, that the carriage holds just the two of them because of the capitalization of “Ourselves”, but this is quickly diminished in the fourth line by adding Immortality. Dickinson often will capitalize nouns to add emphasis to the term and to make the reader pay more attention to that specific word.

In “Mezzo Cammin”, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and in “When I Have Fears”, by John Keats, the two poems express, through metaphors and symbolism, how each of them feel about the limited time that they have left and both of the authors take death as something that is inevitable. However, Keats has an overall attitude of negativity and hopelessness over the thought of him dying too soon while Longfellow expresses a positive attitude which shows that he is willing to do his best until his death.

In the poems “Disabled” by Wilfred Owen and “The Bright Lights of Sarajevo” by Tony Harrison, both poems present the truths of war. However, both differ in terms of setting and contrast that help depicts the similarities between their theme. Disabled takes place within World War I as Owen vividly describes the subject’s amputation, but the poem is centered around the subject’s adjustment to civilian life after war. In The Bright Lights of Sarajevo although Harrison discusses the consequences of partaking in war in the town, he illustrates the way in which life goes on regardless the horrific impact. Through use of setting and contrast, both poets contribute to presenting the theme of the realities of war.

Student Joshua Hosking has a knack for the study of war and poetry and has in the past had a one on one interview with a veteran from the Vietnam War (1954 - 1975).

Over the course of human history, a countless amount of poems have been written by a numerous amount of poets. With such a myriad of poetry, similarities between these literary works is inevitable; in the same vein, this guarantees a huge degree of diversity as well. Even with two poems that appear to be the same, one would likely find contrasting elements within them, and vice-versa. This can be related to life itself: many people go through the same types of condition but face different outcomes, or conversely, different circumstances with similar results. Two poems about like situations in life and their differing aftermaths are “The Lanyard” by Billy Collins and “The Gift” by Li-Young Lee. At face value, these poems tell quite comparable stories. Both of the poems have related themes and symbols, tones that are close yet disparate, and similar structures yet differing use of language.

Often times we carry much burden on us, and doubt that we could have any purpose because of those burdens that we carry. In choosing three specific pieces of writing, the themes shared many similarities among them. Tim O’Brien’s, “The Things They Carried” is a short story about the very sentimental, physical and emotional possessions that the different soldiers carry within the story. McKay’s, “If We Must Die” speaks to the reader in such a way that conveys the idea of if they should die; it should be with honor and reason. Langston Hughes’, “I too, Sing America” gives no mention of death. However, he gives the similar impression that if he is going to live, regardless of his heritage, he is still going to live happily. These three pieces

After analyzing the humanities through the history of America from pre-history to Reconstruction, it becomes evident that Americans identified themselves as purely unique individuals with unlimited potential; however, this idea slowly become more constricted to a certain group of people as new philosophies emerged and as more people immigrated to the United States.

Literature has been a constant expression of artistic emotion throughout history. Over the course of the years, Literature has developed and changed due to America’s evolution. These changing time periods can be classified into 9 eras: Colonial, Revolutionary, Romantic, Transcendental, Realism, Modern, Harlem Renaissance, Beat Generation, and Postmodern. Throughout the changing history, new literary eras have begun in response to previous eras and events. American Literature has changed over time by adapting previous values, beliefs, and literary characteristics when a new era presents itself; this progression is due to changing societal views in

In this essay I have been asked to choose one of the twelve sections from ‘Staying Alive ‘and discuss why I believe it to be the most effective. It is clear that section 9 ‘War and Peace’ is the most effective. War poetry is harsh and to the point. It is filled with gruesome images and vivid descriptions of war time. The poems in this section will resonate with you for a lifetime. .Most poetry of this genre is based around the topic of World War One and World War Two. But also around other famous wars in history such as the American Civil War and Troubles in Northern Ireland. This poetry contains messages of hatred towards war and towards the idea of war. This section includes poetry of very famous poets who not only were alive during the war but some of whom also

Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman are the most representative and brilliant poets of the nineteenth century and in the American literature in general. However, we can also say that, between them, they have the most different styles of writing they can have, just as well as their lives. For example, as Christenbury (n.d.) stated, firstly that Walt Whitman was someone “[…] who struggled to get his poems published and who developed a broad admiring audience during his lifetime. In contrast, the reclusive Emily Dickinson died unknown to the world of poetry, leaving a box full of unpublished poems”. Nevertheless, we can find some similarities in their lives, for example, both of them lived in a difficult historical period: on the one hand Emily Dickinson, who was born the 10th of December of 1830 and on the other hand, Walt Whitman, who was born the 31st of May of 1819, lived the period of the American civil war. If we go deeper into the author’s lives and if we have to say some important facts about Emily Dickinson’s life, is