“One does not use poetry for its major purposes, as a means to organize oneself and the world, until one’s world somehow gets out of hand.” This was Richard Wilbur’s response when someone asked him about fighting in World War II and how it changed him. Richard Wilbur is a famous modern day poet who won two Pulitzer Prizes for two of his collections of poems. He was the second poet laureate of the United States. Richard Wilbur fought as a combat soldier in World War II which changed his outlook…
Know a man in the early 1900’s known for his poems written with incorrect spelling and punctuation? Then you would be thinking about E. E. Cummings! E. E. Cummings was birthed upon the world as Edward Estlin Cummings in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1894. He developed a unique style of writing at an early age, being influenced by both Impressionism and Cubism, and grew up to study at Harvard University. The poet would become a famous writer, but while he was alive, his work was mostly left…
Modern metropolis through Eliot’s poems is depicted as a portrait of uncertainty amidst the turmoil of modern life. Set in the squalor of modern metropolis, literature of modernism explores of alienation and decay in society within Prufrock and Preludes. This breakdown of social values allows responder to reflect upon the similarities in society at the start of the 20th century and the 21st century where the daily existence is synonymous with ‘living death’(Ellis:24). Eliot poem set in the…
One the defining tendencies of Modernist writers is the rather melancholy stance they seem to take while pondering the world. They often suggest rather than state, emphasize questions over answers, and generally show rather than tell. All of this reinforcing the deep dissatisfaction they have with the traditions of society. Thus, it is particular interesting to look at a piece of Modernist literature that breaks the typical Modernist mold. For while Zora Hurston’s “How it Feels to be Colored Me”…
E. E. Cummings is not the traditional poet who follows in the footsteps of others. Experimentation with grammatical and linguistic rules enticed him to create his own distinctive writing style. “somewhere I have never travlled,gladly beyond” is written in response to two of his brief marriages which left him in a state of having experienced the highs and lows of love. Throughout the poem, E. E. Cummings utilizes imagery that relates to the senses and unconventional syntax. This enables him to…
Naturalistic Play Synopses The Father (W: 1887; P: 1887) Strindberg, August (1849-1912) Translated by Edith and Warner Oland 1912 Source- Strindberg, August. The Father. Edited by Edmund R Brown. Translated by Edith Oland and Warner Oland, Boston International Packet Library, 1912. Characters- Eight cast members total. Three women, four men, and the orderly’s gender is never specified. A Captain of Cavalry Laura- his wife Bertha- their daughter Doctor Östermark The Pastor The Nurse…
Situating Pablo Neruda in the domain of World Literature : The Universality in his Selected Poems Nabamita Halder Annie Swetha Masters of English with Communication Studies Masters of English with Communication Studies Christ University Christ University Bengaluru Bengaluru Abstract World literature defines a space that is post-colonial, non-canonical and largely post-modern. It amalgamates the global and the local, making the literature a cultural impetus. Reality…
one could say that these nightmarish places are the representation of his broken mind. For example, the main feature of the land is the wasteland. As in the ninth stanza Roland says: “Than, pausing to throw backward a last view/O’er the safe road, ‘t was gone; gray plain all round:” (IX. 3-4), which another possible clue that Roland is mad, as there is nothing left behind him, only a wasteland. It could be a sense of recovery too as all bridges have been burnt up behind him, so the past is no…
Out of all the situations we face in life, knowing that tomorrow is guaranteed is something that no person is for sure of. The poem, “Summer Solstice, New York City” by Sharon Olds is a perfect example of the uncertainties in life. This short poem deals with an immensely suicidal man meeting death's face to face at the edge of a building’s roof in New York City while he is surrounded by policemen. At first, this poem seems to be primarily about a depressed man being talked out of suicide by the…
The ‘Miniver Cheevy’ The narrative poem, Miniver Cheevy, was written by Edwin A. Robinson. It was first published in 1910. The poem tells the tale of a despairing lover who spends his days contemplating how things would have been had he been born earlier. Although the poem affords no exact setting, a reader will get to know that Cheevy lives in the fictional town Tilbury, which is quite similar to Robinson’s hometown in Maine. Robinson has maintained the use of this town in several of his poems…