Lyrical Ballads

William Wordsworth once wrote “There neither is, not can be, any essential difference between the language and metrical composition” (147). In his book, “Preface to Lyrical Ballads”, Wordsworth argues for a poetry in which the poet puts an emphasis on emotions, rather than intellect, and on resemblance to common life. He uses these ideas about poetry to claim that prose is essentially no different from poetry. However, many readers might find this idea troublesome; certainly short stories differ…

“Flash upon my inward eye”: The Role of Reflection and Tranquility in William Wordsworth’s “Daffodils” In his preface to Lyrical Ballads, William Wordsworth famously writes that “all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Wordsworth, Wu 509). However, it is important to note that he modifies this statement by adding that “though this be true, Poems to which any value can be attached were never produced on any variety of subjects but by a man who, being possessed of…

Wordsworth invented a new style of poetry, in which nature and the diction of men expressed throughout the poems In 1798, Wordsworth had a poetry collection called, Lyrical Ballads, which helped the romantic era of English literature grow. Writers in this era were inspired by the structure and diction used to describe nature and the everyday life of a man. In the poem “Daffodils” the structure of the poem is very traditional…

Julian Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending, on the surface, appears to employ the same stereotype of a wistful old man experiencing a bout of retrospection for his lost friend and the times he once had. The narrator of Carson McCullers’s “Ballad of the Sad Café” in The Ballad of the Sad Café works with the same forlorn recollection of when the town was more alive. Both narrators use two distinct voices to recount their unique stories, weaving their second, lamenting voice between the first narrating…

Hangings The Ballads of Sharyn McCrumb published The Ballad of Frankie Silver in 1998; compared to another novel by Sharyn McCrumb The Ballad of Tom Dooley, a novel published in 2011. In both of these novels, two people were hung, two people showed their love for others, two people killed, and two lawyers appointed by the court. Although McCrumb wrote both novels, she based both on facts found in North Carolina’s History. Both have similar characters and are both written and researched novels…

The historical ballad “Los vientos eran contrarios” was written anonymously, as were most Spanish ballads. According to Colin Smith, it “is probably the oldest of the King Roderick ballads, composed in the second half of the 15th century”. It details the conquering of Spain as a result of King Roderigo sleeping with the virgin daughter- la Cava- of Count Julían. A maid, Fortuna, predicts the King’s future as well as the subjugation of Spain. The poem ends with news of Count Julían’s invasion,…

Absurdity is key to this exhibition and bringing some humour or levity to minimalist art which otherwise is too often seen as confrontational, anti-humanist, emotionless and intellectually cold. Minimalism may hide its humour behind imposing machine-made structures or recontextualized ready made industrialized forms, but curator John Hampton attempts to show a lighter side of minimalism, he attempts to show us that it is inherently absurd that we take it so seriously. Upon entering the space,…

On November 18, 2016, I went to the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, where the motto is “The Secret to Life is in Art .” Prior to my visit to the museum, I was already familiar with it due to the fact that, two of my works of art from high school, was shown there. Even though this was true, I still had not actually looked through the museum. Prior to this course, I did not have much of an appreciation or care for art because of how “overrated” it seems today. But with the knowledge and…

Many paintings that come further after previously stated ‘Banksia Cobs’, truly presents Preston’s change in themes ideas and concepts through the styles and techniques she has elected to use. A set of paintings all incorporating banksia’s in them, including ‘Rose and Banksia’ (1936), ‘Banksia’ (1938), and ‘The Brown Pot’ (1940), all present the drastic changes in the styles, techniques, elements, and principles Preston uses. In ‘Rose and Banksia’ it features exactly what would have been depicted…

Intro Carson McCullers novella, the Ballad of the Sad Cafe was first published in August, 1943 in Harper's Bazaar, also with six other short stories of a collection with the same name. The Ballad of the Sad Cafe is a southern story about a mannish figured of a women who became an object of a sinister scheme. The three peculiar characters; Miss Amelia, Cousin Lymon, and Marvin Macy lives are intertwined and fueled with love and revenge. Miss Amelia is the owner of a small café in the center of…