Opie Taylor

Piercing as the music described in it, the poem “A Musical Instrument” investigates the concepts of human nature and growth through the use of imagery, symbolism, and various literary devices. At the heart of the poem, Browning explores the need for humans to use their beastly nature to create a force greater than themselves in order to achieve growth. The impact of the actions of a seemingly indifferent, careless god on an unassuming reed creates a dichotomy throughout the poem, one that is…

CPE Bach’s Fantasia in F Sharp Minor and the 18th Century Sublime This is going to be an essay about how CPE Bach’s Fantasia in F Sharp Minor could relate to some of the 18th century ideas of the sublime. In the eighteenth century, there were a lot of differing ideas as to what, exactly, the sublime entailed. I shall mostly be concerning myself with those of Edmund Burke, as written in “A Philosophical Inquiry Into The Origin Of Our Ideas Of The Sublime And Beautiful”, though many of the other…

During a session in the House of Commons during the 1930s, Winston Churchill remarked to Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin that “history will be kind to me for I intend to write it.” The idea of history being written by the victors has existed for centuries, with original phrase attributed variously to figures ranging from Niccolò Machiavelli to Walter Benjamin to Napoleon Bonaparte. Historical revisionism—history rewritten—is a theme that is discussed in John Gardner’s Grendel in the form of the…

W.B. Yeats’ Opinion of War W.B. Yeats was an Irish poet during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. He wrote following the belief of “spiritus mundi”, the spirit of the universe and the collective unconscious or memory, which influences him to write around different mythologies, despite being a Christian. “Spiritus Mundi” leads to two of the works that reflect his opinion regarding war and conquest. Through these two works, “Leda and the Swan” and “The Second Coming,” Yeats’ opinion of war as a…

The poem “Blackberry Picking" is written by Seamus Heaney and carries the overall message of how to enjoy the evolution of life before it is corrupted by death. Seamus Heaney is trying to convey this message by describing the life cycle of berries. “At first, just one, a glossy purple clot among others, red, green, hard as a knot.” In this line, the author uses figurative language to ignite reader’s memories and senses of the beauty and excitement of youth. By rhyming “clot” and “knot” Heaney…

The Romantic Movement lasted from the second half of the eighteenth century to the first half of the nineteenth century. The Romantic Era has a great effect on people in all aspects, such as art, literature, and music. Romanticism began in Germany and France, and after that it spread through Europe, and finally America. However, romanticism is not about love and romance; it is about all the emotions and feelings a person feels throughout his or her whole life. People used it as a way of escapism…

In the Romantics Era there were many important qualities of Romanticism and one of those ideas was a story or explanation inside human awareness. Romantic writers such as Coleridge and Wordsworth believed that poetry is a way of grasping the insight of life. The Romantic writers, Coleridge and Wordsworth, both portray nature but in opposite ways than one another. Coleridge is the type of writer that underlines the grievous, supernatural and magnificent part of nature, while Wordsworth is the…

“She Walks in Beauty” by Lord Byron "She Walks in Beauty" is a short lyrical famous poem that written in 1814 by Lord Byron. It was published with several poems in 1815 called “Hebrew Melodies”. The poem was written about Byron’s cousin, Anne Wilmot. Which he met her the night before where this poem was inspired by its beauty. Anne was in mourning, wearing a black shimmering dress set with spangles. "She Walks in Beauty" can be seen as a love poem about a beautiful woman but it is not. It is…

While it is easy for one to give up on their goals and move on, one can truly show strength by conquering the various challenges on their way to success. Homer’s, The Odyssey, is able to depict how persistence can lead to fulfillment. Homer’s purpose in the epic poem The Odyssey is to show society that though there are setbacks in life, one can overcome them with perseverance by employing katabasis by emphasize the various struggles Odysseus faces. Homer utilizes katabasis initially to…

Introduction This essay is a critical analysis of the poem Shower by the Australian writer Les Murray. Les Murray was born in 1938 in New South Wales/Australia. He grew up in a poor farming family, and his love for nature and the Australian landscapes, which shows in his poetry, developed early. Murray writes about his “love of the land, the tensions between rural and urban life”, and “the struggle for an independent means of expression” (Poetry archive, date unknown)1. The poem Shower is, as…