World Literature - Essay Example

?World Literature Bishop’s ‘the Fish’ greatly implements imagery for a variety of narrative and thematic intentions. Perhaps the most central aspect of this imagery is how it contributes to the reader’s overall impression of the fish. One considers that Bishop greatly humanizes the fish and leads the reader to emotionally identify with the animal. In other instances, she removes the vitality from the animal and instead focuses on the fish’s aesthetic qualities. For instance, Bishop writes, “his brown skin hung in strips/ like ancient wallpaper,/ and its pattern of darker brown/ was like wallpaper” (Bishop, 10-13). This heightens the reader’s perception of the fish as a living work of art. It seems that to an extent Bishop implements the image of "five old pieces of fish-line" (Bishop 51) to create a stark juxtaposition between the fish as a living entity and its position as a hunted and eaten object. 2. The tone of Marvell’s ‘To His Coy Mistress’ is divided into three sections with a different tone in each section. The poem’s first section is casual in tone. During this section the speaker casually informs the women of his perspective. Marvell implements figurative language stating, “My vegetable love should grow/ Vaster than empires, and more slow;” (Marvell, 11-12). Here the individual compares their love to a vegetable that grows slow like a vegetable. The second stanza assumes a gradually more urgent tone. Marvell in this stanza implements figurative language to heighten this urgency. He writes, “at my back I always hear/ Time's winged chariot hurrying near;” (Marvell, 21-22). The third stanza, while retaining the urgent pace of the second stanza, adds a degree of levity to this discussion. In this stanza the speaker refers to how they will eventually lose their youth and as such it is essential they make the most out of their time. 3. Donne’s ‘A Valediction: Forbidding Morning’ the speaker bids his wife farewell before leaving on a journey. In this action Donne implements a variety of figurative language. In specifying how they should act Donne writes, “So let us melt, and make no noise,/ No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move” (Donne, 5-6). Here Donnie is implementing simile in comparing their potential tears to floods, and heartbreak to storms. This figurative language helps Donne make his point through providing a greater amount of descriptive intensity to his proclamations. Later in the poem Donne implements metaphor. He writes, “Our two souls therefore, which are one,/ Though I must go, endure not yet/ A breach, but an expansion” (Donne, 21-23). Here the two lovers souls are referred to as one and in their absence, not separated but expanding. These considerations function as a metaphor for the intensity and authenticity of their love and help Donne’s point in that they create an actual benefit of the separation.   4. Gerard Manley Hopkins implements alliteration and assonance in "The Windhover" in a variety of ways. Alliteration, while a prominent device in much poetry, is implemented to an almost extreme level in ‘The Windhover’. One considers the opening two lines where Hopkins writes, “I caught this morning morning’s minion, king-/ dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding” (Hopkins, 1-2). One witnesses the alliteration in words such as ‘morning morning’s minion,’ where morning is used in different contexts. Additionally, assonance is implemented in a variety of contexts. For instance, he writes, “Brute beauty” (Hopkins, 9-10). Here the assonance occurs in the repetition of the ‘u’ sound; notably, alliteration is also implemented in the repetition of the ‘b’. Ultimately the collection of these forms of alliteration and assonance places the poetic work on a level that is unique for its formal qualities. 5. William Butler Yeats' "Who Goes With Fergus?" implements a specific rhyme scheme. In these regards the rhyme scheme that is implemented is a 1/4 scheme. For instance Yeats’ rhymes the line, “Who will go drive with Fergus now,” (Yeats, 1) with “Young man, lift up your russet brow,” (Yeats, 4). This rhyme scheme is consistent throughout the entire poem. Rather than standing out, it seems that Yeats seamlessly implements this scheme as a means of creating a sonorous quality to the work and improving reader engagement. It’s difficult to discern if the rhyme scheme is meant to emphasize specific words; more probably it seems that Yeats’ intentions were to create a holistic work and the rhyme scheme merely functioned as a means of emphasizing the overriding narrative concerns of the text. In terms of other potential effects the rhyme might have one considers that it contributes to the overriding constructed nature of the poem. That is, just as a perfect popular music song feels properly compact, Yeats work, replete with the rhyme scheme, has the feel of a carefully constructed and perfectly realized work. 6. William Blake’s ‘the Tyger’ uses stressed and unstressed syllables in establishing its overriding message and thematic concerns. In the first four lines Blake writes, “TYger! TYger! BURNing BRIGHT/ IN THE forESTS OF THE NIGHT,/ WHAT IMmortal HAND OR EYE/ COULD FRAME THY FEARful symMETRY?”. It seems that the entirety of these four lines could be considered a run-on sentence, as outside of the opening exclamation points following the word ‘tyger’ there isn’t a punctuation stop until the final sentence. There is a caesuras in the text following the word ‘night,’ as the first two lines seems to be a declarative statement, while following the pause the poem shifts to a direct question. It seems that these stressed syllables contribute to tone through creating a heightened amount on intensity, as the stressed nature of words such as ‘eye’ and ‘thy’ lead naturally into the final word ‘symmetry’. One recognizes that it is possible to read the emphasis on the final words symmetry as emphasizing the entirety of the word, rather than the second syllable. In these regards, Blake could be implementing an obvious rhyme pattern in words such as ‘bright’ and ‘night,’ that is then counteracted by the somber implementation of ‘symmetry’ as the final word. Ultimately, this creates an entirely unique aesthetic meaning for this portion of text through its musicality. References Eds. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing, 6th Compact Edition. New York: Pearson, Longman, 2010. Read More