The Romantic Period (1789-1837)Romanticism dominated European culture throughout the early 1800s, which challenged an early focus on order and reason. During the late 1700s, a new cultural outlook put an emphasis on imagination and emotions that made people feel sympathy with the French Revolution. The effects of the Industrial Revolution upset the Romantics because it greatly altered the landscape. The Romantics found inspiration in the countryside and sublimity in untamed nature. Wordsworth and Coleridge were succeeded by a second generation of Romantics that included John Keats. The second generation fought for causes they believed in. They became champions of the artist and the rebel, while also finding beauty in exotic places and times.
Video Source: Literature Launchers. "The Triumph of Romanticism." DVD. Glencoe 2012. |
The Victorian Period
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CAN YOU SPOT THE
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A Poison Treeby: William Blake
I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow. And I watered it in fears, Night and morning with my tears; And I sunned it with smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles. And it grew both day and night, Till it bore an apple bright. And my foe beheld it shine. And he knew that it was mine, And my wrath grew like the poison tree, Till my heart was ripped I do decree. And my foes deceit did not stop there, And the next event could not compare, And into my garden stole When the night had veiled the pole; In the morning glad I see My foe outstretched beneath the tree. |
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An Analysis of William Blake’s “A Poison Tree”
Poems in English literature, particularly those from the Romantic Age, contain a variety of heavily-used rhetorical devices in order to convey the meaning intended by the author. In Blake’s “A Poison Tree,” for instance, the reader finds a number of devices that aid in conveying the tone and, ultimately, the theme of this poem. Concepts such as anger and the Bible pervade the poem in the poet’s attempt to convey the theme that deceit can happen anywhere. To begin to understand a poem, one must deal with the basics. These involve knowing general information about the speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, and subject. The speaker of “A Poison Tree,” although not specified, reveals himself (or herself) to be angry with someone. The occasion is not specified, and the time is not either. The speaker’s audience does not seem to be anyone in particular and his/her purpose involves professing his anger towards this unknown person. The anger the speaker has towards his foe acts as the subject of the poem. To paraphrase the events of the poem, one might say that the speaker is mad because his foe has been deceitful and his anger is growing. In terms of tone, the poem begins with an angry mood or atmosphere. Some diction that suggests this involves the speaker first using the words “wrath,” “foe,” and “angry”. This suggests that the speaker is truly aggravated with the deceit, which was caused by taking something from him. The speaker’s attitude also becomes apparent in the poem. The speaker’s tone reveals an indifference towards the unknown foe because of the indignant vibe the reader feels from reading this poem. The three most significant rhetorical devices that the poet uses to convey the theme in the poem involve the use of metaphor, allusion, and symbolism. The poet uses metaphor to help the reader get a sense of how his anger is growing with words and phrases like “my wrath did grow” and “watered it in my tears.” S/he also uses allusion as a way of implying the event that occurred at the Garden of Eden, specifically with phrases like “apple,” “foe beheld it shine” referring to the “garden.” Finally, the poet uses symbolism to give deeper meaning to the poem by referring to the Bible while implying the Garden of Eden. Thus, the devices used by the author give the reader the idea that the speaker could perhaps be God, alluding to the fact that “the foe” would be the snake. Essentially, this poem is about the event that occurred between Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. To create this meaning, the author uses numerous devices of rhetoric and the effects of tone to create an atmosphere that is indifferent. As a result, we can see how the use of rhetorical devices and tone give meaning to poetry and other forms of literature. |
My Poem Analyzed
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