Homework for 1/22/09

Holy Sonnet #14 was good poem to try to make sense of, at least in my opinion. The speaker is involved in a spiritual struggle and it's a struggle he feels he cannot win. The first 4 lines are a plea for God to be less merciful and less patient.

Batter my heart, three-personed God; for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new

He's basically feeling like God is being to kind and gentle and that's why he keeps resorting to acts of evil. He is pleading with God to not "knock, breath, shine, or seek to mend" his heart but to batter it, burn it away, and force him to be righteous.

I, like an usurped town, to another due,
Labor to admit you, but O, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue

Here, the speaker tells why he's struggling and who both sides are. One is, of course, God and what it means to spiritual and the other side is reason, which according to the speaker, is getting in the way of his spirituality and belief in God. I'm curious about "me should defend" however. It really sounds like bad English, so I'm kind of at a loss to what he's trying to get across here. Perhaps, just the fact that he's trying to defend his reason but cannot turn his back on God.

Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain
But am betrothed unto your enemy
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me

The end of the sonnet really sounds a lot like something one would say to a lover (a crazy someone, but nonetheless). So it gets very intimate, talking about being "betrothed" to the enemy, which is likely the Devil, or just sin in general. He asks for God to break that bond and for God to pull the speaker unto himself. He asks to be made a slave and to be taken by force.

So overall, the poem just really addresses a spiritual battle between reason and faith. He finds his faith struggling due to reason and finds he can't completely turn over to reason because of his faith. So he's caught in the middle, and sort of blames God for letting him just hang there, waiting for him to choose. He doesn't want to make the choice, he'd rather it be made for him.

1/15/09 - Blog Assignment

Enjambment:
In the poem "Digging", there are several lines that contain this concept, making us feel like it's moving us into the next line without pause.

Lines 10 and 11

The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft
Against the inside knee was levered firmly

Also, lines 20 and 21

Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up
To drink it, then fell to right away


Rhyme Scheme:
The Rhyme Scheme of Acquainted with the Night is ababcbcdcdedee


Speaker:
The speaker of Acquainted with the Night seems to be someone wandering the streets, lost in thought, or perhaps feels like they're wandering through life


Tone:
The tone of Acquainted with the Night seems to be somber, sort of a melancholy feel to the speaker's thoughts. You also get a sense of loneliness.

Bloggin!!

What's up everybody? Welcome to my spot :)