Journey of the Magi

     T.S. Eliot's Journey of the Magi depicts the story of a man from a country far away traveling to an undisclosed location. When he finally reaches his destination, something has occurred that has impacted his life forever. Throughout the poem, the magi feels a strong sense of loneliness. After his trip, he begins to view the world and his life through a new perspective.  He even begins to question the even that has taken place and begins to wonder what this will mean for the world. From further investigation of this poem, the reader can concur that perhaps the foreigner was headed toward the site where Jesus was being born.
      There are several clues throughout the poem that lead to the conclusion that the man was going to the nativity scene. For one, the caravan that he was with was traveling during the winter. "A cold coming we had of it, Just the worst time of the year For a journey and such a long journey: The ways deep and the weather sharp, The very dead of winter." Christmas fall in the winter, which makes the timing of this journey correspond to the nativity scene. They "arrived at evening, not a moment too soon". When they finally arrived at their destination, they arrived just in the nick of time. "Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory." The location is not of the same caliber as the palaces and any other royal place that they may have visited. The stable in which Jesus was born in was not a place that many would consider a proper place for a child to be born, but for those who did not have the money, it was good enough.

The Lamb

The Lamb, by William Blake is a poem about the conversation between a little child and a lamb. The reason that the reader can interpret that the narrator is a child is because of how soft and gentle the tone of the poem is. The author does no however come out and directly say whether or not the narrator is a child. From another point of view, the reader could even speculate that the narrator could actually be some religious figure, such as a nun, priest or even the pope. The conversation could even go on further interpretation as this particular religious figure trying to convert the child into the Christian religion.
     The narrator first begins to ask, "Little Lamb, who made thee? Dost thou know who made thee? Gave thee life & bid thee feed, By the stream & o'er the meed;" They ask the young child numerous times who they believe created them and make it a point to place emphasis on whomever did so. They not only gave them life but also gave them food, "gave thee clothing of delight." It is important for this child to know who created them because the same person allowed for all of the wonderful things to also occur. The narrator even asks the questions again. "Little Lamb, who made thee?"
   The narrator then tells the child who this wonderful creator is. "Little Lamb I'll tell thee! He is called by thy name, For he calls himself a Lamb; He is meek & mild, He became a little child." One can concur from this passage that he is referring to Jesus. In the Bible, Jesus is known as the "Lamb of God" and for having a meek and mild temperament. He left his home in heaven in order to be born as a man and live among men, preaching his gospel.

After Death

In the poem After Death, Christina Rossetti addresses common themes of the time period of death and tragic love. The tone of most subjects at this time where that of the male perspective but Rossetti offered a different view on the subject as a female perspective. She uses many action verbs to describe a deceased woman as a feeling human. For example, even though she is deceased, the woman feels, hears, and sees her admirer’s grief. As she writes, the narrator "heard him say, 'Poor child, poor child," "knew that he wept," and perceived his strong love for her, which did not show until after her death. Instead of portraying women as objects of desire, Rossetti, gives her a voice, feelings, and thoughts. Rossetti was making a feminist statement for the time period of which how poetry was written in a more male perspective and male dominance of their behavior on death of a loved one. She uses more forceful verbs to illustrate the male subject in the poem, creating a typical reaction of death. She then says: “He did not love me living; but once dead He pitied me; and very sweet it is To know he still is warm though I am cold.”
Creating a voice for the women and stating that the man sentiment of the man was tenderer when she passed. As if her death creates a since of power over the male subject, this creates a dominance over his character even though she is dead. It takes on a whole new way writing about death and tragic love of the time period of typical poems. Rossetti not only creates a living female perspective of the deceased subject but creates power and dominance over the male which at the time was unheard of at the time.

How do I love thee?

    Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnet 43 has one of the most recognizable and romantic openings in all of poetry. "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." The poem starts off on a light tone. She is asked the question of how much she is in love with the person that is being referred to. Then she states that she will count the ways, the reasons that she is in love with him. This in itself is a bit unorthodox considering that she is expressing her love in a list form. Whenever you are madly in love with someone, as she considers herself to be, you don't typically write it all out and give your significant other a list of reasons.
    As she goes into her "list", we see how she defines this love that they share. "I love thee to the level of everyday's Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light." Her love for him is something that she has to have in order to survive. It's like the sun and the light from a candlestick providing her warmth and light in the darkness. It could also be interpreted as what she needs in the real world in order to survive. She needs him in order to have food, shelter and to be provided for. She literally needs him in order to survive. This turns into not just some love poem, but almost a letter of gratitude thanking him for marrying her and taking on the responsibility of being her husband.
      She claims to love her husband and to feel gratitude for the things that he does for her, but this last line suggests otherwise. "I shall but love thee better after death." If she claims to love him so much, then why would she love him even more when he is dead and why would she even want him to die in the first place? After he dies she will become a widow and live a life completely alone. On the other hand, she will also receive all of his money, land and anything else that is in his name.

Porphyria's Lover

     Porphyria's Lover is the story of a man who kills the woman that he is secretly meeting with and then remains with the body. The meaning behind the killing is unknown to the audience although Browning gives a few hints as to what could possibly be going on. "When glided in Porphyria; straight She shut the cold out and the storm." From this passage, one can determine that this meeting was kept in secrecy. The were planning on meeting in an undisclosed location, during what appears to be in the later hours and during a storm. One can only speculate that the man and Porphyria were having an affair.
      During this period in time, marriage was considered a contract that bounded man and woman together in an everlasting contract. Love was not the deciding factor on whom would marry whom. Affairs were considered even more taboo than in today's day and age so for these characters to be engaging in this act proves to be scandalous. Porphyria herself proves to be an even more scandalous woman as she tries to seduce the narrator by "calling to him", "putting his arm around her waist, moving her hair to one side thereby exposing her shoulder and laying his head on her shoulder. As she tries to seduce him, the narrator begins to unravel. "Too weak, for all her heart’s endeavor,  To set its struggling passion free  From pride, and vainer ties dissever,  And give herself to me forever." He is in love with her, but she cannot love him in the same way. By killing her, he is insuring that she will remain his for all eternity. She will no longer just be the object of his affection and in a sense of the word act as her "boytoy". Browning may have very well been arguing that because this couple was indeed having an affair, disaster would surely befall on them.

Ozymandias and Irony

     In Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ozymandias", a traveler comes across what use to be part of a great statue. The inscription on the statue talks about a great king by the name of Ozymandias. Ozymandias was once a great king with vast riches and power, but the only memory that remains of this are the ruins left of his kingdom. The poem is continuing to talk about the setting around the narrator and the irony that is hidden in it. The poem is discussing how pride in oneself can lead to ones' ultimate downfall.
     In the inscription, it describes the life of the king and who he was to begin with. He describes himself as a "king of kings". Normally when one describes the king of kings they are referring to Christ, but due to the supposed age of the sculpture this was created at some time before the birth of Jesus. Ho goes on to tell others to look at his works, but in reality there is nothing there. The environment may have once been rich and vast, but has now been reduced to a desert. A sense of irony can be felt in this line because if he was once truly a "king of kings" then why is it that his statues venerating him are not still remaining. The author even points out that nothing remains. In this poem, one can feel a sense of irony. This irony refers to the ruler's sense of accomplishment and hope that his greatness will continue on throughout the ages but in reality nothing left remains of his empire.

La Belle Dame sans Merci & Early Feminism

      During the 1800's, women were put under many restrictions. They were required to act a certain way and were viewed as only objects that were under man's control. In many cultures, women are not only to be dominated but through this domination they are kept from destroying man's morality. Women who were independent in any way were viewed as taboo and basically something to be avoided at all costs. In "La Belle Dame sans Merci", John Keat's independent female character reflects societies view of independent women during that time period.
    The poem is the story of a knight who falls under the bewitching spell of a mysterious woman. When the reader is first introduced to the knight, he is not the heroic knight that we think of in fairy tales. He is a broken man. He is "alone and palely loitering". Something terrible had to have happened to this man in order for him to become so distraught. The cause of his pain is a woman that he fell madly in love with.
     She seems innocent and beautiful enough, as most female characters in literature do at the time. She is know ordinary woman though, she is a "faery child". This is what sets her apart from other women. Something unusual about her made her stand out from the crowd, this being the fact that she is not human, and has caught great interest from the knight.
     The rest of the poem talks about this great love affair that the knight and faery have. The faery even professes love towards the knight. This affair can be interpreted as a physical affair. In one such line, "I set her on my pacing steed", may refer to the author placing the girl onto a horse. In many literary symbols, horses often refer to sex so it can be safe to say the Kearns was not talking about your average pony ride. This relationship is what leads to the knights downfall however.
    Eventually, the woman tricks the knight and leaves him terrified and lost. Throughout this poem, Kearns links the independent woman to his character of the faery. Because she is so different and so unique the knight takes great interest in her. Forming a relationship with this woman lead to his ultimate downfall. This poem shows that giving in to any independent woman always ends in disaster.