The Author To Her Book :: essays research papers

Writing poetry can be a deeply personal (and sometimes painful) process. If talent and luck prevails, the poet will actually produce a something that reflects the inner workings that first motivated their pen to meet paper. Through struggle and sweat a poem is born, and for better or for worse the creator is responsible for the subsequent journey that it will take throughout it’s poetic life. In it’s infancy, it might seem a miracle of creation, but like most parents the writer will work at maturing the verse and rhyme so that it can defend itself when it eventually leaves home. The world that it will one day enter is a cold and critical one, and few will understand the true meaning and depth of the poem’s soul like it’s parent does. Anne Bradstreet beautifully demonstrates the intimate relationship that exists between an artist and her work in the poem The Author to Her Book. In the poem she directly addresses the book that was published without her consent, referring to it as her child, kidnapped and exploited in a world of criticism. By exposing the her work to the world, she feels that her own inadequacies are revealed as well, thus creating an internal struggle between pride and shame. This paper will take a detailed look at the poem line by line, and draw out the deeper meanings that Bradstreet injected in regard to the book The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, her illegitimate brainchild. In the first line Bradstreet refers to the book as an â€Å"ill formed offspring of [her] feeble brain.† This not only expresses her opinion of the work, but also that of her own abilities as a poet. She seems to feel no confidence, and says so upfront, as if to apologize to anyone who might have encountered her work. Although its flaws embarrass and shame her, she understands that her book is the offspring of her own "feeble brain", and the lamentable errors it displays are therefore her own. In lines two through four she shows that her ‘child’, once safely kept close to her side, suddenly â€Å"snatched† away by friends â€Å"less wise than true,† and then â€Å"exposed to public view† before it had a chance to mature in her care. It’s in Bradstreet’s strong descriptive language that she is able to express her feelings of betrayal. Though she doesn’t outright say it, she obviously felt deceived, and suffered the same exposure that the book had.

Icarus in Prose, Poetry and Visual Art Essay

What does it take for one to achieve freedom? As a father, what sacrifices can you give to let your son live the life of a freeman? For an artist and creator, Daedalus, the best of his ability and skills are his weapons in order to give himself and his son, Icarus, the taste of freedom. His sacrifice has been none other than his son. For centuries and millenia, the story of Icarus and Daedalus has awed the whole world, and has been told and retold by different writers and poets and illustrated and put to life by various artists on stage and on canvas. This famed story is all about an inventor and his son’s attempted escape from a Labyrinth whom he himself has designed. Daedalus, is a talented, remarkable craftsman, who was conscripted by King Minos of Crete to design a Labyrinth to confine a Minotaur, a half-human half-bull creature who is the son of  Ã‚   Pasiphae, Minos’ wife. To feed it, the palace will have to receive human sacrifices and thrown to the Labyrinth. In the course of the story, a hero, Theseus, came to the place with the objective to kill the beast, putting a stoppage to the brutal sacrifice. The daughter of the king, Adriane, fell in love with him and with the help of Daedalus, was able to give him the tip of the thread as a means to escape the Labyrinth. In some renditions of the story, it was said that Theseus and Adriane eloped and thus, catching Daedalus in the ire of the king. For this, Daedalus and Icarus, his son, were imprisoned in the Labyrinth in place of the Minotaur. Otherwise, there were versions indicating that the imprisonment   was only in the light that King Minos wanted to keep the secrecy of the Labyrinth structure. In any case, Daedalus’ imprisonment has always been part of the story, alongside their escape feat. Since the king of Crete had jurisdiction over sea and land, Daedalus found it best to travel through the skies. He crafted two pairs of wings out of feathers, strings, and wax for both himself and his son, of course, to be able to fly. Icarus has been given reminders by his father by saying, â€Å"Icarus, my son, I charge you to keep at a moderate height, for if you fly too low the damp will clog your wings, and if too high the heat will melt them. Keep near me and you will be safe.† This reminder has been put to wste though, as our young hero has been overcome by giddiness and excitement, and his curiosity to see what lies beyond the clouds lead him to soar higher. It was to late for him to try to go back to the previous altitude for afterwards, he saw that his wings melted and he rocketed down to the ocean. What went back to Daedalus then was the dead body of his son. As a tribute to his son, he named the place as Icaria. In some versions that could be found in the web, it was said that Heracles passed by to give him a burial. The most enduring elements that the story that existed in all versions of the story of Icarus were the presence of the wings’ exact resemblance to that of a bird’s, the construction of the Labyrinth, the Minotaur, Daedalus and Icarus imprisonment, and their escape. Also, the standard plot then begins with Daedalus being chosen as the one who would design the labyrinth to constrict the Minotaur, being imprisoned with his son, escaping from prison and seeing his son die. These elements have been retained in the story probably because of their impact to the story. The story contain various themes, such as the sweetness of freedom, human ingenuity and ambition, the real essence of freedom, vanity of the human race. The whole story is a puzzle, just like the Labyrinth that Daedalus made. One would not help asking what is the purpose of having Icarus’ death in the story? Why does it seem that Icarus was only made to be able to fly in order to die? Is Icarus’ death supposed to teach us that we should not violate the rules of nature? I have read this story when I was a kid, and the only character left to be remembered was Icarus, and the feat before his death. Reading it once again brought my mind’s focus again to the father: his love for the son, his craftmanship and his grief at the death of his son. The story has taught us so much about the different sides of human nature, and our tendency to go in between. King Minos has been much filled with cruelty, and Daedalus on the other hand proved to be the softest and the most tender of all. It was the cruelty of Minos to offer humans as food for a Minotaur, on one side, and Daedalus’ compassion to give Adriane the clue to the Labyrinth to help Theseus escape and his love as a fathe r on the other. To add to this theme tableau, we can thus witness the suffering that the oppressed people experienced. Such are the incarceration of people who only chose to be at the right side, the endless sacrifice of people of all ages by being fed to the Minotaur. The thirst for freedom, in itself, is a means to depict suffering. Icarus’ death on the other hand, makes clear to us that not all things end up happily. We cannot escape sufferings that our life can give us. Freedom is never absolute, it pays its price. The story meant well.

The Declaration Of The United States - 1150 Words

Jeni Wenze October 17, 2015 HIS 112-166 On April 26, 1852 the South Carolina State, justified its intentions to secede from the United States due to the increased violations of the Constitution by the Federal Government as well as its limitation on the reservation rights within the States. In 1860 after Abraham Lincoln election the South thought that the government was becoming too powerful, which led South Carolina to secede as the first state from the United States Union. However, remaining as part of the United States would be the best resolution for South Carolina. Secession from the United States will have a negative effect on the nation as the people are used to being governed in a particular way. The United States as a democratic†¦show more content†¦Losing in the civil war will not only lead to the death of many people within the state but will also lead to questioning of the government’s ability to protect its citizens. The decision to secede will certainly affect South Carolina opening grounds for future wars. The United States constitution stipulates specific responsibilities of different states. The Constitution is the only document that people within South Carolina perceive to form a perfect union, insure domestic tranquility, establish justice, promote general welfare, offer a common defense, and secure liberty blessings to the citizens.† The Constitution is a unifying factor between the United States; therefore, secession will lead to anarchy. People within South Carolina may have mixed feelings about being a part of the United States or not. As a sovereign state, the citizens will require a constitution similar or better than the one that the United States utilized, which will proof a challenge not only to come up with a complete document but also to implement it. Additionally, individuals that supported Abraham Lincoln as president will have different views on the Constitution aspect, which will further divide the people of South Carolina. Therefore, being a part of the Unite d States enable South Carolina to use the U.S. constitution limiting anarchy in the state. Secession for South Carolina is likely to lead to its participation in civil