Reflection:Dark Romanicism

Edgar Allan Poe's poem, "The Happiest Day", is about what use to be and not of what would be.  Poe talks about what his  hapiest day was in the past.  It is easy to realize this when he uses the words "But they have vanish'd long, alas!" in one of his lines in his poem (Poe 6).  I would definately classify this poem as a dark romanicism because it is obvious in the first read through of the poem.  The words "hath flown" or "have been" were used in this poem to signify that the happiness was in the past (Poe 4 and 16).  I picked this poem thinking that it was going to be a light and cheery poem until I remembered that Poe wrote in the dark romanicism period and that everything has kind of a gloomy haze on everything.  Most of Poe's poem titles make the poems themselves sound appealing and have great potential for a cheery and happy poem, but once you read all of the poems you realize that is not the case.  I feel that if Poe would have wrote in a diferent time period his poems would have been enjoyed and been more appealing to a greater number and vast variety of people, but on the same note if he had written in a different time period I think that he would not be as popular because he wouldnt be known for something.  Poe's poems are known for their gloomy effect they have on themselves and the dullness that they bring upon their readers.  That is one of Poe's trademarks, which to some is an exciting thing that makes them enjoy his poems and love his works, but to me it is more of a negative outlook on life and I dont enjoy reading them.  It makes me get in a gloomy mood and I dont like that.  I like being a cheery person and being able to be in a happy mood most of the time.  When we read the poem by Poe in class I didn't enjoy reading it and it was hard for me to concentrate because of the boringness it was to me.  This boringness was because of the darkness of the poem.  I feel that Dark romanicism is an important thing to some people but it also isnt very important to some of us others.  I will read these poems in class since they are assignments but I dont plan on reading them outside of class.  What I want to find is some sort of reading materrial we talk about in class that I enjoy and want to read on my own outside of class for enjoyment and entertainment.  So far that hasn't happened because it is hard for me to find books that are appealing but I hope I can find one in the near future.

"Edgar Allan Poe: "The Happiest Day"" Poetry Lovers' Page. Web. 18 Jan. 2012.

Zimmerman, Brett. "Frantic Forensic Oratory: Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart"" Facts on File. 2001. Web. 2012.

Journal22 on sledding

There once was this itty bitty small boy,
He really wanted to play with his toy.
He asked his mom but she said no,
You need to go outside and play in the snow.
He decided to go ahead and sled,
So he went to the barn and opened the shed.
He started to walk up the super high hill,
He got so scared his mom made him take a pill.
He got on is sled and started to roll,
He moved so fast he looked like a bull.
He hit a bump and started to tumble,
He moved so fast the sled started to rumble.
He lost control and veered to the right,
There were nothing but trees left in his sight.
He leaned to the right and leaned to the left,
He leaned so hard he had no energy left.
He prayed that he would not crash just in case,
He hoped that a tree would not hit his face.
With next to nothing left that he could do,
He jumped off his sled, landing in doo doo.
He cried so much his mom heard him from home,
She brought an ice pack to put on his dome.
They went back home and she let him warm up,
And brought him some coco in a big cup.

Journal 21

It was a month into winter and we still hadn't seen any snow.  Mr. Frost had still not made his appearance.  It had gotten annoying that we had cold weather but no snow.  He was holding back in joy that we were not happy.  We went on for a few more days without a sign of any snow coming.  Five days after the complaint of no snow, he came out of no where and took the little village of Hayes by surprise. We weren't prepared and had no intentions of being snowed in for a long time.  When it came we had nothing ready.  No food, no water, no wood, not even clothes had been gathered for the long winter ahead.

Many died in the coming weeks and many became very ill.  Our family suffered many losses and dilemmas.  I lost a brother and six sisters during this winter.  Although inside it was frightful, I could not stop looking out the window into the distance.  The snow and pretty whiteness always calmed me down.  I could gaze at the trees and the prairies in hopes to go play in the snow.  We got over three feet of snow and spent two weeks shoveling enough of a path to get new supplies to the village.  I could never forget that winter for its horrible sickness it brought but also the good and joy it brought to my mind.

Even though the winter brought peace to me and the visual effects of the environment was soothing to me, I would never want a winter like that one to happen again.  The losses in my family were greater than any good that came.  My mother did not speak for months after my brother and sisters death's because she couldn't believe they happened.  I felt bad for her and just wished that there was something that I could have done to help her through it.  Although all these bad things happened to my family and I don't want another winter like this to ever occur again, I still enjoy the winter and the white blanket it brings upon this earth.

Autumn and October

The two poems I chose are "Autumn" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and "October" by William Cullen Bryant.  Both poems signify each other and are based off of the same time period.  I chose them because they are intertwined in how Longfellow's poem talks about the season of autumn and Bryant's poem talks about the end of autumn and the beginning of winter.  The real meaning behind Bryant's poem is the life of an old man who is excited to move on to the next chapter.  It is implied that he is happy when the poem talks about the year "And the year smiles as it draws near its death," and how he knows his end is her, yet he is over joyed by the fact that he lived an excellent life (Bryant).

Both of the poems meanings are related in how they talk about the endings of the seasons and a journey of some sort.  In "Autumn", it signifies the ending of a part of someones life or a change for the better, while in "October" it talks about the ending of someones life and explains why a person should not be afraid of death because it can mean many significant things for an individual.  Since I believe in Christianity, I am going to relate my example towards it, but any religion can be adapted and substituted in.  If you believe in God and accept him as your Lord and Savior and you act to the best of your ability like our Father, you have a good chance of going to Heaven.  According to the bible, Heaven is so much more better than it is here on earth.  It talks about how it is a sin free, stress free, peaceful, and perfect environment where everyone is always happy and no one gets hurt.  To some this would be considered Utopia, while I feel that this is just a gift that we have earned for serving the Lord and widening His kingdom.  The changed referred to in "Autumn", is the change in personality or beliefs that this person did not have before.  This could be considered when someone accepts Christ as their Lord and Savior and changes and gains new beliefs that they did not have before.  When something like this happens it is a beautiful sight as signified in the poem by Henry Longfellow, "Brighter than brightest silks of Samarcand," (Longfellow).

It is probably considered that these were two very easy poems, which yes they were, but that they have a very vague meaning behind them.  I like the fact that they do because that means I can adapt and adopt different topics or ideas as what I believe because there isn't any real concrete answers.  Even though these poems were short they had a lot of examples of Romantacism.  In "Autumn" Longfellow uses many descriptive words and different analogies that make the poem more personalized and less professional which is what I kind of see in Romanticism poems.  In "October", Bryant talks about the weather changing from fall to winter and the ups and downs that come from this.  All in all, these poems go very well together and can be intertwined to give a good life lesson to people.


Bryant, William C. "October - Poem by William Cullen Bryant." Famous Poets and Poems - Read and Enjoy Poetry. Web. 12 Dec. 2011


Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. "Autumn." Bartleby.com. Web. 12 Dec. 2011.

Autumn-analyzed

In Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Autumn" it talks about autumn (obviously), but it also talks about life and the changes we go through and how they are for the good while also giving a descriptive literal meaning to the poem as well.  The literal meaning to "Autumn" is the change in weather and the change of the color of leaves.  Longfellow talks about the different changes that signify fall or autumn is coming and what that feels like to him.  He starts out his poem with "Thou comest, Autumn, heralded by the rain" which literally means after summer comes fall brought in by storms and crummy weather, but goes on to say "Brighter than brightest silks of Samarcand" talking about the beauty these showers bring and the gleaming of the rain twinkling in the sunlight  on the golden yellow leaves (Longfellow lines 1-3).  


Obviously the literal meaning of this poem is far off from the real meaning behind it.  The point Longfellow is trying to get across is about life and the different changes people have.  People change so often just like the seasons do in a year.  They are very distinctive and can be very beautiful and amazing things, but sometimes they can be pretty ugly.  Just like in a season people have different moods different days.  When Longfellow talks about the weather being rainy and then beautiful is just like a mood in someone (Longfellow lines 1-5).  After the nastiness comes a happy mood and the day is great. In the poem he talks about fall and the change in leaves from their green color to their beautiful yellow and red colors before going to brown and the weather getting nasty again.  He is trying to point out that we should take advantage of the good times and not look back on the bad.. That is why he only talks about rain in one or two lines and then goes on for the remainder of the poem to talk about the beauty found in the leaves and the cool breeze while in the sunshine.  He talks about the joy that these things bring to people and the smiles it puts on their faces.


It could also be related to a relationship between two people.  The nasty weather could signify the moments when a relationship is rocky and there are disagreements between the two.  The beautiful fall weather could signify all of the happy moments you share with this person and that sticking with it and working your way through the downs is worth it in the end because the happy moments are so much more important.  You shouldn't dwell on the past and you should trust your significant other.  Anticipating the good to come in something is exciting and brings joy through the downs.  If you truly like someone you can hate them one moment and be completely over it the next.  A healthy relationship is basically two people who are best friends.  You have to be nice to each other and work through things or else you will lose a great friend of yours.  When Longfellow talks about the transition from the rain to the beautiful leaves falling from the trees signifies how much more important the big picture and the end is than the little things in the middle.




Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. "Autumn." Bartleby.com. Web. 11 Dec. 2011.

Rip and Tom

Irving's story of "The Devil and Tom Walker" is about a man selling his soul to the devil.  There are many examples of Romanticism in this story like when Tom Walker meats the devil (Irving, "Tom" 244).  He also goes to find his wife was hanged by the devil and doesn't care which proves that this story is a made up story or fairy tale because of the fact that if you found your wife was hanged however much you might hate her you cannot just ignore the fact like Tom did (Irving "Tom").  The story "The Devil and Tom Walker" and "Rip Van Winkle" are the same in how both men hate their wives.  In "Rip Van Winkle" Rip was a very generous man and would help anyone that needed it, but never would accomplish his own tasks which got him in trouble with his wife.  He would get in arguments with her and she would yell at him a ton.  The story's are also the same in how both men wander off into the woods and find something mysterious.  Both things that the men find are legends and get them in trouble.

In "The Devil and Tom Walker" Irving is almost sorry for Tom when writing his fate at the end.  He isn't stern and make it sound like he deserved his punishment (which he did), but should be given a second chance as most people are when it comes to mistakes.  It is a good example of how important it is to make the right decision the first time so it doesn't come around to hurt you and you regret it at the end.  Tom was dumbfounded when offered such a large sum of money and didn't analyze what he was doing until it was too late.  When he tried to fix it the devil dragged him off and he was never seen again.  All of his possessions were burnt to a crisp and no one got to enjoy the treasure Tom was given (Irving "Tom" 250).

In "Rip Van Winkle" Rip makes a stupid decision of following and helping the shady character in the woods at night.  He should have minded his own business and slept on a rock with his gun in his hand, but instead he got drunk and slept through the Revolutionary War...yes i said it, the REVOLUTIONARY WAR.  I feel bad for Rip simply because he didn't get to experience this magnificent part of history (Irving "Rip" par. 19-24).  Going off of what I was talking about earlier, this is another example of Romanticism and how these fictional stories are so much more interesting because of the impossible things that happen in them.  I think that what makes these parts so interesting is the human mind and how it makes the person wonder if that could actually happen sometime even though it sound like a stupid thought and a ridiculous assumption.

These stories are a lot alike, but have some differences too.  For instance, in "The Devil and Tom Walker" Tom gets some good out of his deal (Irving "Tom")while in "Rip Van Winkle" Rip sleeps through and misses out in a big chunk of his life (Irving "Rip" 25-68).  There are always the obvious differences, but other that the one stated there aren't a lot of major differences between the two.  I enjoyed both of the stories and would like to read more like these in the future.

Irving, Washington. "Rip Van Winkle." Bartleby.com. Web. 11 Dec. 2011.

Irving, Washington. "The Devil and Tom Walker." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 240-250. Print.

Fireside Poets

The fireside poets consisted of many different writers of the 1800's.  The most popular of these being Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, William Cullen Bryant, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and James Russell Lowell ("The Fireside Poets" 210).  These men got their title from the idea that people would sit around the fireplace in their houses to read different stories and poems written by these men (The Fireside Poets" 210).  Thus the name fireside poets came to be.  As the term grew more common more and more poems were written.

This type of poetry, when compared to the Rationalism time period, was a lot more romantic and made up.  Rationalist, also called Deist's, wrote based on logic and facts, while the fireside poets wrote in a more romantic and feelings based style.  The fireside poets wrote about family activities, relationships, love, religion, and more.  The Rationalist wrote about logic and reasoning and things that always made sense.  The fireside poems were a lot more interesting to me because they talked about things that had room for imagination to take control and determine where the story was to go unlike the Rationalistic poems didn't.  The Rationalism time period and writing style was more for educational purposes and the learning of facts and information.  One of the main Rationalist was Benjamin Franklin, who would seem like he was a joking man with a good sense of humor, but we will never know because he didn't write about his feelings.  He was strictly professional and wrote only about boring, dry topics.  The fictional stories are always the interesting ones that tend to be enjoyed the most because there is adventure and imagination.  It makes your brain think and reenact different scenes out in your brain.  Most of these being things that aren't able to happen in real world situations and can only happen on paper.

The two different styles are definitely different in many ways, but are both important to our nations history.  They are both enjoyed for their different reasons and are liked by different kinds of people.  I personally am enjoying the fireside poets more because I have a huge imagination that can really be put into effect during these poems and stories.  I also think that the fireside poems make you think about the story and the real meaning behind them a lot more.

From a writers standpoint, I feel that the Rationalism poems would have been a lot harder to write because you had to know the information and make it all work out.  Personally, I wouldn't be able to stand myself if I was a Rationalism writer because its too dry and boring.  When we did the section in English over this time period, it was extremely hard for me to continually pay attention.  Now, I like to get into the discussions and understand these poems more.  I think that realizing what the real meaning behind the fireside poems is easy, its just take the effort to try to analyze the poem and figure it out.

"The Fireside Poets." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 210-211. Print.