The Haunted Beach

Robinson begins this poem by setting a rather dim mood. She describes the landscape as "lonely" and "haunted". He describes the ocean and surrounding caves as "yawning" with "shad'wy jaws". After the first few descriptions we see that this beach is a dismal place where one could also feel very erie. Throughout the poem, Robinson ends each stanza describing the "green billows", this monotonous, almost hypnotic description, adds the the erie mood. This escalation makes the reader believe that there is something more to this story than what simply is described. We find out that the body of a mariner lay dead in the sea weed while the waves roll it about. When the fisherman sees this it is a sight he will never forget. "Destin'd mis'ry to sustain", Robinson tells us that the fisherman will forever be haunted by that night.

I believe it wasn't the sight itself but the atmosphere in which he saw the lifeless body that haunts him. When seeing a dead body it is not always terrifying, it could even be somewhat peaceful to some, such as seeing an undisturbed body laying in a casket at a funeral. The difference between the sights of dead bodies is in the context they are seen. As many Loyola students know, a body was seen by students washed up against the rocks outside of Lake Michigan. I had a friend who had seen the body personally, and though she was disturbed by it, I could tell it was something she was not terrified by. It was not an event that will haunt her for the rest of her life like the fisherman in Robinson's poem. The difference between the two is that in the case on Lake Michigan there was no haunting environment to further the horrible scene. Nonetheless, seeing a dead body in real life is most always disturbing, but can have different effects depending on the situation. Here's a link to the article of the body found on the shores of Loyola.

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/loyola.body.found.2.1305948.html

Sonnet IV - To the Moon

In this poem the moon is described in depth as both an object and a place of rest/relief from earth. "The sufferers of the earth may go", the speaker, Charlotte Smith, uses the moon as a symbol of Heaven. The descriptive language in the poem is mostly dark and saddening, which "brightens" the effect of the moon (Heaven) in the night sky. He calls earth a "toiling scene", speaking of all the evils and sin on earth. The moon would be a great Heaven, even when the world is dark, it remains shining bright.

Throughout the whole poem the mood is somewhat dim, but towards the end there is an escalation to a happier ending. He starts to propose the idea that the moon is where he will have his final rest and then ends with a bang and shouts "Oh! that I soon may reach thy world serene,/ Poor wearied pilgrim - in this toiling scene!" It is an attractive destination because of its peacefulness and its never-ending light in darkness. It is a place where, unlike earth, there would be no evil and no conflict.

Everybody imagines their own Heaven, for Smith it is the moon. Ever since I was very young I have been going to a tiny cottage in a small town in southern Wisconsin. This is where I find my piece of Heaven, and I imagine that my true Heaven will look something like the image above. I find my peace in the simplicity of life there.

Many people imagine Heaven in different ways, here's one of my favorite songs that further describes that "small town".

Small Town USA - Justin Moore

Sonnet on Seeing Miss Helen Maria Williams Weep at a Tale of Distress

Though this is a short poem, I see it as kind of a roller-coaster ride. At first, Wordsworth is saddened by the sight of tears. "Dimming were my swimming eyes - my pulse beat slow". Though he is not directly affected by something that would make him sad, he feels saddened by the sight of sorrow. This contagious sense proves there is a subconscious compassion in everyone's heart. There is not anyone in the world who has not felt another's pain or has not cared for someone or something at one point in their life. The upside to this poem is in the natural counteraction to the sadness. An optimistic view most of us have, that after sorrow comes happiness. "And bright will shine in misery's midnight hour". Life changes around us everyday, and with the changing moments in our life come changing emotion. Relating this to chemistry, atoms always flows from a high to low density. If there is a high density of happiness, sadness will one day come. Again the upside to this, if there is a high density of sadness, happiness and joy will inevitably fill our hearts. It is a cycle that lives in all of us and proves that everyone has compassion in their hearts.

I have attached a link that will make you feel the sadness that this person feels. At the end of the video I felt sad too, but I guarantee sorrow will not be your only reaction after watching this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp94lfqSTJU&feature=related

Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey

After five long years, Wordsworth returns to the Tintern Abbey. He revisits not just the abbey itself, but the nature surrounding it. He starts off by describing the landscape in detail and in extraordinary fashion. Making it seem like nature was all that there was surrounding him, engulfing him. He describes the nature as, "The anchor of my purest thought, the nurse,/The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul/Of all my moral being." We see here that he regards nature as the divine aspect of life. He does not go so far to reject that God is all divine but believes nature and God are one (a pantheistic view). Read out of context, one would think that this quote relates to Christianity, and rightly so, because of the similarities in beliefs. Wordsworth illustrates that it is not the beliefs that are different, but it is the form in which they are presented to us. In Christianity, God is found within us through prayer and devotion. In Wordsworth's pantheistic view any divinity is seen through nature. He describes himself as a "worshipper of Nature". Here, I don't believe Wordworth means that he worships nature directly, but he believes that nature is the portal in which divinity comes to us. I found a very interesting YouTube video that I think describes pantheism well. I can't say it changed my thinking after I watched it, but it did help me understand the belief better.

Nature is my God