William Blake, "London"

I wander through each chartered street,
Near where the chartered Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

In every cry of every man,
In every Infant's cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forged manacles I hear.

How the Chimney-sweeper's cry
Every black'ning Church appalls
And the hapless Soldier's sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls.

But most through midnight streets I hear
How the youthful Harlot's curse
Blasts the new-born Infant's tear,
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_blake

The narrator of this poem is a wanderer through the streets of London, observing the depressive state of the people.

The general message from this poem is about the grotesque setting of the lives of those in London. All of the people Blake meets are sad, weak, and dismal (L4). The second stanza details the mental handcuffs everyone created for themselves through their pain. The "manacles" (cuffs or shackles) it says are "mind-forged", or figuratively present (L8). More specifically, the fear and cries of adults as well as children are inflicting stress and worry on everyone's mind and body, causing almost a feeling of capture.

London itself at this time was in a disgusting state. Around this time the city was in an Industrial Revolution with no regulations on emitions, cleanliness, or sanitation. Because of the industrail boom, the black smoke saturated everything from the air, to clothes, to buildings and walls - even the "[appalling] church" (L10). Also around this time, prostitution was a large scene for many young women. Blake uses this to entail ruined marraiges (L14, 16).

Blake's use of setting is very key in describing late 18th century London. The Thames River (L2) gives a specific location, which would be in southern England, and the referance to the (many) chimney swepers and black filth at this time (1794) link directly to an Industrial Revolution. Along with two couplets in each stanza, there is also some repitition (and also, anaphora) in the poem. "...Mark in every face I meet, marks of weakness, marks of woe..." (L3-4) strengthens the pain wrought on everyone's faces. Also, "In every cry... in every infant's cry... in every voice, in every ban..." (L5-7) solidifies the view that such agony is everywhere throughout the city, on everyone's mind and in everyone's heart.

William Blake, "The Chimney Sweeper"

When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry 'Weep! weep! weep! weep!'
So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved; so I said,
'Hush, Tom! never mind it, for, when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.'

And so he was quiet, and that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight!--
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black.

And by came an angel, who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins, and set them all free;
Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing, they run
And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.

Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind;
And the angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father, and never want joy.

And so Tom awoke, and we rose in the dark,
And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm:
So, if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.


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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_blake

The speaker in this poem is a friend of Tom Dacre and fellow chimney sweeper. He is adressing their lives and need of perseverance. The overall message of this poem is persistance through life, and to always keep their chin up.

The narrator loses his parents are a very young age - one to death, and one from being abandon. Having a troubled childhood and an occupation of being a chimney sweeper, life doesn't seem very rewarding or worth while. Tom Dacre's life to him also seems short of perfection (an example of Dacre's grief would be his crying from the head-shaving [L5-6] ).

The poem continues, however, changing ideas from troubled situations into determination. The narrator speaks to Dacre saying "...never mind it... the soot cannot spoil your white hair" (L7-8), a statement to look at the silver lining of each cloud. Optimism is consistent through lines 11-16 with Dacre's descriptive dream. He sees thousands of sweepers locked in their "coffins of black", referring to the dirty chimneys they clean. Following the "coffins of black" is the sight of an Angel who sets them all free to a life of happiness, humor, and cleanliness.

The last 6 lines are directed towards Dacre and the narrator to keep forward and never give up. This message of hope assures them so that the next morning, the two men are happy and warm, destined to a life without worry or harm.

There is somewhat of a ridgid form in this poem as Blake uses two couplets in each stanza. The form and rhyme scheme helps draw in the reader, which also aids one's imagination. Visual imagery also helps emphasize certain points in the text. "White hair" in line 8 refers to Dacre being wholesome, pure at heart, and generally a good man. line 12's "coffins of black" depict chimney sweeping as gloomy and degrading. Lines 13 and 16 also hold an inspiring quality with the "bright key" and "shine in the sun". This dramatizes the reassurance from leading a good life, and really helps to stress the meaning: Live a good life, do the duties you are given, and you will live a happy and blissful life.

Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress"

Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, Lady, were no crime.
We would sit down and think which way
To walk and pass our long love's day.
Thou by the Indian Ganges' side
Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood,
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.
My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow;
An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast;
But thirty thousand to the rest;
An age at least to every part,
And the last age should show your heart;
For, Lady, you deserve this state,
Nor would I love at lower rate.
But at my back I always hear
Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be found,
Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
My echoing song: then worms shall try
That long preserved virginity,
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust:
The grave's a fine and private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace.
Now therefore, while the youthful hue
Sits on thy skin like morning dew,
And while thy willing soul transpires
At every pore with instant fires,
Now let us sport us while we may,
And now, like amorous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour
Than languish in his slow-chapped power.
Let us roll all our strength and all
Our sweetness up into one ball,
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Thorough the iron gates of life:
Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_marvell


Andrew Marvell is the speaker in this poem. The poem itself is a self-spoken flood of emotion for a young woman.

Marvell writes this poem to a girl because he feels they should embrace an amazing love while they are young. He repeats his eternal love for her until "the conversion of the Jews" (L10), an event that is supposed to come before the end of our world. Another example in line 44 is how Marvell says "Thorough the iron gates of life", meaning he would wish to go on in life with her by his side.

Line 22 starts some vivid symbolism and imagery. Marvell's "time's winged chariot hurrying near" can symbolize the Greek god Apollo, who carried the sun across the sky. When Marvell talks both physically and literally about the chariot quickly approaching, you can feel a sort of countdown or closing. If you consider the referance to Apollo, you may get a "sunset effect." In other words, you can feel time (symbolized as the sun) running out, or counting down as in a definite demise you cannot prevent.

Marvell continues with his dramatic lines when he talks about the end of both their lives and time with "your quaint honor turned to dust... into ashes all my lust... the grave's a fine and private place" (L29-31). Death, dust and ash, and also the grave visually is a grim and somber thought. This is a very useful effect Marvell uses because it helps to stress the need of he and the maiden to unite as one while they are still youthful.

Edmund Waller, "Go, Lovely Rose"

Go, lovely rose!
Tell her that wastes her time and me
That now she knows,
When I resemble her to thee,
How sweet and fair she seems to be.

Tell her that's young,
And shuns to have her graces spied,
That hadst thou sprung
In deserts, where no men abide,
Thou must have uncommended died.

Small is the worth
Of beauty from the light retired;
Bid her come forth,
Suffer herself to be desired,
And not blush so to be admired.

Then die! that she
The common fate of all things rare
May read in thee;
How small a part of time they share
That are so wondrous sweet and fair!


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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Waller

The speaker in this poem is Waller, speaking to a rose about what message it should bring to a young lady.

The overall meaning of the poem is that of a woman Waller tries to "become more aquainted with". He sends a rose to her with a message of intended companionship. He is saying this rose is beautiful, but does not compare to her. He also continues on about how her beauty is of no worth when she hides from his admiration.

The first stanza describes the young lady's unmatched beauty compared to the rose ("When I resemble her to three, How sweet and fair she seems to be" [L4-5] ). In line 7, he is speaking to the rose directly to convey his desire to be with her, as in the words "And shuns to have her graces spied". Lines 14-15, "suffer herself to be desired, and not blush so to be admired..." in other ways is saying she is not giving into his advancements, and is making herself suffer quietly because of it.

Waller uses a strong key of apostrophe in this poem. He speaks to the rose as if he is directing a subordinate with a goal. As Waller speaks to the rose, he builds a feeling of enormity about himself that paints him as being strong and convincing. The tone of the narrator is one of a convincing matter as he tells the rose to pass on a note of persuasion to this maiden, which is supported by the text. An example would be lines 11-12: "Small is the worth of beauty from the light retired", a dramatic statement meant to try and convince the maiden to be his.

John Milton, "How Soon Hath Time"

How soon hath time, the subtle thief of youth.
Stol'n on his wing my three and twentieth year!
My hasting days fly on with full career,
But my late spring no bud or blossom show'th.
Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth,
That I to manhood am arriv'd so near.
And inward ripeness doth much less appear,
That some more timely-happy spirits indu'th.
Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow,
It shall be still in strictest measure even
To that same lot, however mean or high,
Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heaven.
All is, if I have grace to use it so,
As ever in my great Task-master's eye.



The speaker of this poem is John Milton. The situation is he realizes his youth is slipping away.

To me, this poem is about Milton losing his youth from the inside rather than the outside. Milton's words throughout the poem hint his getting older, such as "How soon hath time... Stol'n on his wing my three and twentieth year!" (L1-2), "But my late spring no bud or blossom show'th" (L4), and "Toward which Time leads me" (L12). Another way to look at it is time is stealing his life away in a subtle form, and his "late spring" or inner spirits show no fresh life or growth.

The aging from within shows in such statements as "Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth... And inward ripeness doth much less appear" (L5, 7). In other words, Milton is saying his resemblance is that of youth and stamina, but on the inside much less is present. On the inside Milton feels old, and robbed of his adolescence in a way.

Milton strengthens time's power in several forms. Time is personified in Line 1 when Milton addresses it as [a] subtle thief. Continuously, line 2 gives it a physical attribute when Milton's 23rd year is stolen on time's "wing". Also, time is capitalized in the middle of line 12 to emphasize its control over Milton. This helps draw in the reader to feel like Time is a smooth criminal of young age.

John Donne, "Death Be Not Proud

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou'art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy'or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_donne


The speaker in this poem is a man standing up to death. He is speaking out to announce that he is not afraid of death, and death cannot kill him.
My original thought of this poem was grim, about someone dying in the poem. However, after reading it a few times and picking apart each line, I now see that the poem is about Death's temporary "victory" upon humans. The poem goes on to say that people view Death as a strong and swift force, but the speaker disagrees. He sees Death as a weak being that cannot harm him. Death eventually catches up to everyone, but in the end, we become eternal whether it be in thought or memory;once this is so, Death can no longer affect us, and Death itself becomes lifeless, useless, and no more. Line 2 shows the speaker standing against Death's might. "For thou art not so" means "you are not", saying Death you are here, but you are not strong, nor are you dreadful. Lines 7-12 state how we all obey fate. All of our lives at one time come to an end, and that is our destiny. Lines 13-14 are the more outspoken words against Death, ranting that when we do die, we wake to become eternal, thus when we cannot die, Death dies itself.

Ben Jonson, On My First Son

Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy;
My sin was too much hope of thee, lov'd boy.
Seven years thou'wert lent to me, and I thee pay,
Exacted by thy fate, on the just day.
O, could I lose all father now! For why
Will man lament the state he should envy?
To have so soon 'scap'd world's and flesh's rage,
And, if no other misery, yet age?
Rest in soft peace, and, ask'd, say here doth lie
Ben Jonson his best piece of poetry.
For whose sake, henceforth, all his vows be such,
As what he loves may never like too much.

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The speaker in this poem is Ben Jonson, as a father. The situation is the loss of his son's life.
This poem's meaning to me is filled with loss, grieving, and sorrow. I see the father mourning over his son's death at a young age, and how he is filled with anguish because fatherhood has been stolen from his life. I get this meaning because the poem opens up with a goodbye to the son ("Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy."). I see that Ben is losing someone, and the idea of a friend or family comes to mind. In line 5, "Oh, could I lose all father now" tells me that he was a father, and the loss is that of his son. I also pick up a clash of envy and confusion in lines 6 and 7. "To have so soon 'scaped world's and flesh's rage, " is referring to escaping the pain of the world, and the pain that life can bring. Line 6 "..lament the state he should envy..." is where the art of confusion comes in. In other words, Jonson is saying why shouldn't we envy the son for being able to leave this world? Or why can't we be happy for those who don't have to walk life's rocky road? He obviously can't, and I think it is because of moral, and societies expectations of grieving over a loss.