Week 3 (Macbeth)

Macbeth: Two Truths are told,

As happy Prologues to the swelling Act

Of the Imperiall Theame. I thanke you Gentlemen:

This supernaturall solliciting

Cannot be ill; cannot be good.

If ill? why hath it giuen me earnest of successe,

Commencing in a Truth? I am Thane of Cawdor.

If good? why doe I yeeld to that suggestion,

Whose horrid Image doth vnfixe my Heire,

And make my seated Heart knock at my Ribbes,

Against the vse of Nature? Present Feares

Are lesse then horrible Imaginings:

My Thought, whose Murther yet is but fantasticall,

Shakes so my single state of Man,

That Function is smother'd in surmise,

And nothing is, but what is not

This dialog of the play takes place as pondering thought that Macbeth has with himself in-between a conversation with is good friend Banquo which is right after he discovers that the three witches’ predictions came true and that he is to soon be made “Thane of Cawdor”. Macbeth is surprised and becomes even more curious then before. This of which gave birth to this deep thought process which makes him wonder if  the witches’ final prediction will come true due to the fact that two became true already “Two Truths are told,”. This text really symbolizes the seed planted that was installed into Macbeth’s mind as the seed shows its effort to grow but is delayed by Macbeth’s good conscious.  Macbeth recognizes that the idea could be a false set up due to its unusual source “This supernaturall solliciting.” He states that this prediction of the future cannot be good or bad. He Asks himself that if it is bad, then why does the idea end with his success “If ill? why hath it giuen me earnest of successe.” And if it is good then why does he feel so guilty about being the future king, fearing what he may have to do to become it. “If good? why doe I yeeld to that suggestion, Whose horrid Image doth vnfixe my Heire.” 

 Macbeth ponders on the current reality which are all facts “Commencing in a Truth? I am Thane of Cawdor.”  This text of the dialog really shows as the seed begins to grow in Macbeths head because it shows the moment where he actually starts to believe in the witches but Macbeth’s ambition is still limited by his inner conscious and morals as he fears the lengths that he may go or have to go in order for this prediction to take place and come true. The possibility of him becoming less than an honest man scares him as he has visions of what he may become “lesse then horrible Imaginings:” and that he doesn’t want to do anything bad but rather he would like the crown to become his own by default.

This conversation Macbeth has with himself is a critical dialog in the play because it symbolizes and is the turning put at which things start to change in Macbeth’s mind. Because it is the point in which the seed planted in his mind starts to grow and is the beginning of his paranoia which is the biggest contribution to Macbeth’s downfall. It is the turning point because it is where he begins to believe the possibility of becoming king and it was his belief of the witches that inspired him to take the action in efforts to actually become king.  This text marks the beginning of Macbeth’s War within himself “Shakes so my single state of Man” and where things start to change.

 

Weekly blog assignment 2

The Snow-storm” by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,

Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,

Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air

Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven,

And veils the farm-house at the garden's end.

The sled and traveller stopped, the courier's feet

Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit

Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed

In a tumultuous privacy of storm.

Come see the north wind's masonry.

Out of an unseen quarry evermore

Furnished with tile, the fierce artificer

Curves his white bastions with projected roof

Round every windward stake, or tree, or door.

Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work

So fanciful, so savage, nought cares he

For number or proportion. Mockingly,

On coop or kennel he hangs Parian wreaths;

A swan-like form invests the hidden thorn;

Fills up the farmer's lane from wall to wall,

Maugre the farmer's sighs; and, at the gate,

A tapering turret overtops the work.

And when his hours are numbered, and the world

Is all his own, retiring, as he were not,

Leaves, when the sun appears, astonished Art

To mimic in slow structures, stone by stone,

Built in an age, the mad wind's night-work,

The frolic architecture of the snow. 

The Snow-Storm is a much descriptive poem about the power and beauty of nature, specifically the nature of the season of winter. The text of the poem gives a very detail description of a snow storm from a perspective of admiration in which it is view as art, but not only art but also a great force of nature.  In the very first line of “ The Snow-Storm” the poem sets and tone of a powerful outlook all most like royalty where it describes the snows arrivals but saying “Announced by all the trumpets in the sky” such as a king of queen enter the atmosphere. This line states and sets the admiration and praise perspective. It follows by giving description of color dominance as it states the things that are no longer visible because of it by saying “Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven”. This shows the total dominance of all other things by a complete white out of everything in sight because of the storm.

            The poem gives a description of cause and effect describing the cancellation of everything on going because of the storm “And veils the farm-house at the garden's end. The sled and traveller stopped, the courier's feet Delayed”, and also showing that it caused people to find refuge in the home around a warm fire “all friends shut out, the housemates sit around the radiant fireplace, enclosed in a tumultuous privacy of storm”. The Snow-Storm continues to describes the nature of the winter taking its course without direction but with free will “Come see the north wind's masonry, Out of an unseen quarry evermore”. Then describing more objects such as roofs doors and trees as if they were Canvases for the white snow to cover in its art wild and freely. An effect that is also cause during the poem is the delay of the harvesting of crops during the winter  and storm where the text of the poem states “Filling the farmer’s lane from wall to wall” with snow causing the crops not to grow and thus cause the farmer to feel sadden “Maugre the farmer's sighs” the text states.

The Snow-Storm is written in the order of sequence so the end the poem focuses on the end of the storm describing the snow storm to only be temporary “And when his hours are numbered, and the world Is all his own, retiring, as he were not” slow showing the poem to be dying slowly and ending as if he was never there. Follow the end of the storm the sun appears to show or shed light on the snow that is remaining. The poem ends as it began focusing on the power and natural art of nature also setting a tone of “powerful yet smooth”.  The final lines of the poem “To mimic in slow structures, stone by stone, Built in an age, the mad wind's night-work, The frolic architecture of the snow” closes comparing the nature of winter as an architect stating an overnight process that was built slowly over time.  This really shows how the text and the author appreciated the beauty and art of the snow storm and the perspective of its natural beauty.

Week 1 Blog Assignment

“I, Too” by Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes American
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--

I, too, am America. 


Langston Hughes' approaches this poem of many expressing feeling toward dealing with inequality in America. He expresses having darker skin and because of that darker skin being treated unequal, because of it. "Being sent to the kitchen to eat" symbolizes the direct segregation that was valid at the time the poem was written, where people of "darker skin" where not treated as Americans fairly but that of less than human. Hughes expresses how he deals with that situation of being treated unequal, By "eating well and becoming strong" meaning dealing with the situation and becoming stronger as a person or man. He states that eventually he will have that opportunity of equality there wont be a time of segregation and being treated less than human so no one will challenge the human right that he has as an American and not based the color of his skin, and in that very time people would see his true value and beauty for who he is and not by the color of his skin.
This poem expresses the deep expression not just for a man of color but for anyone no matter the gender or race who was or is treated unequal. It expresses that beauty is with in a person and not because of how they look or what they believe and also their gender because we all have an American and human right because we where all born equal to one another, with no person being greater of better than the last, and that beauty is in each and everyone of us, you just have to be strong and realize it. Even with people treat you as if your less that human, rise above hate and know the true value of yourself and those around you.