Reflection: Fireside

Fireside poetry is very interesting to me. I think that it is very comforting to sit around a fire and if you are relaxed and your brain juices are flowing, why not write a poem? The story "Old Iron side" was very descriptive with and uplifting ending to it. "And give her to the god of storms,; the lighting and the gale!" ("Fireside Poets") This is the very ending of the poem and shows the uplifting spirits of the bad women being given away. The difference between Fireside and Puritan works of literature are gargantuan. You could not read a piece of Puritan writing without feeling like you were in church."Let you not mistake your duty as I mistook my own. I came into this village like a bridegroom to his beloved, bearing gifts of high religion; the very crowns of holy law I brought, and what I touched with my bright confidence, it died; and where I turned the eye of my great faith, blood flowed up."(Miller) That quote is from the crucible and written by a very much Puritan, Arthur Miller. Even reading that took me back to Sunday mass when I was little listening to the sermons of the older priests. But Fireside poem is directed more at the human nature and nature itself which I guess makes a lot of sense. If you are sitting outside experiencing nature at its finest, sitting next to a warm fire I would think that you would want to write about it. I think that out of all the types of poetry, fireside poetry is my favorite because of what it talks about. It does not talk of love or God and it is a lot easier to understand in the literal sense. Fireside is also different than Rationalist writing because of the content of the writing. In the Crisis, logic and thinking are required in the writing."We did not make proper use of last winter; neither could we, while we are in a dependent state." (Paine 135) You do not need to be a genius or logically inclined to understand what the Fireside poets are talking about. You just need a little experience with nature. I can relate to some of the writings and this makes me feel like I do belong reading poetry. I used to despise poetry but now I am beginning to grasp what it means and how to interpret it. All of the writing we have talked about this year have been different in several ways and I think that Fireside is more my style. I do think myself as a religious person but I am not going to become a priest or involve my profession with the church, that I know of right now, so I do not think I am a Puritan enthusiast. I do like the writings of Ben Franklin and how his knowledge and brilliance reflects his writing but it can get difficult to understand. I like Fireside writing because of the literal understanding and the personal interpretation that can be take from it.

"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.

Miller, Aurthur. The Crucible. New York: Penguin Group, 1976. 132 Print.

Paine, Thomas. The Crisis No. 1. Wilhelm, Jeffrey D., and Douglas Fisher. Glencoe Literature. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.