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.

Thanatopsis

I think that the story "Thanatopsis" by William Cullen Bryant is about life and death. I also think that it is not about life and death being bad thing but more being about the inevitability of life and death. "So shalt thou rest; and what if thou withdraw; In silence from the living, and no friend;Take note of thy departure? All that breathe; Will share thy destiny."(Lounsbury) I think that this part of the poem is the best support for why it is not about hating death but about accepting it. "All that breathe; Will share thy destiny." This is meaning that everyone will die one day and that you can not stop it. I also think that this poem is trying to tell us to live our life so that when we die someone will be there for us."So shalt thou rest; and what if thou withdraw; In silence from the living, and no friend;Take note of thy departure?"(Lounsbury) If you are silent from then living and withdraw from friends then I do not think that anyone will "take not of thy departure". I know that when I die I want a lot of people to be there. I know that it may sound selfish of me but I do not want to be alone when I die. I also want it for my remaining family. I have been to funerals of young people and it seems that the more people in attendance the easier it becomes for the family to deal with the grieving process. I am not saying that I will die when I am young, or so I hope not but that when it is my time, someone is there. This poem also instructs us to watch how we live our life or when Death comes for us, the images of our past will be dark, sad and gloomy. "Over thy spirit, and sad images; Of the stern agony and shroud, and pall,; And breathless darkness, and the narrow house,; Make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart."(Lounsbury) This part of the poem is talking about what I was above. When Death came for them, they grew sick at the images they saw. The darkness and gloom that inhabited their life was projected onto their spirit and it was sad and gloomy also. I think that they wish they could go back and change things but they can't and I do think this is one of the more devious parts of Death. He goes back and shows these poor souls the wrong doing of their lives instead of what they did right. Death wants these spirits to look back and feel bad about what they did and I do not think that is right of him to do. William Cullen Bryant seems like a very intelligent man to me but also seems to be a tad depressing but I am interested in reading some more of his work.

Lounsbury, Thomas R., ed. Yale Book of American Verse. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1912; Bartleby.com, 1999. www.bartleby.com/102/.

Journal 19

Nature has everything to do with the cycle of life. "Naturally" everyone will eventually die because that is the end of the cycle of life. Everything in nature is born and dies and in between serves a purpose that is important to the circle of life. Everything has a purpose and if that purpose is not done then the whole cycle is messed up and I think that the world will end as we know it. We are born by nature and we are returned to nature when we are buried. We must contribute to nature by dying because of the debt we owe nature by living. Humans are slowly destroying the earth and a debt must be paid. Without nature we would not survive very long. Our ancestors always lived off of the land by hunting and growing crops and without nature they would not have eaten. When people became ill, certain remedies and medicines could be made from plants that we ground up but the plants were found in nature. Even the air that we breathe millions of times a day is provided to us by nature. We do not inherit the planet from our parents, it is loaned to us by our children and I think that nature needs to be better preserved or our kids will be pretty disappointed in us because there will not be much left for them. Though nature keeps us alive it is also the spirituality that keeps many alive. Without some kind of passion for life and spiritual uplifting feelings many can go through life in a fog. Spirituality allows many to make sense of their life and give it a true meaning and purpose. When someone feels they have a true purpose for living, it makes life's trials easier to get through because you are more accepting to the fact that it is supposed to happen. Many people believe in the Bible and many would not be able to believe in it if it was not for the miracles that occurred in nature during the time of Jesus.