Introduction to Literary Studies I - Protokoll Einheit 5 .docx

The language in his sonnets is not applied in modern times and sometimes it is difficult to understand, because of the metaphors and old English words.

Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day?

By William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Analyse des Gedichts: Was der grundlegende Gegensatz in diesem Gedicht? Youth and beauty refer to spring and old people refer to winter.

Youth and beauty fade and pass away. So, people get older and lose their beauty. The 1^st line makes up a rhetorical question because the answer is given in the following phrases. A lover might ask such a question, thinking about youth – about the summer/prime of live.

The 4^th sentence “And summer's lease hath all too short a date” means that summer is too short.

In the last 5 lines he wrote about the “eternal lines” what means that his poetry will live forever, as long as there are people on this earth.

In the end the poem rises itself. The author´s suggestion is to create art, in order to keep on living. At the beginning of the poem the speaker worries about the fading youth and death, but in the end he changes and he becomes more self-confident, because he lives on longer through this poem.

5. Blake “London”

The speaker is wandering, looking around and recognizes that people tend to look away and ignore bad things. This speaker/eye observes the sufferings (marks of weakness/woe) of the city. A sigh is something that can be heard, but blood, for instance, can be seen or touched. In this poem he mixed things in order to emphasize the injuries.

The church or palace are buildings/faculties that could do anything against this issue, but they simply do nothing at all. Another social deprivation is that new-born babies suffer from an illness, because of the diseases caused by prostitution. The speaker cannot believe that nothing is changed ..

“London”

by William Blake (1757-1827)

In every cry of every Man,
In every Infant’s cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forg'd 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, thro' midnight streets I hear
How the youthful Harlot’s curse
Blasts the new born Infant’s tear,
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.

Blake used a lot of rhetorical skills and of alliteration, imagery and word choice to express the emotional significance that is implied. This peom is about the society, which is troubled by the mistakes of the generation before. For instance “the youthful harlot´s curse” symbolizes how the youth´s sinful (sündig, sündhaft) deeds will effect the next generation.

Their “curse” causes the “newborn infant´s tear” which exemplifies how the new generation will have to correct the mistakes of the previous generation. Explanations of words or phrases:

-          To charter something means to rent something

-          Woe = sadness, misery is seen in “every face”

-          Manacles are so-called Handschellen, in order to take away someone´s freedom.

For example poor people were no well-educated, a lack of education dominated

-          Mind-forged = freedom

-          Hapless soldier = hopeless, unhappy

-          Harlot means prostitute in the 18^th/19^th century

6. Kipling “Tommy”

The poem “Tommy” is about the typical British soldier, named “Tommy” – like “Max Mustermann” – a model man. He is only treated well, if he does what he is told to do. But if it comes to a war he is placed in the front row.

The poem is not that good, but very effective. Tommy himself and other soldiers and workers come from the working class. In general, people who come from lower classes speak in slang and with a specific accent. They leave out signs, short words, use different names, for instance “heat” instead of “house” and they are not concerned about the correct grammatical order.

So, the main difference concerning social classes is that those people from the upper class speak Standard English. So, Tommy is characterized through the language he speaks.

A rhetorical feature is to rephrase a sentence, in order to emphasize a certain issue/topic.

“Tommy”

By Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
    O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
    But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
    The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
    O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
    For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
    But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
    The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
    O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
    But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
    While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
    But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
    There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
    O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
    For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
    But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
    An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
    An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!