Difference between revisions of "Felicia Hemans"
From Commonplace Book
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=="Casabianca"== | =="Casabianca"== | ||
* mixing ballad meter with orientalism | * mixing ballad meter with orientalism | ||
| + | * importantly it's narrative, again balladic, vs. lyric | ||
* story of filial devotion past death, nobility | * story of filial devotion past death, nobility | ||
| + | * last stanza (36-40): | ||
With mast, and helm, and pennon fair, | With mast, and helm, and pennon fair, | ||
That well had borne their part - | That well had borne their part - | ||
But the noblest thing which perish'd there | But the noblest thing which perish'd there | ||
Was that young and faithful heart! | Was that young and faithful heart! | ||
| + | |||
| + | =="The Image in Lava"== | ||
| + | *her note: "the impression of a woman's form, with an infant clasped to the bosom, found at the uncovering of Herculaneum." | ||
| + | *"woman's heart hath left a trace / those glories to outlast" (7-8) | ||
| + | *"childhood's fragile image...survives the proud memorials reared / by conquerors of mankind" (9, 11-12) | ||
| + | ** compare to Ozymandias: not the total futility of saving something against time, but that the mother/child bond (rather than conquerors' monuments) will survive | ||
| + | * the aphoristic point (33-40): | ||
| + | Oh! I could pass all relics | ||
| + | Left by the pomps of old, | ||
| + | To gaze on this rude monument | ||
| + | Cast in affection's mould. | ||
| + | [ ] | ||
| + | Love! human love! what art thou? | ||
| + | Thy print upon the dust | ||
| + | Outlives the cities of renown | ||
| + | Wherein the mighty trust! | ||
=Context= | =Context= | ||
Revision as of 14:54, 27 October 2017
Poetry
"Casabianca"
- mixing ballad meter with orientalism
- importantly it's narrative, again balladic, vs. lyric
- story of filial devotion past death, nobility
- last stanza (36-40):
With mast, and helm, and pennon fair, That well had borne their part - But the noblest thing which perish'd there Was that young and faithful heart!
"The Image in Lava"
- her note: "the impression of a woman's form, with an infant clasped to the bosom, found at the uncovering of Herculaneum."
- "woman's heart hath left a trace / those glories to outlast" (7-8)
- "childhood's fragile image...survives the proud memorials reared / by conquerors of mankind" (9, 11-12)
- compare to Ozymandias: not the total futility of saving something against time, but that the mother/child bond (rather than conquerors' monuments) will survive
- the aphoristic point (33-40):
Oh! I could pass all relics Left by the pomps of old, To gaze on this rude monument Cast in affection's mould. [ ] Love! human love! what art thou? Thy print upon the dust Outlives the cities of renown Wherein the mighty trust!
Context
- from Charles's seminar:
- FH is representative of a type of piety that gets articulated in Anglo-American poetry
- Elizabeth Gray, NZ scholar: second wave feminsm takes for granted that women's religious poetry participates in patriarchy: taking it away takes away the most salient position from which these women could speak
