(Week 3) Shelley and Keats

I enjoyed the works we read of Shelley and Keats, though I didn’t get a chance to read more of their works. I did read some of Queen Mab by Shelley, which I’m still reading.
From the two poems we read I favored Shelley’s Hymn to Intellectual Beauty, I just couldn’t get into the flow of Keats’s Ode to a Nightingale, but I do love many of his other poems!
I have been reading Frankenstein and have been fascinated with Mary Shelley’s writing style, especially for her day! More to come about the novel...

(Week Two) Lord Byron

I have always enjoyed Lord Byron, particularly his Romance Poems. Since the beginning of week two I have been reading from The Love Poems of Lord Byron: A Romantic’s Passion. I read the introduction by David Stanford Burr, which informs readers quite a bit of the poet’s life. Many things I was already aware of, for example, Lord Byron’s many romantic liaisons with both men and women and his fight with gonorrhea. However, I was surprised by one of his lovers, Augusta, who was Byron’s half sister. According to Burr, throughout Byron’s life, he always loved Augusta. Many other women were jealous of the affection he showed his sister and their relationship was publicized and caused a scandal. This did not stop Byron completing some of his famous works such as Don Juan. And it did not stop the people from enjoying and respecting the talents of the poet.
Though I was surprised by his relationship with Augusta, this does not stop me either from enjoying the beautifully written poetry of Lord Byron.

MLK Day

"But I tell you, fellah christuns,
Things 'll happen mighty strange;
Now, de Lawd done dis fu' Isrul,
An' his ways don't nevah change,
An' de love he showed to Isrul
Was n't all on Isrul spent;
Now don't run an' tell yo' mastahs
Dat I 's preachin' discontent.

'Cause I is n't; I 'se a-judgin'
Bible people by deir ac's;
I 'se a-givin' you de Scriptuah,
I 'se a-handin' you de fac's.
Cose ole Pher'oh b'lieved in slav'ry,
But de Lawd he let him see,
Dat de people he put bref in,--
Evah mothah's son was free."

-from "An Ante-Bellum Sermon" by Paul Dunbar

(Week One) Wordsworth and Nature

I have really enjoyed reading Wordsworth's poetry-I'm a big fan of lyrical poetry. I just never could get into the poetry that is prose put into stanzas. I have noticed that a lot of classical poetry is lyrical.
One of the things I like best about Wordsworth is his incorporation of nature. He captures the relationship with humans and nature so beautifully with his words. I love nature...that is why his poetry touches me so. He can capture all sorts of emotions within the realms of nature.

“A lonely scene more lonesome; among woods
At noon; and mid the calm of summer nights,
When, by the margin of the trembling Lake,
Beneath the gloomy hills, I homeward went
In solitude, such intercourse was mine”- from "Influence of Natural Objects"

Getting Started

Well, this is a start! I'm new at this so here it goes...