Dabydeen & Identity
No matter how much we talk in seminar about the poems in Slave Song, we can’t seem to come to an agreement on what the book’s purpose actually is. Is it a political statement on colonization? An attempt to recreate an authentic account Guyanese life? Or is it purely a product of Dabydeen’s fantasy, or … Continue reading Dabydeen & Identity →
Use of Sound and Other Fun Stuff in “Five Nights of Bleeding”
I enjoyed this poem a lot and I’d mostly attribute my admiration of it due to its use of sound…
What we should take away from Slave Song
When referring to colonialism and its effects on specific groups of people, it is tricky to find a clear answer without acknowledging them as a group rather than as individuals. This is highly problematic as it leads to stereotypes and … Continue reading →
What is Dabydeen Even Doing?
The Slave Song can be a difficult read, full of violence and suffering. There definitely are some humour and softness within it, but it’s pretty obvious that that is not what the book is about. As someone who has never encountered Creole before, I had to read the introduction and the translation to even try…
An Analysis of Alex Heilner’s Photographs in “The Ballad of Sand and Harry Soot” by Stephanie Strickland
Alex Heilner is one of the artists whose photos illustrate several stanzas of “The Ba. His photographs are of microbes that represent the internal and external environments that are common to the everyday norm. An analysis of Heilner’s photographs through … Continue reading →
Hopkins and Wordsworth
*if the above image is unclear, click into it — that should open an image with higher quality When we were analyzing Hopkins’ “Gods Grandeur,” I couldn’t stop thinking about the similarities between it and the Wordsworth poem “The World … Continue reading →
Poetic Interpretations: Worthwhile or Pointless?
Alright, so as some of you know, I’m not a ‘huge fan’ of poetry. Although I don’t mind reading it,…
Gerard Manley Hopkins: Faith & Loathing in the Catholic Church
It is undeniable that religion played a crucial role in the poetic imagination of Gerard Manley Hopkins even though his writings occasionally contradicted and challenged certain aspects of accepted Catholic doctrine. Hopkins was born in a deeply religious household belonging … Continue reading →
Gerard Manely Hopkins’s use of language in his poetry
It is undeniable that Hopkins’s style of poems are distinct. It can be seen as metaphysical and intricate as seen in As Kingfishers Catch Fire where Hopkins jumps from one image to another in order to portray the individuality and … Continue reading →
A Close Reading of “I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day” by Gerard Manley Hopkins
“I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day” is a poem that describes the wait for the second coming of Christ. In the first line, Hopkins illustrates the heaviness of the darkness with the use of alliteration in … Continue reading →