Revision

Frankensteins Daemon

" The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature. I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room, and continued a long time traversing my bed chamber, unable to compose my mind of sleep." (Shelley, chapter IV, page 34)

Image source; http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/0909N3144/2009/09/frankenstein_several_images.html

This passage really struck me as unique to the rest of the story. Shelly implies that the accidents involved in our lives cannot be changed like our feelings can.This passage is immediately after Victor has brought life to his creation. Victory immediately feels a sense of dread, fear and remorse of his work. He knows that his two years of toil has become a hideous, evil accident. Victor abandoned his own health and wellness to fulfill his dreams, only to abandon his dream as it came to fruition. Victory sees that this creation had consumed his life and now that he has given life, he sees that his beautiful dream is in fact a monsterous nightmare. A nightmare that has come to life. At the first sight of this beast Victor runs away from his daemon child. He only sees the horror of sight. He does not wait to see if the soul of this being is as hideous as its physical aspect. Could it be that Victor, by running away and abandoning his creation at its birth, caused the beast to be evil? Victor was so afraid of what he saw that he never mentions it to anyone. He also does not make any attempt at finding this demon either. Perhaps this is Mary Shelleys way of telling her own story of abandonment. Her mother died upon giving her birth. Her mom never had the chance to know her creation or what she may become. Could it be that Shelley felt like a horrible accident and caused the death of her mother? As it is, Victor creating this monster has ruined his life. Victor poured his soul into this project, only to create a souless monster.

Deciphering a confusing poem

Deciphering “The Second Coming”

            William Butler Yeats first penned “The Second Coming” in 1919. I feel that in order to begin understanding what this poem may have meant to Yeats or even to his readers at the time, one must understand the era in which it was written and must have some insight into the Author as well. This poem was written after World War I. At the end of the war it was commonly called “The Great War” or “The War to End All Wars” (www.worldwar-1.net). It is now simply referred to as World War 1. Coincidentally, this was all after the Easter Rising in Ireland, a brutal uproar that Yeats also penned a poem about called “Easter, 1916” (poetryfoundation.org). Also occurring within this time frame was the Russian Revolution which resulted in the overthrow of Czars and left a lingering chaotic rage in Russia and Europe as a whole.

             Yeats was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1865. He was educated in Dublin as well as London. Being that Yeats lived in Ireland at the time of these wars, their impact was strongly felt and no doubt left an impression of dread and gloom among European countries. It would be this mind- set that would set into motion the writing of a poem that would convey images of dread and horror leading to the end of the world.

            “The Second Coming” appears to be a reference to the Book of Revelations in the bible, in which Christian prophecies are revealed. The poem begins with a strong metaphor that refers to the world as a gyre, or a cone shaped spiral of wind. Yates writes “Turning and turning in the widening gyre” (Line 1). This indicates that the world is spinning humankind upward and away, detaching us from the world and reality. Using this specific terminology indicates that the poet may be believe that two forces in the world, good and evil, are intersecting causing up-heave and dissention in the world. The Yates then makes a reference indicating that people are like falcons in this “widening gyre”, and that God is the falconer with “The falcon cannot hear the falconer” (Line 2). This is similar to the biblical reference of people, or Christ church, being His sheep, or flock, and Christ the herder. Is it that the poet believes that Christians have spun so out of control and become so detached from the world, and the church, that they can no longer hear God? People are so caught up in the world around them that we have become detached from the world itself. Yates then describes the world as “falling apart” (Line 3) and that “Mere Anarchy is loosed upon the world” (Line4). This is a description about the world being torn apart by its inhabitants. Yates writes “The blood-dimmed tide is loosed…” (Line5). Another indication of a world wrought with war. Also noted is a world that has experienced innocence’s death and the domination of evil forces, “innocence drowned” (Line6) and “The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity” (Lines 7 and 8). The second part of this poem first indicates that a revelation is about to occur, another direct reference to the bible, indicating prophesy is about to become a reality and that “Surely the Second Coming is at hand” (Line 10). This all does appear to refer to biblical prophecy in the book of revelations, in which Christ returns to the world to reign. Perhaps the poet is referring to another great war soon to come. People in this era had hoped that they had seen the worst that war had to offer but biblical prophecy about the end of times was not yet met either. The reason I mention this is that up until this part of the poem it appears to be referring to the Second Coming of Christ, but the rest of the poem contradicts what traditional beliefs are in regard to the Second Coming. After the poet proclaims “The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out / When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi” (Lines 11and12) a reference to the lost morals of the world. The poet then describes the rising of a sphinx like creature being in the world. “A shape with lion body and the head of a man” (Line 14). This creature is then described as a beast devoid of emotion, with slow, calculated movements that cause even the “indignant desert birds” (Line17) of the land, another reference to people, like the falcons, to show anger towards this unjust, unworthy beast. Also the use of a “desert bird” could be biblical reference towards the Middle Eastern peoples of what was formerly Jerusalem at the time of this poems writing. With that we come to what is the last stanza of the poem in which described is a dark and gloomy world that the poet refers to self the first time stating that “The darkness drops again but now I know / That twenty centuries of stony sleep / Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle”(Lines 18, 19 and 20). Is the poet referring to 2000 years of belief proved wrong by the return of a beast like creature that has brought gloom and despair instead of an angelic Christ figure that brings peace and harmony? Or is this another reference to another global war that makes all of the wars earth has seen appear to be mere child’s play. Yates writes “And what rough beast, its hour come around at last, / Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?” (Lines 21, 22) This “rough beast” appears to be a reference to the prophetic end of days that the biblical Book of Revelation refers to. Perhaps a world ending war that eases its way towards the birth place of Christ.

                At first reading I thought this poem to be an easy assignment for me to analyze. It led me to believe that this was purely about what its title implies. Upon analyzing the poem and trying to break down its meaning and language I was then confused by the transition from the biblical references to what I believe is a wrong depiction of what arrives in our world with the Second Coming of Christ. Then as I analyzed the time in which it was created and the history involved, I realized that possibly, to the poet, it was his prophesy about future war. That is also what I feel this poem is about as well. The poet has used biblical prophecy about the Second Coming of Christ and used peoples’ emotions and beliefs to reflect the poets own ideas of how future war may follow biblical prophecy.

Works Cited

www.worldwar-1.net, copyright 2006.

Yates, William Butler “Easter 1916”. Poetry Foundation. 1989. 14 September 2011. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/172061

Yates, William Butler “The Second Coming”. Poetry Foundation. 1989. 14 September 2011. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/search/?q=the+second+coming

"The Second Coming"

Ironically this poem was the first poem I read from the list. As I scrolled through the list of poems this title, "The Second Coming", seemed to jump out at me. I am a Christian, I have believed in my salvation since I was 5 years old, so the meaning in the title alone definately tugged at my heart. After reading this poem, I read all of the others, I found that my mind was thinking of "The Second Coming". Do to this I had trouble understanding all of the others so, naturally, I returned to this one a second time, then a third and after re-reading the others, I turned to this a fourth time.

William Butler Yeats (1865- 1939) was an Irish born lad who also studied in London. He wrote this poem in 1919. Believed to be written due to the aftermath of the first World War, other versions of the poem have references implicating the French, Irish, German and Russian Revolutions.

"The Second Coming" can be read here at this link. To me this poem insights fear, dread and mostly confusion. To begin with Yeats writes "The falcon cannot hear the falconer;" (Line 2). Implying that man does not hear God with the distractions of the world. There is also a direct implication with the return of the Messiah with " Surely the Second Coming is at hand" (Line 10) followed by a description of the loss of our morales and an image of a beast coming to the land. Yeats implication and description of this beast implies that it is what comes with the Second Coming. It is this description that confuses me. In the last 2 lines the poem reads, " And what rough beast, its hour come round at last," (Line 21). " Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?" ( Line 22). It leaves me with the impression that the poem is implying that the Second Coming of Christ will be a beast, demonic in nature, and not Christ that returns. Essentially it contradicts my religious beliefs and the Biblical word. Is the poet involved in the occult? Or, is he just implying that we dont know what returns. Is his description of the Second Coming actually a description of the Anti- Christ and the tribulation that follows?

Also confusing to me is the form of the poem itself. Is it free verse? Or is it iambic pentameter? Some of the rhymes appear to be a coincidence, but hardly rhythmical either, such as "...hold" (Line 3) and "...world" (Line 4), or "...man" ( Line 14) and " ...sun" (Line 15). Either way, if it is iambic pentameter the meter is broken and loose to me.

Nonetheless, it is a very prolific poem to me and I am excited to break it down even further in my essay.

Image Source http://www.dianedew.com/secndcmg.htm

Summary vs. Analysis

When we summarize material we are merely describing its context. This is often done to show the reader, often an instructor, that we fully understand the material reviewed. When summarizing, the story line and plot may be exposed completely. This leaves little detail unexposed to the reader of our summary. This type of summary should be reserved for academic use, such as writing a paper about an item. The student might write a complete summary of their material to be used as notes or study material. Some may argue that summary is a bad thing, but if used properly, and if the audience is kept in mind, then summary can be a very beneficial tool to use. We know when we are summarizing when we are stating the obvious, or when we are describing the what’s, where’s and who’s of a story. Summary will also move through the material in a chronological order. We must be very careful about using to much summary when writing essays, thesis’ and even reviews, because these types of writings want to show their audience that the writer not only understands the context of the material but has also analyzed what the material means.
When analyzing a subject we are breaking the material reviewed into its’ parts, so that we can understand what the individual parts mean when combined together. It is recommended that we begin to analyze things we view, read, or hear while we are reviewing them. This allows us to take notes and think about significant ideas we may have, or themes that we find in the material. When we analyze these we break them down and study their meanings. So when we analyze a poem, book, movie or maybe a play, we break down an idea to explain why we found the material interesting or even boring.
One of my fail safe novelists that I tend to turn to when I know I need a good, entertaining read and dont want to bother with randomly choosing a book is Dean Koontz. He is a popular American novelist whose works could be described as suspense thrillers. One of the recurring trademarks that I have noted in his writings is his description of street lighting being “sodium-vapor lights”.( Some of the titles where he refers to these lights are “ Midnight” ( 1989) , “ The Bad Place” ( 1989) and “From the Corner of His Eye” ( 2000). I have often wondered what the significance was of his use of these yellowish hued lights. In order to see Koontz' meaning in these lights I must first explain the lights themselves, then the importance of his use should be obvious. Sodium Vapor Lights have a gas discharge tube that contain sodium, a small amount of neon and argon. They use low amounts of energy that cast a dull, yellowish light. Objects under these lights are often devoid of color contrast and lack any imagery detail. Materials such as, cars, buildings and people don’t always appear to be dimensional. They leave areas next to, but not in their light path, in heavy, sullen shadow. With this description it is easier for the reader to see that one of Koontz’ ominous characters would appear even darker and mysterious than they would under a bright, white fluorescent bulb light. So it is my belief that Dean Koontz uses this description to build and portray a chaotic or dangerous scene as dark and looming even though the setting may be in a modern southern California suburb.

Image Soure; http://www.gtyurkon.com/MySaabPhotos/index.html