Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey

My first reaction to this poem was HOLY CRAP THIS IS LONG!! And I know as an English major that shouldn't be my first reaction but, it was.. so I dealt with the length and started to read through. Half way through this poem I was so confused!! Was I the only one? I think I read this about 4 times total and still after the 3rd was completely confused so I decided to "Google it", which probably wasn't the best idea (SORRY MULMAN :) !! ) I came across the SparkNotes for this particular poem. After reading the SparkNotes it became a little more clear to me. The speaker had not been back to that spot for five years. I guess five years is a long time and that gives you a chance to miss your favorite place. The speaker then goes on to explain everything he is seeing. After reading all of the SparkNotes, I realized that this poem is about longing to be somewhere else in the world/ longing to fit into a place in this world. I can really relate to this poem. If I could be anywhere in the world right now I would be with my fiance in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Although I have not been there in almost two months and not two years I can still relate to the speaker. The beautiful mountain air is so crisp and perfect. The houses that are set in the mountains look like they're painted into the scenery and not actually built there. Everything about my Colorado and the speakers favorite place are sort of the same. The peace and quiet, everything I read I took to heart. The feeling of being stuck in one place and not belonging here anymore really hit home; so did the wanting to be where you really fit in. Overall I believe this was a great poem.


* I posted a picture I took on my last visit in Feb of the mountains in Colorado just to show everyone how peaceful and beautiful they are *
* And I posted a picture of Tintern Abbey just because I felt like it :) *

Songs of Innocence and Experience

When I first read the title I figured that Blake had created a compilation of songs .. dir .. and as I came to find out I was wrong. Poems are like songs, maybe that's where Blake got his title. As I started to go through his poems I found myself very confused. I was reading a version that was not his plates but just the lyrics of the poem. I found it very hard to understand with out the visual aid of his pictures to help me. I feel like the pictures helped me to understand the poems more. The two plates I found very interesting was "Infant Joy" and "Infant Sorrow." I was confused as I was reading them. How can an infant be considered joy and sorrow? Usually the gift of a child is something happy and joyous like the first plate suggested. As I read further I realized that Joy is the child's name. The child is two days old and born happy like most babies are so its name is automatically Joy. She is happy to be a part of this world and experience more than just her two days here. In the next plate "Infant Sorrow" we see "Joy" in a different light. "Joy" is now being born/ leaping into a "dangerous world" to an unhappy father (shouldn't he be happy?) and a groaning mother. I wouldn't want my parents to be that way if I was just born! The line "Like a fiend hid in a cloud. " is what really caught my attention. Firstly because I had no idea what fiend was and secondly how can you hide in a cloud. I looked up fiend and figured out that it means the devil. I found this very ironic! Why would a devil hide in a cloud when a cloud is symbolic of an angel or maybe "Joy" from the first plate. As the poem continues the baby is struggling to get out of its swaddling. Because the baby is stuck between the world, his fathers hands, and his wrappings he does what any baby would do and get food. This is a really cool poem. I like the idea that in the first plate (being from the songs of innocence) it seems like an angel is born and in the second plate (experience) it is the devil. I hope my thoughts aren't way off here!

Plain Jane

Bronte does a very good job at depicting a rejected little girl grow up into a loveless woman. He shows the hard decisions she has to face when she has no means but herself. A lot of women can relate to the character of Jane. A lot of women can relate to being in her place. This is a piece of "chick-lit" that is not the normal happy and romantic setting.

chick lit

The chick lit I picked for our coffee house is "How To Loose A Guy In Ten Days." This automatically came to my mind because it is everything a chick flick entails. It speaks directly to women and their dating lives. And also because men would never want to watch the movie! Here is a clip from the movie..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZI67ux7aJY