Potpourri Unit 4

Dover Beach

Matthew Arnold 

In Dover Beach, Arnold talks about how some of nature's beauties can actually be full of pain and sadness. The speaker describes a a calm sea and tide crashing on the shore. Typically, the ocean shore can be associated with peace and tranquility, and initially, the speaker describes the ocean as a "tranquil bay"(Arnold, 892). However, as the poem continues, the speaker describes "the turbid ebb and flow of human misery"(Arnold, 892). The speaker talks about how one of the most beautiful aspects of nature, a tide, can be associated with human misery and pain. Even though many of these phenomenons of nature are compared to pain, the speaker does not ignore their beauty. The speaker says that our world is not filled with joy, peace, or pain. However, humans confuse their feelings which is the root cause of the world's pain. When humans witness something as beautiful as an ocean tide, it is their reaction to confuse these feelings which will in turn, produce feelings of pain or sadness. Human tendency to struggle with confusion is how pain has entered into the world. 

Potpourri Unit 3

Batter my heart, three-personed God
John Donne

In Batter my heart, three-personed God, Donne's usage of diction proves to be effective in interpreting the meaning of the poem. The poem focuses on the speaker's relationship with God and faith. I believe that the speaker's diction that is related to marriage helps to convey the relationship between the speaker and God. The speakers says he "would be loved fain, but am betrothed unto your enemy"(Donne, 840). This is saying that speaker wants to be in a loving union with God, but the temptations and evils are still bonded to the speaker. The speaker is asking God to "divorce me, untie or break that knot again"(Donne, 840). This is the speaker's plea for God to 'marry' the speaker so that the speaker may be freed from all of the evils to which he is currently attached. He wants for the three-personed God to defend him and mend him. Donne's diction about marriage helps clarify the type of relationship that the speaker is wanting to have with God. The speaker wishes to divorce his harmful ways in order to have a faithful relationship with God.

Potpourri Unit 2

I taste a liquor never brewed
Emily Dickinson

In I taste a liquor never brewed, Dickinson using comparisons in order to convey her meaning through her work. She compares the feeling of being intoxicated to being overwhelmed in one's surroundings. The speaker notices many different things about nature while she is 'intoxicated.' She becomes intoxicated as she is overwhelmed with nature. The speaker says that "when butterflied-renounce their "drams-I shall but drink the more!"(Dickinson, 797). This shows that the more nature that she becomes overwhelmed, the more nature she wishes to take in. The speaker clearly appreciates all of the forms of nature. The phenomenon felt from all of the nature can be compared to the phenomenon of intoxication.  As the speaker encounters more enjoyable aspects of nature, she continues to express how she wishes to enjoy these beauties of nature until the day that she dies. The speaker does however believe that the power of nature outweighs the power of alcohol. She says that "not all the Vats upon the Rhine yield such an alcohol!"(Dickinson, 797). This indicates that the speaker feels as though the feelings provoked by nature can be better felt than some of the effects of alcohol.

Potpourri Unit 1

The Convergence of the Twain
Thomas Hardy

In The Convergence of the Twain, Hardy's use of the subtitle helps contribute to the meaning of the work. The subtitle provided says: (Lines on the loss of the 'Titanic') which helps clarify the fact that the poem is in fact about the Titanic. The poem describes the events preceding and following the ship crashing into an iceberg. The crash itself is made clear by Hardy's use of diction. He says that the ship seemed extravagant in "stature, grace, and hue"(Hardy, 779). The speaker describes says that the ship and the iceberg were "alien" and "no mortal eye could see the intimate welding of their later history"(Hardy, 779). This shows that no one predicted that the ship would take such a terrible hit. I feel as though this can relate to any situation in life today. Many times, the two most unlikely elements can prove to come into contact somehow. The fact that an extravagant ship and a treacherous iceberg may have seemed unlikely to most; however, their "wedding" was one that will always be historically remembered.