Icarus

Don McKay’s poem “Icarus” much like the Greek myth from which it got its name is not a poem about mortal death, but rather the slow death of childish ideals in the journey from callow youth to (ideally, though not in all cases) wise adulthood. The fact that Icarus “isn’t sorry” is significant because he is representative of the universal ( Read more... )

Demeter & Persephone

The myth of Demeter and Persephone is approached from two very different perspectives by the poets Eavan Boland and Rita Dove. Boland seems to see it as a romantic allusion to two of the female roles within society, the role of Persephone in girlhood and that of Demeter if they become mothers. Rita Dove also sees it as a ( Read more... )

The Universal Anti- Hero

“The Love-Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” seems a mockingly ironic title, when one considers the context of the poem, and the mien of the man in question, Mr. J. Alfred Prufrock. It is possible that Prufrock is Elliot himself. If it was indeed published in 1917, as suggested in the text, he would have been 30 years old, an age ( Read more... )

Poems about growing up:

In the poems “Packing for the Future: Instructions”, “Miracles” and “The Writer” Lorna Crozier, Harry Thurston and Richard Wilbur all use extended metaphors to discuss the passage from childhood to adulthood. Lorna Crozier likens it to a journey which will bring sadness and possibly loneliness, on which one will encounter ( Read more... )

TYRANUS, Oedipus
It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of Oedipus, beloved father and brother, only son of King Laius of Thebes. He was predeceased by his father Laius, his adoptive father Corinthian King Polybus and his mother-wife Jocasta. He is survived by his cherished daughter-sisters Antigone and Ismene, who stuck by him ( Read more... )

Reflecting ( Read more... )

“The Boat ( Read more... )

“Girls and Boys”

The story “Boys and Girls” strikes me as being about the main character’s fear of adulthood; or to be more precise, her fear of becoming a woman, at least in the way that her mother is. From what she has seen, a woman’s work is never done and her mother’s role within the family is trivialized. She admires her father, whose ( Read more... )

Here am I, enrolled in an online English course, fearful of dipping my toes for the first time into the brave new world of blogging. The assignment: considering literature, and whether or not Philip Larkin’s poem “this be the Verse” might be considered a piece of “great literature”. Yikes!! For me the word Literature conjures up frame by frame ( Read more... )