As I Walked Out One Evening | Analysis

As I Walked Out One Evening | Analysis There is a certain level of hesitation that is often experienced when it comes to ones acceptance of time. One may see this uncertainty not only in others but perhaps in his or her own perceptions. There is much speculation surrounding time and what happens when ones time on earth finally reaches its end. The nature of time, in itself, is a scary reality. Not only does time play a very personal role in the lives of all of humanity, but it also plays a prominent part in many of the works included in modern and contemporary poetry. We see the positions of various poets when it comes to the concept of time, whether it be a position of optimism or pessimism. There is one thing that is certain, however; one never knows when his or her time on earth is up. Time is, essentially, all we have. W. H. Audens As I Walked Out One Evening, can be viewed as a prime example of a poem which revolves around the theme of the finite nature of time. A background set to match this exchange between mortality and eternity is the brimming river (5) where the speaker stops to listen to the lovers. The river is used as a metaphor for Time because of the way it flows: it goes on endlessly and goes on even as we do not. No matter what small connection we may make with the water in the flowing river, it keeps flowing past us. No matter how hard we may try we could never stop the river from flowing. Similarly, the bells of the clock tower remind us of the Time that is passingthe time that will not stop for us: The underlying theme of Time is the cycle of life or perhaps the rotation of the seasons. The speaker may already be thinking about the passing seasons of his own life when the crowds remind him of harvest wheat. Auden portrays the wheat in terms of time: fall is frequently used as a metaphor for old age. It is the final stage of the life cycle; the flowers have blossomed and the cold winter is on its way. Here the speaker sees the crowd and is perhaps reminded of the cycle we all experience as we head towards our elder years. Even the young lovers will grow pale with old age, just as into many a green valley / Drifts the appalling snow (33-34). There is tragedy that lies in beauty and youth; neither of them last and eventually we grow old and disintegrate. Auden metaphorically portrays Time in terms that are almost disturbing, as it dwells in the burrows of the nightmare (25) and watch the lovers from the shadows. It pauses just until they are about to complete their love with a kiss before it coughs and interrupts with its opposition. The same church bells that chime the hour also ring for the dead and on this night near the river both bells have the same sounds. The speaker, as he walks along the river down Bristol Street, may have found himself further down that lane than he anticipates, as he ends up somewhere between the lovers and all the clocks in the city (21). Standing there as the bells ring, he loses track of time, hearing a complete song in reply to the lovers singing. He soon realizes how much time has passed: It was late, late in the evening, / The lovers they were gone (61-62). Here, we see the speaker as he spends his time observing others. In the process, he never gets to experience his own life, on his own time. As so on as he knows it, a great deal of time has passed; so much in fact, that the lovers have gone away-indicating that they have used up their own mortal time on earth and the speaker has wasted a great deal of his own time through his relentless observation of them. The poem incorporates two different ideas conveyed by the songs. Auden ultimately invites us to evaluate the viewpoints of the lover and the clocks that are clearly at odds with one another. The lover argues that love is everlasting and eternally young while the clocks assert that all of life, including love, is subject to time and decay. Although Auden does not want o deny the lovers optimism, he ultimately gives more acknowledgment to the clocks practical outlook. The clocks song is less emotional and more detached than the lovers. They whirr and chime and dispute that time is more powerful than anything human, even love: Time watches from the shadow / And coughs when you would kiss (27-28). Time is a silent and inevitable force that disrupts even the most joyous of moments and can replace a kiss that brings people closer, with a cough that pushes them apart. The clocks uphold that Time is the triumphant force since it is a race that can never be won by humanity and there are never any exceptions to its limits nor are there any survivors of its boundaries. As the clocks describe it, In headaches and in worry / Vaguely life leaks away (29-30). The clocks go on and we see that time not only presents trivial worries such as headaches, but it also carries greater dangers: The glacier knocks in the cupboard, / The desert sighs in the bed, / And the crack in the tea-cup opens / A lane to the land of the dead. The items mentioned are all objects foun d in ones home. The greater powers of the external world can infiltrate even such personal places as the ones we call home. Even death, perhaps the greatest threat of all, can make its way into this domestic place. The cracked tea-cup represents the effects of time. It is evidence that things diminish as time goes by and it illustrates the human condition. We are, essentially, born to die because Time is bound to take its course. Auden personifies the clocks by giving them the ability to speak. In reality, these clocks do not have the capacity for human language. The clocks argument, like the lovers, may well be taking place inside the poets head. The poet is thinking about the nature of human life, and in the clocks song there are several references to vision as well as literal reflections. In one of the clocks songs, the clocks urge: O look, look in the mirror, O look in your distress; Life remains a blessing Although you cannot bless. (49-52). Here, the mirror portrays an image of sorrow while the downbeat voice of the stanza is fit by the statement that Life remains a blessing (52). Nonetheless, the clocks make it clear that humans are not capable of valuing the joys of life and give one final order: You shall love your crooked neighbour /With your crooked heart (55-56). The clocks song cuts the lovers optimism and certainty short. Auden gives the clocks three times as many stanzas as the lover to state their ideas about life, love, and time. This imbalance, along with the fact that the clocks get the last word in the discussion, demonstrates that their viewpoint is the prevailing one. The clocks do not, however, get the last word in the poem. In the final stanza, the speaker is finished quoting them and returns to speak in his own voice. Many hours have passed since the start of the poem. The crowds, along with the lovers, are gone. The sounds of clocks have stopped and the poem concludes the deep river ran on (60) This line hints towards hopefulness as it may indicate that the cycle presented in the poem will recur and that lovers as well as those who believe in love, will again sing of their hopes and passions, despite the dire assertions of clocks and other reminders of the reality of time. On the contrary, the concluding line may be disparaging-the river seems to be symbolic of times unyielding onward motion. The river appears to have little concern for the human world and is unchanged by joy and grief. In spite of the inevitability of human fate, nature and time will continue to move forward with or without us, as it has done for countless years. Auden seems to advance the clocks message over the lovers perhaps becau se he cannot refute the fact that love is stifled by the complexities and boundaries of life. On the other hand, poetry, unlike love or the life spans of human beings, has the potential to forwardly and eternally progress. As I Walked Out One Evening and other poems must end, however, poetry as a figure of human accomplishment, has the chance to live on.

Jewish Art :: essays research papers

Jewish Art On many occasions art has the power to tell a story or even express how someone feels. The speaker on Jewish art was very interesting. She translates many Jewish stories and commandments while portraying it through art. Very few people can accomplish this but I thought she did a pretty good job of it. Her pieces once explained told great stories of Jewish history. One thing that I found very iteresting was her idea of adding new riuals to the jewish religion through her art. I'm glad that I have always liked art because it helped me to understand her feelings towards it. The speaker showed a lot of enthusiasm and love for her art. She seemed to be very care-free and almost worry free. I though she was very cool and really did a good job of expressing her feelings toward her art. One important aspect of her art was that for her seeing her pieces come out of a fire was a reward in itself. She was not in it for the mmoney or material rewards. I think a lot of times people are only in it for material reward and it gets in the way of great art. It seems to me that this helped her to become such a good artist   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Her focus was mainly on very well known Jewish objects. Some of these include Menorahs, Sadaka boxes, and Mezuzahs. These where very evident part of her slide show. All of them were very obscure and odd looking but each told a storyf which only she knew. At first glance they were not so great but after her explanation they became beautiful.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Her idea of creating new rituals for our religion through art really striked me. I found her ideas to be very interesting because it was som   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I think that many times Judaism is expressed through art because there are so many beliefs on what it means to be a Jew. Many people cant explain how they fell in words so , in this case, a more fun and interesting way was used. Even though many religious people don't agree with this way of expression I feel that it is obviously better than nothing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It was evident that the Holocaust Had a major influence on her works. She said that she liked the fact that even after her pieces were burned they

How Authors Affected the Frontier Movement Essay

The Frontier Movement is a period in American history that refers to the westward movement of Americans toward the Pacific Ocean during the mid-1800s lasting until the early 1900’s. This movement was characterized by an expansionist zeal for opportunity and adventure, but was also heavily characterized by widespread social oppression and reform. It was during this time that both authors and reformists were inspired to write and share their ideas, many of which called attention to the often ignored social injustices of the time. These author’s ideas not only were inspired by the movement (the beginning of American Literature), but also heavily fueled and contributed to the movement in return. Authors Mark Twain and Susan B. Anthony, for example, played an important role in the frontier movement through their writings as they used these to convey the feelings they held toward America’s crooked social discrimination and socio-economic disparities. Mark Twain and Susan B. Anthony are considered to be two of America’s first American Literature authors. Mark Twain, known as the â€Å"Father of America Literature†, became an author in the West after the end of the Civil War. Susan B. Anthony, known as one of the first women’s activists, works focused mainly on the gender inequality customary of the time. Both of these author’s works are recognized as being bold and reflecting much of the American frontier movement’s attitude and ailments. Their works helped fuel their readers understanding of who they were and helped inspire their audience in the spirit of the frontier movement. Mark Twain’s works often embodied the newly discovered American frontier spirit of individuality and adventure. His works were both entertaining and encouraged Americans to create their own destiny. This was both a popular and significant notion during the frontier movement as it embodied the idea’s Americans had about expanding westward in search of a new life. In addition to his inspirational and humorous works, his writings also addressed the social discrimination he witness during the era of the frontier movement. Many of his works, like Huckleberry Finn for example, showed the possibility of bringing change to a world dominated by racism and foolishness. His works both captured American’s imagination, inspired American’s frontier attitude, and called attention to social wrongs. Susan B. Anthony’s works focused more on the boldness of the American. Rather than idolizing the spirit of America, she often called Americans out on the social injustices prevalent throughout America during the frontier era and promoted change. She called attention to both American racism and especially gender inequality. While Americans were beginning to identify the distinctly American characteristics they took pride in, Susan B. Anthony identified the aspects of American life that Americans came to realize they should be ashamed of. Her writings and causes were bold, reflecting the rugged American Spirit, but her works also helped shape the social aspects of the American Frontier movement. The frontier movement of America marked the beginning of American identity, and thus the beginning of American Literature. It was this movement that influenced the works of becoming authors, many, who in turn, influenced the frontier movement. Mark Twain and Sarah B. Anthony both contributed to the frontier movement through their writings in that they helped Americans realize their identity. During the frontier movement, Americans began to see themselves as an adventurous and bold people, and it was these authors who helped Americans gain and develop an understanding of who they were, even though their ideas were often negative. In short, by providing Americans with literature about who the American people were, the authors helped inspire Americans to express this new attitude of adventure and recognize American social values in the Frontier Movement.

A Short Note On Diabetes And Diabetes Mellitus - 1545 Words

Diabetes is a disease that plagues many individuals, causes adverse health problems, and if left uncontrolled can lead to premature death. Diabetes Mellitus is characterized by unstable glucose levels and has 3 different forms: Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes, and Gestational Diabetes. This research paper will focus on Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease in which insulin is not produced sufficiently or non-existing within the pancreas, causing an increase in the bodies blood glucose levels (U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2014). Gestational diabetes mellitus is when a pregnant woman develops insulin resistance during pregnancy; generally, women return to normal glucose levels after pregnancy, but†¦show more content†¦The goal of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) (2014) is to reach out to these communities, provide resources for the population affected and improve the lives of the people who suffer with diabetes. Though the ADA does not actually provide healthcare services they target various ethnic populations within the community; provide its residents with resources on how to manage and treat prediabetes and diabetes. Por tu Familia is an outreach program that is specifically designed to provide resources and educate Hispanic communities around the United States. â€Å"Diabetes is an urgent health problem in the Latino community. Their rates of diabetes are almost double those of non-Latino whites,† (American Diabetes Association, 2014). While improving and revamping this existing program, Por tu Familia Dos, can create a greater knowledge within the community about how to treat and care for prediabetes and diabetes amongst the Hispanic population. Por tu Familia Dos has a target population that includes individuals of all ages, males and females, who have Type 2 Diabetes and are accustomed to dealing with diabetes on their own. The majority of the projected participants are from lo w income families and individuals with lower education levels within a specific community. The program will provide participants with additional resources of how to treat, control and monitor their diabetes. Data Collection This preliminary program will take place in Sunnyside, WA and will be

Effects Of Cosmetic Surgery On Young Women - 1213 Words

Cosmetic surgery has become such a worldwide trend. Most often, those who are seeking to alter their appearance believe they will feel better about themselves if they change the one thing they don’t like about their appearance. More often than not, it’s not just one thing people would like to change about themselves, there’s many parts of their body they wish were thinner, toned or more polished. After cosmetic surgery, I don’t think everyone who has something done is happy with the outcome. Even those who are happy might only be feeling instant gratification from the drastic change which occurred and might feel the need to have more procedures done. A large part of today’s society is very impressionable. With the media and social media at every corner, from supermarket shelves to your very own phone, the media has a way of influencing how we live our daily lives. Amongst everyone, young women are the most impressionable, this contributing to the rise in â€Å"[e]lective cosmetic surgeries, particularly breast implant surgeries among young women, have risen steadily since the year 2000† (Stephanie E. Moser, and Leona S. Aiken, n.pag.). Young women often find themselves comparing themselves to models in magazines or even to their close peers, social media being the hub for anyone to upload images onto social network sites like twitter, facebook, instagram, and so on. Seeing all these things often leaves these teens feeling as if they’re not up to par with society’s standards,Show MoreRelatedBeauty Is Not Pain?1704 Words   |  7 Pages but why is it that some choose to change that with cosmetic and pla stic surgery? What would motivate someone to go through hours of pain just for a new body? With the appearance of more â€Å"perfect† looking celebrities in the media, the self-esteem of many women spiral down, especially in Asia. 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Fences, By August Wilson - 1104 Words

African-Americans during the middle of the twentieth century were treated differently than those of the white population. Fences, a play by August Wilson, demonstrates the frustration of white dominance during a time when African-Americans were secluded from society. The Maxson family are the main characters of the play, showing the life they lived in their black tenement in Pittsburg in the 1950s. The setting demonstrates the drama of their struggle, frustration, rebellion, and the predicaments that unfold. Slavery has been eliminated from America for some time prior to the setting of this play, but it still shadows and presses upon the African-American community in Wilson’s play. August Wilson’s play Fences, shows the racial segregation and injustice displayed in America through out much of the middle of the twentieth century. The protagonist of the play, Troy, faced many issues with segregation when it came to the opportunities he had to play baseball. Wilson uses ba seball to represent the discrimination going on as a whole during this time. In the play Troy says, â€Å"I’m talking about if you could play ball then they ought to have let you play. Don’t care what color you were† (1.1.81). This line portrays the frustration Troy had when he was young enough to play baseball but claims he was held back by the racial wall. In Michael Lomax’s, Black Baseball Entrepreneurs, he states that, â€Å"Early black baseball entrepreneurs recognized that in order to conduct businessShow MoreRelatedFences : Fences By August Wilson1541 Words   |  7 PagesName: Alejandro Ahmed Date: 12/6/16 Unit: American Drama Title: Fences Author: August Wilson Year of Publication: 1986 Fences Study Guide Descriptive i. Overview: â€Å"Fences†, was a play written by August Wilson in 1986. The play communicates the story of the son of an unsuccessful sharecropper, Troy Maxson, who has lived most of his life independently due to his father’s abuse during his childhood. 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This is because Troy had nothing to go on but the harsh example set by his father. In Fences, Troy has felt like he has been fenced in all of hi s life, which causes him to fence others in. Troy has felt fenced in all of his lifeRead MoreFences, By August Wilson895 Words   |  4 PagesFences written by August Wilson is an award winning drama that depicts an African-America family who lives in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania during the 1950’s. During this time, the Mason’s reveal the struggles working as a garbage man, providing for his family and excepting life as is. The end of segregation began, more opportunities for African American people were accessible. Troy, who’s the father the Cory and husband of Rose has shoes fill as a working African America man. 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Analysis of Poems Eurydice and Mrs. Midas by Carol-Ann Duffy free essay sample

A woman’s voice, her opinion and her viewpoint have all been heavily disregarded in the past centuries, with a woman being seen as an accessory to a man rather than an individual with the capability to think for herself. However, Carol Ann Duffy’s anthology ‘The World’s Wife’ seeks to correct the gender inequalities, with the poems Eurydice and Mrs. Midas portraying strong minded and authoritative females that retell the Greek mythological stories from a women’s point of view. In both poems Eurydice and Mrs. Midas we are introduced to two women who in mythology have been overshadowed by their more famous husbands or left out of the story completely. Through Duffy’s extensive use of language features such as humour and metaphors in the poem Mrs. Midas, we are able to understand the previously unheard point of view of Mr. Midas as she comprehends the breaking down of her marriage to the mythological King Midas and deals with the selfishness of her Husband’s wish for the ‘golden touch’. Through the use of allusions, capitalization and humour in the poem Eurydice we can see Duffy’s intent to transform the original Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to give a rather unspoken and innocent Eurydice a new devious persona. Duffy seeks to make the reader consider another viewpoint in a rather one dimensional society by allowing Eurydice to voice her opinion of not wanting to return to Orpheus despite him trying to rescue her â€Å"with his lyre and a poem to pitch with me as the prize†. In Mrs. Midas, Carol Ann Duffy introduces the character Mrs Midas as your typical housewife as â€Å"I’d just poured myself a glass of wine, begun to unwind, while the vegetables cooked. † The first use of assonance, in the long ‘I’ vowel sound creates a sense of calm before the big storm, before King Midas’ golden touch destroys their marriage. The setting for the first stanza of the poem is set with the aid of imagery which is used to create an optimistic and happy relationship between Mrs. Midas and her surroundings with a carefree attitude. However when Mrs. Midas spots her husband when â€Å"he was under the pear-tree snapping a twig† the tone of the poem changes as the line introduces some violence, and foreshadows the breaking of Mrs. Midas’ marriage to her husband, King Midas. In Eurydice, Duffy also uses language to foreshadow the apex of the poem, where Eurydice refuses to follow Orpheus back from the underworld. â€Å"Girls, forget what you’ve read. It happened like this,† is the turning point where the reader realises the first half of the poem is not how the series of events occurred, but rather the following stanzas is how the story really went from Eurydice’s point of view. The direct address of â€Å"girls† grabs the attention of the reader to show a sudden transformation of the original myth being told, which implies that the outcome from the original tale has been disregarded, helping to foreshadow what Eurydice’s real actions were; â€Å"I stretched out my hand to touch him once on the back of the neck He was smiling modestly, when he turned, when he turned and looked at me,† these events allowing Eurydice to stay in the underworld where she wanted to stay. Duffy uses language to design Mrs. Midas’ character as a pretentious housewife trying to be in a higher social class than she is. Through subtle sentences like â€Å"We’d a caravan in the wilds, in a glade of its own† where she brags that her caravan has its own glade, gives Mrs. Midas a pretentious attitude. Additionally Duffy uses assonance in â€Å"He asked where was the wine†¦a fragrant bone dry white wine from Italy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  with a long ‘I’ sound slowing the pace and creating a genteel sound that mimics the middle class accent. However Duffy uses the language feature of diction to change the nature of the poem. From smooth, rolling words of imagery – â€Å"†¦as he picked up the glass, goblet, golden chalice, drank. † to direct, short, monosyllabic sentences -â€Å"He came into the house. The doorknobs gleamed. † The change of tone and following short sentences are used to show how through the surfacing anxiety of Mrs. Midas, she is able to carefully explain her every action with comments such as â€Å"I locked the cat in the cellar. I moved the phone. The toilet I didn’t mind. † The use of humour not only breaks down the barrier between the reader and herself, but also releases her previous pretentious attitudes. Yet looking through this use of humour, we can see how Mrs. Midas is still taking control of her situation which effectively place her in a more dominant and authoritative role in the relationship between herself and King Midas. In both Mrs. Midas and Eurydice, Duffy uses allusions to compare different things. For example, in Eurydice by alluding to characters familiar to the reader such as â€Å"Him. Big O,† famous singer Roy Orbison, the reader can understand what Orpheus was truly like in Eurydice’s opinion. A familiar knock-knock-knock at death’s door,† another allusion, to Bob Dylan’s â€Å"knocking on Heaven’s door,† symbolises that Eurydice’s death, leaving her in the underworld and free from Orpheus is her idea of heaven. Both of these allusions allowing the reader to make comparisons and links between the characters and familiar people and songs. Duffy also alludes to gold several times in the poem Mrs. Midas. With sente nces such as â€Å"And who, when it comes to the crunch, can live with a heart of gold? †