Shakespeare's sonnets

Last night while i was working i was able to read the shakespeare sonnets that we were assigned. Surprisingly, i was able to focus on the sonnets and really understand what Shakespeare was getting at with each one, or i think i did. Though i enjoyed venus and Adonis, the sonnets were thus far my favorite to read. I loved the imagery within them and the many ways that he describes the passage of time and lovers. Wile the imagery of nature among the romantic poets is widely used, i can't help but be drawn to it. With Keats and Shakespeare especially, the naturalistic images are so descriptive and real. Yu can. Actually see "thy eternal summer sun" (sonnet 18), men as plants (sonnet 15), and death creeping up (sonnet 73).

The memory has never ceased to fascinate me and i have had many conversations about this with various people. What makes us remember some things so clearly while other things can drift away more quickly than they happened? Don't give me the simple answer of "well, some things just stick or must have been that important". No, it has to be something more, something we just haven't figured out yet. His sonnets are a reflection of life, things past and lost, the sorrows of what had been. These sonnets remind me so much of 2 of my favorite poets, Keats and Eliot. Most of the time i am simply speechless i can't even seem to get out a coherent blog. It's like my breath is stopped momentarily and all my thoughts run together....so much to say yet i am silent. Perhaps, they are that powerful and whatever it is making me think of is possibly better kept to myself. Sonnets 55 and 129 are what i had in mind as i was trying to get this out.

Sonnet 130 makes me laugh every time. It reminds me of that saying "a face only a mother could love" How horrible! But then again he does describe it as a rare love. As i neared the end of the sonnets, I had to pause. Sonnet 129 confused me a little. He talks of this murderous lust, like a sort of rage. I wondered if this is more like venus and Adonis or if it is talking about fighting for a lover, was there a love affair going on that created these feelings? The reason i thought of lovers cheating was because of the lines "on purpose laid to make the taker mad". I could be completely off track....but i think either way i like my interpretation until things are made clear.

Lastly, i want to put a word in about sonnet 60. I had responded to some blogs, one of them speaking about time as lunar not linear, and this sonnet reflected that. There is the image of the sea and its constant rolling action. The sea has always been a powerful image for me; it creates an interesting uneasiness and meditation for me. Of course the moon and stars Coincide wonderfully with each other, feeding off one another like animals.

Turner's School of Night

I keep looking over Turner's school of night but don't really know what to think. While i am fascinated by it all, I can't help but get sidetracked from all the science, etc intertwined. I must get used to it though since it is "the school of night".

I was one sentence through Turner's blog when I immediately thought of Beckett. I have read Beckett's plays , but recently began reading his three stories. "They come, they go" (Florio's translation), is definitely a central theme of Beckett's in his writings. The simple, yet important idea of coming and going plays a role in not only Beckett, but Shakespeare. It connects to the central theme of love and destruction in Shakespeare's works. I am constantly pondering over this idea of love and its complexities. It never ceases to amaze me. Everything in life seems to come and go: people, love, stories- all of these revolving around one another. Wow- no pun on Turner's name here.

Aside from that, Turner touches on so many topics as we have discussed in class that it becomes difficult to follow. There was no way that I could possibly read his blog in one sitting. Having read the book "The Plague" in high school I
was very interested to see how he spoke about that. Torments, rage, despair- this accurately describes not only the plague but Shakespeare's poems and plays. How can love and hate, loneliness and boredom, torment and joy go hand in hand?

The mind and the soul fascinate me. When Turner touched on these subjects I was anxious to see how he was going to incorporate them into the School of Night blog. "The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n." The mind is a very powerful thing and something we often do not give enough attention to. The way that the mind can create a place in itself, and abstract other places or thoughts is absolutely terrifying.

TO be honest, I am touching so vaguely on all these points (suffering from pure exhaustion) and I cannot seem to grasp all these thoughts in the article at once. While I found this article to be absolutely intriguing, I find it to be complex and confusing. I feel like it is going to be something I continue to re-read until I have my light bulb moment and clarification from class discussion before I can really post a worthwhile blog.

Then, I will touch on the soul in Shakespeare and The School of Night.

In response to a few other blogs...

I have been trying to keep up with all the blogs and read through some that I really took something from. First, I must say...discussing the school of Night requirements, I was brought back to Dr. Sexson's literary criticism class from many years ago in which I actually did rock a mustache..for one afternoon...because I was forced to. In fact, I think a majority of the ladies in our group rocked the facial hair that day. Unforgettable.

As I read Jon Orsi's blog, I was drawn to his reference to Siddhartha. I was assigned this book in High School and recently picked up another Herman Hesse novel. Thinking about Siddhartha always brings me to the question of "what would we be, or rather who would we be if we took time to live that solitary life as he did? What would we then see or learn about not only life, but ourselves? Getting at this idea of life as "lunar, not linear", is something that we see every day. Again, cycling me back to T.S. Eliot's thoughts on time...is it cyclical or linear? I agree, life and stories are cyclical, everything is connected in some way. We sometimes don't figure this out until we have taken numerous classes from Dr. Sexson...they all connect, the chances are great that we will continuously cycle through the same things over and over but in a much different way, a way that will connect forwards and backwards.

I have already lost my train of thought and cannot seem to explain what I am thinking very clearly, so I will have to come back to this blog later...perhaps in the morning.

Editing: I looked over Geoffrey rice's blog this morning and found that while i am not familiar with Titus and am not required to read it, i couldn't help but keep reading his blog. I think what drew me in was his reference to the darkness. As he is, i am optimistic and most days quite excited about life, but at the same time i am mesmerized by the idea of darkness, longing, and failure. Is this strange? A girl with nothing to lose, but drawn to only the worst of things. I don't get it and don't really like admitting it....so let's just leave it at that. I won't yet attempt to respond to the aspect of faith.

Venus and Adonis

I have thoroughly been enjoying reading Venus and Adonis. I was at first a bit reluctant because as with many I have trouble getting through Shakespeare. I read the introduction as well and I think that this is why I was able to really engage in the poem, it helped a lot to clarify not only the works of Shakespeare but this poem specifically. The introduction sparked many questions for me and I found myself deep in thought before I had even gotten to the poem.

I love the imagery in Shakespeare's poem, perhaps because I can actually understand it. My favorite image though is one pointed out in the introduction:
"Whereat her tears began to turn their tide, being prisoned in her eye like pearls in glass." Lines 979- 980
These lines portray a sort of innocence in Venus, which is ironic because she is everything but that. The image of the pearls makes me think of purity, simplicity, and solitariness. Again, ironic because the poem is filled with neither simplicity or purity, but it is with solitariness. When I imagined the pearl and what it meant to me, I was reminded of what we think love should be...simple, pure- it is everything except those things.

The introduction talks about Venus and her maternal reflection. The image of the stallion seems significant here because it's reflecting a want to tame the stallion. The representation of the stallion is a strong image by itself, pairing a powerful, controlling, older female with this image is a clear representation of Venus and Adonis' relationship.

In the middle of the introduction it is said, "In a sense, everyone loses." Yes, in those tormenting love affairs everyone does lose, but I can't help but point out that even in the most tragic or tormenting of situations there is a growth of some sort.

Starting the poem (lines 43-54), I couldn't help but ask myself a lot of questions/ present myself with many different thoughts to which I seemed to have absolutely no answers. Thoughts and questions...answerless. In these lines though, I couldn't help but see only the sadness in Venus. Here she is, this powerful female, controlling the younger male she is infatuated with, yet still there is sadness. Of course there is sadness, how horrible to be THE goddess of love...any goddess...any lover...and know that the one you want so badly, love so much is not in love with you.

I guess in the end, everyone really does lose.

My limited Shakespeare knowledge

I hate to admit as a "super senior" in the Enlgish department, I know less about Shakespeare than I should. I never took the time to understand and develop a liking for Shaklespeare's work until recently because of a high school teacher I once had. He not only ruined Shakespeare's works for me for years to come after that class, but ruined the entire English curriculum- thank goodness it only lasted 2 years or so. I know that Shakespeare did not limit his works to one specific audience but to many, which was in a way frowned upon at that time. His plays are brilliant and I must say I am still in love with Romeo and Juliet as cliche as the story has become, that tragic romance (fatal love...) wins me over every time. I am so excited to get through Venus and Adonis to see how Shakespeare uses his brilliant ways to intertwine love, violence and sexuality within this poem. The way he plays with gender and age difference, and the roles that they take is stunning I think.

Yes, love is tormenting and who better to reflect that than Shakespeare.