Reading # 2 - Baillie, Wordsworth, Coleridge

I'm not a huge fan of poetry to begin with, and especially not that of the late eighteenth/early nineteenth century. Before coming to class, I had thought that Coleridge was a moody, temperamental, drugged-out worshiper of Wordsworth, that Wordsworth had had nothing of value to say except how pretty the trees looked on his daily walk - and I had never even heard of Baillie. Well, I was right about Coleridge, except that our in-depth analysis of his poem "The Lime-Tree Bower My Prison" offered a bit more insight into his moodiness. I had never read this particular piece of his before, but having read the footnote that his wife had dropped boiling milk on his foot and this was what led to his sulking and imprisonment allowed me to see that it was his great desire to be out in nature instead of stuck at home - and I know I've often felt the same way when it's raining and I'm sick of looking at the same four walls at home. Both Coleridge and Wordsworth are fairly straightforward writers; neither uses lofty language or complicated metaphor to make his point. Even if the subjects of the poems are not to my taste, I can appreciate their simplicity. I think many people (even some within our own class) shy away from poetry because they think it is too difficult to understand. I myself am guilty of this, but I'm very glad for the discussion we had. It helped me to see that even though I may not particularly be fond of a certain author, I can analyze and understand his or her meaning.

As far as Baillie goes, since I haven't studied much of her work, I don't know what to make of her. Her "Hymn" and "Song" that we discussed in class were also straightforward; she used simple language and concepts to make her point, not dragging on with flowery language or extended allegories. It also helped that her poems utilized end-rhyme. Who doesn't like nursery rhymes and lullabies? That's sort of what Baillie's two pieces reminded me of.

What I most appreciated was the list of terms Prof. Milstein gave us. The definitions really helped me understand what the differences, however minor, are in poetry. So thank you very much for that, Professor.

Reading #1 - Blake, Wollstonecraft, Barbauld

I have always liked William Blake's poetry, but I have never examined it from a scholarly standpoint. The "Songs of Innocence/Songs of Experience" collection that I have been reading since childhood has never provided me with much insight - only feelings of joy and sadness when reading the parallel poems. Having studied several of them in great detail in class on Wednesday, however, I found myself able to understand them much better. Knowing a bit about Blake's life helped, too. Looking at the poetic devices and imagery within the poems gave me a better insight into just what Blake meant by "innocence" and "experience."

Moving on to discuss the parallels and disparities between Wollstonecraft and Barbauld proved very interesting. I had no trouble understanding either text, but I found that I liked Barbauld's poem "The Rights of Women" as a response to Wollstonecraft's "A Vindication of the Rights of Women" better. Barbauld's narrator in the poem reminds me of the goddess Artemis, intelligent and strong-willed, needing no man to complete her, and very willing to put on her armor and hunt down the men who are trying to control her. Wollstonecraft's essay, as far as the fourth chapter goes, was easy enough to digest, but I found it lacking in provacative phrases. While I understand that Wollstonecraft wants women to remain women, and not to turn into men, I do not think that we as a sex should have to conform to gender stereotypes and stay at home knitting, even though we are allowed to learn. Perhaps that is just my twenty-first century viewpoint, but I preferred Barbauld's Amazonian call for revolution over Wollstonecraft's passive plea for men to allow us an education.