The Evolution of the Word Mythology as We Know it

As I was reading the first chapter of Myth and Knowing, I was struck by something new. I never actually took the time to think about what mythology means to me. Mythology always brings to mind those stories from ancient Greece and, we always remember those gods and godesses of ancient Rome. However, I didn't know that, both the word and the idea behind it, went through a long process of development and evolution. I didn't know myth used to be considered divine-inspired truth or lie. Indeed, our notion of what myth is has changed.
Another thing that I hadn't considered before is how myth can influence a culture and a people's perspective of themselves. Myth can be a reflection of a people's values and principles. Myths hold the identity of a people and this is something I hadn't considered before. If we look at mythology from this perspective, we can see it, not only as fictitional stories with some values embedded in them but, we can also see them as a valuable piece of history. Mythology can let us into the world of our ancestors and, in studying them, we can learn more about them and about ourselves. We can look at our surrounding and get a better understanding of its origins.
Mythology also provides us with a new set of lenses from which to look at our present and future. By learning the process and development of myth, we can foresee where the values and beliefs of a people can go and what the results of these changes can be. Thus studying mythology can be an interesting path towards studying humanity with all its complexities and all its values. Who we are and what we value can all be explored through these readings of ancient stories and divine drama.

The Poetry of Life

The Train Ride

Out in the distance, there it lies
A dark spot in the horizon almost hidden from the eyes.
Clothed in robes of steel and wrapped in foggy clouds,
Its feet march forward, sending sparks of its presence throughout.
And although far away it may seem -

Like a stubborn speck on a well designed gown,
Its arrival will come, to change the plans that we keep
And usher forth a new beginning - a new sound.
Listen carefully! The train is coming!
Look carefully! The train will be here!
Get your ticket ready for the ride.

The ticket has no coding in verbs, or nouns, or words
The only markings on it are some wrinkles due to folds.
It has no numbers on its margin.
Nor some time indicating its coming.
Instead, stamped on it
are the love, the pain, and the fears.
And marked also
 the joy, the laughs, and the tears.
The hands of the clock can be merciless
So, says the smudge, the tare, and the wear.
There is not enough time
So, says the smooth, the new, unaware
That the train ride is for everyone because it is fair.


And so comes the train with echoing blast in the air.
At first it was far and now it is there.
Where it will go? The destination is unknown.
But climb aboard, all must do, for its known
That the choice in most times is not yours.

The Memory Well

Those concrete streets stretch for miles

Sometimes leading you through paths without smiles.

Its paved ground seems to holler

Through the cacophony

Of the artificial wild.

Its red, yellow, and green lights don’t give sight

Its towers seem to offer not delight.

Its light posts only guide

The moving rubber of the night.

Like an assembly line without will,

Us humans take our steps

Moving hesitantly forward to a future that’s unclear.

And so its not enough, sometimes

For the mind and the heart

To venture down pitiless roads

Of empty desires and logic gone wild.

Thus, we step

On the golden foliage of time.

We look up at the sturdiness of wooden arms extending high

- at green leafs sustained by light.

At the river for its refreshing old age

And feel the breeze gently giving us wings.

Amidst all this life, there it is,

The well which we like

To visit sometimes

When we want to escape,

When we want to cry,

When we want to laugh,

Or when we want to just sigh.

And from that deep and dark bottom

We reach for a time that has gone by.

We let down the buckets down that well

And fill it to the rim with memories

And Love.

Oh, that I may take a glass from that well.

That it may quench some of my thirst.

That’s its water can cool my mind

And bring feeling to a numb heart.

　



　
　
　
　

Our Thrush of Hope: Essay on Hardy's "The Darkling Thrush"

We have all experienced disappointment and the feeling that our times have failed to live up to the past and all it stood for. The feeling that mankind has lost its way is something that persists today as we face a world that is increasingly more violent and indifferent to suffering. However, something that hasn’t changed is human kind’s thirst for self-expression. Our ability  to put into words those feelings bursting with longing, joy, disappointment, or hope is a unique human trait which is brought forth through many venues by talented writers such as Thomas Hardy and his ‘thrush of hope‘’. Hardy’s talented use of verse, now more than ever, is able to bridge the gap of time to make the reader feel this longing for the redemption and restoration of a fallen world because his was also a feeling of loss but with light at the end of the tunnel. This is very apparent in Hardy’s “The Darkling Thrush” in which we see a cry of lament for an era gone by and, Hardy pays homage to this golden age of literature through the use of imagery, metaphor, and an iambic verse that lends hope to a future still unknown. These stanzas, although filled with pessimism for the fate of human kind, leaves the reader with a glimmer of light in a world full of darkness.

            Thomas Hardy’s poetic works are notorious for their allusions to death and their cry for something lost and dead: “In brief, Hardy‘s poetic distinction is in the blending of two qualities that can easily be contraries - hard etching and spectral atmosphere“(Elliot 1186). “The Darkling Thrush” is one of several poems in which Hardy’s longing for the past is evidenced through his masterful use of imagery and metaphor heavily influenced by Romanticism. We see this deathlike imagery in the very first stanza. ‘Frost’ and ‘Winter’ are capitalized because they represent death. In fact, Hardy describes the frost as being “spectre-gray”. Indeed, this image evokes a ghostly picture of what once used to exist. Winter seems to absorb all life, leaving behind only “dregs” and remains of what used to be there. The next verse also speaks of death when he describes the “weakening eye of day” (4). The eye is symbolic for the sun which gives light to everything and sees everything. Now, that light has been darkened and it has been “weakened by Winter’s merciless force. Music too has succumbed to this death as evidenced when “the tangled bine-stems scored the skies like strings from broken lyres” (5-6). The lyres represent music and the power it has to enliven the spirit. However, the lyre is broken and its strings can no longer animate the soul. The broken strings symbolize that which has changed - that which no longer exists and they don’t’ caress the sky but “score” it as if trying to rebel against their condition. Thus, we have a vivid picture of decay and death.

            Yet, Hardy’s imagery of death doesn’t stop with the first stanza. The first stanza gives us an image of death but, the second stanza identifies what is dead and presents the reader with what can be compared to a funeral. The first identification of this dead body is seen when Hardy describes

 “the land’s sharp features seemed to be The Century’s corpse outleant, His crypt the cloudy canopy, The wind his death-lament” (9-12).

‘Century’ is capitalized because its symbolic of an age gone by. This is the body that is being mourned for. This is the body that is buried beneath the ‘Frost’ of ‘Winter’ and, similar to a funeral, “the wind his death-lament” is a cry of mourning. Thus, we can picture an age being buried and around its grave, we can hear the mourning of those attached to it. Unfortunately, there seems to be no hope for restoration since,

“The ancient pulse of germ and birth was shrunken hard and dry, and every spirit upon earth seemed fervourless as I.” (13- an16)

The ‘germ’ is a seed that, together with the ‘pulse’, symbolize life. There is no sign of life. There is no birth. Consequently, there is no purpose to live in a world that is so desolate and dark. Thus, there is no warmth, no passion and no fervor when everything that was once cherished is dead. There is no longing to live in a world that seems hopeless and purposeless and this is seen in the landscape depicted in these verses emptied of light with only a dim cloth of darkness covering around everything with doom. This is also seen in the last stanza where “all mankind that haunted nigh had sought their household fires” (7-8). Man are living dead and, Hardy cries for the past and mourns “the passing of one age and anxiously  anticipate(s) the arrival of another” (Ramanzi 133) He mourns for a lifestyle that marked an age. He suffers for those beliefs, values, and principles that have been lost. As readers, we are witnessing the burial of the past. As Ramanzi states: “It inters the aesthetic in allusions to poems like ‘ode to the West Wind’, ‘Ode to a Nightingale,’ and ‘Dover Beach’, incorporating words that the very language of  the elegy becomes a crypt for Romanticism” (Ramanzi 134). This is the age that has dissipated.

            Although, these two stanzas have presented us with a ghastly view of the world, the next two stanzas give us something different. The protagonist of the third stanza is not nature buried beneath snow and cold. Instead, we have a bird as the carrier of hope.  The bird is presented as an “aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small, in blast-beruffled plume” (21-22). We can say this bird is symbolic of what is left of that Century gone by. Although, the past is gone, there still remains something left behind and, this bird is an echo of a golden age of human kind. We can see it has suffered the ravages of change and time but, it is still fighting to exist and he does so by choosing to “fling his soul upon the growing gloom” (23-24). The choice “fling” as a word to describe the way the bird casts his soul upon the world, is a violent one which means that, although ‘frail’ and ‘gaunt’, the soul of that past is fighting back. Again, we see Hardy’s brilliant use of metaphor to describe the struggle that exists between Hope and Hopelessness. Hope that something good that was left behind can still provide for a better future.

            This hope is much more concrete in the verses of the last stanza where:

So little cause for carollings of such ecstatic sound was written on terrestrial things afar or night around, that I could think there trembled through his happy good-night air some blessed Hope, whereof he knew and I was unaware. (25-32)

This stanza doesn’t carry as much imagery and symbolism as the first three but, it mentions what the whole poem is about - hope. Ted R. Spivey, in one of his book reviews, noted that “Hardy, at least after he turned to poetry, developed a reassuring view of the future” (Spivey 17). This is evident in the last stanza of “The Darkling Thrush”. He doesn’t end the poem with pessimism and helplessness. Instead, after filling the reader’s imagination with images of death and decay, Hardy leaves the reader with a small dose of hope; a hope for the future that he harbored himself because “he believed that consciousness and the ideals it creates will lead man toward a better future,” (Spivey 18). Thus, he implants this hope at the end of the poem in the form of a thrush. Our world might seem dark because of the injustice, cruelty, and frivolity that surrounds us and, the future is down a dark tunnel where discerning its tidings is difficult. The future is the unknown and, therefore dark; a darkness that is exacerbated by what we witness in the present. Yet, he believed that hope is still alive even when we are battered by ‘Frost’ and ‘Winter’ and, this poem is both a lament for something lost but, it is also a statement of belief that something better will come.

            Although the imagery and metaphors contribute to the overall meaning of the poem and its tone, the meter in this poem also plays a role. As we could see, this poem has two sides to it: death and hope. The imagery conveyed makes this clear. However, although the imagery contributes to a tone of disappointment, the meter does the opposite and, it is in these two things that we also see this struggled aforementioned.  Hardy uses iambic meter throughout most of the verses in the poem. However, the verses tend to alternate between tetrameter and trimeter and, this continuing alternation coupled with the iambic foot is what lends a melodious beat to every stanza.

I leant/upon/a co/ppice gate

When Frost/ was spec/tre gray

The words in bold indicate the syllables that are stressed while the rest of the syllables indicate that they are unstressed. If you count the feet in each line, there will be four in the first verse, which is a tetrameter and three on the second - a trimeter. If the beat of the feet is followed, it will be noticed that is iambic in nature because an iambic foot consists of two syllables: an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The beat does not give us a tone of darkness or, disappointment instead “‘The Darkling Thrush’ is a lyric of rugged strength, that peculiar strength that comes from understatement and the sense of something in reserve” (Noyes 96). Consequently, while the stanzas give an image of decay, the meter dabs them with a beat of reassurance.

            In conclusion, “The Darkling Thrush” still speaks to our times because, as time passes and as long as we are plagued by cruelty, all of us will turn to the past for a moment of comfort just as Thomas Hardy did. We will look for those memories and lament some of the changes that have taken place. We will mourn a lost age but, within us we will carry a glimmer of hope that maybe everything will be for good. Of course, the difference between Hardy and us lies in the fact that he stamped those feelings of loss on the pages of history and on the memory of many. He was able to evoke these feelings through his good use of imagery and symbolism. He was able to conflate a meter of hope with images of decay. This poem is a testament to creativity and the ability of the human mind to recreate through a poetic form of expression and, it is proof that words can bridge the gaps that exist amongst individuals; individuals as far apart as Thomas Hardy and the reader of the 21^st century.

Works Cited

Elliot, G.R.L "Spectral Etching in the Poetry of Thomas Hardy." PMLA Vol. 43, no.4 (1928) 15 Sept. 2010 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/457610>

Hardy, Thomas. "The Darkling Thrush." 100 Best-Loved Poems. Ed. Philip Smith. New York: Dover Publications, 1995. 72-73.

Noyes, Alfred. "The Poetry of Thomas Hardy." The North American Review (1911). 15 Sept. 2010 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/25106974

Ramanzi, Johan. "Hardy's Elegies for an Era: 'By the Century's Deathbead." Victorian Poetry Vol. 29 (1991) 15 Sept. 2010<http://www.jstor.org/stable/40002078>

Spivey, Ted. "Gloom to Hope." Rev. of Thomas Hardy and the Cosmic Mind, by J.O. Bailey. Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press May 1957. 15 Sept. 2010. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3198186

Works Cited

Elliot, G.R.L "Spectral Etching in the Poetry of Thomas Hardy." PMLA Vol. 43, no.4 (1928) 15 Sept. 2010 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/457610>

Hardy, Thomas. "The Darkling Thrush." 100 Best-Loved Poems. Ed. Philip Smith. New York: Dover Publications, 1995. 72-73.

Noyes, Alfred. "The Poetry of Thomas Hardy." The North American Review (1911). 15 Sept. 2010 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/25106974

Ramanzi, Johan. "Hardy's Elegies for an Era: 'By the Century's Deathbead." Victorian Poetry Vol. 29 (1991) 15 Sept. 2010<http://www.jstor.org/stable/40002078>

Spivey, Ted. "Gloom to Hope." Rev. of Thomas Hardy and the Cosmic Mind, by J.O. Bailey. Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press May 1957. 15 Sept. 2010. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3198186

           

             



The Human Spirit and its Mysterious Tides

After reading several of the poems assigned this week, I couldn't help but notice the contrasting feelings that exist among many of these poets' great works. Whitman's "I Hear America Singing" is a celebration of the human spirit and its solid ties to the foundation of this country. However, we look at Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" and we see the hopelessness that pervades in humanity. These contrasting feelings are brought to life by the magic of poetry and the powerful effect it has on the reader's imagination with its ability  to produce a catharsis from where we emerge with a little more enlightnement about a world that is still eveloped by a shroud of mystery.
In the case of Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach", we can see the utter hopelessness that lies beneath the seemingly calm surface of the beach.  At first, the voice in the poem describes a tranquil night; a calm sea where "the cliffs of England stand, glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay" (4-5). However, when the we look closer at this beautiful calm night, we notice the "grating roar of pebbles which the waves suck back, and fling, at their return, up the high strand" (9-11). This is clearly a violent description of the ebb and flow of the waves. We also see the Sea of Faith retreating like the waves of the ocean with a foreboding of a coming disaster. "Dover Beach" is a representation of humanity's state in this world. Basing ourselves on the time this poem was writen, we can see a renewed world where industrialism is leading the way towards human progress. However, beneath this "progress" and optimism lies darkness and hopelessness. Everything we believe stands for prosperity and happiness is only a dream - an illusion that will quickly dissipate and ebb away like the waves of those waves in Dover Beach. There is no longer faith in humanity. The world is devoid of hope and love. Consequently, the only thing that awaits humanity is destruction. The same can be applied to our times. If there is one thing that Arnold makes clear in this poem is that this hopelessness and despondency has occured before and, we see this when "Sophocles long ago heard it on the Aegaean, and it brought into his mind the turbid ebb and flow of human misery" (15-18). Thus, we will again experience this like those waves of the ocean that come and go; "begin, and cease, and then again begin" (12).
Similarly, when we look at Yeats' "When You Are Old", we see hopelessness that emerges from youth and love gone by. Only the fading memories of youth exist in the mind as some sort of escape from the 'agray' reality decay that now hang over that old man.
Yet, Whitman gives us the uplifting side of humanity. In Whitman's "I Hear America Singing" and "A Noiseless Patient Spider", we see the human dignity and joy as well as human mystery and frailty. In "I Hear America Singing", Whitman portrays the spirit of America in the working class. What Whitman tells us in this poem is that America is founded on the hard work of many. From the mechanic to the woman taking care of her family. In addition to this, we can also say it is a celebration of work and how it can edify the human spirit. Work does not equate misery and hopelessness in this poem but, it is giving purpose to everyone in this purpose - a purpose that contributes to the whole of the nation. In a "Noiseless Patient Spider", Whitman portrays the human soul as a small spider engulfed by the immensity and mystery of its surroundings. However, as small as that spider is, it still "mark'd  how to explore the vacant vast surrounding, it launch'd forth, filament, filament, filament, out of itself, ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them" (3-5). This is human frailty but, at the same time, it is also the strength and thirst of the spirit to explore its universe and build in it a place for itself just like each of us struggle to attain the same thing.
In this poems we have despondency and joy; hopelessness and hope and, we also have the frailty and strength that exists in us. These poets have demonstrated the power words have to enthrall us and make us meditate on our own exstnce. They have the power to stamp with words emotions such as sadnesss and joy.

A Little Bit About Me

Well, like many of you, I'm taking this class because I am seriously considering becoming a teacher. Literature is one of the things I really enjoy and because I enjoy it, I want to share my joy for literature with students. I also believe in the power of literature to educate our minds and its ability to open us up to other experiences and points of view. Thus, I expect to enjoy this class and, I am eager to learn more about literature and literacies that I have not yet learned.

Another thing I can add to this simple introduction is that I am Mexican and bilingual. I am currently trying to acquire another language - French - but due to time limitations, I have not been very successful at becoming fluent. I enjoy translating books, hiking, jogging, music and of course, literature. I am a little shy so it takes a little bit for me to open up which is funny because I'm supposed to be a good public speaker.

Well, for now that is all I can think of. Hopefull, I get to meet you all and I am sure this class will be lots of fun!