Human Nature

In response to "The Last of the Flock" by William Wordsworth...

In the poem when the shepherd says, "God cursed me in my sore distress" (line 86), I think sums up a main message we should take away from the story.
When all is going well in our lives, we could not feel any better, we feel like we are in God's good graces.
However, when things take a downward spin we could not be more angrier at everything and everyone.
I think the shepherd is a classic example of this part of human nature. I know there have been times in my life, when things are not so great, and I feel like am cursed. And other times, when things play out nicely for me, I could not feel more blessed. I think it is in our human nature to very easily put the blame for our misfortune on outside forces.
For example, the shepherd informs us that it was "a time of need".
We are left to interpret this in a few different ways based on other information we receive in the story.
I think that the shepherd has blinded himself from seeing where he played a part in his current misfortune. Throughout the years he tells of how his flock grew and grew. He was rich with sheep. Many would assume that if you are a shepherd, rich with a healthy, growing flock, then business would be booming. But all he tells about is how eventually he had to start to sell his flock one by one because he could not receive parish relief. The trouble is, if he is a shepherd, and a flock of sheep is a major resource, wouldn't selling some sheep be inevitable?
However, the manner in which the shepherd describes his sadness with selling the sheep gives the impression that his only intention was to continue growing the flock, with out ever making any sacrifice. This shows his greed, something else that can be a part of human nature.
The shepherd allowed his human nature to blind him from seeing other things that were important. Although he says he sold the flock to
provide for his family it seems as if it was done out of obligation rather than a desire to support his children.
He even comes to love his children less. To him his children are a flock that he is obligated to.
The shepherd's nature is one that is rather odd and dark. He is very honest about how he feels. He tells a complete stranger about his true feelings of having to sell his flock to help his family survive. For him, not even supporting his family a little longer brings him joy, "and now I care not if we die, And perish all of poverty" (line 39-40). To him the recent times have been a failure. Sure he kept his ten children fed and alive, but he sacrificed his flock.
It is sort of unsettling to learn the shepherd's true feelings. However, he is only giving in to his human nature. He is being honest about his feelings. It is always more interesting when someone is blunt about how they feel because it is a form of honesty, that depending on the issue, can be unsettling and yet truly revealing.

The Innocence of Youth

In response to We Are Seven by William Wordsworth...


The poem brought to mind the quote from 1 Corinthians 13:11 that discusses the ways of being a child.
All the innocence and ignorance that exists within a child. I feel that the poem goes along with this idea
that children have a very different way of thinking and understanding. In many ways they are both logical and illogical.
In the poem, the little girl tells the speaker, when asked, that total there are seven children in her family.
She tells the speaker that two dwell in the church-yard. The speaker, as a logical adult would likely argue, tells the girl
that there are only five children then. The little girl is very persistent in the idea that there are seven siblings.
I think that the little girl's understanding of death is still very innocent. For her, they are still very much a part of her life.
She dances and plays and even eats around their graves. She is allowing them to still be a part of her life. Even if they are not physically there.
For her, just because they dwell in the church yard, that does not mean that they are no longer her brother and sister.
Her reasoning with the speaker comes across almost stubborn. And in the speaker's response you can tell that the speaker is
surprised by the child's persistence. When it comes down to it the child cannot reason with the reality of death. However, I think she has a point.
Regardless of whether or not her siblings are in the spiritual world or in this world, they are still her siblings.
This little girl definitely speaks like a child and thinks like a child.Furthermore, she shows no sign of putting away childish things anytime soon.
And there is a quality about her that is admirable. She is both logical and yet illogical. Many people see it as reasonable to consider death to destroy all existence of an individual;
at least to a rational adult. But to a child who thinks like a child, with innocence, it is logical to still acknowledge the deceased.
They do not see death in the same way that adults do. The child's view of death to some may seem unhealthy, while to others come across
as reasonable.

The Nightingale knows something we don't...

In Response to The Nightingale by Samuel T. Coleridge...
Towards the end of the poem the speaker recalls a night when his child was distressed. He discusses how he has tried to make his son a child of nature. On this night he takes his son outside where he is mesmerized by the moon. The moon and nature have this ability to calm him. I think the purpose here is
to admire the power of nature. The Nightingale becomes a symbol of this power. I like that the Nightingale is really the only one in the poem who knows nature in all its beauty, at night, when if anything it is less likely to be seen and appreciated. In many ways the nightingale and the child are similar. The nightingale's
cries are described as being "melancholy" and it is at night when the bird is most likely to sing some beautiful tunes. This child who cries has an experience similar to the nightingale's. He cries in the night but is
moved by the night. This poem I believe reminds us to appreciate the influence nature has on us. Sometimes it is the simplest things that can catch our atttention, For, the nightingale it is nature at night.

Guilt

In response to The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

In the poem we learn about how killing the Albatross has caused the mariner a great deal of pain. It was a simple action of his that he did not expect to haunt him for the rest of his life. The poem takes on a religious feel with some of the phrases and images presented. In my opinion, I believe that these images mirror that of Christianity. One quote I feel summarizes what the Mariner is experiencing, "Instead of the Cross the Albatross About my neck was hung" (lines 137-138). Two images come to mind. The first being the Christian image of Christ bearing the cross, a cross that represented his role in saving humanity. The second image that came to mind was of how Christians often wear small crosses around our necks. I think that nowadays more an more Christians wear a small medal cross and fail to remember what it is supposed to mean. We wear it without any guilt and yet certain branches of Christianity, like Catholicism, are often critiqued for structuring moral lessons around guilt. With that said, this poem follows a common structure of Catholic morality. The Mariner did not have a choice to ignore his burden. When he killed the Albatross it became his burden. He had to carry that story around with him to tell others. What is more interesting, is that telling it gave him no relief from his guilt. Rather, it seems that every time he tells the story, his guilt takes on a stronger presence. The Albatross hung in place of any cross as a symbol of his guilt. In the poem we never learn why the mariner killed the bird; we simply learn that the consequence was much more than expected. In discussion, it was asked if the mariner should feel so guilty and burdened by killing a bird? I myself am not that sure. Naturally, the heavy burden of guilt is intended to go along with the moral messages being conveyed. I do think that it is interesting to remind us of how guilt works. Sometimes it sneaks up on us when we least expect it. Much like the mariner we have all been surprised at how certain actions can make us feel guilty, however, the severity of the mariner's guilt is thought provoking. To be forced to continuously relive an event that causes so much pain and yet brings much wisdom is not something that I feel we recognize as easily. Guilt has a strong influence at taking our lives and views in new directions.