The Bosnian Monsta

In a land far away with grass the color of rotten fried liver and the smell of festering onions lived a Bosnian Monsta.  This was no ordinary Monsta, she had hair as tall as a sky scraper, and as poofy as a white, purebred, poodle.  She was known all across the world as a fashionable diva.  Zebra skirts as wild as the savanna, even leopard print boots as fierce as the hunter that stalks the prey.  This Bosnian Monsta walked across the land like she was the TBI.  She toppled cities like lumberjacks chopping down fir trees that touch the sky.  Leaving a path of destruction behind her like the remains of Hiroshima after the bomb, the Bosnian Monsta walks once again.  With that slick walk as smooth and graceful as can be nobody could take her down.  Yeah, she had her flaws, but the Bosnian Monsta was as confident and strong as a lion. As fly as a bird in the sky the Bosnian Monsta will destroy any city in her way in order to get what she wants.  This Monsta knows how to play the game and plays it ten times better than all the males after her.  A game full of skill, deceit, and no emotions. Yet a strange emotion has come upon the Monsta, one which she had once before.  An emotion that confused her like if she were a child lost in an unfamiliar place.  The game she once knew has taken an unexpected turn.  The Bosnian Monsta didn’t know what to with this strange feeling.  Like a lost child she wanders around city to city destroying all in her path trying to understand what this feeling might be.  Is this really something or is it just another game?  The Bosnian Monsta may lose this one, but the Bosnian Monsta will never stop ripping cities apart.

Blogging Community: "The Life of John Keats; A Romantic Poet"

           The blog “The Life of John Keats; A Romantic Poet” by Andrew Torrey, Nicole Brown, Kylie Hutchison, and Darian Washington is a very well thought out and well laid blog.  At first glance I was interested right away in the topic because of the layout of the page and all the organized links they have.  I like how they have a poll and videos to keep things interesting while looking at the blog.  Most of the posts have pictures that relate to the poem to help create the mental image the poem is trying to create in the reader’s imagination.  I also enjoyed how they appropriately added humor into their blog by their group name and in their about me section.  Seeing the different interpretations of certain poems by different people was interesting because it shows the different perspectives of the poems.  Their blog posts are unique and enchanting to read like Kylie Hutchison’s blog post “On Fame”.  She related one of Keats’ poems to pop culture and made a lot of thought-provoking points about getting caught up in the thought of fame.  Also Darian Washington’s “The Rose” was very intense and well thought out.  The poem has a very deep message in it which I have yet to figure out.  This blog is a very important blog because not only is the content interesting but the layout of the blog keeps the reader engaged in the blog and it stays on the topic of John Keats.  It provides background information about John Keats for the reader and also provides some poems in links off to the left side of the page.  Their interpretations of the poems are concise and make sense.  For someone who knows nothing about Romanticism this blog would inform them of the kind of poet John Keats was and what Romanticism was about.  Overall this blog is worth the time to look at and actually read what the bloggers have to say about John Keats and his poems.  They spent a lot of time and effort into making it easy for the reader to understand their posts and get more information with other links if needed.  They also made it easy to share the blog on Facebook or Twitter and let others know about the blog.

"I Wandered Lonley as a Cloud"

          One of the most famous poems by William Wordsworth is “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”.  A simple poem filled with nature and joy, just the way Wordsworth liked it.  In the first stanza of the poem he tells of how he wandered around alone in the hills and came across a huge field of daffodils.   He paints a picture in the reader’s mind of the daffodils next to a lake “dancing in the breeze”.  The daffodils are described in his usual naturalistic way in the second stanza.  He sees thousands of flowers and relates the amount to the stars in the Milky Way to show an image through his writing of how many daffodils there were dancing next to the lake.  He uses personification to make the flowers seem more alive as they dance in the wind.  He compares the flowers to the lake by saying that even though the flowers move at the same time as the waves, the beauty of the flowers outshines the beauty of the lake.  The third stanza shows his undeniable joy as he stares at the daffodils.  While he is staring at the field of flowers he doesn’t think much of the effect it will have on him in the future, he lives in the moment of happiness.  In the fourth stanza he realizes that the image of the daffodils comes back to him whenever he is alone or sad.  The image of the daffodils swaying in the breeze by the lake in the hills brings him joy once again.  William Wordsworth is known for his light and joyful poems about nature and the happiness it can bring into one’s life.  This poem is especially famous for its simplistic approach to nature and the feelings it can bring to the reader.  From his descriptive style it is easy to picture the scene at which he is at and feel what the nature around him has to offer.  This poem would have to be one of my favorites of all of the William Wordsworth poems because it’s simple and calming yet the words are so powerful.

Wordsworth Vs. Science

The fast paced forward movement of science was not viewed as a good thing by William Wordsworth.  He didn’t agree with all the scientists just wanting to know the facts about everything and not seeing the true beauty within what they were studying.  Wordsworth was a naturalist and believed that science would soon lead to the destruction of the mystery in nature.  In “A Poet’s Epitaph” he writes “one that would peep and botanize upon his mother’s grave?” to express his belief that scientists are becoming too inhumane with their studies.  Wordsworth was not just angry with natural science but science in general.  He believed that we should appreciate the beauty nature offers us rather than tear it apart to find the answers to every question we can possibly come up with.  The pace of science was moving way too fast for Wordsworth’s liking and he wasn’t going to sit around without a complaint about it.  His anger is expressed in many of his poems like in “The Tables Turned” he even clearly states “enough of science”.  Wordsworth doesn’t specify what type of science he is bothered with in this poem so it seems as if he is referring to science as a whole.  He uses nature as a mysterious way to describe human emotions and the interactions between humans in his poems, so he believed that scientists were taking away the perception of joy in his poems.  However it is believed that science also had an influence in Wordsworth’s poems.  Newton’s third law of motion is mentioned in “The Preface”.  He tried hard to explain the difference between poetry and science, yet explained it in a somewhat hypocritical manner by explaining it with the use of science.  It is also believed that he did this on purpose to show that science can also have an artistic form to it without having to be limited to just answers.  All in all Wordsworth had a couple bones to pick with science and was definitely not quite about.  He voiced his opinions throughout his famous poems and took a stand for what he believed in.

Lucy Interpretation

William Wordsworth expresses his feelings for a lady whom he referred to as Lucy in five short poems.  These poems caused a lot of rumors to come up about who Lucy might be.  Many believed that Lucy was his sister Dorothy, however the true identity of Lucy was never revealed. In the first short poem “Strange Fits of Passion Have I Known” he describes Lucy and tells of his love for her.  Later in the poem he talks about a journey through orchards and hills on horseback.  Near the end of the poem while riding on his horse to Lucy’s cottage he stares at the moon in front of him.  “And all the while my eyes I kept on the descending moon.”  He seems to be concentrated on the moon quickly going down which can mean mystery or a change is coming.  The last line “If Lucy should be dead!” shows him mourning at the thought of her dying and once again expresses his love for her.

             The second poem “She Dwelt Among The Untrodden Ways” brings in Wordsworth’s famous use of nature to describe how Lucy kept to herself and not many people knew her.  He admired the innocence and beauty within her.  In the end of the poem it states that when Lucy was to die not many would notice, however it would make a difference in his life.

            “I Traveled Among Unknown Men” is the third poem in the series.  In this poem Wordsworth tells of how no matter where he travels his love for Lucy grows more and more.  Even though she has died he can’t stop thinking about her as he goes through the mountains.  He goes to a field that Lucy used to go to and thinks of her and misses her more and more. 
            "Three Years She Grew" is the longest of the five Lucy poems.  Wordsworth personifies nature in the beginning by making it seem as nature itself was talking to him and promising to take Lucy into itself and making her a part of nature.  Most of the poem talks about how Lucy is included into nature like the rocks and sky.  In the end nature speaks once again and declares that “the work was done”.  Nature had fulfilled its promises and now Lucy has died and left a peaceful scene behind her. 
            The last poem of the Lucy series is “A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal”.  He doesn’t realize what has really happened because slumber has kept him occupied.  Soon he comes to the realization that she has passed away and sees that even nature can cause harm in the world.

To see the full series of the Lucy poems click here.