Emily & Emily

"Song" by Emily Bronte and "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" by Emily Dickinson are so far my two favourite poems about death. In their words, death is gentle, death is courteous, death is not scary.

Bronte's "Song" not only describes death as a "tranquil sleep" (23), but also as I imagine, a sleep on a bed of flowers in a Eden-like forest with "wild deer" (5) and "wild birds" (6) gathering around - just like a scene from a Disney movie. It is such a beautiful idea to think that the constant blow of "west wind"  (25) and "murmur [of] summer streams" (26) will replace the temperamental weeps and sighs. I think this is a very lovely poem that can provide some consolation to people who has lost their loved ones. 

Although we are all aware that it is only a poem, Dickinson's "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" provides a rather favourable suggestion of how one's encounter with Death could be like. Words and phrases like "kindly" (2), "he knew no haste" (5), and "civility" (8) set the tone of the poem and the gentleman-like characteristics of Death.

Senior Citizen

I'm afraid this is yet another entry that leans towards the Orient.

Tennyson's "Ulysses" is a dramatic monologue that illustrates Ulysses' frustration of staying home doing nothing, after being the hero for so long. I think it is very interesting how I can often find songs or poems from my native culture that have resemblance to the English literary pieces we've been learning.

This time, finally, a representative from my homeland Hong Kong! Believe it or not, there is actually a song called "神奇女俠的退休生活" which means "The Retirement of Wonder Woman." (I'm not making this up, I promise) The lyrics are pretty delicate that I'm not confident enough to translate them. Basically it is about Wonder Woman's frustration about her inability to save the world and her boredom of living a commoner's life. Underneath it all, the song is indeed a criticism of Hong Kong's societal problems. Even so, I can still relate "Ulysses" to some parts of the song: how both the hero and the heroine "cannot rest from travel" and they are both still restless at heart - "How dull it is to pause, to make an end, / To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!"

The Brownings

"My Last Duchess" is Robert Browning's most popular dramatic monologue. The Duke in the poem is an arrogant, possessive, and demanding man. I wonder if he knows that he is being way too proud and self-centered in order to quickly establish a sense of power and pride that is sure to follow after the marriage, or he is just arrogant in nature he doesn't even notice it himself? By mentioning his last duchess' death which is potentially caused by him - "I gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together" (45-46) - he is increasing the chance of the marriage engagement being cancelled when the envoy reports back to his master. Or can he somehow be a good man? He is showing the envoy what his expectations of a good wife are, and  so if this wife-to-be is not suitable or ready for this kind of marriage, there is still a chance to call of the engagement and he won't destroy the girl's life.....?

Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnet 14 carries a straightforward message: "love me for love's sake" (13). Nowadays, we always hear what the speaker asks her lover not to say: "I love her for her smile - her look - her way / Of speaking gently" (3-5). While some see this as a shallow love for beauty or youthful appearance, I think this is not entirely true. When you love someone, everything about that person becomes ten times as good or beautiful as it normally does. For example when parents look at their new born baby, every move, every little noise, every change in facial expression becomes just one more reason to love the baby more. Being the apple of someone's eye can also be a way to be loved.

And I was unaware

Although the first two stanzas of Thomas Hardy's "The Darkling Thrush" are depressing, the poem gives out some hope and optimism at the end. All the gloomy grey weather and frozen landscape are suddenly lightened up by a bird's "fullhearted evensong" (19). This restores the speaker's faith and makes him believe that there must be "Some blessed Hope, whereof [the bird] knew" (31). It is noteworthy that he doesn't turn bitter, annoyed, or jealous that the bird has a "cause for carolings" (25) and he doesn't, showing that he still has faith in happiness.

Often when we are strangled by depression and frustration, we magnify our own problems and discontent. We think only of ourselves and our misery, and sometimes turn hostile to the world - "why is this happening to ME? Why can't I have what they have? I hate this world!" We have to remember that the world doesn't revolve around ourselves, that we are just a tiny tiny part of it. We should be appreciative that there are still reasons to rejoice, and hope that next time they will be somewhere we know.

The Wailing Sea

Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" reminded me of a famous Taiwanese song that my generation grew up with called 聽海, which literally means "Listening to the Sea." This is my attempt of a translation of the lyrics (It may sound weird in English, but, I tried...) 

Write me a letter and tell me what colour is the sea today 
How does the sea that stays with you every night feel? 
"Gray" means you don't want to talk, "Blue" means melancholy 
Then what about your wild, drifting heart

Where is it stopping?

Listen to the wailing sea!

Sighing that someone is heartbroken again yet is still blinded by love

It couldn't be me, at least I'm calm

But my tears, even my tears won't believe it

Listen to the wailing sea!

This sea is too emotional, weeping with grief until the break of day

Write me a letter for one last time 
Tell me, what were you thinking when you left me?

While the speaker of the poem mourns the loss of religious faith when listening to the sea, the speaker of the song mourns the loss of her lover and his faithfulness. Having lived in cities that set on islands – Hong Kong and Victoria – the sound of the sea is nothing new. Unlike the speakers in both the poem and the song, I always find the sound of the waves very soothing and calming. I guess it is our own mind sets that determine what we interpret the sounds of nature which, actually, are emotionless. All the “eternal note of sadness” (14) and the “granting roar” (9) are just in our heads.

Starry Starry Night

Stars are one of the most beautiful things in nature. Simply magical.

John Keats’s “Bright Star! Would I Were Steadfast As Thou Art” reminded me immediately of the saying that love is “the star of every wandering bark” in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116. The shining, sparkling feature of stars is usually the first thing that comes up in people’s minds when they think about them. In the poem, however, Keats emphasizes mainly on the bright star’s “steadfast” and “unchangeable” (9) nature which allows it to overlook everything that happens on Earth. The imagery of “moving waters” and “soft-fallen mask / Of snow” not only adds to the underlying theme of nature’s beauty, but also shows that only by staying still on the sky can the star observe them, suggesting that one can attain so much more in a relationship with faithful and undying love.

Nonetheless, the bright star is not all that perfect.  Its loneliness of hanging on the sky eternally with no companion cannot be compared with the speaker’s joy of spending his life with his “fair love” (10). He is not fond of being a “sleepless Eremite” (4) like the star. Or perhaps we can say that, unless we can find someone that has the same persistent view towards love, we might as well be just like the star, shining alone in the dark.