Wednesday, January 29, 2020

“To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell Essay Example for Free

â€Å"To His Coy Mistress† by Andrew Marvell Essay Andrew Marvell’s poem â€Å"to his coy mistress† is about a man trying to convince a mistress to love and enter a sexual relationship with him because life is too short. But the woman is being coy and playing coy games. The man says that her virginity or beauty will last forever so she needs to make use of it while she’s still young and alive otherwise nobody will be interested in or want her. The purpose of this poem is to show that some people will do or say anything just so they get what they want. The emotion this poem creates is a passion for love and what may happen if they don’t make love. This poem uses many craftsmanship techniques such as structure, language and sounds, imagery, and movement. The poem is structured into three stanzas or poetic paragraphs. These stanzas do not have regular lines but every stanza has paired lines that have the same rhythm and rhyme. The poem has language that is very vivid. It is also presented in a dramatic monologue with lots of exaggeration of time. The effect of language on the poem is that it makes the poem beautiful and provoking. There were three main techniques used. The first technique is Simile. Simile is used to give us a greater understanding and image of what is going on with the man and the woman. An example of a simile used is the line â€Å"and now, like â€Å"am’rous birds of prey†. The effect of simile in this poem is that we would now have a better understand of what the situation is like. Another technique used is allusion. Allusion is used to give a deeper meaning to a poem by referring to another work that has a similar theme. It can give the reader a better understanding of the poem. Two examples of allusion are the lines â€Å"love you ten years before the flood† and â€Å"Till the conversion of the Jews†. The effect allusion in this poem is that it is a way for the poet to emphasize the main point the poet is trying to make – which is that the man would love the woman ten years before the beginning of the world until the end of the world. The last technique used is symbolism. Symbolism is used to add a hidden layer of depth into the poem and it also lets the poet create images in the poem. An example of symbolism used is the line â€Å"my vegetable love should grow†. The word vegetable used in that line is to suggest the growing sense of the man’s love. The effect of symbolism in this poem is to show the man’s love for the woman and how it will never stop yet it will keep on growing. In conclusion, â€Å"to his coy mistress† has used many craftsmanship techniques to express the poet’s opinion and to convince the mistress. The poem is special as it includes a dramatic monologue as well as an argument and conclusion. This poem is just like a story.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Jerusalem in the Scriptures :: Christianity Bible Scriptures Essays

Jerusalem in the Scriptures 37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 "See! Your house is left to you desolate; 39 "for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'" (Matthew23:37-39) Jerusalem in the Scriptures is symbolic of the Church in general. The word "Jerusalem" means "city of peace". Paul writing to the church at Galatia makes a distinction between the two Jerusalems - the natural one and the spiritual one. Both Jerusalems are described symbolically as mothers with children. 25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children; 26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. (Galatians 4:25-26) We see that when Jesus laments over Jerusalem, He is actually lamenting over BOTH the natural Jerusalem AND the spiritual one. From history we know that Jerusalem had a record for killing the prophets God sent to her to warn her to repent of idolatry. The irony of it all, is that the city of God had a tendency to reject God Himself when He came to them in the form of these men. This led to the ultimate of all ironies - the rejection of the man Jesus, who was in fact God in the flesh. And all this by those zealously attempting to adhere to the principles of God but at the same time rejecting the person of God in Jesus. 37 "And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. 38 "But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. 39 "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 "But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. (John 5:37-40) We, as born-again believers, have the seed of the word of God living and abiding in us because we were willing to "come to Him" and "believe in Him". Likewise, as we learn to recognise those sent by God, we will be able to receive the word living in them which may be the very anointing we need to have the yokes and bondages destroyed in our lives and be changed from glory

Monday, January 13, 2020

Cupid Metaphors Essay

In Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, metaphors concerning the moon, flowers, and Cupid are prevalent and have a significant impact on the play. The play focuses on a romantic situation between four Athenians: Hermia, Lysander, Helena, and Demetrius. As the story unravels, many comparisons are made to enhance the language and the messages that the characters try to convey. The moon is personified as a chaste woman who can be both gentle and fiery. Flowers are used as romantic symbols with the power to influence love. Cupid is personified as an armed child who strikes people’s hearts even if that love was not meant to be. Various events in the play are compared to the moon, which is constantly being personified as a woman. In the beginning of the play, Hippolyta and Theseus are discussing how they are to get married in four days. Theseus complains about how slowly the moon wanes. He compares the moon to a stepmother and a widow who keeps her stepson waiting for his inheritance because it takes so long for her to die (1:1, 1-6). Theseus is saying that the days are passing by too slowly and he wants to get married already. As the play progresses, Theseus tells Hermia that her life will consist solely of â€Å"chanting faint hymns to the cold fruitless moon† (1:1, 73). Once again, the moon is personified as a cold and barren woman. Theseus warns Hermia that if she chooses not to comply with her father’s wishes, she will stay a virgin priestess forever, living her entire life without a husband or children, just like the moon. The moon is compared to things much more destructive and emotional later on in the play. Oberon and Titania, the king and queen of fairies, have been in a disagreement for a long period of time. Their constant fighting has affected nature adversely, causing spring, summer, fertile autumn, and angry winter to change places. Titania vividly describes their arguments as having caused the moon, the â€Å"governess of floods,† to be pale in anger, filling the air with rheumatic diseases (2:1, 103-104). The moon is personified as a female ruler who controls the tides of the ocean. It is also given the human emotion of anger when it turns pale. When Bottom and Titania are together, Bottom speaks about crying for mustardseeds being eaten by oxen. Titania states â€Å"the moon methinks looks with a watery eye; and when she weeps, weeps every little flower, lamenting some enforcà ¨d chastity† (3:1, 193-195). Titania says that the moon is â€Å"misty-eyed, and when she weeps, so does every little flower in grief for violated chastity.† The moon is again personified as a woman and she is crying because the mustardseeds have been wronged. When it is time for Bottom to sleep, Titania orders her fairies â€Å"to fan the moonbeams from his sleeping eyes† (3:1, 168). The first metaphor â€Å"to fan the moonbeams† is comparing moonlight to a solid substance that can be fanned away. The second metaphor is the sleeping eyes of Bottom. Bottom’s eyes are not literally sleeping. It is Bottom who is doing the sleeping, not his eyes. Flowers are associated with love and emotions throughout the play. Theseus attempts to convince Hermia to marry Demetrius so that she would not have to spend the rest of her life living as a virgin priestess of the moon goddess. He tells her that it is better to live a life with love in it even if it is not the love she originally desired rather than to live without love at all. Theseus says â€Å"thrice-blessà ¨d they that master so their blood to undergo such maiden pilgrimage; but earthlier happy is the rose distilled than that which, withering on the virgin thorn, grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness† (1:1, 74-78). He compares women who are chaste to unplucked roses who wither up and die. Married women are compared to roses that have been plucked and made into a sweet perfume (1:1, 76-78). Oberon desires an Indian prince that was given to Titania by the prince’s mother. In order to obtain the Indian prince, Oberon plans to make Titania fall in love with a beast by spreading the juice of a flower on her eyelids while she is sleeping. He tells the story of how this special flower came into existence. Cupid took aim at a beautiful young virgin queen, but his fiery arrow was put out by the watery, virginal moonbeams and struck a little western flower. The flower which used to be white as milk, turned purple from being wounded by the arrow of love (2:1, 155-168). The flower is personified and given the ability to be afflicted with love in this play. When Titania wakes, she is compelled to fall madly in love with Bottom, clumsy and grotesque with an ass’ head. When he goes to sleep, Titania tells Bottom to stay with her, saying â€Å"I’ll give thee fairies to attend on thee, and they shall fetch thee jewels from the deep, and sing while thou on pressà ¨d flowers dost sleep† (3:1, 150-153). The flowers are compared to soothing objects that can calm people and bring sleep. Seeing Titania and Bottom together, Oberon cannot believe how someone as beautiful as Titania can dote on Bottom, whose looks are repulsive. Before she fell asleep, Titania wove a wreath of fresh, fragrant flowers for Bottom and placed it on his hairy forehead. Oberon cannot stand to see such beautiful flowers rest on Bottom’s hairy temples. Oberon states that the flowers on Bottom’s head had â€Å"tears that did their own disgrace bewail† (4:1, 54-55). He says that the drops of dew that lay in the center of the flowers made the flowers look like they were crying in shame to be decorating the head of an ugly jackass. The flowers are personified as people who can cry and feel degradation. In love with Hermia, Demetrius pushes Helena away. Helena, heartbroken, complains about love and Cupid. She says â€Å"and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. Nor hath Love’s mind of any judgment taste† (1:2, 235-236). In modern times, we say â€Å"love is blind,† however, in this case cupid is blind. Helena personifies love as a child who does not have any judgment. Cupid is so often misled in making a choice because of his rash judgment. When telling the story of the flower, Oberon says â€Å"Young Cupid’s fiery shaft quenched in the chaste beams of the watery moon† (2:1, 161-162). The â€Å"fiery shaft† is a metaphor used for Cupid’s arrow which can cause fiery passionate love. Fixing the love damage that Puck created, Oberon spreads the love juice on Demetrius’ eyes while he is sleeping. While doing so, Oberon says â€Å"Flower of this purple dye, hit with Cupid’s archery, sink in apple of his eye† (3:2, 102-104). The first metaphor â€Å"flower of this purple dye, hit with Cupid’s archery† is comparing the purple flower to Cupid’s bow. By saying this, Oberon is saying that the flower can â€Å"hit† the same way a bow of Cupid can. The second metaphor of this line is â€Å"sink in apple of his eye.† The metaphor is referring to the â€Å"apple† of Demetrius’ eyes, comparing it to his passions and desires. Love is much talked about throughout the play. Hermia’s father is full of anger and he does not support Lysander and Hermia’s relationship. Lysander tells Hermia that â€Å"the course of true love never did run smooth† (1:1, 134). Lysander is saying that love is hard and it can feel like a long and rough road for two lovers. In Lysander and Hermia’s grief and despair, Lysander makes a speech about the transience of love. Love is â€Å"swift as a shadow, short as any dream, brief as the lightning in the collied night† (1:1, 144-145). Lysander compares the briefness of love to the quickness of a shadow, a dream, and a lightning. He means that with love comes many difficulties, such as pressure from parents, sickness, or death. Lysander goes on to say â€Å"The jaws of darkness do devour it up; so quick bright things come to confusion† (1:1, 148-149). He compares his love with Hermia to something bright but fades away quickly because of the confusion brought to it by time and nature. When asked to give up her child to Oberon, Titania refuses, telling him that this Indian prince was given to her by his mother, a female worshipper. She says â€Å"when we have laughed to see the sails conceive and grow big-bellied with the wanton wind† (2:1, 128-129). Titania is saying that when the sails filled up with wind, they looked like they had big, pregnant bellies. She is comparing the sails of ships to big, pregnant bellies of women. Due to Oberon’s unspecific details on whose eyes Puck was suppose to spread the love juice on, causes Lysander to fall in love with Helena. When Hermia questions Lysander, he treats her cruelly saying â€Å"Get you gone, you dwarf, you minimus of hindering knotgrass made, you bead, you acorn† (3:2, 328-330). Lysander is insulting Hermia, calling her a dwarf, a tiny little weed, scrap, and an acorn. In this metaphor, he compares Hermia to a tiny, unwanted plant, useless scrap, and an acorn. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is encased with many metaphors pertaining to the moon, flowers, and Cupid of the play. As the reader follows the Athenian lovers and the fairies on their journeys, various messages are conveyed through symbols and metaphors. The language and messages evokes vivid images in the reader’s head. The moon is compared to a woman who is capable of controlling time, controlling the seas, crying, and being fruitless. Flowers are symbols of romance, raw human emotions, and fairy magic. The flowers can metaphorically make people feel compelled to fall in love and are also capable of crying and feeling shame in this play. Cupid is portrayed as a controller of love. Just like love, Cupid is a young boy who is irrational. He is a child with a blindfold and wings, ready to take aim randomly, causing people to be afflicted with love. The moon, flowers, and Cupid are the main themes of metaphors presented in A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare.