Wyndham Lewis

The art magazine, Blast, included the Vorticist Manifesto in its first issue.  The Vorticist Manifesto calls for a complete makeover of literature and art with very strong language including a call to "Blast First (from politeness) England" (Lewis 1083) and to "Blast France" (Lewis 1085)  Wyndham Lewis used Blast to cry out against England's authors and artists, whom he believed to be stuck in the nineteenth century.  His idea of Vorticism celebrates breaking free from what other people think, especially the idea of the individual.

In looking into Lewis' personal life, it is easy to see that he appreciated the idea of the individual more than the masses.  He did not write what people of his time wanted to hear.  He attacked the modern society of the time and wrote pro-fascist literature as well.  Though his work was never appreciated during his lifetime, Lewis and especially Blast "were remarkably important in clearing the way for the new art of modernism" (Damrosch 1082).

William Butler Yeats

Two of William Butler Yeats' poems are written about his muse Maud Gonne, and use references to the Trojan War.  His "No Second Troy" celebrates her beauty and at the same time shows how her beauty has "taught to ignorant men the most violent of ways" (line 3).  The other poem "Leda and the Swan" depicts the rape of Leda by Zeus which gave birth to Helen in Greek mythology.  Both poems use eloquent imagery, the first poem uses it to show the beauty of Helen and the horrors her beauty causes; the second poem uses the rape of her mother to foreshadow the destruction Helen's birth and beauty would eventually cause.  

Yeats' relationship with Maud Gonne was not what Yeats yearned for it to be.  Though he proposed to her several times, he was always turned down.  Gonne is the inspiration of most, if not all, of Yeats' poems that describe a woman of beauty.  Yeats' poem "No Second Troy" could also refer to the war he constantly fought with himself over Gonne and his everlasting, unrequited love for her.  The speaker in the poem struggles with not blaming the woman for the war being fought; it is not her fault she is so beautiful, yet the question at the end, "Was there another Troy for her to burn?" (line 12) indicates that maybe the first war she caused, the first city she caused to be burned is not enough for her.

Thomas Hardy

"The Convergence of the Twain" is almost like a eulogy for the Titanic.  The unsinkable ship lies, in the poem, on the bottom of the ocean where "The sea-worm crawls" (line 9) and "Dim moon-eyed fishes near" (line 13).  The poem takes a sinister turn near the end as the "Immanent Will" (line 18) grows a "sinister mate" (line 19) for the ship, "And as the smart ship grew/In stature, grace, and hue,/In shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too" (lines 22-24).  

Hardy's interpretation of the tragedy of the Titanic is different from many as he does not focus on the loss of many lives, but on the loss of the ship itself.  Instead of recreating the death of a passenger, Hardy grieves "Over the mirrors meant/To glass the opulent" (lines 7-8) and "Jewels in joy designed/To ravish the sensuous mind/Lie lightless, all their sparkles bleared and black and blind" (lines 10-12)  Hardy may focus on the material losses of the Titanic because the Titanic was designed to be for the extremely wealthy who might not have cared about those less fortunate, so their deaths were not as tragic.  

However, Hardy's inclusion of the Immanent Will may indicate that the entire event was inescapable and inevitable as soon as the ship grew more and more extravagant; the Immanent Will wants to shift our focus from material things to the things in our lives that are not lost in shipwrecks.

John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill's radical opinions and views are very clear and evident in the excerpt of Chapter Two from his On Liberty.  An idea of his that I strongly agree with and feel is a universal truth is that 

"the only way in which a human being can make some approach to knowing the whole of a subject, is by hearing what can be said about it by persons of every variety opinion, and studying all modes in which it can be looked at by every character of mind" (Mill 516).

It is ridiculous to be in a mindset that allows you to think you know everything pertaining to a single subject.  It is also dangerous because not listening to someone else who has a lot knowledge can allow you to miss something new, which could potentially give you even more information on this subject.  

Mill also argues that every person is entitled to their opinion, even if it is wrong.  To rob a person of their opinion or punish them because of their opinion is the ultimate crime against their personal liberty.  Mill points out that to silence an opinion is to "assume our own infallibility" (Mill 517).  To assume you own infallibility simply marks as arrogant.  Mill also points out that forming your own opinions from "reason or personal experience" (Mill 517) is vital.  Being able to form your own opinions from your own personal experiences is part of your individuality, something Mill believes is very important for everyone.

Sarah Stickney Ellis

Sarah Sticckney Ellis' ideas about a woman's duty are terribly outdated, even for many women of her time period.  The idea that it should always be a woman's goal to have a "conversation which is best adapted to [her husband's] tastes and habits, yet at the same tome capable of observation, and subjects he may never have derived amusement from before" (Ellis 559) is absolutely ridiculous.  It is not a woman's purpose to make a man a better person.  Just because she will not be called upon to use her Latin skills daily does not mean that she should not learn Latin, especially if she wants to.  It is also not a woman's duty to mold and constrict herself to be what only one man wants her to be, she should be able to be herself and be around people who love and appreciate her for who she is.

Ellis' thoughts that a woman's existence should revolve around making the men in her life "happier and better men" (Ellis 558) should be the duty of those men.  Her thoughts are also an insult to men.  Men are perfectly capable of bringing about their own happiness themselves.  In the end, no one can make you happy except for yourself and working for things that you want. Your life especially should not center around trying to become someone you are not so you can please others because your individuality and uniqueness is lost.

Robert Browning

The twist at the end of Robert Bowning's poem "My Last Duchess" is very ironic.  The speaker is speaking of his late wife, whom the reader assumes he has murdered, to his bride-to-be's father.  It does not seem like something anyone of a sound mind would even consider doing.  The speaker, though, does think highly of himself and his "nine-hundred-years-old name" (line 33) so he probably does not see himself as really having done anything wrong.  Similarly, the speaker in Browning's "Porphyria's Lover" also feels no remorse for murdering his lover.  The speakers of both poems also treat their actions as something of little importance.  While the speaker in "My Last Duchess" moves right on to the next piece in his art collection after explaining his late wife's portrait without missing a single beat, the speaker in "Porphyria's Lover" merely props "her head up as before,/Only this time my shoulder bore/Her head, which droops upon it still" (lines 49-51).  

Perhaps neither speaker feels they have wronged their victims because they believe they have been betrayed by the victims.  In "Porphyria's Lover" Porphyria only comes during the storm; it appears that for some reason their relationship must be kept secret.  But as soon as Porphyria reveals that she worships the speaker and he feels that in "That moment she was [his], [his], fair,/Perfectly pure and good" (lines 36-37), he exercises his power over her in order to ensure that "all night long [they will] not [stir]" (line 59).  The duchess, however, has given her husband reason to believe that "she ranked/[the speaker's] gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name/With anybody's gift" (lines 32-34), thus highly insulting him.  

This common thread of love and cold-blooded murder in these Browning poems make them both extremely intriguing and has given them both a timeless quality which has allowed them to be read for hundreds of years so far and conceivably an even longer time on into the future.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese are a very passionate collection of poems.  I feel the most passionate one, though, is Sonnet 43.  The language is very flowing and appears to be effortless, especially with the simple rhyme scheme.  The comparisons used also contribute to the simplicity of the poem "I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;/I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise" (lines 7-8).  This may also be seen as a very pure collection of sonnets, as Browning only wrote them for herself and ultimately her husband.  When writing them, she had no intentions of publishing them.  Even when they were eventually published, it was with a deceiving title indicating that they are only translations.  

The sonnet is very honest and innocent as a result of the very small intended audience and this adds to the appeal of it.  It also seems so honest because the poet and the speaker are the same person, so these sonnets allow the reader to catch a glimpse of Browning's innermost thoughts and feelings, especially that she loves "with the breath,/Smiles, tears of all [her] life" (lines 12-13).