Nurses Song

 When the voices of children are heard on the green,
   And laughing is heard on the hill,
 My heart is at rest within my breast,
   And everything else is still.
 "Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down,
   And the dews of night arise;
 Come, come, leave off play, and let us away,
   Till the morning appears in the skies."

 "No, no, let us play, for it is yet day,
   And we cannot go to sleep;
 Besides, in the sky the little birds fly,
   And the hills are all covered with sheep."
 "Well, well, go and play till the light fades away,
   And then go home to bed."
 The little ones leaped, and shouted, and laughed,
   And all the hills echoed.

This poem by William Blake is written of a nurse whom is taking care of children. The nurse acts if she is the mother of these children who are lost.  When the voices of the children are heard over the green, the nurse gets happy, and everything goes still.  I take that as if the kids have passed away and are now spirits. Causing the nurse takes care of them. Even though there is no need for the nurse to take care of them, only the fact that they are still kids. When the nurse tells them to go home and that it is getting dark, the kids ask for more time because they play when it is dark out, so the nurse agrees. The kids say they cannot sleep; they are restless souls looking for the light to go into. They play all day and night, shouting, laughing and leaping. I don’t get why the title is called the “Nurses Song” when there is no song that is sung or talked about. But then I re read the poem several times, and came to a conclusion that the nurse is someone who takes care of patients, that are sick or not. Those kids are by themselves, thus creating a nurse to help care over them.

During the last part of the poem where it said the hills echoed, this is insinuating there is nothing over the green lands to stop the echo’s travel. These kids do these things all by themselves, not know where to go, or what to do.  They somewhat do as they please. In this poem, William Blake is trying to write about the lost souls whom roam around, and not know what the real life is like. These kids were free. Doing as they pleased, exploring, and having a good time. Once in a while, everyone should get the chance to do that, to be free for just a day.  Take the chance to live once in a while, nothing is ever known in life. William Blake is one of the most inspirational poets back in time, and still today, due to his poems having a lot meaning.

Poison Tree

William Blake in his poem, The Poison Tree, concluded that by informing the other person in a situation of controversy taking place, it created peace, which was shown in the first stanza. Also included in the first stanza was the growing wrath between the narrator and his enemy due to not admitting the situation's problem. William Blake was showing a large difference between two essential factors of expressing feelings. To have someone close, and express feelings when necessary, is very important, to help mend the soul in a bad situations. William Blake forgave his friend right away, and eased the anger, while with his foe; not forgetting what he had done made the rage form more. This effected Blake’s inner conscience by feeding it anger as the days grew on, not knowing what it would turn into, as shown in the second stanza.  The second major factor proposed by William Blake in his poem, is not to hold secret grudges against enemies. Tensions will build up causing evil to take over eventually and having results not wanted. Blake did not intentionally want to harm his enemy, however, irony caught up, and Blake’s enemy ended up getting dying. Even though Blake did not want to kill his foe on purpose, he died from Blake’s apple made by his anger toward the foe.Stanza three is where the shinning red apple is created; making the foe interested in the hidden meaning it held. 

 A relating story example to this poem of William Blake’s, is “The Garden of Eden.”  This story has a high likeness containing much symbolism of deceitfulness. As in the Garden of Eden, the fruit of knowledge of good and evil was not supposed to be eaten due to much risk of the unknown, while the shining apple in; “The Poison Tree” was made up of the author's fears and tears, not knowing what it could cause.  The same outcome occurred with the unknown fruit being eaten by the curious souls, it was meant for. This then had a negative impact on the outcome. If the author in “The Poison Tree” were to tell the enemy in the beginning how he was feeling, there would never of been a fateful ending.

Reading Response Three

          Marriage: Visions of the Daughters of Albion is an article written by Diane Hume George.  This article includes George comparing the thoughts on women between Sigmund Freud and William Blake.  Throughout the article, George proves that Freud and Blake have very similar views on women, and the way they should be.  In the poem "Visions of the Daughters of Albion" by William Blake, in multiple sections, he implies that women should be a virgin when she becomes wed.  If the woman is not a virgin, the man does not have full possession of her.   Therefore, women must make the decision to either be a wife, or to be a whore.  The woman in "Visions of the Daughters of Albion" is called Oothoon, became pregnant from the man who raped her, named Bromion.  Oothoon is not a virgin anymore, and has to accept that Bromion is in her life, even if she does not want him to be.  Oorion's husband like figure, Theotormon, becomes jealous and angry at both Oorion and Bromion.  But, Oorion defends herself, like most women could not in this time, and tells them both off.  In doing so, she gained much needed independence and respect for herself.  The article also contains a lot of information about sex, like how men look down on women for it, but the women can not help it since it is so tempting.  George describes that women longing for sex are genuine, but how, as stated before, one can either be a wife or a whore.  A women has the choice of either being devoted to, and possessed by, one man, or she can choose to be looked upon as nothing more than scum.  In either circumstance, the woman does not fully understand true love, unless the woman actually loves the man she marries.  If she were to be a whore, then she would just be something to use for sex, obviously never seeing what true love is.  If she did not love the man she was with, she would basically just be a thing for him to possess and control.
          Marriage: Visions of the Daughters of Albion was confusing to interpret, and kind of irrelevant to the knowledge I was looking for.  This article mentioned William Blake, but it was mostly about sex, and the ideas of Sigmund Freud.  Although, the information that was included on William Blake was interesting.  In Blake's poem "Visions of the Daughters of Albion", Bromion argues, "Is there not one law for both the lion and the ox?".  This quote was very hypocritical, and contradicting.  I did not agree with Blake's thoughts on women, and how men basically control them.  Also, it is not right that women have to follow rules, if it is okay for the men to disobey them.  If a woman is to have the choice of either wife or whore, the men should have that choice as well.  If the women need to be virgins when they become married, the men should be virgins as well.  Overall, I disagree with Blake's opinions, but it is not a big conflict, because now, women are equal to men in most ways.  Another thing about this article that did not spark my interest was how George mostly talked about sex, masturbation, and Freud's beliefs on those two subjects.  I already know different views on sex as a sin before marriage, and this article could have sufficed without four pages about it.  Blake believes, "We are sexual beings and live our lives, think our thoughts, in a sexual context".  People do think about sex a lot, but not every single thing people think about it sex.  Not everybody's thoughts are on sex, or live their lives surrounded by sex.  When I read this quote, I thought Freud had said it, so I had to read it over again.  Freud and Blake had very similar thoughts, and were both thought of as weird or disturbed people by the public. George was comparing the two in some of her article so the reader could comprehend how alike they truly are.  The reason I chose this article is because it seemed interesting and full of Blake's ideas on marriage.  The article was actually very informative and not boring in any way, but if I could change anything, it would be to add more information about Blake.  Possibly including another annotated poem by William Blake would make this article more relevant to this topic.          

Prose Poem

The morning of July 19th, 2010 the lyrics of "Shoes" a ring tone I set for my family members calls kept playing. I finally came to a realization that I needed to answer the call. I had a feeling there was a point, due to the time being 10:50 in the morning, and me being on vacation.

I clicked answer, and said "hello" with confusion, and tiredness.

The response back was a massive amount of tears from my brother. I knew there had to be something wrong.

Then I remembered two days before ... The morning my plane was scheduled to depart. . My Puppy, Lizzy.

She had been sick for some time now, barely eating, and losing energy as the days went on.

However, the day I left, she managed to eat a little, and gave the impression she was doing a little better but probably from the antibiotics she was forced to take.

This is where I was tricked.

After I left for Cali, I was told she did not come in from being outside. She stopped eating for good, and she was doing worse, she had to be taken to the Vet's the next morning.

As I came back into the call, I managed to hear that, she had to be put down due to the suffering, and she was found with lymph node cancer that spread rapidly to her lungs,

I was angry I wasn't there. Sad I left her all alone to die, upset I didn't get to say bye to her, but most of all I had the worst heartbreak of my life.

I did not know how I was ever going to get over her, she was with me all the time, everywhere I went, and never left my side, so why did I leave? How could I? I was never going to forgive myself for such a thing.

Everyday I would cry, remembering everything I could about her and every time get a feeling as if my heart got hit by a massive force.

July 19th, 2010 was the day I lost the love of my life, and my best friend. I will forever miss and love her. As I peer into the clear skies at times, I sit and take the time to think of her. Knowing wherever she is, there will be someone to take care of her, and that she would not be forgotten.

Community Blog

Time to meet Percy Bysshe Shelley AKA Alyck is a very informational blog by Chrisy Vo, Jacky Bectholomey, and McKenzie Dewitt. This blog has a nice, simple, clean format that made reading it a breeze. This groups theme was focused on the life of romantic poet, Percy Shelley, and his life's achievements. The most interesting thing that stuck out to me was in Jacky's post, on Shelley's inspiration. It was stated that Percy Shelley was one of the couple poets to play a large role on the second generation of romantic poets. Another interesting thing about Shelley noted was that his last four years of living, were his best and most memorable. In those four years, some of his best poetry was created, due to Shelley getting encouragement from tragic events; for example his son dying, and a massacre occurring. Shelley then wrote about how he was feeling, and came out with great poetry.  Shelley's writing was known to come from deep down inside when something influential but tragic happened, and that's what happened. Evidence of this was included in many of the group member’s blogs.

                I really enjoyed going through this blog, and learning about Percy Shelley. This group involved much information about the poet, as well as pictures, and a video. Someone who didn't know very much on this topic would resource greatly on this specific blog. Not only was there information on Shelley, but also the era of the romantic period. The one picture that stood out to me would be the one where Shelley was sitting in a tree with a book. This struck me as flattering; in most of his pictures, or portraits, Shelley is drawn very similar: young, and beautiful. Throughout this blog, there were many informational posts about this wonderful poet. There was no where I went to not get a better grasp on the romantic poet or era. Each member wrote their posts very well, and I was fond of their mature ideas. It was fun reading about what they had to say, and looking at the wondrous pictures they posted of their theme.

Click to see da Pimps

Reading Response.

The article “Blake and the Bilble: Biblical Exegisis in the work of William Blake,” written by Christopher Rowland is a factual paper based upon how William Blake wrote his poetry. Throughout the article, there are many valid points made to determine that Blake often uses biblical references to write his poetry. In this article, Rowland speaks many times about how visual. “His method is never systematic and is governed by spontaneity, insight and intuition, not to mention vision,” (Rowland 145).  This quote is reaching out and telling people that Blake writes his poems with nothing shy than a great visual picture. Blake’s references in his poetic writing are often described well enough that the reader has a clear picture of what he is trying to portray. After extended research and spending time on my William Blake blog, I now believe that William Blake successfully wrote symbolic poetry about religion. One of the main reasons Blake was good at writing poetry because he would use personification so that the reader could understand the deeper meanings through a visual picture. Most of my blog posts talk about how Blake was a poet that we look back on today. Comparing my posts to Rowland’s, I thought very similar to him. I also thought that after reading Blake’s poems that the reason he was an amazing poet was because he could use symbolism, but through a more visual picture. Most all Blake’s work had a way to tie into religion. He would often write about Christ himself, or short stories from the bible. Further in Rowland’s article it mentions many paragraphs about prophecies. The romantic era was all about shaping the future and not having it run off of science. Blake, having been a part of the romantic era made prophecies a huge part in his poetry. Rowland say’s it best when he stated this comment upon describing Blake, “The prophecies lay bare the inner dynamic of the history and revolution, the potential for positive change that exists and the corruption of those impulses” (144). I believe that Rowland’s main idea in this article is not only to describe Blake’s visual tactics, but also to see how Blake related to the romantic era as a whole. This article focused mainly on my blog topic, I learned many new features on how Blake wrote poetry and related his stories to previous ones in the bible. After reading this article, my interpretation is very close to the same as Rowland’s, “Blake gives and extended description of the vision of God” (146).

Prior to reading many of William Blake’s poetry, I have came to the conclusion that Rowland was truly right in the sense that Blake brings readers a great vision of God. I strongly agree with the purpose Rowland was getting at, I think that Blake used religious mythology as a visual picture in many of his poetry. The overall reading was challenging to understand, but after further annotation I could see how Rowland’s opinion was leaning on showing many examples of Blake’s visual techniques in his poetry. There were many key factors throughout the text that make my opinion similar to what Rowland was saying. I think that the article had two main focus’s, I believe that what Rowland was trying to say is that Blake relates his poetry to religions of all kinds. Also, Rowland mentioned many times about how Blake was a visual writer. Under my opinion, the poems I have read written by Blake all have great visual usage of religious scenes. For example, stanzas from the poem “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell,” are fulfilling Rowland’s statements in the article. Due to Rowland’s factual statements and having Blake’s poetry to back prove his acknowledgement I am able to agree with his ideas. Parts of the article talked about how Blake could connect his poetry so well to the Bible. After having this unit on romanticism and reading all about William Blake, I realized that many poems have true religious meaning, but mainly I realized that most all of William Blake’s poetry portrays religion. I believe that Rowland has found a true attribute in Blake’s writing. This article has many parts to it that one can agree with, overall, I could not find one part that I didn’t agree with. Another section in the article Rowland mentioned was how Blake viewed God as the Jesus Christ when interpreted under christianity. Rowland’s article had many intriguing explanations, I felt that his work was clearly thought through and was based on true events. I discovered that religious references are all around Blake’s poetry. I have learned after reading this article you can study religion while reading his poetry.

Prose Poem

Most kids only like the summer because there is no school, or they get to be tan.  
I look forward to summer because it revives the dead sense of freedom, of belongingness, of love.  
In summer, I see all of those friends I never have time to see.  
The people I love to be with, but I never can be with. 
No matter where I am when I am with them, I feel at home.  
I love those long summer nights that do not end until you can not keep your eyes open.  
I love when you see those friends every day and you do not have to leave to do homework or go to bed early, you have all the time in the World.
I love going to your best friends house and being able to stay there for a week.
Whenever you get tired of anything or anyone, you can just drive away with your friends.
Blast loud music with the windows rolled down, because you can.
Nobody to stop you from living. 
Living the life you want, living your dream, living however the hell you want to live.
Staying up late enough to call it tomorrow.  
Bonfires late at night at last minute, because you know those friends will always be waiting to see you.
Sitting around the fire laughing and rolling around in the grass, fighting, falling on purpose and wrestling. 
I miss going to the pool with the original six, having fun and each time getting new inside jokes to laugh about the next day.
I love those days where you can look back and say to yourself, "What was I thinking?".
Having regrets, but getting over them because pretty soon, you will have more to worry about.
Each year that goes by I wish for the summer to begin again, so I can see those old friends, to feel at home again.
Because a year without summer, would mean a year without those friends, a year without fun, hope, memories, laughter.
A year without anything to look forward to.