Monday, October 14, 2013

"Crossing the bar" by Alfred Lord Tennyson analysis.

Sunset and evening star
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,  
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For though from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.





























Title: The first thought that popped in my mind after reading the title was that this poem was about accomplishing something, like if you had finished a task or something, as if we would change some aspect of our lives.

Paraphrase: The poem talks about the wishes of the narrator which are to find peace and happiness once he crosses the bar, aswell to find his Pilot, referring to god, and to finally wait for the appropiate moment for his death.

Connotation: Tennyson is waiting for his death, but in this poem he's talking towards death like if it was a good thing, he's waiting for the moment to "cross the bar" which is the moment of crossing from this world to another, and as Tennyson hopes that place is heaven. He aswell mentions that he hopes to see his pilot which is a metaphor of God, or Jesus.

Attitude: The narrator's tone or attitude is hopeful, as he is expecting good things after death.

Shifts: The narrator's attitude stays the same in the whole poem.

Title: The title is a metaphor as crossing the bar would literally mean to arrive somewhere but in this case crossing the bar means to arrive to heaven after dying, or maybe passing out to a better life.

Theme: The theme of the poem is death, how Tennyson is waiting for his moment and how he wishes it to be like.

Prezi: http://prezi.com/pl6mghivfrim/crossing-the-bar-by-alfred-lord-tennyson/

Friday, October 4, 2013

"The kraken" by Alfred Lord Tennyson analysis

The Kraken

Below the thunders of the upper deep,
Far far beneath in the abysmal sea,
His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep
The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee
About his shadowy sides: above him swell
Huge sponges of millennial growth and height;
And far away into the sickly light,
From many a wondrous grot and secret cell
Unnumbered and enormous polypi
Winnow with giant fins the slumbering green.
There hath he lain for ages and will lie
Battening upon huge seaworms in his sleep,
Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;
Then once by men and angels to be seen,
In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.

T: By first looking at the title the first idea that pops out on our mind is the image of a tremendous creature with the look of an octopus, aswell we can instantly make an idea that the poem is going to talk about how this creature strikes and stalks boats and ships with his mighty giant size!

The structure of verses in "The Kraken" is an iambic pentameter.

P: In the first verses Tennyson refers to where the Kraken is located at, in the deeper sea where the thunders hit. In the next verse the author talks about the Kraken's sleep which keeps him calmed and on a "peaceful" state. Afterwards we can see the description of the Kraken, talking about his huge tentacles, describing his polyps, etc.

C: In my opinion the connotation of this poem is death, the kraken being a representation of something that's dead. For example when the persona says "dreamless, uninvaded sleep" that could be represented as the death of a person.

A: The attitude of the persona on this poem is mainly mysterious, this is because trying to describe the Kraken requires a different tone, a tone that will make us, the readers, fear this mighty creature.

S: There're no shifts present on this poem.

T: I think the title remains pretty much literal, it's a simple title to give us the idea of what the poem is going to talk about..

T: The theme of the poem is the description of an ancient creature known as "The Kraken"