Reading Response #3

In Joan Reiss Wry's "Panoptic Perspectives in Shelley's Mont Blanc: Collapsed Distance and the Alpine Sublime" describes and breaks down in great detail about this appealing poem. At the beginning, it starts with what most of the romantic poets share in common, Edmund Burke's requisite passion for astonishment. Having great sublime while thinking to the power of human reason. Although when Shelley wrote Mont Blanc, his astonishment hold a diverse experience compare to his contemporaries and the romantic poets. The reason was due to the fact that generally the romantic poets stood at a distance from the natural object that inspired them while trying to understand what it contained. Contrast to that, Percy Shelley offers a close range perspective of Mont Blanc, by imaginatively placing himself there. Which results to Shelley having striking dark and disorienting to the surface features, the power of the human mind. In the first stanza it "presents an ambiguous scene of fluid movement" using words like flow, roll, and rapid. That later revels in the second stanza, this scene is taking place at the Arve River. Demonstrating what Shelley sees up close. But he later acknowledges, no matter how close we get, it extends even further. Once the second stanza begins, Shelley gives you a wider view to provide the mountain features, but "still maintaining the effect of a collapsed distance." Doing this, gives the reader a glimpse on what Shelley is thinking, his creative power. Not only does it do this, it also explains how "the universe of things participates in unremitting interchange with the poet's mind." Meaning gathering everything around us and processing it through our unique minds. As Shelley decreases distance between him and Mont Blanc, he feels an threatening sublime towards the topography mountain by saying "the eagle brings some hunter's bone and the wolf tracks her there." Therefore it starts making him wonder if he is awake or just dreaming. Eventually, Shelley notices that destruction provides things in order to keep up with the cycle of life. Examples were the glaciers that move like snakes. Finally at the end of the poem, Shelley tells you what Mont Blanc represents. Mont Blanc illustrates our mind, that shows many forms and thoughts that gives meaning and existence to objects. And seeing the mountain, gets us thinking, clarifying many things. But Shelley still has doubt because there is still many unanswered closing questions; therefore his outstanding imagination balances the silence and solitude in Mont Blanc.

At the end of the article, I truly felt like I understood Shelley's Mont Blanc. Joan break down what every stanza meant and why Percy Shelley wrote that. When I first read the poem, I thought Mont Blanc represented just our thoughts. But in the article, the mountain demonstrates our mind overall. Which has many formations, thoughts that are express, and gives being. Showing that our minds are very powerful if we use them correctly, because explains many everyday things. For an example, nature. Another thing I realized about Shelley and the romantic poets, was each them think that nature holds many answers and some things in nature also acts as our minds. In both the article and Shelley's poem, Mont Blanc is a figure of our mind. Although the article was more helpful because we get to see how Shelley really thinks and why he decided to get closer to the object to get inspiration. It shows, Shelley doesn't always do everything like the other romantic poets, especially in this poem. The idea of the collapsed distance provides more details about the mountain and its true beauty. But Shelley gives a wider view of Mont Blanc as well, so we can understand more. Though something the article didn't mention were the pine trees. I thought the pine trees in the poem were helpful to distinguish us and the mountain. The pine trees in the poem meant "a symbol of the persistence in human values in the face of obstacles." Then once the poem included the "glaciers creep like snakes that watch their prey," it explained to me that we are the pine trees and we are the prey of the glaciers. If we don't use the power nature, we might get crush during a face of an obstacle. Overall the article expressed everything clearly about Percy Shelley's Mont Blanc.

Get To Know Percy Shelley Even More!

Besides our blog, I find another interesting one that talks about the same romantic poet, Percy Shelley. The name of their blog is called "Time to meet Percy Bysshe Shelley AKA Alyck" by Chrisy Vo, Jacky Bertholomey, and McKenize DeWitt. Which I thought they had a very creative title because it totally grabs your attention. Not only does this blog hold an interesting title, but it also provides a whole bunch of information that might of not been included in ours. What I liked best, was the fact that they hold different poems than ours. They even give you a good summary explaining the poem in their own words. My favorite poem out of all the ones they included was "Love's Philosophy," because their font color was different, they had a pretty picture, and not to mention the poem was short. At first I didn't get the poem, but after reading their review, I understood it! Although we do have some similar things like poems or videos, their reviews were different from us. So if you need a better understanding of a similar item, then I recommend visiting their blog. And everything they have written is very easy to read and to understand. Even if you don't know much or nothing about romanticism, this blog will give you a general idea about what is romanticism. But it will especially teach you more about Percy Shelley. For example, it will teach you on what Shelley thinks of nature, imagination, religion, etc. Which I find the biggest help from this blog because it provides more depth details about Shelley. One other thing I forgot to mention was the introduction they wrote was great as well. It really describes Percy Shelley's life. From the schools he went to his relationships. Also in their introduction, it gives some positive and negative things that occur in Shelley's life. With this you find out how Shelley grew up and what he faced. Overall "Time to meet Percy Bysshe Shelley AKA Alyck" is a wonderful blog to get more information and his famous poems by Percy Shelley.

More Than One Way (Prose Poem)

I never seem to understand this feeling. Even with experience, I don't understand.
Every time I encounter it, I feel like I'm in a new world full of mysteries. Almost like traveling in the depths of the unknown blue oceans.
Happiness always seems to tag along with this unexplainable motion.
Yet you go through a process of several emotions just by being with one person.
When you ask somebody what is happening?
They all give you the same response. But asking for the meaning, you get a different results.
Your mind then starts swirling like a tornado trying to solve the puzzle in order to continue this feeling.
Not only does this feeling bring happiness, it also brings pleasures and subsides the lonely feeling inside.
Some might say that this feeling so powerful that nothing can bring you down.
Its so powerful that nothing seems important but them.
You start losing focus and what really matters.
Although just like anything else, there's a dark side.
When this feeling can no longer continue, all hope seems to be lost.
The loneliness then re-steps to your soul. Its almost as if the world has stopped moving.
You asked yourself what went wrong?
No one seems to know the answer.
That's when you hear the winds roaring your name and the sun beaming at you.
Suddenly you feel refreshment entering your mind and body as if your smelling a mint flower during spring.
You finally realize that stepping out of your world and entering the untainted world outside, you see things clearly.
You starting feeling happiness refill you like crystal clear water rushing into a dried out river.
And for the first time, you notice the force of nature and its beauty.
Who knew that love wasn't the only thing that brought all this excitement in you.

-Dulce Roque

Time Long Past

Like the ghost of a dear friend dead
Is Time long past.
A tone which is now forever fled,
A hope which is now forever past,
A love so sweet it could not last,
Was Time long past.

There were sweet dreams in the night
Of Time long past:
And, was it sadness or delight,
Each day a shadow onward cast
Which made us wish it yet might last-
That Time long past

There is regret, almost remorse
For Time long past.
'Tis like a child's beloved corse
A father watches, till at last
Beauty is like remembrance, cast
From Time long past.

As the title suggest "time long past" we know this is going to be the theme of the poem because it continuous repeats itself through out the poem. In the first paragraph it basically talks about how things can't always last forever, no matter how much we want it to. Shelley also uses these keywords: forever and death, which both mean something of the past and they can't ever return to the present time. Once he includes "a love so sweet it could not last," Shelley explains about his own experiences. But in this part he's talking about his relationship that seemed to be perfect at the time. Afterwards Shelley starts talking about sadness or delight in the second paragraph, this tells us that Shelley experienced something terrible that made him wish it could be part of the past. At the end of this paragraph, it teaches us that the things in the past aren't always pleasant. There's at least something in the past we didn't wish for. As for the third paragraph, you indicate that Shelley feels bad because he wishes that he could relive some of those events even if they weren't the best. In contrast to that wish, there's nothing that can be done. Despite that I understand what Shelley is talking about and where his point of view is coming from, because I have moments in my life that I wish to relive; although its impossible unless there's a time machine. But further on this paragraph it starts mentioning small hints about Shelley's childhood past with his parents. Which is a common thing we experience with our parents as we grow up. Then it goes talking about beauty, which beauty does change as time passes by. The word "beauty" also suggests that it also belongs to the flow of time. After finally finishing the poem, it made me realize that the long past can be treasured, because those are memories that can't be relived, which Shelley clearly explains. In a way this poem is kind of saying to enjoy the things your doing now because they will eventually be part of the long past. A past that can't be changed. It also makes me feel grateful for all the events that occur in my life. From spending time with my family to meeting new people. Nobody knows what's going to happen in a couple years, but we sure can live it now. And when we look back on it, there won't be regret or remorse.

-Dulce Roque

Percy Shelley; A Closer Look

The video above was chosen by me because it provided many details about Percy Shelley. It included information about his life to the major things he has accomplished. In the beginning of the the video, many words start popping up. Which I think describe the writing style of Percy Shelley. Then it translate to one of his famous poems, "ozymandias." Although I don't know why this poem was chosen instead of his other works, I came to conclusion that it was chosen because it shows you what type of romantic poet Percy Shelley was. But as you pay more attention to the poem, you realize that the word "ozymandias" is another word for Ramesses the great. This also indicates that Shelley was interested in famous events or people in the past. Afterwards you get a more in depth knowledge about Shelley. From where he attended school to his personal relationships. Then the speaker reports to you how this famous romantic poet passed away at a young age. But once he passed away, it explains the impact that Shelley had on citizens. To me this shows what a great poet Percy Shelley was back in his day. And even though he's no longer here, his work is still being used to teach lessons. As you get further into the video, it starts describing how Shelley was buried and what they did with his heart. In the beginning I was shock because I never thought people would do such a thing; yet there was good purpose for doing such interesting action. In the video it tells you what Percy Shelley's heart symbolizes. And even though I find it odd, I think it will inspire new upcoming romantic poets. Not only does Shelley's heart represent something, Shelley himself also represents an artistic vision. Once it starts talking about this, he is now compared to William Blake. The speaker compares the different ideas that Blake and Shelley have about imagination and how religion inspires them. Religion is also a big topic that surrounds Shelley because he's idea about it are very complex. Which people thought he took many risks when he talked about atheism. At the end Shelley was very determine about his ideas about romanticism. Overall I think this video is great to view!

-Dulce Roque

Mont Blanc

Click on here to view the whole poem, Mont Blanc by Percy Shelley.

Reading this poem, Mont Blanc, you can clearly understand the connection Shelley has with the power of nature. Shelley suggests that the natural world holds a inspiring power over his imagination. In this case, the power comes from the mountain. When seeing the mountain, Shelley can feel that its influencing him. Which makes him see things differently either in a positive or negative view. One positive view from the power nature is the human joy, faith, goodness, and pleasures it gives you. But as for the negative side, you see destruction nature can create. For example in the poem, it talks about "glaciers creep like snakes that watch their prey, from their far mountains" and pine trees that symbolize the persistence of human values in the face of obstacles. To me this means that the pine trees are the prey; therefore the glaciers will come down to crush the trees as it creeps down. This right here then stands that we, the humans, are the pine trees and that glaciers are nature. It shows that the power of nature can pass us with its powerful force if we don't pay much attention to it. Shelley also talks about two sets of mind, the individual mind and the universal mind. The individual mind are our thoughts inside and the universal mind are the thoughts outside of our thoughts. With the individual mind we can create imagination; thus giving us power to describe nature differently from others. At same time, the universal mind being nature, can give us imagination too. Making the power of the mind and the power of nature equal. But when the poem ended like this "and what were thou, and earth, and stars, and sea, if to human minds imaginings silence and solitude were vacancy?" In other words this means if we didn't have silence and solitude it would be hard to create imagination. One reason way I thought of thought of this was because through out the whole poem, the activities in Mont Blanc were silence and solitude, that everything expressed was actually in our minds; therefore not having this would leave the world boring.

-Dulce Roque