Henry Wadswroth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote two poems that I read. One was called "The Sound of the Sea" and the other was called "Sunrise on the Hills".

"The Sound of the Sea" is about the sound of the sea as the waves hit the shore and the tide quickly rises. The rush of the tides is compared to the rushes of people experience. Longfellow states that the inspirations may be from the heavens and not just from regularity with which the tide rises and falls. The tide of the sea and the tide of the soul are both beyond a human’s control. Something that I read online that I found interesting was that if this poem is read out loud, the rhythm goes along with the imagery of the poem. I decided to try out this idea and I definitely agree, but I cannot decide if I think Longfellow did this on purpose.

"In Sunrise on the Hills" Holmes describes exactly what is expected from the title. He talks of the hills and the valleys of landscapes from New England. He describes in great detail what he hears and sees from all angles.

Something that I found Longfellow was famous for was that the style of his writing was easy to read and was written with a good sense of rhythm. I definitely agree with this considering what I discovered about "The Sound of the Sea".

When I read about how Longfellow wrote in "The Sound of the Sea" that peoples inspirations may be from the heavens opposed to the regularity in which tides occur, a light bulb went off in my head. I remembered a teacher of mine at the church I went to telling me that when you get a really amazing thought, it is God who gives you that idea. It may not always come to a person naturally the way some other things do. Inspirations are rooted from God and heaven.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

The two poems that I read by Oliver Wendell Holmes were "The Chambered Nautilus" and
"Old Ironsides".

"The Chambered Nautilus" is an enduring nature poem. The poem is about a nautilus, a sea creature that lives inside a circular shell. Holmes explains how as the nautilus grows, it makes new and larger chambers of its shell to live in and closes off the old champers which gradually forms a spiral. The nautilus is used by the narrator as a metaphor for the human soul in that it is a “heavenly message” of how people grow and develop throughout the years in their lives. Before the ending of the poem, Holmes explains that humans expand their horizons to fulfill their spiritual freedom of heaven/afterlife.

"Old Ironsides" was about the history and once useful war ship, USS Constitution, being destroyed. From researching online, I found that after Holmes wrote the poem "Old Ironsides", public sentiment was generated which resulted in the USS Constitution, being preserved as a monument. Before this poem, the ship was going to be broken up for scrap.

Both poems talk about the ocean and the sea, both bodies of water. I am not sure if they have any other direct connection other than that they are both about water.

I felt greatly connection to the "Chambered Nautilus" because the poem talks about how people grow and move on from things in their lives. I can think of countless times when I have gone through something and I eventually had to close that part of my life and move on to something better and new. One example was when I have done badly on a test in a class. Instead of letting that bad score discourage me, I moved on and studied harder for the next test in which I did well on.

Herman Melville

Two of Herman Melville's pieces were "The Martyr", a poem, and "The Lightning-Rod Man", a short story.

"The Martyr" is in the genre of historic poetry and was published on April 15, 1865, which happens to be the year Lincoln was president. Another thing I noticed that helped me put this poem into terms I could understand was when I realized Melville is also talking about the killing of God. This may not even be close to correct, but maybe Melville is connecting the assassination of Lincoln and the killing of Christ. The poem starts off by stating a killing on Good Friday, which signifies the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Both were killed for horrible, unjust reasons and they both left a huge mark on society.

The short story, "The Lightning-Rod Man", is about the narrator having a quarrel with the lightning rod salesman who wants to sell his device to the narrator. The unknown narrator accuses the salesman of targeting those who fear godly punishment and then the salesman attacks the narrator with one of his rods. Following this, the narrator grows angry and breaks the rod and tosses the rod and the salesman out of his house. I gathered my thoughts and what I read on the Internet and came up with the conclusion that the narrator represents a strong willed man who does not fear the wrath of God and knows that lightning is not something from the heavens to enforce fear in men. The rod breaking symbolizes that the narrator is resisting traditionalism by letting the salesman know that he is going against God if he has to. This story is making fun of the people during the Romantic era who believe in an angry God.

Both stories have some connection to God. "The Martyr" is about the unfair doings to Jesus Christ and "The Lightning-Rod Man" is about the idea that many people believed in angry God. The people felt that there was an angry God that they must follow or else they would be sent to hell.

Writers like Melville would write about religion and God because during the Romantic era they felt free to draw on Biblical themes like their predecessors had written about classical mythology.

Reading these poems about Jesus Christ and God brought back memories from when I made my 1st Communion at my church. The reason for that is becasue in those church classes I took, we would discuss the killing of Christ. Those days years ago is where I gained all of my knowledge about the killing of Christ and God.