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2 answers
What was the connection between Hardy and Keats?
Thomas Hardy's short poem "At Lulworth Cove a Century Back" is a sort of ode to Keats, who apparently left England from near Lulworth Cove on his way to Rome:
"Good. That man goes to Rome — to death, despair;
And no one notes him now but you and…
Rand al'Thor
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8
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Why is the robin "sobbing"?
Blake's "The Blossom", part of his Songs of Innocence which you can read online, is a very short poem about a sparrow and a robin. The part about the robin reads as follows:
Pretty, pretty robin!
Under leaves so green
A happy blossom
Hears…
Rand al'Thor
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8
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Why does Kipling's poem ‘The Three-Decker’ differ between editions?
Rudyard Kipling’s collection The Seven Seas (1896) contains the poem ‘The Three-Decker’, whose third verse is as follows:
By ways no gaze could follow, a course unspoiled of cook,
Per Fancy, fleetest in man, our titled berths we took
With maids…
Gareth Rees
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8
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1 answer
Which Chesterton story is alluded to in Childhood's End?
In Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End, there is a small allusion to a Chesterton story, when the characters Stormgreen and Van Ryberg discuss their theories about the nature of the Overlords (Chap. 4):
"I admit, " said van Ryberg, "that some of my…
Brian Hellekin
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8
votes
5 answers
In 1984, did Julia ever reach room 101? If so, what was her worst fear?
While O'Brian is torturing Winston, he reveals that Julia betrayed Winston almost immediately. Does this mean that she never reached room 101? If she did reach it, do we have any hints as to what her worst fear might have been?
Ovi
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8
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3 answers
What are the "mind-forged manacles"?
From "London", a short poem in William Blake's Songs of Experience collection (free to read online):
In every cry of every man,
In every infant’s cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forged manacles I hear:
What are the…
Rand al'Thor
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8
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2 answers
Why is "The Chimney Sweeper" in Songs of Innocence rather than Songs of Experience?
The Chimney Sweeper from Songs of Innocence opens like this:
When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!
So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.
I must…
EJoshuaS - Stand with Ukraine
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8
votes
1 answer
Who are the authors in this facade?
Can someone tell me the authors on the Oscar Wilde restaurant in NYC?
Pedro
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8
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1 answer
Are Songs of Experience and Songs of Innocence actually songs? Or is the word song a metaphor?
William Blake's Songs of Experience and Songs of Innocence have the word "song" in their title. Why is that? Are they actually songs? Or is the word "song" a metaphor for something else.
Musical Poetry
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8
votes
1 answer
Why weren't Blake's poems published in their original painted form?
A little known fact about William Blake is that his poems in Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience were published in a painted form. As the article William Blake and the Music of the Songs explains:
One of the characteristics of Blake’s work…
No one text
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8
votes
2 answers
What is the symbolism of Ransom's heel wound?
In Perelandra, the second book of CS Lewis's planets trilogy, the protagonist Ransom is wounded in the heel by the Un-Man/Weston. We learn in the third book, That Hideous Strength, that the wound never really heals.
What is the symbolism behind this…
Rand al'Thor
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8
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1 answer
Can you explain the financial situation of Edward and Elinor Ferrars in Sense and Sensibility?
First, let me start by saying that English is not my first language; thus, I am really struggling to understand the language used in such classic novels as those of Jane Austen's.
I've just finished reading Sense and Sensibility. I find it hard to…
TBBT
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8
votes
1 answer
Is the speaker with an on-off switch a reference to Orwell?
I'm intrigued by this passage in Lois Lowry, The Giver, chapter 10.
He watched as the man rose and moved first to the wall where the speaker was. It was the same sort of speaker that occupied a place in every dwelling, but one thing about it was…
b_jonas
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8
votes
3 answers
Does Rush's "Tom Sawyer" promote an anti-religious view?
Rush's Tom Sawyer includes the following line:
No, his mind is not for rent
To any God or government
Always hopeful yet discontent
He knows changes aren't permanent
But change is
Is this arguing that religion is essentially tyrannical? In…
EJoshuaS - Stand with Ukraine
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8
votes
3 answers
What's the meaning of the text in the scroll that the Prince of Arragon finds in the silver casket in Act 2, Scene 9 of The Merchant of Venice?
This is the exact text (The Merchant of Venice, Act 2 Scene 9):
Arragon:
The fire seven times tried this,
Seven times tried that judgment is,
That did never choose amiss.
Some there be that shadows kiss.
Such have but a shadow’s bliss.
I have no…
Yashaswini
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