Choose either of these prompts and use the comment box to answer:
1. "'Hope' is the thing with feathers" (anthology p. 210-11) and "It feels a shame to be alive" (p.210) were both composed during the Civil War, but the 1st is from 1861 and the 2nd from 1863. Do you feel a different tone from one to the other that might correspond to a change of feeling due to the war's development?
2. Can you establish intertextual relations (especially pertaining to an oblique look on the Civil War) between either of these poems and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?
8 comments:
1. In “Hope is the thing with feathers”, it seems to me that there is a very - pardon the repetition - hopeful tone. Animating “Hope” as a living creature that is selfless (“ Yet - never - in Extremity,/ It asked a crumb - of me”) and stands firm no matter the storm. There’s a very song-like structure, with the anaphoras and the many dental consonants in the beginning. The predominantly voiced consonants evoke wind, and the flapping of wings, but are soothing (the P in Hope being a very clear occlusive exception, to highlight this word, as well as “stops”). There is a drastic change in rhythm with the insertion of the conjunction “Yet”, which introduces the powerful conclusion. That being said, I think there’s a consciousness of the effect of a war - not nearly as strong as in the second poem, obviously, but the dash before “of me” feels like an addition that indicates that there is someone who’s sacrificing themselves for “me”. In the second poem, I think “*d*ead” is the first full stop, phonetically speaking, which makes sense. “Distinguished Dust” is a curious expression - it feels immediately bitter. The third stanza stands out to me, with an incredible play on words, that refers to “piling bodies” and the cost - with a literal comparison to Dollars - of peace. Overall, it is a very visually striking poem in a tone that differs heavily from the earlier one.
Beatriz Simões
1. Emily Dickinson’s “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers” and “It feels a shame to be alive” feel very different, and that could be because of the impact of the Civil War, that was going on at the time. The first poem has a hopeful tone, using the image of a bird to show how hope keeps singing even in tough times. It feels optimistic, like there’s still a lot to believe in.
The second poem, though, feels heavier and more serious. By 1863, the war had been going on for a while, and there had been great loss. Dickinson seems to be struggling with the guilt of surviving when so many others had died fighting. It’s less about hope and more about questioning what it means to live when others have sacrificed everything.
So, the tone changes from hopeful and uplifting to reflective and sad, which might match how people’s feelings about the war shifted over time.
Carolina Amaro N158426
Emily Dickinson’s poem “It feels a shame to be alive” and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn both talk about freedom, sacrifice, and doing what’s right, which connect to ideas from the Civil War. In Dickinson’s poem, she writes about feeling unworthy to live when others have died bravely for justice and liberty. In Twain’s novel, Huck faces similar feelings when he struggles with the decision to help Jim, a runaway enslaved man, even though society tells him it’s wrong.
Both works explore the idea of moral bravery. Huck risks everything to help Jim, even though he believes it might send him to hell. This connects to the sacrifices made by those who fought in the Civil War to end slavery. Dickinson’s words, “It feels a shame to be alive — / When men so brave — are dead,” show respect for those who stood up for what’s right, much like Huck’s actions reflect personal courage in standing against an unfair society.
In her other poem, “’Hope’ is the thing with feathers,” Dickinson talks about hope as something that keeps people going even in tough times. This idea connects to Jim’s hope for freedom and his determination to reunite with his family. Both works remind us of the strength and resilience needed to fight for freedom, showing how people can inspire change, even during difficult times like the Civil War.
Cristiano Araújo 164943
(answer to number 2)
“Hope is a thing with feathers” is intensely optimistic, representing the unwavering hope that fills the speaker, even in the face of immense danger. With the commencing of the Civil War, in 1861, the poem exudes the desire to delve into this unknown endeavor, knowing that hope, which is personified as an undying “little Bird”, will not abandon anyone, regardless of the soreness of the faced “storm”. In the third stanza, it is explained that, even “in the chillest land” (roughest circumstances), hope endures without asking anything in return (“a crumb - of me”).
In “It feels a shame to be alive”, the narrator envies the “Spartans” who sacrifice their lives for the greater cause of freedom. Life away from battle, before such deeds of bravery, is in itself motive for shame. When the battlefield dust touches the venerated soldiers, it becomes dignified, a “Distinguished Dust”, yet another testament to their honor. The third stanza, however, introduces an unprecedented question tampering with the civil war’s entire rationale: how many people have to die “Before we (slaves) may obtain (freedom)”? The glorified characterization of death, in the name of liberty, is now delivered as an overwhelming price to pay, due to the sheer and increasing mass of casualties (especially in 1863: around 250,000) and the prolongation of the conflict, replacing the former optimism. Money related words, such as “price”, “paid” and “Dollars”, underline a subtle accusation by the speaker: the true cause of the war, masked with the facade of freedom, is the greed of the rich and powerful. The simile “like Dollars” additionally illustrates this, as the pilled bodies are really just the sacrifice of noble men to fuel the hunger for wealth of lesser men. With the conjunction of these factors, the ultimate surrounding mood is definitely darker, because even if the righteous cause of slavery abolition is more than a pretext and has not been fully dissolved, the “Enormous Pearl” (life) is possibly being exaggeratedly sacrificed in the “horrid Bowl”. Dwelling with this existential question of to what numeric extent death is permitted for the greater purpose of liberty from slavery, the poem oozes a gradual melancholy and despair.
Overall, the visible discrepancy in tone between the two poems is proportional to the war’s development, since what began as a bright spark of optimism, in 1861, prolonged into an astounding mass of death in 1863, translating in a darker and discouraged poem. The poetic I’s ideals, though displayed in an introspective note, are noticeably affiliated with the anti-racist Union - war winners, yet through enourmous human loss, distressing the narrator.
Matias Castiel
1. In the poem Hope is a thing with feathers the speaker has an uplifting and optimistic tone. The main message of the poem is of encouragement and strength, something very necessary during the Civil War. It suggests that Hope is always present even in the most challenging times. On the other hand, one could say that the poem It feels a shame to be alive has a pessimistic tone. This poem is very melancholic, the speaker reflects on the losses of the war and expresses guilt and a feeling of unworthiness when compared to the sacrifices made by others, particularly soldiers who have died in battle. The difference of tone between the poems is clear and logical. As the Civil War started in 1861 (date when the first poem was written) hope was a strong feeling shared by many, but as the war went on people started to feel less hopeful and see the deadly impact of the war. The second poem written in 1863 (in the middle of the Civil War) illustrates this loss of hope and the crescent feeling of uneasiness, they didn’t know if they would win the war and keep seeing people die which created a sorrowful mood.
Carlota Lopes
2- (Ana Rita Franco)
We can relate the poem “It feels a shame to be alive” with the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, given that both the poetic voice and Huck Finn express a death wish. This death wish of Huck’s is stated from the 1st chapter (“I felt so lonesome I most wished I was dead. (…) I got so down-hearted and scared, I most wished I had some company”) and this trope of him being lonely, scared, feeling abandoned and yearning for death as a relief of those negative feelings is recurring throughout the book. For instance, in chapter XVI it appears again, as he is feeling guilty for protecting Jim: “I got to feeling so mean and miserable I most wished I was dead.” Also, in the poem, it seems like the poetic voice envies those who died for the cause of abolitionism (“One envies the Distinguished Dust- Permitted-such a Head-“). We can assume that this envy comes from the guilt of being one of the “we that wait” (those who didn’t fight in the Civil War). Hence, just like the poetic voice in the poem yearns for death as a way to minimize the guilt it feels for not fighting for emancipation, Huck is also drawn towards death as a potential relief. Death is seen as a relief/salvation, instead of it being something to dread.
2. Both Twain's Huckleberry Finn and Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself offer indirect critiques of societal norms, which can be seen in their subversive approaches to issues surrounding freedom and identity, especially in the context of the pre-Civil War era. Huck’s rejection of societal rules, such as his decision to help Jim escape slavery, mirrors Whitman’s celebration of individuality and autonomy in Song of Myself. Therefore the tension between personal freedom and societal expectations in Huck’s journey subtly engages with the broader questions of slavery and the coming Civil War, and reflects the moral conflict of the time.
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