Dover Beach

http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~keith/poems/dover.html

The theme of the poem is mostly the loss of faith and human misery. The poet is deeply disturbed with the growing misery of humans and expresses his negative thoughts through “Dover Beach”. The line ‘the sea meets the moon-blanched land’  gives hints of the light of the moon to be pale, possibly because of fear and thus it suggests negativity as it can be compared to the popular idiom ‘his bones blanched the beach’. This gives an image of disturbance and the poets feelings of destruction and negativity reflect in this line. Also, the poet’s feelings are portrayed through the description of the sea’s sounds and movement. The sound of the sea is described as ‘grating roar’, suggesting that the sea is screaming in anger or is furious at the state of the world. The last line of the second stanza, ‘eternal note of sadness,’ clearly tells us the feeling of the poet. The poet points out through this line that sadness has always been and will always are in existence and this shows us that the poet has no hope and his mind is full of pessimism. The poet is depressed and he conveys this depression through the description of the sea.

The poet emphasizes on the complete loss of faith throughout mankind and again, compares it with the movement of the sea. The lines, “the Sea of Faith lay like folds of a bright girdle furled,” tells us that the poet used to have faith and the word girdle means that faith was wrapped all around in layers, suggesting feelings of security and protection. The poet tells us that now he doesn’t feel protected or secure. It shows us his helplessness over human misery and his loss of faith. His belief is decreasing gradually and his mind is evaded with only images of darkness and negativity.

The faith of people is described as to be retreating slowly and eventually there is no hope left at all. The phrase “vast edges drear” gives hints that the poet feels that the world is coming to an end and the word edge suggests falling or dropping. This can be assumed as the fall of the human race. The poet feels that everything in the world is nearing its end and that the loss of faith indicates this end.

The last stanza is full of bitter thoughts and it clearly and openly tells us the feelings and emotions of the poet. The poet writes that the world which seems so beautiful and glamorous is actually not such in reality. He says, “Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light.” He thinks extremely negatively and gives no hope to the people, especially the youth. He ends by writing that we will all struggle and fight with each other and this seems as if man will slaughter man in the end. The poet is a pessimist and looks at the worst side of everything. He doesn’t feel like things can be changed and shows no signs of happiness or contentment in his life. He definitely seems to have lost a lot of things in his life.  

The Innocent Villain

The Evil Queen is typically viewed as the “villain” of the story of the show, “Once Upon A Time” as she has cast a dark curse which banishes all the other characters from the magical world to the town of Storybrooke with the characters having no memory of their true identities or previous life altogether. The Queen herself is the Mayor of this town with a firm grip over the activities of the town and unlike the other characters, she remembers everything. 

A neglected aspect of the story which may explain or justify the seemingly unfair or evil actions of the Queen is to locate her motive behind it all. Perhaps the queen feels that by trapping those around her in another world she may be able to escape her unhappiness and dread as she won’t be in her ordinary state of consciousness but rather in an extension of reality. By existing in a world parallel to her reality, the Evil Queen is ultimately attempting to shut out a feeling of loss or unhappiness which she may have felt in her real (fairytale) world. Her unhappiness may prove to be minimized when she is not surrounded by the awareness of the people around her of her unhappiness. Therefore, she places herself in a fake or denial state of mind to provide herself with comfort.

It is true that she is evil, however, there has to be an explanation of her behavior as to have the determination to destroy the happiness of others with such strong effect means that she has somehow been previously hurt by these people which causes her to feel a sense of pain or loss. If closely observed, her portrayal is not purely evil. The fact that she names her adopted child after her father, Henry shows how she feels the loss of her father and possibly the guilt of killing him to achieve her happiness. A woman who is capable of killing the one person she loves the most for the sake of gaining revenge or happiness for herself is clearly someone who has suffered through a loss which is unbearable. Furthermore, she wouldn’t have named an adopted child with a name so dear to her if she did not truly feel any love for him. This shows her capability to love or care for someone which she continually attempts to ignore or dismiss by performing evil actions. Therefore, her actions come from fear. Fear of not being happy. This results in her detaching herself from positivity as she is afraid to get hurt. Thus, it remains to be seen whether the Queens fight for protection of happiness is as important as the other characters fight to break her curse. Ultimately, she strives for and expects to be given what every other character wants- happiness and love.

Nature: A Hindrance to Love? (Continuation of analysis)

Referrence: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20320            

The tone used in the second stanza is that of a lover challenging the sun, an element which he feels creates disturbance in his and his beloved’s life. This can be said to be a change from the irritated and rude tone adopted in the first stanza, where Donne is absolutely outraged and disappointed by the rising of the sun. Donne uses a persuasive technique in his poems which entails him gradually building up his argument with logic, stanza by stanza. We can see him using this technique in other poems such as, “The Flea” where he tries to convince his beloved in favour of physical love by first comparing how a flea sucking blood from their two bodies is like the mingling of their bloods which is similar to the act of copulation. He goes on further to tell her how copulation does not invoke loss of honour and is not considered as a crime. Similarly, in “The Sun Rising”, the poet concentrates on first making the sun aware of his irritation by its existence and then explaining how he (Donne) can overpower him if he wants. Thus, he is trying to establish the insignificance of the sun or any other external disturbance faced by the two lovers as they are consumed in each other’s love so much that they do not bother about others.  

Donne further establishes the high status of his beloved and himself through the use of conceits. Conceits have been used by Donne in most of his poems as it is a way to give the reader a precise image of his argument by giving his argument features of objects or other elements. Dryden Johnson, a critic, said that Donne’s poetry is full of geographical, theological and religious conceits and thus, this makes his poetry more real and strengthens his argument. In his poem, “Valediction: A Forbidden Mourning”, the poet makes use of a conceit by saying that the two lovers are like a compass. It shows how in a compass when the needle revolves and is held by a foothold, similarly when the poet travels; his foothold will always remain his beloved. In “The Sun Rising”, vivid imagery is used to bring across the poet’s concept that he and his beloved are all that he cares and knows about. He raises his beloved’s status by telling the sun that he can look around but will not find a woman who is so complex and exalted as his beloved as she is more precious than the spices and mines of gold and silver of the East and West Indies. The poet’s concept of ownership comes in when he refers to himself as all the kings in the world put together and his beloved as all the land in the world. He shows how they have the strong bond of a King and state.

The poet ends by saying, “This bed thy center is, these walls, thy sphere.” Thus, he creates the concept of microcosm as the world only consists of him and his beloved and their love is eternal and everlasting, it transcends time as he refers hours, days and months to be “rags of time”. Donne expresses his exalted and untraditional loveby making the sun aware of it and by ending his argument to the sun with a grim acceptance of its existence, but also a commitment that no matter what happens; the poet and his beloved are content whereas, the sun is “half as happy as we”.

Nature: A Hindrance to Love?

For reference: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20320

“The Sun Rising” is one of the love poems written by John Donne. The poem is addressed to the sun and attempts to express the poet’s dissatisfaction over the rising or presence of the sun in the day as it is a disturbance to him and his lover. The degrading and colloquial language, the irritated and unpleasant tone, accompanied with vivid imagery through the use of conceits, highlights Donne’s untraditional depiction of love, his belief in the supremacy of love, his concept of microcosm and the great weight he gives to his beloved and himself and his willingness to take action if any external disturbances arise, interrupting their marital bliss. Donne’s methods and concerns in poetry are typically to do with getting through to the reader the existence and significance of metaphysical love and the fact that to a lover the single most precious thing in life is his/her beloved. Thus, the language, tone and imagery used reflects Donne’s intellectual, yet spiritual and romantic take on love.

The overall use of language in the poem attempts to degrade and demean the Sun. Donne makes use of colloquialism which gives a conventional and simple touch to the poem, making it easy for the reader to understand his unusual concept of love. The title, “Sun Rising”, would typically suggest the glorification and superiority of the sun as it is “rising” and it brings light and thus enables sight and activity to take place. However, the poet calls the sun “unruly” and a “busy old fool”. The poet calls it unruly as the rays of the sun are taken by him and his lover as a disturbance and interruption to their intimacy. The rising of the sun means the end of night and the coming of morning. The poet contradicts himself in using a paradox later on in the first stanza as along with calling the sun unruly, he refers to it as a “saucy pedantic wretch”. The word pedantic shows that the sun follows a routine and time. However, calling it unruly depicts it as irresponsible and not time bound. This, therefore, shows how for Donne the sun’s rising is a disturbance but for the sun itself, it is only doing its job and following its routine. Furthermore, the poet calls upon the sun to go shine on others such as “late school boys and sour prentices” and “court huntsmen”. He regards these people, their life and activities as insignificant in relation to the expression of love and this shows his determined thought that only him and his beloved need privacy and intimacy.

Donne refers to the sun’s rays as “reverend and strong”, but then uses the word “eclipse” to show how he feels he can overpower the sun by covering it with a wink of the eye. This shows Donne’s typical method of exaggeration when comparing concepts. He exaggerates his strength over the sun to such an extent that it seems as if he is capable of shutting out the sun, an element of Nature, whenever he pleases. 

Craftswoman (continued)

A graduate in Economics, Psychology and English Literature, Fatema was not very academically inclined, so only made it as far as her bachelors. She wasn’t even motivated to pursue a career in any of her subjects; so what to make of her life professionally remained a question mark.  Fatema is the youngest of four daughters and belongs to a family of artists. She feels that she remained an anomaly amongst them for a long time because she showed no tendency or capacity for arts and crafts. However, soon enough, she found her way and discovered a propensity for colours and designs within herself.

She smilingly recalls, “The day I got the idea to paint on wood, my mother practically shoved me out of the house to go buy paints with my father. She had done the groundwork, and had taught us the necessary skills through craft projects and stitching et cetera.”

Gradually, Fatema explored her skills and potential and was allowed to paint anything she wanted. She started with her dressing table, and then moved onto the shoe cabinet, chairs and even the dining table. Once she had started, there was no holding her back! Applying her creativity to cloth craft as well, she began designing and stitching bags and wallets.

It has now been more than ten years since she started and in this time she has experimented a lot and has developed a style of painting and creating all, her own. It does not end there, apart from working for extremely long hours, creating masterpieces; Fatema has a family to take care of, too.

Her family remains her priority, but to be able to work re- enforces her character and gratifies the need for self fulfilment. She wishes people in Pakistan would understand that and give women the support they need to explore their full potential.

She recommends, “One piece of advice I would like to give home makers is that , although house and family demands their all, they should not ignore and forget their own self and create the time and space to be able to nurture it”. 

So for all the clueless people out there:

Let the beauty of what you love, be what you do. - Rumi.

Craftswoman adds colour and style to dull surroundings

“I love filling empty spaces with colour and design, so I can paint on any kind of surface from cloth, wood, ceramics to glass and mirrors,” says 31 year old Fatema K. Hussain, an accomplished craftswoman, who with her creativity can turn the ordinary into extraordinary.

Furniture, hand bags and wallets, jewellery, clothes, trays, decoration pieces, perfumes- name it, and she has it all in her interesting collection. She makes these various products at home and has regular exhibitions of her work, where when I went for the first time this year, I came to realize that almost anything and everything I put my hand on was sold out already.

Fatema’s exceptionally unique style of designing is visibly imprinted on all her pieces. She uses deep and strong colour combinations which attracts people’s attention. Appreciation for her work is not restricted to any age group. Working with materials and ideas around her she lends her signature style to every item she makes and paints.

Roaming endlessly in the markets of Karachi, Fatema always tries to find the ideal piece of furniture or jewellery to transform. Also, she makes use of any recycled material that she can get hold of. Minimum she takes three days to make an item. Her products are reasonably priced at rupees 100 to 10,000, considering the hard work and the long hours which have to be put in to make a final, perfect piece.

When asked about her inspiration, Fatema proudly says, “I paint according to my own inspiration and inclination but I do customise according to my clients tastes and requirements. I have been inspired by traditional and regional craft and incorporated it, heavily, into my work. I love truck art and am greatly enthused by its sharp and brilliant colours and designs. Also, I enjoy working with ajrak and block prints. My vision is to embellish everyday household items and bring in vivid colour in our daily surroundings and items of use; and with this method refurbish and revive old furniture as well.”

One would think that such a talented woman always had it all figured out, but that where she surprises you…

Tofiq Pasha

The youth of today is in constant search of inspiration, guidance and most importantly, a path- to walk their ways with relative ease, through the obstacles of life. This search brings hope and it is precisely what continues to encourage positive thought and action in society.

Tofiq Pasha is a man who ultimately serves as an example of this search. Striving each day to work towards his hope and desire to improve the land he calls home, he is a man with deep passion for nature-his hope. His dedication to work towards improvement in innumerable fields such as agriculture, gardening, environment, children’s activities, women’s livelihood, water conservation food security and many more is a display of his effort to realize the importance of a more sustainable tomorrow.

Tofiq Pasha's World- as he likes to call it- is full of energy and the burning desire to improve the faults of society. He has 30 years of experience in horticulture, floriculture, and landscaping and water management. His vast expanse of involvement and work includes:

• Development and promotion of various High Efficiency Irrigation Systems and alternate linings of water bodies with various organization.
• Successful Landscape Designer- having undertaken some very high profile Landscape projects over the last 25 years.
• Hosted 3 regular TV shows. “Bagh Baani,” “Kitchen Garden” and “Go Camping with Pasha”.
•  Training for initiating dialogues on water food and environment through the IWMI program (International Water Conference, Hanoi, Vietnam, October 2002).
• Informal hands on training for the last 25 years for farmers to change the way they manage farms, including management of crops and water.
• Conducted lectures in various organizations including gardening societies ,schools, colleges and universities on water and food management issues and advocacy on issues relating to the environment, farming, pollution and social issues.
• Conducted orientation sessions with a range of NGOs in rural areas of Pakistan on water, agriculture, food, women and water and related areas.
• Co-authored and presented paper '' The Karachi Nightmare'' in Dhaka, 3rd. South Asia Water Forum.
• Member, Board of Directors Indus Delta Area Water Partnership and Global Water Partnership and the Pakistan Water Partnership
• Organized and conducted various field trips for school children to emphasize on water pollution and other environmental issues and facilitated between the Book Group and local shareholders for IREP, working on water, pollution, food and economic opportunity.

And the list can go on...

He is truly an inspiring man and much can be learned from him as long as one desires to.