Freedom To Fall

Freedom To Fall By Amanda Yacapin is a poem about how things change from when your a child to when your all grown up. She starts out by telling a story about a group of children running up to the top of a hill and then rolling back down as fast as they can go. All of the kids are having a great time. They have no worries, they are care free, and all they can can think about is having fun. As the poems moves on she talks about how things in life look different through an adults eye. "...What used to be the freedom of falling is now the fear of losing control." suggests that life as a child is a complete 180° turn once you experience the challenges of adult hood. It shows there are no serious consequences for your actions as a child because face it, your a child. When you becone an adult you have to worry about so many things you never thought about as a child, how your gonna make your bills, if you have money for gas, and work. I guess this is why she says "No more tumbling and fumbling. My adult life has come" to explain how the fun of being a child slips away from you without any warning. Another side to this poem is that yes, not being able to have anymore childish games is no fun, but being an adult has so many good sides. You cant drive a car when your a child. You cant own a house when your a child. You cant have a job and income when your a child. I beleive that amandas main point for this poem is that when you become an adult, you will lose all of your old ways, but gain responsibilty and enjoy your new found life.

Alaska

A magical place. The top of the world. Oh yes, you must be in Alaska. Alaska shows its true colors the second you jump off that plane, or hop off that boat. Weather its fishing, hiking, boating, hunting, kayaking, or even mountain climbing you better strap in, because Alaska will knock you off you feet.
Layer up because the chills awaits for you. When you first experience the weather up there your life will feel complete but just wait, there’s more to come. Alaska will determine if your a real man or if you should just stay at home drinking your hot cocoa. It takes all of you and a little bit more to adapt to the lifestyle up there but when you do. oh man, it is the greatest feeling in the whole world.
A HUGE part of Alaska if the fishing! you have got every kind of fish up there from a trout to a King salmon. Going fishing in Alaska is no casual trip to the lake, no no no. You have got to plan for WEEKS about where your going, how your going to get there, what gun your going to bring for protection, and what you need to pack. The reason you bring a gun to a fishing trip is because of the overpopulation of Grizzly Bears! and they LOVE the fish your going to catch for them. My gun of choice would probably be a 12 gauge shotgun or a 300 magnum rifle because those are the only two guns that can take a bears head clean off...
The feeling of landing your first king salmon is indescribable. It’s the most amazing feeling ever. Last thing you remember is you bored standing on the edge of a beautiful glassy blue river when boom, it hits, and comes down on you like a ton of bricks. Your back hurts. your adrenaline's pumping. the end of your pole is violently shaking. your reeling in your line just as fast as you can go. but the smile on your face masks all of that. All you want to do is see your fish, and the second you throw it up on the bank and look at its rosy red glow and steel silver shine you know you did a good job.

Visions and Verses

Visions and Verses By Rachel Galvin is an article about the true meanings behind Blake’s poems and paintings  and what other poets think of them. This article goes deep inside Blake’s mind and what people think of it. It helps give you a better understanding of how Blake see’s the world and how the world sees him. Galvin proclaims that other poets such as William Wordsworth thought of Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience were “undoubtedly the production of insane genius.” Wordsworth says this because the type of writing that Blake does has so many hidden meanings and ways to be translated in to something bigger than just a poem. Blake was called an insane genius because of how in depth his writing goes and the way he thinks when he is writing. “Blake was not thought of as a major romantic poet until after World War II” argues Morris Eaves, a professor at the University of Rochester.  “He’s a kind of modern invention”.  Although now, the most anthologized poem in the English language is ‘Tyger Tyger,’ which gives some indication of Blake’s popularity.  Blake was not a Major romantic poet before the second world war because of Romanticism poets such as Wordsworth and Coleridge and their joint work on the 1798 volume of Lyrical Ballads caused Blake to be overlooked. With the help of Professor Morris Eaves, Professor Robert Essick, and Professor Joseph Viscomi came the Blake Archive. This is a website that gives comprehensive access to Blake’s Poems and paintings that are “rare, fragile or difficult to view.” The purpose of this website was to change the way that Blake was understood. Blake claimed to experience spiritual visions from an early age. “My personal opinion is that he suffered from a kind of schizophrenia,” Suggests Eaves. Some believe that Blake had such a disease that aided him in writing his poems and some people believe that Blake used drugs to help him get his ideas. “He saw visions, heard voices. 

 

Later in his life he claimed that he was not a poet, but that poems were dictated to him.” Eaves explains. This could be the connection that all the other poets are trying to see, that because Blake saw visions and heard voices he could then use that to write his poems and make his paintings.  This is why Blake says that his poems were “Dictated to him,” He expressed what he had seen in his visions and heard in the voices by writing such comprehensive poems. In 1788, Blake found out a new way to print and publish his own books.  This method included using an acid resistant varnish and copper plate. The way it originally worked was the design must first be pressed in to wax and then transferred to the plate with acid. Blake changed the method by painting his ideas directly onto the copper plate with acid resistant varnish, so when it was treated with acid the design was not burned away. This allowed Blake to write his poetry directly onto the plates. Blake was very opposed to an organized religion and believed that all religions are one and that there is no natural religion. “…He was a deeply spiritual poet,” Viscomi argues. Some may think that he was a spiritual poet because a lot his poems were based upon nature and imagination. In 1827, Jerusalem, the final epic poem that Blake created united his beliefs between religion, science, god, and nature.  “Even from the depths of Hell his voice I hear, within the unfathomed caverns of my ear… Heaven Earth & Hell henceforth shall live live in harmony” Blake writes. This is showing the connection between religion, nature, good, and bad and how it should all be able to live in peace.  On the last plate of this poem he gives his reasons for fashioning his own form of writing, and explains how poetry shapes and creates the human race. William Blake was one of the biggest romanticism poets of all time. His poems make you think on a totally different level and see things in a whole new way. Some say that his work was one of an “insane genius,” but I think that it was the way he saw life in his eyes.

The Lamb

Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
Gave thee life & bid thee feed.
By the stream & o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing wooly bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice!
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee

Little Lamb I’ll tell thee,
Little Lamb I’ll tell thee!
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb:
He is meek & he is mild,
He became a little child:
I a child & thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb God bless thee.
Little Lamb God bless thee.

In this poem i think that the lamb symbolizes Jesus, Jesus is known as the “lamb of god”.  “He is called by thy name, For he calls himself a Lamb, He is meek & he is mild, He became a little child.” All these lines point to the lamb representing Jesus because he was born a child and grew up to be a meek and mild person.  The Lamb is showing all that is good on the earth and how it came to be.  Jesus is blessing this lamb so it can bring good to people.  Jesus sent this lamb to earth to show all people that they should honor and respect him.”Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest clothing wooly bright” is reminding the lamb and all of its followers that Jesus has helped give people what they need in their time of despair. Jesus has given them the necessities needed to live a fulfilling life. “wooly bright” shows the quality of every gift Jesus has sent down from heaven to help our world better in every way. When the lamb is asked “Dost thou know who made thee” i believe that this shows how faith is not communicated thoroughly in our world.  Our world consists of so many non believers and when Blake wrote this poem he was communicating that we need to improve on how many people follow Christ and respect the name.  At the end of this poem Jesus is blessing this lamb so that it will know his name and spread it to all the non believers in this sin filled world.

Who is William Blake?

William Blake was born in London on November 28 1757. Only going to school until the age of ten only learned to read and write before leaving.  At a young age William claimed to see God, and angels in a tree. From an early age the Bible had a large influence on Blake and would later in life go on to use the Bible to aid him in his writing. At the age of 21 Blake became a professional engraver with the help of James Basire, A well known engraver. Blake was mostly known for his intaglio engravings. This is when an image is burned into a copper plate. In 1782 Blake married Catherine Sophia Boucher who he taught to read and write. They never had any kids and lived a happy life. In the year 1783 Poetical Sketches, Blake’s first collection of poems was released. This is what started Blake on writing Poetry. Later in life Blake attend The Royal Academy For 6 years where he learned to perfect his writing and painting skills. At school Blake never painted what others thought was the right thing to paint, He looked up to his earlier influences such as Michelangelo and Raphael. After the death of Blake’s father James, him and close friend James Parker opened up a print shop in which they created their paintings and poems. Blake’s view on religion is very particular; he believes that there should be no type of organized religion. He believes that religion should be on a more spiritual and deeper level. 

The Tyger

TIGER, tiger, burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

 

In what distant deeps or skies

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand dare seize the fire?

 

And what shoulder and what art

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And, when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand and what dread feet?

 

What the hammer? What the chain?

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? What dread grasp

Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,

And water'd heaven with their tears,

Did He smile His work to see?

Did He who made the lamb make thee?

 

Tiger, tiger, burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? 

 




The Tiger represents evil, and why it is on earth. The tiger represents evil on earth and how everyone is afraid to stop it. Blake asks "What the hand dare seize the fire?" is a reference to an ancient Greek myth of Icarus. No man can be god; no man dare try to be god because it will always end in failure, just like Icarus could not fly high enough before high wings burned up. This shows immortality that evil has upon people. Too much of a good thing is no good.  The tiger is a powerful force known among people as unstoppable and immovable, such as evil is on the world. "Did He smile His work to see? Did he who made the lamb make thee?" suggests God made the tiger because Jesus is known as "the lamb of god." In our minds Jesus is an good, loving idea we have that we all look up to but how can something so good be from the same father that created evil? Blake is suggesting that Good and evil should coexist in this world. "...burning bright in the forests of the night"  suggests that with all the effort of covering evil's tracks its always going to show its face in some way. Evil shows its face in dark places, such as the tiger is in the forest. “Burnt the fire of thine eyes?” References fire from the depths of hell and how it got to the tiger. This shows how the tiger (or evil) see’s things the same way hell would see the world. The tiger thinks, sees, and hears like hell. God is inviting the tiger to step into the only life that can satisfy its soul.