my life

You go, Girl! I suspect you will be wildly popular with the cadets…just wait and see.

Diana,

Oh, you’re good. You’re VERY good. Tell us about how you sucked in your class, and use that same tale to suck US in.

I think you’ve found your calling.

As for a theme in today’s piece, I’m not sure I’m up to the task of seeing it. I do see an invitation, or perhaps a plea. Am I close?

Dave

I’m interested in what you see, first, actually. You see an invitation or plea? Where do you see it and what do you think he’s pleading for or inviting us to do?

(Seriously…I see a theme, but you may have a better, more clear one.)

d

Diana,

Oh heck, now I’ve put my foot in it. (Grin)

It seems to me the entire piece displays an almost worshipful appreciation for the power, form, and purpose of the engine. But the two lines, “For once come serve the Muse and merge in verse…” and “Roll through my chant with all thy lawless music…” sound like a plea for the engine to give its power and majesty to the writer’s effort.

In some ways, it sounds like they way I was taught to pray: to recognize God’s attributes before requesting His help.

Dave

Wow, Dave! That’s excellent! It also has something in common with my interpretation, and I’m not certain mine is superior. At the very least, yours incorporates two lines that are problematic in my interpretation. (They don’t clash, exactly, but I couldn’t figure out how they fit in exactly, and it’s clear from the alliteration, rhythm, rhyme and–dare I say?–even a vocal palindrome, that the “come serve the muse and merge in verse” line is important…perhaps even the turning point of the poem.

My thoughts on it were that he is clearly worshipping the engine as a god in all its virile power–almost like an ancient fertility god of some sort. It has the train of cars obediently following, even. The virility and power are clear. The worship comes through in his use of worshipful language “thee” and “thy” and his use of terms that are used in spiritual music of various sorts: recitative, chant…but NOT (he says) piano or harp; he dismisses them as not serious enough for his purposes. The instrument that seems appropriate that he is hinting toward is percussive. Drums. This is a primitive god, this engine.

To place this in historical context, 1850 saw the publication of Origin of Species. Skepticism was deepening. I think Whitman may have been making a statement about a god man has made in his own image.

There’s also a remark about panoply, which was the full-body armor of the Greek hoplite. Not sure if there’s a footpath in that direction, but it certainly doesn’t clash with my speculation thus far.

The winter setting isn’t entirely clear to me, though. Why is it important that it is in snow, this huge black thing? Contrast? Snow is purity and it plows through it unknowing? Dunno.

Those were my observations and the conclusion that makes sense to me. Actually, now I think about it, yours fits in with mine nicely, and explains the lines I couldn’t. :)

You rock at this. When you’re up to it, you and I might tackle “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”

d

Oh, and Kathleen. I don’t know about “wildly popular"; I’ll settle for the cadets staying awake in my classes, as far as that goes.

During faculty orientation, we were shown a comparison chart between the average sleep deprivation of the Brown Univ. student (and Brown is renowned for sleep depriving their students) and USAFA’s average. Brown students get 6.5 to 7 hours a night on average. USAFA students get (no kidding) 4.5 to 5.

Thank you very much for your vote of confidence, though. :) It would be wonderful if I were wildly popular with my students, but I’m trying to keep my goals reasonable. If I reach one or two of them, even, I’ll consider myself accomplished.

d

Diana,

I “rock” at this? Nah, I’m just good with blarney. But thanks anyway.

I took the winter setting to mean nature’s adversity. The engine drives on in spite of it, another mark of its masculinity. I think you’re right about the god made in man’s image: the locomotive was the symbol of the Industrial Revolution and man’s becoming a force of nature.

I’m not sure if I can read “panoply” the way you do. The warrior’s task is to apply force to bring an adversary under submission - the adversary is the task, in other words. The engine’s task can be completed without opposition, but will be completed even in spite of opposition. I take panoply in its modern meaning here, “ceremonial attire with all accessories.”

I agree with Kathleen, you’re going to be wildly popular. Just keep in mind that “wildly popular” for a teacher doesn’t mean that you’ll reach 100% of the students. There’ll be some that just don’t get it. Dad used to get excited when he’d have five out of twenty students that were enthusiastic about the work. Most years he’d get two or three.

Dave

Blarney! Hmph. :|

I think there are meanings in the poem to extrapolate. I think the blarney bit comes in when you start stretching to find meaning, and you know when you trip from seeing intrinsic meaning to, well, kneading the dough long after it has risen.

Kinda like me and that panoply thing. :) It seems important in a sense, but darned if I can see why it matters.

For now, I’m shooting for having The Best Show in Town, meaning the students will stay awake and moderately alert and learn a couple of things despite themselves. Some will dig it, some will endure it, and if I’m lucky, one will have the epiphony about literature that quite literally changes his life.

d

Diana,

I’m sorry. I meant no offense when I said blarney. (To me blarney is talking at length about something I know nothing about. The same as BSing, but it can be said in polite company.)

I have no doubt you’ll keep your kids awake, alert, and learning. It’s plain you’re passionate about the subject, and that’s what will make the difference. And if your career there is long enough, that changed life will happen, too. It might take a few years after you’ve done your part, but you may get a letter one day thanking you for being “the teacher that made a difference.”

And when you do get that letter, you won’t sleep for days.

Dave

That was intended as more of a playful “hmph” than anything. I think of blarney is equivalent to blowing smoke. There’s a difference of intent, I think, between that and talking at length about something you think you know nothing about. ;)

FWIW, I think you know more than you think you do.

d

Diana,

Certainly more than I’ll admit to.

I found Prufrock and scanned it quickly. I’ve discovered one thing already: that I need to take more time to read it. That’s way more involved than the limericks I’m accustomed to.

I’m trying to avoid published analyses of it, which isn’t easy. It seems like pretty much everybody’s taken a shot at it.

Dave