The Aeneid, week 24

"     So all his shipmates gathered round his body and raised a loud lament, devoted Aeneas in the lead. Then still in tears, they rushed to perform the Sibyl's orders, no delay, they strive to pile up trees, to build an altar-pyre rising to the skies. Then into an ancient wood and the hidden dens of beasts they make their way, and down crash the pines, the ilex rings to the axe, the trunks of ash and oak are split by the driving wedge, and they roll huge rowans down the hilly slopes."
                                                 ~from The Aeneid by Virgil, book six
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     This particular passage of book six is one of my favorites from The Aeneid so far. This is because it displays a dramatic, yet applicable happening. The men who are with Aeneid on his journey are forced to say goodbye to a comrade, a companion - a friend. Plenty of people today have to do this, but fewer have to go right back into laboring, minutes after a funerary farewell. These particular men, though, do so with dignity, courage, and silent sorrow - 'still in tears'. Even Aeneid weeps as he carries out his instructions. but through the tears, they carry on.
     I love the emotion in this piece, and how it's not an unheard of emotion - but a circumstance that can be very real.

Purity beneath the veil

A charm invests a face

a poem by Emily Dickinson

A charm invests a face

Imperfectly beheld.

The lady dare not lift her veil

For fear it be dispelled.

But peers beyond her mesh,

And wishes, and denies,

Lest interview annul a want

That image satisfies.

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       This poem about purity took a while to find, but was worth being found. It's about the purity of the veiled woman - whether the veil be metaphorical or physical. Metaphorical veils are much more popular today than are physical ones, but - sadly - any type of veil is either unheard of or rare in most places. Girls today just don't care as much about saving purity for the man God has planned for her. They want satisfaction now, the satisfaction being found in small, temporary things such as 'the first kiss' (often at age 10) or the prom later on. And as I strive to be a pure young woman in an impure world, watching some of my friends slowly lose their purity has become a lesson to me. Every week they break up with someone, and every week their heart is broken. So I'm waiting on what the Lord has in store for me - avoiding trauma, heartbreak, and wave-like relationships. Sure - it's hard - but it will be so, so worth it. 

The Aeneid - book 4

" But the queen -- too long she has suffered the pain of love,
  hour by hour nursing the wound with her life blood,
  consumed by the fire buried in her heart.
  The man's courage, the sheer pride of his line,
  they all come pressing home to her, over and over.
  His looks, his words, they pierce her heart and cling --
  no peace, no rest for her body, love will give her none."
                               ~from book 4 of The Aeneid by Virgil

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    This paragraph is the first of the quite lengthy poem in book four of The Aeneid, called 'The Tragic Queen'. This paragraph fits the description held in the title very well for we do indeed see that the queen is tragic. I like in this piece how well Virgil commands the use of imagery. The first segment of this tool is found in the very first line - 'the pain of love'. Love is considered an abstract noun - something that is definitely tangible, but not visible to others around you. So this creates an image of something hidden - which seems to be an oxymoron, but adds to the mystery and awesomeness of what Virgil is trying to say.
    Another great form of imagery Virgil uses is found in the last line when he says - 'no peace, no rest for her body, love will give her none.' The way the words in this line have been put together makes love seem like a demanding, resentful, un-compassionate authority - which is true, in many ways. Overall, the final line of the first paragraph of book four's poem gives love the character of a person in a truthful, colorful manner.
   

A Poem for your pleasure:

Going for Water

by Robert Frost

The well was dry beside the door,  

  And so we went with pail and can  

Across the fields behind the house  

  To seek the brook if still it ran;  

  

Not loth to have excuse to go,

  Because the autumn eve was fair  

(Though chill), because the fields were ours,  

  And by the brook our woods were there.  

  

We ran as if to meet the moon  

  That slowly dawned behind the trees,

The barren boughs without the leaves,  

  Without the birds, without the breeze.  

  

But once within the wood, we paused  

  Like gnomes that hid us from the moon,  

Ready to run to hiding new

  With laughter when she found us soon.  

  

Each laid on other a staying hand  

  To listen ere we dared to look,  

And in the hush we joined to make  

  We heard, we knew we heard the brook. 

  

A note as from a single place,  

  A slender tinkling fall that made  

Now drops that floated on the pool  

  Like pearls, and now a silver blade.

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    I was planning on using a poem by Shel Silverstein for this exercise but - unfortunately - almost all of our books are packed up for moving. So I searched instead for a majestic and intriguing poem by Robert Frost or similar author on the internet, and came up with this. 

    

    In order to receive the full effect of this poem, I read it many times - each time enjoying and understanding it a little more. The perspective of the poem is that of a group of younger children, sent to fetch water from the brook in the woods. It is a great adventure for them, and they run 'as if to meet the moon' - meaning they ran hard and fast as if they had a very long distance to go. I love this poem mostly because of how big Frost has made this simple little task seem, as it was to the group of children. For them it went beyond the normal household chores such as sweeping out the rooms or bringing in firewood to heat the house. It was a task specially given to them - a task that took them beyond the home, and into the magical, open, and free space of the forest. His title makes the job seem minimal and simple to an older mind, but in his poem he makes it clear that fetching the water is much more than that. Overall, I think Robert Frost's presentation of point of view on this subject was outstanding, and accurate. 

The Annoying, Un-decisive Older Sister

"LIV {Clodia to her brother.}


         Don't come here, Brainless. I don't wish to see anyone. I am completely happy as I am"...(insert her various lame reasons for happiness in life)
   
  Later on in the document:
        " Come to Nettuno, Publius. I cannot endure this any longer, but I am not yet ready to come to town.
           For the sake of heaven, come and don't bring anybody with you."
Still later in the document:
        " I hope this letter fails to reach you and that you are already on your way. If not, start at once"
                                                           ~taken from, The Ides of March, by Thornton Wilder
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                     When I fist read this passage, I laughed hysterically! It is important to know that Clodia is thought to have been the older sibling in this scenario. I didn't include all the text - the document is pretty long. But it seems that after relaying to her brother why he needn't come as she is 'completely happy' she convinces herself that she really does need her little brother, and things are not okay.
                     As an older sibling myself, I often find that talking things through with someone often makes you do a double-take on your motive. For example, I corresponded with a classmate this afternoon on the phone about what our strategy is for an upcoming assignment we are doing. Talking with him for a length of time definitely helped me understand what my own point of view was on the matter.
                    Overall, I think this passage is proof that sometimes we may think we've convinced ourselves of something, when really it's best for us to talk it out. In doing this, we often find out more about ourselves. 

Falling in Love - With a Country {wk. 17}

        " Moving to the other side of the world and having a large family was never my dream or even my idea. But as I look back, I can see that God spent my whole life preparing me for the life He had planned for me - the people He placed in just the right places at the right times, and circumstances I could never fathom would eventually be for His glory. For years before I went to Uganda, I had fantasized about doing something incredible for God and others; what I have learned is that I can do nothing incredible, but as I follow God into impossible situations , He can work miracles in and through me. "
                                                ~from, Kisses from Katie, by Katie Davis
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        The tone of this piece is one of realization - something everyone faces at some time in his or her life. For Katie, this realization comes in the fact that God has always had a plan for her, so why not lean on Him and fully trust Him with your future? This is something that I also am beginning to learn. The book goes on to tell of her life story - how God used her and still uses her to reach hundreds of Ugandans. She shares about her struggles through it all - one of which was teasing and misunderstanding from friends. I, too, have experienced misunderstanding about my heart for India. Some people just don't get it. One thing she experienced that I never will, though, is doubt from her parents. They didn't want to allow their daughter to go overseas, but over time God softened their hearts. In this passage, too, is a sense of no regret. She doesn't regret the decisions that were made to bring her to being a full-time, single mother of 14 girls in Uganda. Her realization has brought her closer to God, as I hope mine will in the future.

Pride and Prejudice ~ wk. 15

     " Miss Bingley made no answer, and soon afterwards for up and walked about the room. her figure was elegant, and she walked well; - but Darcy, at whom it was all aimed, was still inflexibly studious. In the desperation of her feelings, she resolved on one effort more, and, turning to Elizabeth, said - 'Miss Eliza Bennet,  let me persuade to take a turn about he room. - I assure you it is very refreshing after sitting so long in one attitude.'
       Elizabeth was surprised, but agreed to it immediately. Miss Bingley succeeded no less in in the real object of her civility; Mr. Darcy looked up."
                                                   ~from, Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, pg. 38 and 39
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  I love the content of this passage - it brings about such an understanding of these characters! {preposition} It correctly presents Mr. Darcy as a book-wormy, seemingly boring sort of man. {preposition} Miss Bingley seems to be a divisive, snobby sort of girl -  who considers every person on the planet to have been created to do her bidding. In the end, though, she seems to always proverbially run off, hurt and disappointed. {adjective} Miss Bennet, on the other hand, is very rightly presented in this passage as a woman who's actions could be thought of as shy, yet precise and thoughtful. {adverb} Overall, this has been my favorite part of the book so far because of how well all the characters are displayed so truly. {adverb}