Compare two poetry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Compare two poetry - Essay Example As â€Å"The Snow Man† opens with lines â€Å"One must have a mind of winter / To regard the frost and the boughs / Of the pine-trees crusted with snow†, the speaker in the third person viewpoint seemingly expresses personal belief on what snow or winter is about. To him, it is essential to have a ‘mind of winter’ so that one perceives more than the feeling of cold. During cold season, our natural tendency is to respond by covering ourselves with thick hides or cloth to be protected from the extremes of low icy temperatures but the poet indicates through the speaker that we ought to recognize the strength born by the pine trees ‘crusted with snow’. Paying regard to the boughs of the trees that remain unbreakable despite the frost summons us to the thought that no matter how intense the degree of coldness is of the snowy winter, a ‘snow man’ that becomes of us would know and acknowledge the climate’s heart. So instead of prev enting the snowiness, we would rather be among the pines that hold and keep the wintry sensation of burning cold without putting on fire or any opposite element against it. Through the second stanza which consists of the lines â€Å"And have been cold a long time / To behold the junipers shagged with ice, / The spruces rough in the distant glitter†, our critical reading is further brought to realize the significance of ‘cold’ in our lives. ‘Cold’ being that which stands for loneliness, suffering, emptiness, or any similar condition of distress is something that can refine a man to a resolute state of well-being having a kind of beauty that radiates in and out. Equivalently, a person who values hardships and perseverance for the sake of establishing a meaningful existence, in the process, walks a path that leads to wonder. The terms ‘shagged’ and ‘rough’ may be associated with an unfavorable load or burden yet either the â₠¬Ëœjunipers’ or the ‘spruces’ occur to bear a proud imagery of delight that can sparkle even from a distance. This scenario is quite symbolic of a manner by which an individual takes good pride upon earning dignity and respect made firm via continuous deeds of righteousness and constant struggle to avoid the complacent ways of evil in the world. Good acts may be often unseen but the fruit of pure joy and the absence of guilt are adequate signs of one’s glowing beauty from within just like the coniferous plants of winter which are altogether a sight of marvel. Stevens’ â€Å"The Snow Man† proceeds with â€Å"and not to think / Of any misery in the sound of the wind, / In the sound of a few leaves, / Which is the sound of the land / Full of the same wind / That is blowing in the same bare place†. To this extent, the speaker likely conveys for us to distinguish between the snow and the sound of the wind under the sun’s heat which i s capable of swaying merely ‘few leaves’ that embody the petty worries of living. It is not quite worth our precious time to be toiling for things of material composition or those that are perishable in nature for we can never count on them to build an inner foundation of courage and reason to work out concerns based on several aspects of life. What the wind causes turns out to be a plain influence of breeze which everyone in our planet can cope with at any rate or level. In reality, for instance, working to achieve a

English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 15

English - Essay Example Thus he learns that money cannot buy happiness even if it might give all outward appearances of doing so. Having finally discovered the location of his old friends, Candide emancipates them all from their Turkish slave owners only to find that even luxurious togetherness is not sufficient to keep everyone happy. Although they have a beautiful country home, they find themselves only fighting amongst themselves and making each other very unhappy. In the end, the story indicates that despite any optimism felt by the characters, or the attainment of their hopes and dreams, happiness or contentment does not follow. Voltaire’s book illustrates the evils he felt were most prevalent in his society. Produced during the Enlightenment era, the novella illustrates many of the prevailing themes of the times, which often revolved around questions of human values and â€Å"inherited intellectual authority.† â€Å"By the time the Enlightenment reached its maturity †¦ there was a rough consensus among its leading thinkers in regard to certain key themes: rejection of orthodox, scriptural Christianity †¦; conviction of the superiority of modern over ancient thought †¦; extension of this natural-scientific model to a host of new social sciences †¦; and a proto-liberal political program, aimed at protecting what were now seen as the equal natural rights of individuals† (Wright 15). While Candide presents itself as a satire against optimism, it has been argued that this satire is instead a more in-depth look at how that optimism, so often associated with the Enlightenm ent, could be realized – by concentration on freeing oneself from an unhappy past, as the characters do when they wholeheartedly devote themselves to the cultivation of their garden rather than allowing themselves to wallow in their misery or luxury. Thus, when Candide says at the end