English Literature

Dudley Randalls Ballad of Birmingham, Gwendolyn Brooks We Real Cool, and Robert Frosts Mending Walls, are poems that talk about a persons understanding of life. This is seen through these poems theme, the authors approach and writing style, and the symbols used. By going through and analyzing these elements, an understanding that life is full of uncertainty and ambiguity is developed. These three poems show that life is often unpredictable, short, and ambiguous, and that it requires proper care, understanding, and appreciation from those who has it.

    The theme of a poem tells a lot about the message that it wishes to convey to the readers. All of these poems have the same theme, which is about the uncertainty and the ambiguity of life. This can be clearly seen in the situations depicted in each of the poems. In the Ballad of Birmingham, the uncertainty and ambiguity of life is shown by the child, who went to church instead of the streets because of the mothers urgings. The mother thought that her child would be much safer in the church rather than the streets, but because life is uncertain, she never knew that her child would die because she went to church. In the poem We Real Cool, the narrator talks about their groups mischief and coolness. Their arrogance and perhaps their disregard for the law defined being cool for them, but it inevitably shortens their life. Life is ambiguous because even though they were cool, they will die soon. In Mending Walls, the uncertainty and ambiguity of life is manifested by the author and his neighbors constant setting up of the wall, without knowing why theyre doing it. They dont know what theyre walling in or out, only that it will make good neighbors.

    Another point of comparison for these poems is the authors style of writing. In the Ballad of Birmingham, the author uses a first person narrative, with the mother as a speaker. By doing so, the poem is given a more personal appeal so that the audience can relate to the shock and grief of the mother when her child died. In We Real Cool, the author opts to begin each sentence with the word we, but in writing, it is placed at the end of each line. This gives a hint of doubt in each statement of coolness from the narrator, which is then affirmed by the final line, We die soon. In Mending Walls, the poem is written in blank verse, making it more conversational, more like the narrators personal account. By doing so, the readers are able to now more about what the narrator is talking about  he and his neighbor doesnt know why they had to build and maintain the wall.

    The last point of comparison is the symbolism in each of the poems. In the poem Ballad of Birmingham, the church symbolizes peace of mind of the mother. She thought that because her child went to church, nothing would happen. In We Real Cool, the vices mentioned by the narrator symbolize the shortening of their lives. Even though these vices symbolized their coolness, they are also endangering themselves thats why theyll die soon. Lastly, in Mending Walls, the wall symbolizes the unknown for both the narrator and his neighbor. They didnt know why they had to constantly rebuild it, but fears of what might happen if they dont. So they would just go on and rebuild it, without realizing why they really have to do so.

Indeed, these three poems show that life is often unpredictable, short, and ambiguous, and that it requires proper care, understanding, and appreciation from those who has it. These offers a lot to learn for the readers, making them realize what life is all about, as shown in each of these poems.

The things that we observed in this world are interrelated. We may observe that if we do something against environmental balance, there is a tendency that we will experience natural calamities. In addition, we may also noticed that the things we ate had an impact on our health. The connection is evident on a situation wherein we might get sick if we eat vegetables that were sprayed by chemical formula in order to aviod destruction from pesticides. In this paper, we will discuss the interconnection of things in our lives as human beings. The subject on literature and the facets of literature is a very interesting topic that we will focus on in this paper.   
    We are connected to everything that exists.   Whatever we create, think, feel and every action we take   we belong to that ultimate thing that makes us one.  And because of this correlation we learn to put value on things whether living or non-living.  We become conscious that we have the power to inspire others to do well or influence them to do bad deeds.  Literature and society is also a unified subject matter.  Literature is part of civilizations growth.   The lives then and now have predominantly changed hence the conception of a modern-day literature.  However I still believe that our past is what makes our future which only proves that we are profoundly involved with every other person and are accountable for all the happenings in this world. 
    All literary pieces give you an idea about various aspects of society from politics, economics and culture, by means of genres like romance, tragedy and comedy from time to time.  It is a form of amusement that confers readers the knowledge of history.  The up and coming generations will be able to learn of past experiences and not repeat mistakes.  However literature can also be detrimental to society if not premeditated and its content is filled with cynicism and iniquity.  The wonderful thing about literature is that each masterpiece has so much to offer to the person who reads. There is always a lesson to be learned from each good literary piece. Whether it be about a look at racism, the casualties of war, poverty, the class structures that exist, faith, survival, the past, the present, the future, love, and even hate. Every great piece of literature is didactic. Whether we decide to learn that lesson is up to us, but the endless opportunity is always there.
    There are three recommended books which people can read in order to expand their knowledge on literature and to enjoy the same. The first one is The Yellow Wallpaper created by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It is essentially considered her best work of short fiction.  It is a about a young mother s illness and also based on Gilman s own experiences with post-partum depression.  The young mother was advised of what they called  rest cure  of solitude.  She must not do anything that will incite intellectual stimulation.  She was not allowed to see and take care of her baby, not even to read and write.  Her husband rented a cheap summer colonial house that looks peculiar as it was left untenanted for a long time.  She was kept in former nursery decorated with yellow wallpaper but as she described it in her own words  One of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin (Gilman, 2009).  It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide--plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions.  The color is repellent, almost revolting a smoldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight.  It is a dull yet lurid orange in some places, a sickly sulphur tint in others.  No wonder the children hated it I should hate it myself if I had to live in this room long (Gilman, 2009).   The house will serve as rehabilitation but it was more of an imprisonment for her not to recover easily as she believes that some physical activity and enthusiasm would do her good but her thoughts were not given high regard.  The interesting point here is how the trapped protagonist escaped the world she was forced to live in.  There was nowhere else for her to go except into her own mind.  The fact that she could name what was happening to her, meant she knows who she really is and I see her response as a success.  How the modern woman should be.
    The second book is The American Dream written by Edward Albee who s considered by many to be one of the most influential playwrights of the seventeenth century and received three Pulitzer Prizes for drama.  The play is about a family consisting of a dominating mother, an emasculated Daddy and a shrewd Grandma.  To Albee, Grandma epitomizes how the way life used to be, a time when real values and self-respect mattered.  She is in general a representation of how American s have not learned from their past. It teaches that the past holds the truth to our future.  I remember when I was young and was a little bit defiant.  He told me how times have changed when the new generation dismisses the teachings of the old.  They don t take anything from it and yet talk past it and ignores its existence.  American Dream is a perfect depiction of the popular thing happening in America. As Albee quotes,  The play is an examination of the American Scene, an attack on the substitution of artificial for real values in our society, a condemnation of complacency, cruelty, emasculation and vacuity ( Edward Albee The American Dream ).   It is the interpretation of how artificial values have taken the place of the should-be real values in the American Society. 
    The last one is the 8th novel by Don DeLillo the White Noise which won the National Book Award in 1985 and was included in Time Magazine s 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.  DeLillo quoted in 1984, Its about fear, death, and technology. A comedy, of course.  It is the story of Jack Gladney, the chairman of the department of Hitler studies, his family, and the  The Airborne Toxic Event  because of their excessive fear of death.  DeLillo claims his main inspiration for Gladney s obsessive fright of death was Ernest Beckers 1974 Pulitzer Prize-winning non-fiction work, The Denial of Death.  Although the fear of death seems unnecessary, his worries grow in greatness.  His tacit fears articulate to greater anxieties at play in late twentieth-century America.  A never-ending stream of white noise, both technological and human, demonstrates Jack s life.  As he moved forward through the boundless course of figures and chatter, Jack perceives something greater and more elemental emanating from behind, or possibly within, all the noise. 
    The experience of reading White Noise, with its constant divergence and ostensibly futile anecdotes, bear a resemblance to what is recent occasion we see on the television news.  Toxic spills were becoming such a daily occurrence that no one cared about them -- only those affected by the spills cared.  We can understand this initiative plays out in the airborne toxic event in White Noise, when people are disconcerted that the media pays their crisis little attention, but it became apparent in more subtle ways when DeLillo scrutinizes the consumerist and industrial atmospheres of death we create for ourselves.  Despite the fact that most readers find his view of American society unsympathetic and pessimistic, others see the ending of White Noise to be subversively elevating and exhilarating.
    We are at the phase where advanced transformation and modernization is playing a great role nowadays, but we are also losing something important of our social value. Is it worthwhile  I don t think so.  Literature illustrates the ups and downs of economic, political and social succession of life.  Those are worthy lessons for the new generation, as well as leaders, to learn of past experiences from different kinds of literature, and not to repeat historical mistakes.  Whether it be poetry, prose, essays, fiction, narrative, diaries or proverbs, people should learn from them.  In every form, however, the idea of a story is present, and it is this that ensures its value for readers as well as pleasure and understanding.  Literature is not only about the artistic and imaginative works of writers, it is also about life and living - it is about an individual experience and humanness.  Stories have great appeal to all of us because they are so closely connected to experience.  Stories inspire instigation and can take young intellects into a world of imagination, wonder and surprise. By means of literature, we can reach out and connect to other people and make them comprehend the life each and everyone goes through.  It reaches other countries and in this manner they understand and sometimes relate to different situations avowed through different literary pieces.  Stories edify truth by the way in which good and bad characters are rewarded or punished. 
    Moreover, literature serves a universal function to express ideas and thoughts.  Just recently a book written by Stephanie Meyer   The Twilight Series has been turned into a movie to reach more individuals about her elusive imagination and creative writing.  Stephenie Meyer says that the idea for  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiTwilight_(novel)Twilight came to her in a dream on June 2, 2003. The dream was about a human girl, and a vampire who was in love with her but thirsted for her blood. It gained a lot of positive and rave reviews because of the protagonists respect to their own kind, trust and love for each other.  That no matter what happens they will always care and make sure they are there for each other   mortality or immortality aside.  It is not a factual experience however this form of literature tickles a lot of ingenious minds of today and through this   we connect with each other regardless of our culture, race and color.  And because of this, one of the schools in America encourages their students to read the series as part of their program to make literature part of their study as well as their life again.  To be able to read, ponder and enliven their imagination again.
    I agree with you when you say we are made of one continuous thread.  That we are spun from the same thread reason for us to relate and somehow comprehend each others  delight or discontentment.  We belong to that one invigorating source that makes us alive.  I think literature is still important, but I would like to disagree with those who say there are those who are incapable of appreciating it.  Everybody is capable of appreciating literature, I think that many people dislike reading because theyve been raised to be mentally lazy and fear they wont enjoy it.  Im not saying everyone can like everything ever written (I certainly dont), but they can appreciate at least something that has been written.   Ive always pitied people who arent interested in reading they dont know what theyre missing. Its very seldom that any movie based on a novel is the equal of the written work.  Literature at its finest should be challenging, but accessible.  Literature has a crucial role to play in our society, and what we indulge ourselves in reading is very important and should be carefully chosen.
    Literature was not written for one type of person. Displeased people do not have a monopoly on inspiration. While it might be easier to enthuse a group of dissatisfied people, it is not easier for the dissatisfied to identify with or relate to literature. The dissatisfied group is looking for change, they are looking to be touched and moved. A group of people who are on the whole pretty happy, are in fact a harder crowd to reach. To truly achieve change in the satisfied person an idea must be great and effectual it must be original and thought carefully out.  Any type of person is capable of finding meaning in writing and every person will probably be inspired a different way. 
    Finally, I would like to leave this quote for you to ponder upon that we are all connected   past and present, the old and the new, white and black, love and hate, happy and sad.  It is up to you and I truly hope that you can start your own form of literature to share and inspire other individual that needs to be revived through the art of writing. With that, C. S. Lewis who is a British scholar and novelist mentioned that literature augmented knowledge to reality, descriptionis not only its contribution.  It also enriched the necessary  complexities that daily life required and provided and in this respect, it irrigated the deserts that our lives have already become.

Frank is a poor man who lives alone in his log house in a place called the Yellow Hills. Even though he faces many hardships in life, he had many ambitions and shows lot of characteristics of a good man.
 When he decided to go to an Indian tribe looking for a wife, an Indian man sold him his daughter for a whiskey and horse. Despite the fact that he only bought the girl, he shows respect to the girl. He chooses to do his man chores rather than letting the girl do it for him he never accepted the idea that its what really an Indian woman should do. He marries the girl before having their child, showing his love and admiration to her.
    Marrying an Indian woman was never an issue for Frank, though they hardly communicate with each other because his wife cannot speak good English. Unlike other man who also had an Indian wife, he was never ashamed of his wife. He let her walk beside him not like those whom their wives walk behind them.
 After sometime, his wife suddenly decided to leave him, Realizing it was his fault why his wife left him with his kids, he never tried to follow them thinking he couldnt do anything to make her change her decision. He just accepted his wifes decision and respected it as well.
    It really shows that Frank was a very fine man. He has respect, not only for his self but also for others. He respects what other people thinks and say. He also loved his wife even though she should have been only his servant. He had ambitions for his family and kids and never let his adversities in life hinders it.

DeLillo in his book, White Noise, discusses the neurotic fear of death in people. The author in his book has narrated the story of Jack Gladney who made his career as a professor of Hitler studies and his wife Babette who was addicted to a drug called Dylar. Jack and his wife Babette feared death more than anything in this world. An Airborne Toxic Event took place which caused Jack and his wife to evacuate their house and search for shelter. Jack got exposed to the toxic chemical and was forced to confront his death. 
White Noise has laid emphasis on the themes of whiteness and white noise putting light on the whiteness of death and latter being the symbol of modern life. It screens out the frustrating noise of modern civilization. The novel highlights the positive virtues of human violence. It speaks about the notion of simulations. DeLillo has emphasized throughout White Noise the reality that the media usually heeds little attention to what appear to them a small event but has major effects on peoples life which the author has observed through consumerist, technological ambiances of death which we build around us. 
Although I found his opinion on American society harsh and pessimistic as he discusses typical post modern ideas in great detail in his book which includes ambiguity of identity and racial differences in an ironical spin but few find it inspiring too.
DeLillo has an ability to describe the fundamental nature of American culture through humor and cleverness. White noise is basically about daily life and personal human relationship. Though this book was published in 1984 but the problems of society highlighted in this book appears true even today.

Human beings seek to connect with each other in order to fulfill their social and emotional needs. But in some circumstances human beings find it difficult to make connections with each other. The difficulties experienced by human beings in making connections in their lives are depicted in the novel The Transmission by Hari Kunzru. The novel follows the life of an Indian computer programmer, Arjun Mehta working in U.S.  When Arjun Mehta is informed about his chances of losing his job, he attempts to save his job by spreading a computer virus on the internet. This virus symbolizes the connections between the real world and the virtual world in the novel. When the virus is set free in the virtual world, its impact is felt on the human beings living in the real world. The disconnections between the virtual world and real world lead to disconnections between the characters in the real world.

Connections
    In E.M. Forsters novel Howards End, the character of Margaret Schlegel comments on the need to connect with each other fully in order to lead a contented life which is full of love. Forster (1947) writes, Only connect That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer. (pg.187). Through his novel, EM Forster famously urged that we only connect. Although the phrase suggests a positive imperative for making ties, it despairs about the difficulties of making connections. It is this theme of connections that is explored in the novel The Transmission, as its characters struggle to connect with each other in the age of

internet. As Forster brings forth the inability of human beings to connect with each other, Kunzru also focuses on the connections which get lost owing to the influence of technology.  The novel delves on the difficulties experienced by human beings to connect with each other in an age where technology has brought widespread changes in every aspect of their lives. Owing to the advent of internet, human beings have succeeded in creating a virtual world where they connect with each other frequently even though they are unable to relate to each other in the real world. The connection between the virtual world and the real world has influenced the thinking, attitudes and behavior of human beings in a considerable way. This influence is brought forth, when a virus breaks off the connection leading to chaos in the virtual as well as the real world. The protagonist of the novel, Arjun Mehta is the person responsible for the disconnection of the real world with the virtual world, as he is the one who creates the virus and sets it free on the internet. He spreads the virus through the video of Leela, his favorite Bollywood actress.
As the virtual world begins to disconnect from the real world owing to the effect of thevirus, the economic lives of human beings begins to disintegrate. Kunzru (2004) mentions that Experts have estimated her damage to global business at almost 50 billion.. doesnt capture the chaos of those days. During Leelas brief period of misrule, normality was completely overturned. Lines of idle brokers chewed their nails in front of frozen screens. (pg.4). The disconnection also affects the ability of the characters in the novel to connect with each other. Numerous fans of Leela are unable to connect with her, owing to the virus. As Leela danced on the screen of their computers, the fans felt that a connection was being developed between them and Leela, for they thought that Leela was dancing just for them. Kunzru (2004) writes, For a moment, even in the midst of your panic, you probably felt special. Which was

Leelas talent. Making you believe it was all just for you. (pg. 3).  The other characters whose lives are affected by the disconnection caused by the virus are Guy Swift, a person known as the marketing visionary and Gabriella Caro, his girlfriend. Guy Swifts success depends upon his connections with the international venture capitalists. But the arrival of the virus in the virtual world makes it difficult for him to satisfy the international venture capitalists. Gabriella Caro works as a public relations expert and so when the virus puts Leela in the limelight, she had to leave for Scotland where Leela is shooting for her next film. Caro had to solve the problems which have emerged in the public relations of her client, Leela owing to the virus and the resultant publicity. As both Swift and Caro are busy in dealing with the damaging effects of the virus on their professions, they are failing to maintain the connection of love between them. The virus is not only disconnecting the real world from the virtual world but also breaking the connections between the characters in the real world.

A sonnet is traditionally a single stanza poem consisting of 14 lines with rhymes arranged in definite schemes. It was Sir After many years of silence, this poem is one of those poems awaited by many who hoped to hear the side of a poet after going through a loss, the death of his wife. His wifes death attracted controversies because of the allegation that the poet had pushed his wife to suicide.
    The silence was broken when he finally allowed us to travel with him to the past  the life that he and his wife shared before her death. As we go on reading the poem, it is as if we are listening to him as he flipped through the pages of their life together as a couple.
    This poem is Daffodils.
    To be able to understand the message of this poem, I believe that it is important to look at the person behind the poem  his background and his personal life - because this is a kind of poem that speaks of the life of the writer. This is a poem that allows a reader to look into ones private life. This poem, I believe, explains the relationship he once had with his wife and gives light to the issue surrounding her suicide.
The author before Daffodils
    The author, Ted Hughes, was introduced in an article entitled Flowered Memories An Analysis of Ted Hughes Daffodil. It says, Edward James Hughes was English Poet Laureate from 1984 to his death in 1998. Famous for his violent poems about the innocent savagery of animals, Ted Hughes was born on Mytholmroyd, in the West Riding district of Yorkshire, which became the psychological terrain of his later poetry (The Literary Encyclopedia).
    Hughes married the American Poet, Sylvia Plath. In 1963, Plath died and was said to have committed suicide. The couple was blessed with two children who were still at a young age when Plath died.
The author and Daffodils
    February 1998 marked the end of Hughes silence when Birthday Letters, a collection of 88 poems written over 25 years, was published. Among these 88 poems is Daffodils.
    Daffodils is composed of 66 lines. The poem is written conversationally in a simple manner. It is described as a free verse just like the other poems in the Birthday Letters. In this poem, the author uses the first person point of view and uses the word you to directly address his deceased wife, Sylvia Plath.
    Remember how we picked the daffodils
    Nobody else remembers, but I remember.
    In these first two lines of the poem, Hughes was reminiscing the days that he had with his wife. Even with these first two lines, it is evident that the author recollects with a note of sadness and longing for the gone days. He moved on with a happy picture of his family, with their daughter, as they were harvesting daffodils. But the crisp line She has forgotten ended the brief happy tone of his nostalgia.
    The reminiscence of the author went on when he recollected that they sold the flowers for sevenpence a dozen. He then paused and blurted out his feelings that what they have done was like a sacrilege. This realization by the author can be explained by his background as a hunter. In an article entitled The Biography of Ted Hughes, he was presented as a country man and a hunter. Furthermore, he was considered as a nature poet and his writing is considered a continuation of his earlier passion which is hunting.
    Despite the recognition that the selling of the flowers was a form of irreverence to nature, Hughes continued to give us a picture of their life before and their financial condition that somewhat justified their act. He asked himself, Were we so poor This line is not more of a question but an introduction to the instances that he enumerated to substantiate his claim that they were poor. He remembered that they were hungry then to the point that they were pushed to convert everything to profit. Poverty and empty stomach were the first reason he gave that led them to sell the daffodils.
    They simply came,
    And they keep on coming.
These lines gave way to the second reason why they decided to sell the daffodils. He was looking at the time when they both believed that the daffodils will never go away. They see the daffodils as a windfall.
    But the second stanza did not just end with this belief. It was made clear in the same stanza that there was a realization of their innocence. The persona realized that the daffodils were a fleeting glance of the everlasting. It is at this point in the poem that there was recognition, I believe, of the Creator that controls the life both of the daffodils and other creations. Never thought they were a last blessing, I believe, speaks of the end of the relationship shared by the persona and the person he was talking to as well as their activity of selling the flowers they harvested as a family.
    In the same stanza, the persona also showed how they viewed their union as husband and wife. We knew wed live forever, they believed. However, in the same manner that he acknowledged their mistaken view of the lifespan of daffodils, the persona admitted that like the daffodils their marriage and even their individual lives will come to an end.
    After the persona honestly laid down their misconceptions as a couple, he then looked back to the time when they had to go through the tedious communal act of harvesting the daffodils and of selling them for sevenpence a bunch.
    His reminiscence of the time when they harvested the flowers brought a bittersweet memory that the can move a reader to tears. The memory of working together in harvesting the flowers reminded him of their communal activities. He vividly described how the persona and his wife bent together to gather the daffodils. He went on giving us a picture of the daffodils that they gathered. These were sweet memories of a couple  a husband and a wife who had the chance of doing a task together, of helping each other. However, a bitter memory is sandwiched by the happy thoughts. In between the recollection of the harvest days, he remembered that in the rain of April, it was her last April. It was the end of the days when they could work together as a couple. It was also the end of their business of selling the daffodils.
    Despite that painful recollection, the persona continued with his reminiscence of the days when they worked together as a couple to prepare the flowers for market. He remembered the details of this activity clearly  from the piling, grouping then finally selling the flowers.
    From the innocent and happy reminiscence of their early days as a couple, the author moved on with a description of an upcoming gloomy day that led to the end of their task as husband and wife. This end was brought about by the fast growth and thickening of the flowers, faster than they could harvest them. This signifies the overwhelming tasks that burdened the couple and may have turned an innocent survival activity into a complex venture. The activity which can be considered as a bonding time of the family had become a heavy task that led to their alienation. When he finally said that they lost their wedding present, the scissors, it marked the end of a simple, poor yet happy life as a couple and as a family.
    We sold them, to wither
    The crop thickened faster than we could thin it.
    Finally we were overwhelmed
    And we lost our wedding  present scissors.
   
These four lines are worth noting because, I believe, they served as a turning point in the lives of the persona, his wife and their family  of Hughes, Plath and their children. This spoke of a sad picture of a disintegrating family. The essential ties that bound them- the activity of harvesting and selling daffodils together and the role of the scissors  were, at this point in time, lost. These may have represented the crises that the couple faced that led to their separation.
    Before the poem ended, a deep longing is apparent in Hughes. He lets us into his mind which still thinks of his wife as he sees the flowers everyday. In this second to the last stanza, he was talking to Plath in a way that a very lonely person who was left behind by a departed loved one relates. He talks as if he believes that Plath was looking and listening to him at that very moment even with the full knowledge that she is somewhere else, a place beyond his reach. He talks of the same bulbs, the same flowers that blossomed every March. This picture of continues growth and cycle of the daffodils, from the time the flowers blossomed until the time they are harvested, tell us of his continues survival despite the death of Plath. The last stanza ended with a picture of a buried scissors which signifies the death of Plath and the end of their relationship. But even when the flowers harvested by her every April forgot about her, the second to the last stanza continues to tell us of Hughes memories with Plath and their life together that will never fade.
Lessons and views from Daffodils
    This poem has a way of letting us into the lives of the couple and allowing us to look at them during their happy days and even during the time when circumstances and problems in life caused their family to disintegrate. It is a romantic piece of art in a way that a husband, piece by piece, brings together the private memories of their union, from the mundane tasks to the enormous burdens and responsibilities.
    Just like many of the families in our society today, the relationship of Plath and Hughes was broken when the bond that brings couples together is severed by overwhelming responsibilities and the increasing complexities of modern life. Usually the bonds that bring families together are the simple task that bring them joy and fulfillment and not necessarily the lucrative ventures.
    The use of everyday activities and familiar sceneries in our immediate surroundings has a powerful way of conveying emotions in a romantic way. The daffodils that regenerates every time, loudly speaks of a mans continues thoughts of his wife and how he misses the life that they shared together.
    The Daffodils speak of a man who desired no harm to happen to his wife, a man who, together with his wife, suffered from a broken relationship as a result of overwhelming problems and responsibilities, and a lonely man who sorely misses the wife that he cared about.

Thomas Wyatt who first introduced sonnets in England in1527. It was from Italy that he had brought back some poems by Petrarch. The poems were called sonnettos or short songs of love and were dedicated to a lady named Laura. Soon, Sir Thomas Wyatt began to write his own sonnets. And thus, started the tradition of the English sonnet. Soon they were the rage of the time.

Some terms that are used when reading and analyzing a sonnet include couplet or a unit of two lines and quatrain or a unit of four lines. Sestet is a unit of six lines and octave is a unit of eight lines. The units of a sonnet have a set rhyme scheme that is used. In an English sonnet the first and third lines rhyme (abab), as do the second and the fourth lines of the sonnet (cdcd). This is the characteristic style of the Elizabethan sonnet and this is also how Shakespeare wrote his sonnets. Shakespeares sonnets dont describe a specific philosophy but in fact are expression of his personal experiences at the time when he was penning them down. When one considers an underlying theme that sonnets share one can link them and their meanings.

While the first quatrain introduces the subject of the sonnet, the second quatrain develops the theme that it holds. The third quatrain completes the message that the poet wants to express while the fourth quatrain is something of a conclusion to the sonnet.

Shakespeares sonnets 139 and 144 were published along with three of his songs from Love Labors Lost in Passionate Pilgrim by William Shakespeare. The publication also contained other sonnets, which were by other poets such as Marlow, Barnfield and Griffin.

Shakespeares Sonnets were not all written together or at the same time. They are independent and whole poems that mirror similar thoughts and themes. And when one reads his sonnets, underlying references and links are discovered. Shakespeares Sonnets focused on matters of love. He speaks of two different kinds of love, one for a friend and romantic love for a woman. While he speaks of his love for a friend in a positive light, almost idealizing it, his love for a woman speaks of a more sensual and erotic love, which is portrayed as being almost degrading. In sonnet 144 he
compares the two relationships and love in his life. Sonnet 144 describes his love for his friend to be virtually angelic, this is however not the case with his other sonnets.

Analysis of Sonnet 144
In the first quatrain of sonnet 144 Shakespeare describes his two loves. While one he calls comforting, the other brings despair. He goes on to say that both loves urge him quite like spirits would. The better angel is a man who is beautiful and handsome, while the worser spirit or angel is a woman who is dark in her coloring. It is quite clear that the poet prefers the companionship of the man over that of the lady. The man and woman seem to represent opposites in the life of the poet and are something of an antithesis to each other. He is good and light, and she is dark and corrupt. While he is fair, she is dark, he offers comfort and she brings the poet despair.

He says, in the second quatrain, that his female lover will soon send him to hell by tempting his better angel away from him. Here he doesnt mean hell in the literal sense, but the turmoil of having to choose between his shared loyalties and not understanding what would be the final result in this love triangle. He says that would corrupt his better angel into a devil and corrupt his soul with her pride. Interestingly, he places all the guilt of the relationship between his male and female lovers on the lady. The poet is unsure if his fair friend, the better angel, will turn enemy, but he suspects this to be true. He feels so because both the better angel and worser spirit are away from him and becoming friends and coming to close to each other.

In the last quatrain he says that one angel is the others hell. However, he will never be sure even though he has his doubts. And his doubts will be confirmed only when the bad angel drives the good one away.

Unlike his other sonnets this one doesnt have a light or humorous tone, but in fact is quite cynical. Metaphorically the sonnet talks of two different types of love, one offers adoration and the other is pure lust. Both tempt and appeal the poet and while he is anxious about the result of this tangled web, he is fairly sure that the dark lady will burn out the fair angel, Yet this shall I neer know, but live in doubt  Till my bad angel fire my good one out.

The sonnet may be interpreted in several ways there are those who think it is a clear depiction of Shakespeares bisexual orientation. in sonnet 144 bisexuality is figured in terms of conflict and struggle. This conflict it seems is two-fold. Its located in the speakers psyche, in his inability or reluctance to choose one love rather than the other. Yet, it exists outside him, in the battle between the other man and the woman which apparently centers on possession of the speaker, but in fact is still more complex than this. For the sexual puns which saturate the poem clearly indicate that the traffic of desire in this sexual triangle circulates in every possible direction.  The sonnet 144 is quite unlike most sonnets written in the same era as it presents a highly sexualized and erotic atmosphere. It depicts the speakers inner turmoil over his decision to favor the lady over the man or vice versa, and also the sexual energy between the other man and the lady. While many critics have focused only on the homosexual element in the sonnet, there are those such as Garber and Chedgzoy who prefer to bring out the bisexual tone in the sonnet. Furthermore, they focus on the fact that unlike other sonnets and speakers Shakespeare speaks his mind rather bluntly and without disguise.

There are of course other interpretations of the sonnet.  The sonnet begins with the speaker presenting a sort of allegorical psychomachia  a conceptual universe with himself placed at the center. The poet speaks of absolutes, comfort, masculinity and goodness on the one side and despair, femininity and corruption on the other. The sonnet discuses the eternal struggle between good and evil, man and woman and comfort and despair.

Sonnet 144 gives the reader a rather interesting view of Shakespeares writing and also his world. This is one of the few sonnets written during that age that clearly and quite outspokenly speaks of bisexuality and the turmoil and that it brings with it. There are of course those who dont want to acknowledge the sexual nature of the sonnet and choose to focus on the turmoil within the speaker, on the struggle between the right and the lustful, the social acceptable and the forbidden.

It is important to remember that in the Elizabethan era, as also often in the contemporary world, the fairer sex is blamed for most lustful emotions and outcomes. The sonnet is a personification of the poets inner turmoil between virtues and vices. The better angel is the side that abides by societys bidding, while the dark lady represents the poets sensual, erotic and dark side. The turmoil depicted is an expression of both sides trying to control the poet, and he is fairly sure that the dark lady or his repressed emotions may win.