What is Love?

Just like the song “What is Love” by Haddaway, no one would ever want to come across the feeling of being hurt.
Having their heartbroken into pieces by the one you love can be life changing and devastating. I’ve heard many times before that love is like a rollercoaster.
But I’d have to disagree on that. Through my eyes and from my perspective, love is like an ocean.
The feelings that are gained for one another are like waves.
They’re never steady and don’t stop moving.
There are times when the waves are frequently flowing like how it should be or other times when the waves just come crashing down.
As I see it, since the ocean is in an open space and so wide, it shows that true love is never ending.
Despite the waves interfering and causing problems, nothing will ever be able to get in the way and break the love apart.
On a final note, you’ll never really know what you’ll find or run into in an ocean.
Sometimes there will be obstacles, strange things that you’ve never seen before, and things that will make you really scared. But how is that any different than being in love?
The further you go into the ocean you’ll find more things that you can’t find at the shallow end. Being committed in a relationship can be scary to some people that have never been near that phase before.
Love is visible at the top but at the very bottom it’s murky.
Just like how the surface of the ocean can be beautiful, whereas the bottom of the ocean can be dark and depressing.
Exploring an ocean is like exploring into a loved one’s heart. The more you strive to look for, the more you will learn and find.
Through my eyes love is like an ocean, there are so many things waiting to be discovered.

 

One of the most significant symbols in "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", is an albatross. It first appears when the mariner starts exposing the story to the wedding guest as so "At lentgh did cross an albatross, Thorogh the fog it came; As if it had been a Christian soul, We hailed it in God's name." Not only does it start to appear, but it does as a religious symbolism, a symbol of faith.  

Community Blogging

       Byron's Club, now that is a club I could join. This blog is about the romantic poet Lord Byron by Baily Copland, Alejandra Garcia, Athena Proctor, and Austin Bell. There is a short biography of these bloggers on thier site. The 'Turner's Fab Four', as they like to call themselfs, are open to improvment and love to hear your responses.They have many posts about Lord Byron's influence, especially with the laides.

To join this wonderful club, click here: Byron's Club
      
      This blog is just cool. They have alot of pictures and their blog just looks really good, it is nicely decorated. A handy feature of this blog is that is contains links to every other blog about a romantic poet or poems that were made by Mr. Turner's english class. Byron's Club blog has the best quotes of Lord Byron, which is an excellent idea, because many of these romantic poets have beautiful things to say. The blog even gives a summary of the famous poet's life. What really cought my attention was the post about "Don Juan". That is a popular phrase for a ladies man which, apperently, Lord Byron was a flirt! "Don Juan" is a poem by Lord Byron about the escapades, and I mean escapades, of a man named Don Juan. Its interesting to know where that phrase came from. I like how the bloggers don't just copy and paste, everything is in their own words and that makes everything so much more understandable.
      There are a million blogs out there, I mean this is the world wide web, but how many of them actually teach something? Probably not that many. This blog, Byron's Club, is very informatinal. It tells about a romantic poet, and kind of gives the reader a summary of what romanticism  is about. It also shows why this time period of liturature and writing was so important in it's influence on today's liturature. I feel this blog could really help with a person's understanding of Lord Byron, his work, and romanticism all together.

By Kerri Peetz

Hospitality

       Peter Melville explains what he thinks is another important theme in this poem, in his article ‘Coleridge's The Rime of The Ancient Mariner’. Melville knows the main theme in the poem, 'The Rime of The Ancient Mariner', is about God and faith. He also believes a theme in the poem that should not be overlooked is hospitality. Melville writes “where do the mariner’s obligations lie in the end, with the familiar or with the strange and unknown?” in the poem the mariner does a complete circle. In the beginning of his journey the mariner is more comfortable with what he is familiar with, but what does he do after the storm when the ship is stranded in an unknown place and he doesn’t know what to do in a situation like the one he is in? The article states: “a great sea bird, called an albatross, came through the snow-fog, and was received with great joy and hospitality,” but only by the crew. The mariner was in a moment of crisis, since it was his crew, his ship, and his life that dangled in danger. In his moment of panic “He inhospility killith the pious bird of good omen.”  To try and answer the question of the mariner’s obligations now would be impossible, because he killed what he was familiar with and still fears what he does not know. The poem goes on and stranger things are in store for the mariner, and he is thrown into more situations that are out of the ordinary in extreme ways.  Near the end of the poem, while the mariner is talking with the hermit, the hermit explains the way he is by saying “Strange, by my faith!” With everything the mariner has been through he finally realizes where his obligations lie. That line was a realization point for the mariner and a turning point in where his obligations lie. Everything began with an albatross, and the wedding guest the mariner stopped to tell his tale too must slay or save his own bird. “The wedding guest must likewise choose between the strange and the familiar.” The wedding guest has to decide whether to go to the wedding, where his attendance is expected. Or listen to the mariner, who seems desperate for a listener. The wedding guest is scared by what the mariner says and is tempted to flee from the strange old man. At the end of the mariner’s tale the guest says he is a “Sadder and wiser man”.  So the mariner has made a complete circle, and so has the wedding guest. They both must spread the tale but where do the mariner’s obligations lie? Melville refers to the wedding guest’s Eden has been turned to a prison, and the mariner’s Eden is the same, but in return now they both believe in the strange, and the mariner finds it is his new home. They both must pass the story on and on, “And he rose the morrow morn.”

       The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the definition of rime is argument. The argument is inside of the mariner, I agree with Melville. A lesson the mariner must learn is faith, but also is good hospitality. The limits in the mariners hospitality are that he only welcomes what is familiar opposed to what is strange or unknown.  The albatross is the one familiar sight the mariner and his crew can see while stuck in an unknown place, and the crew gives the great bird a good “Christian” welcome, while the mariner kills the bird. Which in turn causes him to turn his back on all hospitality, whether it be towards what he knows or what he does not. I believe the same as the author of the article. The question asked before about where do the mariner’s obligations lie, is answered when the mariner is with the hermit. The mariner is afraid of the strange, but when he regains his faith and his ability to pray, he learns that as a good Christian you are to learn to love every creature on this earth. The mariner realizes that if strange is where his faith leads him, then he must be hospital to everything he meets along the way. He passes on his new knowledge to the wedding guest who learns from the mariner. “He was a sadder and wiser man, and he rose the morrow morn.” The wedding guest is prepared to live the teachings he learned from the mariner. He chose to welcome his own albatross.

By Kerri Peetz

Wedding Celebration & Ship

    

      In the poem, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", the mariner reveals a horrific story to a guest at a wedding reception. Why? Indeed it is not just a coincidence, but rather one of the many dualities Romanticism poets used in order to express realities. "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" starts its first lines at a wedding and then progresses to the actual "story telling" which is at a sea with dreadful events. "Mayst hear the merry din' '' Merry, nothing less than sounds of joy, laughter and happiness. "The ship was cheered, the harbour cleered, Merrily did we drop". The wedding guest may not know what he will be exposed to,however he has no option but to listen.
     The ship where the Mariner lived the worst of times, exposes life and death. It may not seem as so, yet it sets the mariner has gone through and seen the lives of those that accompanied him fall one by one. The ship move not one bit as all disasters happened. His lips pleeded death as he was the only one who survived. In the beginning of the poem at the wedding reception it read "The sun came up upon the left, Out of the sea came he; And he shone bright, and on the right Went down into the sea." Later, in the story of the mariner it read "The sun now rose upon the right, Out of the sea came he; Still hid in mist, and on the left, Went down into the sea." This changes the plot.

     Both the wedding reception and the setting of the Mariner's story contrast although they both take place on a ship. One, joy surrounds and the other day, agony. This enhances the feeling the poet trys to convey which lies within a person's interpretation and depth analysis. To me, comfort and fear come to mind as the sudden change in the Mariner take place. When the poem first starts no sense of fear comes into mind, just tranquility. "The wedding-guest he beat his breast, Yet he cannot choose but hear" sparks the mind that comfort and tranquility will no longer be the emotions one will live.   

Colridge In Popular Culture

      

       Instead of writting a three hundred and fifty word blog post on the deeper meanings of a, well, confusing and rather lengthy poem I decided to show how poetry can be fun! Yes, it is possible. Its interesting how many times refferences to Coleridge's 'The Rime of The Ancient Mariner' appear in popular culture.

       I'll begin with the most popular, Vampires. In Anne Rice's Interview With A Vampire a small girl (just turned to a vampire) quotes the poem saying: "Her lips were red, her looks were free, Her locks were yellow as gold: Her skin was white as leprosy, The Night-mare Life-in-Death was she, who thicks man's blood with cold." Creepy coming from a small child/vampire. From the books that the Trueblood series is based off of, Club Dead contains the quote "Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink" when a women is reffering to the fact she is surrounded by very handsome, but homosexual men. Creepier than the vampire-child.

       In Mary Shelly's (yes, she is related to Percy Shelly) book Frankenstein the two have many similarites. In Pirates of the Carribean Calipso and Davy Jone's crew play the game of dice, like the dice game in the poem between Death and his mate. In Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Willy Wonka changes the quote saying "Bubbles, bubbles everywhere, nor any drop to drink.. yet." See what I mean? Its such a wide variety of television shows, movies, and books that use quotes from famous poetry.

       Wizard of Oz, the Wizard says to the Scare crow "Every pusillanimous creature that crawls on the earth or slinks through slimy seas has a brain!" In The Simpsons, Homer is stranded at sea and is told to preserve thier water supply, he retorts: "What do you think we're floating on? Don't you know the poem? 'Water, water, everywhere, so let's all have a drink.'" A trainer recites the opening stanza of the poem to her Raichu in an episode of Pokemon. In Cast away, Sex and the City, The OC, even a basball pitcher for the Seattle Mariners, at the age of 40, was nick named "The Ancient Mariner". In conclusion, watch out, in your favorite television show there might be a refference to a famous poem, if your not careful you might learn something about literature while trying to watch Jersey Shore!

By Kerri Peetz

Heavy Metal Poetry

       Poetry put to heavy metal music? It has been done. Steve Harris, the founder of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden, was a professinal football player and major in english at West Ham United in Europe. During that time in college he discovered his passion for music and began Iron Maiden where he plays bass and is a back ground singer. Given Steve Harris's background in english he learned alot about poetry and romanticism which is where he came up with the song Rime of The Ancient Mariner.
       Rime of the Ancient Mariner contains many direct quotes from Samuel Taylor Colridge's popular poem. The song was finished in 1984 and was a huge hit! This thirteen minute ballad of heavy metal poetry begins with describing the wedding at which the mariner begins his tale to the wedding guest he stopped. As the song continues, so does the poem. Using a few direct quotes from Coleridge's poem and Steve Harris puts his own interpretation into the song. "The mariner kills the bird of good omen" where in the poem it never states weither the bird was good or bad, or if killing it cursed or helped the ship mates, but Harris throws in his own opinion.

Here are the lyrics to Rime Of The Ancient Mariner by Iron Maiden: Click Here

       When this never ending song finishes, thirteen minutes later, the listener can tell that Steve Harris belived that the poem's main theme is the mariner is to spread the word that we must love all things God made, the final quote in the song is "And the tale goes on and on and on." Which is a quote from the original poem and it means that the wedding guest must now share that story as well and keep the word of God going.

By Kerri Peetz