Late-born and woman-souled I dare not hope,
The freshness of the elder lays, the might
Of manly, modern passion shall alight
Upon my Muse's lips, nor may I cope
(Who veiled and screened by womanhood must grope)
With the world's strong-armed warriors and recite
The dangers, wounds, and triumphs of the fight;
Twanging the full-stringed lyre through all its scope.
But if thou ever in some lake-floored cave
O'erbrowed by rocks, a wild voice wooed and heard,
Answering at once from heaven and earth and wave,
Lending elf-music to thy harshest word,
Misprize thou not these echoes that belong
To one in love with solitude and song.
This one flies past me...I looked up that Emma Lazarus was a poet from New York who studies American and British literature and started writing poetry when she was just 11 years old. I am unable to bring a summary to meaning and do not understand the title. The last line seemed to attempt to give me a hint and I tried to work backwards, but not sure. Looking forward to seeing what you got here..
ReplyDeleteShould we do a close read?
Deletecould this possibly mean to put it under the poetic microscope? :) poetry critics really astound me. I am reading on some of Emily Dickinson's and right now they have her as a possible closet lesbian who gave up and wore white to symbolize her being an eternal bride in waiting. Come on!!! Lol. Sexuality aside, I suppose it is quite helpful learning about more about the author's life to try and peer through perspectives that might have been. Let us peer at Lazarus!
DeleteEmma Lazarus wrote the famous poem "The New Colossus" where the Staute of Liberty is quoted saying, "Send me your tired... yearning to breath free..." I'm reading one of her biographies at work. She was a super rich and elite Jewish American writing from the second half of the 19th century.
ReplyDeleteShe was very much into myths and heroes from what I have read so far.
I read the poem as being about womanhood in the late 19th century. There is something about the narrator knowing her place in society and hoping not to hope. The title says a lot to me about the context. I'm not sure how satirical it was intended to be, but I read it that way today. To me, it seems like the narrator knows this is all animal feces.
Every post you make... (every breath you take- oh, sorry...just had a ring to it)- I wonder where on earth you found the poems! And Statue of Liberty Ranger explains this one! :)
DeleteAfter reading the title and first line, again, I see how you felt into "knowing her place in society and hoping not to hope". I feel we get a lot of this type of writing from women in that era, hopefully hopelessly waiting with hope. You can feel it from within the poem, but also in the holding back of words and expressions that may be just a little too much. I would love to see just how elf-music fits in. I just read Eragon for the first time and my brain is in a mystical, magical mood- like much of the personifications we feel of hope.