Eldorado

Eldorado

by Edgar Allan Poe

 

Gaily bedight,

A galiant knight,

In sunshine and in shadow,

Had journeyed long,

Singing a song,

In search of Eldorado.

 

But he grew old-

This knight so bold-

And o’er his heart a shadow

Fell as he found

No spot of ground

That looked like Eldorado.

 

And, as his strength

Failed him at length,

He met a pilgrim shadow-

“Shadow,” said he,

“Where can it be-

This land of Eldorado?”

 

“Over the Mountains

Of the Moon,

Down the Valley of the Shadow,

Ride, boldly ride,”

The shade replied-

“If you seek for Eldorado!”

 

This poem is about the journey that a man takes to Eldorado.  Eldorado was a legend.  No one knew if it actually existed.  Therefore the man was riding towards Eldorado with the hope that he would find it.  Eldorado in many ways is the dream that we chase throughout our life.  Sometimes our dreams seem achievable and close and other times they seem difficult and far away.  I think that Poe refers to these good and bad times using the imagery of light and natural landmarks.  He says that the knight journeys “in sunshine and in shadow.” He also says that when he met the shadow, “his strength failed him.” When he meets this shadow he is giving up on his dreams.  Everything has caught up with him and it all seems too much.  He doubts himself and he does not think he can continue forward.  The shadow then describes how there will be “mountains” and “valleys” on the way to Eldorado.  These again are the ups and downs in the ride that we take toward our dreams of Eldorado.  The shadow gives the man encouraging words. He says, “Ride, boldly ride.” I think this is the message that Poe gives to his audience.  He encourages us to follow our dreams no matter how difficult they seem.  

I can definitely relate to this poem because I have my own dreams and aspirations as a student in college and I run into peaks and valleys all the time.  My dream is to graduate in my field and possibly go to graduate school.  Sometimes when I am sitting in traffic on my way to school I get discouraged and I want to quit.  Sometimes on the weekends or weekday nights when everyone else is having fun and I’m working, I want to quit.  When gas prices are sky high and I’m not making enough money, I get discouraged and I want to quit.  But the thing that keeps me going is my mom.  She is like the “shadow.”  She won’t let me give up so I keep going to school.  Then eventually gas prices plummet and suddenly I have enough money to help out my mom and still pay my own bills. This is when I reach a “peak” and it feels like it is all worth it.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  When finals are over, I will again see a light at the end of the tunnel.  The shadows and valleys slow us down but the sunshine and the peaks help us through the hard times and give us hope for the future.  So if you feel like you are in the “Valley of the shadow,” remember the words: “Ride, boldly ride,” to the land of Eldorado.

Clown in the Moon

Clown in the Moon

By Dylan Thomas

 

My tears are like the quiet drift

Of petals from some magic rose;

And all my grief flows from the rift

Of unremembered skies and snows.

 

I think, that if I touched the earth,

It would crumble;

It is so sad and beautiful,

So tremulously like a dream.

 

This is probably the most confusing poem I have ever read, but  I think I understand what Thomas is saying.  First of all, I think that the title of the poem, clown in the moon, is actually the speaker of the poem.  This would make sense on a literal level.  His tears are the rain that fall in a “quiet drift” and there are, “unremembered skies and snows” instead of unremembered years.  Also, he says, “if I touched the earth.”  This must mean on a literal level that he has not touched the earth.  Therefore, it is a reasonable arguement to say that the speaker of the poem is the clown in the moon.  So why did Thomas pick a clown in the moon as the speaker of the poem?  A clown is often associated with children and wheres a mask that always has a smile upon it yet this clown is not happy.  The clown in the moon is crying.  This must mean that he is masking his true feelings from the world.  He claims that the reason for his “grief” is “unremembered skies and snows.”  This must mean to the moon unremembered years.  I take this as years of his life that he has blocked out from his memory.  He doesn’t remember these years because he does not want to remember them.  They were a time of sorrow.  The clown associates these times with childhood so I assume that the speaker was either abused or neglected as a child. 

The next stanza is quite interesting.  He says that if he touches the earth it would crumble.  I think there is a connection being made to King Midas here.  Everything King Midas touched turned to gold as the story goes.  He therefore could not love because he could not hug or kiss his wife and children.  Since he is the moon he is too far away to actually touch humanity.  He is unable to love as King Midas for what he touches will crumble.  This history of neglect or abuse must have contributed to this feeling of being unable to love.  So I think that this poem is about a man or woman who has grown up trying to forget and also trying to hide from others their past history of abuse.  Also, this past history of abuse has made them an outsider who is unable to love as a result. 

I chose this poem because it was just so well put together in my opinion.  It describes the state of mind of an abuse victom so perfectly.  It describes how they feel by using very abstract almost dream-like ideas.  This is interesting to me because the speaker describes how they feel as “a dream.”  Also, we don’t usually remember much of our childhood.  It is almost like a blur so it is a little like a dream in itself.  Suppresed memories only add to this dream-like state.  So the poem is written very appropriately for this reason. 

Dare We Be Lovers?

Carpe Diem   O mistress mine, where are you roaming? O stay and hear! your true-love’s coming That can sing both high and low; Trip no further, pretty sweeting, Journey’s end in lovers’ meeting– Every wise man’s son doth know. What is love? ’tis not hereafter; Present mirth hath present laughter; What’s to come is still unsure: In delay there lies no plenty,– Then come kiss me, Sweet and twenty, Youth’s a stuff will not endure.   William Shakespeare   I think that Shakespeare is trying to convince his lover that she needs to stop worrying about the future.  He is basically saying that he doesn’t know where this relationship will lead.  It may not have a pleasant future but we do not need to worry about that now.  Let us enjoy it while it is still beautiful.  Kiss me while we still enjoy kissing each other.  This is evident in the lines, “Present mirth hath present laughter; whats to come is still unsure.”  He is saying that he can’t promise that this relationship will work out, but they should still give it a try.    I like this poem because I have experienced this same situation.  I have had friends that I was attracted to and the feelings were mutual, however, we decided that we should just stay friends.  We stayed friends because we did not want to loose our friendship that we had.  This poem gets me thinking about it and it makes me wish that I had risked it instead.  Shakespeare says, “Youth’s a stuff will not endure.”  He is right.  We do not stay young forever.  I do not talk with this old friend of mine anymore so our reason was wasted.  It would have been better to follow Shakespeare’s advice and live for the moment.