Edgar Lee Masters: The Realities of Life

Edward Lee Masters depiction of small-town life and the incidents thereof are spoken for clearly with his two poems, “Elsa Wertman” and “Hamilton Greene”.  Things that are not usually discussed are brought to the light. Masters does so by subtlety expressing a woman’s feelings about her child, and how he came about in “Elsa Wertman”. Elsa seems to be dealing with mixed feelings common of peculiar situations that occurred frequently. She feels sorrow in seeing her son who does not know her but in a sense joy that her mistress gave him a good life. In the end she expresses her wants to say, “That’s my son! That’s my son!,” like any proud parent but holds back because of society (161). In an ironic connection her child in “Hamilton Greene,” knows nothing of his mother’s sacrifice or how we came into the world and is immensely proud of his parents and life. Masters shares a truth that is hidden in life; how things are never as pretty as they seem and how full they are of misconceptions and misunderstandings.

W.B. Yeats the Chameleon

William Butler Yeats poetry is unique in comparison with the other poets work in that he goes back and forth between what is real in his life and the image he would want to be himself. The other poets seemed to use dualism to show differences between major symbolic ideals like light and dark, joy and sorrow, etc., but, they did not change their personal view of self in the process. Yeats actually does this and his work shows his chameleon- like personality. Yeats writes a lot about things in his past and is represented in his poems “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” and “The Wild Swans at Coole.” Particularly in “The Wild Swans at Coole” Yeats description of the swan’s lifestyle and personality is so intense that it is as if he is yearning for their youth and freedom that has passed away in his life. He writes, “Their hearts have not grown old; passion or conquest, wander where they will,” and shows his admiration for a bird that has not changed since he first visited them nineteen years ago (107). He of course finds sorrow in that fact. “I have looked upon those brilliant creatures, and now my heart is sore” (107).

Thomas Hardy gift in tragedy

I find Thomas Hardy to be a very gifted as well as very troubled poet. First and foremost his views about a higher power are stated quiet clearly in a lot of his work and his battle with defining God is shown in his prose. Although my views differ from his in that respect I can still appreciate the duality that he brings when describing life such as good and evil, bitter and sweet, and joy and sorrow. The poem “I Found Her Out There” represents how the author constantly goes back and forth between opposite feelings. In the case of this poem, he describes why he decided to bury his wife at this location; Hardy transitions between joyful reminisces and the sorrowful present. The land reminds him of how his wife enjoyed the place with lines like, “Where she once domiciled, and joy in its throbs, with the heart of child” (57). To more melancholy thoughts that expressed his want for her to rest peacefully, “I brought her here, and laid her to rest, in a noiseless nest,” which constantly reminds the reader in a somewhat jarring manner to not get comfortable with his thoughts of a pleasant past because now his love is gone (56). The duality of his poetry is a representation of reality and life in that with everything there is good as well as bad and we must take them both.