Monday, September 29, 2014

Preface


I chose numerous songs and poems that all relate to a similar theme of grief.  We experience grief in different ways as individuals and literary references regarding grief is abundant.  Each listed poem or song tells a story of how the author handles the grief encountered.  Through each post you will see how each person handles grief differently.  I chose "The Angel of Patience" by Elizabeth Allen because her grief and sadness is so strong she feels she can not continue on earth.  Secondly, you will see "The Day is Done" by Henry Longfellow.   He describes a man consumed with sadness and grief who longs to hear a happy story or song to ease his mind.  Next, you will encounter "I can wade Grief" by Emily Dickinson.  Dickinson tells a story of grief being empowering and making someone stronger throughout life.  After that, "Hurt" a song preformed by Rhema Marvanne is listed.  This song displays the raw emotions one feels after experiencing a loss and how self blame can come into play.  The next blog includes "I Grieve" by Peter Gabriel.  This song is extremely empowering and references life continuing after the loss of a loved one.  I thought I would place this song last on my anthology list because in the end life always carries on.  However, I decided to place "Waves" by Mr. Probz last because grief comes in waves as most emotions do.  Even though life goes on and we heal from grief, we still experience the emotions ever so often, as one would experience waves hitting their body in the ocean.

"The Angel of Patience" by Elizabeth Akers Allen

 
"The Angel of Patience" by Elizabeth Akers Allen
Publication date unknown
 
"The Angel of Patience" is about a person who is waiting for rest.  Throughout the poem you can tell the poet has experienced loss and is grieving on earth.  They long to leave this world and enter heaven to find the ultimate peace.  An angel speaks and tells the poet that their time on earth is not done.  The poet responds,
"Angel! behold, I wait, wearing my thorny crown through all life's hours - wait till thy hand shall open the eternal gate, and change the thorns to flowers."
The thorny crown is a metaphor for the pain and suffering on earth and the changing of the thorns to flowers, after entering heaven, represents peace.   The author is intently searching throughout the poem for this peace yet the poem is never direct in explaining what has caused the sad tone of the poem.  The subject is about someone seeking to enter a peaceful place, possibly heaven, sooner than they should.  The theme stated is grief.  The poet uses words and symbols to express grief such as:
"beside the toilsome way, lonely and dark, by fruit and flowers unblest, which my feet, tread sadly, day by day, longing for vain in rest"
The title, "The Angel of Patience," is fitting because the angel reiterates through the poem that patience is a must, and faith in God's plan  is where peace will come from.  In Christian culture we are taught that faith is all you need to overcome any obstacle in life including grief and sadness.

The poem is one of sadness, grief, and hope.  It reiterates religious values and how through faith we will become healed once again after grief. 

 
 

 


"The Day is Done" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"The Day is Done" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Published in 1844

I enjoyed reading "The Day is Done" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  The author states he is tired and wants someone to read a story or a poem that will provoke happiness to take away the sadness of the day.  I chose this poem as a part of my grief anthology because the poet portrays tiredness and dark imagery as metaphor for grief. 

The poem is full of imagery.  The author states in the first stanza,
"The day is done, and the darkness falls from the wings of night, as a feather is wafted downward from an eagle in his flight."
He is focusing on the transition from day to night and continues to state that his soul cannot resist a feeling of sadness that comes over him. He describes his sadness by utilizing a simile.  He states, 
"a feeling of sadness and longing, that is not akin to pain, and resembles sorrow only as the mist resembles the rain." 
Throughout the remainder of the poem the author wished to be read a poem or a song that will allow his mind to rest.  In the following verse the author uses masculine rime to create euphony.
"Such songs have power to quiet the restless pulse of care, and come like the benediction that follows after prayer."
The last verse of the poem states that once the night is filled with music, the worries that consumed the day will be gone. 

We all cope with grief and sadness in different ways.  I particularly enjoy this poem because I can relate to the coping mechanism that the author uses to deal with grief or sadness.  I listen to music or read to take my mind off of worries that fill my mind from the day.  Through the use of metaphors and imagery the author illustrates his coping mechanisms for sadness and grief. 
 
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/175166

 http://www.biography.com/people/henry-wadsworth-longfellow-9385673#!
 
 




"I can wade Grief" by Emily Dickinson

"I can wade Grief" by Emily Dickinson
Published 1955
 
I enjoy reading Emily Dickinson's poems.  I chose "I can wade Grief" because I feel it is powerful.  It exemplifies how grief can be used as a strength to overcome and succeed.  The central theme focuses on how grief can be utilized as an empowering mechanism and strength. The poem begins with a metaphor,

"I can wade Grief, whole pools of it"  

We know that pools are not full of grief.  Dickinson is portraying her ability to handle a great deal of grief emotionally.  She then states that joy actually causes her to fall and uses the symbol of the new liquor as her joy.  She states,
"And I tip - drunken -let no pebble - smile - 'twas the new liquor - that was all!"
The literary element of personification is used as a pebble which cannot actually smile.  She is giving attribution from human characteristics to an innate object.  The last verse in the poem states,

 "power is only pain - stranded, thro' discipline, till weights - will hang - give balm - to giants - and they'll wilt - like men - give Himmaleh - they'll carry - him"  


Dickinson is stating that power is earned through pain and discipline.  Weights will hang and giving balm to giants will make them weak.  She uses a simile in the sentence referencing giants to men.  Lastly, she says, give them mountains and they will carry him.  She is stating that hardships and overcoming grief is what gives us our greatest strengths.   "I can wade grief" is an excellent title that explicates the power and strength the writer has over grief.  Emily Dickinson dealt with grief in many aspects of her life including taking care of her ill mother. "Scholars speculated that she suffered from conditions such as agoraphobia, depression and/or anxiety" (http://www.biography.com/people/emily-dickinson-9274190#writing-and-influences.)  Her experiences led her to write the poem.

The poem ultimately states that through grief we can become empowered and utilize it as our greatest strength.
 
 



"Hurt" by Rhema Marvanne

"Hurt" by Rhema Marvanne
Written by Christina Aguilera, Linda Perry, and Mark Ronson
Originally released September 19, 2006
 
 
"Hurt" is a poem/song about losing a loved one. I chose this song because I can relate to the lyrics.  Losing my mother a few years ago to cancer created a lot of grief in my life.  This song is extremely sad yet sums up the emotions involved when a loved one departs.  The emotions range from shock, denial, anger, resentment, despair, and grief.  We sometimes question our actions or what could have been done different in the situation or in life itself. 
The song evokes extremely powerful emotions from the listener through the tone which is sad.  It begin with a verse that states,
"Seems like it was yesterday when I saw your face, you told me how proud you were, but I walked away, if only I knew what I know today."
The songwriter experiences irony after the loss of a loved one.  It portrays that if we knew how things would end, we may cherish our encounters as we experience them.  Grief is the emotion or main theme for the song as the songwriter struggles to deal with the loss.
"Some days I feel broke inside but I wont admit, Sometimes I just want to hide 'cause it's you I miss, And it's so hard to say goodbye when it comes to this." 

People often blame themselves for the loss of a loved one.  The conflict depicted in the song is the struggle between the songwriter and the unknowns that are left behind when someone passes away.
"Would you tell me I was wrong? Would you help me understand? Are you looking down upon me? Are you proud of who I am? There's nothing I wouldn't do to have just one more chance, to look into your eyes and see you looking back."  
Throughout the song, the writer states, "I'm sorry for blaming you." There is never a mention what the blame was for.  I feel the songwriter is asking the above questions to validate her experiences with grief.   As stated in the article, "It is human nature in cases of sudden death to attempt to lay blame. It may even be a way of expressing guilt, even if unfounded; blame others for the death to assuage your own feelings of guilt. It can help you to regain control and make sense of an otherwise senseless tragedy (http://www.recover-from-grief.com/grief-and-trauma.html.) 
 
Guilt is experienced differently by each individual through every culture.  Many people can relate to the feelings evoked by the song.  The title of the song "Hurt" summarizes the raw emotion that grief transmits.  It is extremely fitting to the lyrical content.
 

 

 
 

"I Grieve" by Peter Gabriel


"I Grieve" by Peter Gabriel
Release Date: March 31, 2008
 


I chose "I Grieve" by Peter Gabriel because I enjoy the message the lyrics depict in the listener's imagination.  If you have experienced grief, you can appreciate the message that is portrayed.  The song is about someone who has suddenly lost a loved one.  The emotions, from the loss, are too much to handle for the songwriter.  He states that it is too hard to move on but there are people who state life carries on.  You feel that the singer is actually progressing through certain stages of grief while singing the song.  In the second half of the song the singer begins explaining how life carries on in the world all around him. Finally, the last verse states,
"Did I dream this belief, Or did I believe this dream, Now I can find relief, I grieve." 
It feels as though he is describing grief through a sad tone in the beginning of the song. Through the middle section his tone changes to one of hope and perseverance. Lastly, the tone saddens once again.  The final words are, "I grieve."  The emotions the songwriter is feeling seem to be coming in waves of sadness, hope, perseverance, then sadness once again.   

The songwriter uses the subject of death in the song and the theme is grief.  It portrays his struggle with grief and how it is overcome.  The message of the poem/lyrics is didactic.  The songwriter is trying to impart knowledge of life continuing on for those left behind.  The songwriter uses metaphors to describe the loss by stating,
"The news that truly shocks is the empty empty page, While the final rattle rock its empty empty cage, and I cant handle this." 
An empty page cannot shock and a rattle cannot rock its own empty cage.  The songwriter is referencing the human soul leaving a body behind.  The symbols he uses to describe life moving on range from dogs, cats, rot, rust, ashes, and dust.  The songwriter is stating through symbolism that life continues throughout the good and bad left behind.  Each culture experiences grief. Overcoming it is a task that is hard for some people.  This song describes the natural sadness experienced with death and is motivational towards overcoming grief. 

The song, from beginning to end, explains how grief affects a person and how life will carry on afterwards.  We all will experience death and loss in life but life goes on day after day. 

 
 
 
 

 

Sunday, September 28, 2014

"Waves" by Mr. Probs


I enjoy "Waves" by Mr. Probz because I love the message intended for the listener.  The song is about someone who has lost a loved one; they cannot seem to make the relationship work.  The singer states that he is drifting away, slowly drowning, wave after wave. The main theme of the song is the grief experienced by the songwriter because of a failing relationship.  Grief may not only be experienced through death but through the loss of a relationship, as well.  Anyone who has tried to make a relationship work and it continues to fail may feel the grief that is metaphorically implied by the songwriter. 
The songwriter uses excellent imagery to explain his situation. He is exemplifying through a metaphor and a powerful image that he is in an emotional struggle. He relates it to near drowning or being pulled away from the shore by waves.   
"My face above the water, my feet can't touch the ground, touch the ground, and it feels like I can see the sands on the horizon every time you are not around."
The songwriter creates a sad tone throughout the lyrics. You can interpret his struggle is unwanted.  He is experiencing grief from the situation.  He also uses repetition throughout the chorus to simulate the waves carrying someone away.
"I'm slowly drifting away (drifting away), wave after wave, wave after wave, and feels like I'm drowning, pulling against the stream, pulling against the stream."
The title of the song, "Waves," represents the struggle and the grief the songwriter is battling.  Throughout the lyrics you can determine the emotions are a result from the loss of a relationship.  The lyrics engulf the reader/listener.  We immediately feel the grief and struggle against the waves the songwriter is implying.  Each listener can relate to the struggles associated with failed relationships and through imagery see themselves battling the waves of grief often associated with any love dissolution.


"Waves" by Mr. Probz lyrics
Mr. Probz Website