Victorian Contract #5 "I am a part of all that I have met"

“I am a part of all that I have met” from Ulysses by Tennyson means to me that everyone that enters my life will leave a mark and help shape my life for the future. People say that high school boyfriends do not affect your life in anyway and do not mean anything. When you talk to someone you have never met you leave an impression. People that you have met throughout your life will always be in one of your memories and they help to shape your life. Many people come in and out of your life even if it is just for a few minutes or for years, but no matter how long they are there you have an impact on their life.

People say that high school boyfriends do not mean anything and will not affect your life. I know that if Steven and I were to ever break up it would affect me in many ways. One of the ways is when I hear certain songs it would take me back to the time I had spent with him. I will also in the future compare my future boyfriends to Steven and know what I want in a guy. By having Steven in my life for this time period will help me in the future in many ways and has helped shape my life.

The first time you talk to someone whether it is the last time or the beginning of many you will leave an impression. If you were meeting someone for the first time and they are rude are you going to want to talk or meet with them again? When you first talk to someone if you are rude or impolite the person you are talking to is not going to talk or meet with you again. If you use your manners and are very polite the person you are talking to will have something nice to say about you if someone asks about you. When you first talk to someone they are going to remember you for the way you talk and act.

The friends that I made in elementary school and middle school have helped to shape my life and make me who I am today. If Whitney Seiber and I had never met when we played little league basketball together I don’t think that either one of us would have kept playing. If I would not have kept playing basketball I would not have met one of my closest friends today, Kimberly Kirby. Kimberly has helped my shape my life in many ways including making more girly throughout the years. Without my friends being in my life helping me find the person I am today I do not know who I would be.

The people that come in and out of my life either for a second or for years they still affect my life in many ways. First, people say that high school boyfriends do not last and they don’t mean anything. Second, the first time you talk to someone whether it is the last time you talk to them or the first of many conversations you leave an impact on what they think of you. The friends that I have acquired throughout the years of elementary school and middle school have helped me find who I am and who I want to be when I become an adult. “I am a part of all that I have met” from Ulysses by Tennyson means to me that everyone that enters my life will leave a mark and help shape my life for the future.

Victorian Contract #7 The Loveliest of Trees

I read “When I was one and twenty”, “Loveliest of Trees”, and” Is My Team Ploughing”.  If I am to write as if these are written about the same man I will start with “If I was one and twenty” because he would be 21 when this poem was written.  I will then move on to “Loveliest of Trees” because he is 70 in this poem. I will then end with “Is My Team Ploughing”, in this poem the man has died and is conversing with a friend in my opinion.

            The poem “When I was one and twenty” is written about a young man who is learning a life lesson.  He has been told by a “wise man” that he need not give his heart away at such a young age. He says to give away as many baubles as he chooses and have a good time but to keep his “fancy free”. The young man then says that basically he is young and that while he hears what the man is saying he does not listen to the advice he is given.  I believe he gave his heart out of haste and is now regretting it and he is only 2 and 20.

            “Loveliest of Trees” is next if we go in chronological order. The man in the story is now 70 and not sure if he will make it to 71.  He is walking through the woodland seeing the cherry trees covered with their white blooms. This is in the spring and is around Easter time.  He knows that he is not getting any younger but feels that even though he has had 50 years of enjoying the change of seasons it is still not enough.  He will go out and enjoy every season he is given even if it means venturing out into the snow to enjoy his woodlands.

            “Is My Team Ploughing”, would be the last poem to be written about this man. In this poem it is my opinion that he is talking to and being answered by a friend. At first he is questioning whether it is his team ploughing the earth he used to plow and is now buried beneath. He is answered that yes he is buried beneath his land. He then asks, “Are boys playing football by the river where I can stand no more?”  He is answered that yes that is true too. Then he questions whether his girl is happy and does not cry for him anymore. He is answered yes she is contented so you need to be content as well that everything is alright.  He then asks if his friend is alright and better off than he. His friend then answers that yes and he is comforting a sweetheart that I believe is his friend’s lady.

            These three poems if they were written by the same man would be a happy existence for the most part. While life may not have worked out exactly as he had planned it would have been a good life to live. He was happy in his early twenties until he met a lady and then regretted his quick decision to commit himself to her. Then when he is 70 he looks back and realizes that no matter how many seasons he was blessed to see it was still not enough and he will always wish for more. Then after death he realizes that he had a good life and was happy with the way it turned out.  The comparison of these poems as if they were the same person was difficult. This is my opinion on the three poems if they were written by the same man but I am sure it would change if I had to write based on each poem individually.

Victorian Contract #8 Tennyson

“Dark House”, “My Own Dim Life”, and “You Say” were all written by Alfred Lord Tennyson as a memorial to his friend Arthur Henry Hallum. His state of mind was ever changing during the time that these poems were written. He admits that it began with a funeral and ended with a wedding. These poems will show the slow recovery of Tennyson after the death of his friend.

            “Dark House” is aptly titled because it is a sad poem.  Tennyson is so sad that he is standing in the street looking around and feeling like his heart is no longer beating in his chest.  Then when it is night time he simply roams around his home because he cannot sleep with all the grief built up in his heart. He knows it is because his friend is beyond his reach and he is left behind to suffer.

            “My Own Dim Life” is a little less depressing to the reader.  He talks about his life being dim as opposed to being dark like “Dark House”.  He also is now talking about the earth being beautiful and how God is the creator of this. He then says that he was given patience to wait until he dies. He compares dying like a charming serpent draws a bird into its jaws until it ceases. So it is still not a happy poem but there is a little more happiness that in the first one.

            “You Say” was written near the end of the creation of the memorial to Hallum and is much more lighthearted.  In the first verse he has written that he was told doubt is devil born but that he know from experience that he has more faith in “honest doubt” than in half the creeds written.  The next paragraph declares that he is fighting his doubts and gathering strength so he would not judge himself blindly. The third paragraph states he is looking for a faith that is stronger than his own and he found it because we have to have light to have darkness. I believe the final paragraph is referring to Jesus and his coming to save our souls, his included.

            These three poems were all vastly different. They start out very dark and depressing because that is what Tennyson was feeling. They then move to a little bit lighter with “My Own Dim Life” which is still sad and depressing but has a lighter side to it as well. Lastly “You Say” is much more hopeful reading. Tennyson was by no means completely over the loss of his friend but now has some hope that his friend is in a better place and he will one day follow him to this great place.

Victorian Contract #3 diary entries

May 6, 1898

            Today I met a man. I was wearing one my best day dresses and felt rather quite beautiful if I do say so myself. It was my terra- cotta one and really set off my complexion to its best advantage.  Today was such a miserable day to be out but really, I couldn’t be remiss in meeting with my friends to discuss tomorrow night’s ball! There is said to be a most handsome man and rain or not I must find the perfect gown for the ball. This man I met today was quite handsome but he made me uneasy for some reason.

May 7, 1898

            This mysterious man I met yesterday is still on my mind! I went to the ball and rode in a lovely carriage but all I could think of was the hansom I had taken yesterday during the storm. I wonder who he is? An Earl? A Duke? A Baron? Or simply a gentlemen? This is quite puzzling to one such as myself. I am a nosy person but oh so proper that I could never just have come out and asked him! The ball was wonderful but I am so tired now that I believe this should be the end of my missive for this evening.

May 8, 1898

            I slept til almost noon today after coming in early this morning after the wonderful ball.  I wonder what the weather holds for me today?  I should like to take a walk in the gardens but if it is raining again I don’t know if I shall be able to enjoy myself.  Speaking of rain I wonder what the gentleman is doing today? I remember sitting in the hansom so snug and warm and wondering what he was thinking? Did he think I was pretty in my dress? Did he even notice me at all? I guess I shall never know.

May 9, 1898

            Today my mind has been going around and around about my seemingly innocent but probably improper behavior in the hansom with mystery man. I cannot imagine what I was thinking! I should have left the vehicle as soon as it stopped rain or no rain. With society being the way it is I could have been ruined! I mean who’s to say we did not even speak to one another while confined. I know and he knows but society does not. I must go now and reflect on this untimely meeting some more.

May 10, 1898

            Well it’s another lovely spring day. Which is my way of saying it is raining again. I guess it takes rain to make everything grow after such a harsh winter but I am sorely tired of ruining my slippers in this rain. It is ever amazing to me what rain can accomplish in one single day. I can ruin my clothes, make my garden grow or hide a man and woman from prying eyes inside a hansom. Oh dear here I go again talking about the mystery figure I really did not even meet! What is my problem with this?

May 11, 1898

            Well I believe I have figured out why I am stuck on the gentleman from the carriage! Ready for the revelation? I am so glad I can write my thoughts down so I can organize them and solve my problems! It is because I so abruptly left the carriage once the rain stopped falling. I feel that I was rude to the gentleman from the other day. Even for all of the rides impropriety I should have at least said, “Thank you” to him. I mean he did let me ride with him to my destination and if I ever see him I should love to tell him that so that I may move on with my life.

May 12, 1898

            Well it has been a week since that fateful day when I was forced to share the mystery gentleman’s carriage because of the thunderstorm.  I shall probably never see him again but with always be grateful that he did not put me in a position of impropriety. I feel like he would have kissed me had I stayed for a minute more so I am grateful that the rain quit so I was not compromised. I will never speak of this day again because I am sure there are many more pleasant and appropriate topics that I can write about from my daily life.

Independent Summer Reading

             I chose to read Persuasion by Jane Austen for my summer reading.  I chose this book because it is a classic novel and I felt it would be interesting.  Anne Elliot is a 27 year old, middle daughter of an unconcerned father and self absorbed sisters.  She despairs of forever being a spinster. She accepted a proposal from Captain Frederick Wentworth eight years earlier but broke the engagement.  She chose to break it because her Godmother Lady Russell was not in agreement with Captain Wentworth’s ideas and thought he was not good enough for her. They meet again when Admiral and Mrs. Croft, who is Captain Wentworth’s sister, let Kellynch Hall from her father Sir Walter Elliot who has fallen on hard times.

            Anne Elliot is the main character of this novel. She is described as elegance of mind, passably pretty and has a sweetness of character. She is important because she is the central character of this story.  She is not the most beautiful character but her personality makes her the most endearing. Sir Walter Elliot is another of the main players in this story he is Anne’s father and a vain and flighty person. Since the death of his wife he spends money he does not have and puts them in debt. He is not mean spirited but simply self absorbed and only cares for his oldest daughter Elizabeth who is described to be beautiful and a lot like himself. Captain Wentworth is another main character. He is classified as a gentleman because he has good manners, sensitivity and has worked hard to acquire the money and position he now holds. He is not by birth good enough for Anne Elliot but he is the white knight of the story who overcomes all that he is not with what he has made of himself.

            The setting for this story begins in the 1800’s in which respectability and birth are everything. This story takes place in 1814 to 1815. Anne begins her journey in Kellynch Hall which is her family home. She then stays at Uppercross Manor at her sister Mary’s home because she is “indisposed” quite frequently. The story then moves to Lyme where the characters take a trip mid story.  Persuasion ends in Bath where Anne goes to join her Father and her eldest sister.  This story would irrevocably be changed if you changed the setting. If this story was moved to today’s time or to the United States the whole context would change. Rank, birth and the way they lived is the reason Anne was so easily persuaded by her friends.

            The main conflict of this story was Anne’s inability to commit to her relationship with Captain Wentworth. When she was 19 she became engaged to him but because he was of inferior birth and had no money her Godmother felt he was not good enough for her. Her father was of the same mind and felt her station required a better match that a Navy man. Anne then let herself be persuaded to end the engagement even though she knew she would miss him. When they meet again another conflict arises Captain Wentworth begins courting Louisa Musgrove and Mr. Elliot begins to court Anne. Now the two have to work through these problems before they can begin a new relationship. By the end of the story they are reunited and are beginning to have a relationship again and Anne discovered that she was grateful that her life turned out the way it had.

            The theme of the story is a cliche I know we have all hear, “Good things come to those who wait.” I believe Jane Austen is trying to make the point that things happen in life that have no reasoning behind them but make for a better life in the end.  If Anne had married Captain Wentworth in the beginning they would not be the people they became. The lessons they learned in those eight years made a firm ground for their relationship to build upon. I think the theme also has to do with the class and social aspects of this story. These are what bring the persuasion into the novel if Anne was not influenced by these things then the story would have a lesser impact to the readers. Everyone struggles with decisions that need to be made so we all have a stake in the outcome of this novel.

            I believe there was symbolism in this story Kellynch Hall is one of those symbols. Since Anne and her father and sisters are from there they are by far the most powerful family in the area. This story is constantly referring to Sir Walter’s title and what that means for the people involved. Since he has the most social standing his family must marry as well or better than him. Kellynch Hall is the largest house in the area and even though he does not have to money to keep it up he must “let it” to Admiral Croft. He would never consider selling it because it is a status symbol to him.  Another symbol in this novel is The Baronetage. This is a book he is reading at the beginning of the story. This is a book of baronetcies bestowed before 1707. Since his rank is so important to him he reads this book simply because he is in it. He also makes notes to his own page in it whenever something occurs that was not published. There is also a movie version of this book but I have not seen it so I am unsure if it would be as good as the book.

            I would definitely recommend this book to others. This is a classic book with a lot of ideas that an average person can relate to, even in today’s time. The wording in the book is not the way we talk now but if you pay attention to the context clues of each sentence then you can understand the meaning. If you are a romantic this book will keep you entertained with the charm, wit and the underlying devotion it inspires. Not to mention that it has a happy ending.