The Night is Darkening Round Me: Poem Analysis

The night is darkening round me,

The wild winds coldly blow ;

But a tyrant spell has bound me,

And I cannot, cannot go. 

The giant trees are bending

Their bare boughs weighed with snow ;

The storm is fast descending,

And yet I cannot go. 

Clouds beyond clouds above me,

Wastes beyond wastes below 

But nothing drear can move me :

I will not, cannot go.

This poem was written by Emily Brönte in the first half of the nineteenth century

What I am most curious about this poem is whether the author is implying that she wants to go or not, when it is written "I cannot go". This is because even though I have an impression of a trapped person, when the author repeats "I cannot go", However, in the last verse, the author adds: "I will not", paving the way for a possibility that she chooses not to "go".The first stanza gives us a particularly dark impression, as it starts with the name of the poem: "The Night is Darkening Round me". The perception of being imprisoned is expanded upon in the second stanza, as it implies that the top of the trees are closer to the ground, due to snow as well as the fact that it talks about the trees being down. The words "but nothing drear can move me" provide a feeling of being enclosed. That is because it is written that clouds are at the top, waste is below, but the author cannot be moved. 

In the second last line, the word drear is used, which is similar to gloomy. In that case, the implication seems to be that no negative aspect can move her. In addition, she seems, looking at the previous stanzas to be surrounded by nature. Therefore, it is for to assume that the author at first, does not wish do go because of the weather, but later simply chooses not to leave. 

The Figure in the Carpet by Henry James

I read the book The figure in the Carpet by Henry James. In the story the narrator wrote a review on a famous book by an author, named Vereker. The narrator gets the chance to meet him and show him his work with the help of a female friend of his. However, the author is not at all impressed by it, but rather says that he has missed the "point" of his book. The narrator tries everything in order to properly "understand" the work, but he can't seem to solve the puzzle. He tells his friend, named Corvick of what has happened. However, Corvick doesn't manage to understand the secret, neither does his fiancée. There are only three people who manage to find out what the mystery meaning is - Vereker, Covington and Gwendolen), but they refuse to tell the others and before they get the chance to share their knowledge, they each die one after the other. They pass away just when the narrator thinks that they are going to tell them the secret, which adds tension and intensifies the curiosity of the reader. They call the secret "the figure in the carpet", which is what the title is.

I really liked the book as there are a lot of things happening quickly. There is a certain mystery, which makes the reader want to continue reading in order to solve the puzzle. We never know whether the claims of each of the characters are true or they are just pretending. The fact that they all die also makes the book a thriller. However, it is quite disappointing or rather annoying that we weren't told what "the figure in the carpet" was at the end of the book.

The Life of a Stupid Man - Ryunosuke Akutagawa

This short novel was originally written in Japanese and then translated into English. I thoroughly enjoyed all three of the stories but the last less than the first two.
    The writing and language used in all three stories are clear and easy to follow. However, the first story, In a Bamboo Grove, is a bit hard to understand due to the changing of perspectives of people. It is about a man that is murdered and little by little, we find out who killed the man as each of the characters take the stand. In addition to that, it is hard to distinguish when a different person speaks as in the story, they don't use and speech marks or even change the line. If you are reading the story and fully understand, it will not be hard to follow the dialogue.
   This first story was extremely intriguing because of the three win characters: the wife, the husband and the killer. All three of them have such different personalities and they all contrast and clash each other. I found the wife the most interesting because of her swift changing of mind. However, we never really know which story is true, the wife's, the killer or the story told true a prophet, as all of them are different.

The second story, Death Register, is Akutagawa talking about his family life and how he lost all of his closest relatives. The first lost his father and then his mother went mad so he was then forced to be adopted by his uncle. Soon after that, his mother then died at the young age of 11.
   I like the way that he describes all of his family members, especially the way he describes his older sister: Hatsuko. Although he never met her, he feels the closest to her. He describes her in a way that it makes everyone was rot meet her.

The third story, The Life of a Stupid Man, consists of 51 short reflections of previous memories in his life. I have never read an autobiography written in this way and I found it amazing. Instead of him writing long paragraphs of important aspects in his life, he writes the memories in just a few sentences and each of the small accounts are given a title. When reading these memories, I felt like I was instantly transported to the time and place of the event because of his amazing writing. Throughout the 51 memories, there are some recurring themes so it makes the story flow almost like a poem. These memories shows that he was very wise. However he committed suicide at the age of 35 so it means that he must have written his autobiography around his thirties.

I honestly enjoyed these short stories a lot and I would recommend this to a lot of people that enjoy stories about death.

“How Much Land Does A Man Need?” by Leo Tolstoy

“How Much Land Does A Man Need?” by Leo Tolstoy is a short book that is made up of two short stories translated from Russian into English. The first short story is “How Much Land Does A Man Need?” and it is about men’s greed and selfishness; it tells the story of a modest farmer in Russia that owns very little land in his hometown. He then wishes for more land, but by doing so he also provokes the Devil. Consequently of making this newfound enemy, the farmer finds a couple of opportunities to expand his land and increase the quality of his crops, but that entails having to move to another town. The farmer, along with his family, moves to another town south of the Volga for agricultural reasons, but that too doesn’t seem to be enough for him; he still feels cramped, without enough air to breathe, and with “bad” soil. He isn’t satisfied, so he moves to another town that offers very large areas of amazing soil but he is challenged to walk as much as possible in one day, and all the land he will have marked would be his. He sets off to conquer as much land as possible, but it never seems to be enough, he always wants more. As the sun starts to set, he realizes he is very far from his starting point and making it back would be difficult. So he runs and runs, until he reaches the starting point, and as the chief of the town is congratulating him, the farmer drops dead. This short story symbolizes human greed, and how men never have enough, and it’s that greed that will lead humans to death. The second short story is “What Men Live By”, a story with similar themes as the first one. It’s based around the themes of generosity, kindness, harmony between men, and religion. It is the story of a Fallen Angel, punished by God, and forced to live on earth as a mortal to learn three crucial lessons: “ what dwells in man, what is not given to men, and what men live by.” He would only be welcomed back into heaven after learning these lessons, which he finally does at the end.

The Beautifull Cassandra

The Beautifull Cassandra

The little black book i decided to read was called The Beautifull Cassandra, by Jane Austen. The reason i chose this book was because in the past i have read many of her novels. She is one of my favourite authors. However after reading this book, my view on Jane Austin has changed. This book is very unlike other books of hers, the book is made up of little extracts of her early stories of when she was a child. I fond these stories to be fun and very entertaining. I found it a very light read, which is very funny. It was also very cool to read her earlier stuff and compare it to her later writing style. I also liked how Jane made themes like death and prison breaks add to the people's humour of the book. 

I really enjoyed the book, and really recommend to people who enjoy a fast, light and funny read.

The Great Gatsby pt4

As the novel progresses, Fitzgerald builds mystery around Gatsby's character; he keeps him in the dark, not only for us but for Nick too. In the first few chapter a lot is said and thought about Gatsby, but never by Gatsby himself. Nick and Gatsby eventually go to lunch together in the city and on the drive there, Gatsby tells him about his past and personal life but everything he says seems very improbable to Nick. That irritates Gatsby and makes him want to prove himself to the narrator. When they finally arrive, Gatsby introduces the narrator to a shady, New York city entrepreneur. Seeing the two men being friendly, Nick begins to suspect that Gatsby's wealth might be shadier than people think (organized crime?).

The Great Gatsby pt3

At this point in the novel, Tom brought Nick to this gas stop that lays in between West Egg and New York: an abandoned valley of ashes. There, they attend a party at Tom's mistress's house, which ends horribly wrong and violently too due to an exaggerated consumption of alcohol. Further on in the story, Nick receives an invitation to one of Gatsby's famously opulent parties and he attends. Carraway is surprised by the luxury of the party and by Gatsby's wealth. Even more surprising is that no one seems to know whom Gatsby is; everyone speculates about his wealth and his background, but nobody really knows the generous host. Everyone is a stranger to Gatsby. Finally, a man that seems familiar to Nick introduces himself as Jay Gatsby, and that is when they meet. The two of them, and Jordan, go on to talk very briefly. The party ends and Nick returns to his ordinary home and life, almost as though being at the party stopped time. Everyone let these inhibitions free during these parties, and forgot about the rest of the world for the night.