Tuesday, September 24, 2013

What is a theme of "The Lives of the Heart"?

From the poem, one must conclude that there is nowhere on
earth where the lives of the heart are not to be found. The power of life, in short,
motivates people to travel everywhere and get involved in everything. Line 30 (“Not one
is not given to ecstasy’s lions”) suggests that love and ecstasy are common human
attributes. Line 20 (“Go blind in the service of lace”) may suggest the sometimes
deleterious effects of work and effort, with lace serving as the emblem of a worker’s
achievement. The repetitiveness of words seems designed to echo the regularity of a
heartbeat. The repetitions of words suggest this detail, and the repetitions of
identical grammatical structures do the same. The visual and aural active verbs suggest
the human energy that is brought about by the many and variegated ways in which people
face the needs and challenges of life.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comment on the setting and character of "The Fall of the House of Usher."How does setting act as a character?

Excellent observation, as it identifies how the settings of Poe's stories reflect the characters of their protagonists. Whet...