Ode on Melancholy (Part Deux)

What?

• We think about how the STRUCTURE helps develop my ideas in the poem
• We provide some further ANALYSIS
• You present some of your blog work for the rest of the class to steal 

TUESDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS

• Many of you commented on how I use elements from the world of nature in this poem. In the first stanza, the various items that may cause or symbolize "oblivion" are all natural (fruits, plants, insects). Again, human desires are intrinsically linked to the natural world.
• The religious reference to the "rosary" was noted. Carola decided it acts as a metaphor to suggest the speaker argues we should not let death or oblivion (symbolized by the poisonous "yew berries") become our 'religion'.
• Tomas and Sofia both noted the references to ancient myths (Greek, Egyptian...). Tomas argued I use these allusions to suggest that our desire for escape (oblivion, death, that kind of thing) is a universal facet of humankind- it has been with us for centuries.
• Ana drew our attention to the simile of the "weeping cloud", which we agreed works on a number of levels to suggest the qualities of melancholy to the reader. Again, notice how I use the natural world to explore human experience and emotion. Can you find examples from previous poems?? Yeah Mr White;yeah nature!
• Tomas commented on the use of assonance and sibilance in the second stanza: "feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes." Here I manage to capture through sound something of the almost hypnotic attraction of the eyes of the "mistress".
• Many of you noted how, like my other poems, I am concerned with the transience of our lives, and the paradoxical nature of human experience: that pleasure causes pain (because it does not last), and that deep sadness is something to be embraced. Why does Keats argue we should embrace it? Can we find the answer in the last stanza??

STRUCTURE IN THE POEM:
Answer me this: what is the argument I put forth in this poem, and how do I use the stanzas to organise it?

• Reread the poem together.
• Decide what the "main idea" of each stanza is.
• Write a key word or phrase the sums up this argument for each stanza.
• Be prepared to justify your choice to the class.
• You will then be able to add a post with a copy of the poem, and your key words in eye-catching font, size and colour(s) suitably placed next to, above, across, in fornt of, or behind the poem (or in any way you can imaginatively do it)

For the last forty minutes of class I want to allow you time to update, edit, improve, design your blogs. I will spend some time with each of you to conduct a "quality audit" of your blog, to give you some idea of what you are doing well and how you can improve it.