Big I, Eye, Aye.

“the walrus said,
to talk of many things:
Of shoes and ships and sealing wax
Of cabbages and kings
And why the sea is boiling hot
And whether pigs have wings.”

The time has also come, so the calendar says, for summer. I really really enjoyed this class this year. I mean, what would I not like about listening to Mr. Murray ramble, reading… and writing essays. I do half of that on my own time. The essay part wasn’t half bad either. Gave me some more insight.

Did Gr.11 answer all my questions? No. I still have no idea what I should be later on, but I don’t think that happens in a year. I think I know a bit better what I do not want to do. Hopefully next year will be just as great. :) I can’t wait until Writer’s Craft and English class!

Have a good summer, and good luck to all those graduating this year!

See ya.

              So, one day left.

I’ve got to say I’m a little sad. As much as I’m looking forward to a nice long sleep, I really enjoyed this year, especially this last semester. Lit class was really fun. I’m sad to see it go! Maybe not the whole, rushed-until-the-breaking-point feeling that I’ve had for the past few weeks, or the loooong, draaagging, reading of Stand On Zanzibar (even though it was a fantastic read). Oh well. At least I got some poetry and fine marks out of it.

I’ll leave the goodbye final blog until tomorrow, I suppose.

“Greed.” Dictionary.com. 8 Jun 2008 <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/greed>.

                It is a fact that humans are fallible. Humans destroy, hurt their own kind, make mistakes at the very worst moment, and then refuse to admit them. No piece of literature depicts this better than The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. This play written by the playwright Christopher Marlowe follows the protagonist, Faustus, and his descent into dark magic. He is a man hungry for knowledge and ultimate power – and will give anything to reach these ends. He pays the ultimate price for this, his soul. After signing away this most precious asset to Lucifer the thoughts of repentance are sowed and continue to grow throughout the play, climaxing moments before his death. Marlowe, through the array of characters and human doubt paraded in front of Faustus, paints the thought of repentance as a possibility. But, because of Faustus’ nature this would never have occurred. His soul is damned the moment Mephistopheles is summoned. This is because of Faustus’ greed and pride, and as the Evil Angel prophetically utters, “but Faustus never shall repent.”

Perhaps Doctor Faustus’ greatest flaw is his greed. At the beginning of the play, Doctor Faustus is an accomplished physician and scholar. He was knowledgeable and looked to for his wisdom, with prominent placing society and admiring apprentices. And yet he was dissatisfied with his position, stating that with all his knowledge and studying, he was yet to be anything but Faustus. Many persons would be very happy with this success in life – stability, admirers, a plethora of mental wealth. But, Faustus needed more. What he desperately wanted was to surpass human ability, and be vaulted into the history books by his ‘godliness’. This theme of wanting to be as powerful as God persists through the play. This leads him to denounce God, and turn to Lucifer for god-like powers. He acquires these powers not to do good, or to build an empire, etc. He gathers this power like a collector – he wants it simply to have. This, by textbook definition, is greed. Dictionary.com Unabridged states it as a “excessive or rapacious desire” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/greed). Another definition explains it as “[an] excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/greed).

An example of his greed, and not want to build, is what he uses this power for. Firstly, Faustus, at the beginning of his bargain, states a long list of wants.

“I’ll have them fly to India for gold,
Ransack the ocean for orient pearl,
And search all corners of the new-found world
For pleasant fruits and princely delicates;
I’ll have them read me strange philosophy,
And tell the secrets of all foreign kings;
I’ll have them wall all Germany with brass,”

Later, Faustus essentially uses his power to play pranks on those that previously were higher in status (or not) than him. This includes (in order of importance to the Medieval public): the Pope, an Emperor, a knight, and a horse-courser. This sort of action might be justified in a man of much lower intelligence than Faust. If this was the case, one might rationalize it by saying that he might not have been able to conceive of a better way of using the magic. Faustus’ intelligence has been proven to not be that shallow – he is perfectly capable of planning an endeavour more worthy then summoning a dragon-chariot to ride him to Rome so he might box the Pope on the ear. Therefore, one must assume that his lust for power is simply greed – he has so much power, much more than what he needs, so that he may frivolously spend it in any creative and ludicrous way he wishes.

Another reason why repentance was impossible in Faustus’ case was his pride. Pride is defined as : “the trait of being spurred on by a dislike of falling below your standards” (http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=pride) or “unreasonable and inordinate self-esteem” (http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=pride). If Faustus had an adequate self-esteem, he would have strove for his very best. While confidence in self is an admirable trait, Doctor Faustus’ confidence is overblown, which is what transforms it into pride. He believes he can conquer all with his dark magic. 

    If Faustus had been a humble man would not even think of comparing himself to a god. Doctor Faustus, before embarking on his journey into magic. But, he is not a humble man, which is evident through his saying: ”[a] sound magician is a mighty god:
Here, Faustus, tire thy brains to gain a deity”. Faustus never renounces the existence of God, and in fact attempts to trick Mephistopheles into confirming his existence. This is why Faustus’ belief and aim to be a god is even more important. His pride now places him above religious subservience, which would have been fundamental in all other religious persons. Quite the opposite to this, Faustus believes himself to be equal to any god.

     Despite all this, one might have been able to repent and clear their conscience. Faustus was not able to do this.  The guidelines for repentence are: ”an admission of guilt, and also includes at least one of: a solemn promise or resolve not to repeat the offense; an attempt to make restitution for the wrong, or in some way to reverse the harmful effects of the wrong where possible” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repentance). After one has repented, one is offered salvation. In Faustus’ case, if he had accepted one of the many offers to repent, he may have been able to circumvent the firey depths of hell for all of eternity. He simply needed to step down from his self-imposed pedestal. His foot may have quivered, but his pride and greed kept the remaining foot firmly planted.

      It is not always evident how deep-seated Faustus’ greed and pride is. Sometimes, though, it shines forth quite glaringly. For example,
“GOOD ANGEL. Sweet Faustus, think of heaven and heavenly things.

EVIL ANGEL. No, Faustus; think of honour and of wealth.
     [Exeunt ANGELS.]

FAUSTUS. Of wealth!
Why, the signiory of Embden shall be mine.
When Mephistophilis shall stand by me,
What god can hurt thee, Faustus? thou art safe
Cast no more doubts.– ” is proclaimed by Faustus during a debate with the Good and Evil Angel. Faustus promptly switches tact at the mere mention of wealth. This quote exemplifies his greed and pride perfectly. One, he wants the signiory of Embden, which is an extensive stretch land or estate. This relates to his greed. Two, he believes he is invincible and that no god may touch him. This relates to his astronomical pride. These two sins combined, ensure that he is unable to repent. This is because together and to this extent they blind Faustus to any reason. What he so desperately wants – power, status – is forever out of his grasp, because while he may be able to have his laugh at someone as high as the Pope, he is a grovelling slave to his wants, and ultimately Lucifer.

Christopher Marlowe’s The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus is a prime example of the implications of greed and pride. Both, if left unchecked, consume a person until their only option is to cater to their flaws, as Faustus is made to throughout the play. Nevertheless, he expresses a wish throughout the play to repent his sins. Is this an act of self preservation, or a true cry for forgiveness? As the reality of hell and pain grows closer, Faustus more ardently wants to give up dark magic so he may escape eternal torment. He does not want to repent because he sees the error of his ways. Sadly, for the old man and those who wish to see him show a flicker of apology, this is why it would be impossible for Faustus to repent after signing his contract. He is, because of his all-consuming greed and pride, morally unequipped.

So. Essays handed in, handed back, and with flipping satisfactory marks compared to what I was shooting for. Phew. Faust presentation pretty much over with, except for the puppet play. I presented terribly, but at least I didn’t die. :) And Stephanie’s book was amazing, and Jayme’s timeline was really pretty, and Mary’s game (and rules to go with it) made me laugh. Can’t wait to see the next ones!

But still so much to go… I wish I could just hop in time to the exams and get them over with, and finish the school year. Where is the Delorean and Professor when you need them!

And now to hide out on my back porch with it’s lovely bird+faroff traffic white noise, and tackle mountains of lab drawings.

Christopher Marlowe was born in Canterbury, England (?) and baptised on February 26. During his very short life, he attended school, wrote popular plays, and was accused of espionage and rumoured to be atheist, and homosexual. He died at the young age of 29 on May 30, 1593 after being stabbed in the eye by Frizer (a servant of Thomas Walsingham – a man of espionage)’s dagger. His career as a playwright lasted 6 years. He is remembered for vaulting blank verse into higher esteem, his overzealous protaganists (their fatal flaw), and his very short life.

Family:
parents: John Marlowe (Ospringe) and Katherine Arthur (Dover)
siblings: Mary first child, died a few years later, Margaret, Joan, Ann, Dorothy and Thomas.

School: King’s School, Corpus Christi College. At Corpus Christi College, he disappeared periodically, and there is a belief that he was employed by the Queen to be a spy. He was almost withheld his MA at his college because he had been attending, or hanging about a college that was not Protestant. This made it appear as if he was converting to Roman Catholicism.. Privy council straightened it out for him, possibly validating the belief of espionage for the Queen, as this ’saving’ by the higher-ups continued until only just before his death.
1584 = Bachelor’s of Arts
1587 = Master’s degree

Death: There are many theories as to the motive behind Marlowe’s killing. Some say he was assassinated on orders of the Queen for his controversial beliefs, as he was dining with the Queen’s spymaster the night of his death. Others claim it to have been merely the unfortunate outcome of a bar brawl over the payment of a bill. Some even believe that in fact Marlowe did not die, but faked his death and continued to write as William Shakespeare. A little over a week before his death, a warrant for his arrest was put out on suspicion of heresy (May 18). This is because of a number of reasons. (A) A threatening bill was posted in a square using blank verse (one of Marlowe’s signatures), and was signed Tamburlaine (a character he developed in one of his plays). (B) His friend Kyd had been arrested, and under pressure had unveiled that the heretic piece of writing found in his possessions was in fact Marlowes and had slipped in among his things. On June 1, 1593, Christopher Marlowe was buried in St. Nicholas, Deptford in the churchyard.

 Works: During his career, his most important contribution to English literature/drama is his use of blank verse. Because of how artfully he used it, it became much more accepted and popular. His works include:
Tamburlaine the Great (Part 1)            1587
The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus                   1588?
The Jew of Malta
Edward II                           1592
Tragedy of Dido, Queen of Carthage
Massacre at Paris
                      It is believed by some that Marlowe was the author of plays credited to Shakespeare. Marlowe was alive and writing at the same time as Shakespeare, and greatly influenced Shakespeare in his writing.

On accusation of atheism = may not be actually atheist, but moving from being Protestant to Catholic. But, he is also rumoured to have scorned the Old and New Testament, and having said sacriligious or atheistic things.
On accusation of homosexuality = meanings of homosexuality may be different from our times and Marlowe’s times. Also, because it was so long ago records do not say for certain. There are examples in his plays, however, that would support it. But, “diligent classicists often mimicked the homosexual themes they found in Greek and Roman texts” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Marlowe#Sexuality).

The year is 2010. The world is overpopulated. Not to the point of some human discomfort. To the point that people are living on top of each other and crisis is ever on the horizon (or beating citizens about the ears). ‘Muckers’, eugenic legislation, and intense political drama plague the world. This is what John Brunner has created in his novel Stand on Zanzibar. Readers are exposed to a roiling world of many, many people, personalities, and conflicts. Peppered with facts, random snapshots of passers by’s lives and headlines, Brunner uniquely weaves a story. These writing techniques that Brunner utilizes submerge readers in and represent the psyche of a member of Brunner’s overpopulated world.Novelists hope to affect their readers emotionally -without a character or society’s hardships or triumphs to connect to, readers would have no reason to follow the storyline. John Brunner raises the bar, and the extent to which he immerses readers in the feelings of his characters is much more than usual. The writing techniques, word choice, and structure drops readers directly into the psychological mind set of the citizen. Probably unbeknownst to the reader, they experience what a character in the world would experience. In that way, his writing technique becomes inseparable from his plot. The ability to empathize, or even simply comprehend, would not exist without his writing methods. He conveys a sense of density, information overload, and division through different writing techniques. While this represents the psyche of a citizen, it also “is a classic example of the overpopulation syndrome – poverty, influx of strangers who take a fat chunk of a small cake, lack of privacy, lack of property, et caetera.” (Brunner, 448) And as the citizens in the world are cramped for space this makes perfect sense, and makes Brunner’s way of writing inseparable from his plot.

John Brunner manipulates his readers in a visual and technical way. To begin, the chopped up method Brunner employs creates a lack of continuity. One can think of a normal novel as a straight line. One can easily walk this line and observe and comprehend whatever is occurring alongside the line. Stand on Zanzibar’s line doubles back on itself, has large gaps, and is crooked by different characters’ plot lines. When one walks this line, one must jump to and fro and it is much more difficult to observe what is unfolding alongside the line. When reading, one is forced to flip forward and back to make sense of the placement of an anecdote, or string of facts. While this makes for an interesting read, readers feels off-kilter, as if they can’t get a footing in this world of constant change. Information may be given too early or late, and there is a constant scramble to make sense. This is just one in which Brunner gives a sense of information overload. Information overload is “provision of information in excess of the cognitive and emotional ability of an individual to process that information” (

www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/publications/riscomm/riscomm_appe.shtml). In other words, this is the overburdening of persons with an amount of information they are unequipped to compute. This can lead to stress, impaired judgement, and most important in relation to the chopped up method, confusion or frustration.The lack of context paired with seemingly random pages of facts or lyrics also further drive home the point of information overload. For example, this excerpt is found sandwiched between a meeting of the character Norman and his colleague, and Donald’s thoughts in Yatakang:

Pick up 7-beat bass below aud threshold Synch in five-beat WAH YAH WAH YAH WAH

Sitar picks up 5 7 beats ,express takeoff Octave up bass Bass up 2nd octave Bring in at 4-beat intervals tympani, Lasry-Bachet organ, pre-cut speech tape MANCH/total recall/ SHIFT/man that’s really someth/WHIP/ah whoinole cares anyway/GARKER/ garker/GARKER/garker (ad lib)

Snatch of Hallelujah chorus…(Brunner, 256)

Readers are made to process this strange string of gibberish, much as a citizen of Stand On Zanzibar’s world would be made to process all the new information coming out of Shalmanesar, or the constant spewing of new products or gadgets by companies.

Language provides a keyhole to which a reader may press his eye, and see the innermost workings. In a culture, especially teen culture, a mutation of language, slang, plays a very heavy role in everyday life. Through IM chats, conversations, television, etc., people are bombarded with bizarre words that have meaning that can only be understood by acquiring a large amount of knowledge related. It is, essentially, the secret code of a culture. If one is in with the secret code, one is in with the culture. Brunner uses this unique slang to create a special language, that always opens a window into the principles and values of the society of 2010. It also has readers feeling excluded until they are unable to clue into the meanings of the special language, which can represent the sects found in overcrowded space – small pockets of people within a large group.

Brunner developed a special set of slang-words for Stand on Zanzibar. ‘Bleeder’, ’sheeting’, ‘whatinole’, ’shiggy’, ‘codder’, ‘muckers’, and ‘prodgies’ are just a few examples of the American set of ‘code words’. Bleeder and prodgies were slang words created because of the eugenics law, or the focus on genotypes. Bleeder, a derogatory term, refers to the presence of anemia in a person’s genotype. Whether they actually display this trait or are merely carriers for it is irrelevant – they cannot have children, and are therefore inferior. Prodgies, which is used in place of ‘children’, is probably derived from prodigies. A prodigy, by text-book definition is either “something wonderful or marvelous [or] something abnormal or monstrous” (

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prodigy). The advancements in eugenics make the ability to program a citizen’s soon-to-be-born children with talent is close at hand. But, with the problem of overpopulation, if a family goes over the limit of two children, the extra children are seen as abnormal and monstrous. Finally, ‘mucker’ is one of the most prevalent slang terms used in the book. A ‘mucker’ is one who has run amok meaning they have snapped under the pressure of the world. The outcome of this is a person with primal ferocity without any comprehension of what they may be doing. They are effectively, a killing machine. There is such a number of these ‘muckers’ that the term came into everyday usage.A contrasting example of this slang is Beninia’s basic language. Even their core linguistics are polarized from the U.S.’s plays on language. Beninia is a small country on Earth in 2010. They are deep in poverty and not up to snuff gadgetry-wise. They are the anomaly of the Stand on Zanzibar world. Their language and slang are entirely peaceful, as is their country. Take the word ‘angry’. In America, citizens have created a word especially for an overdose of anger – ‘mucker’. In Beninia, the word angry does not have the same connotations at all.

“Facts are: [one] can say ‘annoyed’ or even ‘exasperated’, but both those words came originally from roots meaning ‘creditor’. Someone [one] get angry with owes [one] an apology in the same way [one is] owed money or a cow. [One] can say ‘crazy’ and put one of two modifiers on the front of it – either the root for ‘amusing’ or the root for ‘tears’. In the latter case, [one is] talking about someone who’s hopelessly out of his mind, sick, to be tended and cleaned up after. In the former, [one is] inviting people to laugh at someone who’s lost his temper, but will return to normal sooner or later.” (Brunner, 322)

Compare this to the term ‘mucker’, and one truly gets the sense of the desperate situation the ‘civilized’ world is in, and the division in the world.

Along with slang, Brunner has a heavy hand with abbreviation or acronyms in the novel. ‘Engrelay Satelserv’, ‘GT’ and ‘eptify’ are a few examples. ‘Engrelay Satelserv’ is the shortened form of English Relay Satellite Service, the main news source. ‘GT’ is short for General Technology, a large corporation. And ‘eptify’, or “[eptification] is derived from an acronym – EPT stands for ‘education for particular tasks’.” (Brunner, 188) The words themselves indicate the level of information citizens are bombarded with. More important though is the psychological effect of shortening so many everyday words. Abbreviation can have two effects. One, it can multiply the amount of information able to be sent in a space of time. Two, it can multiply confusion. The impact of the first is that a person must acquaint themselves with these acronyms and abbreviations and learn them, or process and translate them cold at a moment’s notice. The second consequence is that citizens are left with longstanding confusion that may build, and grow into resentment. And like plaque on the wall of an artery, accumulating resentment can lead to disastrous results.

The following quote, said by Chad Mulligan, a sociologist hailed as genius on Earth in 2010, applies to a consumerism point of view in interruption or information overload. He describes the new definition of poor by American standards as “[people] who are too far behind with time-payments on next year’s model to make the down-payment on the one for the year after” (Brunner, 220). Not only do people on Chad Mulligan’s planet need to keep up with the times, they must keep up before the times. To do this individuals must read advertisements, magazines, watch television, and watch the ‘trendy’ so they may emulate whatever it is that they ‘need’. This leads to another symptom of information overload : “[decreased] benevolence to others due to an environmental input glut” (http://www.gdrc.org/icts/i-overload/infoload.html). In John Brunner’s creation, like in many other dystopia cities, such as Orwell’s 1984 city, there is war. It may be with other countries, or it may be contained within the country itself (‘muckers’, or rebels). Those reading Stand on Zanzibar may be frustrated and get angry in the process of trying to make sense of the book.

The effects of overpopulation and its relation to Brunner’s writing techniques do not end there. To add, Stand on Zanzibar has brief intermissions from the main plot thrown in. During these intermissions, readers are introduced to a cast of random characters. They are given a glimpse into their lives which is very quick, but very informative. These ’snapshots’ of random lives gives the feeling of density to the novel, as there is no down time. In other novels, there are interludes during which the characters walk through a valley, or go through the daily motions. In Stand on Zanzibar, every thing that is mentioned has meaning, and the reader is forced to be constantly on their toes, lest they skip over some vital piece of information. For example, from page two hundred to two hundred and four, readers are given a rapid succession of stories of others killing others. During these pages, readers are also witness to a juxtaposition between the ‘truth’ of the news, and the brutality of the physically honest.

He glared at the cowering figure before him. “You’ve always wanted to be more of a daughter than a son!” he snarled. “See this razor? It’s going to give you exactly what you want! Now do you take off that dress or do I cut it off?”

The Missile and Weaponry division of General Technics offers graduates an exciting career with the continual challenge of work on the very frontiers of human achievement. (Brunner, 202)

Such a multitude of characters and their stories is much like the multitude of people’s lives without context in a cramped environment. When there are many people in a small space, little glimpses can be seen of other’s lives, but not whole stories. In the novel’s world, a person may walk by another, and listen in on a snippet of conversation. They are privy to a private moment of their life – but know nothing else. And this may happen twenty, thirty, forty times in a day – a fair barrage of personal information pouring over a person.

These writing techniques and word choices lead to a scrambled amount of data, much like what Donald Hogan would sift through prior to his espionage days, or what Shalmanesar would synthesize. The reader is left feeling overwhelmed, off-balance, and weary. This leads to the very core of a person in John Brunner’s world’s psyche. Chad Mulligan, as he has so many times before, puts it perfectly and enigmatically: “Norman, what in God’s name is it worth to be human, if [they] have to be saved from [themselves] by a machine?” (Brunner, 453) Because the amount of things- hatred, persons, information, gadgetry, and illusions is like Grandfather Lao – a volcano on the brink of eruption and consequently the destruction of human beings. One either goes the way of Donald during his Jogajong days and becomes entranced by the thought of destruction, or hopes for an outsider’s rope to fall down, to pull them from the lava.

The Convergence of the Twain, as the title implies, is about the meeting of two opposites. More specifically, it is the meeting of human vanity and supernatural humility, or the Titanic and the iceberg that brought about it’s demise. While many people see this accident as an enormous tragedy, the poet’s attitude is more cool and ambivalent. This is because both sides of the equation are represented. The poet’s use of personification, rhyme, meter, imagery and voice accomplish portraying this ambivalence. 2 devices usually work in tandem – personification and capitalization, rhyme and meter, imagery and voice. If one was without the other, the poem would fall flat, or would sway towards one side or the other.

 This poet uses personification and capitalization heavily in this poem. This brings attention to the main ideas or players in this poem, or personifies some key concepts that would otherwise be less concrete. “Pride of Life”, “The Immanent Will”, “A Shape of Ice”,  “the Spinner of Years” are all key components of the destruction of the Titanic. “Pride of Life” is the reason why the Titanic was built. Humans built this to be the pride of their life. If the first trip had been successful, the Titanic would have been a very important success in the history of ships, and human ability. The Immanent Will and Spinner of the Years represent the concept of the force behind the world spinning. This brings to light the poet’s feeling that the sinking of the ship was not the fault of humans – but due to fate. 

 Rhyme and meter in this poem also lend themselves to the meaning of ‘The Convergence of the Twain’. In this poem, every final line in each set of triplets rhymes. The poet follows this rule religiously throughout the poem. This gives the poem an almost lilting aspect. The length of the 2 first lines and the last line are also continious throughout the poem. Together the two create the rhythm of a chant, or folk poem. This could represent the rhymic turnings of the ship’s engine, time, or the ocean. Because of the nursery rhyme or folk tale feel of the poem, it lends the possibility of the supernatural to it – as folk tales or nursery rhymes usually feature talking spoons, dragons, witches, etc. Through this, the poet is relating his feeling of supernatural fate once again.

 Most important of all is the poet’s use of imagery and voice. This is when the poet’s attitude is truly conveyed. The poet uses imagery very effectively to accomplish a few things. One, it juxtaposes the ‘twain’, be it human vanity against supernatural humility, the artificial lavishness against the natural essentials, or the irreversible against the breakable. The ‘Titanic’ was called the ‘unsinkable ship’, in a moment of human vanity. In an ironic twist, nature brought down the ‘unsinkable ship’. In this way, human extravagance was grounded by the cold truth of life. And two, it gives the mood to his poem by his choice of words. For example, ‘cold currents thrid, and turn to rhythmic tidal lyres’ or ‘lie lightless, all their sparkles bleared and black and blind’. It is truly a dark, sad and unadorned place, the bottom of the sea. Also, all the sea creatures depicted in this poem are depicted as base and ignorant. For example, ‘grotesque, slimed, dumb, indifferent’ or ‘dim moon-eyed fishes near’. They are unable to understand the human extravagance that has come to rest in their habitat. When showing the differences between the fish and the ‘vaingloriousness’, one gets the sense that the poet regrets the loss of beauty, and that this resting place is not fitting. This is what balances the vanity of humans argument. Finally, an example of the distanced voice is present in stanza ten “[or] signs that they were bent/ By paths coincident/ On being anon twin halves of one August event”.

 ’The Convergence of the Twain’ utilizes some interesting poetic devices to convey a certain message about a tragic event in the world’s history. The sinking of the Titanic ‘[jarred] two hemispheres’, and the poet echoes this sentiment. But he or she also feels (ambivalently) that it was a fateful event, and vanity’s downfall. It was not a mortal’s fault, nor a coincidence. The poem says this, without saying it all, through their use of imagery and voice, rhyme and meter, and personification and capitalization.

             Poets and novelists have penned it, singer-songwriters have crooned it, and everyday persons have felt for a whisper of it. It has enraptured and confounded masses through the ages, and still to this day, when something is ‘instyle’ in the morning, and ‘out’ by night, it has it’s fans. It has built and brought down kingdoms. What is it? Love. A poem by the name of In the Metro shows one man’s -Mikhail Kvilividze – comments on the subject. He, through the poem, comments that love is a commitment that one should stick to, but that it also may be bonding, and aging.

              At the beginning of the poem, the speaker passes by a girl in the metro. For the remainder of the poem, he is pondering the emotions this passing by sparked, and the implications of them and a committed relationship, with children. Although the speaker (readers are unaware whether this speaker is Kvivilidze himself or not) realizes he is commited and decides not to trail, he is ‘lusting’ after this girl in the metro. Although he is partially attracted to her physically, noticing her shining legs, he is more attracted to the idea she embodies. She is young, and free to move. In this way, the voice is experiencing longing, or lust for what she represents because his commitment can not give him both stability and free range.

           One thing that she represents is unrestrained motion. During the poem, this girl he has crossed paths with is constantly in motion. She has “shining legs in the metro”. Shining legs (not matte or rough) conjure up the image of fluidity and aerodynamics. The locations she is depicted in also show her motion – on a metro (a high speed vehicle), on an escalator, on a river flowing towards the sea. Not only is she free, but she is also young and delicate also. In the poem, this can be exemplified by the speaker always referring to her as ‘girl’, not woman, and also his choice of imagery of a flower. A flower is soft, delicate, pretty, and light enough to float on the water. The girl on the metro is what the speaker longs to be, or possess.

           What the speaker most desperately wants to possess freedom. This is because his current relationship has him feeling bound. This is Kvilividze generalizing about love and relationships as a ‘jail cell’-like commitment. Others may feel freed by love returned, but instead he feels tied down to what being a family entails. Kvilividze is commenting in a pessimistic (although possibly very honest) tone that love isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Because love takes long hours, and well, it’s work. It is not all passion and romantics – that dies out. And what is left, the poet says, is a ball and chain.

              This point of view is exemplified by  his choice of words. The speaker is ‘crucified to family duties’. Crucifiction is either being killed by having one’s hands and feet nailed to a wooden cross, to be tormented or persecuted, or to be subdued. Therefore, if the speaker is feeling crucified, he feels as if he is either being cruelly toyed with or pushed down. He is bound (quite literally). Furthermore, in contrast to the girl’s mobility, he is always immobile. For example, he ’stood, transfixed, on the platform’. This could mean the platform of the metro, in a literal sense. Alternatively, it could at the dock as the girl floats away. The speaker feels stuck.

         Also, a key piece of imagery is the ending line: “with a shopping bag dangling from my hand…”. This gives a lot of insight into the speaker’s emotions. The shopping bag could represent a dangling shackle, or something else that weighs him to earth. He is weighed down by his commitment to his family. To add, he is not firmly gripping the handle of the shopping bag – it’s merely dangling. This may be another comment on love as a commitment and burden, and also the ease of letting it go. Even he, who it seems has a strong stance on commitment, is just barely hanging on to his commitment.

          ‘In the Metro’ represents a distinct and cynical point of view on love. Mikhail Kvilividze speaks through the poem to say that love is a restraining commitment that is difficult to hold on to, and that forces others to long for what is lost. Even those faithful ones, such as the one in this poem (who is sad when the girl is gone, but is naive enough to not comprehend why), feel the pull of the youthful and free sometimes. And, for Kvilividze, the conundrum is cracked.