Alisoun, Depictions

3234 As any wezele hir body gent and smal.

3235 A ceynt she werede, barred al of silk,

3236 A barmclooth as whit as morne milk

3237 Upon hir lendes, ful of many a goore.

3238 Whit was hir smok, and broyden al bifoore

3239 And eek bihynde, on hir coler aboute,

3240 Of col-blak silk, withinne and eek withoute.

3241 The tapes of hir white voluper

3242 Were of the same suyte of hir coler;

3243 Hir filet brood of silk, and set ful hye.

3244 And sikerly she hadde a likerous ye;

3245 Ful smale ypulled were hire browes two,

3246 And tho were bent and blake as any sloo.

3247 She was ful moore blisful on to see

3248 Than is the newe pere-jonette tree,

3249 And softer than the wolle is of a wether.

3250 And by hir girdel heeng a purs of lether,

3251 Tasseled with silk and perled with latoun.

3252 In al this world, to seken up and doun,

3253 There nys no man so wys that koude thenche

3254 So gay a popelote or swich a wenche.

3255 Ful brighter was the shynyng of hir hewe

3256 Than in the Tour the noble yforged newe.

3257 But of hir song, it was as loude and yerne

3258 As any swalwe sittynge on a berne.

Imagery is probably the most important aspect on the Miller's Tale, the range of aspects portrayed in his narration permit the reader visualize characters and scenes fluently. With Alisoun, the Miller utilizes an extraordinary prose in order to convey her in the story, and symbolize her significance in the general plot. A compilation of the senses facilitate her meaning. At first, the metaphor of the weasel let the reader infer her general physical attributes,  and later on, with and extended ode of her many silk brooded clothes it's evident the "lady" representation.

Tragedy, Pure Aesthetic Delight (Knight's Tale Parts 1-4)

As though he stongen were unto the herte
And with that cry Arcite anon up sterte

And seyde, "Cosyn myn, what eyleth thee,
That art so pale and deedly on to see?
Why cridestow? Who hath thee doon offence?
For Goddes love, taak al in pacience
Oure prisoun, for it may noon oother be.

Fortune hath yeven us this adversitee.
Som wikke aspect or disposicioun
Of Saturne, by som constellacioun,
Hath yeven us this, although we hadde it sworn;

So stood the hevene whan that we were born.
We moste endure it; this is the short and playn." (1077-1091)

I'm not a faithful person, in any kind manner, but lately I've been relatively convinced in theorems proclaiming the individual being subject to its fate, of the unimportance of probability, and the rise of transcending life-missions. "Casually", yesterday I watched a movie that haven't seen for years, called 21 grams, (which I suppose most of you have already watched). Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, and presenting Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro. The performances outgrew the story with no doubts, but nevertheless, its a pretty neat movie. Ironically, if you think about it, the motif allegories perfectly with the Knight's Tale: A binary, tragic linearity of events which interlude constantly, overlapping, revolving around each other, ultimately forming beauty...And I'm not referring to bliss within the story, but bliss as a final product benefit.

The previous passage presenting Arcite consistently reflects this theme, taking place after the encounter with Emelye, which constitutes the delusional happiness when the events pass through this "interlude" phase:"As though he stongen were unto the herte.." following the absence of hope, midly recovered throughout a static and heroic Arcite:" Fortune hath yeven us this adversitee..." The reader can observe Palamons evident tragedy, but in parallelism, can perceive the intricate beauty residing in a romantic adversity.

When saying that one was being in touch with a individual-destiny theory in any manner I was stating positivism, transcending life missions are definitely discouraging, your will lacks any kind of sense, therefore, it doesn't really matter what you do since your life is already determined, individuality, emotions, perceptions, all loose meaning, all become one big piece of nothing. Sadly for us, in 21 Grams and the Knight's Tale this motifs precisely seems to be the underlined message of the whole narration: destiny mocking us constantly, such as Arcite and Palamon when encountering a series of unfortunate events followed by glimpses of "delusional happiness", one being near death followed by Theseus decision of imparting them wih life imprisonment. Seeing Emelye followed by their self awareness. Arcite being liberated followed by his despair due false assumptions of having a worse fate than his cousin, love and torment, etc. Or in 21 Grams, when Paul Rivers temporarily recovers from his illness but later on his transplanted heart ends relinquishing him. Or Christina Peck which faces the loss of her family in an accident. Perhaps the most outstanding character, Jack Jordan, personifies the aesthetic delight of tragedy, being a christian ex-convict, he is the causer of the the accident and throughout the movie the weight of causality continually torments him.

Bloom, (as tragedy), reach its highest point in the moment of Arcites death, since the accumulation of tension brakes in a sudden flop of events, alluding immediately to the "force of fate" as a omniscient presence, being the true continuous momentum behind the plot, releasing affliction into confirmation.This could be compared to Paul Rivers death, since the "21 grams of the soul"metaphor comes into place lightly. Forcing a sudden accommodation of plots, almost in an inexplicable way. Not quite being a "Deus Ex Machina" tough, since it becomes a gentle aftermath for a vertiginous confrontation of powers and events, (tragedy).

Allurement invades the whole work, almost being engaging, magnetic. Dancing  with the preceding tragedies. The fluctuation of our so-called lives.

(The embedded code for this video is illegal so its a necessary requirement to go to the link below, which can personify a little bit better this theme, with some kick-ass acting from Del Toro.)

This Is Hell-Benicio Del Toro

"Migration" Interpretations

Undeniably, Dorian Medina's "Migration" presents a well structured depiction of the - colonial slavery/cultural emptiness - correlation, throughout the evident usage of imagery in its narrative. In the text as a whole, externalization of the leitmotif is achieved by the continued usage of this literary device, mainly in the form of latino-based visuals, (walnuts chicueyes,tocayo,Indio y Coyota = Chamiso), and vivid metaphors:"Birds the color of ash the color of sunrise..." 

However, a continuous "action interruptus" occurs between the graphics of the video and the poem recitation. The conflict arises when the figures aligned with the voice diminish the images from the narration, mainly due their abstracting nature. The pattern, despite from being in tempo and presenting linearity with the motion of the poem, still contradicts basic visual perception.Therefore, the usage of these methods produce much more relevant counterpoints than pragmatism. In addition, (and probably emerging from the vertiginous graphics), the obligated accent journey which the speaker has to undertake when pronouncing these Spanish words sounds simply abhorrent, diminishing even further the underlying messages pretended by the author when WRITING in this determined form (Spanish usage).

It is sustainable to argument that Reel Poetry produces an inverse neurolinguistic operation in which the indivual inevitably leads himself to an oblique interpretation of the poem. 
 

However, art is just art, I guess. 


(The attached video presents an alternative form of narrative poetry, explicit imagery can be perceived around the minute 2:10, the purpose is to contextualize other forms of Reel Poetry.) Dont pay attention to the title of the video.