Fishing on the Susquehanna in July

By Billy Collins
 

I have never been fishing on the Susquehanna

or on any river for that matter

to be perfectly honest.

Not in July or any month

have I had the pleasure—if it is a pleasure—

of fishing on the Susquehanna.

I am more likely to be found

in a quiet room like this one—

a painting of a woman on the wall,

a bowl of tangerines on the table—

trying to manufacture the sensation

of fishing on the Susquehanna.

There is little doubt

that others have been fishing

on the Susquehanna,

rowing upstream in a wooden boat,

sliding the oars under the water

then raising them to drip in the light.

But the nearest I have ever come to

fishing on the Susquehanna

was one afternoon in a museum in Philadelphia

when I balanced a little egg of time

in front of a painting

in which that river curled around a bend

under a blue cloud-ruffled sky,

dense trees along the banks,

and a fellow with a red bandanna

sitting in a small, green

flat-bottom boat

holding the thin whip of a pole.

That is something I am unlikely

ever to do, I remember

saying to myself and the person next to me.

Then I blinked and moved on

to other American scenes

of haystacks, water whitening over rocks,

even one of a brown hare

who seemed so wired with alertness

I imagined him springing right out of the frame.

Frost

Roberts Frost's Mending Wall explores the theme of "inner barriers" throughout a paused, yet critical tone. By employing diverse allegories and the extended metaphor  of the "wall", Frost conveys a dense underlined message beyond the narrators relationship with his neighbor.

The parallelism begins from the first line, when the speaker alludes to "something that is doesn't love a wall" (line 1), "is" becoming an allegory for a higher power which "sends", "spills" and "makes gaps" against this wall that immediately acquires a higher connotation in the poem as a metaphorical form of antagonism.

The reader can observe the narrators denotation of his personal position towards the wall, which is somewhat compressive when saying he has "come after them" and "made repair" (line 3), partially coinciding with the figure of the wall on its weakness.

The couplet on lines 10-11 express a descriptive meta-fiction when portraying the existence of the "gaps" in the wall. Naturally, the "gaps" stand up as a metaphor for the "tweaks" and imperfections of the wall, which represents the inevitability of linear existence.

At this point, the wall is characterized as an integrated symbol in the poem, becoming the protagonist in the narrators internal conflict.

Ham, Rye: "Ham on Rye"

Unfortunately for me and the people with whom I interacted with last week, thanks to Bukowski I felt suicidal and depressed for most of the 9 or 10 days finishing the novel, consequently suffering from post-traumatic syndrome afterwards due the gloomy and grotesque narrative of this monster.

The plot is basically refers to a “pseudo-autobiography” of the author, embodied throughout the life of Henri Chinaski (note his real name is Henri Charles Bukowski, so figure it out.). The tone is somewhere between gloomy and disdainful, considering the sentence structures and word choosing are crude and omnipresent with hatred and repulsion. The sequence of events cover his early childhood until his early adulthood, and is written in first person narrative, aiding the personal tone of the piece overall.

Although post-Great War, and pre-WWII  America is a definite background veil in the story, 1930-1940’s L.A becomes the most prominent setting in the story overall, establishing the entire ambiance of the novel in an universal sense, to the point of representing a continuous metaphor for the narrator.

I would resume the novel as: “life in its bare reality”, since Bukowski tends to reduce his narration to that point, adding some nihilism and vomit-like features to that narrative stage, next to an intermittent space of nothing. Reduced literary devices are employed in the novel, mainly due the nature of the narration, as explained previously. However, due the informality of the piece, many descriptions and conversations are attached to simple oxymorons and allegories: “She had her skirt pulled specially high, it was terrifying, beautiful, wondrous and dirty. Such legs, such thighs, we were very close to the magic” (p. 104).

When referring to literary elements in the piece, there is an overuse in imagery, present and employed throughout the whole novel: “I saw her huge white upper flanks, rivers of flesh. There was a large protruding wart on the inside of her left thigh. And there was a jungle of tangled hair between her legs, but it was not bright yellow like the hair on her head, it was brown and shot with grey, old like some sick bush dying, lifeless and sad” (p. 191). Additionally, as a constant in the novel, Chinanski himself transcends or better yet, “relates metaphysically" to the dramatic, tragic and comic irony in the novel, acquiring himself the condition of being extremely ironical and cynical at the same time:

“...lifeless and sad.

I stood up.

I’ve got to go, Mrs. Hatcher.

...to think, somebody had suicided for that.

The night suddenly looked good. I walked along toward my parents’ house” (p.191).

The situation overall can establish Chinaski as a character: a continuous juxtaposition of irony and cynicism, the situation with his friends mother reflects his sensibility (dramatic irony) hidden by a shell of sarcasm.

Long story short, I accept feeling certain connection with Chinaski for being (and living) the classic archetype of the teenage years, most of it being trashy and disdainful off course, but above of everything standing as torn and real as possible.

These are the 100 most beautiful words in the English language, apparently.

Ailurophile A cat-lover.
Assemblage A gathering.
Becoming Attractive.
Beleaguer To exhaust with attacks.
Brood To think alone.
Bucolic In a lovely rural setting.
Bungalow A small, cozy cottage.
Chatoyant Like a cat’s eye.
Comely Attractive.
Conflate To blend together.
Cynosure A focal point of admiration.
Dalliance A brief love affair.
Demesne Dominion, territory.
Demure Shy and reserved.
Denouement The resolution of a mystery.
Desuetude Disuse.
Desultory Slow, sluggish.
Diaphanous Filmy.
Dissemble Deceive.
Dulcet Sweet, sugary.
Ebullience Bubbling enthusiasm.
Effervescent Bubbly.
Efflorescence Flowering, blooming.
Elision Dropping a sound or syllable in a word.
Elixir A good potion.
Eloquence Beauty and persuasion in speech.
Embrocation Rubbing on a lotion.
Emollient A softener.
Ephemeral Short-lived.
Epiphany A sudden revelation.
Erstwhile At one time, for a time.
Ethereal Gaseous, invisible but detectable.
Evanescent Vanishing quickly, lasting a very short time.
Evocative Suggestive.
Fetching Pretty.
Felicity Pleasantness.
Forbearance Withholding response to provocation.
Fugacious Fleeting.
Furtive Shifty, sneaky.
Gambol To skip or leap about joyfully.
Glamour Beauty.
Gossamer The finest piece of thread, a spider’s silk.
Halcyon Happy, sunny, care-free.
Harbinger Messenger with news of the future.
Imbrication Overlapping and forming a regular pattern.
Imbroglio An altercation or complicated situation.
Imbue To infuse, instill.
Incipient Beginning, in an early stage.
Ineffable Unutterable, inexpressible.
Ingénue A naïve young woman.
Inglenook A cozy nook by the hearth.
Insouciance Blithe nonchalance.
Inure To become jaded.
Labyrinthine Twisting and turning.
Lagniappe A special kind of gift.
Lagoon A small gulf or inlet.
Languor Listlessness, inactivity.
Lassitude Weariness, listlessness.
Leisure Free time.
Lilt To move musically or lively.
Lissome Slender and graceful.
Lithe Slender and flexible.
Love Deep affection.
Mellifluous Sweet sounding.
Moiety One of two equal parts.
Mondegreen A slip of the ear.
Murmurous Murmuring.
Nemesis An unconquerable archenemy.
Offing The sea between the horizon and the offshore.
Onomatopoeia A word that sounds like its meaning.
Opulent Lush, luxuriant.
Palimpsest A manuscript written over earlier ones.
Panacea A solution for all problems
Panoply A complete set.
Pastiche An art work combining materials from various sources.
Penumbra A half-shadow.
Petrichor The smell of earth after rain.
Plethora A large quantity.
Propinquity An inclination.
Pyrrhic Successful with heavy losses.
Quintessential Most essential.
Ratatouille A spicy French stew.
Ravel To knit or unknit.
Redolent Fragrant.
Riparian By the bank of a stream.
Ripple A very small wave.
Scintilla A spark or very small thing.
Sempiternal Eternal.
Seraglio Rich, luxurious oriental palace or harem.
Serendipity Finding something nice while looking for something else.
Summery Light, delicate or warm and sunny.
Sumptuous Lush, luxurious.
Surreptitious Secretive, sneaky.
Susquehanna A river in Pennsylvania.
Susurrous Whispering, hissing.
Talisman A good luck charm.
Tintinnabulation Tinkling.
Umbrella Protection from sun or rain.
Untoward Unseemly, inappropriate.
Vestigial In trace amounts.
Wafture Waving.
Wherewithal The means.
Woebegone Sorrowful, downcast.

 

Religious Stuff: Lina A Mercy, Pecola The Bluest Eye

Morrison´s interview showed me two, or three things.

1.       Morrison´s perspective on her work, and that Jazz is her favorite novel despite everyone prefers Beloved.

2.       The Religious component on her work. How the characters she creates are build towards the development of their religious self rather than the plain, linear, theme-related growth.

3.       She was ¨somewhat accelerated¨ when Obama was elected into office.

Not knowing Lina very much, I would like to redirect the attention towards Pecola again. (Since until know I find her character being one of the most fascinating and intriguing I´ve ever read.) Her religious component is dynamic and always present in the novel, without a doubt. And I say religious, because it’s not necessarily spiritual, in fact, it has been more psychological than spiritual at all. Her activity is religious, as a concept, a dogma, as a method. Her pleads and wishes always have a ¨a lack of faith¨ component, seeming more as a desperate naivety than a cathartic reflection, the difference relying in the nature of the individual. In my personal perception, Pecola does not seem to have genuine faith or hope, she just wants to cope with her reality.

Pecola and Disintegration

¨Please, God, ¨ she whispered into the palm of her hand. ¨Please make me disappear.¨ She squeezed her eyes shut.

MorrisonearlierinthenovelsaidthatuglinesswasnotapartofPecolasfamily.ButIthinkIshoulddiffer. Uglines,inthemostuniversalofthemeanings,iswithinPecolasheartandconscience.

Little parts of her body faded away. Now slowly, now with a rush. Her fingers went, one by one; then her arms disappeared all the way to the elbow. Her feet now. Yes, that was good.

Likeviolence,orugliness,sufferingdoesnotnecessarilyneedtobephysical.Alltheseconceptsmaybe expandedinvariousformsandstates.

 Morrison deconstructs Pecolas physical body in order to provide the reader with a metaphysical meaning to her suffering.

The legs all at once. It was hardest above the thighs. She had to be real still and pull. Her stomach would not go. But finally it, too, went away. Then her chest, her neck. The face was hard too.

MethaporandimageryarestillwidelyemployedbyMorrisoninhernarration,andcanbedirectlyadmired withpassagessuchasthisone.Oddly,herstomach,probablyinallusiotoeverythingthatalludesthe feelingscomingfromthatplace,ishardtopullaway,likeanallegorica anchor.  

Almost done, almost. Only her tight, tight eyes were left. They were always left. (p.45)

"It is living and ceasing to live that are imaginary solutions. Existence is elsewhere."
—Andre Breton

Mr. Knife Miss Fork

 

When reading the first two pages of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye I was confident I was up for some neo-surrealistic book with some sort of a mixture of themes of alienation and racism. 

I was wrong. 

A page later I realize I've been punk'd. And a completely new narration began. I am still happy with the book tough, it seems it has the right amount tragedy and innocence. A particular element brought my attention, and that was the images portrayed by Morrrison: striking, somewhat really crude. That is off course, empowered if specially "seen" by the eyes of a child; "So when I think of autumn, I think of somebody with hands who does not want me to die." (p.12) Fulfilling my entertainment, this literary device became more continuous, and accelerated its momentum through each page. Despite giving the false image of being an over dramatic novella, Morrison really took responsibility on placing noticeable components in the narration, and most important of all, at the right timing; "If happiness is anticipation with certainty, we were happy." The fact that the narrator is a child, inevitably alludes to ones own fuc&@'d up childhood, and its countless traumas. The "outdoors" metaphor almost kept me from sleeping on Tuesday:"...like the difference between the concept of death and being, in fact, dead. Dead doesn't change, and outdoors is here to stay." Last but not least, the images assumed by the narrator on the doll can only create an anticipative ambiance in the reader, waiting to finding out how the psychological profiling in the story will develop..."I was physically revolted by and secretly frightened of those round moronic eyes, the pancake face, and the orangeworms hair."

The Sea (Duh!)

 

The Sea (capitalized) is big. Just as the picture above. Beyond any romantic reflection from my part, I consider Conrad a vivid narrator on this theme, the "infinity of the sea" theme; "Between us there was, as I have already said somewhere, the bond of the sea. Besides holding our hearts together through long periods of separation, it had the effect of making us tolerant of each other's yarns-and even convictions." (pag.2) As vividly explained by the novel's narrator, the sea is an omnipotent entity which embodies infinite, diverse, and different identities. From a psychological point of view, the sea is a strong (if not major) focal point for a sailor, considering it encompasses his whole life. As said by Conrad; "...for there is nothing mysterious to a seaman unless the sea itself, which is the mistress of his existence and as inscrutable as Destiny." (pag. 5) In other words, the seaman's life revolves around the sea, the sea being the alpha, the omega. This extended metaphor produces restlessness tough, since in its most simplistic sense it is equally complicated as life itself or as the method for going to the bathroom. The "Sea" is condemned to probability, or to infinity. 

Throughout the novel the "infinity of the sea" theme develops, and Charlie Marlow translates the sea into another body of water, the river: "And the river was there-fascinating-deadly-like a snake."(pag.15) I was personally struck by the overall tone of darkness in the narration, but that is something that will explained further in future entries. But for what it serves us in the present moment, the juxtaposition of the snake, death, and the river holds and underlined, yet undiscovered meaning. It is somewhat clear that this river represents Marlows youth years, but also, by he reiterating the darkness of the this river, and even further expanding on the snake-like characteristics of this river, it is also very clear that he is up to something. It is quite romantic, in a sense, since it portrays the declivity of his younger years, in a somewhat passionate manner. The ephemeral reflections get to me, since they are simple enough to embrace a life long lesson: "Watching a coast as it slips by the ship is like thinking about an enigma. There it is before you-smiling, frowning, inviting, grand, mean, stupid, or savage, and always mute with an air of whispering." (pag.20)

It's a Cold, Cold World

[YEPIKHODOV crosses the back of the stage playing his guitar.]

MRS. RANEVSKY. [Pensively.] There goes Yepikhodov. 

ANYA. [Pensively.] There goes Yepikhodov. G

AYEV. The sun has set, my friends.

TROFIMOV. Yes. 

GAYEV. [In a quiet voice, as if giving a recitation.] Nature, glorious Nature, glowing with everlasting radiance, so beautiful, so cold — you, whom men call mother, in whom the living and the dead are joined together, you who give life and take it away — 

VARYA. [Imploring him.] Uncle dear! 

ANYA. Uncle, you’re off again. 

TROFIMOV. You’d far better pot the red in the middle. 

GAYEV. I am silent. Silent.

When facing this really lame ending, I desperately went back to previous Acts searching for answers. I expected a really cool deux ex machina, a revelation, the second coming of our savior Jesus Christ, something, nothing. As skimming the pages with a certain feeling of defeat, I find this (apparently) normal excerpt, where Yepikhodov gruesomely describes the sundown. Suddenly I watched with my own eyes how the catharsis miraculously emerged from the II act, way before the ending, in an obscure and secretly fashion. The truth is the characters all were directly or indirectly accepting the idea of eventually loosing the orchard way before the orchard was actually lost. Gayeb, the character wich most conflicted with this conception, actually comes at ease when saying "you who give life and take it away..." Yepikhodov gives out the anagnorisis in the form of a metaphor... Very realistic.

The Absurd

The reader cannot be completely certain of the Cherry Orchard being funny, but it can state that its definitely absurd. And, well, absurd is funny to a certain extent. Pishchick is an interesting character to analyze in this III act, considering his childish and easy-going persona is comical, despite seeming somewhat stingy. Charlotta reveals his naive being, turning him into a child, making him look foolish.

These sociological relationships continue throughout the whole act; Lyubov and Trofimov, Varya and Lopakhin. All seem illogical, absurd. However, the act itself is not, since the sudden frenzy of the situation builds up a well structured plot, growing in a crescendo when Lopakhin confesses he bought the orchard. Tension predominates and again the juxtaposition of the ball room and Lyubovs state do not homogenize, turning it again, into absurd. On a personal basis, I perceived the storyline as deeply dramatic, since this discordance is cruel in many aspects, is realistically satiric.  Nicholas Martin comes up with a strong theory regarding the play, stating that the time period in which the play gestates is gruesome, the beginning of the 20th century is characterized by deep, sardonic plays such as Awake and Sing! Which Chekhov despised. The characters in the Cherry orchard are to be aware of the "inherit comedy of life itself, which marks the aphoristic development of the play. 

Dunyasha

*The woman above is not Dunyasha

"I read all sort of remarkable books, but I am in no way able to make out my own inclinations, what it is I really want, whether strictly speaking, to live or to shoot myself; nevertheless, I always carry a revolver on me. Here it is."

Characterization is key in Act II of The Cherry Orchard. Charlotte, Yepikhodov, Dunyasha, Anya, Trofimov etc. I find it hard to see these characters in real life tough, whatever the reason, it goes beyond my comprehension. Maybe is because I still find paradoxical to employ play, comedy and realism in the same context, since in literal terminology, they contradict, or really don't match up with one another.

Charlotte for example, seems to be as an exaggerated character, her personality is vague, and this lack of structure is hard to assimilate. Who doesn't know his own age? I mean that just ridiculous. On the other hand, Lyubov Andreyevna seems like a realistic woman, her characteristics are clear and somewhat plain: disfunctional, rich madwoman, acting according to her role. Dunyasha caught my attention due her naive being, she would be someone I would like, and that seems innocent, real enough. Despite being exaggeratedly overwhelmed with Yashas classiness, both transmit reality in an universal theme. Throughout the evolution of the act, characters seem more real. I don't want to take into account the symbol of the orchard, which acquired significant magnitude thanks to Trofimovs rethoric. I would like to give the benefit of the doubt to the play, considering it is bonded to "reaity".

Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus

Yesterday's rose endures in its name, we hold empty names

Two characteristics from Act I specifically called my attention. The cherry orchard (off course), and the past as a dominating aspect of the ambiance. The setting acquires certain degree of relevance from the beginning. Due to the condition of the piece of being a play, the set precedes all the action in the plot line. This means, the fact that the events take place in spring and that the cherry orchard is just in bloom immediately add up extra meaning to the mere story. However, and considering this is a text within the realistic movement, I disregarded any type of intentional symbolism. It is hard tough, since the symbolism related with the "cherry orchard" is strongly sexual and in some way it did correlate to certain characters in the story, mainly to Dunyasha. As I moved on, I decided to accept the cherry orchard as an undeniable element of relevance within the story. But with a different essence. Since this was part of Ranevskayas past, it may seem as if the orchard were part of this past and simultaneously part of the present of the characters lives.

This highlighted the juxtaposition of the setting and the characters in the plot. From Simon Yephikodov to Peter Trofimov, all their participation in the play covered in certain degree some portion of the past, let it be memories from Grisha or a short incident.

Cherry Orchard

B.E.T

Minstrel Shows present an important parallelism to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn due to the nature of each piece. Leaving aside the obvious "race transgression " characteristic, the fact that Huck and Jim have arguments such as that about Salomon, make the novel a vivid representation of blacks lifestyle in the 19th century. Additionally, the shows/scams made by the Dauphin and the Duke throughout a relevant portion of the sequence of events ironically present a prototype of a minstrel show such as that of William H. West. Present-day Minstrel Show is without a doubt BET, (Black Entertainment Television.) It presents an stereotypical view of black people, probably directed all non-black people. The video below presents Chris's opinion about "Black Minstrel Television." One could make a strong argument by saying that one of societies fetishes throughout history has been the conception of black people. Minstrel shows are still present and applauded today, somewhat surpassing moral values and codes...  I am pretty sure the are psychological patterns that back this up, I mean, we are some fuc@!kd up specie. 

Into The Sun

Reading Shelley Fisher Fishkin's theory I couldn't help recall someone, but I didn't really knew who that someone was... When reading a segment about the mutation in significance of the novel if the narrator were to be a black kid, I remembered. Like a daguerreotype, good ol' Rafael Leonidas Trujillo was probably the first political leader (that I know of), who played with being interracial, and the first one which this factor directly influenced the outcome of a whole nation.

He was not a nice guy, he is allegedly responsible for the genocide of more than 30,000 Haitians, which is not a nice thing at all. The thing is, he really had it with black people, he despised them. Even despite the fact he was dark colored, and he used make up in an attempt to cover it up. However, since he was kind of nice, he invited American black baseball players to play in the Dominican league, being considerate of the fact they were heavily alienated in their country, and by inviting them, he could satisfy his like for baseball. The guy had serious issues, that's for sure, but at least he was not satirical at all, (except for the make up), during his dictatorship he declared an open crusade to black people, especially black Haitians. He probably is not as cool as androgynous models but still, he had his trademark.

Fisher's theory, is in fact, somewhat incoherent, taking into account Huck as a character is, (up to a certain level), interracial. The purpose of Huck being a white boy beyond any satirical purposes set by the author is that the novel had to evolve as a story of racism in 19th century America. And this was portrayed by the contrasting relationship of Huck and Jim. By Huck being black, half of the moral dilemmas presented by the author in the novel would have been empty or non-existent.

Trujillos pathology emerged from him being black.

Get the point?

"Slightly Crackpot"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/30/arizona-ethnic-studies-cl_n_558731.html

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/30/arizona-legislature-passes-banning-ethnic-studies-programs/

Basically, Arizona's new education bill passed last Thursday states to "make it illegal for a school district to teach any courses that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government or promote resentment of a particular race or class of people ". Until this point, everything its fine, in theory, this bill stands as an avant-garde law protecting and embracing individuality and respect for the fellow man. In addition, the new Huckleberry Finn editions censoring the "n-word" would definitely have a massive demand in the south western state cloisters considering the newly acquired sense of fraternity among its citizens and students.

Considering such moral exemplification, the writer would like to trace past bills passed by this state in an attempt to epitomize the morals of such an enviable state.

Oh.

Arizona Proposition 107 - "Was a proposed same-sex marriage ban." Did not pass by a margin of 3% points, bummer.

Arizona Proposition 102 - "Amendment to the constitution defining marriage as being between a man and a woman only." Oh, ok.

Arizona Proposition 103 - "Proposed amendment to the constitution to declare English the official language of the state" Intelligent indeed. 

Arizona Proposition 301 - "Referendum on a proposal to make ineligible for mandatory probation persons convicted of offenses involving the use of methamphetamines." This is definitely wise too.

Oh, and I almost forgot:

The Arizona law

The Arizona Senate Bill 1070 or the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act was passed April 13 2010, for purposes of briefness, I am just going to quote two out of the many aspects the law possess.

-"Requirement that cops check a person's immigration status during traffic stops, detentions and arrests."

-"legal immigrants carry their citizenship papers at all times or face penalties and the provision making it illegal for an undocumented immigrant to have a job."

Helen Kennedy says "the law codifies racial profiling and legalizes the harassment of all Latinos, legal or not." Thing which is not very fraternal now, is it? Well, you are wrong if you think this whole blog is against the position of the noble state of Arizona when facing its domestic issues. The truth is, Arizona is indeed exemplary, (I am not taking political sides here, I am just proving a point). 20 other states are producing similar immigration laws, so I often find myself confused when reading the news since at the end, it comes to a deep and sincere hypocritical position from all citizens, and well, readers. The law itself does not defeat the purpose, which is to have strict surveillance on illegal immigrants, off course, some methods are "slightly crackpot" for the neoliberal philosophy everyone these days have, or pretend they have. The same happens with good ol' Huck. The dialect in the novel did not defeat the purpose considering it aided the piece to eventually become a literary standard portraying late 19th century America. I mean, come on, it was a mean to an end, that if accepting if it is unmoral in the first place. In order to not get involved with sensible debates, I am giving my final argument, (this all off course, isolated completely from the Arizona example, which was only to prove a point.) Theoretically, education is meant to be a practice in order to expand knowledge, broaden truths. The dialect and more specifically the "nigger" word conveys and makes up a relevant portion of the motifs of the novel, meaning that banning it would involve revoking a part of its essence and hence, producing a partial truth. Consequently, the modern connotations of this specific aspect would or wouldn't have an impact on the young reader depending from the way it is being taught. 

But I don't want to expand in that. 

Promoting resentment of a particular race or class of people rely in the scholar, not the poor novel for Christs sake.

Well, it is Arizona after all.

 

Huck Trail