For my Introduction to British Literature class, I have been assigned a paper about one of the authors that we have discussed in class thus far. Here’s a quick list of the works that we have read and talked about in class:
- Beowulf
- Lanval - Marie de France
- Miller’s Tale - Geoffrey Chaucer
- The Passionate Sheppard - Christopher Marlowe
- The Nymph’s Reply – Sir Walter Raleigh
- Sonnet 18, 29, 130 – William Shakespeare
- Paradise Lost – John Milton (Books III & IV)
- The Sun Rising, A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, and The Flea by John Donne.
- To His Coy Mistress – Andrew Marvell
- Gulliver’s Travels – Jonathan Swift
- Assorted Poems from William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience
- Tintern Abbey and Michael by William Wordsworth (Just finished today)
So, for my paper, I have been given three options: 1) Discuss Unferth’s gift of Hrunting to Beowulf and take a stance on whether this was Unferth betraying Beowulf with a kiss or actually seeking reconciliation and back it up, 2) Discuss the themes of justice in the medieval social order illustrated in Chaucer’s The Miller’s Tale and how these themes relate to one of the three main characters-John, Abasalom, or Allison-and how each character’s transgressions against society are punished in the end, or 3) To read and analyse John Donne’s Holy Sonnet XIV, explaining the argument and message. Obviously, by the title of this post, I chose the third option.
So, as part of simply immersing myself in the text, I thought I would write it down in my blog. In fact, I was thinking that poetry might compose a second weekly update that I do for my blog, to go along with my Musician Monday’s updates. However, for now, I’ll just post Holy Sonnet XIV. So, without further ado, I give you, “Batter My Heart, Three Person’d God:”
Batter my heart, three personed God; for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurped town, to another due,
Labor to admit you, but O, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captivated, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betrothed unto your enemy.
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again;
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
So, for the introduction to my paper, I will be looking up some historical background to begin the paper. This will be my major project for the weekend. The paper is due on Wednesday, so I’m not in a terrible hurry to finish it this weekend, but I want to so I can read it and reread it and have friends read it, proof it, think about it, and just absolutely do the best I can to make it a great paper.
Anyway, that’s the main thing going on for me right now. Other than that, this will be a rather relaxed weekend. I have a large amount of reading to do in Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley for History next week; Religious Studies is fantastic; I’m pretty well caught up in music theory (even a little ahead); and I will need to be practicing my major scales for French Horn practice pretty extensively this weekend.
So anyway, that’s how things are going for schoolwork. For Kenushi Ryu, I’m continuing to refine the map for Kenusha that I have already posted (if I have a newer version, I’ll just leave a UPDATE note on the post and upload the newer versions). In addition, I’ve started working on a map for the Plains of Halsom region, as well as doing other various work. I’ll keep the blog updated as I get more done.
In addition, I have borrowed from a minister The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel finally. I have read The Case for Christ and The Case for Faith and found them both to be very thought-provoking books, and a very intellectual friend of mine owns The Case for a Creator and really enjoyed it, so that will likely occupy some of my free time for a time as well.
Have a great day and a great weekend!
SfC
