Post #3: Purgatory

Stanza Analysis of:

Purgatory by Unknown author (2016)

"How long before I realize that this whole time

My problems have all been in my head

and that I've been trapped in there with them.

This is my conscious purgatory."

Stanza Analysis:

1. This is a very short poem that has one stanza that consists of four lines of text. The speaker is reflecting upon himself that all of the problems he's been having are all just in his head and that he has gotten lost in them, hence the lines "My problems have all been in my head and that I've been trapped in there with them". What he's also saying is the fact that he knows it and lives through it, to no avail because he lives in a "conscious purgatory" meaning that he's in a constant state of limbo with his problems.

 

Sources: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Carracci-Purgatory.jpg/300px-Carracci-Purgatory.jpg
 If there are any poems that you would like for me to do a stanza analysis on, just send an email to me at chrisgomez516@gmail.com

 

Post #2: Nanban Port

Stanza Analysis of:

Nanban Port by Unknown author (2016)

"Onward!, onto the Eastern Sea

to the land of the Rising Sun

where the mountains touch the sky

and their honour knows no bounds. 

 Fragmented is their land, for feudal clans dispute over ancestral lands.

 To fight is not foreign to these people as we are,

the ones who came in on ships bearing the word of God."  

Stanza Analysis:

  1. In the first stanza, the speaker tells his crew to sail towards Japan through the way of the East China Sea. A common nickname for Japan is the "land of the rising sun" and the "Eastern Sea" refers to the East China Sea where European explorers sailed through when they first landed on the island in the 16th century. The lines "where the mountains touch the sky and their honour knows no bounds" describe the landscape of the archipelago which is dotted with many mountains and the traditions of the warriors of old that are famous throughout world history."

2. In the last stanza, the speaker describes the political turmoil of Japan as they are landing. In accordance to history, this describes Japan in the mid 16th century in which the country was in a period known as "Sengoku Jidai" which literally translates to the "Age of Civil War", the same time that European explorers, such as the Portuguese, Dutch, and English landed. The line of "the ones who came in on ships bearing the word of God" describes what the explorers intended to do after they had a lay of the land. The Europeans set up Christian missionaries around the land in an effort to convert the populace. The whole stanza along with the whole poem is an allusion to this point of history.

Sources: History of Japan during the Sengoku Period, http://www.samurai-archives.com/
Japan: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Regions_and_Prefectures_of_Japan_2.svg/500px-Regions_and_Prefectures_of_Japan_2.svg.png

 If there are any poems that you would like for me to do a stanza analysis on, just send an email to me at chrisgomez516@gmail.com

 

Post #1: Invictus

  Stanza Analysis of:

Invictus by William Ernest Henley (1888)

"Out of the night that covers me, 

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul."

Stanza Analysis:

 1. In the first stanza opening with "Out of the night that covers me," and contains four lines, the speaker pays homage to whatever deity is out there for giving him the strength to not falter in the face of adversity. The night that he talks about represents the dark times he is facing, stated in the lines "Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole", stating that it is vast, but he can persevere.

2. Within the second stanza, the speaker states that throughout the tough times he is facing, he has not shown outward pain and even though he has taken a beating he will not submit, clearly shown when he says "I have not winced nor cried aloud" and "My head is bloody, but unbowed."

3. Stanza three is a metaphor on how the speaker remains steadfast and is tricky to understand in a sense.. What he basically says is beyond all of the pain he has gone through his main enemy are they remaining years that will pass throughout his life. That time of the years that will eventually come to pass will still find him unwavering in the face of adversity.

4. This last stanza is the greatest of any poem and has been quoted my movies and literature alike since it was published by the author long ago. What the speaker basically says is that no matter how narrow your chances are, how tough life and your consequences are ("It matters not how strait the game, How charged with punishments the scroll"), you are the one who controls your destiny and the outcome that you want to achieve ("I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul").

Sources: Invictus, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/51642
              William Ernest Henley: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/William_Ernest_Henley_young.jpg/220px-William_Ernest_Henley_young.jpg

 If there are any poems that you would like for me to do a stanza analysis on, just send an email to me at chrisgomez516@gmail.com