Essay Questions

What does fall and sleep symbolize in the poem "Autumn Song’’?

In the poem mentioned above, the narrator describes a late fall scenery, with leaves already on the ground in a late state of decay. As the poem progresses, more details are mentioned and the description offered becomes even more vivid. However, it also becomes quickly clear that the poem is more than just a simple description of fall and is in fact a highly symbolic poem. The autumn described in the poem is used as a symbol to suggest the late stages in a person’s life. This becomes clear through the description of decay which suggests the way in which a person’s body changes as time goes on. Sleep is also a symbol used here, representing death. However, death is not described in negative terms as one would expect but rather as something which can’t be avoided and as a welcomed relief by those who are old and are suffering because of their age.

Who were Andromeda, Perseus and Medusa mentioned in the poem "Aspecta Medusa for a Drawing’’?

The three names appear in the Greek mythology and are considered as being some of the more important characters in the mythology. Perseus is the name given to an ancient hero whose father was Zeus. Perseus is given the task to kill Medusa, one of the gorgons in the Greek mythology, by his stepfather who hoped Medusa would instead be the one to kill Perseus. Helped by the Gods, Perseus manages to kill Medusa by decapitating her and Perseus takes Medusa’s head, which had the power to turn every person who looked at it into stone, with him. On the way home, Perseus sees Andromeda, the beautiful daughter of a king, strapped to a rock near the ocean and let to die. Perseus frees Andromeda and marries her. During the marriage ceremony, Perseus kills Andromeda’s former fiancé using Medusa’s head and then returns to his stepfather and mother.

In which movement can the poems in the collection be put in?

The poems in the collection can be generally considered as being romantic poems. Most of the poems take place during the night, a characteristic of the romanticism movement and have as aim to cultivate sensibility, imagination and fantasy while criticizing cold rationalism. Another characteristic is the often mentioning of sleep and the act of dreaming, a way through which the characters escape from the cruel everyday world and realities. Another characteristic is the presence of the romantic hero, a character who is presented as a God, and the often presence of mythological creatures and Gods and Goddesses.