Whitman and Dario

            The similarities between Walt Whitman and Ruben Dario can be noticed when observing their reactions to things in nature. They used nature as a contrast to the human suffering to express that the cause of the suffering of mankind laid within their own mind.    

            Whitman insisted on “a vehemently democratic kind of verse” (Simon 646) and it is reflected in his poem as he wrote: “I am of old and young, of foolish as much as the wise, / … Stuffed with the stuff that is coarse and stuffed with the stuff that is fine, / One of the Nation of many nations, the smallest the same and the largest the same” (Section 16 lns. 1-5). As he observed animals in nature, he came to admire what he noticed in them: “I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contained” (Section 32 1). He then stated that he could look at the animals for a long time because “They do not sweat and whine about their condition, / They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, / They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, / … No one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth” (Section 32 3-8). Whitman criticized the self-righteousness and greed of mankind which caused their own suffering. Animals, on the other hand, are content with what they possess and their place on earth, thus they do not suffer as humans do.   

Dario had a similar reaction when facing nature: “The tree is happy because it is scarcely sentient; / the hard rock is happier still, it feels nothing” (lns. 1-2). However, to Darios, the tree and the hard rock are happy because “there is no pain as great as being alive, / no burden heavier than that of conscious life” (3-4). Dario stated that the suffering of mankind came from their awareness of the uncertainty of fate and death. Knowing that death was inevitable to all living things, Dario was strongly disturbed by the fact that one could not predict when it would happen: “To be, and to know nothing, and to lack a way, / and the dread of having been, and future terrors … / And the sure terror of being dead tomorrow, / and to suffer all through life and through the darkness, / and through what we do not know and hardly suspect …” (5-9). Unlike Whitman who thought that suffering could be stopped if people could simply be content, Dario believed that suffering came with the consciousness that humans possessed, thus it would remain until death arrive.

Works Cited

Dario, Ruben. “Fatality.” 1650 to the Present. Ed. Peter Simon. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. 695. Print. Vol. 2 of The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Martin Puchner, gen. ed. 2 vols.

Simon, Peter, ed. 1650 to the Present. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. Print. Vol. 2 of The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Martin Puchner, gen. ed. 2 vols.

Whitman, Walt. Section 16. 1650 to the Present. Ed. Peter Simon. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. 649-50. Print. Vol. 2 of The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Martin Puchner, gen. ed. 2 vols.

---. Section 32. 1650 to the Present. Ed. Peter Simon. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. 651-52. Print. Vol. 2 of The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Martin Puchner, gen. ed. 2 vols.

An Essay on Man

To Alexander Pope, understanding why evil and disorder exist is not important. Pope believes that how the universe works is beyond men’s ability to understand, and those who believe that all things are created for the sake of men and attempt to interpret what they cannot understand are merely driven by pride: “Pride still is aiming at the blest abodes, / Men would be Angels, Angels would be Gods. / Aspiring to be Gods, if Angels fell, / Aspiring to be Angels, Men rebel: / And who but wishes to invert the laws / Of ORDER, sins against the Eternal Cause” (Pope lns. 125-130). As Pope “moves among voices and viewpoints, he comes to the conclusion that although we cannot see it, the universe works according to a design that is good” (Simon 89): “All Nature is but Art, unknown to thee; / All Chance, Direction, which thou canst not see; / All Discord, Harmony not understood; / All partial Evil, universal Good” (Pope 289-92). Thus, Pope suggests that we cast all doubt and submit to the Providence, for men are just a part of the universal system which they are not able to fully understand.

Pope was very wise in composing his argument from different perspectives, for it supports his idea of that men are not superior to other beings which is, to Pope, essential to accepting (but not understanding) the existence of evil and disorder. His argument is persuasive but not believable in my opinion. In the beliefs of Buddhism and Daoism, evil is imposed on a person for what she/he has done wrong in the past or the previous life. Thus, evil can be stopped if one is willing to let go of grudges and hatred. Pope’s approach to the existence of evil is passive. He encourages people to accept the existence of evil because it is beyond men’s ability to understand. However, he does offer a way to minimize the possibility of evil in men by insisting that men should never allow their pride to take control.

Works Cited

Pope, Alexander. An Essay on Man. 1650 to the Present. Ed. Peter Simon. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. 90-97. Print. Vol. 2 of The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Martin Puchner, gen. ed. 2 vols.

Simon, Peter, ed. 1650 to the Present. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. Print. Vol. 2 of The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Martin Puchner, gen. ed. 2 vols.

De Marguerite

Marguerite de Navarre ridiculed men’s obsession with women’s appearance in the Heptameron. In his sonnets, Francis Petrarch continuously praised the beauty and appearance of his beloved Laura giving no attention to her inner virtues: “Thus we shall then together see a marvel—our lady sitting on the / grass and with her arms making a shade for herself” (Petrarch lns. 9-10). De Navarre, on the other hand, showed her contempt for men’s shallowness towards their relationship with women in the Heptameron.  

Bornet’s wife, upon finding out that her husband was plotting an affair with their maid, tricked her husband and taught him a lesson. Bornet’s wife showed her husband how his mind was clouded by the thoughts of lust when she said: “You must have been blinded by desire to pay such tribute to my body—after all you’ve had me long enough without showing much appreciation for my figure. So it wasn’t because that young girl is so pretty and so shapely that you were enjoying yourself so much” (de Navarre 1645). She proved to her husband that the appearance of women would not affect the pleasure men obtain from sex by taking the place of the maid on their date without her husband knowing. Thus, men who used women’s appearance as their excuse for cheating on their wives were merely driven by lust, for Bornet failed to differentiate the body of his wife from that of the young maid. A greater punishment of embarrassment was delivered to the unfaithful husband at the end of the story as “[t]he husband was branded as a cuckold without his wife having done a single thing to disgrace herself” (de Navarre 1645).

Works Cited

De Navarre, Marguerite. Heptameron. Trans. P. A. Chilton. Beginnings to 1650. Ed. Peter Simon. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. 1640-1647. Print. Vol. 1 of The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Martin Puchner, gen. ed. 2 vols.

Petrarch, Francis. Sonnet 34. Trans. Robert M. Durling. Beginnings to 1650. Ed. Peter Simon. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. 1622. Print. Vol. 1 of The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Martin Puchner, gen. ed. 2 vols.

Sunjata

The bride-carrying ceremony described in Sunjata seems to hint at a sense of taming the shrewdness of the bride. Sogolon is portrayed as weak as she enters the village of her future husband: “They saw that her walk could not improve, / That it was beyond her power” (Sunjata lns. 764-65). As the co-wives start carrying her, her freedom of movement is deprived from her. The co-wives also insult her along the way as they sing: “‘The heron-head oooh. / Our heron-head has come this year, / Heron-head. / The woman’s heron-head has come this year with / her crest’”(Sunjata 780-84). As Sogolon is carried to her husband’s chamber, he is able to counter every one of her attacks, thus makes her surrender and submit to him.

In Sunjata’s bride-carrying ceremony, the bride seems to be the subject of ridicules and disempowerment. Sogolon is ridiculed for her appearance and her husband is ready and equipped to claim dominance over her on their wedding day. Brides’ experience in Taiwan’s wedding ceremony is quite different from that of Sogolon. In Taiwan, a bride is considered to be the most beautiful person on her wedding day and her husband must be able to overcome some obstacles before he can escort her home with him. The bride will wait for the groom in her room while the bridesmaids set up a few challenges for the groom to overcome, and he must solve the problems before he is allowed to get to his bride. The groom then asks for his bride’s permission to take her home with him. Unlike Sogolon’s passive role, the brides appear to have a certain level of control over the situation on their wedding day in Taiwan although it is merely ceremonial.

Works Cited

Sunjata: A West African Epic. Trans. David C. Conrad. Beginnings to 1650. Ed. Peter Simon. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. 1517-76. Print. Vol. 1 of The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Martin Puchner, gen. ed. 2 vols.