Wit, the Movie ~ Creative Engagement -Donne

(Sorry for the late post!)

            Wit is a movie that was recently released by HBO from the early 2000s. We follow the main character, Vivian Bearing, as she goes through eight weeks of intensive treatment for stage-four ovarian cancer. As we know from the clip we watched from class, Vivian is a literature professor in seventeenth century poetry, specializing in the Holy Sonnets of John Donne. She spends the entire time in the hospital reciting many different poems by Donne, as she has no books with her because after her periods of treatment, she is sent back home.

            Not only is this movie about John Donne and the witty, albeit frightening, professor, but human compassion. Constantly there are interesting flashbacks throughout the movie, as we saw in the first clip, of memories she has in her past of literature and studying John Donne. One clip she goes back and watches herself yell at a football player who’d fallen asleep in the front row. She had given no mercy to her students; she told the student to either excuse himself or come prepared for class. Reflecting upon the scene she says “I didn’t say, ‘You are so young. You are nineteen years old; you wouldn’t know a sonnet from a steak sandwich.’”

            The movie is full of interesting and biting lines from both her and another character, Jason, a Fellowship doctor who was one of Vivian’s former students. He rather poetically described how cancer cells survived and spread. At one point, my second favorite line after the line above, he says “…Donne. He makes Shakespeare look like a Hallmark card.” I would have never thought to put it like that.

            I love poetry, and I do not have a disdain for sonnets as I have seen other students have, but I will admit I had never heard of nor read John Donne before I took this class. Honestly, the repetition of the poems in the movie made me mull over the sonnets quite a lot more than I thought I would have originally. It gave them new meaning when they were repeated over and over out loud; and the point that the punctuation made all of the difference made me think more on how much certain texts may have changed over time and lost their meaning.

            As for the second clip we watched for class, which our professor described as “poetically disturbing”, there is much more that needs to be seen and said about it. If you watch the movie, the most intense scene happens right before that ending part in which Vivian recites her sonnet. It was quite fitting how she recited it after what happened. Now, I don’t want to give more away than I already have, but I do want to say that if you have any interest in literature and witty movies, this is a good one. Yes, it’s tragic, but it holds a lot of deeper meaning; I was struck when it ended, breathing “wow”. I don’t do that often. I felt inspired. I felt as if I needed to read more Donne. I felt as if I didn’t really know the meaning of life and death. I felt very, very small. It was an amazing feeling; it felt as if it was an epiphany moment. It’s a powerful movie. And if you only skimmed my rumination-length creative engagement (which is posted later than I intended) then all I have to say is: watch Wit. It’s worthwhile to do so.   

How do I read this?!: Change in Punctuation of Original Texts vs. Norton

            The punctuation in the 1633 original copies of the John Donne varies greatly from the punctuation that is seen in the Norton Anthology used for the British Literature class used today. Not only does this detract from the poem’s flow but it also takes away a lot of its original pronunciation. The change in the punctuation, and some capitalization, may have also affected how one may interpret the poem; it could have lost its meaning even though the poem itself has transcended time.

            The punctuation that differs throughout the two versions of the collection of poems causes the reader to pronounce the words differently, take different breaths during the reading, and some of the meaning is lost when something is a comma rather than a semicolon or an exclamation point. For example, in the poem “The Flea”, the original uses the word “suck’d” indicating that we pronounce it as one word, whereas it is spelled out as “sucked” in the Norton Anthology. The Norton Anthology also does this with “pamper’d”, making it “pampered” and “w’are” changing it to “we are” in its version. Although the “e” in the word is not quite pronounced in modern English, there is a difference between “suck’d” and “sucked” when read aloud by the reader.

            It seems that the Norton Anthology takes out many commas it seems to have deemed unnecessary as well. The original “And in this flea, our two bloods mingled bee;” changed to “And in this flea our two bloods mingled be” and “Purpled thy naile, in blood of innocence?” becomes “Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence?” This happens several times throughout this one poem, causing the reader to read it differently than Donne may have originally intended the poem to be read. This is a recurring practice throughout the Norton Anthology on several of the poems authored by Donne; “And whisper to their soules, to goe,” becomes “And whisper to their souls to go” in “A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning”. It seems as though the Norton Anthology wants the reader to say the lines all in one breath and then take a rest as the end of the line, rather than pausing in the line itself. The line seems to be illustrating that the “virtuous men” from the first line are talking to their souls in the original version. The Norton Anthology takes that meaning away by not including the commas in their original positions and makes it seems passive.

            Even the title of this poem changes in the Norton Anthology. “A Valediction forbidden mourning” can be read quite differently than the title “A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning”; it cuts off the flow of the title, making it a separate piece rather than part of a whole. The lack of commas in the sonnet “Death, be not proud” makes it more of a rushed poem in the Norton Anthology rather than the contemplative poem it seems to be in the original collection of poems. The lack of capitalization of the word “Fate” is also troublesome, as the Fates are often invoked in poetry, just as Muses or gods are; the change between “Fate” and “fate” means something different entirely and it loses the meaning in the poem without its capitalization.

            There is a lot to be said about the original punctuation in poetry. It should not be changed; it changes the meaning of the poem. Whether the reader is a modern English speaker should not sway publishers to change the meaning of the poem by taking it out of its original context. If it is required that a modern version of the text be read, it should also be required that a text from the original publishing date of the poem be read as well. This would not only enrich the reading of the modern text, but perhaps give a new understanding and deeper meaning of the text by reading it as it was originally intended.    

(Week #5/Rumination #3)

P.S. Wit is on Amazon.com for $6.99. I was so fascinated with the clips we watched, I bought it XD

Week #4 / Rumination #2 / Puns in Shakespeare's Sonnets and Writings

            Shakespeare has been a must read in schools for what seems like forever. The problem with his writings (discussed among some) is first off, whether or not he actually wrote all of what is claimed to be his and second, whether or not the students reading Shakespeare truly understand his language or meaning within what he wrote. Shakespeare’s sonnets are so commonly used for high school and college curriculum alike but do not always properly explain or explore his underlying meanings.

            Shakespeare has a tendency to use puns, words with double meaning or clever word play, within his works often and usually the puns are of a sexual nature. For example, the word “lies” in Sonnet 138 implies lies of an dishonest nature, but also of “lies (has sex) with other men” and later he uses “lie” again about how they “lie” to each other but it could also mean that they are sleeping with one another. In Sonnet 55, Shakespeare personifies Time as “sluttish”, which in Elizabethan times would mean a grubby, unkempt woman (http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/55detail.html).

            Many of Shakespeare’s Sonnets contain puns, which are sexual more often than not, but some of his poems use words such as “fare” which could mean either the look of the said person the poem is being written about or a fare such as a price that one needs to pay back to another. However, Shakespeare was not only known for his puns within his Sonnets but he also gave several puns within his plays:

The opening lines of Richard III states “Now is the winter or our discontent / Made glorious summer by this sun of York…” and Richard III was the son of the Duke of York.

Act I Scene IV of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo asks for a torch and states that he’ll carry it although it’s heavy – which is in reference to his heavy heart. In the same scene, Romeo refers to his soul being of lead.

Act I Scene II of Hamlet, Claudius addresses Hamlet as his cousin and his son – Hamlet is upset that he’s married his mother and says “A little more than kid, a little less than kind” implying that they were already related but now they were closer to before and just under the meanings of being “kindred”.

In Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice is speaking of the count Claudio, saying he is as “civil as an orange, and something of that jealous complexion”; a note indicates that there is a bitter orange one can obtain from Spain – so not only is his complexion of the same as his behavior but Shakespeare seemed to have meant that his demeanor was bitter.

(http://www.vocabulary.com/articles/lessons/642/Shakesperean_Puns.pdf)

            Puns are often used in poetry and stories to keep the reader engaged, but also to keep them guessing. Sometimes words can have double meanings; Shakespeare tends to make the puns within his Sonnets of a somewhat sexual nature, but this gives the reader another way to look at and analyze the poem, trying to understand the true meaning and get a glimpse into the life of the poet himself.

Creative Engagement; Write A Response Sonnet: Response to Pamphilia to Amphilanthus (Sonnet 16)

Here is my response sonnet to Sonnet 16 of Pamphilia to Amphilanthus. I tried to keep close to the exact rhyme scheme she had: a-b-a-b-b-a-b-a-c-c-d-e-e-b (or at least that is what I believe the rhyme scheme is when I read it; I may have read a word with the wrong enunciation). Also, on a side note, when I went online to get a better understanding of the poem, it was listed as Sonnet 14 elsewhere but 16 in my book.

Sonnet 16:

Am I thus conquered? Have I lost the powers

That to withstand, which joys to ruin me?

Must I be still while it my strength devours

And captive leads me prisoner, bound, unfree?

Love first shall leave men's fancies to them free, 

Desire shall quench Love's flames, spring hate sweet showers

Love shall lose all his darts, have sight and see

His shame and wishings hinder happy hours

Why should we not Love's purblind charms resist?

Must we be servile, doing what he list?

No, seek some host to harbor thee: I fly

Thy babish tricks, and freedom do profess.

But O my hurt makes my lost heart confess

I love, and must: So farewell liberty 

 

Response:

Thou art conquered - losing the powers

to withstand, be still and give in.

It devours you not but empowers

And holds you not; the prison is within.

Let yourself love and surrender before I wear thin,

Quench your Desire with Love, you need not spring showers.

Love shall aim golden arrows and win;

No shame to be found within our happy hours.

Resist not the charms of Love's infatuation,

Let Love sway you to your elation,

Flee not away but welcome Love;

Love tricks you not and freedom you keep -

Find your heart hurt no more nor weep

Love me, be found, let Love in

Although I know what I meant when I wrote the response poem, I'd like to leave the interpretation open to the readers to see if/what they comment on it. Hope you enjoyed it ^_^

Creative Engagement: Write A Response Sonnet

Hey all, I wanted to get this up sooner; sorry for the late notice! When I was reading/commenting on Jamie Schissel's blog, she said it would be interesting to see what the beloved's response would be - so I thought, why don't we write a response sonnet? So, pick any sonnet that we've read and write a response sonnet from the beloved to the lover to see it from the other person's point of view. I thought this would be really neat and I'll be posting mine up later today but I wanted to get the idea out there!