Henry Timrod's "The Cotton Boll"

In reading Henry Timrod’s poem, “The Cotton Boll”, I felt as if this poem was a typical pro-South piece of literature that I learned about in high school history. The poem exhausted itself in talking about how glorious the cotton was, which was often the main perspective and argument given by the Southerners in their fight for slavery, because they often tried to avoid admitting that the war was really about the unjust enslavement of a people.
Timrod begins this poem in a quite relaxed yet smug mood. “While I recline at ease beneath this immemorial pine, small sphere!” (lines1-4). Timrod is in a state of content state of mind as he inspects this cotton boll. He seems carefree and worriless, despite the fact that the Civil War is going on in the country right now. This initial presentation of a self satisfied state of mind shows that this is not going to be one of those pieces of literature that is bashing blacks and the Northerners, but rather shining a positive light on the Southerners. “By dusky fingers brought this morning here and shown with boastful smiles (5-6).” As I read this line, I realized that this line could be interpreted a few different ways; those dusky fingers are most likely from the hands of a Negro slave, however that boastful smile could be either be his own boastful smile or oddly enough a boastful smile from the slave. Timrod could be insinuating that the slave is proud of this perfectly white cotton boll that he has picked or this boastful smile could come from Timrod himself in a gloating manner, because it feels good for him to know that he has a slave out there working hard for him and bringing him that beautiful white boll of perfection which feeds the South. As Timrod carries on in his description of this cotton boll, he is becoming quite vivid and colorful that the image of the cotton boll is seen by the reader. “Through which the soft white fibres peer…unite like love, the sea-divided lands…thread by thread, draw forth the folded strands…” (8-12). It seems as if Timrod has slipped into a state of bemusement. He is infatuated with this cotton boll and his description of the boll seems to be dictated by a trance-like state. Timrod, in his bemused state, goes as far as to call this cotton boll, “the loveliest fragment of the earth!”.
Timrod’s attitude as well as his words become even more typical of a Southerner attempting to stray from the real reason for their enslavement of blacks, as he begins his discussion about how the North does not recognize the beauty and importance of cotton and how justice will see the South prevail. “The source wherefrom doth spring that mighty commerce which, confined to the mean channels of no selfish mart, goes out to every shore of this broad earth...” The excuse for the profitable side of slavery is used here, however note that in this poem, Timrod does not use the word “slave” nor does he touch on that subject. This is because in justifying the system the Southerners attempted to take the focus away from the unlawful and unjust enslavement and more towards the benefits. They made it seem as if the Northerners and their allies did not understand the importance of the cotton to America as well as making it seem as if the North didn’t want the South to prosper. Timrod says “thy foes be hard and cruel as their weapons”. Timrod’s arrogance is causing him to name the Northerners as the bad guys and make it seem as if they do not understand what it is good for the country.
Timrod’s arrogance continues to flow even though towards the end he attempts to act as if he will be sad once the war is over (with a Southern victory), because of all of the blood shed. “O Lord! We cannot all forget that there is much even Victory must regret…and therefore not too long delay our just release!” Timrod is sympathetic for about one second when he admits that with every winner there is a loser, however he completely loses all sympathy (from me at least) when he has the audacity to call on the Lord to help speed up the victory of the Couth. This was another typical occurrence from Southerners during that time. They would often say that the Lord was on their side and that the Bible validates slavery and therefore it was alright, because the Bible even said that Blacks were inferior.

The Birthmark

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “The Birthmark”, Hawthorne exposes the superficiality of the people of the time as well as their attempts to surpass Mother Nature and God. More often than not people do not realize that in their futile attempts to achieve perfection they are sacrificing happiness. “Yet, had Aylmer reached a profounder wisdom, he need not thus have flung away the happiness, which would have woven his mortal life of the self same texture with the celestial.” (2286-7). Aylmer grows more and more bothered by the scar on his wife’s face as each day passes. As a respectful and loving wife, Georgiana, is fearful and wants to please her husband by all means necessary, so even as his obsession with her scar becomes more and more hurtful she still tolerates it, because she loves him despite the despotic thoughts conquering his mind. “Until now he had not been aware of the tyrannizing influence acquired by one idea over his mind, and of the lengths which he might find in his heart that to go, for the sake of giving himself peace.”(2278). This obsession with Georgiana’s scar has taken over his mind and having a profound impact on their relationship. His emotions are dictating their relationship. His dissatisfaction with her scar is causing her to doubt her own beauty, even though she always considered this scar to be “a charm”. Thus, when Aylmer comes to her with the notion of ridding her face of this scar, she is eager to comply. “. . . let the attempt be made at whatever risk. Danger is nothing to me; for life-while this hateful mark makes me the object of your horror and disgust-life is a burthen which I would fling down with joy. Either remove this dreadful Hand, or take my wretched life!” (2278). Aylmer’s tyrannical nature has gotten into Georgiana’s head and now she is willing to do things she never fathomed. He has taken control over her mind and emotions. Every time she sees him looking upon her face, she turns pale out of shame.
Aylmer’s attempts to be a force greater than a “retired” scientist and husband of Georgiana continues beyond being a tyrannical ruler; he even attempts to surpass the greatness of Mother Nature. “ . .. what will be my triumph, when I shall have corrected what Nature left imperfect, in her fairest work!” (2279). Aylmer believes he can play God, yet he does not realize that there is no such thing as perfection and that all of nature’s flaws have a purpose. Despite his many failed experiments he also failed to realize that he can not truly perfect the flaws; rather he can damage them even more (like in the case of his wife). “She permits us indeed, to mar, but seldom to mend, and like a jealous patentee, on to make.” (2279). All of Aylmer’s foolishness and attempts to be perfect and make his wife perfect display his shallowness and ignorance and only creates more dissatisfaction and discontentment.

Edgar Allan Poe Reading

When first reading, “The Man of the Crowd”, by Edgar Allan Poe, one gets the sense that the title applies to the unnamed narrator. The reader is somewhat led to believe that the man of the crowd is the unnamed narrator, because in the short story he is literally a man in the crowd who is people watching. “With a cigar in my mouth and a newspaper in my lap, I had been amusing myself for the greater part of the afternoon, now poring advertisements, now in observing the promiscuous company in the room and now in peering through the smoky panes into the street.” (2486). Poe does not take the time to set up any character or give us any background to this unnamed narrator, except the fact that he was previously sick, but now his health was returning. Whenever a character is not developed or set, one gets the impression of their importance or their mundane nature. “The man of crowd” sounds like a generic and mundane, whom has nothing unique about himself; he does not stand out in the crowd, rather he meshes into it so well that his presence is only faintly (if at all) detected. Thus, it would not be off the wall to assume that this character being called the man of the crowd would be this unnamed narrator himself.
However, just as one becomes comfortable in this thought and assumption, situational irony puts an entirely different twist on the story title. In observing the many people that pass by, the unnamed narrator becomes consumed with the passing of an elderly man. “. . . there came into view a countenance… which at once arrested and absorbed my whole attention, on account of the idiosyncracy of its expression… I felt singularly aroused, startled, fascinated.” (2489). The narrator’s attention is caught up in the expression and the story he is curious to understand that is the root behind it. After proceeding to stalk this character the remaining time of the story, the situational irony comes into play. “‘This old man is the type and the genius of deep crime. He refuses to be alone. He is a man of the crowd. It will be in vain to follow; for I shall learn no more of him, nor of his deeds. ’” (2492). The unnamed narrator calls this elderly man of the curious visage, the man of the crowd, after many readers were probably led to believe that he himself was this man of the crowd, because of the fact that he merely melts into the background and people watches. However, this narrator pointedly suggests that this man is the man of the crowd, because of the fact that he is on a mission, yet this mission involves little action or true progress. This man just walks in circles all over the city and out of it, just to be out among the people; he goes into stores and bars, yet never buys anything and is kicked out, however he does not mind, because he is out among people, which is all his soul desires.
In linking these two characters, I would say that they are quite similar, because both of them are men of the crowd, because both are obviously lonely and merely being out among people with no real goal (of shopping, eating, or fraternizing) is fulfilling their lives. They are both men of the crowd and are fascinated by people and are fulfilling the voids in their life by being out among people and merely existing. They are both searching for the same gratification in being out with people.

Wheatley Poetry

In reading Phillis Wheatley’s poems I temporarily forgot that she was a former slave. Her writing was very well written and used an interesting choice of allusions and vocabulary all contributed to a tone that would definitely be seen as far more advanced than any former slave or African during that time period. At times I thought her language to be a little over the top, but once I took the circumstances in consideration (she was an African and wanted to be taken seriously and respected, as well as she probably wanted to inspire and motivate Washington, the students at Cambridge, and William, Earl of Dartmouth), I understood the importance of her language. She signed her two letters as ‘Your Lordship’s most obedient and devoted Humble Servant.’ and ‘Your Excellency’s most obedient humble servant.’ Often when people are placed at certain disadvantage, they tend to speak with flowery and exciting language in order to cancel previous notions made about them as well as to impress their audience (a type of brown nosing). In addition to this adoring language used to revere her audience, her writing contained many descriptive words that illustrated her points vividly and with color. Plain words were apparently not good enough, because each word expressed an emotion or feeling, so strongly that the reader could feel the mood. In one instance when she was extremely happy, she sounded like, “Hail, happy day! When smiling like the morn… congratulates thy blissful sway: Elate with hope…each soul expands, each grateful bosom burns….” (lines 1-6). However her as the situations she is writing about changes, her tone changes as well as her word choice, as if they go from one extreme to the other. “…by seeming cruel fate was snatched from Africa’s fancied happy seat: what pangs excruciating must molest, what sorrows labour in my parents breast! Steeled was that soul, and by no misery moved…seized his babe beloved…tyrannic sway.” (lines 24-31).
I found the strikingly different stories of Wheatly’s abduction from Africa and slavery captivity to be quite strange. In one instance she uses the tale of her captivity to compare it to the colonists “slavery” from Britain and to elicit strong emotion from the Earl of Dartmouth, however when she tells the story to the students at Cambridge she calls it a rescue from obscurity. While addressing the Earl she is attempting to explain why she an African and former slave feels so fervently about American freedom (because during these times African American freedom was not even a major topic) she brings up the issue of tyranny, which the American people were feeling from Britain during this time. “Steeled was that soul, and by no misery moved, that from a father seized his babe beloved: Such, such my case. And can I then but pray others may never feel tyrannic sway?” (lines 28-31). She is using the word “tyrannic” to really capture the Earl’s eye, because that word was in heavy rotation from the colonists during that time, so in using this word and comparing her enslavement to the situation of the colonists, she was appealing to him and attempting to induce strong emotion that would motivate him to work harder to secure American independence. In sharp contrast, when Wheatley is referring to her enslavement she is making it seem as if she was saved by her captors. “‘T was not long since, I left my native shore, the land of errors and Egyptian gloom…” (Poem 2, lines 3-4). Her audience has changed thus she must use her enslavement to fit her current situation and her audience. She is speaking to Cambridge students about religion, so she is taking her negative situation and proclaiming that God saved her from it. “Father if mercy! ‘t was thy gracious hand brought me in safety from those dark abodes.” (Poem 2, lines 5-6). She is preaching to the students about God’s great grace and mercy and convincing them trust in Him for all situations. She conveyed her enslavement as a positive thing, because it freed from the “dark abodes” in Africa and now here she is a free woman in America, all thanks to the Lord. Wheatley used different spins and outlooks on her captivity to inspire people in different situations as she saw fit.