Metaphysical Relationships

This analysis was from a British Literature class.

John Donne's poem “A Valediction: Of Weeping,” uses extensive metaphors and hyperbole to dissuade lovers from weeping for one another while separated. The conceits expressed in the poem are metaphysical, implying that the two lovers are connected in a way that allows their relationship to continue while physically apart from each other. Once the speaker establishes metaphysical connections between himself and his lover, he details how this relationship would suffer if either of them were to grieve over their physical separation.
Since the poem is a valediction, it is meant to be delivered before the speaker must leave his beloved. This particular valediction is meant to ease the pain of separation between two lovers. In the first stanza the speaker asks to weep in front of his lover, rather than doing so after he has left. Here Donne introduces the elaborate metaphor that compares his tears to money because of the reflection of her face in them. Line four expands on this metaphor, saying that since his tears are coins bearing her face, they have worth in her presence. The speaker also compares the tears to fruit, both round objects that fall to the ground. Since they are both emblems of his lover, each time one falls, so does a part of his love until there is none left. Furthermore, when the lovers are apart from each other, the fallen tears and fruits become worthless since they do not reflect the lover for whom they are shed.
In the second stanza, Donne explains how a cartographer can make a simple ball into a globe, which he uses to represent the whole Earth, making “that, which was nothing, all.” (line 13) Similarly, he states that their combined tears, which would normally be nothing, would be enough to flood this world, ruining any chance he would have of returning to her. This metaphor not only implies emotional consequences of weeping, like the loss of love through tears in the first stanza, but also suggests highly exaggerated physical consequences. The tears shed in this metaphor destroy not only the physical world, but also the speaker's heaven, since his heaven is to live with his love. In saying this, the speaker is boldly declaring that he would rather live with his love than die and ascend to heaven. This tells a great deal about the speaker's determination to return to his love, and her value in his eyes.
The metaphysical conceit of the third stanza uses the speaker's lover herself as the tenor, rather than their tears. She is compared to the moon, which once again has the power to drown him, this time by raising the already tear-swelled tides. She is described as “More than moon,” (line 18) both because she has more value to the speaker than the moon, and because through the conceit she can bring about a second Noah's flood, while the Moon only influences the tides. With the storm of Noah's flood in mind, the speaker makes the comparison of heavy winds to breathing. Through this, he warns against sighing in addition to weeping, adding to it the conceit that the two lovers share the same breath. Expanding on this, he says that since they share the same breath, “Whoe'er sighs most is cruelest, and hastes the other's death.” (line 26) This hyperbole states the central theme of the poem: those who truly love each other should not mourn a temporary separation.
All three of the metaphysical conceits Donne makes in this poem use round objects, suggesting the speaker's return since all circles end where they started. From this and lines such as “Weep me not dead,” (line 20) the speaker tells his lover to hope for his return rather than mourning him as dead. In this, the poem is meant to console the beloved and inspire courage, faith, and patience rather than the sorrow its name implies. Through these values the lovers could maintain their metaphysical relationship while separated.

Ode to Sun

In the moonlight I do lie

Waiting for the Sun to rise.

Waiting now what seems like days

To bask again in the Sun's rays.

Have you, like Time, abandoned me

To be forever without grace?

I know you living for I see

Your reflection on the moon's pale face.

But Time stands still and you remain

Unable for me to obtain.

For all the world you do provide,

Why then from me do you still hide?

For other stars I have no passion,

I tire of their dismal light.

They are but nuclear reactions,

You are that which fuels all life!

If the Earth's heat could warm my days,

I still from you would never stray.

To you, our core's a cold dead joke,

It's your corona which gives us hope.

The lunar surface man has breached,

To find not but rocks and dust.

Your brilliance forever out of reach,

Yet after it, I always lust.

The Universe is full of wonder.

I wonder now, only of you.

Without you, my world's broken asunder;

Without you, heaven can't be true.

I wonder, Sun, if you do know,

Or if you've ever even cared,

The torment caused, by hiding so,

Please be the answer to my prayers.

Do you weep for me, as I for you cry,

Divine ruler of the skies?

Cease your tears and I'll cease mine,

We'll reunite when it is Time.

Rape Continues to Plague the Congo

This is an article I wrote for the Torch, published March 25, 2010.

For over ten years a war has raged in the Democratic Republic of Congo, affecting the lives of everyone in the area. The Congolese army, militias comprised of disgruntled citizens, and groups of foreign-backed rebels, some of which fled to the Congo after participating in the 1994 Rwandan genocides, are all attempting to control mining areas in the eastern Congo where they hope to unearth gold, copper, tin, tungsten, and coltan, all minerals used in electronic devices. Despite the high body count in this seemingly endless conflict, those in the greatest danger are the Congolese women, who are constantly raped and brutalized by soldiers on every side of this war.

Whenever one of the armed groups enters a village in the Congo, they terrorize the community by raping the women and killing anyone who speaks out against this. In 2008, the UN estimated that over 200,000 women had been raped in the Congo since the conflict’s start. The majority of the “women” raped were between the ages of 12 and 14 years old. Dr. Denis Mukwege, the director of Panzi Hospital in the eastern Congo, says that he treated literally thousands of rape victims over the past 10 years, the oldest of which was 75, the youngest a startling 3 years old.

In the Congo, rape has very little to do with personal pleasure or even boredom. In this conflict rape has replaced looting as a means of traumatizing entire communities, causing families to break apart and move elsewhere. It is a psychological weapon so effective that few dare to fight back or hold their ground. Some communities are so terrorized by the groups committing these heinous acts that they are forced to provide for their oppressors; offering whatever is available to make them leave. Many women are killed, abducted, or brutalized and sent back to convey a message of terror after being raped.

On March 9, in celebration of International Women’s Day, the Office of Community Service and Partnerships on campus organized a viewing of director Lisa F. Jackson’s documentary “The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo.” This winner of the Sundance Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize is an incredibly powerful piece, giving a detailed look into the lives of survivors of rape. It was filmed in 2007 on location in the Congo, with the support of UN peacekeeping troops and contains interviews with not only rape survivors but also UN officials, Congolese troops, local authorities in the Congo, and even some of those committing the rapes. The movie describes the war in the Congo so vividly that it is impossible to not try to end the conflict after viewing it.

In 2005, about 17,000 UN troops were deployed to the Congo, bringing with them a temporary peace and the first democratic election to be held in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 40 years. The United Nation’s ultimate goal is to end the fighting between all parties in the Congo, ushering in a permanent peace and settling disputes regarding mining rights. In July of 2008 the UN succeeded in mediating a ceasefire between leaders of some of the rebel forces and the newly elected Congolese leaders. This ceasefire was far from an end to the war, however, lasting less than a year before conflict once again surged.

While the fighting continues, the UN hopes to bring the Congolese people some sense of security by regulating the Congolese army, who until recently had been participating in the rape as much as forces they fought against. In 2006, Congo’s parliament passed laws criminalizing rape and initializing a “zero-tolerance” campaign for all forces involved in the war. Despite the efforts of both the Congolese government and the UN, which maintains its largest peacekeeping force in Congo, reports of rape continue to pour in on a daily basis and the death toll of this ongoing war is estimated to be about 5 and a half million.

Since the UN’s peacekeeping efforts are failing, other methods of undermining this war are in effect. In 2008 the Congolese government with the support of the German government launched an effort to map coltan mines and create a unique chemical mark on the legitimate mines. Similar to the Kimberley Process, which allows consumers to purchase conflict-free diamonds, this technique will eventually allow governments and corporations to track the coltan that is illegally exported from the Congo. Currently companies that produce electronics face a lot of criticism for purchasing minerals that finance the war in the Congo, but as long as they continue to make a profit they will continue using these conflict minerals.

As a consumer, you can make a difference by sending a message to these companies telling them that you refuse to buy from them unless they develop conflict-free versions of their products. Electronics companies such as Motorola, Apple, Microsoft, HP, Samsung, Dell, Nintendo, IBM, Cannon, LG, Samsung, Blackberry, and Toshiba all use conflict minerals in their electronics and will continue to do so as long as they can make a profit selling them to customers who don’t know any better or just don’t care. Through the basic laws of supply and demand, which determine the availability of all consumer goods, we can influence the products which appear in our market. In this case, demanding electronics made with conflict-free materials not only benefits women and civilians in the Congo, but also forces these companies to act in an ethically superior manner by considering the lives of others before their own profits.

Until these corporations decide to take responsibility for the harm their products cause there are other ways we can make conflict less profitable for them. Increase awareness of the situation in the Congo. Too many people are entirely ignorant of the suffering their electronics cause daily. Recycle your electronics. Many of the components found in our computers, cell phones, IPods, and TVs can be reused to make new electronic products. Recycling your electronics when you no longer need them or they break is the socially, economically, and environmentally responsible thing to do.

For more information on the war in the Congo and what you can do to stop it, visit raisehopeforcongo.org. To view UMASS Dartmouth’s copy of “The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo,” ask about it at the Women’s Resource Center. It is also important to tell your senators and representatives that you support legislation requiring corporations to manufacture conflict-free electronics.

Lying With the Dark Lady

This essay comes from a British Literature class I took.

Shakespeare's “Sonnet 130” and “Sonnet 138” both address the theme of lies within the writer's relationship with the Dark Lady. They contradict each other, however, in their ultimate answer to the question of whether the truth or lie is more preferable. In “Sonnet 130,” the speaker does not falsely compare her to the aesthetic beauties of the world, but instead admires her for her true appearance. The speaker for “Sonnet 138” claims the opposite; he and his lover love each through the lies they flatter themselves with. The idea that a person can be loved for their flaws is central to both poems, making the reader consider the advantages and disadvantages of lies within their own relationships.
“Sonnet 130” features heavy use of both imagery and metaphors throughout the poem. The first quatrain uses visual imagery and negative similies to describe the imperfections of the speaker's mistress. Her eyes fail in comparison to the sun; her lips and breasts are not such pure colors as can be found in nature; and her hair is described as “black wires.” (line 4) The murky colors of her lips, breasts, and hair are visually descriptive of Shakespeare's “Dark Lady.” Her eyes add to the visual of darkness as they “are nothing like the sun.” (line 1)
The second and third quatrains also use imagery and metaphor to describe the speaker's mistress. Her cheeks are neither white nor red as any rose, and her breath is not nearly so sweet-smelling as any perfume. The description of the lady's breath is the first non-visual imagery used in the poem, and is especially effective through the choice of the word “reek,” which still has negative connotations today and would have been considered highly offensive when the poem was written. The third quatrain describes her voice as lovely, but admits that it is far less so than music. The tactile imagery of the word “treads”combined with a non-iambic rhyme scheme in line 11 convey the image of her walking.
The use of the words “goddess” in line 10 and “ground” in line 11 show her in contrast to divinity, which makes the couplet even more ironic from the phrasing of “And yet, by heaven.” (line 13) The couplet gives this sonnet its whole meaning, asserting that the speaker would rather have a woman with all these flaws out in the open than one who is falsely described as beautiful. This preaches that the values of truth and simplicity over deception can make the imperfect more beautiful.
“Sonnet 138” differs greatly in its use of poetic devices from “Sonnet 130,” preferring to use puns and word play rather than vivid imagery. The playful use of words with multiple meaning befits the poem's theme of finding happiness through lies. In the first line, “swears that she is made of truth,” can mean that the speaker's love claims to be honest in the literal sense, and that she is faithful to him sexually. The word “lies” in the next line is a pun of the same nature as “truth,” yet the wordplay makes the whole second line contradict itself, as you can not truly believe something if you know it is a lie. The second half of the first quatrain explains why he chooses to believe his love's lies. To prove that he is not “unlearned in the world's false subtleties,” the speaker chooses the word “subtleties” to rhyme with “lies,” a subtlety that looks fine when read but sounds foreign when spoken.
The fifth line uses the word “vainly” to mean wrongly, but in context with the rest of the line can mean over-proudly, and in the seventh line the speaker praises not the woman, but her “false-speaking tongue,” a metaphor for the lie she tells. Only through their lies, he says in the octave's conclusion, “is simple truth suppressed.” The next quatrain reinforces this idea stating that they both lie to each other because neither of them wants to admit the truth to themselves. The couplet uses the same pun on the word “lie” as in the sonnet's beginning, and sums up the central theme of the poem that by lying to each other about their faults, the misrepresentation of these faults is what makes them happy.

The Future of the English Language

I wrote this essay for a Language and Communications class I took.

In our modern societies, people around the world find themselves learning second and even third languages at some point in their lives in order to get ahead. Many Americans find it beneficial to learn Spanish, while the up-and-coming business executives learn Mandarin in order to communicate with Chinese manufacturers. Similarly, citizens of other countries are rapidly becoming fluent in English in order to communicate with the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and of course, the United States. If ever the nations of our world are to truly be united and act together in the interests of the whole world rather than themselves, one language must eventually prove itself superior to the rest by being used so widely it becomes the global language.
The United Nations realized long ago that language is no small barrier to overcome, and in 1954 became affiliated with the World Esperanto Association or UEA, which promotes the use of Esperanto as a neutral auxiliary language (Rosenburg). Esperanto, however, never quite caught on. The reason for this is that the language was created with a specific purpose and therefore had no native speakers. Almost every other language we have today is the result of thousands of years of languages combining and sharing words in order to communicate more effectively. This past century has seen the greatest rise in transportation and communication technologies in all of human history, and as a result the citizens of our world find themselves in a sudden need to communicate with each other. “There has never been a time when so many nations need to talk to each other so much. There has never been a time when so many people wished to travel to so many places” (Crystal 186). It is for these reasons and the nature of mankind that a language will ultimately develop until it is spoken world-wide.
Even on a less than global scale language barriers create tension and social dysfunction. Many immigrants to the United States (mostly from Spanish-speaking countries) have protested the fact that the country has only English as its official language. These immigrants refuse to learn English because they see this as a sacrifice of their cultural values. The disunity caused by such a small percentage of American citizens (“8 percent of the population [is] classified as 'limited English proficient,'” according to the 2000 Census [Mujica 169]) is overwhelming and has lead to such incidents as the executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, (LULAC) Arnoldo Torres announcing, “'We cannot assimilate and we won't!'” (Mujica 169) In Canada the tension caused by multiple languages is worse, and even prompted Quebec's attempted succession from Canada in 1995 (Mujica 171). If nations can not even remain unified when faced with the challenge of multiple languages within their borders, then they could never hope to be truly unified with nations which speak foreign languages.
The global language that would be used by governments and for international communication purposes would have to be standardized and relatively slow changing so that it could be widely taught. English is becoming popular as the language of international business partly because it is already so widely taught. Many political figures from non-English speaking countries also use English for communicating with foreign diplomats as it is one of the five official languages of the United Nations (Crystal 185). Despite the rapidly emerging dialects of English all over the world, or perhaps because of them, some standardized form of English may become the global language. Crystal claims that languages become global in part because of the power held by those who speak it. In this case, English is quickly becoming the language of governments because of the enormous power of English-speaking nations such as the United States and the United Kingdom. In our age of information, power has less to do with military might and more to do with economics and the production of new technologies. In this light, English is certainly in a good position to either become or heavily influence the language that will eventually become the global language.
While English has been on the rise around the world, “Non-native speakers now outnumber native speakers 3 to 1” (Power 199), it is unlikely that any form of English known today will become a global language. English's popularity in its non-native countries has led to the birth of many variations of the language itself. Languages such as “'Hinglish,' the mix of Hindi and English,” and “'Englog,' the Tagalog-infused English” (199) are becoming popular in the countries in which they develop because they feel more natural due to the contribution from the native language. People who know only these “mutt” languages and not standard English could have limited communication with those who know a different mix of English, further blending the language. (English has evolved to be the vividly descriptive language that it is today through blending with other languages, and would certainly benefit from mixing with other languages to increase its vocabulary.) These languages would not be used for clear communication globally, but would merely be regional dialects of a global English, if the language were to continue to rise in popularity.
The English language is rapidly undergoing changes not only overseas but also in its own native-speaking nations. These changes have lead to the argument over whether or not these changes defile the English language or add to it. Presciptivists are of the opinion that the English language should be regulated and kept from changing because new variations in the use of the language are nontraditional and tainting the language itself. Descriptivists believe the opposite: that each change the language goes though increases its descriptiveness, allowing that language to “evolve” and become something better than it was. Whether good or bad, the English language is certainly changing, and there is no way of stopping it. Some dialects of English, such as Ebonics, differ so much from the standard that they are thought of as an entirely different language by some (MacNeil 147). It is through examples of drastic language change such as this that linguists can follow the evolution of a language based on a need for communication, and thus can form theories of how languages may further change with time. This is, of course, the natural progression of all languages as they endlessly evolve in an attempt to more accurately reflect the ideas of their speakers.
The emergence of a global language would not mean all other languages would be forgotten or go unused. For instance, Biblical or Classical Hebrew is one of the oldest languages known that is still in use today and has many descendant languages including the modern Hebrew that is used in Israel (AllExperts.com). Classical Hebrew remains unchanged since the writing of the Hebrew Bible and is taught by all public schools in Israel for studying the Torah (AllExperts.com). In the same sense, Latin, a language with no native speakers, is the official language of the Roman Catholic Church and used for some sermons. These are both examples of how religion can keep a language alive, but if a global religion exists in the future, other languages may still be used because they hold specific cultural values which their speakers wish to preserve. If a language is preserved for such reasons it would be used within specific communities, furthering a sense of unity between the members of those communities. The global language would be used for communicating with everyone outside of these communities.
A global language will eventually emerge from our need of communicating with each other and sadly, our persecution of those we are unable to communicate with. “As one 12-year-old self-taught English-speaker from China's southwestern Sichuan province says, 'If you can't speak English, it's like you're deaf and dumb.'” (Powers 199) Having multiple languages is a barrier which restricts communication. Without this barrier, nothing would prevent all the world from sharing ideas with one another, and none of these ideas would be lost in translation or wrongly interpreted. Our societies can not truly act in each others' best interests if we can not understand each other, and clear communication is integral to understanding. For the moment we live as if in the Tower of Babel, creating endless confusion and frustration from just trying to relate to each other. With a global language, citizens of every nation in the world would finally be able to agree on at least one thing.


Works Cited

AllExperts.com. “Biblical Hebrew Language at AllExperts.” Found at: http://en.allexperts.com/e/b/bi/biblical_hebrew_language.htm
Crystal, David. “Why a Global Language?” Exploring Language 12th Edition. Ed. Gary Goshgarion, Longman Press 2010. 178-186. Print.
MacNeil, Robert. “Do you speak American?” Exploring Language 12th Edition. Ed. Gary Goshgarion, Longman Press 2010. 143-152. Print.
Mujica, Mauro E. “Why the U.S. Needs an Official Language.” Exploring Language 12th Edition. Ed. Gary Goshgarion Longman Press 2010. 168-172. Print
Power, Carla. “Not the Queen's English.” Exploring Language 12th Edition. Ed. Gary Goshgarion,Longman Press, 2010. 198- 202. Print.
Rosenburg, Matt. “Esperanto.” About.com. Found at: http://geography.about.com/od/culturalgeography/a/esperanto.htm

The Vigil

Inspiration from this poem comes from the Lamb of God song Vigil and the opening line is the same except "My father" instead of "Our father."

My father they will be done.

In your name only do I kill,

For you, there shall be none.

Shining in your holy hatred

Purging sin through spilling blood.

I search the skies for coming dawn,

My vigil's end shall never come.

I beg a thousand pardons,

You send me only one:

"Redeem them with my hatred,

And you shall see the Son."

This wretched task I do despise,

Yet never do I run.

By thy will I desecrate,

Replenishing the Sun.

The light too pure for sinners' eyes,

Extinguish them and it will come.

I take the lives of those not worthy,

Till I'm the only one.

The flood, it seems, was full of mercy,

This time there will be none.

The executioner of your edict:

Death to the Prodigal Son.

And I, your final saint and savior

Shall see mankind undone.