Tardiness: the “+” vs the “-” approach 1. “I am a hopeful Theatre major so the xxxxxxxx level course is in the Contemporary Arts department. Their rule is if a student is tardy to class two times, they are kicked out of the class.” 2. Here in English 206, you gain a significant grades bonus for the Mid-Term for punctuality. So: Which of the two approaches—punitive vs encouraging—is the more efficacious?

Alfred, Lord Tennyson – son of clergyman who had been disinherited from the gentry as a boy. Elevated to aristocracy by Queen Victoria, : poet laureateship & “In Memoriam” – Man, her last work, who seem’d so fair, Who trusted God was love indeed And love Creation’s final law— Tho’ Nature, red in tooth and claw With ravine, shriek’d against his creed—

“Charge of the Light Brigade” Crimean War: 1853–1856 – Russian Empire —vs—French-British alliance – Fought in Russia (Crimea) over, in part, control of Afghanistan Legacy? – Victoria Cross – Canada’s highest military honour. – Florence Nightingale – WWI: style of battle; mis-leadership Louis Edward Nolan: Canadian. Delivered the orders to the Brigade: died at head of charge Earl of Cardigan: commanded the Brigade. Lead the charge, returned through the valley at the end of it, went to his yacht & had dinner. War in the old days….

“Charge of the Light Brigade” Poem excels in rhythm: use of anaphora Example of poetry that encodes a concept deep into the cultural DNA. Emotion & pathos: poet appeals to facts of human nature. Combines criticism (the popular sentiment) with praise: officers or administrators attacked; soldiers (the public) praised.

“The Higher Pantheism” Presents Materialism—a growing 19 th C. mood—as a fundamentalism. Material is a sign and a reference: different levels of meaning. Assumes that we have a capacity to glimpse a higher reality but have diminished capacity to express it – i.e. in speech. Poetry makes words more—more fully—powerful. Language can suggest but can’t complete: a common condition in life…. Device: Negative expression. “Negative Theology” – Clears away easy misunderstanding – Humility, honesty on the limitations. Larger Metaphor?

“The Higher Pantheism” - Dream Shakespeare: We are such stuff As dreams are made on; and our little life Is rounded with a sleep. [Midsummer Night’s Dream] To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come. [Hamlet] Novalis: : Our life is no dream; but it ought to become one, and perhaps will

Response to “The Higher Pantheism” Algernon Swinburne: Aesthete & decadent (precursor of Oscar Wilde, without Wilde’s Christianity – Master of poetic technique – Sadism, bestiality, atheism, etc. Wrote poetry against his contemporary poets Satire—attacks against others—is Swinburne at his best.

“The Lady of Shalott” Interpretations: sexuality? feminism? art? religion? “The Wyrd” —Fates, Weird, Destiny. – Poem is in form and content incantation: Setting and breaking & experiencing spells…. “Albion”—the England of myth, history, paganism, & religion: – “the nation as it interprets itself and represents itself to itself.” – Patriotism (vs. nationalism: vid. George Orwell): patriotism=love of one’s own place; nationalism=antagonistic attitude against other nations

“The Lady of Shalott” con’t Arthurianism: the legend of Camelot Perenially appealing: bizarrely, even in America…. The tendency among critics is to ask “why were Victorians attracted to Arthurian legend?” The question is in one sense null: every Age—esp. in England—has the attraction, & the proper question is “why is arthurianism perennially attractive?” “Lady of Shalott” an empirical case to study, in us, why….