Friday, March 9, 2012
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
What do you think is the speaker's most persuasive point in "The Cry of the Children"? In other words, what part of the poem, or technique, would most spur the readers to act against child labor? On the other hand, do you think that the poem is too dramatic to be really effective?
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First off, I would like to start the blog by saying that I am fond of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry. With her poem "The Cry of the Children," Barrett Browning describes the true images of England's reality. She tells the English citizens that their nation is running on the pain and labor of these children. The speaker declares:
ReplyDelete'How long,' they say, O cruel nation,
Will you stand, to move the world, on a
child's heart,
Stifle down with a mailed heel and its
plapitation,
And tread onward to your throne amid the mart?
Our blood splashes upward, Oour tyrants,
And your purple shows your path;
But the child's sob curseth deeper in silence
Than the strong man in his wrath!'(154-161)
With this stanza of poetry, Barrett Browning recalls the hypocrisy of England as a nation. She alludes to the power of religion to tell that these children have lost all sense of it. Ultimately, this becomes her strongest point in the poem. She outlines clearly to the English nation that these children are deprived of their childhoods and of their innocence. The allusion to religion would most certainly start a spark among any readers of the piece. She says that:
Now, tell the poor young children, O my brothers,
To look up to Him and pray---
Will bless them another day.
They answer, 'Who is God that He should hear us,
White the rusing of the iron wheels is stirred?
When we sob aloud, the human creatures near us
And we hear not (for the wheels in thier resounding)
Strangers speaking at the door:
Is it likely God, with angels singing around Him,
Hears our weeping any more? (97-108)
Through this stanza, the speaker tells that yes, the children are a part of nature and a part of God's creation; however, with the cruel treatmeant of their nation, the children are:
Alas, alas, the children! they are seeking
Death in life, as best to have! (49-50)
Barrett Browning tells England as a nation that people must prove that God exists and at the time being with such conditions the children did not see that from people and not believe. She is encouraging England to think and put an end to the cruel treatment of England's innocence. The poem is not dramatic at all. Like many of the Victorian poets, Barrett Browning created in her poetry what she witness in reality, and she witnessed the harsh treatment of children who had to work to survive. Barrett Browning with this poem darinlgy reflects the hypocricy of a nation so concerend with wealth. As we mentioned in class, form is very imporant to the Victorian poets. Throughout her poem, every single stanza consists of tweleve lines. Change of form never occurs, and I believe that Barrett Browning does this to show that Englad is at a standstill in regards to child labor and could careless as to what the outcomes for these children become. The poem is very extraordinary, and Barrett Browning with such a piece engages in religious, social, and political topics.
I agree, I love Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poetry! Her poetry is so easy to understand, which is why she is probably my favorite poet so far in this class. Her motive for writing her poems is very clear, and these poems are easily readable for the everyday person. For example, in “Cry of the Children” she makes known her position on child labor. It is easy to tell through her descriptions of these poor children working their bodies to the bone, often resulting in painful death, that she obviously does not approve of children working in these factories and coal mines. Her poetry is so blunt and does not hold anything back, which really interests me.
DeleteThe last part of what you wrote Aida makes a lot of sense. In her 12 line stanzas, change never occurs, which, like you say, England had not changed on child labor either. In all likely hood, this is not coincidental. I am also a huge fan of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poetry! She reminds me of Luke Skywalker, making a stand for what's right! Awesome! By far my favorite poet of what we've covered thus far.
DeleteDern! I guess it was just wishful thinking! The 4th stanza has 16 lines.
DeleteIn that same vein, the mechanics of the poem create 'sounds', just as we spoke of in class, like the movement of the heavy and dangerous machinery the children had to work with. EBB gives the reader a small sense of the environment these children are in daily - small because, fortunately for us in modern times, we can barely grasp how huge and scary that machinery was, and how it must have been for a child. Just briefly think of the seemingly terrible things you were afraid of as a child, before (hopefully) growing up and realizing that those things aren't worth your fear. Think about those REAL children working in those factories, and the REAL things they were afraid of. EBB wants you to feel this fear! In this way I think her poetry stands the test of time. She wanted Victorians to -know- what these children felt like, because she knew herself that they'd never set foot in a factory if they could help it.
DeleteThe most persuasive part of 'Cry of the Children' is the seventh stanza -
ReplyDelete“For all day, the wheels are droning, turning;
Their wind comes in our faces,
Till our hearts turn, our heads with pulses burning,
And the walls turn in their places: 80
Turns the sky in the high window blank and reeling,
Turns the long light that drops adown the wall,
Turn the black flies that crawl along the ceiling,
All are turning, all the day, and we with all.
And all day, the iron wheels are droning, 85
And sometimes we could pray,
‘O ye wheels,’ moaning breaking out in a mad
‘Stop! be silent for to-day!’”
I was definitely struck by line 83; black flies crawling around a room reminds me immediately of death. I think Barrett-Browning was trying to convey that sense of morbidity. These children are doomed to a life involving pain, fear, and death. This stanza alone describes a history of horrible working conditions. This is written less like a poem and more like a story, reflecting the article she was initially inspired by. I am sure that, just like today, a lot of people don't want to read stuffy poetry, and B-B took that into account. Instead of just creating a piece of literary art, she wanted to make sure that her message got across. Scare tactics work, and B-B is using them to her advantage. She is essentially 'grossing out' and disturbing the reader in an effort to understand just how completely horrible this entire situation (putting children to work like a slave) is. In this case, and in any case involving children and inhumane treatment, you are allowed to be as melodramatic as you want to get your point across. This reminds me of the whole 'Kony 2012' movement that started last week. Putting aside the less than reputable organization that created the movement, 'Kony 2012' has taken the world by storm despite the organizations more than disturbing displays of 'white man's burden'. They are doing anything they can to get their message out there, despite heavy criticism. It's interesting to see that some things never change (although B-B was never criticized for misuse of funds or anything like that).
The most dramatic part of the poem are lines 37-42 when the speaker says “Little Alice died last year, her grave is shapen
ReplyDeleteLike a snowball, in the rime.
We looked into the pit prepared to take her:
Was no room for any work in the close clay!”
This was dramatic because it was saying that the work load the children had to bear was an absolute result of their deaths. This was suggesting that parents were literally sending off their kids to their death beds when they sent them to work.
The parents’ response may have been that they needed the children to work in order to survive, for there was just not enough money to be able to support the entire family. However, the strain put upon the children was working them to death. They even wished to die “before their time,” saying that it would have been a blessing to die and go to Heaven than to work any longer.
I agree. There is so much irony with in that stanzas and the stanzas that follow it. It is ironic that someone who is suppose to be there for the children the most (parents)would send them to a death trap. Also, Sammy, I think that this irony carries a double meanning. Barrett Browning (who I absolutely love) says that the parents are sending their children to death, but England the mother nation is also sentencing her future to death for money. Barrett Browning shows us that people are forgetting their religious ways and what it means to be human. All they care for is money and power regardless of who is hurt in the process. This topic is worth looking into. Its hypocracy at its best, but it also is a double irony.
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ReplyDeleteWhat other hand? How can a poem be too dramatic to be effective? I am really showing my ignorance here, but not one political poem comes to mind as over dramatic! My peers in all likely hood (especially Jared) probably have a Rolodex with at least one over-amped political poem, but I'm drawing a blank. With that being said, onward!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Barrett Browning's "The Cry of the Children" is moved by choice of diction, not technique. Her words are most powerful (as Anna already pointed out) in the 7th stanza with the reference of black flies; as most people know, the fly is a disgusting creature with very poor personal hygiene. Another strong emotional pull (for me) occurs right at the end of the 4th stanza, "'It is good when it happens,' say the children"/"'That we die before our time.'" Here the speaker is showing the utter despair of the children's situation. No child in a normal mental/physical state wants to die; in these two lines, the children call death good.
I wonder how many politicians first ignored (and for how long)the outcry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning?
I think the poem is most effective in Barrett Browning's commentary as an observer, and less in the poem's fictional/situational assumptive style but it is really a matter of taste. In stanzas (such as the first and the fourth) we see her thinking about the children and applying her poetic voice that we understand her observations. We see her passion for the condition of the children, but I can't seriously venture much further into her message with the story of Alice and the God dilemma.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, it would be more tasteful (effective) if it did not assume the voice of the children--if Barrett Browning did not pretend to understand the children's personal collective standpoint and attempt to be a representative. I find its message more effective when we see Barrett Browning's descriptions of their condition as a figurative journalist (but a poetical one!) rather than a painter who dramatizes conditional sentiment with biased or fictional representation.
This is where Romanticism bleeds into Victorian poetry. I have come to think of the Victorian era as "Applied Romanticism," taking influence from concrete social, political, even emotional issues to romantically bloat the topics with passionate or sentimental flare. The experience of reading about the topic removes me from the reality of critical conditions. The result is that I am an outsider, a critic--one who stares and judges a work of art--rather than one who becomes stimulated by the social issues at hand. I do enjoy the poem in its language and imagery, but I don't feel moved by the message. I don't feel motivated to act towards improving the conditions, but I feel that that is the intention of the poem.
Immediately: "Do ye hear the children weeping, O my brothers"
Listen up audience! Pay attention to my important poem about this very serious problem that must be changed! But it can only be changed if YOU, my brothers, can see and FEEL the plight of the working children as portrayed by my lovely poem! Yes, my brothers, purchase Poems, 1884 for a small price and read and FEEL the children's pain!
I'm only trying to be funny (and failing miserably), but I'm basically saying that I agree with the critics who aren't buying the forced sentimentality. I do not feel that this subtracts from the poems aesthetic value in language or imagery or form, but I do feel that it is an empty social gesture that renders the personal impact of the poem on me to be ineffective and useless--but NOT unmemorable or appreciable!
You don't feel moved by the message? Come On, you need a chocolate bunny (Russel Stover of course) to melt that stone heart of yours! I can safely say that the poem absolutely did not remove me from the reality of critical conditions, rather Browning's "The Cry of the Children" made me feel absolutely politically inclined. I would be more than happy to buy a whole book of the stuff, and read till my eyes watered and my nostrils burned with smoke.
ReplyDeleteReally craving something chocolaty; of course fat men love sweets.
ReplyDelete