BLOG: 4

I have really enjoyed this class so far and can not wait to see how the rest of the coarse is going to be like. Since we started examening poetry it has really opened up my eyes because i used to avoid poetry but this class has helped me understand it more. Also, the fact that we use blogs in class is a new and enjoyeble experience. i have also learned valuble reasearch techniques like using various search engines instead of one. In conlusion, this is by far the most exciting english class that i have ever had.

BLOG 3: Symbols and Tone In "Evermore"

My poem of choice is actually a song by the band Led Zeppelin titled "The Battle for Evermore". I chose this song because Led Zeppelin's songs are known to be riddled with symbolism and double meanings so they seemed like a great candidate for this entry. Led Zeppelin was formed by the guitarist Jimmy Page in 1959 with fellow band members: Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham. They had a successful career until their separation in 1980 due to John Bonham's death. These gentlemen are not only held as rock gods because they were the best at what they did but because they were poets in nature.

There are many aspects of a poem that are important like word choice and placement but more important are tone and symbolism. Tone is the mood that the author sets for the poem and they usually do this through their word choice or the rhythm. As for symbolism, it is giving a single word or phrase more than one meaning, for example, the color red can stand for a lot of things like passion and anger meanwhile, a reference to a dove can stand for the exact opposite. Poets often use symbolism and tone to give their poetry more depth and to connect with their audience; as in the song "The Battle for Evermore" written mainly by Robert Plant, whose theme is the battle between good and evil uses tone and symbols to establish that. Here are the lyrics:

"Queen of Light took her bow
And then she turned to go,
The Prince of Peace embraced the gloom
And walked the night alone


Oh, dance in the dark of night,
Sing to the morn-ing light.
The dark Lord rides in force tonight
And time will tell us all.


Oh, throw down your plow and hoe,
Rest not to lock your homes.
Side by side we wait the might
Of the darkest of them all.


I hear the horses' thunder
Down in the valley below,
I'm waiting for the angels of Avalon,
Waiting for the eastern glow.


The apples of the valley hold
The seeds of happiness,
The ground is rich from tender care,
Repay, do not forget, no, no.
Oh, dance in the dark of night,
Sing to the morning light.


The apples turn to brown and black,
The tyrant's face is red.


Oh the war is common cry,
Pick up you swords and fly.
The sky is filled with good and bad
That mortals never know.


Oh, well, the night is long
The beads of time pass slow,
Tired eyes on the sunrise,
Waiting for the eastern glow.


The pain of war cannot exceed
The woe of aftermath,
The drums will shake the castle wall,
The ringwraiths ride in black,
Ride on.


Sing as you raise your bow,
Shoot straighter than before.
No comfort has the fire at night
That lights the face so cold.


Oh dance in the dark of night,
Sing to the mornin' light.
The magic runes are writ in gold
To bring the balance back.
Bring it back.


At last the sun is shining,
The clouds of blue roll by,
With flames from the dragon of darkness
The sunlight blinds his eyes."

From the beginning of the poem it can be concluded that the tone of the song is very chant-like and almost warning. Plant writes in the 3rd stanza,

"Oh, throw down your plow and hoe,
Rest not to lock your homes.
Side by side we wait the might
Of the darkest of them all"

This part is sung by Sandy Dennis who serves as the town crier and is warning of the great evil that is to come and the imminent danger that accompanies it. But there is hope for these people as plant goes on to reference the "angels of Avalon" and the "eastern glow". This is all foreshadowing of the epic showdown of good and evil towards the end of the song.

furthermore, are the many symbols used in this song to convey the overlying theme of the battle between good and evil. There is a reoccurring phrase in the song,

"Oh, dance in the dark of night,
Sing to the morn-ing light"

In this phrase the words night and morning are used to represent good and evil. It can be concluded that "dance" ,in this case, means to fight good and to "sing to the morning" is to come out victorious from the dark of night. Another symbol is the apples that are mentioned in the poem. plant writes,

"The apples of the valley hold
The seeds of happiness"

and

"The apples turn to brown and black,
The tyrant's face is red"

kathleen Karlson (MA) writes "apple blossoms are ideal symbols of love, youth, beauty and happiness". Karlson is right about this because throughout the ages apples have always been associated with the revelry and happiness that comes with love and youth but the references to apples in the song have a connection to the people of the town. In other words Plant is trying to say that the people of the town have once been happy but the presence of this evil being has marred it. This means that the people have the "seed" of happiness inside them, they have experienced it and are waiting to flourish that feeling. yet in the direct presence of said creature the hope of one day being happy diminishes, thus: "the apples turn to brown and black".

Alas,the sunlight penetrates the darkness and the town is rid of all hideous creatures that molest it. This is truly a wonderful tale of the epic battle between good and evil and certainly one with the many symbols and tones that make poetry so great.

SOURCES:
"Apple Symbolisms and Legends." Living Art originals. Living Arts Enterprises, LLC , 19 mar 2010. Web. 22 Mar 2010. .

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/l/led+zeppelin/the+battle+of+evermore_20082162.html
http://mybroadband.co.za/photos/data/500/lord-of-the-rings-photo-xxl-lord-of-the-rings-6228668.jpg

Blog 2: Battle for Evermore

I have, for a very long time, been a big fan of the English band Led Zeppelin and have listened to their songs countless times but this song in particular always stood out. The lyrics are a bit hard to make out over the guitar and mandolin but I managed to get them on the internet. I used google as the search engine and that led me to Lyricsfreak.com (http://www.lyricsfreak.com/l/led+zeppelin/the+battle+of+evermore_20082162.html). here are the lyrics:

Queen of Light took her bow
And then she turned to go,
The Prince of Peace embraced the gloom
And walked the night alone.


Oh, dance in the dark of night,
Sing to the morn-ing light.
The dark Lord rides in force tonight
And time will tell us all.


Oh, throw down your plow and hoe,
Rest not to lock your homes.
Side by side we wait the might
Of the darkest of them all.


I hear the horses' thunder
Down in the valley below,
I'm waiting for the angels of Avalon,
Waiting for the eastern glow.


The apples of the valley hold
The seeds of happiness,
The ground is rich from tender care,
Repay, do not forget, no, no.
Oh, dance in the dark of night,
Sing to the morning light.


The apples turn to brown and black,
The tyrant's face is red.


Oh the war is common cry,
Pick up you swords and fly.
The sky is filled with good and bad
That mortals never know.


Oh, well, the night is long
The beads of time pass slow,
Tired eyes on the sunrise,
Waiting for the eastern glow.


The pain of war cannot exceed
The woe of aftermath,
The drums will shake the castle wall,
The ringwraiths ride in black,
Ride on.


Sing as you raise your bow,
Shoot straighter than before.
No comfort has the fire at night
That lights the face so cold.


Oh dance in the dark of night,
Sing to the mornin' light.
The magic runes are writ in gold
To bring the balance back.
Bring it back.


At last the sun is shining,
The clouds of blue roll by,
With flames from the dragon of darkness
The sunlight blinds his eyes.

The theme of this song is the battle between good and evil and it makes many refrences of this epic battle. As I listened to the song, the lyrics evoked images of midevil battling between good and evil like something out of the Lord of the Rings. This connection can clearly be noticed when the author says

"The pain of war cannot exceed
The woe of aftermath,
The drums will shake the castle wall,
The ringwraiths ride in black,
Ride on"


As I did more research on the song it turns out that Jimmy Page and Robert plant, who wrote the song together, were big fans of the series of books and are actually depicting a scene from the book in these lines. They mention "The Ringwraiths", these are are ghosts or spirits that serve as servants for a dark lord and are the enbodiment of evil in the books.

the song also mentions "the angels of avalon" reffering to good players in this battle. Avalon is reffered to as a remarkable island of many mysteries and anything coming from there is surely to be powerful.

The authors decide to end the poem by saying

"At last the sun is shining,
The clouds of blue roll by,
With flames from the dragon of darkness
The sunlight blinds his eyes"

In other words this shows how good finally prevailed to win over evil as the sun shone in the dark dragons eyes and the good worries were able to defeat it. This is trully a great song a great homage to a great story.

sources: http://www.freewebs.com/finduilas101/Aragorn-Return%20of%20the%20King.jpg
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/l/led+zeppelin/the+battle+of+evermore_20082162.html

about me!

hello everyone my name is John Rodriguez and welcome to my blog. I am 18 years old and am originally from the Dominican Republic but reside in Corona, Queens. This is my first year in college and really enjoy the learning experience. This class sounds like tons of fun and im really looking to you all reading my blog. THANKS!!!