Oedipus Journal 2: A poem written by Oedipus

The Enemy

He can't escape the punishment.

He'll never get away with his

plots,

schemes,

or plans

to steal my crown.

He's a traitor and a burden.

He's the enemy.

"Calm" or "rational"

Don't make me laugh.

His crooked mind convinces him

that there's no conspiracy,

but I see a criminal

un

fold

ing

right before me.

He's the enemy.

Wait, could it be?

The three-road path

seems too familiar.

If the stories match up,

if he says only one man,

could it be possible that

I've become the enemy?

I decided to create a poem that Oedipus wrote about Laius' murderer. At first Oedipus is convinced that Creon is the murderer and that Creon has a plan behind this murder to interfere with Oedipus' power. He then recalls that he happened to be at the place of Laius' murder when Jocasta explains how Laius was killed by a group of theives where three roads meet and after hearing it he begins to second guess himself. I wanted to show how Oedipus initially shifts the blame to Creon in the beginning of the poem through the repetition of "He." By repeatedly saying "He," and "He's the enemy" it shows how Oedipus wants to bring the attention off of himself and really emphasize Creon's guilt. Through syntax, I was able to reveal with the constant use of punctuation how Oedipus didn't feel like there was much room for explanation and it was obvious who should be held responsible because the sentences/lines are short and to the point. However, there are question marks in the third stanza which illuminate how Oedipus is questioning his initial thoughts and beginning to wonder whether or not he should have been so quick to judge. There is alliteration in the line "His crooked mind convinces him that there's no conspiracy, but I see a criminal unfolding right before me," and the harsh sound of the C's really highlights Oedipus' sharp emotions because the reader can relate the hard emphasis to Oedipus' feelings.

Oedipus Journal 1: Point of View/Characters

Oedipus the King is primarily told from Oedipus's point of view and it has not changed so far in the story. Oedipus is somewhat reliable but at times he is not because his emotions take over. It is seen how emotional Oedipus can be when he says, "Now you have me to fight for you, you'll see: I am the land's avenger by all rights [...] Whoever killed the king may decide to kill me too, with the same violent hand--by avenging Laius I defend myself" (153-159). He gets very involved in Laius's death and is willing to make sacrifices to solve the current problem that he and the town are facing. He is not completely reliable at this point because of the feelings he is experiencing of needing to solve the unknown factors regarding Laius's death. The reader can really see Oedipus's take-charge and sometimes arrogant personality shine through when he says, "Oh dear gods, my curse on those who disobey these orders! Let no crops grow out of the earth for them--shrivel their women, kill their sons, burn them to nothing in this plague" (307-310). The reader gets to know Oedipus pretty well through this because it reveals his passionate personality and reveals that he does not want anyone to take advantage of him. The reader can get to know the character Tiresias and his provocative ways because of the fact that once he is angered by Oedipus, he hints at the knowledge of Laius's death that Oedipus wishes he had. The characters are more credible before they get angry with each other because after Oedipus and Tiresias start provoking each other, their upset emotions take over and it is difficult to say whether or not what they say is completely true. The characters are presented in a way that shows that their lifestyle and belief in the Gods affects their personalities and characteristics. When Creon says, "I will tell you what I heard from the God. Apollo commands us--he was quite clear--'Drive the corruption from the land, don't harbor it any longer, past all cure, don't nurse it in your soil--root it out!' " (107-111). This reveals the characters' dedication to the Gods and it shows that they are presented in a way where their actions are a direct result of what they think the Gods would want them to do. The writer can persuade us to like some characters and dislike others because he initially creates a character who has a mighty quality about him, like Oedipus, then brings in another character that provokes that mighty character, like Tiresias, and the reader doesn't want to see this character being taken advantage of. The reader reacts with the first impressions of the characters he/she is given.

Poetry Comparison

A passage from Charlotte's Web:

"But as he was being shoved into the crate, he looked up at Charlotte and gave her a wink. She knew he was saying goodbye in the only way he could. And she knew her children were safe. [...] Next day, as the Ferris Wheel was being taken apart and the race horses were being loaded into vans and the entertainers were packing up their belongings and driving away in their trailers, Charlotte died. The fair grounds were soon deserted. The sheds and buildings were empty and forlorn. The infield was littered with bottles and trash. Nobody, of the hundreds of people that had visited the fair, knew that a grey spider had played the most important part of all. [...] Every day, Wilbur would stand and look at the torn, empty web, and a lump would come to his throat. No one had ever had such a friend- so affectionate, so loyal, and so skillful. [...] As Wilbur watched, the [baby] spider let go of the fence and rose to the air. [...] Wilbur was frantic. Charlotte's babies were disappearing at a great rate" (White 171-179)

Although the relationship between Wilbur and Charlotte in Charlotte's Web is not as romantic as the relationship between the speaker and the woman in "Tonight", there is still the same amount of love prior to the separation of each couple, just in a different way. In the passage, Wilbur realizes the positive effect that Charlotte had on him and acknowledges the significance that their loving friendship possessed. Similarly, the speaker in the poem expresses that he did not have a way of controlling the feelings he had for this woman he is speaking of and it shows how important their relationship was to him. In the Charlotte's Web passage, Charlotte passes away at the fairgrounds, and there is a repeated image of the fairgrounds being deserted and forlorn. This helps to highlight the fact that E.B. White wants the reader to associate the idea of a deserted area with Wilbur's feelings regarding Charlotte's death, and it again emphasizes Charlotte's importance in Wilbur's life. In the poem, there is a repeated image of the night and its immensity which helps to show that the speaker feels their love is as endless and immense as the night sky.

However, in the passage, Wilbur agrees to take care of Charlotte's babies and seems devastated when he thinks that they are going to leave him. This shows that he wants to cling on to his relationship for as long as possible because he wants to continually renew his memories of her through her children. This contrasts with the poem because the speaker in "Tonight" wants to put the pain he feels in the past, which is expressed in the last stanza, because the separation between him and the woman negatively affected him because their initial love was so strong.

Poem XIII Journal 1

What is the poem about?

This poem expresses the emotions that a man feels about a woman he has a sexual connection with. There is great distance between the two of them and a sense of sadness is established because they cannot be together. The man has a difficult time of expressing to the woman what he wants to or what he is trying to say about the situation because they are so far from each other. Because of the fact that the man cannot express what he wants, there are consequences he must face.

Who is speaking and to whom are they speaking?

The speaker in this poem is a man that is very far away from the woman he wishes he could be with. The man speaks to this woman and expresses his discontent about the distance between them. He almost objectifies her, though, and he refers to her as if she is a doll or a toy, instead of a person. The poet makes it clear that the speaker is not as interested in the deeper meaning of their relationship as he is in the physical aspect of it. This establishes the negative side of their relationship. Without this woman around, his "heart closes like a nocturnal flower" and he is left to suffer the consequence of wasting away.

Why and how was it written?

This poem was written to express the heartache people feel when those that comfort them are not around. He makes this clear because the poem allows the reader to see how much this woman's absence has affected the man. The poet does this by contrasting the ideas that contribute to happiness and life, like a fruitful season or water and thirst, with things that contribute to the idea of death, like burning or a heart closing. He ties this in to the relationship between the man and the woman when he says, "In you, behind you, timid, driven by thirst". The poet mentions thirst because he wants to show that when the speaker is engaging in this physical experience with the woman, there is a sense of life within him. However, when the poet mentions "burn, flee, like a belfry at the hands of a madman", he is expressing that it is almost as if the relationship is wasting away because by saying 'burn', which contrasts with the idea of life because it is something that can kill if it gets out of hand, it shows he is not as alive as he is when he is with the woman that satisfies his sexual desires.