Seasons

The rough seas draw in

as clouds gather in darkness

with snow in the air

Over the lush hills

laughter and joy fill the air-

the ripe fruits of summer

B.Pascal Zwane

Lord Byron learned to love despair. I wish I could

Van Morrison talked to Ian Rankin about songwriting and Edna O'Brien read Madame George in a special event at London's Lyric Theatre

Van Morrison was celebrated in a night of words and music at London's Lyric Theatre, featuring Edna O'Brien (far right)

Irish poet Michael Longley promised a unique night, and "Van Morrison presents an evening of words & music" was certainly that, not least because we heard Edna O'Brien reading Madame George as a poem.

The event, at London's Lyric Theatre, was to mark a new book brought out by Faber, Lit Up Inside, which contains the lyrics to nearly 200 Morrison songs, presented as poems.

So was Van the Man lit up? At times, definitely, but there were also moments of vintage deadpan Morrison. The second half of the evening was a concert. He introduced Foreign Window by saying: "This was partly based on a documentary about Lord Byron in which he said 'I have learned to love despair'. I wish I could."

It was mainly chatty Van rather than grumpy Van treading the boards, though, and novelist Ian Rankin did a good job of drawing out anecdotes during a 25-minute question-and-answer session. We had listened to Dr Eamonn Hughes talking about Morrison and watched film footage of Morrison singing with Bob Dylan, and when Rankin asked him how many people have had Dylan as an accompanist, Morrison said: "Harry Belafonte, for one." Asked by Rankin about shows like the X Factor, and whether they were for people "selling their souls", Morrison replied: "Nothing has changed. I wish it had."

The thing about Morrison is that he adores music. Old jazz musicians who know him will tell you that he is passionate about the music of his youth – Morrison is 69 – and he was fulsome in his praise of blues musicians such as Sonny Boy Williamson, Leroy Carr and Lightnin' Hopkins. "It's difficult to understand how people supposed to be so uneducated, like Lightnin', were coming up with Elizabethan language and imagery in songs that were like poetry," Morrison said. He talked here with real fondness about the jazz and blues he had heard as a boy, both from his father's record collection and by listening to AFN radio. "Ray Charles, Sidney Bechet, Mahalia Jackson singing the Lord's Prayer. It was only years later I realised that wasn't normal. I heard Lenny Bruce doing a sketch about Stars of Jazz when he was an in-thing."

Longley, 75, told the audience that what he and Morrison talked about most was jazz: Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith – "where it began" – and the man known as Dr Jazz of Belfast, the late Solly Lipsitz, who ran the Atlantic Records shop on Belfast High Street.

If there was a point to the evening, and to the book, it seemed to be to place Morrison among the literary figures of Ireland. Morrison compared himself to William Blake (he had London, I had East Belfast seemed to be the gist) and used the term 'Blake-ian' three times. But it wasn't all portentous. Morrison has a funny side (he is a fan of Spike Milligan and The Goons and is good at impersonations) and this came across in a few replies to Rankin. After Morrison said that "I wrote poems before I ever picked up a guitar", Rankin asked if a young boy in Belfast would have had to hide his poetry writing for fear of being beaten up. "My first poem was about a shipyard and you wouldn't have been beaten up for that," Morrison joked. He was also witty when Rankin listed the writers Morrison had name-checked in a song (Beckett, Joyce and Wilde), with the singer saying: "Yes, and George Best and Alex Higgins, too."

But both Longley and O'Brien repeatedly described the songs they were reading as poems. O'Brien admitted that she has always been "a little stuck on him" and said she thought he was "in the business of making magic". The 83-year-old author of The Country Girls read his Astral Weeks song Madame George particularly well – and it would be easy to trip up over the lines:

'And the love that loves to love,
That loves the love that loves,
The love that loves to love,
The love that loves to love,
The love that loves.'

Morrison, dressed in his John Lee Hooker outfit (dark hat, dark suit, sunglasses), had already left the stage at that point to prepare for his concert.

^{Edna O'Brien said: "Like everyone, I was a little bit stuck on Van Morrison." REX}

^FEATURES

So what did we learn?

• That he connects with Samuel Beckett, especially in a love of repetition of words and an agreement about having to go on despite a "sense of despair and futility".

• That the song Moondance started as an instrumental, which he had been playing as far back as 1965, when he used to jam on saxophone in Notting Hill with Mick Fleetwood on conga drums. Have I Told You Lately (that I love you) also started as an instrumental.

• That Tore Down a la Rimbaud took eight years to finish – the longest it's ever taken him to complete a song.

• That part of his early song Mystic Eyes was inspired by the scene in Dickens's Great Expectations in which Pip meets Magwitch.

• That he was a big fan of Sixties English folk singer and guitarist Steve Benbow.

The concert, just under an hour, was enjoyable. This was gentle Van with a tight, acoustic, four-piece backing band (piano, double bass, drums, guitar) featuring brief, chatty explanations of the songs he played, including Alan Watt Blues, Wonderful Remark and Why Must I Always Explain. There was a jazzy version of Into the Mystic.

 ^{Van Morrison in 1965 REX FEATURES}

The highlight, showing Morrison at his PLAYFUL best, was a version of Coney Island. In the foreword to the book, Rankin says of Morrison's music: "There was a search for the spiritual in the commonplace . . . But there are also stories teeming with incidents and characters and grand travelogues, and extolling of life's simple pleasures."

That's true of the spoken song Coney Island, which Morrison said had a significance because as a boy, around 1959, he helped deliver bread in the van for Stewart's bakery in East Belfast and he would have to get up at 5am to make deliveries at the beach in Coney Island. Belfast, of that time, resonates in some of his best songs about Orangefield, which was still almost a village with cobbled streets when he was growing up.

 ^{Van Morrison inscribed a copy of Lit Up Inside to writer Ian Rankin, who wrote the foreword PHOTO COURTESY OF IAN RANKIN}

Although Coney Island had been read out earlier by Longley, Morrison played around with the composition, telling the affluent audience that "jam jar" was "Cockney rhyming slang for car" and, with a grin, changing the emotional end to the song, which is about a car journey across the glorious countryside of Northern Ireland, to include the joke:

'And all the time going to Coney Island I'm thinking,
Shall I drop you off at the next corner?'

For Morrison fans the book is interesting (although for the £500 deluxe version you might want your own Van the Man house concert), not least because you can finally learn some of the lines to songs such as Bulbs, in which I now know he sings about someone called Ada:

'Now Ada was a straight clear case of,
Havin' taken in too much juice.'

You also get a sense of the range of his writing and some of the bleakness in lesser known compositions such as Not Supposed to Break Down:

'Fifteen families starving,
All around the corner block.
Here we're standing so alone,
Just like Gibraltar Rock.'

But Longley was right. This was a unique event, right down to Morrison, no isolated rock for once, exiting stage left, whispering like a revivalist preacher, as he sang a line about crossing a river.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/11237541/Van-Morrison-Lord-Byron-learned-to-love-despair.-I-wish-I-could.html#

A RAY OF HOPE IN A BROKEN HEART

 

I don’t know how I am-

I have almost been dying for you.

-I’m exhausted with life,

you are no more my wife,

still- broken part of my love.

You promised to die with me,

but, no attempt to live without me.

Just think! all things come from God,

we all turn back to him.

-

Your coming- would be the proof of going,

neither would be absence of your death,

your going- has become my last judgement.

I was questioned many times,

so, you sentenced me to times.          

Nothing would be like my love-

you are pouring inside me like a rain,

my face- turned to place of pain.

Loving you- is the secret cry,

you reluctantly have no try.

-

My hands tremble like a leaf,

the palm begins to sweat as a cushion.

I can’t describe this great passion,

as if something strangulates my vocal cords.

Perhaps, I know you like the palm of my hand-

Love in heart has become the streaking sand.

The lump is almost in my throat,

whereas my words- over the poem still float.

You- became a wound in my heart,

apparently, your eyes are always my part.

 

Since your love- has become a wound,

now, my wound is weighing a pound,

-for you babe, how it does sound.

-

My love is in the death agony,

all watches stroking you every hour,

your face- is like a cream sour.

Every hour I give up you,

but, I don’t regret to love you.

If my heart were renewed-

even so, I would still love you.

Your love- is my profession,

friends say it is an obsession,

-neither is an increasing passion.

-

You- hurt my heart’s broken part

so, my pain is still not killed.

I can feel my splintered heart,

see- neither is interminably filled.

Loving you babe-

is the way of my hidden crying,

what you said is a huge lying,

a hope- in my heart keeps this writing.

-

For me, love- is fighting for life,

I can not read the time-

as it is impossible for our lives to tie,

when I see you- everything will be fine,

I hope you will give me a sign-

Life- didn’t pay me back,

all we share is a fact,

it is time to get my pack.

 

-

I have no regret to love you,

cause my heart is handcuffed to your love.

I understand there is no point to die,

you didn’t leave me anything to sigh.

Dou you know, how easy was separation-?

Your farewell speech quashed my compassion.

What if, I broke my silence- and patience?

Should I find a relaxation?

-

My sole wish is not to call,

I’m riding for a fall.

I already put out my heart garden,

nonetheless, it has still too much burden.

Your going- affected me more than I expected

yet, how much I deserved to be respected.

-

You know- valedictions and loves,

are a part of our lives.

You swept away my perfection-

the rest is only a little affection.

I'm stuck in the cliff of madness.

Leave me alone with my loneliness-

how you will be looking for happiness.

There is still a ray of hope.

I don’t expect much from the pope-

but, just enlarge your scope-

 

Hüseyin Özbay – Karabük Üniversitesi – ELL –Fourth Year Student

Naturalism in “To Build a Fire” and “The Cremation of Sam McGee”

Despite belonging to different genres, “The Cremation of Sam McGee” and “To Build a Fire” can both be considered as Naturalistic in terms of literary criticism. Naturalism, a literary movement which is closely connected to the scientific and realistic manner of thinking which was prevalent towards the turn of the 20th century, has distinctive features. Some of these include the realistic style in narration found in naturalism, themes such as Man versus Nature and Death/Survival, and the power of nature in Naturalism. In this paper, these and other various characteristics of Naturalism will be discussed with illustrations from the two texts.

Naturalistic literature is realistic in its nature. Writers in this literary movement aim to portray events as they are without putting emphasis on emotions. This form of realism can be noted in “To Build a Fire” wherein the narrator paints a vivid picture of a man travelling through cold and bitter weather with a dog. The narrator reports the events in the story as they occur. Similar narration style, even though in the perspective of one of the characters, is evident in Service’s “The Cremation of Sam McGee”. The narration in both of these texts focuses on the sequence of events and description of things as they are-a common feature in realistic literature.

In addition to realism, Naturalistic literature also usually concerns itself with themes of death and survival. These themes are more often than not connected with nature, meaning that the need for survival or the occurrence of death will happen as a result of nature. Sam McGee dies because of the harsh and cold conditions in Service’s poem. The lone man in “To Build a Fire” tries to survive the cold weather through his journey by building a fire after getting wet but eventually dies too. These themes reveal the perception of nature by most naturalistic writers: nature is an unstoppable force which has the power to commence or end existence.

This portrayal of nature as an uncompromising force that encompasses everything in it is one of the more common features of Naturalistic literature. The power of nature is evident in “To Build a Fire”, where the protagonist is at the mercy of the environment. Even with his knowledge of the environment, nature still has the final say. Similarly, in “The Cremation of Sam McGee”, the harsh weather conditions subdue Sam McGee. Nature, then, whether at sea or land is shown as being more powerful than everything else which exists. Such views, to a large extent, disregard the existence of a god in naturalism. This type of reasoning is in accordance with the period in which naturalism was born. Scientific thought and the advancement of biological study influenced naturalist writers in their literature, giving little or no room for religion.

Though emphasis is put on nature in Naturalism, humans within nature still have a significant role in this literary movement. Characterisation in naturalistic literature usually sees characters in strife with nature. In some cases, this conflict symbolises inner conflict in a character. Although certain in beginning, the protagonist’s growing concern for his livelihood through his journey in “To Build a Fire” shows his inner conflict in following reason or his freewill-his will to go meet his friends or reason that clearly shows that travelling through this cold weather is not practical.  Freewill, thus, becomes another important feature in Naturalistic literature.

Freewill is demonstrated as an exercise in futility by most naturalistic writers. The use of freewill by characters in Naturalism often results in their demise. The protagonist’s decision to travel on a cold morning to meet his friends despite the risks in “To Build a Fire”, shows him exercising his freewill. Through nature, however, his decision to travel is shown as being a naïve one. The protagonist attributes his failure to misfortune. In “The Cremation of Sam McGee” Sam also decides to travel in a cold and harsh environment despite being from Tennessee and not having adequate knowledge about the environment further north. The presence of freewill, again, here leads to the demise of a character. Naturalism hence portrays freewill as impractical and, arguably, as an illusion. Humans are better off if they do not make use of it as they are not necessarily in control of their lives when in the presence of nature.

If freewill is not the answer then what is? Naturalistic texts present characters that are governed by their instincts. This is directly connected to the survival theme commonly found in naturalistic literature. Although the two main characters from the referenced texts both exercise freewill, it is also shown how they use their instincts in their struggle to survive. The protagonist in “To Build a Fire” instinctively knows that he has to get warm after getting wet. He does this by building a fire. Sam, on the other hand, wants to be cremated once he realizes that he will die from the cold weather. This request to be cremated can be seen as an instinctive and symbolic one as his cremation will be the final chance for him to get warm. His request reveals that our instinct is get warm when cold, even after we have died.

In final analysis, the plight of the protagonists in both texts is narrated in a realistic manner and nature is illustrated as an untamable force that directly affects everyone. The instinctive nature of characters in Naturalistic literature further reveals how Darwinism influenced this literary movement. In accordance with Darwinism, humans in both texts are viewed as evolved beasts that still need to rely on instincts in order to survive. Using freewill, instead, leads to their demise. With this, both “To build a Fire” and “The Cremation of Sam McGee” can be realized as naturalistic texts.

B.Pascal Zwane

Works Cited

• Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7th ed. Fort Worth: Earl McPeek Publishers, 1999. Print.
• Campbell, Donna M. “Naturalism in American Literature”.  Literary Movements. Department of English, Washington State University. 04 July 2013. Web. 20 December 2013. http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/natural.htm
• London, Jack.  The Cremation of Sam McGee. The World of Jack London – Jack London Stories of the North. Youth’s Companion, 29 May 1902. Web. 19 December 2013. http://www.jacklondons.net/buildafire.html
• Service, Robert. “To Build a Fire”. The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses. New York: Barse & Hopkins Publishers, 1907. Poem of the Week. Web. 19 December 2013. http://www.potw.org/archive/potw22.html

South Africa Celebrates 20 Years of Democracy

Freedom Day

Walking with arms at my back
On corridor of liberty,
Where man's dream was once met,
And again, man's wound is abolished.


There are no restrictions to gain,
Less I am confined, prisoned,
For I am accorded human respect
That was taken from my old folks.


We let you to levitate, with our gratitude
For your adamant spirits emancipated us,
And let those lost, redeem their virtues
For that is all they needed.


Mandela, Sisulu and Tambo
Punished for our welfare,
Salute, we salute them all,
For their dreams are quenched.


The puzzle mat is well combined
People are of colorless skin
And of same objectives, embracing this land
South African, Mzansi Africa
Enjoy the silent communication with the nation
Enjoy the juices of Mzansi’s vine yard.


On this freedom day
We join hands and shield liberation,
We instill love together,
Let the wings of the dove reign.

Alancia Lebogang Mogorosi

A Cultural Studies Analysis of Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing

Atwood’s “Helen of Troy does Countertop Dancing” can be viewed as a commentary of a 20th century society that has its roots firmly entrenched in capitalism. This essay will discuss the aspects that constitute the society in question. Various approaches including Marxist, Jungian and Feminist literary criticism will be used to decipher the culture and society of the text.

One of the approaches in unlocking the society in “Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing” includes examining the apparent societal structure and power relations in the poem. A Marxist analysis of the text is appropriate in accomplishing this. Marxist criticism states that whichever entity that has economical control over a society has a direct influence on the culture of that particular society. “Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing” presents a capitalistic society where in men seemingly have a dominant position economically. “I sell men back their worst suspicions: that everything is for sale and piecemeal” confirms the capitalistic nature of this society in which men have the buying power. Moreover, women are described as only having minimum- paying jobs in the poem. This is another way of understanding that economic power lies with men and not women in the poem.

However, if men represent the economical control of this society, one would still have to show what their direct influence on the culture of this society is. Culture, in its broadest sense, is what is ordinary (Williams, 1958). The definition of culture is, however, limited to the society in question. What is ordinary in one society may not be ordinary in another.  In the poem, strip teasing (what the speaker does to earn a living) is common in that society, even though looked down upon by many: “The world is full of women who’d tell me I should be ashamed of myself…”. This would then imply that strip clubs are part of the culture in this society. Strip clubs are a form of entertainment that rely on the existence of an audience (men). Therefore, the influence men have in the existence of strip clubs can be established. Hence, given the assumption that men have economic power in this society, it can be shown that their influence determines some of the culture of the society in the poem.

Since societies are made up of individuals, an analysis of relations between the individual and society may reveal more about the nature of the society. The speaker in the poem is presumably from a free and democratic society. However, how the individual and society interact may reveal more on the power relations in that society. A vital question to ask, then, would be: are the speaker’s choices and actions determined by the society she lives in or by her?  One may argue that the speaker’s actions reflect her freewill and drive to make more money, “I’ve a choice how of how and I’ll take the money”. She does this job despite the disapproval and judgments of some people in her society. On the other hand, the speaker can be said to be the victim of a male-dominated society which lives little or no choice in how women can earn a better living. This argument would imply that the choices made by individuals are bound to what the controllers of a society have deemed available and possible. This is despite the “freedom of choice” the speaker exercises in the text.

By focusing further on the individual and the motivation that leads to their choices, other characteristics and problems of the in the poem society can be revealed. The speaker of the poem seemingly defies the expectations women have of her and she aims to establish power over her male clients, “Such hatred leaps in them, my beery worshippers”. With this knowledge, one may declare that the speaker’s actions are in line with feminist criticism. Feminist criticism deals with the patriarchy that women have to live under. Feminist literature exposes the atrocities perpetrated by a male-dominant society and it seeks ways of reestablishing power relations between men and women.  This poem achieves this by depicting a woman who is not confined by the stereotypes attributed to women, but instead expresses her freedom of choice. The speaker also has a job that earns her more money than usual-giving her more economic power. Using her beauty as well, the speaker is able to exert control over men who normally have a dominant position in society. In other words, the poem can be viewed as empowering women through their sexuality.

Finally, by examining the psychoanalysis of the poem, a well-rounded understanding of the culture and society of “Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing” can be reached. The mythological references and archetypes found in the text allow for a Jungian analysis of the text. A part of Jungian literary criticism concerns itself with how myths and archetypes in literature reflect collective unconscious. According to Jung, the collective unconscious represents the layer of psyche in humans that has images of archetypes. These images can be found in myths and illustrate the innate inclinations that govern normal human behavior.

The use of the Helen of Troy myth in this poem can have various interpretations. The myth itself proclaims Helen to be the most beautiful women the world. Hence, the use of this myth could be alluding to the fixation of beauty as part of the collective unconscious. This fixation of physical beauty is found in the poem as the men who watch the speaker dance are only concerned with the gratification of seeing her body, “Seeing the rows of heads and upturned eyes, imploring but ready to snap at my ankles”. The original myth also states that Helen was the cause of the Trojan War, indicating the power and control she had over men. This archetype of how beauty brings power can be identified with the speaker who shows similar control over her audience, as her “beery worshippers” watch her dance, regardless if they are married or not.

“Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing” has various facets which when analyzed reveal the essence of the society and culture in the poem. The type of the society depicted in the text is resembles a modern one, which is driven by capitalism and still is largely male-dominated. The poem is also a rebellion against the stereotypes and limitations that women have been faced with. However, the allusion and archetypal figures that are portrayed with the myth of Helen of Troy indicate the central theme of the poem – physical beauty is a priority in our current society and culture, and physical beauty can give power and control to the one who possesses it.



B.Pascal Zwane






Works Cited

• Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7th ed. Fort Worth: Earl McPeek Publishers, 1999. Print.
• Gurana, Jacopo. Paris and Helen of Troy. nd. Art Renewal Centre. Web. 24 April 2014.
• Raymond Williams, Moving from High Culture to Ordinary Culture. Originally published in N. McKenzie (ed.), Convictions, 1958. Print.