ENG 326 final Pennington

William Blake – “London”

Critiques industrialization and the suffering it brings; explores themes of social injustice, oppression, and loss of innocence.

William Blake – “The Tyger”

Questions the nature of creation and evil; explores divine mystery and the complexity of beauty and terror.

Charlotte Smith – “Written at the Close of Spring”

Laments the fading of nature and youth; reflects on sorrow, aging, and the transience of life.

William Wordsworth – “Tintern Abbey”

Shows how nature provides comfort, moral guidance, and spiritual renewal; emphasizes memory and personal growth.

William Wordsworth – “The Lucy Poems”

Reflects on love, loss, and the unnoticed lives of humble individuals; portrays deep emotional connection to nature and the dead.

William Wordsworth – “Preface to Lyrical Ballads”

Outlines Wordsworth's poetic philosophy; argues for using simple language and expressing profound emotion rooted in everyday life.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge – “Christabel”

Gothic and supernatural poem that explores ambiguity, sexual tension, and the conflict between good and evil.

John Keats – “Ode on a Grecian Urn”

Contrasts eternal beauty in art with life's transience; meditates on the relationship between truth and beauty.

Robert Burns – “To a Mouse”

Shows empathy for a frightened animal; reflects on human vulnerability and the unpredictability of life.

Percy Shelley – “Ozymandias”

Illustrates the downfall of powerful rulers; emphasizes the fleeting nature of political power and human achievement.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning – “The Cry of the Children”

Critiques the horrors of child labor; appeals to social conscience and emotional compassion.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning – “Sonnet 43”

Celebrates deep, spiritual, and unconditional love; famous for the line “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”

Robert Browning – “My Last Duchess”

A dramatic monologue revealing a controlling, jealous duke; explores power, pride, and objectification in relationships.

Robert Browning – “Porphyria’s Lover”

Depicts a speaker who strangles his lover to preserve a perfect moment; explores love, madness, and control.

John Henry Newman – The Idea of a University

Argues that a university education should focus on intellectual development and the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake.

Walter Pater – Conclusion to The Renaissance

Promotes aestheticism and living for intense experiences of beauty; emphasizes individual perception over moral instruction.

Alfred Tennyson – “The Lady of Shalott”

Explores themes of isolation, artistic creation, and gender roles; contrasts the safety of detachment with the risks of engagement.

Oscar Wilde – The Importance of Being Earnest

A comedy that satirizes Victorian society; explores themes of identity, deception, and the absurdities of social norms.

Wilfred Owen – “Dulce et Decorum Est”

Describes the gruesome reality of trench warfare; denounces the myth that dying for one's country is sweet and honorable.

Wilfred Owen – “Anthem for Doomed Youth”

Laments the brutal, impersonal deaths of soldiers in war; replaces funeral rites with battlefield imagery.

Virginia Woolf – “As a Woman I Have No Country”

Challenges nationalist and patriarchal thinking; promotes feminist pacifism and the need for global solidarity beyond borders.

W. B. Yeats – “The Second Coming”

Paints a chaotic vision of modern history unraveling; predicts the rise of a terrifying new era.

W. B. Yeats – “Sailing to Byzantium”

Rejects the aging body in favor of spiritual and artistic immortality; celebrates art as a timeless refuge.

Samuel Beckett – Waiting for Godot

An absurdist play portraying two characters waiting endlessly; explores themes of futility, repetition, and existential doubt.

Louise Bennett – “Colonization in Reverse”

Uses humor and Jamaican dialect to flip the colonial script; celebrates cultural resilience and critiques British imperialism.

Zadie Smith – “The Waiter’s Wife”

Explores immigrant life, gender expectations, and the clash of cultural identities in modern-day London.

Samuel Beckett – Waiting for Godot

“Nothing to be done.” (Estragon)

Samuel Beckett – Waiting for Godot- Quote 1

“We always find something, eh Didi, to give us the impression we exist?” (Estragon)

Samuel Beckett – Waiting for Godot- Quote 2

“Let’s go.” / “We can’t.” / “Why not?” / “We’re waiting for Godot.”

Samuel Beckett – Waiting for Godot- Quote 3

“Hope deferred maketh the something sick.” (Vladimir, paraphrasing Proverbs)

Samuel Beckett – Waiting for Godot- Quote 4

“They give birth astride of a grave.” (Pozzo)

Samuel Beckett – Waiting for Godot- Quote 5

“Was I sleeping while the others suffered?” (Vladimir)

Oscar Wilde – The Importance of Being Earnest - Quote1

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” (Jack)

Oscar Wilde – The Importance of Being Earnest- Quote 2

“To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.” (Lady Bracknell)

Oscar Wilde – The Importance of Being Earnest- Quote 3

“All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.” (Algernon)

Oscar Wilde – The Importance of Being Earnest- Quote 4

“I’ve now realized for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest.” (Jack)

Oscar Wilde – The Importance of Being Earnest- Quote 5

“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” (Gwendolen)

Oscar Wilde – The Importance of Being Earnest- Quote 6

“In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing.” (Gwendolen)

William Blake – “London” Quote

“I wander through each chartered street… / Marks of weakness, marks of woe.”

William Blake – “The Tyger” Quote

“Tyger Tyger, burning bright / In the forests of the night.”

Charlotte Smith – “Written at the Close of Spring” Quote

“And these—their loves, their hopes, their joys, the same! / Still with unwearied steps they tend the plain.”

William Wordsworth – “Tintern Abbey” Quote

“A presence that disturbs me with the joy / Of elevated thoughts.”

William Wordsworth – “The Lucy Poems” Quote

“She dwelt among the untrodden ways.”

Wordsworth – “Preface to Lyrical Ballads” Quote

“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.”

Coleridge – “Christabel” Quote

“A snake's small eye blinks dull and shy / And the lady's eyes they shrunk in her head.”

John Keats – “Ode on a Grecian Urn” Quote

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”

Robert Burns – “To a Mouse” Quote

“The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men, / Gang aft agley.”

Percy Shelley – “Ozymandias” Quote

“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: / Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

Elizabeth Barrett Browning – “The Cry of the Children” Quote

“It is good when it happens,” say the children, “that we die before our time.”

Elizabeth Barrett Browning – “Sonnet 43” Quote

“I love thee to the depth and breadth and height / My soul can reach.”

Robert Browning – “My Last Duchess” Quote

“I gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together.”

Robert Browning – “Porphyria’s Lover” Quote

“That moment she was mine, mine, fair, / Perfectly pure and good.”

Tennyson – “The Lady of Shalott” Quote

“I am half sick of shadows,” said the Lady of Shalott.

Wilfred Owen – “Dulce et Decorum Est” Quote

“The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori.”

Wilfred Owen – “Anthem for Doomed Youth” Quote

“What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?”

Yeats – “The Second Coming” Quote

“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”

Yeats – “Sailing to Byzantium” Quote

“That is no country for old men.”

Louise Bennett – “Colonization in Reverse” Quote

“What a joyful news, miss Mattie / I feel like me heart gwine burs.”