Tag: Analysis

Analysis of the Redbreast Chasing the Butterfly, By William Wordsworth

One of the most interesting things was observed by me, while doing an analysis of this poem last night. The fact that Wordsworth transposed his Shadow onto the Robin. Making the Robin equal to a "False Prophet." The text is clear... And I'd believe he's talking about Robert Southey, and possibly insinuating a superficial relationship between the two of them; at the end, he clearly says to either commit to the friendship or "Leave him alone." It's almost, however, like Wordsworth is transposing his shadow upon the Robin---as who the figure is is only speculative---there's some non compos mentis moments in the poem, where there's an allusion to misbehavior happening with children in the leaves. Where he gets this, is likely material from dealing with his shadow... as I struggle with imagery of the same. Just in different ways.

The poem struck me, as in my own poetry, there's this figure who's like the shadow. I make him into a doppelganger, and I understand him through Biblical Turn of Phrase such as Micah 7 where it says that "Our sin will be cast into the sea" or in Isaiah 53, where the poem literally says that Christ burdens our "Contagion" which I believe means something like "Daemon." The Shadow element of the soul, which the great poets touch upon. Even Bob Dylan has touched upon this shadow; the universal figure of the "False Prophet"; so has Byron, whom Child Harold's Pilgrimage is about his very shadow. There is a strain of great poets to be talking about this enigmatic figure. In Hosea it says "Death is more prosperous than his brethren."

This figure is ubiquitous throughout all poetry. It may just be the Daemon which Christ subdues for us. The burden which Christ carries within Him, according to Isaiah 53. Because Wordsworth is struggling with this deep imbedded evil. The truth is, Wordsworth struggled with Schizophrenia, and judging by my own dealings with it it normally is when our shadow comes into conscious thought, and the "Daemon" is consciously touched. Which causes the sickness of the soul, and thereby, creates the paranoia. Yet, the "Daemon" is burdened by Christ; the sin nature in all of us, which is capable of having "Covered with leaves the little children,/ So painfully in the wood?" and there's a question mark. It touches upon my conscience latent reminiscing of the Daemon... either projected outward or inward. In Wordsworth's case it is projected outward, into a persecution delusion. In my case, it's projected inward, into a Doppelganger delusion. In either case, we split the Shadow into an individual separate from ourselves. A lot of great poets do this, split the shadow self and lay accusations upon him. The closer that shadow is to our own person, the more we understand ourselves to be in need of Christ. Yet, it is the figure of "Death" which Wordsworth is talking about. Death is Who Jung called the Shadow Self; Our Sin Nature; or as Isaiah 53 puts it, our "Contagion" or "Daemon".

Wordsworth, William. "The Redbreast Chasing the Butterfly." Poem Hunter. https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-redbreast-chasing-the-butterfly/. 12.17.21. Web.

Blackbird, Interpretation of the Beatles Song

Obviously, Paul McCartney wants Blackbird to be interpreted as a "Black Woman". "Bird" is a British Idiom for "Woman", but it is offensive, so the song is not using this connotation.

The Dead of Night - In the 60's the Doomsday Clock was, as it still is, set at near midnight. 

Blackbird has other connotations of "Poet" in Irish Literature and Archetypes, of a Rebel Poet. Though, it's unlikely Paul McCartney is singing about poets, though, he could also be referencing Audre Lorde who published her first volume of poetry that same year. The White Album was published in Late November of 1968. So it might be a reference.

However, the Blackbird of Irish Poetry was a rebel poet who was persecuted for their songs; some were hung for their poems, while others were thrown into prison. The song might also be, unintentionally, a criticism of the censorship of black voices. The work could be claiming, though likely not intended by its author, there's a victory of the "Blackbird" to overcome censorship and Racial Boundaries. 

"All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise." The moment being the expansion of Civil Rights in 1968. There was a significant expansion of Civil Rights in 1968.

1968, the same year The Beatles published the White Album, there were many advances for Free Speech and Civil Rights. The Blackbird having its historical significance of a rebel poet martyred for their speech (Unlikely intentioned by the Song's Creator), and its literal interpretation given by Paul McCartney of a "Black Woman". 

One could almost assume it to be Audre Lorde whom the poem refers to, if not literally then symbolically, and her publication of "The First Cities".

Beatles, The. The White Album. Apple Records, 1968. YouTube.