It Ain't All Sunbathing and Sightseeing

While the sunbathing and sightseeing are superior, I was actually taking a class. We would have breakfast on the patio overlooking the decks and ocean, then after breakfast service, move into the restaurant and push a couple of tables together to make room for all of us.  It was simple and simply delightful.  The windows to the left of me looked out over a tiny patch of beach.  You could see the other hotels with their non-existent beaches and no safe way to get to the water.  You had to climb down rickety ladders.  They had walls that literally met the water.  Hence, no beach.  That's another reason that our hotel reigned supreme.  It had the best design for getting to the water. Santa Marinella ought to invest in its coastline.  Fix it up with sundecks and ramps or ladders that ease you into the water. 


Anyhoo, class.  Class was lecture/discussion. I had my little bag of Orsetti d'Oro (Haribo
Gold Bears), which was criminal since I has eaten like, two croissants and juice for breakfast. The Italian gummy bears had green apple as one of the flavors and it was delicious! Addictive!


So...yeah...class...


Towards the end of the sojourn, it was time to think about my research paper.  So many possible topics. I knew I wanted to do something with the Classical writers.  Cicero's The Nature of The Gods was something I really enjoyed reading.  His arguments about how gods are/should be/are not reminded me of William Blake's poem "Tiger, Tiger" which I teach in my English classes. The arguments about the nature of a single god, I thought, could clash interestingly with Cicero's arguments about his culture's bundle of gods. 


I jotted down some ideas that I'd like to address.  Some of them did not come to fruition, some did, but were not convincing.  In the end, the best part of my paper was not the Classical argument vs. the Romantic argument, but the analysis of Blake's poem. 
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Proposal for Research Paper (ENGL 5330)

 

General issues of interest 

• A close reading of Cicero’s The Nature of The Gods and William Blake’s poem “Tiger, Tiger”
   
  Some general issues of interest include…
• Compare and contrast rhetorical treatment of their dialectic regarding the nature of god in general, issues of workmanship, metaphysical purpose of a creative god, among other issues.
• Handling the issue through poetry vs. dialogue
• Cicero’s contention vs. Blake’s contention
• Blakes’  reading history to see if he read Cicero
• Connecting points between language in the poem and language in TNoTG.
• Where does Cicero end up? Where does Blake? What conclusions did they arrive at and are there similarities?
• What constitutes a god in Cicero’s time and in Blake’s time? What do their views have in common in spite of thousands of years separating them?
• How was Cicero read in Blake’s time?
   
  READ PLATO’S THE REPUBLIC
  --CRIME – PRETENDING TO KNOW BUT DOES NOT REALLY KNOW
  READ THE CAVE ALLEGORY!!
  DOES DIALECTIC GIVE WAY TO POETRY? HIGHER TRUTH/DISTORTION OF TRUTH
  KEATS?
  Desmond Lee Penguin edition
  Learn more about topic
  TEACH SOMETHING ABOUT BLAKE AND CICERO TOGETHER
  GOAL – ESSENSE OF ALL THINGS; EVIDENCE OF GOD;
  WHICH APPROACH REACHES THE MORE FUNCTIONAL TRUTH
  Romantics vs. Classicists
  Sublime emotion is a type of evidence vs. cicero’s search for reason in believing/is there some rational evidence
  Nature vs methodology
  Poet is solipsistic/ poem is a private thing/private rationale/intuition is evidence enough
  Relativism might be an issue
  Does the end compel different methods or approaches
  Blakc, Cicero, Plato, Blake’s education
  Classicist influence on Romantics
  Petrarch
  Dialogue
   
  William Blake’s poem: (one stanza is missing)
   
  Tiger, tiger burning bright
  In the forests of the night
  What immortal hand or eye
  Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
   
  In what distant deeps or skies
  Burnt the fire of thine eyes
  On what wings dare he aspire
  What the hand dare sieze the fire
   
  What the hammer, what the chain
  In what furnace was thy brain
  What the anvil what dread grasp
  Dare its deadly terrors clasp.
   
  When the stars threw down their spears
  And watered heaven with their tears
  Did He smile his work to see?
  Did He who made the lamb make thee?
   
  Tiger, tiger burning bright
  In the forests of the night
  What immortal hand or eye
  Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
   
   
  The rhetorical practice that I’m interested in exploring will be the questioning of the nature of god. Blake seems to question the Christian God’s craftsmanship in a way similar to Cicero breaking down the Stoics’ beliefs.
   
  At this point, other than comparing and contrasting, I’m not sure how this information can be useful. Who would need to know something like this?  How can this information be useful?