Journal 8 – Emerson’s Aphorisms

“There are always two parties; the establishment and the movement.” –

This aphorism shows that there are two paths people can take. They can either be a talker or a doer. The talkers are the establishment; they draft ideas and plans, and organize the course of action. The doers, the movement, are the ones that actually carry out that course of action and put the plan into effect. Most of the time, it is the movement that receives the credit, and they deserve the credit for they are the ones that are putting themselves at risk and in the line of fire. This idea can be related to war very easily for there are always people designing military strategy while they themselves stay in the safe zone and send others out to do what they have established. Emerson brings up a point that has been present throughout history and continues to be here in the present day.

“What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not been discovered.” –

All life has quality. All life also has a reason or purpose for being there. Emerson says that a weed is just something that people have not yet found the good in. Therefore, if there is something you do not like or someone you do not care for, try and find the good in them before you reject them as a weed. All people have a good quality to them and deserve for that quality to be found. When people find a weed, they just rip it out of their grass or garden and dispose of it. Not only do they tear it out, but they destroy every piece of it, including the root, so as to leave no trace of it behind. Emerson says we should first discover what good the weed can do before we remove it from our lives.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.” –

The past and the future should not affect our present lives. The past is history and what happens, happens. The only thing to do next is to move on and live your life. Worrying and fearing about the future will only bring you stress and anxiety. The future is what you make it and you shape it by what you do every day. Emerson is saying that people should focus on what is inside of them and discover what they want to do and what they want out of life and they can shape their future into something worthwhile.

Journal 7 - "To a Waterfowl" vs. "The Raven

William Cullen Bryant’s “To a Waterfowl” and Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” can be compared to each other in the sense that they both use the image of a bird as the main figure of the poem. However, the aspects of the poems are very different. “To a Waterfowl” has a peaceful and calm tone. It is a classical writing that shows order. Harmony and calmness are presented in “To a Waterfowl” with certain images such as when the bird “floats along” and when Bryant describes the ocean by saying, “the rocking billows rise and sink on the chafed ocean side.” Also, the setting is dusk by an ocean. This creates an image of a peaceful environment that symbolizes tranquility. Poe’s “The Raven” is a gloomy poem that represents the emotional romantic style of writing. He describes the time of year as “in the bleak December”, which creates an image of a cold time when the days are short. The speaker’s tone makes an impact on the reader in “The Raven”. The speaker comes across as depressed, grief-stricken, and eccentric. This further helps to make the poem more melancholy.