Ecstasy Cover mine eyes, O my Love!

Mine eyes that are weary of bliss As of light that is poignant and strong O silence my lips with a kiss, My lips that are weary of song! Shelter my soul, O my love! My soul is bent low with the pain And the burden of love, like the grace Of a flower that is smitten with rain: O shelter my soul from thy face! Sarojini Naidu Summary: Ecstasy, an overwhelming feeling of great happiness or joyful excitement: an emotional or religious frenzy or trancelike state. The narrator tells her lover to cover her eyes that are weary of bliss; perfect happiness; great joy: a state of spiritual blessedness: be in a state of perfect happiness, oblivious to everything else. Her eyes are too tired to look and see anything that is beautiful in nature or around her. As of light that is poignant; evoking a keen sense of sadness or regret; and strong over the silence of her lips with a kiss. Her lips that are weary of song! She is too tired to sing the songs of peace, comfort and love. She pleads to her lover to shelter her soul that is bent low with the pain and the burden of love, like the grace of a flower that is smitten; strike with a firm blow: defeat or conquer: a firm blow; with rain: To shelter her soul from his face! All that she needs is a long break, far from the noises of the human settlements to be alone. She needs that time to think, to ponder and to meditate with the one who controls the universe.

Cradle Song FROM groves of spice, O'er fields of rice, Athwart the lotus-stream, I bring for you, Aglint with dew A little lovely dream. Sweet, shut your eyes,

The wild fire-fiies Dance through the fairy neem; From the poppy-bole For you I stole A little lovely dream. Dear eyes, good-night, In golden light The stars around you gleam; On you I press With soft caress A little lovely dream. Sarojini Naidu SUMMARY: A 'Cradle Song' or lullaby is a song by which children are made to fall asleep. In the present poem, the mother perhaps is reciting the lullaby. She describes the various places from which she has gathered the song that is descending gradually upon the eyelids of her child. From the gardens of spice,which is filled with a strong and pleasant aroma of natural spicy herbs, the baby's mother starts gathering the most beautiful words to fill in the lyrics of the song for the lullaby. Her imagination leaves the spicy gardens and flies over the dark green fields of rice and paddy. From the rice fields across the fresh streams where plenty of lotus grows, glowing and glistening with dew she weaves and brings a lovely dream of fantasy for her baby. She tells her baby to shut its eyes and see the wild fire-flies; or glowworms- insects whose tails emit a greenish light at night; in its imagination. Imagine that these flies are dancing their flights around the fairy neem-a sacred Indian tree. The mother had stolen a 'lovely dream' from the poppy bole; the stem of the poppy plant which has a sleep producing effect upon the eyes. The idea is that the dream brought by the mother for her child is pleasant and is sure to induce sleep on the eyes of all children. Finally the baby goes into a deep and sound sleep. The mother bids her child 'good-night'. In the golden light of the late evening produced by the clear starry skies, the stars from heaven look down upon the baby in its cradle. The mother place lovingly on her baby with soft affection ' A little lovely dream'.

On Being Brought from Africa to America 'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land, Taught my benighted soul to understand That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too: Once I redemption neither sought nor knew. Some view our sable race with scornful eye, "Their colour is a diabolic die." Remember, Christians, Negro's, black as Cain, May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train. Phillis Wheatley SUMMARY:

Ready to be impressed? Are you sure? Okay, brace yourself: Phillis Wheatley was the first African-American woman in America to publish a book of poems. If that's not enough, she also survived being kidnapped from Africa and shipped to America as a slave, where she was taken in by the Wheatley family and eventually learned to read Latin and Greek. All this was in the late 1700s. So, although everything was against her in society back thenwrong race, wrong gender, wrong countryshe succeeded as a poet despite all odds. Although her poems typically address Christianity and avoid issues of race, "On Being Brought from Africa to America" is a short, but powerful, poem about slavery. In fact, people could hardly believe that a slave could actually read and write, let alone write poems. But write she did, often in the neoclassical style of heroic couplets, publishing her first book of poems in 1773. Phillis Wheatley's life is an interesting, but tragic, story of both success and failure. She arrived in America at age 7, and by 14 she was reading and writing poetry. She also studied Greek and Latin under the care of the Wheatley family, whose name she adopted. In fact, Phillis isn't even her real first name, but it is the name of the slave ship (The Phillis) that brought her over from Africa. Her "master" named her after the ship, and she used that name until she died at age 31. After publishing her book Poems on Various Subjects, Religious, and Moral, Wheatley achieved some success in both England and America, where her owner eventually freed her from enslavement. She married and had three children, two of whom died due to health complications. She had plans for a second book, but unfortunately it was never published, and the manuscript was lost after she died in the winter of 1778. "On Being Brought" is Wheatley's most anthologized poem, so it must be good, right? Not only is Wheatley famous for being the first black American to publish a book of poems, but she's also one of those formal gurus that used those old-school poetry tricks, like rhyme and iambic pentameter (glossary to the rescue!). "On Being Brought" mixes themes of slavery, Christianity, and salvation, and although it's unusual for Wheatley to write about being a slave taken from Africa to America, this poem powerful addresses ideas of liberty, religion, and racial equality.

A Rebus I. A bird delicious to the taste, On which an army once did feast, Sent by an hand unseen; A creature of the horned race, Which Britain's royal standards grace; A gem of vivid green; II. A town of gaiety and sport, Where beaux and beauteous nymphs resort, And gallantry doth reign; A Dardan hero fam'd of old For youth and beauty, as we're told, And by a monarch slain; III. A peer of popular applause, Who doth our violated laws, And grievances proclaim. Th' initials show a vanquish'd town, That adds fresh glory and renown To old Britannia's fame. Phillis Wheatley SUMMARY:

That couplet about Helen? Excellent. Shortly after she returned to the Colonies, the Wheatley family freed her, partially due to pressure from her new English friends. But she stayed with the family and took care of John and Susanna, both in poor health, until they passed away. The rest of her story isnt much fun. She married in 1778, but was soon abandoned by her husband. Though she kept writing, always, only five more of her poems were published during her lifetime. Eventually, she took work as a servant and died penniless in December of 1784. She remains to this day, however, a remarkable woman who wrote remarkable poems. _______

* An Elegiac Poem, on the Death of that Celebrated Divine, and Eminent Servant of Jesus Christ, the Reverend and Learned George Whitefield can be found here. ** If you dont know, for example, that Maecenas was a wealthy Roman patron of the arts around 40 BC and acted as a sort of unofficial minister of culture to his good friend Caesar Augustusyeah, the same guy who allegedly hauled a pregnant lady all the way to Bethlehem so he could get a head-countyou might not read the verse at the top of this post in quite the same way. I sure didnt.