"Old Ironsides" and "To the Fringed Gentian"

Oliver Wendell Holmes and William Cullen Bryant are both Fireside Poets and Romanticism poets. While William Cullen Bryant writes about nature, wildlife, and is the "oldest" Fireside Poet, Oliver Wendell Holmes' writing was focused on one object per poem and was originally a medic ("The Fireside Poets" 210). The two men came from different backgrounds and wrote about different things with different styles. Holmes' "Old Ironsides" and Bryant's "To the Fringed Gentian" are about a ship and a flower, respectively, and have some similarities and some differences. Both authors wrote about an American object, Holmes the USS Constitution and Bryant a flower native to the Eastern portion of the United States, that aroused feelings of joy, happiness, and pride for Americans (Love). "To the Fringed Gentian" is a tale of death, but unlike Bryant's "Thanatopsis", not overwhelmingly depressing or downbeat. William Cullen Bryant weaves a tale of a remarkable flower that only blooms when the "quiet light" and the "keen" night occurs ("The Fireside Poets" 211). The flower blooms after all of the other flowers have stopped for winter symbolizing an older person who is still active (Huff, "To the Fringed Gentian"). The line "the aged year is near his end" again represents the aged person who is ready to go out peacefully and gently ("The Fireside Poets" 211). The fringed gentian is the what the literal meaning of this poem talks about, but figuratively the poem is talking about dying peacefully as an gracefully aged person. Just like how the fringed gentians blossom to gaze at the "blue sky" as winter approaches, the narrator wants to be an aged man who gazes at the "blue sky" of heaven as his time comes ("The Fireside Poets" 211). The fringed gentian is a symbol of hope that the narrator uses to help him come to terms with death (Huff, "To the Fringed Gentian").

Oliver Wendell Holmes' "Old Ironsides" is about the USS Constitution and about Holmes call to arms with the American people to rally and preserve the great ironclad vessel. The ship was to be decommissioned and scrapped, but Holmes' poem saved the ship (Huff, "Old Ironsides"). Playing on patriotism and pride, Holmes used the American flag as a figurative symbol for the ironclad vessel to help persuade people to join his cause and save the ship. "Long has it waved high" is literally talking about the USS Constitution, but really means that by destroying the ship, the American flag is being taken down and the symbol of American hope, pride, and joy will be gone ("The Fireside Poets" 211). Patriotic people believe that doing anything to harm or disrespect a flag is wrong and by tying the idea that by saving the ironclad ship, people would be saving the American flag is an ingenious idea by Holmes (Huff, "Old Ironsides").

While both poems are in classic Romanticism iambic pentameter, the poems' subject matter is different. "To the Fringed Gentian" is about a pleasant and ideal way to die, while "Old Ironsides" is about not going out without a fight. The poems prey on different emotions to evoke a response from the reader. "To the Fringed Gentian" uses joy over knowing that dying peacefully looking up at heaven is a good way to leave this world. "Old Ironsides" uses patriotism and pride to convince people that destroying the USS Constitution would be similar to destroying a symbol of America. Both poems got their point across and made an impact on the reader.


"The Fireside Poets." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 210-211. Print.

Huff, Randall. "'Old Ironsides'." The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web 11. Dec. 2011.

Huff, Randall. "'To the Fringed Gentian'." The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web 11. Dec. 2011.

Love, C. "'To the Fringed Gentian'." In Barney, Brett, and Lisa Paddock, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895, vol. 2, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web 11. Dec. 2011.

Journal 20 - "Autumn"

"Autumn" is a Romanticism poem because its is figuratively about nature and autumn. As a characteristic of Romanticism poetry, "Autumn" has a standard iambic pentameter and is very rhythmic and easy to read. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow literally wrote about a rich, fancy, and golden kingdom with "bright silks" in his poem. Figuratively Longfellow is talking about the season of autumn and how the colors are very "rich" and "bright" as the leaves turn colors and decorate the trees and the ground. After all "the wind, scatters the golden leaves" around during autumn. The "red harvest moon" that is above the farmers in the kingdom is another representation of autumn as the red harvest moon occurs in the fall. The moon appears to be an orange-ish color because of the way the light reflects from the atmosphere. In the fall, the farmers are harvesting their crops and the dust that is kicked up from the soil eventually floats up into the atmosphere, altering the color of refracted light from white to orange. That is why it is called the harvest moon. Adding to this representation of autumn, Longfellow adds that the farmers ask for a "blessing of the farms" during the harvest moon, which symbolizes the desire for a good harvest of crops to make money and support their families.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is a Romanticism author. I know him from writing "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" which is another Romanticism poem because it celebrates freedom, but Longfellow takes his inspiration from the myth and legend that Paul Revere was and immortalized the man in the poem. "Autumn" is a Romanticism poem because of the symbolic nature theme as well as implies different symbolic meanings with the poem. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow celebrates American nature with his ode to autumn and to the harvest time. With his "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" he celebrates America's past, people, and freedom. He is a Fireside Poet because his poetry has that warmth and inviting to the American people characteristic. Autumn is a happy time as farmers are harvesting their crops and the leaves are falling, and everything looks beautiful.

Cooley, Keith. "Orange Moon." Moon Facts and Information. Web. 09 Dec. 2011.

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. "Autumn." Bartleby.com. Web. 09 Dec. 2011.

"The Chambered Nautilus"

"The Chambered Nautilus" is a Romanticism poem because it is, in the literal sense, about nature and can be taken in two different ways, one figuratively and one literally. The poem is literally about a shell that the narrator found and is comtemplating about the shell's past (Holmes). The sea brought the narrator the shell "Child of the wandering sea,/Cast from her lap, forlorn!" and as the narrator looks it over he notices the many "lustrous coils" that the shell has made over the years (Holmes lines 16, 23-24). Science today proves Holmes' statement to be true, as the chambered nautilus does gain one more chamber in its shell (Huff). For being written in 1858, the poem is scientifically accurate. The nautilus eats shellfish and goes to shore at night time (Huff). The cephalopod travels the oceans and Holmes uses that fact with the lines, "The venturous bark that flings/On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings/ In gulfs enchanted, where the siren sings,/ And coral reefs lie bare" (Holmes lines 3-6). That also reinforces the fact that this poem is from the Romanticism period as science is backing up the facts, but the poem is not classified as a Rationalist poem because instead of using the facts logically and for reason, Holmes invokes emotion and the peace of nature, indicating Romanticism.

Figuratively the chambered nautilus shell represents the adding on layers or chambers of wisdom, knowledge, and experience to life. After all, to grow emotionally as a person, one has to learn from the past and experience life, or in Holmes' terms:

"Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,

As the swift seasons roll!

Leave thy low-vaulted past!

Let each new temple, nobler than the last,

Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,

Till thou at length art free,

Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea!" (Holmes 29-35)

This can also be interpreted as growing spiritually as the shell is being outgrown "by life's unresting sea" and becoming "free" which symbolizes dying and going to Heaven (Huff). I also believe that Oliver Wendell Holmes is referring to archeology. Finding a chambered nautilus shell and wondering and imagining the life that it lived in the massive ocean is a daunting task. It could have been the king of the chambered nautilus or a mother nautilus who was eaten by a predator. Similar to archeology where archeologists dig up the past and determine what really happened, shells and bones are examined to see what stories can be discovered. The chambered nautilus shell had "irised ceilings" and was a "ship of pearl" (Holmes 1, 14). By the adjectives alone, a majestic, white nautilus comes to mind who goes on adventures rival of those of Jason and Odysseus. Or the nautilus could have been the prettiest girl nautilus, rival of Helen, and gotten all of the boy nautilus. That is the beauty of interpretation, anything is possible. One archeologist might see a skeleton that used to be a brave and noble prince who fought many battles, while another might see the same skeleton but who was a street rat who had to fight to survive. The imagery and figurative language that Holmes invokes allows each reader to have their own interpretation of the chambered nautilus and its adventures in acquiring its chambers.

Holmes, Oliver Wendell. "The Chambered Nautilus." Bartleby.com. Web. 07 Dec. 2011.

Huff, Randall. "'The Chambered Nautilus'." The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 07 Dec. 2011.

Washington Irving

Both of Washington Irving's short stories, "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Devil and Tom Walker" are examples of Romantic writing. Romanticism is not just defined as a piece of literature with romance and realism, but with an individual at the "center of life" with high regard for "individual thought and response" and includes a sympathetic view on the "past, primitivism, sensibility, nature, mysticism, and the grotesque" (Werlock). "Rip Van Winkle" has a protagonist who lives a charitable life, aiding others and helping out whenever he can, except at home (Irving, "Rip"). He sets a bad example for his two children because he does not do as his wife says and his farm and home are faltering. A "sympathetic" view of the past and mysticism are exemplified in this short story when Rip Van Winkle falls asleep after drinking from a keg of liquor and wakes up twenty years later (Irving, "Rip" paragraph 25). Rip Van Winkle slept through the Revolution in America! When he went up to the highest peak in the Catskill Mountain, "his majesty", George the third, was king and ruler of the colonies in America (Irving, "Rip" paragraph 13 line 6). When Rip woke up and went back into town, he saw a poster of General George Washington in the place of King George III (Irving, "Rip" paragraph 33). That time period of American history was very important and changed many things in everyday life, as Rip Van Winkle experienced by the barrage of questions that the townsfolk asked of him when he ventured down from the mountains (Irving, "Rip" paragraph 35). The mysticism of the short story is how Rip Van Winkle slept for twenty years because he drank some sort of mysterious liquid that was given to him by a stranger who knew him by name (Irving, "Rip" paragraph 19).

"The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving is another example of a Romanticism piece of literature, but for different reasons than "Rip Van Winkle". "The Devil and Tom Walker" centers around a man who is not very "romantic" with his wife and shows a lot of individual thought and responses for the situations that he is put in. There is a "sympathetic" view of human nature in this short story. Tom Walker made a deal with the devil that he will give his services if the devil gives him riches (Irving, "Devil" 247). But Tom has enough of a moral compass and ethics to say no to running a slave ship. While being an usurer is still bad and hurts people, the job still comes with less guilt and self remorse and regret then being a slave trader. Tom could not bring himself to do that which shows that he has a set of morals and sticks to it, no matter how much riches he could have earned (Irving, "Devil" 247). Until one poor land jobber finally broke Tom's resolve when he was an old man, Tom lived out his life with the constant struggle of trying to make himself feel better about cheating people out of their money, when they do not have any to spare. When that poor land jobber begged for an extension, Tom cried out "The devil take me if I have made a farthing" (Irving, "Devil" 249). As Tom has made a lot of money from the man, the devil came and took his life. The character of Tom Walker showed Washington Irving's view of human nature when it came to how far a man would go for riches. "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Devil and Tom Walker" are both Romanticism pieces, but are told with different characteristics of a Romantic story.



Irving, Washington. "Rip Van Winkle." Bartleby.com. Web. 06 Dec. 2011.

Irving, Washington. "The Devil and Tom Walker." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 240-250. Print.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "Romanticism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 06 Dec. 2011.