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Joseph Figliolia replied to the topic Yeats and Heaney: Violence in the Land in the forum Irish Studies 9 years, 12 months ago
Joe, I definitely agree with your attitudes about the function of violence in Yeats’ and Heaney’s poetry, but I think that both violence, and art, don’t necessarily have to serve as a tool for positive social change. For Yeats in particular, although he was a cultural nationalist who recognized the potential for art to be transformative, art was…[Read more]
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Joseph Figliolia started the topic Heaney, and the "Tribe's complicity" in the forum Irish Studies 10 years ago
In his bog poems, Heaney seems to aestheticize corpses as the objects of a necessary ritual sacrifice. The corpses, in this case, are sacrificed for various causes that either cement tribal values, or signify the consequences of subverting these values. In “The Tollund Man,” the body is sacrificed to the “mother goddess” who serves the same…[Read more]
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Joseph Figliolia started the topic Poets and the Dantean Contrapasso in the forum Irish Studies 10 years ago
In Heaney’s poem “An afterwards,” an unknown “she” places poets in the ninth circle of Dante’s inferno, the one saved for traitors. The unknown “she” remarks that for “backbiting in life,” poets will be forced to gnaw the necks and heads of those they “backbite” in hell. This punishment seems particularly apt because backbiting involves slandering…[Read more]
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Joseph Figliolia replied to the topic Yeats' Transition: From Paradox to Paradox in the forum Irish Studies 10 years ago
Devon I think your point about the changing function of the Rose in yeats’ poetry is a good one. I agree with you that even in Yeats’ early poetry, the rose serves as a symbol of transience. By definition, a flower is closely linked to the earth and the cycle of seasons, and by extension, inevitable death and decay. Paradoxically, however, yeats…[Read more]
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Joseph Figliolia started the topic Self Actualization in "Michael Robartes and the Dancer" in the forum Irish Studies 10 years, 2 months ago
For those of you familiar with humanistic psychology, specifically Maslow’s theory of “self actualization,” this poem takes on a new degree of antifeminism. In Maslow’s theory, “self actualization” equates more or less to unity of being achieved through striving towards, and eventually realizing, one’s ideal self. For maslow, this actualization…[Read more]
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Joseph Figliolia replied to the topic In the Seven Woods as Metapoetry in the forum Irish Studies 10 years, 2 months ago
This observation is especially interesting after our recent discussion about Yeat’s careful placement of his poems within this collection. For example, the concerted decision to transition from” Adam’s curse” to “Red Hanrahan’s Song about Ireland” is imbued with a layer of self conscious irony in light of the concluding stanza of the first poem.…[Read more]
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Joseph Figliolia replied to the topic The Gaelic Fountain in the forum Irish Studies 10 years, 2 months ago
I like your point about the “new fountain,” and I also see how celtic legends and myths–although native to Ireland–reflect the “global current” of thought that is inherent in all cultural traditions. For example, the stories of Cuchulain, the son of a sun god, mirror the stories of demi gods in Greek mythology like Theseus, Hercules, Perseus and…[Read more]
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Joseph Figliolia started the topic Thoughts on "The Lover tells of the Rose in his Heart" in the forum Irish Studies 10 years, 2 months ago
In light of our recent discussion about the symbolic function of roses in Yeats’ poems, I found this poem particularly interesting. In the poem, the narrator appears to lament the discrepancy between the mundane material world, and the ultimate reality symbolized by the rose. The narrator also expresses his longing to recreate existence in the…[Read more]
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Joseph Figliolia joined the group Irish Studies 10 years, 2 months ago
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Joseph Figliolia and Rob Doggett are now friends 10 years, 2 months ago
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Rob Doggett and Joseph Figliolia are now friends 10 years, 2 months ago
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Joseph Figliolia became a registered member 10 years, 2 months ago