The Individual

Thomas, actor and friend,

Oh, pleasure to be around,

There are some who get a thrill from

Solving an equation in math,

Or memorizing dates in social studies.

Others seek to be fake in front of a crowd

To impress, to catch as many eyes as

Possible. Still others wish to blend in,

To never have a name, to never be noticed

And not stir things up. These are quiet, shy

People, not answering questions in class.

More seek only to ridicule and put people

Down, in an attempt to boost themselves

Up. These people are generally disliked.

Some are stingy, never giving a penny

Extra, while others are cowards, lacking the

Gumption to complete a task. Meddlers

Find thrill in conflict, creating chaos

Whenever possible. Not you. You are the

Individual. You do not need to be told that

You are smart, as you know you are

Intellectually. You do not need to be fake to

Impress others; you do that as you are. You

Always stand out, are always generous, and are

Courageous, and you always know what

Others are thinking. You find pleasure in

True culture, in music, in dance, in acting.

Others never strive to be the best that they

Can be, but in your field, that is all you do.

For that, someday you will reach the stars. 

Proper Nouns from Horace 1.1

Maecenas-Important patron and friend of Horace

Olympicum-A series of athletic competitions held for representatives of various city-states in Greece, used here for Greek games in general

Quiritium-The Roman people

Libycis-The country of Libya

Attalicis-Of Attacus, King of Pergamus

Cypria-Cyprus

Myrtoum-The Myrtoan Sea

Icariis-An island in the Icarian Sea

Africum-Africa, a continent south of Europe

Massici-Massic wine

Ioue-Jupiter, king of the gods

Marsus-Latin poet and contemporary of Horace, also had Maecenas as a patron

Nympharumque-Nymphs, water demi-goddesses

Satyris-Satyrs, upper part man, lower part goat

Euterpe-The muse of music

Polyhymnia-One of the muses

Lesboum-Of Lesbos, a Lesbian

Horace Odes 1.1-Formal and Structural Analysis

Maecenas atauis edite regibus,

o et praesidium et dulce decus meum,

sunt quos curriculo puluerem Olympicum

collegisse iuuat metaque feruidis

euitata rotis palmaque nobilis               5

terrarum dominos euehit ad deos;

hunc, si mobilium turba Quiritium

certat tergeminis tollere honoribus;

illum, si proprio condidit horreo

quicquid de Libycis uerritur areis.               10

Gaudentem patrios findere sarculo

agros Attalicis condicionibus

numquam demoueas, ut trabe Cypria

Myrtoum pauidus nauta secet mare.

Luctantem Icariis fluctibus Africum               15

mercator metuens otium et oppidi

laudat rura sui; mox reficit rates

quassas, indocilis pauperiem pati.

Est qui nec ueteris pocula Massici

nec partem solido demere de die               20

spernit, nunc uiridi membra sub arbuto

stratus, nunc ad aquae lene caput sacrae.

Multos castra iuuant et lituo tubae

permixtus sonitus bellaque matribus

detestata. Manet sub Ioue frigido               25

uenator tenerae coniugis inmemor,

seu uisa est catulis cerua fidelibus,

seu rupit teretis Marsus aper plagas.

Me doctarum hederae praemia frontium

dis miscent superis, me gelidum nemus               30

Nympharumque leues cum Satyris chori

secernunt populo, si neque tibias

Euterpe cohibet nec Polyhymnia

Lesboum refugit tendere barbiton.

Quod si me lyricis uatibus inseres,               35

sublimi feriam sidera uertice.

Edite-2nd person plural present active imperative of "edere" meaning " to eat"

Sunt-3rd person plural present active indicative of "esse" meaning "to be"

Iuuat-3rd person singular present active indicative of "juvare" meaning "to help"

Euehit-3rd person singular present active indicative of "evehere" meaning "to carry away"

Certat-3rd person singular present active indicative of "certare" meaning "to contest"

Tollere-present active infinitive meaning "to raise"

Condidit-3rd person singular perfect active indicative of "condere" meaning "to put away"

Uerritur-3rd person singular present active indicative of "verrere" meaning "to sweep clean"

Findere-present active infinitive meaning "to divide"

Secet-3rd person singular present active subjunctive of "secare" meaning "to sever"

Laudat-3rd person singular present active indicative of "laudare" meaning "to praise"

Reficit-3rd person singular present active indicative of "reficere" meaning "to rebuild"

Pati-present active infinitive meaning "to suffer"

Est-3rd person singular present active indicative of "esse" meaning "to be"

Ueteris-2nd person singular present passive subjunctive of "vetare" meaning "to forbid"

Demere-present active infinitive meaning "to remove"

Spernit-3rd person singular present active indicative of "spernere" meaning "to scorn"

Iuuant-3rd person plural present active indicative of "juvare" meaning "to help"

Manet-3rd person singular present active indicative of "manere" meaning "to remain"

Est-3rd person singular present active indicative of "esse" meaning "to be"

Rupit-3rd person singular perfect active indicative of "rumpere" meaning "to break"

Miscent-3rd person plural present active indicative of "miscere" meaning "to mix"

Secernunt-3rd person plural present active indicative of "secernere" meaning "to separate"

Cohibet-3rd person singular present active indicative of "cohibere" meaning "to hold together"

Refugit-3rd person singular present active indicative of "refugere" meaning "to flee"

Tendere-present active infinitive meaning "to stretch"

Inseres-2nd person singular future active indicative of "inserere" meaning "to plant"

Maecenas, descendant of kings,

Oh, and my protector and sweet honor,

There are some whom  amassing  Olympic chariot dust

Pleases, and turning points in a circus

Avoided by glowing wheels, the noble palm

Exalting the gods, lords of the world;

This man, if an uproar of easily swayed Romans

Fights to raise him by threefold honors;

That, if he puts away in his own granary

Whatever has been swept up from the Libyan threshing floor.

Rejoice to split by hoe the ancestral

Fields, never on Attalicis terms

Could you move him, a ship to Cyprus

He, a fearful sailor, divided the Myrtoan Sea.

Struggling against and fearing the African flood,

Merchants praise the peace and lands

Of his farm; Soon, he repairs the battered

Boat, ignorant to allow poverty.

There is he who forbids neither a Massici cup of wine

Nor to take away and spurn a part of the work day,

Now laying out his limbs beneath a strawberry tree,

Now off to the gentle head of some sacred spring.

The camps please many, and the sound of trumpets

Mixed with cornets for war are hated by mothers.

The hunter remains under the frigid Jupiter,

Forgetful of his tender wife,

Whether a doe is with her faithful fawns,

Or if a Marisian boar breaks down his well-wound nets.

Ivy, the prize of my learned brow,

Mix with the gods above; My icy woods

And a capricious chorus of nymphs and satyrs

Separate the population,  if Euterpe's flute

Does not hold together, nor does Polyhymnia

Of Lesbos flee to stretch his lyre.

But if you insert me as a lyric poet,

The crown of my head will strike the stars.

The poem has a title, it is Horace's "Odes 1.1."

The theme is that Maecenas is not like everyone else in the way he gains happiness and fame. Maecenas likes a simpler lifestyle  (Hor. Odes 1.1.17).

The poem takes place in Horace's time, when Maecenas is his patron.

The narrator is implicit; it is Horace. He is third person omniscient in this poem, and the poem does invite one to equate the author and the narrator.

The poem has an internal addressee, namely Maecenas (Hor. Odes 1.1.1)

This poem has many characters including the gods, Romans, merchants, a hunter, a doe and her fawns, a boar, nymphs, satyrs, Euterpe, and Polyhymnia. These characters act in their own right.

The poem has a cheerful mood, praising Maecenas.

Maecenas has chosen to be Horace's patron, and this set the poem in motion.

Maecenas has been thanked and praised by the end of this poem. Horace has also asked to be a lyric poet of the Greek canon (Hor. Odes 1.1.35-36)

Horace alludes to the Greek Olympics (Hor. Odes 1.1.3), the Libyan threshing floor, nymphs, satyrs, Euterpe, and Polyhymnia. These allusions reinforce the explicit meaning.

Horace praises Maecenas and tells about how many others obtain fame and fortune. He then states that in contrast, Maecenas is a simpler kind of guy, who finds pleasure with the little things in life. Horace then asks to be a lyric poet of the Greek canon.

Horace has a pattern of placing proper nouns throughout the poem. He also waits until the very end, after he has stroked Maecenas' ego, before asking to be a lyric poet.

Horace uses average words to describe others' lifestyle, but words like "laudat" (Hor. Odes 1.1.17) to describe Maecenas' lifestyle, praising him like a god.

In this poem, the farm ("rura" Hor. Odes 1.1.17) stands for an Epicurean lifestyle. Euterpe and Polyhymnia are also used as symbols for culture. Horace is saying the Maecenas is a cultured man.

Horace alludes to the Greek Olympics, one of the multiple allusions to Greek culture in this poem. He alludes to the Olympics to show the contrast between glory won by sporting events and glory gained by Epicureanism. He also alludes  to the Libyan threshing floor, as the Libyans provided wheat for much of the Roman Empire. Horace also alludes to the Greek canon, a set of nine famous lyric poets. He wishes to be one of them.

Horace chooses to address Maecenas in the first word of the poem (Hor. Odes 1.1.1), making it clear that the poem will be about him. Horace nears the ends of the paragraph before he pulls in the nymphs, satyrs, and muses, suggesting that Maecenas is worthy to be in their presence, as they may exist even in Maecenas' woods (Hor. Odes 1.1.30) on his estate. He also ends with the word "uertice" (Hor. Odes 1.1.36), a word which can also mean "top" or "summit" ending the poem on a high note (literally). 

Horace 1.11-Formal Analysis and Structural Analysis

Horace 1.11:

Tu ne quaesieris (scire nefas) quem mihi, quem tibi

finem di dederint, Leuconoe, nec Babylonios

temptaris numeros. Vt melius quicquid erit pati!

Seu pluris hiemes seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam,

quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare

Tyrrhenum, sapias, uina liques et spatio breui

spem longam reseces. Dum loquimur, fugerit inuida

aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.

Parsed Verbs:

Scire-present active infinitive meaning "to know"

Dederint-3rd person plural future perfect active indicative of "dare" meaning "to give"

Erit-3rd person singular future active indicative of "esse" meaning "to be"

Pati-present active infinitive meaning "to suffer"

Tribuit-3rd person singular present active indicative of "tribuere" meaning "to assign"

Debilitat-3rd person singular present active indicative of "debilitare" meaning "to weaken"

Sapias-2nd person singular present active subjunctive of "sapere" meaning "to have sense"

Reseces-2nd person singular present active subjunctive of "resecare" meaning "to cut back"

Fugerit-3rd person singular future perfect active indicative of "fugere" meaning "to flee"

Carpe-2nd person singular present active imperative of "carpere"  meaning "to seize"

Translation:

Don't you keep searching, to know is a sin, what to me, what to you

Goals that the gods will have given, Leuconoe, do not test the Babylonian

numbers. To suffer whatever is noble!

Whether Jupiter assigned the farthest winters or many,

Which now weakens against the pumice of the

Tyrrhenian sea. May you have sense, strain the wine and check your long hopes

In this small space. As we are speaking, jealous time

flies: Seize the day, with little confidence in the next.

Formal Analysis:

The poem's title is Horace 1.11

The theme is so down and take life one day at a time, using the youth of life to the fullest.

The narrator aims at spring time as the setting.

The narrator is Horace, and the poem invites us to equate the author with the narrator.

The poem has an internal addressee, named Leuconoe (line 2)

The characters in the poem are Horace, Leuconoe, and Jupiter (Line 4). Horace reports on Leuconoe, but Jupiter acts in his own right.

The poem has a mood of taking life by the reigns.

Horace is attracted to Leuconoe, and wanted to woo her, so set the poem in motion. The poem anticipates that Leuconoe will seize the day and take Horace up on his offer.

The poem alludes to Jupiter, the king of the gods, and his role in the world. It also alludes to the Babylonian numbers, which are part of an old, complicated number system.

Structural Analysis:

Horace speaks to Leuconoe on living life one day at a time, and embracing it. Horace basically says, "Stop paying attention to everything else, we're what's important. Whether you'll have a long life or short life, time's running out. We're ready, let's go. This is the springtime of our lives, let's start having fun. Stop hoping for a bright future, live in the moment. We are in our youth, and time itself is jealous of us. So seize the day, trusting the future as little as possible."

The spacing in the poem shows specific placement in words likes Babylon, Jupiter, and Tyrrhenian. Placement in Latin is very free and can be used to convey specific meaning. The lines are all also around 15 syllables long. Also, none of any of the sentences ever start with a verb.

Starting out the poem with "Tu" shows that the poem is like a letter addressed to someone. Also, starting out with a verb like "quaesieris" (Line 1) gives the impression that the whole poem will be about seeking, striving, and obtaining. Ending the poem with "little confidence in the next" shows that the now is what is important in the poem.

Jupiter is a symbol of power, as he is the "hinge" that the world relies on as the ruler of the gods. He is a symbol of action in the present, not past or future, as his job demands.

The allusion to the Babylon numbers and number system shows that one need not go against the current and fight what is already established, as it is not important or something big to worry about. Now is not the time to be profound, but to act in the moment. There is also an allusion to the Tyrrhenian Sea. People must live their lives to the fullest before they are eroded like water does to stone.

Horace chose to keep things succinct and to the point, with not many superfluous words or adjectives. He chose keep his point short and sweet, like each day that should be lived by one like Leuconoe.

"The Second Coming"-A Formal Analysis

The title of the poem is "The Second Coming,” by W.B. Yeats. The themes are those of revelation, destruction, and the apocalypse. The setting of this poem is the Earth. The poem states no time, but while it was being written, Yeats thought that the world was on the threshold of an apocalyptic moment. The narrator is implicit and is third person omniscient in the first stanza, and is first person in the second stanza. It is a single person. The poem seems to equate the narrator and the author in the second stanza. The implied reader is the assumed audience. The characters in the poem include the falcon, the falconer, the best, the worst, a shape with a lion body and the head of a man, desert birds, a rough beast, and the narrator. All the characters have no agency, excluding the narrator, who is the only character to speak and act in their own right. Otherwise, the characters are just reported on. The mood of the poem is somber and serious throughout the poem. The poem describes the whole world. The world has been rotting before the poem started, and seems about to end. A question ends the poem, asking whether or not the world will be saved or left to destroy itself. The ending seems to anticipate that the world will be saved. The poem holds many allusions. The gyre in line 1 refers to another of Yeats’ poems, in which two cones make up history, and an apocalyptic moment occurs, as history switches cones. Lines 7 and 8 are a paraphrase of Prometheus Unbound, a book which Yeats regarded with religious awe. The revelation and Second Coming cited in the poem allude to the Book of Revelations in the New Testament of the Bible and the Second Coming of Christ, respectively. The Spiritus Mundi refers to a belief of Yeats’ that each human mind is linked to a single vast intelligence. The shape with a lion body and the head of a man referred to the sphinx, who guards the gates of Thebes. The rough beast slouching to Bethlehem to be born is Christ, and gives hope at the end of the poem. All of these allusions reinforce the explicit meaning, except the allusion to Jesus. This final allusion subverts the explicit meaning, giving hope that perhaps the world will not fall into oblivion.

Ki-A Structural Analysis

"Ki" is a traditional cell animation about a person feeling locked up in his own life. In the video, much of what is stated is done without words. The director portrays a lifeless, depressing world, in which one man is trapped from birth until death.

A circle of onlookers watch as a child is born and presented a key. He uses that key throughout life to unlock the next stages of his life. He matures, marries, gets a job, grows old, and then dies. A circle of onlookers watched as the key was taken away. (Proairetic)

Throughout the video, people fly in and out of a circle, with ki's energy beating in the background. The man is also always in a cage of some sort, never to be free his whole life. (Hermeneutic)

A circle of onlookers surround the man as he is born, and as he dies. This connotates that one leaves life as one enters life. All the cages portray the trapping of the man. (Semic)

The key symbolizes the man's life force and a way to unlock the next stages of his life, until he dies. At that point, he has no use for the key, so it is taken away. (Symbolic)

Ki is Japanese for the life force/energy that permeates the world. In this case, it is manifested physically in the key. (Reference)

The many repeated colors and pattern of life portrays a homogenous, soul-suckingly depressing world. This supports the feeling of being trapped by the world. (Diagetic)

The man feels that the world has stripped him of himself, only leaving him with a superficial shell with which to live the rest of his life. He must conform and be as everyone expects him. It is not a choice. This causes the feeling of being trapped in life, being freed only through death.

[:ki]. Google Video. Web. 7 Sept. 2010. <http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1001413595702190711#>.

"Qi." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 07 Sept. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi>.