Reading Wordsworth as a Poet

Wordsworth is a poet of nature; he is believed to be a poetic revolution himself. He is known far and wide as the pioneer of a movement in poetic art known as romantic poetry. The movement began in 1798 with the publication of collaborative work called “The Lyrical Ballads” which was an anthology of poetry by S. T. Coleridge and Wordsworth himself. The poetry that the collection contained was of a novel kind, it shook the conventions and gave a new perspective of poetry altogether. When we come to Wordsworth he is infamous for being the poet of nature. He derives his subjects and content of his work from the rawest forms of nature and many critiques have argued that he believes that the best form of poetry comes from the raw life of the country. He himself has stated that the interaction of human being with nature creates the purest form of emotions which are necessary for good poetry. And a poet writes for people and that too for all kinds of people which also include the people from raw country life as a poet is a “man speaking to men”. 

A reader of Wordsworth would be fascinated by his interest in country life as opposed to sophistication of the conventional poetry of 18^th century Wordsworth invests his time and energy contemplating upon the life of people close to nature. He himself has faced both the phases in his life, he was raised up in countryside and then he moved to London and he reflects his city life experiences to be illusionary and mere pretense. In his poem “Tintern Abbey” he illustrates his auto biographical experience of enjoying nature and he proclaims nature to be the source of joy and claims himself to be a “worshipper” of nature. His other poems like “London”, “Solitary Reaper”, “Brook” etc are excellent examples for the clichéd Wordsworthian poetry reading.

The best known work of Wordsworth known as “The Prelude” which is also the longest poem that he wrote is an autobiography in verse, where he documents his journey of life from boyhood till he is mature. The plot of the poem is a buildings-roman in nature. The poem illustrates the progress of his love for nature and his dislike for city life. Reading the poetry of Wordsworth will for sure pose nostalgia of going back to rural life and rethinking our relationship with nature.

Assef Ali
StoryMirror

19th Century Poetry

“A thing of beauty is joy forever” is what poets like John Keats believed in. 19^th century England was an England inspired by its neighborhood enjoying the colours of the French revolution. The poetry of 19^th century England also was an expression to portray the poets’ desire to break free from the restrictions and regulations that neo-classical poets had maintained. The 19^th century poetry, also dubbed as ‘Romantic Poetry’ began officially in 1798 with the publication of Lyrical Ballads of William Wordsworth and the period ends roughly around 1850. 

The 19^th century poetry was marked by taking over of subjective emotions in poetic art. Many forms of poetry were written in this period. Forms like Odes, Sonnets, and Lyrics were the prevalent ones.  The major poets of the era were poets like William Wordsworth, S T Coleridge, L G Byron, John Keats, and P B Shelly.  The poets were writing to express their views about a variety of things they came across. For the first time in the poetical history of England the definition of poetry was “emotions recollected in tranquility” and it was “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”.

Some major works of the era were Prelude, written by William Wordsworth, Lyrical Ballads, written by Coleridge and Wordsworth together and Don Juan of Byron. These poems were enriched with natural imagery and free from the general constrains of 18^th century poetry. The poetry evoked a feeling of freedom and subjectivity. People who read poetry also increased by this time and also the focus of the subject matter shifted from aristocracy to common masses. A poet in this period was a “man speaking to men” which is pretty inclusive statement

The period though ended with taking over of Novel as a popular literary form but Romantic age was taken to be glorious period for English poetry. During the last stages of romantic age the public read and acknowledge the new form of novel and enjoyed it more than prose. After 1850 there were poets like Rosetti, Robert Browning and E B Browning but they were not as popular as Dickens and other novelists who made their places in the bookshelves of the common masses.

-- Assef Ali

StoryMirror

Writing: A profession

             
         “Father, I want to become a writer”. Father replied “What? Have you gone mad? You dumb. What have you been reading these days? I tell you these are your friends messing with your thoughts. I’m warning you”. The boy cried “But Dad” and father continued “Stop arguing with me. All your stupid novels and books will be thrown. Focus on your studies. You will become an Engineer”. Many among us would have faced this situation or somewhat related to it. It doesn’t end with Engineering. Doctors, Chartered Accountant are the other substitutes.

Why to be a writer is highly questionable? Is it the fault of that person who is so creative and talented? Though for the present generation this situation is minutely altered. The era has changed. Writers are stereotypically imagined as “one wearing a long kurta, shabby attire and doesn’t have money on him”. This has changed over the years. Now, there is a big industry providing young writers an opportunity to build their life around their passion. The creativity that youngster caters can actually evolve it from amateur to a professional.

Professionally that person has a way in to be a content writer or content developer in advertising    industry. He or she can pursue as a script writer for movies, advertisements, event management, media, publishing, editing, small documentaries and along with it continue their own dream as a writer, poet and one cannot leave a philosopher. Even a travel blogger for many big organizations which I personally admire and it is a very big industry on its own ground.

The question has changed over years which one would certainly recognize. It is not about why you want to become this but it is more of what are the career options when you already are one, for that many options have already been mentioned. I personally understand that hindrance when somebody asked you “so as writer what is it you actually do?” It was more of an insult then a question. But it can be answered with all the self confidence I have that I am a content writer for ‘Story Mirror’. It is a platform for all those young aspirant writers and artists to show their talent to the world. A world where a new story is created and lived daily .So for all those freshmen scared to build their future in writing. They are welcome to share their stories and follow their dream.

-Aman Verma 
Story Mirror

Comic-ology – A world of Superheroes and uber-villains

 Have you been one of those who loved heroes like Spiderman, Superman, Batman and villains like Joker, Hades etc? If you said yes then it’s probably because you have lived your childhood among the wonder worlds of comic books. I’m sure you have not wondered about the history of comic books that time but why don’t you do it now? What’s the harm? An example of an early precursor to print comics is Trajan's Column. Rome's Trajan's Column, dedicated in 113 AD, is an early surviving example of a narrative told through pictures, at the same time Egyptian hieroglyphs, Greek friezes, medieval tapestries such as the Bayeux Tapestry and illustrated manuscripts were also combine sequential images and words to tell a story which made these one of the ancient examples of comic books. Versions of the Bible relying primarily on images rather than text were widely distributed in Europe in order to bring the teachings of Christianity to the illiterate. In medieval paintings, many sequential scenes of the same story (usually a Biblical one) appear simultaneously in the same painting.

It must be notes that all of these forms of comics did not travel to the reader until the invention of printing press. It would be an extremely interesting venture to put light upon few of the interesting facts about the comic book industry.

Do you know that heroes like Batman, Superman and others have been generating revenues for their creators since 1930s and the cost of comics have gone up from less than a dollar to more than a million dollars and the comic books are becoming key modules for Hollywood movies. It was in 1938 in a comic named Action Comics when Superman made his first appearance in the world of comic books. This was the beginning of the superhero genre and the same comic was sold in 2011 for 2.16 million dollars.

Wolverine is a very famous character in Japan, He used to be a samurai and trained as a ninja.  Spider man edition #583 in 2009 sold more than half a million copies and its plot featured Chameleon impersonating Obama. To list some of the best selling comics over the recent years:-

• The Amazing Spiderman – $30 million
• Batman - $17 Million
• Ironman – 1.66 Billion over 4 movies
• Spider-Man – $1.37 billion over 4 movies

The comic book culture has though expanded from the comic pages to movie screens. This has made a huge difference in the way we perceive comic books. The movies have also expanded the audience from up to teenage to people of higher age and maturity who wouldn’t mind consuming the comic books in the forms of movies.

The comic book culture has though expanded from the comic pages to movie screens. This has made a huge difference in the way we perceive comic books. The movies have also expanded the audience from up to teenage to people of higher age and maturity who wouldn’t mind consuming the comic books in the forms of movies.

Assef Ali
www.storymirror.com

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are tonight’s entertainment. -Joker

Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, the owner of the then National Allied Publications, the man responsible for one of the greatest contributions to the youth of all generations- DC Comics was one of the most creative persons in terms of action comics and adventure stories to step on this planet. He launched a nearly bankrupt company into one of the biggest comic empires in the entire world.

DC Comics- a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Entertainment is one of the largest and most successful American comic houses. The origins of its name lie behind Nicholson’s third comic title (and last as an independent owner of NAP) - Detective Comics of which the first issue released in March 1937. The series became not only sensational but also one of the most famous of all because of the introduction of one of the most awesome and even more awesome superhero of all time- the one and only, Batman. The ultra-rich playboy of Gotham, orphaned in his childhood, Bruce Wayne decided to don the cape and mask and become a symbol that every criminal feared, a symbol that represented his own fear which he wanted to instill into the hearts of Gotham’s enemies- the Bat symbol. They say a hero is defined by his villains, and no hero has a rogues gallery like Batman; the most famous of all being the Joker- a psychotic criminal who is very accurately described as ‘someone who wants to watch the world burn’ in the movie The Dark Knight by Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred Pennyworth- a powerful and important character in the Batman series.

“Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! Its superman.” Probably the most famous lines in the history of superhero comics. With his God like powers and lady-killing looks, the mysterious son of Krypton who had no sense of fashion (c’mon, who wears their red underwear over blue tights?) and had sunlight for breakfast was revered by many DC fans as the most powerful superhero of all time.He is considered to be the purest, most selfless and incorruptible superhero of all. Matched against the Marvel character Hulk, who is said to have an indestructible body and is strength personified, in the DC vs. Marvel limited edition series, Superman won by popular vote but the debate still continues heavily among fans of the characters over which character is stronger. But not all people believe that superman is the embodiment of truth and loyalty. Some say that he has commitment issues and was a manipulative jerk for knocking up Lois Lane and leaving her and their child (who apparently inherited his powers) to fend for themselves against the mercies of the cruel world that we live in. Some fan theories also say that Superman was secretly gay and was ashamed of coming out which is why he left Lois Lane.

Agreed that superman is all powerful, hot and god-like but enough with the movie reboots. DC has taken the superman franchise and tried to hammer it into the audience’s brains again and again and has miserably failed. The same storyline has been repeated so many times (and in a horribly depressing manner of Lois Lane pining for Superman whilehe’s busy saving the world) that the audience has started getting tired of the first ever created superhero. Now the Batman movies are simply awesome. With his high tech gadgets, the super amazing BatSuit, inventive mind, playboy attributes and truck loads of money, Batman has captured the minds of all generations. No other hero has generated the level of awesomeness that the dark knight has. Even his villains are so unique, so dangerous and so damn good. Heath Ledger in his role of The Joker in The Dark Knight is considered to be the best performance by any villain in all of cinematic history. His gruesome scars, his habit of playing with his victims before killing them, his famous dialogue, “Why so serious?” All describe the madness, the villainous nature and the insanity within. No one can forget the conversation between the caped crusader and the make-up maniac- “This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.” Sad that Heath Ledger died of drug abuse shortly before his highly acclaimed role of the craziest but most awesome criminal ever, won him the Oscar for the best supporting actor.

DC is also credited for creating one of the most powerful superhero teams- The Justice League which consists of Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Aqua man, Hawkeye and the Flash. Interestingly, all these characters were introduced before 1950 and their popularity reached such heights that even today, the demand for their movies, action figures, clothing and even footwear never goes down.

The unique thing about DC is that it does not follow the convention of heroes being the main character of the comic. The villains are equally intense, equally important and sometimes even garner more fan following. Characters like Doomsday- Superman’s nemesis, Ra’s Al Ghul- Batman’s mentor and the head of the League of Assassins, Bane- the all-powerful, ‘Venom’ charged assassin have a certain appeal that make them integral to the DC Universe. 

DC Comics has been running successful TV shows like ‘Arrow’ and ‘The Flash’ since the past year and has garnered massive fan following. DC also plans to release its latest movie ‘Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice’ in March and ‘Suicide Squad’ in August next year. With its market share dipping since 1961 due to the emergence of Marvel, DC is going all guns blazing to win its fans back. But I feel that the actual reason behind DC’s downfall is the extremely slow buildup of all its movies and TV shows in which the character is busy fighting off his inner demons and hence his/her job of saving the world is hindered. It was this human aspect of the inhuman superheroes that won the hearts of the audience but its overuse by DC has led to a decrease fan following of the comic house. In spite of having awesome storylines and intense characters that leave an impact on the audience, DC has failed many times to regain its top position in the comic industry.

There is always a story behind a DC comic, a story of good over evil no matter the obstacles. A story of the good inside everyone, the good that can make even the most ordinary of people extraordinary.

“A hero can be anyone.
Even a man doing something as simple
and reassuring as putting a coat
around a little boy’s shoulder
to let him know
that the world hadn’t ended.”

-Batman

-Anurag Bagga