I went to the Lakeview, Roselawn and Tiger Flowers cemetery complex for this fieldtrip, and I stayed there for at least 40 minutes. It was an interesting experience in which I felt pretty alone while being there. While reading, "In the swamp in secluded recesses, A shy and hidden bird is warbling a song," I felt as is what I was reading was reenacting before my very eyes as I heard the sounds of a bird or two chirping and then flying away. Another line that stuck out to me was the paragraph right underneath that, which stated, "Solitary the thrush, The hermit withdrawn to himself, avoiding the settlements, Sings by himself a song." After i read that I looked around and I was literally the only other person in the cemetery along with my friend who took the picture, but those words rung true as I stood there looking at all the tomb stones. Knowing that there were bodies beneath me really made me see that line differently as I thought of the bodies being the hermit withdrawn to themselves, all alone in the solitude of their graves. This experience opened up literature in a whole new way for, which was quite and exciting experiment.
I felt the same way Brooke. Thinking about the bodies underneath me just gave me a different type of respect for cemeteries. Such a place of rest. It such a weird thing to think of that so many bodies are under neath us, and of course then reading the poem aloud you gain a whole new respect for literature especially literature that you are literally put into like in real life. It's like your there at that moment of what the poem is speaking about. Pretty deep stuff there.
ReplyDeleteThat is so amazing to be able to have that experience and it really mean something. There are so many people that are unable to do such a thing for the simple reason that they are just doing the assignment. That really says alot about maturity and what it truly means to read a text in full context.
ReplyDeleteI too felt like I got more from certain lines by being in the graveyard. Knowing that bodies were beneath me made the text almost come to life. It was a great experience.
ReplyDeleteThe fieldtrip definitely made the poem come to life for me as well. It's so cool to see how real the words and meaning of the poem can be when you put yourself in that setting.
ReplyDeleteMan.....this was so cool. I almost didn't want to go because I was a little uncomfortable in graveyards. But just being there reminds me that death is a part of life. Just being there made this poem come to life for me - the song of the brids, the winding paths between the grave, the tombs. It was just amazing.
ReplyDeleteI agree; going to the cemetery definitely made the poem come to life. I liked what you said about being so aware of the bodies beneath you. It was such a crazy feeling- to have so much history lying underneath your feet.
ReplyDeletei totally agree! i didnt get much out of it until i read it in the cemetary... there is something about the setting o fwhere things take place ...
ReplyDeleteI like what you got out of this; I had a simmilar experience in a lonely graveyard; even though I went with a small group, we dissipated pretty quickly.
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