Collection of Classic Christmas Poems

Collection of Classic Christmas Poems Classic Christmas poems are a joy to read during the holiday season. They offer a glimpse into how Christmas was celebrated in the decades and centuries of the past. It is likely true that some of these poems have shaped how we view and celebrate Christmas today. As you snuggle beneath the Christmas tree or before the fire, browse some of the poems gathered here for your holiday reading and reflection. They may inspire you to add new traditions to your celebration or even to take up your own pen or keyboard to compose your own verses. Christmas Poems from the 17th Century The traditions of the Christmas season in the 17th century combined the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus with baptized versions of pagan solstice revelries. The Puritans tried to rein it in, even to the extent of banning Christmas. But the poems from these times tell of holly, ivy, the Yule log, mince pie, wassail, feasting, and merriment. William Shakespeare, Lines spoken after the ghost’s exit from Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 1 (1603)George Wither,â€Å"A Christmas Carol† (1622)Robert Herrick,â€Å"Ceremonies for Christmas† (1648)Henry Vaughan,â€Å"The True Christmas† (1678) Christmas Poems from the 18th Century This century saw political revolutions and the Industrial Revolution. From the bucolic list of gifts of fowl in The Twelve Days of Christmas, there is a transition to more somber issues of war and strife in Coleridges A Christmas Carol. Anonymous,â€Å"The Twelve Days of Christmas† (1780)Samuel Taylor Coleridge,â€Å"A Christmas Carol† (1799) Christmas Poems from the 19th Century St. Nicholas and Santa Claus became popular in the United States in the 19th Century and A Visit from St. Nicholas popularized the elements of nocturnal rounds of gift giving. The poem helped crystallize the image of a chubby Santa Claus with a sleigh and reindeer and arrival on the roof and down the chimney. But the century also has Longfellows lament about the Civil War and how the hope of peace can survive harsh reality. Meanwhile, Sir Walter Scott reflects on the holiday as celebrated by a baron in Scotland. Sir Walter Scott, â€Å"Christmas in the Olden Time† (from Marmion, 1808)Clement Clark Moore (attributed to him- but more probably written by Major Henry Livingston, Jr.),â€Å"A Visit from St. Nicholas† (first published in 1823, likely written in 1808)Emily Dickinson,â€Å"’Twas just this time last year I died† (#445)Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,â€Å"Christmas Bells† (1864)Christina Rossetti,â€Å"In the Bleak Midwinter† (1872)Robert Louis Stevenson,â€Å"Christmas at Sea† (1888) Christmas Poems of the Early 20th Century These poems are ones worth setting aside some time to muse over their meanings and lessons. Did the oxen kneel at the manger? Who gave the poet an unseen kiss under the mistletoe? What is the worth of a field of trees if not to be cut down for Christmas trees? What brought the Magi and other visitors to the manger? Christmas can be a time for contemplation. G.K. Chesterton,â€Å"A Christmas Carol† (1900)Sara Teasdale,â€Å"Christmas Carol† (1911)Walter de la Mare,â€Å"Mistletoe† (1913)Thomas Hardy,â€Å"The Oxen† (1915)William Butler Yeats,â€Å"The Magi† (1916)Robert Frost, â€Å"Christmas Trees† (1920)

Analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper by C. Perkins Gilman

Analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper by C. Perkins Gilman Like Kate Chopins The Story of an Hour,  Charlotte Perkins Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper  is a mainstay of feminist literary study. First published in 1892, the story takes the form of secret journal entries written by a woman who is supposed to be recovering from what her husband, a physician, calls a  nervous condition. This haunting psychological horror story chronicles the narrators descent into madness, or perhaps into the paranormal. Or perhaps, depending on your interpretation, into freedom. The result is a story as chilling as anything by Edgar Allan Poe or Stephen King. Better Health Through Infantilization The protagonists husband, John, does not take her illness seriously. Nor does he take her seriously. He prescribes, among other things, a rest cure, in which she is confined to their summer home, mostly to her bedroom. The woman is discouraged from doing anything intellectual even though she believes some excitement and change would do her good. She must write in secret. And she is allowed very little company- certainly not from the stimulating people she most wishes to see. In short, John treats her like a child, calling her diminutive names like blessed little goose and little girl. He makes all decisions for her and isolates her from the things she cares about. His actions are couched in concern for her, a position that she initially seems to believe herself. He is very careful and loving, she writes in her journal, and hardly lets me stir without special direction. Her words also sound as if she is merely parroting what shes been told, and hardly lets me stir seems to harbor a veiled complaint. Even her bedroom is not the one she wanted; instead, its a room that appears to have once been a nursery, thus emphasizing her return to infancy. Its windows are barred for little children, showing again that she is being treated as a child, and also that she is like a prisoner. Fact  Versus Fancy John dismisses anything that hints of emotion or irrationality- what he calls fancy. For instance, when the narrator says that the wallpaper in her bedroom disturbs her, he informs her that she is letting the wallpaper get the better of her and thus refuses to remove it. John doesnt simply dismiss things he finds fanciful; he also uses the charge of fancy to dismiss anything he doesnt like. In other words, if he doesnt want to accept something, he declares that it is irrational. When the narrator tries to have a reasonable talk with him about her situation, she is so distraught that she is reduced to tears. But instead of interpreting her tears as evidence of her suffering, he takes them as evidence that she is irrational and cant be trusted to make decisions for herself. He speaks to her as if she is a whimsical child, imagining her own illness. Bless her little heart! he says. She shall be as sick as she pleases! He does not want to acknowledge that her problems are real and so he silences her. The only way the narrator could appear rational to John would be to become satisfied with her situation; therefore, there is no way for her to express concerns or ask for changes. In her journal, the narrator writes: John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him. John cant imagine anything outside his own judgment. So when he determines that the narrators life is satisfactory, he imagines that the fault lies with her perception of her life. It never occurs to him that her situation might really need improvement. The Wallpaper The  nursery walls are covered in putrid yellow wallpaper with a confused, eerie pattern. The narrator is horrified by it. She studies the incomprehensible pattern in the wallpaper, determined to make sense of it. But rather than making sense of it, she begins to discern a second pattern- that of a woman creeping furtively around behind the first pattern, which acts a prison for her. The first pattern of the wallpaper can be seen as the societal expectations that hold women like the narrator captive. The narrators recovery will be measured by how cheerfully she resumes her domestic duties as wife and mother, and her desire to do anything else- like write- is seen to interfere with that recovery. Though the narrator studies and studies the pattern in the wallpaper, it never makes any sense to her. Similarly, no matter how hard she tries to recover, the terms of her recovery- embracing her domestic role- never make any sense to her, either. The creeping woman can represent both victimizations by the societal norms and resistance to them. This creeping woman also gives a clue about why the first pattern is so troubling and ugly. It seems to be peppered with distorted heads with bulging eyes- the heads of other creeping women who were strangled by the pattern when they tried to escape it. That is, women who couldnt survive when they tried to resist cultural norms. Gilman writes that nobody could climb through that pattern- it strangles so. Becoming a Creeping Woman Eventually, the narrator becomes a creeping woman. The first indication is when she says, rather startlingly, I always lock the door when I creep by daylight. Later, the narrator and the creeping woman work together to pull off the wallpaper. The narrator writes, [T]here are so many of those creeping women, and they creep so fast. So the narrator is one of many. That her shoulder just fits into the groove on the wall is sometimes interpreted to mean that she has been the one ripping the paper and creeping around the room all along. But it could also be interpreted as an assertion that her situation is no different from that of many other women. In this interpretation, The Yellow Wallpaper becomes not just a story about one womans madness, but a maddening system. At one point, the narrator observes the creeping women from her window and asks, I wonder if they all come out of that wallpaper as I did? Her coming out of the wallpaper- her freedom- coincides with a descent into mad behavior, ripping off the paper, locking herself in her room, even biting the immovable bed. That is, her freedom comes when she finally reveals her beliefs and behavior to those around her and stops hiding. The final scene, in which John faints, and the narrator continues to creep around the room, stepping over him every time, is disturbing but also triumphant. Now John is the one who is weak and sickly, and the narrator is the one who finally gets to determine the rules of her own existence. She is finally convinced that he only pretended to be loving and kind. After being consistently infantilized by his prescriptions and comments, she turns the tables on him by addressing him condescendingly, if only in her mind, as young man. John refused to remove the wallpaper, and in the end, the narrator used it as her escape.

Wastewater Treatment Methods Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Wastewater Treatment Methods - Case Study Example Therefore as one in charge of the city’s water supply, opting for an all-purpose water plant is more beneficial (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2004). Water treatment involves a variety of stages. It begins at the primary stage which involves a process referred to as sedimentation which allows for all the undesired materials to sink to the ground as the water is left floating. At this stage, the water cannot be used. The secondary stage follows and this involves processes like biological oxidation and disinfection. The water from this stage can be used for the non-potable purposes. The tertiary or advanced stage is the final stage and the processes found in it include chemical coagulation, filtration and further disinfection. The water from this last stage is what is used for indirect potable purposes like ground water recharging (My Clearwater, 2010). Reclaimed water is mostly used for non-potable; non-drinking processes. It can however be used for drinking provided the water being recycled undergoes the necessary treatment procedures as outlined by the EPA in their technical document entitled ‘Guidelines for Water Reuse’. The non-potable processes include landscaping irrigation, toilet flushing and in the construction industry. Compared to water reclaimed for drinking processes, these processes require less treatment. It is worth noting that whatever purpose water is reclaimed for, the savings made both from a financial and resources view point are great. Industries have also benefited from recycled water whereby instead of them using clean fresh water, they opt to reuse treated water that has already been used in their cooling processes (Natural Resources Defense Council, 2011). Water being recycled for potable use is done through recharging the ground water aquifers and augmenting surface water reservoirs with rec ycled water. Projects like this have

(a research proposal ) Employee satisfaction and firm performance Essay

(a research proposal ) Employee satisfaction and firm performance - Essay Example e are many studies, articles and research devoted to customer satisfaction, but the writings, theories and strategies related to employee satisfaction with job are few. The ideas that employee satisfaction is related to productivity in the same degree as customer satisfaction, appeared at the beginning of 90s, and it was confirmed in the practice and experience of various companies. The number of studies devoted to this problem constantly grows. The authors of the article, mentioned above, provided a scheme, defined as â€Å"the service profit chain†. (p. 15) This scheme included all necessary element of achieving success and prosperity for the company. These authors investigated experience of various companies from different branches of industry, and made important conclusions. They insisted that the correlation of employee and customer satisfaction with the profit directly influence company’s performance. The results of the study provided a basis for new patterns of managing success in business. The methods they observed, concentrate on the effect of employee job satisfaction and performance on â€Å"the value of products and services delivered so that managers can build customer satisfaction, loyalty and assess the corresponding impact on profitability and growth.† (p. 17) The authors add that â€Å"...the lifetime value of a loyal customer can be astronomical, especially when referrals are added to the economics of customer retention and repeat purchases of related products.† (p.17) The authors note: "Putting employees and customers in the spotlight is common to Quality programs. As anyone working in support of Quality knows, Quality doesn’t just happen. Those running a company must be fully committed to it. In the case of the companies under discussion, their CEOs and top managers exhibited a special kind of leadership. â€Å"CEOs of exemplary service companies emphasize the importance of each employee and customer. For these CEOs, the focus on customers and

Coming Full Circle in Anna Karenina Essay -- Literary Analysis

What happens when you cut yourself off from society, or are cut off by it? This is the main question that Leo Tolstoy explores in Anna Karenina. Isolated from society, Anna is destroyed by a conflict of wills. The desire of the individual is forced to give way to society’s restrictions and requirements, represented in the image of the railroad. Those who do not conform to society will ultimately face death, a fate, that both Anna and Vronsky will not be able to outrun as a consequence of their illegitimate relationship. Besides personifying the necessity of living within society’s realm of expectations, the railroad serves a central role in the organizational plan of the novel. The major railway scenes can be interpreted as pillars supporting the structure of the novel by connecting the Anna/Vronsky storyline. It is at a railway station where Anna is introduced to Vronsky, where he admits his love to her and where Anna makes her first and last appearance. The recurrence of motifs and the final return to initial associations within Anna Karenina serve to create the symmetrical architecture of the work. The first mention of the railroad is in context of children and their games, which serves as a premonition of the events to come. The children who are aware of the current distraught household are playing with a box, representing a train. Stiva’s eldest girl is heard telling off her younger sibling, telling him that â€Å"[she] told [him] not to put the passengers on the roof†, instructing him to â€Å"[pick them up !† (Anna Karenina p.7). The children’s games foreshadow not only the accident at the station but Anna’s suicide at the conclusion of the novel. ... ... As a result of Anna’s willingness to abandon her home and husband to build her happiness on other human being’s suffering. Anna’s action causes Kitty to suffer heartbreak as she loses Vronsky, the man she loved, to Anna. In addition, Anna and Vronsky’s relationship breaks up Anna and Karenin’s marriage and causes Serezha to grow up without his mother’s presence. The wrath of society punishes Anna for her sin by crushing her, metaphorically as well as literally. Bibliography Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karenina. Translated by Yuri Corrigan. London: Genius Translators Press, 1999. Bayley, John. Tolstoy and the Novel. London, 1966. Gustafson, Richard. Leo Tolstoy: Resident and Stranger. Princeton, 1986. Jahn, Gary. The Image of the Railroad in Anna Karenina. The Slavic and East European Journal Vol. 25, No. 2 (Summer, 1981), pp. 1-10

Socratic Seminar Questions (Medea)

Socratic Seminar Questions 1. Do you think Medea should’ve let the children live? If so, who do you think she would’ve chosen and why? If not, why do you think Medea killed the children? I think it was right for Medea to kill the children. The children are a â€Å"product† during Medea and Jason’s relationship. Since Medea feels like Jason betrayed and tainted their relationship, she feels like letting the children not live is like destroying every last remnant of their relationship.She also feels that killing the children would punish Jason and as a mother, she doesn’t want anyone else to harm her own children, so she kills them as a sacrifice. Personally, it was a dour scene of killing the children, but it had a hidden reason into killing the children. 2. What are some major complaints Medea pleas about the treatment of women? Do you think women around the world are still facing these problems? Some of the major complaints Medea pleas about are th at women cannot reject marriage because of the over dominance of men that women don’t have the power to reject or deny marriage.I believe not only Greece, but other countries around the whole world face the over dominance of men over women. Another complaint Medea states is how women are â€Å"bought and sold† by men. Women weren’t slaves back in Greece but Medea emphasizes the point that women are treated like property, being bought and sold. In the present world, there are very few or not even any countries that sell women but are treated like slaves, having limited rights than men. Lastly, she points out women are the â€Å"most unfortunate creatures†. I think the hidden message Euripides is explaining is the deplorable state of females in Greece.I think that there are still countries worldwide, facing the same situations Medea points out to the readers. In addition, I think Euripides wants readers to sympathize the state of women and how they’r e treated. 3. What do you think is the difference between justice and revenge? Did Medea achieve justice or revenge? Why? There is a key difference between the definition of justice and revenge. Justice I think brings termination, an end to something, while revenge results in personal satisfaction and pleasure. Another key difference between both is that justice is what should be done while revenge is what you believe should be done.To sum everything up, justice is selfless and revenge is selfish. I think Medea achieved more of revenge because it was her personal satisfaction and plotting out, punishing Jason for his wrongdoings. In addition, her crave for revenge adulterates her life and her desire for revenge makes her a merciless character. 4. What ways does Medea bring her banishment on herself? There are many signs of how Medea creates banishment for herself. She made herself an exile out of love, leaving her land and killing her father and brother to help Jason in his quest fo r the Golden Fleece. Ironically thought, his betrayal leads her into banishment once more.During many scenes in the play, Medea expresses deep anguish as making herself an exile. She seems especially remorseful about leaving home and killing her father. This distance from Medea to her father is probably the worst feeling of exile she has to withstand. 5. If all people are created equal, then why do you think men have more authority than women according to Medea? One reason I think men would want more authority than women is men want to feel powerful themselves and they want a feel of playing a crucial role to society or a matriarch in a family by obtaining power.Another reason men have more authority than women is how much pressure they can take. Yes, women are smart and have intelligence, but the main problem is that women can’t take as much criticism or types of pressure as men can. That could be why men are mostly leaders of countries, they can take more pressure from soci ety or media than women can. Lastly, I think men have more authority than women is because men are more recognized in creativity. Microsoft, Apple, Google and YouTube are examples of technological inventions by men. Men feel more recognized into their creativity.

Crippin in Los Angeles Essay - 1122 Words

nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;African American gangs in Los Angeles originated mostly from the migration of African Americans from the South after World War II. In the 1920’s most of the gangs in Los Angeles were family oriented and it was not until the late 1940’s that the first gangs began. The gangs surfaced out the area known as the East Side, which is the area east of Main Street to Alameda. A lot of the gangs surfaced because of the racism perpetrated by the whites. There was clear segregation and racism against blacks, they were not allowed in certain areas of Los Angeles and could not buy property there. White gangs got together to stop African Americans from trying to integrate themselves into the Los Angeles society. In turn,†¦show more content†¦The black political organizations in Los Angeles became stronger and stronger as the civil rights movement enthralled the nation. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The strength and political power of the African Americans was seen as a threat to local and national security. The national government became concerned and formed counterintelligence groups to combat the growing African American political influence. The government used counterintelligence tactics to eradicate and destroy African American organizations, with the Black Panther Party as its main target. These tactics, called COINTELPRO, were previously used against the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), and the Communist Party (CPUSA) during the 1950s and 1940s. Clearly, it was an all out war between the government and African American leaders. The government was successful in stopping the movement in Los Angeles. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;African American youths in Los Angeles saw their role models shut down and their ideals shattered by the government. The lack of leadership and unity in the community led to the resurgence of gang violence. In 1969, Raymond Washington created a gang called the Baby Avenues, modeling itself to one of the early gangs of the sixties called the Avenues. They were also called the Avenue Cribs because of their youthfulness, and later just the Cribs. A student at Freemont High School,Show MoreRelatedProject Managment Case Studies214937 Words   |  860 PagesSouth Bend, IN Garrett Divisions Phoenix~Tempe, AZ BFGoodrich Dowly Aerospace Eldec E-Systems, Montek Division Honeywell Rockwell, Collins Division Suudstrand Corporation Teijin Seiki America United Technologies, Hamilton Standard Division Troy, OH Los Angeles, CA Lynnwood, WA Salt Lake City, UT Phoenix, AZ Coon Rapid, MN Cedar Rapids, IA Rockford, IL Redmond, WA Windsor Lock, CT Rudder Wing outboard flaps, radome Dorsal fin, wingtip assembly Elevators Flap support fairings, wingtip assembly Main and