Many People Throughout The Centuries Have Wondered What

Many people throughout the centuries have wondered what will happen after they take their last breath. The Hollow Men (1925) is a poem by T. S. Eliot that is divided into five parts, totaling 98 lines that reflect on this very idea. The so-called â€Å"Hollow Men† are afraid to speak of Heaven by name. Though they are curious about what Heaven is like, they also fear the eyes of heavenly souls and the final judgmental that God will deliver. Eliot’s portrayal of the unknown that is the afterlife shows how hopeless his life felt before converting to Christianity. On a first read-through of the poem, it is difficult to understand what is happening. The Hollow Men are dead people, but at first they come across as living, albeit†¦show more content†¦The Hollow Men describe their whispers as quiet and meaningless / As wind in dry grass (7-8); this is also partially true about the entire monologue. This poem is often associated with Eliot s most famous poem, â€Å"Th e Waste Land,† because both works are set in Hellish environments and concern people whose lives are fragmented and incoherent, written around the same period in Eliot s life. Compared to â€Å"The Waste Land,† this poem reads much quieter and drier. In â€Å"The Hollow Men,† the short length of the words and phrases from the Men creates frequent pauses, as if each line were an ghostly gust of wind, changing directions to later return to the same place. The poem would be considered free verse because no meter, rhythm, or rhyme scheme is apparent. Eliot does not use a strict meter such as iambic penta- or tetrameter, which he uses in many of his other poems. â€Å"The Hollow Men† is similar to a dramatic monologue by the collective group of Hollow Men, but the verses are not consistent like a traditional monologue. The five sections in the poem also vary in total length and stanza length. The lines throughout all five sections are short, causing the speech to be staccato, as if the Men run out of breath before getting a complete thought out. The Men never raise their voices, even when describing serious matters such as eternal suffering. Even when singing the men do not soundShow MoreRelatedAfter the first few days of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Americans, without knowledge of1500 Words   |  6 Pagesand more information about the bombings was given, Americans began to have mixed feelings and different thoughts about how this should have been handled. Scholars at that time found that Americans began feeling a sense of terror since they wondered what more could be done with nuclear weapons. 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Pigs Ancient Weapons of Biological Warfare

The Greeks and Romans really used anything they could to get ahead in the game of war †¦ and that includes using pigs in battle! They lit porkers on fire and flinging them at mighty war elephants, some of the most frightening creatures on the battlefield. The ancients might not have won the war every time (especially if PETA had been around), but war pigs helped them win the battle. Alexander the Great: No Friend to Pigs Elephants were a key part of warfare in the ancient Mediterranean and Asia.   The Carthaginians used them to attempt to conquer Rome, for one, while the Seleucid king Seleucus  I Nicator even got a monopoly on Indian elephants to use in war. According to Pausanias in his Description of Greece, â€Å"The first European to acquire elephants was Alexander, after subduing Porus and the power of the Indians ... Pyrrhus captured his beasts in the battle with Demetrius . When on this occasion, they came in sight the Romans were seized with panic, and did not believe they were animals.† But how did people combat these massive vehicles? With pigs! Apparently, Alexander the Great first learned about setting pigs on fire from an Indian ruler. Alexander fought King Porus in 326 B.C., but after Alex defeated his enemy at the Battle of the Hydaspes River, chronicled in the pseudo-historical Alexander Romance, the two became pals. When one thousand wild elephants headed towards Alexander, legend has it, Porus advised him to grab pigs and trumpets to oppose the incoming animals. Alexander made the pigs keep squealing. Along with blowing the trumpets, the sound scared the elephants off. Elephants vs. Pigs: An Eternal Battle This secret  of pigs vs. pachyderms was one that Pliny related in his Natural History. The author confessed that elephants tread under foot whole companies, and crush the men in their armor. The very least sound, however, of the grunting of the hog terrifies them: when wounded and panic-stricken, they invariably fall back, and become no less formidable for the destruction which they deal to their own side, than to their opponents.† Plutarch added, â€Å"The lion also vehemently hates the cock, and the elephant the hog; but this probably proceeds from fear; for what they fear, the same are they inclined to hate.† The Romans learned from Alexander the Great’s victories. As Aelian wrote in his On the Nature of Animals, â€Å"The elephant is frightened of rams and the squealing of pigs, and the Romans put both to use in sending the elephants of Pyrrhus of Epirus in flight, by which the Romans won a resounding victory.† When King Pyrrhus sent his army of twelve war elephants rampaging across Italy in the third century B.C., the Romans found their tactics in the farmyard. They noticed that that horned rams, torches, and pigs all freaked the elephants out †¦ so they sicced their barnyard friends on the pachyderms and won! Aelian enjoys chronicling the misadventures of pigs in war. He noted, â€Å"I have already mentioned that elephants are terribly afraid of pigs. Antigonus [II Gonatas, king of Macedonia] once besieged the city of Megara. The Macedonians coated some pigs with pitch, set them afire, and turned them loose, and the pigs, shrieking in pain and panic, went tumbling into the elephant cavalry and set the elephants in panic in turn.† Polyaenus echoed this in his   Strategems, â€Å"The pigs grunted and shrieked under the torture of the fire, and sprang forwards as hard as they could among the elephants, who broke their ranks in confusion and fright, and ran off in different directions.† Aelian agreed, â€Å"The elephants, though highly trained, would not obey orders afterward. It may be that elephants simply cannot stand pigs in general, or they are afraid of their screaming and squealing.† Stanford University classicist Adrienne Mayor suggested that these pigs, set on fire with resin, may have even been the first hybrid biological-chemical weapons in her Greek Fire, Poison Arrows Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World. This disaster led the elephant trainers to train their young charges with baby pigs so future generations of these war animals wouldn’t be afraid of their opponents’ battle tactics. In The Wars of Justinian, the late antique historian Procopius chronicles some porcine adventures in battle. When Khosrau I, king of Persia, besieged the Mesopotamian city of Edessa in 544 A.D., one of his war elephants nearly overpowered the enemy and got into town. Pigs ended up saving the day. â€Å"But the Romans,† wrote Procopius, â€Å"by dangling a pig from the tower, escaped the peril. As the pig was hanging there, he naturally squealed and this so irritated the elephant and stepping back little by little, withdrew.† Poor pig †¦ but lives were saved thanks to this guy. Now, if only the Romans had used them against Hannibal and his elephants. This wasn’t the end of elephants in warfare – no word on whether pigs were used often to frighten them. There was even a Year of the Elephant, 622 A.D., when a Christian king allegedly tried to invade Mecca and his battle elephant supposedly stopped before he could do so. Thousands of elephants were utilized in Indian warfare around in the eleventh century A.D. Even Emperor Akbar allegedly got 12,000 pachyderms to help him out! Thankfully, these guys have earned an honorable retirement in recent years.

Influence of Pastoral Romance Free Essays

How far is it possible to recognize the influence of Pastoral Romance and Classical Comedy in the opening scene of ‘As You Like It’? One way it is possible to recognize the Influence of classical comedy in the opening scene is through the dialectic structure, which is a key theme of old comedy, shown by the conflict between the brothers Orlando and Oliver. The conflict between them Is created by the fact that, despite his father’s dying wishes, Oliver hasn’t educated Orlando; given him his Inheritance he was promised or acknowledged him as his brother. Evidence of this Is hat Orlando says ‘my father charged you†¦ To give me good education†¦ You have trained me Like a peasant, obscuring and holding from me all gentleman-Like qualities The use of the word ‘charged’ suggests their father soul has power even In death out of respect for the dead and out of respect for him as a father, which In turn leads to the assumption power is a hereditary thing that you are born into or with. We will write a custom essay sample on Influence of Pastoral Romance or any similar topic only for you Order Now This links to the argument whether you can, in fact, work your way up to a position of power rather than just being born into it. However there is also evidence of a pastoral influence when Charles says they live like the old Robin Hood of England’. This suggests the country side (The Forest of Arden) is beyond the cares and laws of the court. And also shows the forest through a sophisticated townsman’s idealized image of rural life. Whereas in real life- as much as a life in the forest is much more carefree and relaxed- it also holds its own problems and harsh rules of living with nature. Also, the use of the words ‘old Robin Hood’ suggests the forest is a place of fairy tales and tradition. Another influence of classical comedy is that it challenges he political, social and moral traditions established within the court which is a main component of old comedy. The way traditions are challenged is through Orlando standing up to his older brother for his right to his inheritance and respect. Quotes showing this are ‘l will no longer endure it’ and ‘or give me the poor allotter my father left me by testament. ‘ This shows he is challenging the established authority in his life, which makes it a political issue. Also because it is his own brother he Is challenging makes it a social and moral issue because it is emotional. In conclusion, Shakespearean ‘As You Like It’ is more strongly influenced by classical comedy than pastoral romance, despite the fact that It does contain some elements of pastoral literature such as the idea of the court being a place of rules and harsh regulations and lifestyles, and the country being an Idyllic, unrealistic place where there are rules, but these rules are much less harsh and they are run on the basis of natural order of the forest. Examples of classical comedy Influencing the play are through the use of challenging established Ideas and authorities, and through the use of conflict which appears between both the two Dukes and the two De Bolls brothers (doubles). Influence of Pastoral Romance and/or Classical Comedy in As You Like It By oligarchic the influence of classical comedy in the opening scene is through the dialectic brothers Orlando and Oliver. The conflict between them is created by the fact that, inheritance he was promised or acknowledged him as his brother. Evidence of this is trained me like a peasant, obscuring and hiding from me all gentleman-like qualities ‘. The use of the word ‘charged’ suggests their father still has power even in death out of respect for the dead and out of respect for him as a father, which in turn leads to rather than Just being born into it. However there is also evidence off pastoral his life, which makes it a political issue. Also because it is his own brother he is pastoral romance, despite the fact that it does contain some elements of pastoral of rules and harsh regulations and lifestyles, and the country being an idyllic, influencing the play are through the use of challenging established ideas and Dukes and the two De Bois brothers (doubles). How to cite Influence of Pastoral Romance, Papers