Byron’s Classical Adherence

Lord Byron (1788 – 1824) is one of the most notorious as well as flamboyant figures in the field of English literature due to his promiscuous lifestyle and candid nature. Although he is an important member of the 19^th century Romantic poets, his poetry reflects a diametrically opposite style. Unlike his comrades he opted to write in a much similar style of the 18th century literature. Therefore, his writings were mostly written in strict conformity with the rules and regulations. As model he followed the style and diction adopted by Ben Jonson (1572–1637), Alexander Pope (1688–1744), etc. Contrariwise, the other Romantic poets tried to revive the principles of the Renaissance period. They followed the style and diction of the Renaissance period, which were followed by William Shakespeare (1564–1616), Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593), Edmund Spenser (1552–1599), John Milton (1608–1674), etc. As they targeted the common people as the audience, their poetry was written in plain and simple language. They emphasized over expression of personal feelings without complicating the language.

Lord Byron greatly deviated from the simple format and subject matter of his contemporaries for which he is unique amongst all other Romantic Poets of his days. His poetry is written in the exalted style of the Classical and Pseudo-Classical periods. However, his subject matter is essentially trivial, cynical and absurd. As a result, unlike the Romantics, who were worshipers of beauty, Byron celebrated all that is ugly. For example, in his self-proclaimed epic Don Juan, Byron has been able to treat a very trivial subject in a refined style and diction. The poem is remarkable since it reflects various traits of Byron’s own quixotic lifestyle.

Read More

Heroism Vs. Reality

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) is amongst the very few authors who writes anti-romantically about the stark reality of human life. With a diametrically opposite view from the Romantics, he chose to write plays that unveiled the blemishes of humankind. His plays depict with uncompromised directness the discrepancies amongst various social, political beliefs.

In his plays he had been able to negate many accepted norms and ideals as false and unnecessary. For example, in his widely quoted play Arms and the Man Shaw questioned the credibility of romantic love. He argued that romantic love is full of falsehood as it mostly entailed by illusions. Shaw disclosed the hollowness of romantic love by distinguishing between the true and feign bravery. In the play Shaw opined that a true hero never showcases his bravery to enthrall others, rather he fights as and when required. He further argued that a true hero never endangers his life foolishly just to amaze others. We can see that Captain Bluntschli, the hero in Arms and the Man possesses "fears" which each typical individual may experience in practical life. Therefore, the play in question has been enacted by Shaw just to direct us towards the much needed disillusionment from the false notions of heroism.

Read More

Spot the Differences Games

Our brain cannot identify everything it sees. Sometimes it misses smaller and even bigger things. To test this you can try the following "spot the difference" games. There are two identical images in each game. But if you look deeply then you will see that they are not completely matching; rather there are 5 differences. So why wasting time? Try them now and write on the comment section about your experience.

 

>

Read More

The Truth about Death

Death is the ultimate cessation of life, which is unavoidable by each and every individual. For centuries death has been the subject of scrutiny for countless philosophers, physicians, and writers alike. Death is a favourite subject in literature for the poets like John Donne (1572–1631) and Emily Dickinson (1830–1886). This curiously inexplicable phenomenon is seen from different angles such as, a silent assassin, a benevolent friend, an emblem of eternal rest, a path towards immortality, etc.

Human life is essentially ephemeral and nobody wants to leave this pleasant world premature. Therefore, many of us try to prolong our stay on earth one way or another. But it is also true that the more we grow older the harder it goes for us to live on. A sick person lives a miserable life and always wishes for his death. This particular truth has been well captured by the Victorian poet Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892) in his Tithonus (1860). In this poem we can see that Aurora (in Greek Eos), the deity of the dawn fell in love with Tithounus, a mortal. Aurora loved him so devotionally that she asked Zeus to grant Tithonus the gift of immortality. Accordingly, Zeus granted her the wish but ironically she forgot to ask for the gift of everlasting youth for Tithonus. Consequently, Tithonus began to lose his youth while Aurora still retained hers. With the passage of time Tithonus became so old and feeble that his miseries knew no bounds. Ultimately, finding no other alternatives Aurora transformed him into a grasshopper.

The mystery of death is unfathomable and is devoid of any rational explanation. The only explanation could be that it is just a natural order of life and is not conquerable. Therefore, it is important that none should try to alter or avoid this natural course of life.

Read More

Robert Frost

Robert Frost (1874 – 1963) is a prominent figure in American literature. He is indeed the most discussed poets in American literature. Frost is admired and venerated for his realistic depiction of rural life. The majority of his poems use the rural settings of New England as well as its colloquial dialect. Although Robert Frost wrote during the modern age, he cannot be termed a modern poet in that sense. His style and attitude were different from his contemporaries. Therefore, he is modern in the sense that he opted to write in his own individualistic style.

Robert Frost’s simple rural settings often explored a wide range of philosophical views. For instance, in Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (1923) Frost unveils a universal truth about human life. In this poem we can see that the speaker was passing by the woods by his horse. For some reason he was arrested by the dark woods covered with snow. He was so enthralled by the woods that he was resolute to stay there. When he was about to decide to stay there forever, suddenly he came back to his senses when the horse shook his harness bells.  This poem is highly symbolic. Here the dark woods stand for death or eternal rest, whereas the harness bells stand for reality.

The main premise of the poem is that in practical life man cannot escape from his duties.  And there is no doubt that the practical life is full of hardships and complexities. Consequently, many of us long to escape from worldly life forever to attain eternal peace. Similarly, when the speaker saw the woods he was allured to rest eternally as he is too tired of dealing with complexities of material life. But the horse brought back him to reality by reminding his obligations. He could realize that his work in this world is not finished yet as he has to complete many other works before death:

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, 
But I have promises to keep, 
And miles to go before I sleep, 
And miles to go before I sleep.”

Read More

Heart of Darkness

The Polish-born English novelist Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) stands amongst the greatest English writers. His novels explore the moral instability of human beings. Conrad writes in narrative technique with live and vivid description. His characters are well developed and compelling.

Conrad’s 1889 novella Heart of Darkness is deemed to be one of his seminal works. With this novel Conrad showed his appreciation for modern notions of psychoanalysis. The subject novel probes deep down the human heart to find the blemishes of humankind. The novel tries to describe that human beings are inherently evil and that this evil awakens within them with the slightest stimulus. Kurtz, the antagonist in this novel used to be good a natured individual with multiple talents, but ultimately he turned into evil as he started to live in the midst of uncivilized people. As he lived outside of the civilized society for an extended period of time, he forgot the civilized standard of living.

Read More

Janata Bank Recruitment 2015

Janata Bank Limited has invited job application for the post of Assistant Executive Officer – IT. The interested applicants are instructed to apply online at http://career.janatabank-bd.com/ by April 21, 2015.

Published/Source

http://career.janatabank-bd.com/, Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Circular Invited By 

Human Resources Development Department
Janata Bank Limited
Janata Babhan, 110 Motijheel C/A, Dhaka:1000.

Phone: 9552078, 9565044

Email: recruit@janatabank-bd.com

Job Inviter’s Website

http://janatabank-bd.com/

Posts Vacant

Name of the Post	Assistant Executive Officer - IT
Education	Minimum Bachelor in Science OR Four Years duration Diploma in Computer Technology/Telecommunication Technology Computer
Experience	NA
Salary scale	8000-450X7- EB- 490 -16540 (As per National Pay Scale 2009)
Age as on 01-12-2014	Maximum 30 Years. If Freedom Fighter & Physically Challenged Quota availed; Age 32 Years.
No. of Posts	419
Job Location	Anywhere in Bangladesh

Deadline

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Job Circular

 

Instruction for Applicants

http://career.janatabank-bd.com/#howtoapply

Apply Now

Read More

Supernatural Poetry

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 – 1834) happens to be the greatest member of the English romantic
poets. His poetry rightly sustains the true spirit of Romanticism. While being the joint initiator of the Romantic Movement with Wordsworth (1770 – 1850), Coleridge introduced somewhat a new subject to the audience. Unlike his partner, who concentrated on the natural beauty, Coleridge opted to write on the supernatural aspects of nature. In his poetry Coleridge introduced a wide varieties of bizarre and unbelievable topics. His style of narration has a dramatic quality and is capable of arresting the reader’s attention. His portrayal of character and events are so compelling that the audience is bound to accept the improbable as real by willingly suspending disbeliefs.

Coleridge invests his masterful storytelling technique very well in his The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798), which is one of his widely quoted poems. The subject poetry tells the story of an old mariner who wantonly killed an innocent albatross, for which he and his comrades had to suffer a lot. Here Coleridge shows how sufferings from transgression can ultimately be atoned through feeling love for all living creatures, both small and big. Except for its didacticism, the poem is also commended for the mysticism created by the strange old mariner and the overall bizarre environment.

Although valued by many to be the greatest contributors of supernatural poetry, Coleridg’s literary output is rather short. Throughout his life he planned a lot but ultimately could complete only a scanty number of poems. Apart from the finished ones he has a number of fragmentary works, such as Kubla Khan (1816), Christabel (1816) which are deemed to be great treasures of English Literature.

Read More