William Hogarth and the Four Stages of Cruelty

This piece intrigued me the most because of the art story that is created in the progression.  This scene in the movement from childhood in the first stage, to adulthood with the horse-driver, death with the perfection, and   judgement in the fourth stage.  This creates an interesting understanding, as an idea of progression within the cruelty and torture of animals.  First is innocence, second is utility, third is acceptance, and fourth is education or administration of cruelty.

Image that was supposed to replace the blogger logo

I tried to shrink this image to fit, but it would not fit.  This image is interesting because it was taken in Banff National Park, where animals are protected but also restricted.  The Grizzly Bears are monitored in the park, which shows how our understanding of animals as changed.  We now experiment on them in the wild, but they are still the object of our curiosity.  The fact that we observe animals in the wild shows a growing distinction between animal and human, but it shows a respect.  The Bear has dominion in the park, but we have invaded in their domain.  This is one of the reasons why tourists flock to the National Parks of the world (to see nature in nature).  However, as tourism grows, the area becomes less and less wild, and human domain grows.  Highways are built, but animals do not understand that trucks barrel down the highway.  We continue to try and create a more solid barrier between wild and progress, yet animals will always invade the areas of progress, because animals and humans share the same goal.  They both try to make their lives easier, and a railway/roadway is easier to maneuver than a forest. 
    

Correction to Layout

The poems are now arranged alphabetically by author, and I will rename the pages to suit this, and make it easier to manage.  Also I have added to the top of the Archival Poems sidebar an active bibliography that will change week by week, as more books and poems are read.

Anna Laetitia Barbauld

"The Mouse's Petition" by Anna Laetitia Barbauld is up and a discussion of the poem is beneath some of the PDF's.  However, in this post I would like to point out a disparity between two different versions of the poem published.  The details that surround Joseph Priestley and his influence on the poem differ between each of the title pages.  

This version of the poem directs the poem itself to Dr. Priestley, and creating him as the target of the poem.   Priestley, though absent, becomes an active player in the capturing and in the imprisonment of the mouse.
For more on this version see: http://bryansengd18researchportfolio.blogspot.ca/p/the-mouses-petition-by-anna-laetitia.html

This version of the poem was released in a later edition of the same collection (in 1792, 19  years after the previous edition).  This edition shows why the mouse is captured by Joseph Priestley, almost resolving of the imprisonment.  In the age of discovery which was the Enlightenment, Priestley was looking at what elements were essential for life, and would differentiate the air in which the mouse would breathe, which would kill most of the mice he experimented on.  This version also loses the personal touch (direction) in which Priestley is accused.  The one-on-one dialogue is lost, and the mouse's petition becomes impersonal.

Citation of the first poem can be seen on the page with that version of "the Mouse's Petition."
Second Version: Barbauld, Anna Laetitia. "The Mouse's Petition," from Poems by Anna Laetitia Barbauld.  Joseph Johnson, London. 1792. Courtesy of ECCO

Robert Burns "To A Mouse"

Robert Burns' poem, "To a Mouse" is up, with a detailed discussion of the Scottish vernacular adds to the poem's meaning.

Find it under: http://bryansengd18researchportfolio.blogspot.ca/p/to-mouse-by-robert-burns.html
Or look under the Archival Poems section to the left of the posts.

Choice of Template

This intrigued me as I was adjusting the blog, as the backgrounds were linked into genres.  Though full of fish, this background appeared in the sport and leisure genre.  There is also a nature genre, but only a few pictures of animals were included.   I will divulge in greater detail on the page of Margaret Cavendish's as the leisurely past-time of the hunt is carried on in modern fishing, as it has become a competition.  However, what I want to say in this post, is what was included in both the sport/leisure genre and the nature genre.  This background is an image of whitewater rafting.  Though it combines the forces of nature and sport, it is a human-made sport that is meant to conquer nature.  Though you see the full power of a river, the point is to make through the river and succeed nature.  It is a conquering moment, like fishing and the hunt, but is etched within popular culture as a moment of oneness with nature.
For a more indepth look at the hunt and culture see:
http://bryansengd18researchportfolio.blogspot.ca/p/the-hunting-of-hare-by-margaret_30.html

Layout of the Blog

The archival poems are organized under separate pages.  As of now, only three poems will be posted so they will be organized in the order they are posted.  In the coming weeks, arrange them in alphabetical order.