Introduction
There are periods in life when it seems that it is impossible to go on, rise from ashes, or simply continue a journey. This time may be characterized as a dark hour, a gloomy dream, or a “the light vanished from our golden sun” (Wilde 25). It is challenging to encounter with the most difficult circumstances and to have strength to overcome them. Not everyone has an inner will and power to overcome the barriers and find a guiding threat again. However, literature presents the readers with the invaluable gift of experience, inspiration, and guidance, which helps to continue living and enjoying life. It seems like nowadays the value and the impact of literary works are overshadowed by virtual experience, reality shows, and gaming. It is particularly frustrating, as the works created by the greatest minds throughout the centuries may open the doors where obstacles, difficulties, and dead ends are overthrown by the bright metaphors and inspirational words coming through the ages.
Analysis
Poems usually target certain topics in their specific manner by using metaphors to highlight important issues and make parallels between the reality and the world of abstraction. Shelly in his “The Cloud” addressed the difficulties in the form of comparison between day and night, rise and down of the sun admitting that despite the obstacles, individual remains the same:
“And the crimson pall of eve may fall
With wings folded I rest, on mine aery nest,
As still as a brooding dove” (Shelly 18)
Here, the author admits that a person who has encountered with obstacles does not change, he or she remains the same “brooding doves” not depending on the circumstances. It is a romantic approach to the topic of overcoming the obstacles, yet still such a strategy helps to see through the darkness that usually covers the sight of those who suffer. In the same manner, Oscar Wilde approaches the obstacles by saying that “Rather new suns across the sky shall pass,/ New splendour come unto the flower, new glory to the grass” (Wilde 25). Both authors emphasize the importance of a different perspective and of an alternative view towards the challenging times.
It is often possible to catch oneself thinking that a problem or a difficult time overvalues or covers all joy, happiness, and bright days experienced in the past, even though it is not true. There is a strong and overwhelming feeling that a specific challenge will end a life or a world will cease to exist. Poetry is the most effective form that can embody feelings, sensations, and thoughts that cannot be expressed in prose. The theme of withstanding the difficult times is possible to target by the poems due to sensations a person experiences and inability to convey them in simple words. When Lesley Choyce reveals how it feels to be in a dead end, it is possible to relate to such sensations at once, as this experience is universal and known for all humans:
“I've seen All the empty spaces yet to be filled.
I've heard All of the sounds that will collect
at the end of the world.
And the silence that follows” (Choyce 12).
These “empty spaces” are similar to the expressions used by Wilde when he claims that “the light vanished from our golden sun” or Shelly who states that “the crimson pall of eve may fall”. All three poets draw the parallels between the reality and the forces of nature. By doing so, they focus on the connection between humans and nature to show that, as in nature, human life is prone to transformations, storms, and sunlight. During the night, the sun cannot be seen, but it does not mean it does not exist; it simply means that it is not the time for sun. Such a philosophical view is embodied in all three poems that try to inspire, highlight the natural processes, and emphasize the importance of life in the whirlpool of chaos. Wilde uses a complex metaphor when appealing to the relation of humans to this world by encouraging the reader to embrace the universe, “Shoot arrows at our pleasure! We shall be/ Part of the mighty universal whole” (Wilde 26). In this way, the poet makes the reader see the cosmological point in his appealing to become the part of the universe rather than suffering from some trouble. In this case, Shelly, Choyce, and Wilde try to put emphasis on the unity of humans with nature rather than concentrating attention on the obstacles.
Unlike the poets, Sandra Cisneros chooses a radically different approach by putting the main protagonist into the challenging circumstances for her to experience the importance of life. In “Woman Hollering Creek” Cleófilas, the main heroine, learns the value of life and the illusiveness of romanticized love on her own example (Cisneros 14). The author aimed at showing that the difficulties may be resolved by returning to the roots and revisiting the entire perception of life. Moreover, the author tries to show that people are usually the creators of their own challenges. In the short story, Cleófilas craved for a life she saw in soap operas but failed to examine the reality around her. In the result, the main heroine had to encounter with a serious challenge that ruined the entire model of life she believed in. Here, Cisneros selects a different strategy for the topic of overcoming obstacles. While the poets show the unity between the natural transformations and human problems, Cisneros encourages the readers to utilize logic and thoughts to prevent the difficulties. For Cisneros, the prevention of the challenge is more effective than dealing with an obstacle that might lead to more serious challenges.
The difference in approach to difficulties may be dictated by the time when each of authors worked or the topics they selected as the most important for them. Cisneros chooses to analyze the obstacles through the relationship between people, their perception of life, and vision towards the world. Wilde, Choyce, and Shelly focus on the unity of human life and nature, where the transformations and challenges are the part of life. It is possible to claim that the poets concentrate attention on the metaphoric and abstract methods of conveying their thoughts, while Cisneros uses realism and embodies her thoughts into the real life story. Both approaches are effective in their ability to illustrate the main point behind the stories. Specifically, the short story is more efficient in highlighting the obstacles people encounter in real life, the challenges they create by falling into the pool of illusion. The poetry aims at inspiring and revealing that it is customary to feel upset when a person does not see his/her connection with life.
Overall, it is possible to compare the short story and poems, as there are not only differences but one similar element presented by all authors. The works point to the same conclusion, namely to the disruption between a person and nature, individual, and reality. Cisneros makes her protagonist believe in the illusions produced by soap operas, Wilde turns to the cosmological theme by encouraging humans to return to their nature, both Shelly and Choyce show how humans are connected with everything around them. The ability of a person to live in a moment and enjoy life is priceless and invaluable for everyone, yet still, people forget about that due to the attempts of the environment to impose a specific agenda. Cisneros chooses a feminist approach claiming that the obstacles experienced by the main heroine was imposed by the illusionary world created to oppress a woman, and the main heroine’s challenges occurred due to her denial of reality. The poets also emphasized the escapism of humans who think that they cannot move on in the reason of their inability to see a broader perspective.
Conclusion
The works selected for the mini-anthology was not made by accident. It was important to show different perspectives on the experience of challenges rather than the methods of how to overcome them. The nature of difficult times for a person is not very well analyzed, as it is customary to think that the tools in overcoming the obstacles are more effective. Yet still, as the analysis shows, the ability to rise from ashes roots in the understanding the nature of the problem and exploring a broader perspective on the difficulties. All authors have their own perspective on challenges, yet still, each of works inspires, makes to analyze, broadens the horizon, and provides unique experience.
Works Cited
Cisneros, Sandra. Woman Hollering Creek: And Other Stories. New York, NY: Vintage, 1992. Print
Choyce, Leslie. Re-inventing the Wheel. New Brunswick , Canada: Fiddlehead Poetry Books, 1980. Print
Shelley, Percy Bysshe. The Complete Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley. New York, NY: Modern Library, 1994. Print
Wilde, Oscar. The Collected Works Oscar Wilde: 104 Novels, Poems, and Plays. Luton, England: Halcyon Press, 2009. Print
