Download - Adam’s Curse
ADAM’S CURSE
By: Anjana Kokar & Jamie Lee
The Garden of Eden
Adam & Eve live in garden of Eden No knowledge of good and evil One tree they cannot eat from
(Tree of knowledge of good and evil)
Devil in form of serpent tempts Eve to eat from the Tree Eve tricks Adam into eating from
the Tree God punishes them “for the
woman, pain in childbirth and subordination to man, and, for the man, relegation to an accursed ground with which he must toil and sweat for his subsistence.”
Overview
Difficulty of creating beauty Perhaps lack of understanding on part of
society of a poet’s plight in expression. Expressing Love to Maud Gonne Laboriousness of Life Appearance vs. Reality
Condescending, accusatory of society, longing, reflective, depressing.
Characters: Yeats, anonymous friend, friend of anonymous friend (one of whom may be Maud Gonne)
Read Through
We sat together at one summer’s end,That beautiful mild women, your close friend,And you and I, and talked of poetry.I said, “A line will take us hours maybe;Yet if it does not seem a moment’s thought,Our stitching and unstitching has been naught.Better go down upon your marrow-bones And scrub a kitchen pavement, or break stonesLike an old pauper, in all kinds of weather;For to articulate sweet sounds together Is to work harder than all these, and yet Be thought an idler by noisy setOf bankers, schoolmasters, and clergymenThe martyrs call the world.”
And thereuponThat beautiful mild women for
whose sakeThere’s many a one shall find all
heartacheOn finding that her voice is sweet
and lowReplied, “To be born women is to
know –Although they do not talk of it at
school –That we must labor to be
beautiful.”
I said, “It’s certain there is no fine thingSince Adam’s fall but needs much laboring.There have been lovers who thought love should beSo much compounded of high courtesyThat they would sigh and quote with learned looksPrecedents out of beautiful old books;Yet now it seems an idle trade enough.”We sat grown quiet at the name of love;We saw the last embers of daylight die,And in the trembling blue-green of the sky A moon, worn as if it had been a shellWashed by time’s waters as they rose and fellAbout the stars and broke in days and years.
I had a thought for no one’s but your ears;That you were beautiful, and that I strove To love you in the old high way of love;That it had all seemed happy, and yet we’d grownAs weary-hearted as that hollow moon.
1.Talk of Poetry
2. Talk of Beauty
3. Talk of love
Close Read Through We sat together at one summer’s end,
• That beautiful mild woman, your close friend,
And you and I, and talked of poetry.
• I said, “A line will take us hours maybe;
Yet if it does not seem a moment’s thought,
• Our stitching and unstitching has been naught.
Better go down upon your marrow-bones
• And scrub a kitchen pavement, or break stones
Like an old pauper, in all kinds of weather;
For to articulate sweet sounds together
Is to work harder than all of these, and yet Be thought an idler by the noisy set
Of bankers, schoolmasters, and clergymen
The martyrs call the world.”
And Thereupon That beautiful mild woman for whose sake
There’s many a one shall find out all heartache
On finding that her voice is sweet and low
Replied, “To be born woman is to know --
Although they do not talk of it at school –
That we must labour to be beautiful.”
I said, “It’s certain there is no fine thing
Since Adam’s fall but needs much laboring.
There have been lovers who thought love should be
So much compounded of high courtesy
That they would sigh and quote with learned looks
Precedents out of beautiful old books;
Yet now it seems an idle trade enough.”
We sat grown quiet at the name of love;
We saw the last embers of daylight die
And the trembling blue green of the sky
A moon, worn as if it had been a shell
Washed by time’s water as they rose and fell
About the stars and broke in days and years.
I had a thought for no one’s but your ears:
That you were beautiful, and that I strove
To love you in the old high way of love;
That it had all seemed happy, and yet we’d grown
As weary-hearted as that hollow moon
Additional Annotation
Iambic Pentameter (seldomly breaks)
Constant Rhyme Scheme, (breaks rhyme seldomly)
End stopped line vs. Enjambment
Significance of the Title
Conclusion:
Life is laborious and filled with strenuous tasks.
Yeats displays a certain degree of bitterness towards women Adam was tricked into eating the fruit from
the tree of knowledge Perhaps Yeats feels this as a result of his
past with Maud.
Works Cited:
“Adam’s Curse” Yeats Poetry. Sparknotes. 2010. Web. November 7 2010.
http://www.sparknotes.com