Harrison Hammond

Early American Ipod

American Literature

Music is of immense importance in many different ways.  It’s a universal language that inspires humans. Our tastes in music can reflect on mood, inspirations, feelings, and can bridge gaps between cultures. It's a way to express personality and character or can switch on our emotions whenever a particular piece is played.   I chose to interpret the writings of Edgar Allan Poe and Benjamin Franklin through a playlist I’ve created to reflect their ideas and beliefs.

Benjamin Franklin was a man of great importance in history and put a great emphasis in education and human growth through strengthening our logical and reasoning capabilities. In the second half of Franklin’s Autobiography he writes “I conceiv’d the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection” (Franklin 83).  It is this ambition that drove him to develop the “Art of Virtue” which consisted of 13 virtues.  Franklin writes “I determined to give a week’s strict attention to each of the virtues successively” (Franklin 87).   He adapted his daily routines in life to strive for moral perfection.  This is why I chose that Benjamin Franklin would have “The Second Coming “ by Juelz Santana on his ipod.  It’s a song about a man that nothing will cross his path when reaching his goals and will do whatever possible to achieve them that “If you drop, get up and try it again. If you fall, get up and try it again. If you drop, get up and try it again. We tired of being runners up. We coming up. We ready for whatever you put in front of us” (Santana). I think this describes the attitude of Franklin perfectly on a daily basis.  Later he writes, “I was surprised to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined; but I had the satisfaction of seeing them diminish” (Franklin 89).  I think the song The irony is that Franklin mentions his goal of achieving "Moral Perfection" is meant to be humorous and does not think man can really be perfected, and he is mocking the 18th-century optimism that promoted the belief in the perfectibility of man.

Further on, Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography has many passages that relate to the Enlightenment. In Franklin's writings was that "Religious doctrines have no place in the understanding of the physical and human worlds" (Hooker). Franklin stated "But I was scarce fifteen, when, after doubting by turns of several points, as I found them disputed in the different books I read, I began to doubt of Revelation itself." The book of Revelation is the final book of the bible where end of the world happens and that humans are judged. Franklin's quote displays his idea that he had no fear in the bible anymore because they did not affect how he could grow and prosper in his mind as a human being, therefore they "have no place" (Hooker) in the discovery of knowledge. Secondly, when Franklin said, "He was of opinion that it was improper, and that they were naturally unequal to it. I took the contrary side, perhaps a little for dispute's sake" (Franklin 16). This relates to the idea of Enlightenment that "Human beings can be improved through education and the development of their rational facilities" (Hooker). Benjamin Franklin believed that women should also be educated because he knew then that it would contribute to a rational human society.  The evidence above shows that Ben Franklin was a firm believer in equality, hence why he would have “The Equality Song,” by Antiflag on his ipod. 

Franklin held the idea that women should be educated in the 1700's, and “if you are never given the chance then you are never able to show you can succeed “(Antiflag).

In Edgar Allan Poe’s poem "The Raven" he opens the poem very slowly and continually builds anxiety for the reader as the writing progressively gets darker.  In “The Raven" Edgar Allen Poe writes "Swung by seraphim whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor." (ll. 74)  Edgar Allan Poe pioneered Gothic style literature and was remembered for his dark life which surfaced in his dark tales.  During a time of Romanticism, Poe solidified the presence of Gothic writing, which became known as Gothic Romanticism or Gothic Horror.  A Handbook to Literature also mentions the characteristics of Gothicism in its description of the Romantics, explaining that they carried an, “enthusiasm for the wild, irregular, or grotesque in nature and art” (Harmon), which relates to Poe’s writings.

In the poem “The Raven” Poe implements imagery and symbolism in the within the characters.  The famous line: "Quoth the Raven, Nevermore" (Poe), which is called a refrain because it is stated again and again in a poem. When the bird says it for the first time, the narrator thinks it's amusing nonsense. After a while, it starts to seem like a horrifying prophecy. This is why I think Edgar Allan Poe would have the song, “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” by Simon and Garfunkel.  This song uses the concept of refrain to embellish it’s meaning of providing comfort for a person in need, "Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down. Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down” (Simon and Garfunkel).  Brian Mathison’s interpretation of the word “Nevermore” in this poem, Brian writes “It’s a very final and discomforting word. It makes me think of good times which are gone forever and can’t ever be replaced, leaving an infinite void instead” (Mathison, “Romanticism in Poe”).  Here the narrator starts to believe what the bird is saying. Since he thinks the word "nevermore" is actually foretelling the future, he refers to the bird as a prophet. He can't decide if this is just a bird, or some "devil," but he is completely convinced that it knows what it's talking about.

This last song by OAR entitled “Shattered” also reminded me of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”.  This is very similar to what totally takes apart our narrator, and turns him from an apprehensive man into a shuddering wreck.  When Poe first hears the tapping he thinks it may be the ghost of his late wife Lenore, he writes “But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token/And the only word there spoken was the whispered word/Lenore?  This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word” (ll. 27-29).  Poe’s longing for Lenore is so strong that he may be hoping for her to appear in a spiritual form.  The song “shattered is about he's involved with this girl and can't seem to get away from her and her absence is making him feel “shattered.” He's trying to escape from her but she has some an emotional hold on him and he always comes back to her. At this point the reader can tell the narrator is slowly going insane.  Many of the things in Poe’s chamber held sentimental value towards his lost Lenore, which further perpetuated his grief.  Poe writes: “Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door/Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking/Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore/What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore/Meant in croaking ‘Nevermore’” (ll. 68-72).  Poe is haunted by the memory of his treasured Lenore; he himself is trapped between the living and dying.  The agony of haunts his memories till the end. 

Songs

"Second Coming": Julez Santana

"Bridge Over Troubled Water": Simon and Garfunkel

"The Equality Song": Antiflag