I would say my ability to read poetry hasn’t changed, if it did then only slightly, within the past couple of weeks. However, my experience with Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening did help me when I had some issues understanding what “A blight is on the fruitful plants of the earth.” could mean or who “a God that carries fire, a deadly pestilence” could be. I had to think about what each line had to do with each other in Oedipus the King, the same way I had to think about what the line “And miles to go before I sleep,” had to do with stopping in the woods to watch the snow fall, which was that the context clues from the surrounding text would help figure out what was being talked about. I ended up realizing the god who carries fire and pestilence was Apollo and the pestilence he brought was towards the crops.
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One thought on “DB 7 – Jonathan Garcia”
Jonathan, I appreciate your honesty about your reading experience. I think the Frost poem allows for multiple interpretations of that mysterious line you quote. I think personal experience and worldview affect how one reads that line. As for the “God who carries fire,” Ares ,the god of war, is actually being referred to here. The people are comparing the plague to a war. Apollo is always the good god. In the play he is referred to by many different names, but these are defined in the footnotes. Please be sure to include your name in your post title.