Journal #8 - Emerson's Aphorisms

Society acquires new arts, and loses old instincts.

This aphorism is explaining how, when society takes on new ideals and ways of life, they lose the old traditions. This isolates them from the culture and their ancestors. Modern day people, for example, wear less modest clothing and listen to more risqué music than people from the 19th century or even the 20th century. Most people now do not go to church every Sunday for fear of missing a sports game, though in earlier centuries mass and God were part of everyday life and culture. These are the negative effects of losing those traditions, but the aphorism can also be taken in a positive light. In the current time, most societies do not use guillotines or crucify people. They have found less gruesome ways to kill the guilty.

We boil at different degrees.

Emerson is explaining that we all have things in life that make us angry or upset, and some people anger faster than others. To some, what may be a petty joke is a cruel gibe to others. This would make some people irritated, but make others enraged. Emerson is saying in this aphorism is that we, as people, should be more in tune to others feelings and watch what we say, because it may mean much more to someone else.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.

Emerson is stating that what has happened in our past and what is going to happen in our future are practically non-existent compared to what we feel and what we are doing in this moment. Many people look back on the past in regret or worry about what trials they may face in the future, when they should be focusing on doing what they feel right now. They do not feel like they have the strength to change their future or their present. The past has already been done and the only way that you can change your own future is by bettering yourself now. Emerson realizes this and also that, when people spend time worrying about the future or looking back on the past, they cannot better themselves now and be a contributing human to society now or in the future. These people will never be able to live because they do not focus on the present and the strength inside of themselves.

Journal #7 - To a Waterfowl and The Raven

To a Waterfowl and The Raven are very different poems. Though they both talk about evening and nighttime, To a Waterfowl, has a much more hopeful and bright connotation, while The Raven is very dark and brings up the eerie connotation that the night, and the witching hour, or midnight.
To a Waterfowl is about the narrator of the poem seeing a waterfowl and wondering why and where the waterfowl is flying. The narrator also warns the waterfowl that the path that it is taking may not be a safe path, but the narrator realizes that God has guided the waterfowl to where it is now, and He will continue to guide it. This makes the narrator wonder about their own life and realize that God is also guiding them throughout their life. It is a much more positive poem than The Raven.
The Raven is a much darker poem. It is about a man who has lost his love, Lenore, and hears a tapping at his door and window. What he sees outside is a raven. The raven starts to speak to him, saying “nevermore.” The narrator ends the poem by saying that his soul will never be lifted again, because his love, Lenore, is dead. He realizes that he will not be able to see her ever again, which makes him very upset and is very different from To a Waterfowl.
These two poems are very different. One is about realizing that God is with you, while the other is about being completely alone.