The Formalistic Approach to Hays Rapunzel Essay -- Hay Rapunzel Essay

The Formalistic Approach to Hays Rapunzel   Prayer has been always a symbol of faith, and even in modern poetry it is windlessness used as a desperate cry to the One in Heaven. One of the great examples of this desperate cry would be Sara Henderson Hays Rapunzel.After reading her modern version, familiarity with Grimms pouffe tale Rapunzel will reveal a completely new interpretation. Sara Hay chooses Rapunzels prayer to be in the sonnet structure. Sonnet, being a part of a lyric genre, represents the most personal and direct speaking manner. Here, the lyric poet is speaking from Rapunzels point of view almost singing her sufferings, her feelings and her past experiences. Lets remember the first musical note of the sonnet Oh, God, let me forget the things he said. The elegy starts in the prayer form. It helps us to understand from the first line that the lyric hero is in suffering and is desperate. Through the words let me forget, we can hear the echo of the past life, p ast things, that may never come back. The author (heroine) is go away us in suspense, because she will never reveal to us the things he said and the promises he made. The repeating formula let me reveals to us Rapunzels feelings and is establishing the pace of the poem. The first lines help us to hear our heroines voice t wholeness, and to understand her suffering. Looking more at the first stanza, we can see many associations and connections between slightly words and the religious motif of prayer. The words freezing and burning are the extremes that help us to hear the echo of Hell (Rhetoric 102K class discussion, January 23 2001). In the same way the word promises in the Bible is synonymous with the word covenant (or Testament). In the fifth li... ...ed by love, now has become the knowing one I knew...I knew...I might have known. Looking at the last line of the sonnet we understand its purpose. Here, we see the image of many symbolic Rapunzels. The heroine is looking at the past and at the future, and realizes that her life is beneficial one small piece, compared to the Eternal concept, or a concept of All. She realizes that the earthly life is not eternal and she is just a suffering traveler like many others. Hays Rapunzel begins as a true worshiper, and finds her plight to be too disconcerting to transfer even to her Creator. So, she devolves into her own imaginings with groans so deep that whole her soul can commune at this level. Prayer turns to song, song turns to fantasy, and in her heart, fantasy reveals tragic reality. Her only true hope is found in first heart cry Oh, God...