Synthesized answer
The preface quotes John Milton's *Paradise Lost* to describe Alice Holmes's blindness by stating, "Not to her returns Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn, Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer's rose, Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine; But clouds instead, and ever-during dark Surrounds her, from the cheerful ways of men Cut off, and for the book of knowledge fair Presented with a universal blank Of nature's works" [1]. This classical reference likely serves to evoke a sense of profound and universal darkness, drawing on the reader's potential familiarity with Milton's epic to convey the depth of Holmes's condition.
The impact of this intertextual choice on the reader's perception of Holmes and her work is not explicitly detailed in the provided passages. However, the chosen lines from *Paradise Lost* emphasize isolation ("Cut off, and for the book of knowledge fair Presented with a universal blank") and a lack of sensory experience of the natural world [1]. This framing suggests the author/editor might aim to position Holmes's efforts as a spirit seeking to "beguile the hours of its own solitude" [1]. The passages indicate that the poems are offered as a "simple…
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From the book
feet. Perhaps the only interest attached to the Poems, consists in the peculiar circumstances in the life of the writer. She is blind: "Not to her returns Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn, Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer's rose, Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine; But clouds instead, and ever-during dark Surrounds her, from the cheerful ways of men Cut off, and for the book of knowledge fair Presented with a universal blank Of nature's works." To those who sympathize with the stricken, and do not despise the humble efforts of a spirit seeking to beguile the hours of its…
For works with similar titles, see Poems . ← Poems ( 1849 ) by Alice Ann Holmes → related portals : Poetry , American literature 4689147 Poems 1849 Alice Ann Holmes POEMS . POEMS . BY. ALICE HOLMES . NEW.YORK: JOHN F. TROW, PRINTER, 49 & 51 ANN-STREET. 1849. THESE POEMS ARE RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO THE MANAGERS OF THE New-York Institution FOR THE BLIND. PREFACE . The following collection of Poems is a simple offering to friendship, claiming nothing on the score of literary or poetic merit, and owing its appearance before the public solely on the one hand to the solicitations of…
← Faithful Love Poems by Alice Ann Holmes To the Blind Girl Christmas → 4689173 Poems — To the Blind Girl Alice Ann Holmes The Blind Girl. Could ye but know the blind girl's thoughts, When all around her sleep, As alone she mourns o'er her sad, sad fate, Oh then with her ye'd weep. When bounteous morning's rosy light Comes streaming from the sky, But she remains in darkness still, Oh then with her ye'd sigh. Or when forth she's led by the hand To breathe the open air, And hears her name by others said, With her ye'd offer prayer. Or when gay hearts around her beat In joy from day to day,…
ilas Jones, Esq., Superintendent of the Institution, and his successor, Dr. Peter D. Vroom, now of Jersey City; also Mr. William Boggs, Principal Teacher, afterwards Superintendent of the Bloomingdale Lunatic Asylum; Miss Frances J. Crosby, and Miss Cynthia Bullock, well known for many beautiful contributions to the poetry of the day, Miss Ann Smith, Miss Josephine Mariuse, and Miss Catharine Kennedy. Those who know not the affliction of blindness, and the sweet counsels of sympathizing friends, cannot conceive the bitter pang with which Alice bade adieu to the Institution and the…
the health of the body it was found that she was blind. Her parents then removed to Jersey City, where Alice now dwells. In January of the year 1837, through the munificence of a gentleman of Jersey City, Alice became an inmate of the "New-York Institution for the Blind," the kind friend above alluded to defraying the costs of her tuition. Subsequently, in 1838, the Legislature of New Jersey made an annual appropriation for the benefit of a limited number of pupils, who should wish to enter the New-York In stution, there being no asylum for the blind in the State of New Jersey. Alice was thus…
More questions about this book
- The preface states that the poems claim "nothing on the score of literary or poetic merit" but find their "only interest" in the writer's "peculiar circumstances"—her blindness. How does this distinction invite a reader to approach and evaluate Holmes's work, and what does it imply about the purpose of her poetry?
- Alice Holmes describes her motivations for publishing as "solely" due to friends' solicitations and a sincere desire to "render some small return" to her benefactors. If her primary drive was gratitude rather than literary ambition, how might this influence the content or style of her poems, and how might a reader's interpretation shift accordingly?
- The narrative highlights the "New World, the land of promise" that filled the family's hopes, immediately followed by the "horrors of disease" that led to Alice's blindness *during* the journey. How does this juxtaposition of idealization and devastating personal tragedy create a unique tension in her story, and what might it suggest about the complex realities of the immigrant experience?
- By dedicating the poems to the New-York Institution for the Blind and addressing "those who sympathize with the stricken," what specific kind of reader-author relationship is established in the preface? How does this implied "contract" or expectation subtly guide the reader's emotional and critical engagement with the poetry that follows?