Tennyson to Twitter: Finding Yourself in Art

During the 18th century, the leaders and thinkers of the day tended to focus their research and ideologies on what was best for society. During the turn of the century, the Romantics swung the opposite direction. After all the talk of utility and the community, these radicals and revolutionaries lifted the individual. They used art in the forms of novels, poems, and paintings as the vehicle to glorify uniqueness and empower the one. In a similar way, the digital age has centered itself on the individual by affording new ways for people to discover and express themselves. Social media, blogs, and constant connectivity are all modern tools used towards this end. “You do you” was the call of the Romantics, and its echo is heard once again today.

editing by Cassidy Crosby, girl's photo by Sharbat Gula, background by Thomas Cole

Art was and is the perfect medium for celebrating the self. Oscar Wilde said, “Art is the most intense form of individualism that the world has known.” This intense individualism can be seen in William Wordsworth’s poem “Tintern Abbey.” The poem is written in first person perspective about the narrator’s thoughts. “To me was all in all,” Wordsworth writes. “I cannot paint what then I was.” Instead of telling a story of a group of people, Wordsworth attempts to discover and describe himself. The romantic vision of the beauty of the world in the self was indeed shared by Wordsworth. Although he declares himself unable to “paint what then [he] was”, he exemplifies the romantic tendency to use art to showcase that beauty to the viewer. 

How exactly do we define "Literature"?

By Christian Rounds

With so many technological innovations changing our view of the world, does our view of "literature" need to change as well?

I remember in my public education days how I would power through books in order to grasp at their plot, especially so with the required reading my English classes would give me. I read other things besides novels of course, but to some degree in my mind they weren't "real" literature, they were just entertainment for kids like me to read. However, it wasn't until my Senior year of high school that I would be handed a copy of a comic book called "Maus" by my English Teacher, which would change how I viewed "Literature" for the rest of my life.

That's Not the Point

There is no glory in war. I know that. I don't know it first hand, of course, but I've been taught over and over throughout the years by study of war after war that there is nothing glorious, nothing to be sought after in man's conflict against man. That said, studying WWI drives that home to me more poignantly than any other conflict. Maybe it's the dull waiting of the stale-mated trenches. Maybe it's the bleakness of no-man's land. Maybe it's the devastation and inescapability of mustard gas. Or something else. I don't know.

Art inspired by "In Flanders Feilds" by John McRae

No one knew. WWI was a war that came at the end of a line of dominoes. No one knew why anyone was fighting, really. And it dragged on. It got messy. It became big. Broken. Incomprehensible. I can't say that I've studied WWI in depth, but every brush I've had with it through art or film or literature has left me with a longing to understand. It seems to pour out of the souls of everyone who was involved in the conflict, either directly or indirectly. "Why? Why did this happen? Why did we allow this to destroy so many lives?"

"A Very Long Engagement" speaks to that longing for truth. It's a beautiful movie that embraces the Romantic ideal of letting some things be too big to be resolved. The heroine, Mathilde, sets herself on a seemingly impossible journey to find the truth of what happened to her fiance in the war. She follows her heart. She leads with her irrationality, and it leads her to rational discovery upon rational discovery. That was actually one of my favorite parts of the film. At crucial moments, when everything seemed to be suspended in uncertainty, hovering over the void of crushing disappointment, Mathilde would seek the truth in the mundane. She'd say to herself, "If my dog comes in before dinner is ready, then there's still hope." She'd wait. Often, the parameters she'd set for her hope wouldn't be filled. But she'd keep going.

She wanted her fiance to be alive. That was her driving purpose. But it wasn't the point. The point was finding the truth. Mathilde hardly wasted time asking "why". She accepted that "why" was too big. To incomprehensible. "What" was what concerned her, and it was the only thing that mattered. The truth could have been hideous, and often was, it wouldn't matter. She needed to know.

Nothing was really resolved at the end of the film. The war had still ruined the lives of almost everyone depicted. People were dead. Holes were blown in reality. Nobody had any answer for why any of it had happened. But resolution wasn't the point. Mathilde found the truth. One unknowable became known,though it was at the price of uncovering a thousand more unanswerable questions. Nothing was fixed. But that was fine. Fixing things wasn't the point.

Photo Credit

Wedding Fanatic

This last spring and summer, I received enough wedding invitations to cover my entire refrigerator. This is not an exaggeration one bit. For two months, every single weekend was booked with wedding receptions.  And get this.  There were even weekends where I attended multiple receptions, just to make sure that I could congratulate my newly married friends.  I’m sure many of you can relate to this, especially those of you who are in my same stage of life.  What were your thoughts going to the mailbox day after day and seeing another one “bite the dust?”  Now, you might think I am crazy for how I felt about it, but I’m not going to hold back. Each time I opened another invitation, my heart did a little jump.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Ever since I was a young kid, I can remember singing Hark! The Herald Angels Sing every December around Christmastime. Along with the other classic Christmas hymns like Joy to the World, Silent Night, and, my personal favorite, The First Noel, this song is one that I love to sing repeatedly every holiday season to help me feel close to Jesus Christ as I'm celebrating His birth. I can recall many times where I was either singing it in church with the rest of the congregation, hearing other people perform it as a special musical number in church, or even getting to sing it with my school choir for a winter concert during my senior year.


The music for Hark! The Herald Angels Sing was created by Felix Mendelssohn, a well-known composer from the Romantic Era, with the lyrics being penned by Charles Wesley. Living from 1809-1847, he has composed many piano pieces and even made an overture for A Midsummer Night's Dream. I've definitely performed a couple of his other pieces in choir as well as this one. But even though his other works continue to be performed today by choirs, orchestras, and pianists alike, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing is probably one of his more popular compositions that is still known in the mainstream world and that I can still remember by heart.


With December just around the corner, it's pretty likely that you'll soon hear some different versions of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. Many of us know this song very well and have fond memories with family and loved ones tied to it. As you listen to it this approaching holiday season, I hope you can find as much joy in it as I do allow it to touch your heart with it's beautiful melody and lyrics.