Sympathy...

Austin as my Oxford...
When Hopkins writes about how “his love for the city grows more ‘sweet familiar’ with each passing term,” (633) I couldn’t help but think of my time in Austin. I came here three years ago and was overwhelmed by the “crowdedness” and mass of people all around campus and Austin. The traffic was horrible, both on foot and in a car, but as the semesters passed, I found ways to avoid the traffic and explore on foot both the campus and the city. There are so many buildings to be explored and looked at and I can relate to Hopkins in his increasing love for the buildings and surroundings of Oxford, or in my case, Austin and UT.

The aesthetics of colleges seem to be becoming less important—as noted by the RTF building, a modern abomination, and there are less and less Victorian structures that are highlighted. When Butler looks at the buildings and contemplates faith, he says, “Nothing remains but Beauty” (633), which reminded me of on of my favorite poems by Dickenson.
I DIED for beauty, but was scarce
Adjusted in the tomb,
When one who died for truth was lain
In an adjoining room.

He questioned softly why I failed?
“For beauty,” I replied.
“And I for truth,—the two are one;
We brethren are,” he said.

And so, as kinsmen met a night,
We talked between the rooms,
Until the moss had reached our lips,
And covered up our names.

There are so many references to the destruction of nature in Hopkins' writing, and the poem about cutting down the trees is one that is still important.



"Be a good boy, remember; and be kind to animals and birds, and read all you can." (Jude) This quote goes with sympathy, I think, because one of the definitions of sympathy from the printouts was, “Conformity of feelings, inclinations, or temperament, which makes persons agreeable to each other, community of feeling; harmony of disposition.” The cruel treatment of animals is a subject that is so important today, and like Smith says, "we have no immediate experience of what other men feel, we can form no idea of the manner in which they are affected, but by conceiving what we ourselves should feel in the like situation" (handout). If this is true for man, why is it not also true for animals. They have similar reproductive and nervous systems, so why do we figure they are without feelings. One of the things that disgusts me most is the exploitation of animals for fights or pharmaceutical testing and other things like the following video shows, so if you have a week stomach, do not watch...