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The Mercury 2021

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

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Ghost Stories, Natalie M. Orga

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

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Synthesizing The Sublime And Beautiful: Aesthetics In Shelley's "Hymn To Intellectual Beauty", Christopher T. Lough

Student Publications

As a Romantic poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley bristled at rationalistic attempts to definitively categorize the human condition. Taking Edmund Burke’s treatise “On the Sublime and Beautiful” as his chief foil, Shelley explored aesthetic categories that certain strains of Enlightenment thought had held apart from one another. In my brief exegesis of his “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty” from 1816, I build on Rudolf Otto’s concept of the numinous and the work of intellectual historian Frank Ankersmit to argue that Shelley presents a holistic account of experience with the ineffable.

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Music Terminology And Context In Robert Browning’S “A Toccata Of Galuppi’S”, Natalie M. Dolan

Student Publications

In his poem describing a performance of a Baldassare Galuppi toccata, Robert Browning uses music theory terminology and historical context to explain the emotions inspired by the piece. Browning’s 19th-century narrator reflects on the lives of past audiences and on his own mortality as he addresses the deceased composer. This paper analyzes the use of musical references in explaining the narrator’s response to the performance. The analysis includes an examination of Galuppi’s compositional period and a discussion of the specific terminology that Browning uses to convey his narrator’s wariness of death.

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Riptide, Mirabelle R. Cohen

Student Publications

Haifa sun,

Warm and thick like honey,

Melts over everything:

The port, the parasailers, the topless woman sunbathing.

I have befriended the lifeguard,

Whose laughter is abundant like pomegranate seeds.

He wears a red speedo and his curly hair reminds me of pasta. [excerpt]

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The Boardwalk, Mirabelle R. Cohen

Student Publications

From their stakeouts below,

Kids are careful not to look directly up,

The way you avoid looking at the sun when you step outside,

Because the sun streams fire and

painted planks spit sand at the little gods of mischief. [excerpt]

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Closure, Madeleine L. Quinn

Student Publications

This poem explores the idea of closure through various lenses of the narrators life.

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Banana Bread, Madeleine L. Quinn

Student Publications

This poem describes a young narrators exploration of her grandmother's battle with dementia. Her grandma's unwavering love still finds ways to shine through.

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