Read "L'Envoi" by Rudyard Kipling again. After reading Life of Pi, you should have a new understanding of reason, belief, God, and stories in general. Use this new knowledge and lens to discover a new meaning of the poem.
Post a comment about your new interpretation.
L'ENVOI
By: Rudyard Kipling (1919)
[To whom it may concern]
The smoke upon your Altar dies,
The flowers decay,
The Goddess of your sacrifice
Has flown away.
What profit then to sing or slay
The sacrifice from day to day?
"We know the Shrine is void," they said,
"The Goddess flown—
"Yet wreaths are on the altar laid—
"The Altar-Stone
"Is black with fumes of sacrifice,
"Albeit She has fled our eyes.
"For, it may be, if still we sing
"And tend the Shrine,
"Some Deity on wandering wing
"May there incline;
"And, finding all in order meet,
"Stay while we worship at Her feet."
Everything is or has a story. The poem tells a story of a people whose god left them yet they still pray anyway in hope that they will be answered.
ReplyDeletethey believe something that is not their.
ReplyDeleteIn the Poem, the narrator does not understand why people worship when nothing is there. People pray to something that's not there because they have hope that something or multiple things will be there. We pray to a God to have something to give us hope that things will get better.
ReplyDelete-Talyana Meadows
What it is saying is that too others who do not understand like the narrator it may seem that the goddess is gone and left. As for those who are followers she is still their even when it seems like she isn't. That she will be their when they need her. Not when they don't. They keep the alter and the sacrifices goin g because it keeps there faith in here when she seems gone.
ReplyDeleteIn this poem it says that they aren't sure how they can worship something that isn't there. They don't think that they lost anything, they are hoping it will get better if they keep having faith and that it'll be alright. They have decided that they aren't deferring that they don't need to have one specific commitment to the one singular god, they are willing to accept any other sort of god, because one god is just as good as the next. ~Amber Johnson and Evan Charles
ReplyDeleteThe narrator believes there is an absence of god. The people don't care about this to much because they keep on worshipping because they think another god will come. This would indicate that they think that all gods are the same.
ReplyDeleteStories are created for a purpose, it depends on who's ears are listening- who is the story for? You will tell a story about God to a non-believer, despite it being strange. Then again, why tell a story about God to a believer? They are already aware of God's presence. They already know all of this- but the non-believer doesn't. Maybe the non-believer will continue on not believing but he will take consideration of a divine being above- for he had taken the information from the story he was told.
ReplyDeleteStories are created for other people, it depends on the timing, is it a better story, and does it make you feel. (Fatima Adame)
In order to believe something that is not physically there is really hard. In the poem they continue to have hope by praying to their god although the god has left them.
ReplyDeleteThis poem connects to Life Of Pi, because it has a similar theme. Just like in Life of Pi, it explains that God is universal, one God is just as good as another. God or goddesses really just represent hope. In the poem, these people are still worshipping because they still have hope and they know that some other deity is there for them. "Some deity on wandering wing, May there incline; And finding all in order meet, Stay while we worship at Her feet." Kipling. These peoples' feelings relate to Pi's feelings, because Pi's beliefs represent hope for him.
ReplyDeleteThe poem is about people that say there god left them but they don't care because they say another one is going to show up. this relates to Life of Pi because he believes everything is right and every "story" is true.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the Life of Pi, I've seen a new perspective on the poem. I see in the first stanza is the narrator who doesn't understand a God that is not there. In Life of Pi, Pi believes in many different religions but while in the poem the narrator can't comprehend in believing in a religion when the God isn't there. In the last stanza there are waiting for any God. Doesn't matter if it's there God there waiting for any God. God to them is hope.
ReplyDeleteIt connects to Life Of Pi, because it has a similar theme. Pi believes in multiple religions. The poem they have hope in there god by praying to him, even though he might not be there.
ReplyDelete-Rowdy
When compared to Life of Pi, both the poem and the book seem to both have themes of struggling in keeping your faith. During the intense struggles that Pi goes through while on the lifeboat he tries to keep his faith and hope strong despite the circumstances. The goddess leaving the altar is similar to Pi's hardships such as losing his family or any temporary passengers on his lifeboats such as the orangutan or Frenchman. The people still leaving gifts at the altar and hoping another goddess comes is similar to Pi being loyal to his faith during his journey believing in his religions to help him. Gabriel H. 3rd period 2/2/2017
ReplyDeleteThe believers in the poem, although their goddess has fled, continue to worship and sacrifice. To what, they don't know, but it's not the god that they were loyal to. They're more loyal to their belief, knowing that it doesn't matter who/what their belief is, but more that they still are giving up time for belief. In Life of Pi, Pi explores the stories from different religions, expanding his beliefs. He hears of all these different greater powers, and opens his mind to there being more than just God, or something other than God. He knows that as long as he keeps his faith in something, he'll be okay.
ReplyDeleteLife of Pi gives me a new perspective on the poem. The part of the poem where THEY don't care who they are worshiping, they just want to worship, Pi is in the same position. Pi feels that he needed someone to survive because what he went through was terrible. So he was willing to worship almost anyone.
ReplyDeleteGod is universal, whether or not one exists or not. In the poem, the people pray to a god that has left them in hope that another will come along. They don't care who it is, as long as one is listening. The same goes for Pi. He's starving and dehydrated and he prays for help to the Gods he believes in, so long as he is heard. His situation doesn't get better, but yet he still prays. The presence of a God means nothing as long as you THINK there is one. Your brain is more powerful than your eyes. Seeing is not believing, believing is seeing. In the end, whether or not a God was there to guide you, you got to the end, and the poem shows that.
ReplyDeleteThey both had hope to keep praying for answers but never received any signs or answers to their questions.
ReplyDelete-Gisselle Chapa and Haylie Reyes
Pi from Life Of Pi, is like the believers in the poem. He is more like them than the reader/narrator because he wanted to believe in anything. He didn't want to be stuck in the boat with a tiger. In the first stanza, the people are wondering why the believers are so crazily in love with the goddess. So Pi is like the believers because they need something to believe in.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem the people can not see the their goddess but they still put their faith in her. In the Life of Pi when Pi is on the life boat he prays and puts hope and faith in his religion but through out that event he slowly loses faith but didn't completely lose faith kind of like the people in the poem.
ReplyDeleteIn this poem people are worshipping a goddess that left them. In Life of Pi, Pi is put in a very hopeless situation where most people would lose their faith. The people in the poem seem to not accept the fact that their goddess is gone. They continue to worship something that's clearly gone. During Pi's journey, he doesn't lose faith once. Pi may not have been as dedicated to surviving if he didn't have something to reassure him. Pi used his faith to empower and give him hope. The people in the poem, however, make no attempt to make things better. It seems they're putting their goddess over all reason and progression. That's the dangerous thing about faith, it can cancel out your sense of reason. Denying danger in the name of religion is extremely dangerous. God isn't going to get you off the lifeboat. You have to do that yourself through both faith and reason.
ReplyDelete— Reagan Bordelon, 3rd period
"the smoke upon your alter dies" the tsimtsum sunk, the fire that was his life, that kept him going, then it was put out... "the flowers decay" the death of the beauty in life, his family, the animals. "the goddess of your sacrifice has flown away" where are the gods? all these religions to believe in and why couldn't he turn to one of them for help? where were they during pi's journey to safety?
ReplyDeleteThough "the story" involved the brutal ways humans can act in terrible circumstances and through the death of his family, all the animals, and his original life he held onto the thought of surviving, pushing through feeling abandoned, stranded, in a scary world, he created his own hope, changed his mind his memory, changed the truth for him and others, to make his life bearable. It was no longer about the past, its about going on in life, and trying to find a way to make life for everyone else better. A chance for them not only to believe in a god, but to believe in others, and that we will do the good, both humans and god. for god is all around us, god is everything, based on pi's description of allah. If pi can find the good in life when everything went wrong, so can the people in the story, and everyone else in real life, as long as they tell themselves something they can believe, or put their faith in something.
Pi believes in many gods while the narrator in the poem is wondering why the people will let any god or goddess come and go.
ReplyDeletein this poem their goddess has left the people. these people want something to worship and to them it doesn't really matter at this point what they worship. like in life of pi, pi believes in Islam, Christianity and Hinduism, because he wants to believe in God
ReplyDeleteLife of Pi gives this poem a whole new meaning, one completely different from Bless Me Ultima. In BMU, the meaning of this poem is Antonio finding a new god, the golden carp, and mixing his two together. But in LoP, the whole point is that you can believe in more than one because they all will take your thanks and offering. In the poem, the people talk about waiting for a new goddess to come and accept their love and offering, which is kind of what Pi is trying to get across. Pi believes in all three religions because he sees no reason why he cant, and in the poem all the people want is someone to worship; it didn't matter who, which is a good thing to tell to the world. Society tells you that you need to pick just one person to worship or to love, but as long as the love is there, is there a reason we have to choose? Can't we just BELIEVE?
ReplyDeleteIts hard to believe is something but if you have hope you can see. In Life Of pie Pie has Pie and good thing start to happen to him and he survives.
ReplyDeleteafter reading the life of pi there are many different ways to look at this poem. like when pi was believing in gods the people were just waiting for any god to worship because they didn't worship one specific god.
ReplyDeletethrough the message of life of pi I'm let into a different perspective. The things that are said in the first stanza are said with ignorance of the people's perspective. to the people the God and a god have no differences. it matters little to them who or how they worship. but they want to be devoted to something.
ReplyDeleteThis poem shows a separate person (the narrator) and believers in "A" God. Notice how i said A and not just "God". In this poem it shows a narrator (obviously confused) asking believers why they continue to worship when their goddess is gone. The believers respond to this by basically saying "we know our goddess is gone, but we will still worship. It isn't about a specific god, but rather the worship and worshiper." This can relate to LOP because in the book, Pi specifically says he does not believe in one God. Pi believes in many Gods, rather than one God. Pi worships to worship, to have faith and hope, not to just believe in one separate higher being. The people in the poem's beliefs are similar in a way. The people worship, no matter what God as long as they worship. Pi, however, worships many God's to have faith. Pi wants to believe in something, just like "they".
ReplyDeletethe idea of "the" god in LoP is shot down, compared to the idea of "a", but maybe "a" god is not a god at all. "The" and "A" god are not gods, but ideas, if god represents the idea of believing in a better tomorrow. "Thank you god for this meal" can be interpreted as "thank you god for giving me the hope in a better tomorrow, for food to eat tomorrow"
ReplyDeletePi in Life Of Pi believed in multitudinous religions and beliefs. He hoped in staying afloat with Richard parker and eventually settled on land. In this poem it explains the legitimacy of the belief in god not just the divinity itself. With a belief comes hope which can pull you through strenuous times.If you are auditioning for a play and don't know if you will make the cut, believing in a totem can give you hope that the idol you image will help you captivate the part. Pi had aspiration and he came across terrain. Believing in an icon gives you ambition. Believing in a god gives you consolation for the future to come. If there is no desire then there will be no intention or proposal for you.
ReplyDeleteIf we worship the god we believe in that gives up hope it is the same as worshiping any other god that we don't believe in because it doesn't matter what god it is as long as there is a god that will make you continue to feel hopeful, the narrator does not see anything unlike the believers such as Pi in his stories told, Pi makes the best of everything to help himself guide through his journey, by having hope from a god he lives for a purpose.
ReplyDeleteIn this poem the narrator is asking the believers why they are still worshipping the alter even though their Goddess left them. The people don't care that "the" Goddess left them because they know that "a" god is out there. This makes me think of the Life of Pi when everyone told Pi that he could only believe in one God which to them would be "the" God. Pi knows better than that because he knows that there are a bunch of "the" Gods out there.
ReplyDeletePi and the worshippers worship not because they fear death and intend on going on to heaven or afraid of going elsewhere, but they worship because for them following someone and getting into the ritual makes them have a better life it makes a better story.Pi follows Hindu Islam and Christianity because it makes him a better person it makes him happier more connected to the world and just more resilient and hopeful. The worshippers worship because its become part of their tradition its something that makes the community together and happier. They don't care who they worship as long as it makes their life better.
ReplyDeleteThe Narrator believes in "the" god and is asking the believers why they still worship a god that has left them. They respond that they don't care who they are worshipping as long as it's a god.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem the people are worshiping a god based on beliefs and not facts. They are worshiping a good instead of a certain the god. And in life of pie he belives everything and every religion.
ReplyDeleteSating you believe in God is different then actually naming the one you truly believe in. Pi obviously is a different type of believer. He believes in multiple religions. He believes in a god not a specific one. Multiple gods helped him through his journey.
ReplyDeleteThis poem shows different people have different perspectives on God and the narrator believes in "the" God and the believers believe in "a" God. The believers do not really care that the Goddess has left because they don't just believe in her they believe in many Gods. pi believes in different religions. (different Gods)
ReplyDeleteIn The life of Pi they tell us that God is universal and that even though you might worship one specific God there is multiple others that might do the same thing. The people in the poem didn't really care if their God/Goddess had left they kept on worshipping just for hope. In the last stanza they are waiting for any God because for them God represent hope. Pi and the people in the poem don't really care what God they worship because they can viewed the same.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem the goddess leaves the people, but they continue to worship. At first, they were confused, and were unsure on how to be able to follow something that is not physically there. However, in the last stanza, they refuse to believe they are left alone and lost, and although the same god may not be there, they are willing to commit to another god because one god is just as good as any other. In Life of Pi, Pi believes in different religions, but all the gods represent hope.
ReplyDeleteIn this poem, and the life of pi, they both have a similar theme. In the poem, god, simply means hope. In the life pi, it is a little different, but has the same meaning. In the life of pi, pi has many ways to get hope. he worships three different gods. Almost giving him multiple reasons to have hope. Whether one day he has his hope in Brahma, Christ, or Vishnu. Or perhaps even all at the same time. The life of pi, and the poem connect as well by it being difficult to believe in their god/gods at a certain time. In the life of pi, Pi finds it difficult to believe in all three of his gods. Yet, keeps believing because of the numerous gods, or symbols of hope, giving more of a probability for him to keep believing. As well as him needing hope because of his predicament. In the poem, they still kept believing because they wanted hope.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem the believers choose to continue worshipping the Goddess in spite of the their own beliefs.While Pi never settled for a specific religion he just choose to believe.(they both see belief the same way)
ReplyDeletethis compares to life of Pi because when Pi was stranded out on a boat all he had was faith and hope just like the people at the altar have. everyone in a sense stranded Pi when they died or was eaten. all he had left after that is faith and hope that something awaited him. but once he lost faith and hope in the few moments he did he felt hopeless and lost so he had to faith that something awaited him. the people at the altar were stranded once they lost hope in their goddess and she left leaving them hopeless. so they started having faith again and they would bring gifts and sacrifices for the goddess so she would stay. pi brought his life and certain parts of his catch for his god as a sacrifice so he would help him stay through this.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem the believers choose to worship the Goddess even if she is gone. While Pi never settled for a specific religion he just choose to believe all.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator of the poem believe in "the" god. While the followers and pi believe in "a" god which means that they believe that you can practice more than one religion. While the narrator only believes that you can only practice one religion at a time
ReplyDeletein the poem there is one goddess while in Pi's story he believes in multiple gods. I think this relates to the fact that just because you are a part of one religion you cant believe other things.
ReplyDeletethe poem and the life of pi are the same because they both deal with the belief of god. in the poem the people believe that just because there god left that itll be back. and in life of pi, pi keeps his hope alive trough his 3 religions.
ReplyDeleteI think it can apply to Life of Pi because when Pi is shipwrecked his goddess(allah, god, Vishnu) seems to have flown away, yet he continues to believe hoping that maybe he will be saved. Or that Some deity on wandering wing may incline
ReplyDeleteIn the poem the followers are praying to a goddess that isn't there because they don't care where they get their belief from they just want to believe in something, like in life of pi ,pi worships 3 different religions because he doesn't think there is just on god, he just wants to have something to believe - Mark Bartholmey, 6th period
ReplyDeleteIn the poem the followers are trying to tell the narrator that it doesn't matter who you believe in as long as there is belief. The followers believe in A god and the narrator believes in The god. Pi never picked a specific religion he just wanted to believe just like the followers.
ReplyDeleteI think the narrator is trying to make the followers doubt their goddess, but they don't actually believe she exists. They believe in the hope she brings them. They know in their hearts that the goddess they sacrifice to and worship is not a real physical or spiritual being, but they admire the faith and belief that their goddess brings them.
ReplyDeleteBY THE WAY, THIS IS MADELYNN LATHAM AND LOGAN HAMILTON TOGETHER BC MADELYNN FORGOT HER COMPUTER. K BYE.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so basically, in Bless Me Ultima, we believed that this poem shows that even when it doesn't seem as if the God you follow is present, you should still continue your practices and worship them because they will be there when you truly need it. But after reading Life Of Pi, we interpreted that this poem shows that it is okay not to follow one God, because you still have belief in something, some deity, some god. You still practice other religions, but it I okay because you still have belief. You don't have to follow one god, and you don't have to follow a specific one. You can follow any religion, or just any path for that matter and make any choice you want. This is Madelynn Latham and Logan Hamilton signing out. *drops mic*
in life of pi he believes different religions even if people think it is weird he sticks with his religons through his adventer getting back to shore pi think it is ok to have this believe system and in the poem the people still believe the goddess even if the narrator doesn't think it is right because she is gone but they still believe the goddess like how pi believes in the different religion
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the Life of Pi, I have a different outlook on this poem. They both have the theme of hope. In the poem, their God has abandoned, however the believers stay true to their beliefs and remain to have hope. In life of Pi, Pi had many hardships in life and had hope and relies on God to help him.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem, the narrator thinks the "believers" are ignorant for worshiping a Goddess that left them, but for the believers it wasn't about the Goddess; it was about the belief in a higher power. Pi doesn't believe in just one higher power, he believes in multiple. In a way Pi is like the believers because all they both need is belief that something better will come. Pi is also like the believers because he doesn't care that others judge him for believing in multiple religions like the believers don't care that the narrator thinks that they are ignorant.
ReplyDelete