Discussion of Aurora Leigh 3/20

Question 3: Can there be heroes in modern life? According to the poem? To you?

I think that there can be heroes in modern life, they are just sometimes difficult to see. According to the poem, heroes that stand out to us from the past seemed ordinary to those who lived during their time. King Arthur was just an ordinary man to Guinevere. And so the way to discover heroes is to just honestly assess and describe the reality of your own life and time. To describe those around you with all of their strengths and flaws through the medium of poetry. The language of poetry can turn an ordinary man into a spectacular hero. The poem would say that while people that would be defined as "heroes" do exist in modern life, they are not the ones who are first thought of. It is men of the past like Charlemagne, King Arthur, or Alexander the Great. But by describing modern life we will almost unwittingly define a new age of heroes. I definitely agree with this assessment. As a historian I can honestly say that it is hard to judge someone during or immediately after they make an impact, and so the passing of time gives a distinct spin on one's view. It also matters what someone defines as a hero. My personal heroes are people that will never be in a history book, never even known by very many other people, but if I were to enshrine them in poetry woven in with my emotions than maybe centuries from now they would be seen as heroes. It's all in the eye of the beholder.