Journal 7: Hounding

To be hounded by the world means that the world is onto you, that the world is going against you, that the world is trying to break you. This title is very powerful because immediately it gets the reader thinking about the world and how every time something bad happens it's not just bad luck, it's because the world is intentionally harassing you and trying to make your life miserable. At first, the first impression of the reader would be that the author must be a very pessimistic person and a paranoid person because a person that believes the world exist just to give one person a hard time is clearly paranoid and thinks that everyone is out there to get him, that bad things happen not because of coincident, but it's a conspiracy to get him. However, further reading the poem and actually understanding what the poem is about shows that the author is actually pretty optimistic. It's a sonnet. Like Anne Bradstreet's poem, she began by talking about the event but then eventually understood and show understanding that she must not dwell on earthly stuff, that she must look for a place in heaven that only a devout Christian can have that God has given out of mercy.