Since we have begun blogging, I have been the one to post the poems. For this week's blog, you get to choose. Choose a poem that you like. The poem should have literary merit and it should have many layers. With that being said, analyze the poem. What literary devices
do you see this author using to convey meaning? What commentary is being made? The last part, explain why the poem resonates with you.
You can choose any poet mentioned on the AP Site of reputable authors, look at American Academy of Poets, Poetry Foundation, Poetry 180.
The poem I chose for this week’s blog is:
ReplyDeleteHow to Change a Frog Into a Prince by Anna Denise
Start with the underwear. Sit him down.
Hopping on one leg may stir unpleasant memories.
If he gets his tights on, even backwards, praise him.
Fingers, formerly webbed, struggle over buttons.
Arms and legs, lengthened out of proportion, wait,
as you do, for the rest of him to catch up.
This body, so recently reformed, reclaimed,
still carries the marks of its time as a frog. Be gentle.
Avoid the words awkward and gawky.
Do not use tadpole as a term of endearment.
His body, like his clothing, may seem one size too big.
Relax. There's time enough for crowns. He'll grow into it.
At first glance, this poem appears to be a simple guide on how to potentially transform a frog into a prince, but when the layers of this poem are analyzed, it is evident that the message of this poem relates to every day relationships. In the poem How to Change a Frog Into a Prince by Anna Denise, Denise comments on the importance of pursuing patience in one’s relationships. Denise conveys her message through the use of many literary devices in the poem. Throughout the poem, Denise portrayed a princess and frog story allusion. This allusion allows the poem to appeal to both adults and children because both parties can easily identify with the princess and frog allusion. In the poem, Denise utilizes alliteration to help create the flow of the poem. Denise wrote, “Fingers, formerly webbed…” (4) and, “This body, so recently reformed, reclaimed,” (7). The alliteration of the poem helps to portray to the princess story allusion because it creates a whimsical, childlike reading for the reader. Symbolism also plays a major role in the poem. Denise uses a frog to symbolize relationships. All throughout the poem, the frog is referenced through an extended metaphor. Denise wrote, “Do not use tadpole as a term of endearment,” (10). Although the frog is never referenced directly in the poem’s stanza, it is evident to the reader that the author is referring to a frog. It becomes clear that the author is referencing relationships through the imagery in the poem. As the writer describes the different steps to change a frog into a prince, the author is describing the process it takes to transform a person or an relationship. The writer wrote, “IF he gets his tights on, even backwards, praise him,” (3). The author is commenting that even if there are many trials in the process to redeeming a relationship, it is necessary to praise any efforts in the process. The last literary device the author uses is the symbolism of the crown in line 12. The crown stands for the achievement of a goal. Through the use of the symbol, the author is commenting that the achievement of redeeming a relationship will eventually come, it just takes time and a process to reap those achievements.
This poem resonates with me because I thought it was fascinating how a simple poem that portrayed itself to be a simple princess and frog allusion actually had the deeper meaning of portraying the steps and trials in the redemption of a relationship. I really liked this poem because it can easily be understood and identified with a large range of age groups. My favorite part about this poem is the irony at the end. The poem doesn't end how a typical princess and frog story would end, it ends by the author saying that the transformation will need to take a little more time, but there is enough time to wait for the transformation to occur.
This poem is taken from the novel, “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green where Hazel extends the poem even further with nine added lines to describe Augustus’ condition as he became sick. I could talk for hours about why “The Red Wheelbarrow” was placed in “The Fault in Our Stars,” but instead I am going to simply analyze the poem on its own. One poetic device used simply in this novel is the rhythm of the poem; William Carlos Williams chose to use short, choppy lines, four of which contain one word. By breaking up the sentences, the reader is forced to go slowly through each line of the poem and is left with a sense of suspense. To show this sense of suspense each line of the poem must be analyzed. The poem starts off with, “so much depends” and the words “so much” instead of just saying “depends” tells readers how important this object is and how dependent things are upon it. The next line, “upon,” shows the fantastical nature of the poem. Readers are brought back to their childhoods with a word used commonly in the beginning of fairy tales, “once upon a time.” The next line, “a red wheel” leaves the readers with tons of confusion. A red wheel? And another question is brought to mind, why is it red because red wheels are not common. At this point, readers should think that the color red is important in the poem; it could mean fire: determination, passion, desire, and love or blood: energy, and power. This thoughts is carried with readers to the next line, “barrow.” Now it is understood that Williams meant a red wheelbarrow, not just a red wheel, but what’s the point of separating the word? By separating the word, readers are able to understand that both a wheel and a barrow play a part in a wheelbarrow. In other words, one will not work without the other. Now, taking the first four lines and placing them together, what depends upon a red wheelbarrow? Gardening, children push each other around in them, but what else? Now, on to the next line, “glazed with rain,” which makes readers think about a glaze on pastry which is glossy in appearance. The next line, “water,” is an important topic in any poem that uses it. Looking ahead a little bit at the word “white” to describe the chickens there is a feeling that the red wheelbarrow is a pure substance. The poem being associated with childhood dreams with the word “upon” and by using a “wheelbarrow” as its focus shows the innocence of children. This is all for the analytical side of the poem, but now for the reasons why it resonates so completely with me. As I mentioned in the beginning, I first found the poem in “The Fault in Our Stars” which is my favorite book. There are many allusions in the novel that are to poems and other works which I was fond of because I did not know that one author could weave that amount of works into a less than 300 page book. “The Red Wheelbarrow” has also showed me that a poem containing a total of thirteen words can have as much meaning as a poem that contains 100 words. In order to understand the meaning of the poem, a reader needs to delve deeply into the depth of the words and understand each to their entirety which has helped me understand other complex poems that I have read in language arts classes.
ReplyDelete- Bolger, J. 2
“This Living Hand” -by John Keats
ReplyDeleteThis living hand, now warm and capable
Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold
And in the icy silence of the tomb,
So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights
That thou would wish thy own heart dry of blood
So that in my veins red life might stream again,
And thou be conscience – calm’d –see here it is –
I hold it towards you
You might recognize this poem from the end of the TedTalk a few blogs ago, when the speaker was using it as an example of how poems remind us we will die. I was so intrigued by it that I immediately looked up the author and the title so I could keep reading the worlds. Yes, I understand there is not much literal depth to this work, but this allows the reader to insert their own depth. The imagery of the dead hand and the icy tomb is at the core, putting us right in the middle of the action and adding realism. The reader can imagine the dead face and hand of someone they care about and know the feeling of wanting to see them live again, grief and unsaid words “haunting” them as they walk away. The poems bald language contributes to the realism of death with its certainty. It reminds the reader that this will indeed happen to you someday, and there is nothing you can do to prevent it.
Or you could look further, and realize Keats is talking to each of us as people. I saw in this poem a representation of my own death, and the regret for things that I might leave unfinished. One of my greatest fears is that I will die without ever publishing anything. If this truly happened, I would most likely reach out to the living, hungry for the life I squandered so that I could finish what I started. Subsequently, I believe the poem is trying to tell us to live life to the fullest; do everything you can with your life and take every risk, because as much as they may want to, no one is going to be able to give you your life back after you are dead. That red stream isn’t going to pulse through your veins forever; so drink up, and have no regrets.
Maslach, K 2
“Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost
ReplyDeleteSome say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
One of my favorite poems is “Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost. First person point of view is used throughout this poem. Readers can see the world through the author’s own perspective. "Fire and Ice" has an open form rhyme scheme. Frost uses an ABAABCBCB style: with the word “fire” rhyming with itself and “desire,” the word “ice” rhymes with itself, “suffice,” and “twice,” and “hate” and “great” rhyming with each other. The rhyme scheme enhances the connections between the rhyming words and cause readers to focus on what the words “fire” and “ice” symbolize in the context of this poem. The dichotomy between fire and ice is established in the first and second lines of the poem. The connotation for fire as being passionate, hot, dangerous, and beautiful is described in line 3. Ice’s connotation of being cold, bitter, depressing, and intriguing is implied in line 6. However, Robert Frost says that both fire and ice can be equally destructive. This makes the two seemingly opposite elements have the same power to destroy. Frost mainly uses symbolism to show how two polar opposite ideas or actions could produce the same result. Fire represents desire (line 3) and ice represents hate (line 6); these symbols show that people’s destructive impact on the world is equal, regardless of whether they are motivated by desire or hate. Frost is trying to show readers that it would not matter how the world would end. All that would matter is the fact that the world did end.
This poem resonates with me because it is seemingly simplistic, yet it comments on the complexity of human nature. People fear the many ways that the future can change. Ultimately, they realize that regardless of how the future changes, it will change. This poem speaks to me because it implies that people should focus on their lives now and stop worrying about how the world will change in the uncertain future. I can associate with this idea because I often think about how different my life will be once I finish high school, go to college, buy my own house, etc. This poem teaches me that I should live in the present and stop worrying so much about what is going to happen in the future.
Judele, C 2nd
The poem I chose was “The Road Not Taken,” by Robert Frost.
ReplyDeleteTWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same, 10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back. 15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 20
This poem is all about choice. The split in the road serves as the metaphor of choice that the author must choose in order to carry on with the rest of his life. He utilizes the literary device of imagery to convey his theme of choice for his designated future. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood…to where it bent in the undergrowth” (Frost 1-5). The sense of nature helps to relate a simple path in the woods to the complex life decisions a person would have to make. The poet uses the idea of a “road” to show the comparison of traveling on roads to get to a certain place, as an individual will travel in life on this “road” to get to a designation. Frost says, “I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference” (Frost 19-20). This shows that everyone must choose a path in life and regardless what they choose, they won’t know the effect of the choice until it has already changed their lives. I really love this poem because it relates to not only myself, but all individuals because we will all have to make decisions that will affect us later on in life.
Ramsumair M 7/8
Where the sidewalk ends by Shel Silverstein
ReplyDeleteThere is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.
When I was a child, I received Silversteins book “Runny Babbit”, while reading I thought every poem was silly and I would read the poem once then change the words back to their original state and even read the poem backwards to see that they still made sense either way. But coming across this poem really caught my eye now that I’m more mature. In the first stanza he uses the use of imagery when describing what’s beyond the sidewalk, “And there the grass grows soft and white, /And there the sun burns crimson bright,/And there the moon-bird rests from his flight/To cool in the peppermint wind” (Lines 2-4). Within these lines he uses words like soft and white to describe the grass and peppermint to describe the wind, giving descriptive words that a child might use to describe the same scene. He provides a child-like sense to the poem to give it perspective and to show how wonderful and joyful it is past the sidewalk. Along with imagery, he provides rhyme scheme in a AABBBCDAEEEAEEEA format, which is unique because in the beginning the poem is mostly AB when describing the other side of the sidewalk, but when he talks about the dark streets and asphalt flowers, “Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black/And the dark street winds and bends. /Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow” (Lines 5-7), he talks about adulthood and the life they live, changing the sequence to AE and combining the adult and child patterns.
Which leads to the meaning of the poem, that adults lose their innocence along the sidewalk and forget the beauty in creativeness and having the imagination of a child. Adults have to look back on their life and see the dull and concreteness to realize what it was like to be a child again. Children are filled with goofiness and life, so looking ahead and remembering the joy and life they use to have is the mindset that adults should go back to.
What I enjoyed most about this article was, since he is a children’s writer, I felt as if this poem focused mainly on adults. It wasn’t as much as a jab at adults, but more of reminding adults how important it is to have life and joy and sometimes we don’t always have to grow up learning from adults but grow up learning from children because they live their life without limits but with innocence.
S.Güt 7/8
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
ReplyDeleteand before the street begins,
and there the grass grows soft and white,
and there the sun burns crimson bright,
and there the moon-bird rests from his flight
to cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
and the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
we shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow
and watch where the chalk-white arrows go
to the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
and we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
for the children, they mark, and the children, they know,
the place where the sidewalk ends.
“Where the Sidewalk Ends” by Sheldon Silverstein is a well-known “children’s” poem. One of my elementary school teachers read me this poem when I was young. I remember not knowing what it meant, but I cannot remember what my teacher said the poem was about. I am not much of a poet, not even a reader, but for some reason, this poem’s name has stuck with me since I have read it. Looking at the poem now, I better understand what the significance of this poem is about.
This poem is about the how members of society must rediscover the joy and vitality they had as children. “Where the Sidewalk Ends” uses imagery and repetition to convey its meaning. Imagery is the first and most apparent technique used by Silverstein. Imagery lasts throughout the piece, consuming the reader’s thoughts with an accurate setting. Silverstein’s imagery embodies child-like description. The reader is forced to think with vivid images, vibrant and dark; the thought is like that of a child. While the imagery reflects the aspect of a child, the repetition emphasizes the life of adults: “Yes we’ll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,/ and we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go” (10-11). Silverstein says these lines twice, consecutively. By doing this, he emphasizes the burdening habituation involved in the lives of adults. Adults have been stripped of their possibility for change because they have conformed to a routine integrated in society. Furthermore, they “go where the chalk-white arrows go”, abandoning their unbounded imagination. Adulthood is cursed with the act of following what another person tells one to do. We see this in personal lives and at the workplace. Government itself mandates its citizens to do what it see appropriate. Silverstein wants adults to embrace the qualities of children that make their lives joyous and lively, because the lives of adults lack happiness and vitality.
I believe that I could not understand this poem when I was young not only because I was not educated enough to understand it. It was also because I was a child and I had yet been deep enough into the process of societal integration. But now, realizing the habituation in my own life and how I have become a member of society, doing what society wants me to do, I see the urge that exists in this poem.
Srivastava R, 2
The poem I chose was “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost
ReplyDeleteNature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Robert Frost uses a lot of symbolism in this poem. He uses colors to represent “nature’s hues”. Frost says, “Nature’s first green is gold” this is saying that the first signs of life in nature are perfect. But as he moves on through the poem he says that nothing perfect can stay. Anything beautiful or perfect can’t last forever, it will eventually fade away. He also uses personification frequently throughout the poem. Frost personifies nature as a female to make the poem more impactful. He makes nature seem more alive by making it seem like a person. Frost also uses a biblical reference in the line, “So Eden sank to grief” this shows how everything perfect eventually withers away and dies. Just like the garden of Eden. It was supposed to be a perfect place, vacant of sin but it was stained because of the actions that took place in there. It helps enhance his point that perfect things can’t last forever. This poem really speaks to me because I agree with it whole-heartedly. I have seen very few things that are absolutely perfect and the perfection can’t last forever. Eventually the new book you got is battered from reading it so much or the house you live in is no longer as beautiful as it was when your parents bought it. Nothing perfect can stay perfect in our world. Although nothing can stay perfect enjoy it while it lasts, just like we enjoy nature’s first green.
The poem that I chose was “There Is Another Sky” by Emily Dickinson. It goes as follows:
ReplyDeleteThere is another sky,
Ever serene and fair,
And there is another sunshine,
Though it be darkness there;
Never mind faded forests, Austin,
Never mind silent fields –
Here is a little forest,
Whose leaf is ever green;
Here is a brighter garden,
Where not a frost has been;
In its unfading flowers
I hear the bright bee hum:
Prithee, my brother,
Into my garden come!
When reading this poem for the first time, it is not always easy to understand. I know I did not understand it the first time I read it; however, I read it again and realized the depth and meaning behind Dickinson’s words. She uses a lot of imagery in this poem to grab the reader’s attention and to create a very vivid picture in their mind. After doing some research, it is understood that Austin (as mentioned in the poem) is Dickinson’s brother. Based off of the light, caring, optimistic tone that this poem presents, it can be interpreted that this poem was written for Austin during a dark time in his life when he needed some optimism and cheering up. By saying that here is “another sunshine” (line 3) and “a brighter garden” (line 9) Dickinson is consoling her brother in saying that there is a brighter part of life and that he just needs to stay positive and trust in her because he will find it. She then goes to say that her brought should “never mind faded forests” (line 5) and “never mind silent fields” (line 6) because the life that she has found is much brighter and better than the one that he is in at the moment. Through her use of tone and imagery, Dickinson creates this lively, glowing image of positivity and hopefulness for both her brother and the reader to imagine and invent in their mind.
I really, really like this poem because of its hidden message and optimism. I found this poem when I was going through a really rough time in my life and it truly helped me to realize that there really is “another sky” somewhere out there, and that no matter what it is that I (or anyone for that matter) am going through right now, in the end everything will work out. This poem resonates with me because of its positivity and deeper meaning for all who read it.
Shaniuk B, 7/8
It was many and many a year ago,
ReplyDeleteIn a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we—
Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in Heaven above
Nor the demons down under the sea
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
Although it's a love poem that's very well known, "Annabel Lee" is my absolute favorite poem, as Edgar Allen Poe is by far my favorite story-teller. I like this poem because of its rhythm and its beautiful word choice. The poem just flows beautifully whether read out loud or in your head. The rhymes are rhythmic as well. I just really like the subject matter as well, since it's about grieving after the death of a loved one. There's always some really strong passion in poems about death.
For the most part, the most common rhyme scheme is ABABCB, with lots of variation. Along with this, the lines are usually 18 syllables long. The poem is broken into six stanzas with six lines each.
The setting of this poem is dark and menacing. Readers see the chopping ocean, the black sky, deathly clouded chills, and the moon. This imagery creates a perpetual nighttime along with "demons down under the sea" (line 31). The "kingdom by the sea" is most likely a castle of some sort, I always picture a medieval castle for some reason. The sea must represent loneliness or loss because it replaces Annabel Lee when she's gone. The speaker hangs out with the sea and dreams of his loved one by the ocean. I feel as though nature in general symbolizes loneliness in this poem, because the moon and the stars are seen as pale reminders of Annabel Lee.
Annabel Lee must be the epitome of perfection to the speaker. Maybe she's even seen as perfect from the angels in heaven as well, since they envy her and the speaker's relationship. Interestingly enough, demons are never mentioned with a negative connotation, however angels are murderers who envy humans. This makes for a backward moral code in this universe. Anyway, Annabel Lee is one of those people who doesn't exist in real life. This leads me to believe that she was meant to die because of her ethereal beauty and kindness since perfection can't exist in reality.
- S. Bahr 7/8*
The poem I chose is "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost:
ReplyDeleteWhose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
I hold this poem very closely to my heart. At first, the poem seems very straightforward and easy to understand- Frost uses easy language to give readers the images of a snowy evening, near some woods. The narrator stops to gaze upon the woods, despite having responsibilities to tend to. With the first three stanzas, this seems to be all the poem is about. However, once a reader comes to the last stanza, the meaning changes slightly. Frost uses language like “lovely, dark and deep” (13) to entice the reader into seeing the woods in a different light—and his tone makes it seem like he wants to stay there. With the last two lines, “and miles to go before I sleep” (15-16), the meaning changes and readers are left to wonder if the poem has a deeper intent. For a lot of readers, it comes to mean that the snowy woods are death, and that the narrator is contemplating giving up where he is and “sleeping.” However, he has “promises to keep,” (13) and responsibilities to uphold, and cannot stop just yet. The repetition in this stanza lures readers in, quite like the woods lure in the narrator. No matter whether the woods represent death, or perhaps just shirking responsibility, it holds the same meaning: there is still much to do before it’s time to rest.
For me, this poem has always been one of my favorites. It is a reminder to keep going, no matter how much better it seems to just give up. All of us have promises to keep, and miles to go before we sleep—miles to go before we sleep.
-Avery, A, 2nd.
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ReplyDeleteThe poem I chose for this week’s blog was “Mr. Smeds and Mr. Spats” by Shel Silverstein:
ReplyDeleteMr. Spats
Had twenty-one hats,
And none of them were the same.
And Mr. Smeds
Had twenty-one heads
And only one hat to his name.
Now, when Mr. Smeds
Met Mr. Spats,
They talked of the
Buying and selling of hats.
And Mr. Spats
Bought Mr. Smeds’ hat!
Did you ever hear anything
Crazier than that?
Shel Silverstein has always been my favorite poet. He is known for his children’s poems. He likes to take serious issues, boil them down, and add a rhyme scheme. Doing this allows for an extremely satirical poem. And this poem, Mr. Smeds and Mr. Spats, is certainly no exception.
This poem begins with Mr. Spats, explaining how he had twenty-one hats. At this point, the reader senses nothing to be out of the ordinary, as it is a fairly simple statement. Two lines later, Mr. Smeds is introduced and we learn he has twenty-one heads but only one hat. Here, it is now easily assumed that Mr. Spats only has one head. This highlights the inequality between the two men. (Note that the poem that was published included both Mr. Smeds and Mr. Spats in the illustrations further indicating that Mr. Spats had but one head.)
In the second stanza, the rhyme scheme changes and the reader can sense a shift both in story line and rhythm. The first stanza had a rhyme scheme of AABCCB, while the second stanza progresses to ABCBBBDB. This scheme still has a whimsical sound, preserving the light-hearted nature of the poem. However, as previously stated, the second stanza features a shift in the story. Now, both Mr. Spats and Mr. Smeds meet. Mr. Spats convinces Mr. Smeds to sell his only hat. Because of this, Mr. Spats has a surplus of hats, but only one head he needs to cover. On the contrary, Mr. Smeds has no hats for his twenty-one heads. The poem ends with the author commenting on the strange nature of the two men.
To me, this poem is Silverstein’s commentary on capitalism. Capitalism, regardless of its intentions, tends to shift to a “have” and “have not” system, where some have more than others. The “have nots” tend to have a serious need for something that the “haves” have in excess. Here, Mr. Spats is the “have,” possessing twenty-two hats, but only needed one for his head. Mr. Smeds, then, is the “have not,” having not a single hat, but twenty-one heads. Silverstein specifically chooses numbers where it is possible for both Mr. Smeds and Mr. Spats to have an adequate number of hats that could cover every head. This poem shows the imbalance of wealth, which can even be drawn to be a commentary on the wealth gap, how Mr. Spats has an almost sickening number of hats for his one head and Mr. Smeds has nothing for his twenty-one heads.
Silverstein makes this poem very unique because of his rhyme scheme. Upon reading the poem, the reader senses a playful, Seussian tone. Silverstein waters down the issue of inequality to this whimsical poem which highlights how in today’s society many people turn a blind eye to this issue. The tone paints both his opinion on inequality and society’s reaction to it, two stances which are entirely opposite.
This poem resonates with me because while at first glance this poem is simple, it holds a certain complexity to it. In my opinion, the best messages are sent with the fewest words. This is because it allows for the reader to truly understand the poem without the author explicitly stating their message. I love this poem because of that. It is a poem which can only be truly discovered when the elements are fully analyzed.
-Kett J 2
“Where the Sidewalk Ends” by Shel Silverstein is a commentary on imagination and how age and society thwart it. The poem opens and immediately, driving home Silverstein’s message: “There is a place where the sidewalk ends and before the street begins, and there the grass grows soft and white” (Silverstein 1-3). These lines serve to imply that with imagination, quality of life is better; hence the contrast between the hard street and the soft grass. The street and sidewalk represent adult life, shaped and molded by society. Where the area at the end of the sidewalk where the grass grows represents the untainted imagination of youth. Silverstein goes even further in describing the unpleasantness of life without imagination: “Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black and the dark street winds and bends” (Silverstein 7-8). This can be interpreted in two different ways: first, that imagination removes the imaginer from their circumstances and allows for them to place themselves in a better world through imagining one. Second, that a lack of imagination leads to a life that is of lesser quality, and that a return to imagination can lift you out of the, “place where the smoke blows black.” The last stanza as a whole drives home Silverstein’s comment on imagination: “Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow, and we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go, for the children, they mark, and the children, they know, the place where the sidewalk ends” (Silverstein 13-16). The final stanza demonstrates that children are more able to imagine, that they can even be guides to rediscovering imagination, “for the children, they mark , and the children, they know, the place where the sidewalk ends.” Children can go so far as to show their elders how to imagine again. Finally, “the place where the sidewalk ends” represents the crossing from conformed thinking and lack of imagination (in following the sidewalk), the wonders of imagination. For me, this poem is significant because it was on of the first poems that I truly loved. The nostalgia it brings over me is amazing and it only serves to renew my love of the poem. I believe that “Where the Sidewalk Ends” is Silverstein’s best poem: from the rhyme and meter, to the symbolism, Silverstein crafted it masterfully.
ReplyDeleteBruggeman, jacob 7/8th
Where the Sidewalk Ends
Delete-Shel Silverstein
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
and before the street begins,
and there the grass grows soft and white,
and there the sun burns crimson bright,
and there the moon-bird rests from his flight
to cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
and the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
we shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow
and watch where the chalk-white arrows go
to the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
and we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
for the children, they mark, and the children, they know,
the place where the sidewalk ends.
The Wish, By a Young Lady
ReplyDeleteBy Laetitia Pilkington
I ask not wit, nor beauty do I crave,
Nor wealth, nor pompous titles wish to have;
But since, 'tis doomed through all degrees of life,
Whether a daughter, sister, or a wife;
That females should the stronger males obey,
And yield implicit to their lordly sway;
Since this, I say, is ev'ry woman's fate,
Give me a mind to suit my slavish state.
This is the poem that I chose for this week’s blog. To be honest I had never read it before, and I had just found it online, but after I read it I really liked it. The message that is being portrayed is that women should be allowed to have their own minds, and they should not have to fit into what society expects them to think. Throughout the poem the author is saying that the woman does not wish to be pretty or smart, she just wishes that she could have her own state of mind, and not have one given to her. That is the societal commentary that is being made, that women should be able to make their own choices, and they should not have to listen to what a male thinks they should do, that women should not have to obey the “stronger males”. The author presents this point using strong diction. She says that titles are “pompous” and that women are “doomed” in all aspects of life. She uses really strong negative words to describe what women are “destined” to. Another device that is used is pathos. The poem appeals to the emotions because once I read the poem and started thinking about it I started to get really annoyed at what the poem was opposing. It’s so irritating to think that women are oppressed and have to “obey the “stronger” males”, or that is what some people of society still think. This poem resonated with me because it’s right. Women are allowed to have their own state of mind, and they should not have to fit in with society or obey the “stronger male”. Actually that idea is just stupid and pisses me off. Just because they are males does not mean they are stronger, and this poem mocks that idea and it has rights to, because that idea is just dumb.
Bunting, Anna 2nd
“The Applicant” by Silvia Plath
ReplyDeleteFirst, are you our sort of a person?
Do you wear
A glass eye, false teeth or a crutch,
A brace or a hook,
Rubber breasts or a rubber crotch,
Stitches to show something's missing? No, no? Then
How can we give you a thing?
Stop crying.
Open your hand.
Empty? Empty. Here is a hand
To fill it and willing
To bring teacups and roll away headaches
And do whatever you tell it.
Will you marry it?
It is guaranteed
To thumb shut your eyes at the end
And dissolve of sorrow.
We make new stock from the salt.
I notice you are stark naked.
How about this suit——
Black and stiff, but not a bad fit.
Will you marry it?
It is waterproof, shatterproof, proof
Against fire and bombs through the roof.
Believe me, they'll bury you in it.
Now your head, excuse me, is empty.
I have the ticket for that.
Come here, sweetie, out of the closet.
Well, what do you think of that?
Naked as paper to start
But in twenty-five years she'll be silver,
In fifty, gold.
A living doll, everywhere you look.
It can sew, it can cook,
It can talk, talk, talk.
It works, there is nothing wrong with it.
You have a hole, it's a poultice.
You have an eye, it's an image.
My boy, it's your last resort.
Will you marry it, marry it, marry it.
This poem is a bit confusing when it is first read. Who is the applicant? Who is the interviewer? What is the “it” they are discussing? This poem brings about a commentary on marriage, specifically about how women are depicted. In this poem, women are dehumanized, thought of as an object rather than another person. The woman discussed is referred to as “it.” The man is promised something to fill his hand, sew and cook for him. The woman is described as a “living doll” (33), something to play with and something that will look pretty. The interviewer talks about the woman and says, “And do whatever you tell it. Will you marry it? It is guaranteed” (13-15). The interviewer promises women will do whatever makes their husband happy. The woman is presented to the man, naked and exposed to cause the man’s thoughts to stir because, “Now your head, excuse me, is empty” (26). He does not think about the woman, he thinks about what the woman can do for him. Two new objects are presented to him in this application the woman and the suit he will marry her in. The interviewer, which remains anonymous and asks all of the questions, is symbolism for society. Society gives women a certain image and certain criteria so that they will be a typical wife that men will want to marry.
At first glance, the poem seems to have an unclear meaning. After noticing the satirical tone and uncovering the underlying message, Plath is making a comment on gender roles in society. Men search for women to meet their needs and society depicts the perfect wife as someone who fulfils them.
Hornung, A. 7/8
One Day A Woman – Miller Williams
ReplyDeleteOne day a woman picking peaches in Georgia
lost her hold on the earth and began to rise.
She grabbed limbs but leaves stripped off in her hands.
Some children saw her before she disappeared
into the white cloud, her limbs thrashing.
The children were disbelieved. The disappearance
was filed away with those of other women
who fell into bad hands and were soon forgotten.
Six months later a half-naked man in Kansas
working on the roof of the Methodist Church
was seen by half a dozen well-known
and highly respected citizens to move
directly upward, his tarbrush waving,
until he shrank away to a point and vanished.
Nobody who knew about the first event
knew of the second, so no connection was made.
The tarbrush fell to earth somewhere in Missouri
unnoticed among a herd of Guernsey cows.
The poem is commentary on how we as a society refuse to connect the pieces to see a bigger picture and how only certain. The act of floating up into the sky is a metaphor for practically anything- being kidnapped, disappearing or whatever situation is presented. The act is not taken seriously though because children were the ones to report what happened. The reason that it was filed away was because the people who originally reported it were not considered believable. Then when the second person floated away, no one had heard of this happening because it hadn’t been made known to the others. Those that saw the man float away were “well known and highly respected citizens”(12) that will be believed when they tell their story. The way that information is believed kept others from hearing about it and prevented the townspeople from knowing that this had happened. It prevents people from seeing the bigger picture and understanding what is truly happening.
Supina, R. 2
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe poem I have chosen is Everything On It by Shel Silverstein.
ReplyDeleteI asked for a hot dog
With everything on it,
And that was my big mistake,
‘Cause it came with a parrot,
A bee in a bonnet,
A wristwatch, a wrench, and a rake.
It came with a goldfish,
A flag, and a fiddle,
A frog, and a front porch swing,
And a mouse in a mask –
That’s the last time I ask
For a hot dog with everything
Silverstein’s writing style, which is so unique, is one of the factors that make his poems so outstanding. Silverstein creates work that has two layers, the first being the surface which is easily comprehendible by children, and the second being the core which takes an open mind to understand. If a child were to read this poem, they would think it was about a man ordering a hot dog with a watch and a flag on it. They would giggle at the silly nature, and possibly name other objects the man could have found on his hot dog. However, when the layers are pulled back, a deeper meaning is exposed. Silverstein uses the hot dog as a symbol for life. He attempts to use this poem as a way to express the dangers of wishing too hard for something unrealistic. Silverstein tells a story to his reader when he says, “I asked for a hot dog/ With everything on it,/ And that was my big mistake,/ ‘Cause it came with a parrot,/ A bee in a bonnet,/ A wristwatch, a wrench, and a rake” (Lines 1-6). The hot dog symbolizes the wish we make when we want something more, while the ridiculous toppings symbolize all the horrible things we get that we didn’t ask for. Silverstein asked for a hot dog with everything on it thinking all he would get was what he wanted, but he wound up getting far too much for him to handle. This poem teaches the valuable lesson to always be careful what we wish for.
This poem resonates to me because the moral is so valuable. It is a truly wonderful life lesson that should be taken into account by everybody. In times of unhappiness, we tend to wish for things we don’t actually want, and it almost always results in something bad. This poem teaches a great life lesson, which is why it means so much to me.
Cruse S, 2
This week I would wish to discuss the poem, “Eldorado” by Edgar Allen Poe. Here is the poem:
ReplyDeleteGaily bedight,
A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.
But he grew old-
This knight so bold-
And o'er his heart a shadow
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.
And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow-
"Shadow," said he,
"Where can it be-
This land of Eldorado?"
"Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,"
The shade replied-
"If you seek for Eldorado!"
Eldorado is the city of gold. All the riches and glories await whoever discovers the land so precious to mankind. Poe uses alliteration and allusions, as well as metaphors within this poem. Alliteration is used in lines five, “Singing a song,” (Poe 5). Also in line three, the phrase, “In sunshine and in shadow,” (Poe 3). It seems like the authors purpose for the alliteration in the third line was to expand its imagery. When one thinks of sunshine, its naturally sunny and not dark. Yet it is also shadowy in the poem, both sunshine and shadow mix together to make a glorious yet eerie twilight setting.
Also looking to allusions, the gallant knight is constantly searching for Eldorado, yet he never finds it. Instantly one can refer this to Waiting for Godot, and how Vladimir and Estragon were waiting for Godot; the wise and precious figure in their lives, only to never appear before them.
I believe the poem itself is a metaphor. It tells the reader that no matter how hard we search for something, it will not always come to us. It is our choice on whether or not we continue in that search. For the knight, he was gallant and brave, yet obsessed with finding the golden city. In the end he chose to pursue the quest and it cost him his years of life. In the last stanza, when the pilgrim shadow says where he can find Eldorado, they tell him, “Over the Mountains- Of the Moon, -Down the Valley of the Shadow,” (Poe 19-21). The shade is practically telling him that Eldorado is not reachable as long as you live. Climbing over the moons mountains is impossible for morals to do, and the Valley of the Shadow refers to death.
Personally I love the last three lines of the poem. Despite the negative meaning of the poem, I find the last lines inspiring. The lines tell the reader to boldly ride if you seek for Eldorado. In other words, keep going and finding your dreams, no matter what circumstance. The lines don’t simply say to ride, it says to ride boldly, with confidence and proudness. I do believe that to accomplish your dreams in life, you must be confident and positive throughout the whole journey.
-Turnea,D 2nd period
Dead Butterfly by Ellen Bass
ReplyDeleteFor months my daughter carried
a dead monarch in a quart mason jar.
To and from school in her backpack,
to her only friend’s house. At the dinner table
it sat like a guest alongside the pot roast.
She took it to bed, propped by her pillow.
Was it the year her brother was born?
Was this her own too-fragile baby
that had lived—so briefly—in its glassed world?
Or the year she refused to go to her father’s house?
Was this the holding-her-breath girl she became there?
This plump child in her rolled-down socks
I sometimes wanted to haul back inside me
and carry safe again. What was her fierce
commitment? I never understood.
We just lived with the dead winged thing
as part of her, as part of us,
weightless in its heavy jar.
What I really love about Ellen Bass’s poetry is that it sings like a song. Reading this poem aloud, the words and sounds roll off your tongue in crescendos and decrescendos and sound almost like music. The reason for this is that Bass utilizes sound devices like alliteration and anaphora to create a sense of flow. In the first stanza, she writes, “For months my daughter carried / a dead monarch in a quart mason jar” (1-2). The repetition of the “m” sound at the beginning of subsequent words calls attention to the ones that matter. The strongest image Bass conveys is that of a monarch butterfly in a mason jar – and it is made strong by her alliteration, which subtly makes those two words important. Bass also uses anaphora in the second stanza through the word “was,” which starts off a series of three questions. The repetition of that word builds up tension which dissipates with the third stanza and the end of the poem itself, further contributing to its musical sound.
Bass’s commentary in this poem can be summed up well by another writer, Norman Cousins, who said: “The tragedy of life is not death but what we let die inside of us while we live.” To me, this poem is about baggage. It’s about the things we carry around that can’t necessarily be seen – thoughts and feelings that we’ve internalized and that sit rotting inside of us. The butterfly in the poem is “weightless in its heavy jar” just as the girl feels insubstantial in her body, like she’s lost a part of herself but can’t let it go yet. The butterfly represents her spirit – suffocating in a glass jar or, more literally, a separated family.
I’m drawn to this poem because of how simultaneously dark and beautiful it is. There’s an interesting contrast between the sound of the poem, which sings, and its message, which sits quiet with downcast eyes. We normally associate butterflies with life and rejuvenation, but Bass turns those associations on their heads and instead invokes feelings of death and decay. I think most people can relate to this poem because we know what it’s like to feel dead inside. Bass’s words are blunt yet gentle, harsh yet tender, and they’re ones I need on bad days to remind myself to put the mason jar down.
N Keller 7/8
Black Cat
ReplyDeleteRainer Maria Rilke, 1875 - 1926
A ghost, though invisible, still is like a place
your sight can knock on, echoing; but here
within this thick black pelt, your strongest gaze
will be absorbed and utterly disappear:
just as a raving madman, when nothing else
can ease him, charges into his dark night
howling, pounds on the padded wall, and feels
the rage being taken in and pacified.
She seems to hide all looks that have ever fallen
into her, so that, like an audience,
she can look them over, menacing and sullen,
and curl to sleep with them. But all at once
as if awakened, she turns her face to yours;
and with a shock, you see yourself, tiny,
inside the golden amber of her eyeballs
suspended, like a prehistoric fly.
“Black Cat” by Rainer Maria Rilke uses the symbol and representation of a cat to demonstrate something more mysterious and haunting. The poem opens up with the line, “A ghost, though invisible, still is like a place.” Mentioning the ghost brings a type of fear, a type that is unknown. People fear a ghost because of the mysterious air that surrounds it. At the end of the first stanza, Rilke mentions the line, “within this thick black pelt, your strongest gaze / will be absorbed and utterly disappeared” (3-4). This line is mentioning the cat’s strong, black coat. This line shared between the ghost and the cat also speak to their opposite traits. A ghost is very transparent while a black cat is strong and opaque.
The second stanza goes into detail about a raving madman and the rage he feels. This idea speaks to a way that one reacts and shows anger. The ghost and the cat are more indirect while the raging mad man is more direct, physically demonstrating his anger. Looking back at the two sections, Rilke is expressing the idea that even if things are not going rights, every effect, good or bad, can be absorbed and changed into something different.
The third stanza starts off with the line, “She seems to hide all looks that have ever fallen” (9). This is the first time the reader figures out that the main character is a female. It then goes to talking about how the girl collects all her feelings and goes to sleep with them, the feelings never leaving her. The woman takes in everything that is going on in the world and then has the option of releasing it, which is expressed in the last stanza. In the last stanza it states, “and with a shock, you see yourself, tiny, inside the golden amber of her eyeballs” (14-15). These lines show that anyone has the option of dealing with problems in their own specific way. Reflecting them or letting them into ones life are all different ways of dealing with situations and coping with different opportunities.
Wasylko G 7/8
“Cut While Shaving” by Charles Bukowski
ReplyDeleteIt's never quite right, he said, the way people look,
the way the music sounds, the way the words are
written.
It's never quite right, he said, all the things we are
taught, all the loves we chase, all the deaths we
die, all the lives we live,
they are never quite right,
they are hardly close to right,
these lives we live
one after the other,
piled there as history,
the waste of the species,
the crushing of the light and the way,
it's not quite right,
it's hardly right at all
he said.
don't I know it? I
answered.
I walked away from the mirror.
it was morning, it was afternoon, it was
night
nothing changed
it was locked in place.
something flashed, something broke, something
remained.
I walked down the stairway and
into it.
This Bukowski piece is a fascinating little number. I feel that this poem is a perfect reflection of how human beings always expect that a certain “something” will feel a certain way, have a particular emotional effect, or have meaning to us. Bukowski, in this poem, is talking about how we inflate these ideas in our head, whatever the aforementioned “idea” is, and how this “idea” or “event” never quite lives up to the standard we thought it would within our minds. In Stanza one, he says “It's never quite right, he said, the way people look,/the way the music sounds, the way the words are/written.” This quote is reaffirming my previous statements; the words never quite mean what we want them to, we never feel what we want to, and everything does not live up to our preconceptions. It is an intriguing concept, a true to most people. Everyone has been in a position of excited waiting only to be disappointed and unenthused. The line “don’t I know it? I/answered” indicates that Bukowski has felt this disappointment in his lifetime, and in a broader sense, that line acknowledges that we all have felt this; it connects us to him. The later part of the poem reflects the monotony of daily life and the feeling that these events that we put on a pedestal to have an earth-shaking effect in our lives will not happen. Bukowski says “I walked away from the mirror./it was morning, it was afternoon, it was
night/nothing changed/it was locked in place,” (Stanza 3-4). The days go by, nothing changes, and life is locked in a certain cycle of repetition. I admittedly cannot figure out the end of the poem, but the “something flashed, something broke, something/remained” (Stanza 4) bit perhaps indicates that some sort of event did occur and that Bukowski was moved by it, but not completely, as “something remained,” which plays back into the main idea of the poem; nothing is ever quite what we think it will be.
(Excuse my broad voice in this one.)
Crow M, 7/8
The Hymn of a Fat Woman
ReplyDeleteJoyce Huff
All of the saints starved themselves.
Not a single fat one.
The words “deity” and “diet” must have come from the same
Latin root.
Those saints must have been thin as knucklebones
or shards of stained
glass or Christ carved
on his cross.
Hard
as pew seats. Brittle
as hair shirts. Women
made from bone, like the ribs that protrude from his wasted
wooden chest. Women consumed
by fervor.
They must have been able to walk three or four abreast
down that straight and oh-so-narrow path.
They must have slipped with ease through the eye
of the needle, leaving the weighty
camels stranded at the city gate.
Within that spare city’s walls,
I do not think I would find anyone like me.
I imagine I will find my kind outside
lolling in the garden
munching on the apples.
When reading “The Hymn of a Fat Women” by Joyce Huff, readers come to understand that the speaker is an overweight woman who disagrees with the way society views her and others like her. The poem contrasts the godly images of the saints to the way that overweight women are viewed. Through diction like “knucklebones,” “wooden chest,” and “starved”, readers see critical negative tone the speaker uses (5,13,1). When the speaker states, “I do not think I would find anyone like me” readers understand the isolation felt by the speaker (21). Even when she walks among saints, she does not feel like she belongs.
The poem’s use of irony is particularly powerful in developing meaning. There is a sharp contrast between the way the speaker describes saints and the images typically associated with them. It is understood that the Church should be accepting of all people, but the speaker paints a very different image. There is a shift in point of view in the final stanza of the poem. The speaker says that she will be much happier “lolling in the garden / munching on the apples” (23-24). Despite the speaker being bitter towards the saints in the previous stanzas, readers get a sense that she is perfectly content with not fitting in. By alluding to the Garden of Eden, the speaker communicates that her weight is a sin in the eyes of some. This biblical story relates to Original Sin, which shows that the speaker does not believe it her fault she is fat.
A focused diction is also used throughout to develop the poem. The speaker describes the skinny as being “Brittle / as hair shirts” (10-11). In Catholicism, hair shirts were often worn as a penance for sins. By using this diction, the speaker tries to bring shame to the skinny. She expresses how skinny the saints are by saying that four could walk together on the “oh-so-narrow path” (16). The Bible describes this path as being barely wide enough for one, let alone four people. This reinforces how skinny and unhuman the speaker views the saints (and those who are thin) to be.
The poem acts as a commentary on society’s view of the overweight. We often see weight as a disease that needs to be cured, while the author states that the overweight may be happy with how they are. The negative diction and tone criticizes the emphasis placed on having a ‘godly’ body. Overall, the speaker encourages society to reconsider the way that the overweight are seen. I found this poem interesting because it is similar to my viewpoint on society. In a time when there are much more serious issues to be dealt with, there is still an unhealthy concern about weight. At the start of every year, we concern ourselves with being fit and having to look perfect, but everyone should not have to conform to that type of image. I also found the poems connection to the saints to be comical and memorable. The edgy tone also caught my attention and encouraged me to choose this poem to analyze.
-Ryan M. 2
“Anything Can Happen” By Seamus Heaney
ReplyDeleteAnything can happen. You know how Jupiter
Will mostly wait for clouds to gather head
Before he hurls the lightning? Well, just now
He galloped his thunder cart and his horses
Across a clear blue sky. It shook the earth
And the clogged underearth, the River Styx,
The winding streams, the Atlantic shore itself.
Anything can happen, the tallest towers
Be overturned, those in high places daunted,
Those overlooked regarded. Stropped-beak Fortune
Swoops, making the air gasp, tearing the crest off one,
Setting it down bleeding on the next.
Ground gives. The heaven’s weight
Lifts up off Atlas like a kettle-lid.
Capstones shift, nothing resettles right.
Telluric ash and fire-spores boil away.
This piece by Seamus Heaney is a more modern poem, written in 2006. The poetry that speaks to me most is the type that makes me feel something, whether it be anger, sadness, love, or excitement. This particular poem gives me a very rare feeling though, it gives me inspiration to go out and seize the day. It’s very cliché but true. The mythical allusions Heaney makes throughout the poem make the reader picture something larger than life, more fantastic and incredible than what is human. The allusion to Jupiter beginning in lie 1 is carried throughout the entire poem, as Heaney describes how life can be unpredictable. The picture Heaney paints in line 14-16 is one of vivid fire and intensity, “The heaven’s weight/Lifts up off Atlas like a kettle-lid./Capstones shift, nothing resettles right/Telluric ash and fire-spores boil away” (Heaney 14-16). This image is not truly one of chaos and destruction however, as it may seem at first glance. Upon deeper analysis I see this scene described by Heaney as one portraying the possibilities that exist. Heaney is saying that even the wildest of things can happen, no matter what the norm or expectation is. This resonates with me deeply, no matter how naïve this may be, I truly am enamored by the idea that nothing is out of reach. Especially for where I am in my life now, I like to think that I can go out and uproot the tallest mountains and turn them upside down if I please. I believe that anything can happen.
Florek, E. 7/8
Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night – Dylan Thomas
ReplyDeleteDo not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
What Thomas is trying to say in his poem is that people should not just take death without a fight. Using this first person point of view, Thomas brings the poem a new meaning because everyone knows or will know someone of old age who is struggling to keep the effort to live. His diction in the last line using the word “rage” instead of the possible use of “fight” shows his true emotions. The message Thomas is attempting to send to his audience, mainly his father, is to keep fighting death even in old age because in the end those are the last years of the limited time we have to be alive.
This poem resonates with me mainly because in wind ensemble we played a piece with the same title that brings the poem to life through music. Mr. Wardeska told us the story of how he knew someone that kept on fighting even in their old age. Also, my own grandmother seems to have gone “gentle into that good night” because she even told me to just give up once I hit seventy or so. Hearing that makes me think of this poem and how I wish my grandmother would “rage against the dying light” like I hope to do when I become elderly and nearing the end of my days.
Dame E, 2*
It was many and many a year ago,
ReplyDeleteIn a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.
For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
The poem “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allen Poe is a nostalgic look back at young love lost. Poe uses rhetorical strategies and devices in order to convey the story of young love, true love, which was so incredibly pure it made the angels of heaven envious. According to the speaker, it was this jealousy that lead to their killing of Annabel Lee. She falls ill and dies, but the speaker still maintains his love for her even though they are a world apart.
Poe uses the symbolism of the sea in order to reflect the speaker’s emptiness and desolation at the loss of his one true love. The ocean is presented as huge, lonely and cold, emphasizing the speaker’s hollowness and misery. Poe uses angels as a reference point for just how happy him and Annabelle are, “The angels, not half so happy in heaven/ Went envying her and me-“ (21-22). The implication that angels, one of the holiest and happiest beings there are, had cause to be jealous of their love testifies to the genuine nature and purity of it. Poe also utilizes alliteration within those lines in order to maintain the hypnotic rhythm and flow of the poem. The repetition of “the kingdom by the sea” also helps to set the mood of the poem. A kingdom makes it sound as though the story is a fairy tale and that Annabel Lee and her lover may live happily ever after; they don’t. This word choice sets up contrast to show that not all fairy tales have happy endings; sometimes love just isn’t enough.
I have always enjoyed this poem, as Edgar Allen Poe is one of my favorite writers. I love the contrast he sets up and the nostalgic tone he uses in order to place the reader into the story. He makes the reader connect and feel the longing of the speaker. He conveys just how real and genuine their love is without putting it over the top and making it cheesy. Poe’s story telling abilities, as exhibited by this poem, are genius and I have always thoroughly enjoyed them.
-Harris, S 2*
For this week’s blog I chose one of my favorite poems, “Feeling Out of Touch, Maybe I Feel Too Much” by Kaileigh Rabidoux. This poem is pretty lengthy; hence why it is not included, however it symbolically speaks to the feelings of breaking up. I enjoy the piece because anyone can talk about relationships and how they feel, however Rabidoux takes understanding the relationship psyche to a whole new level. The piece as a whole is a bunch of short segments that reflect the pain, doubt, loss and regret of relationships. It follows an ABAB rhyme scheme that causes an emphasis on the feelings. Rabidoux uses the rhyme scheme to elevate the feeling, and then in the second and fourth lines there is a higher emphasis on the distance and the emotion, brought down by the heightening that the rhyme causes in the lines. For instance, in the fourth stanza, lines 2 and 4 show this height. She writes: “Filled with knots/Wasted Time/A Penny for my thoughts/I deserved a dime” (4). This is a prime example of how Rabidoux uses rhyme to heighten her points, as well as express a higher level of devastation than just the spoken word.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to the rhyme scheme, Rabidoux also uses simple, yet precise diction to get her point across. For instance, words such as “part/heart, blame/game, and pain/gain” shows this contrast of diction. As seen throughout the entire piece, the diction is not complex, however she uses it in a way that regardless of complexity, it still packs a powerful force.
Overall, the piece is not complex, nor does it have a metaphors and implied meanings, however it uses simple words, intense phrases, and a common rhyme scheme to really bring the author’s point across. Through common, yet powerful phrasing, Rabidoux makes a steep and relatable connection to anyone ever faced with a break-up. One of my favorite examples of this is when she writes: “Hard to breathe/Weird to touch/Acting normal/Think too much” (1). It is with lines like this that Rabidoux takes four separate feelings, all facets of tough, confusing break-ups, and connects them into short, pungent bursts of feeling and emotion.
Overall, I enjoy this piece because as with most high school students, I have had my fair share of relationship drama and heartbreaks. I have also dealt with a lot of my friends and their break-ups, and their comments about what went wrong in their relationships. However, it is hard in between tears to say everything and the feelings that everyone feels during break-ups. Rabidoux really captures, in my opinion, everything that makes up a break-up. The piece helps a lot with closure, knowing that everyone’s break-ups are the same, and that everyone moves on from them.
Megan Lear 2nd
The poem I chose to analyze was The one Dead by Maxwell Bodenheim. This piece broke down a dominating stage of grief in which the author describes the presence of a lost loved one. In the very first line, “the wind made solemnly drunk with your presence,” the author is interpreting the heavy burden of this individual’s death in their lives by choosing to use the word drunk. The word choice in this piece is descriptive but basic, allowing plenty of room for reflection. Following the introduction of the heavy burden, we have a beautiful flower reminding the author of the deceased, but this spirit seemed to latch on to the author as it “tied his fingers to the petals” symbolizing the authors inability to let go. The author “severed a leaf from its tree” to try to cut off the attachment he held to beautiful things that reminded him of the person he missed, but the water drop following the cutting of the leaves symbolized the fact that the severed leaves will grow back, and that this burden will always remain. “All things about me were steeped in your remembrance and shivering as they tried to tell me of it,” this is the ending sentence of the piece, which I believe suggests that this author held bad memories with the departed one at some point, or that he has some remorse toward his death, he sees him in beautiful places yet he wishes he could shake the memory of this presence because he is so blinded by it.
ReplyDeleteThis poem resonated with me because of the theme. I have experienced loss of someone very dear to my heart and during the first stage of grief I saw her everywhere I went, not so much in things but in times. Times I wished that she could be there because I knew she would be proud of me or things I wished she could see me do or that we could do together. Her presence sticks with me today though I would not wish her away for the world as the author did in this piece.
Mewhinney M, 2
Aftermath
ReplyDeleteSylvia Plath
Compelled by calamity's magnet
They loiter and stare as if the house
Burnt-out were theirs, or as if they thought
Some scandal might any minute ooze
From a smoke-choked closet into light;
No deaths, no prodigious injuries
Glut these hunters after an old meat,
Blood-spoor of the austere tragedies.
Mother Medea in a green smock
Moves humbly as any housewife through
Her ruined apartments, taking stock
Of charred shoes, the sodden upholstery:
Cheated of the pyre and the rack,
The crowd sucks her last tear and turns away.
Poetry can be something that is very difficult to grasp seeing as it is a very personal way of writing. In order for me to grasp a poem and truly enjoy it, it has to resonate with me on an emotional level. I first read this poem by Sylvia Plath last year, for some reason the poem has really stuck with me ever since. I enjoyed how the poem felt like it didn’t have any forced structure, and that she was writing strictly to let out her emotions. I believe that the best writing is done when not much thought is put into it, but real raw emotion is behind that. I think you can feel the emotion in Sylvia Plath’s writing. This poem in particular was one that has stuck with me, as I have witnessed this in my own life. However, in order to see the “Aftermath” all you have to do it turn on the news.
The poem “Aftermath” discusses the tragedies of a house fire. The poem’s third person point of view gives it a feeling of being unbiased, just a bystander looking onto the scene. She sees a crowd of people standing looking a house, which has just burnt down. Plath writes “They loiter and stare as if the house Burnt-out were theirs, or as if they thought Some scandal might any minute ooze” (lines 2-4). Plath is saying that other human beings just sit around and watch as another human beings life falls apart. In the midst of this fire is a woman who has lost everything; nothing from her life is left. All of these eyes are looking at the tragedy and what a great story bur not helping the victim. In the second stanza we see Plath move from the audience surrounding the fire onto the victim herself she writes “Mother Medea in a green smock Moves humbly as any housewife through Her ruined apartments, taking stock” (line 9-11). The comparison of mother medusa implies that this story may not be about a fire but about a marriage, specifically infidelity in a marriage. For Plath this poem was written about her own personal marriage, which was ruined by cheating. However, I think the poem relates to many different stories of victims who made a good story but were never really taken care of.
Sansone A, 2nd
The poem I choose is "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost:
ReplyDeleteNature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
I really like this piece because right away it places the reader in the gold glow of a morning sunrise, using word choice and colors to give imagery in two simple sentences. Words like "green" and "gold" and "hue" are used to refer to the golden sunrise that nature sets every morning. Frost uses alliteration in the second line to express the difficulty that nature goes through trying to hold on to the golden glow of dawn: "Her hardest hue to hold" (line2). This poem talks about how good things don't last very long.The last two lines of the poem speak of the reality that good things last only for a bit by continuing to use the metaphor of a golden dawn, "So dawn goes down to day./ Nothing gold can stay"(lines 7-8). The simplicity of this poem is what draws me in and it instantly became one of my favorites.
Galvan, E. 2nd
Dear Mrs. Perrin,
ReplyDeleteThis may have been your hardest prompt yet. This prompt is torture because I have too many poems that I adore that it seemed impossible to pick just one to share and analyze. While I respect the classics such as W .B. Yeats, Dorothy Parker, and Charles Bukowski, I decided to share a fairly recent poem by Dominique Christina. While not yet listed on the AP list of reputable authors, Christina has been named the National Slam Poetry Champion twice, and is the only woman in history to have won Women of the World Poetry Slam twice giving her literary merit. She holds many other awards and has been featured on TEDx and in the Huffington Post. I chose her popular poem “Period” because I thought I would use this opportunity to shine a light on a side of feminism that is not always mentioned. Sylvia Plath and Dorothy Parker generally comment on society’s views of women and the hardships of gender roles, but “Period” offers a light hearted yet hard-hitting view on how women, and teenage boys, view the menstrual cycle. Below is a link to the full slam poem performed by the author (warning: contains some profane language) as well as the last three stanzas on the long poem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vu2BsePvoI
“Etymologically, bless means to make bleed. See, now it's a lesson in linguistics. In other words, blood speaks, that's the message, stay with me. See, your daughters will teach you what all men must one day come to know, that women, made of moonlight magic and macabre, will make you know the blood. We're going to get it all over the sheets and car seats; we're going to do that. We're going to introduce you to our insides, period and if you are as unprepared as we sometimes are, it will get all over you and leave a forever stain.
So to my daughter: Should any fool mishandle that wild geography of your body, how it rides a red running current like any good wolf or witch, well then just bleed boo. Get that blood a biblical name, something of stone and mortar. Name it after Eve's first rebellion in that garden; name it after the last little girl to have her genitals mutilated in Kinshasa, that was this morning. Give it as many syllables as there are unreported rape cases.
Name the blood something holy, something mighty, something unlanguageable, something in hieroglyphs, something that sounds like the end of the world. Name it for the war between your legs, and for the women who will not be nameless here. Just bleed anyhow, spill your impossible scripture all over the good furniture. Bleed, and bleed, and bleed on everything he loves, period.”
The introduction to this poem includes a quote from Twitter that the author’s daughter had showed her. A teenage boy had tweeted: “"I was having sex with my girlfriend when she started her period, I dumped that bitch immediately." This poem acts as the reaction of the mother to that tweet. As most slam poems “Period” does not offer a rhyme scheme yet flows seamlessly by using many metaphors, and allusions. Dominique Christina uses the tangible period blood as a symbol for power. She compares the name of the blood to Eve from the bible in order to reclaim power over one’s own body, and take away the shame placed on women for the sin of the world. She compares blood to “moonlight magic and macabre” because those absurd words describe the stigma attached to the menstrual cycle.
I found this poem to be intriguing because the tone shifts very quickly from light-hearted at the beginning to heavy and serious at the end in the frustration of the author realizing her daughter feels shame of her own body due to the negative view on the menstrual cycle from society. I find it just as much as issue that women of all ages do not fully understand how their body works, and are a shamed of it, as the wage gap.
-Grabowski, H. 7/8
The poem that I chose for this week’s blog was Daddy, by Sylvia Plath. This poem has been recognized in several classes I have taken over the years and has stuck with me since. It is a rather lengthy poem so I will save you the grief of scrolling as I am sure you are familiar with it.
ReplyDeleteIn the text, Plath is giving a clear description of her father. The audience can tell by the literary devices used that there is not many great things she can say about her father. Plath uses symbolism as a way to characterize her father. She refers to him as a Nazi, specifically Hitler and states: “I thought every German was you.” She felt so strongly against him that Hitler was of comparison. By referring to him as this awful man, and alluding to Hitler, it shows that audience that she feels like victim, just as the Jews had. In the ninth stanza, Plath demonstrates a vivid description of her father that carries on the idea of him as Hitler. She talks about his “neat mustache” and “Aryan eye, bright blue”. This imagery sets the tone for the poem and shows the tension and hatred she has towards him. Throughout the poem, readers can come to the conclusion that her father’s death stays with her beyond his lifetime. Although this poem is very personal and unique to her situation, it can relate to relationships between fathers everywhere. Plath comments on the patriarch and how much control the father has over the children.
This poem does not necessarily relate to my life in any way. I do not think my father compares to Hitler, but regardless of the message conveyed, I have grown to love this piece. The way she unfolds her father is so raw. Many times, people are afraid to do so because the patriarch is seen as the Almighty. Whenever I think of a poem that signifies a failed relationship within a family I always result back to this one.
Cika, M 2
“A Mad Girl’s Love Song” by Sylvia Plath:
ReplyDelete"I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
I lift my lids and all is born again.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,
And arbitrary blackness gallops in:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed
And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
God topples from the sky, hell's fires fade:
Exit seraphim and Satan's men:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
I fancied you'd return the way you said,
But I grow old and I forget your name.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
I should have loved a thunderbird instead;
At least when spring comes they roar back again.
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)"
I chose this poem because it reveals Plath’s viewpoint on death and choices. Through the use of repetition and allusions, Plath contemplates the decision between life and death. Plath repeats, “I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;” and “(I think I made you up inside my head.)” throughout the piece to show how she tries to get away from her sadness and how her own thoughts torment her. When one shuts their eyes, they merely get away from their problems temporarily. Although she can escape her misery at times, she still knows that they will always be there inside of her head, literally. Plath also alludes to god and Satan’s absence in her life. She says, “God topples from the sky, hell’s fires fade: / Exit seraphim and Satan’s men:” (lines 10-11). This allusion serves the purpose of showing that the speaker is alone. She does not have religion to turn to for guidance and she must rely on her own intuition to decide her fate. Plath uses this poem as a representation of her own life and feelings. Having known Plath’s back story before discovering this poem, this poem resonated with me because it was her own way of warning people of how distressed and sad she was. The real life applications to the poet herself is what made this poem stick with me.
Aguinaga, C 7/8*
Before She Died
ReplyDeleteKaren Chase
When I look at the sky now, I look at it for you.
As if with enough attention, I could take it in for you.
With all the leaves gone almost from
the trees, I did not walk briskly through the field.
Late today with my dog Wool, I lay down in the upper field,
he panting and aged, me looking at the blue. Leaning
on him, I wondered how finite these lustered days seem
to you, A stand of hemlock across the lake catches
my eye. It will take a long time to know how it is
for you. Like a dog's lifetime -- long -- multiplied by sevens.
This poem talks about a person and their dog, lying outside on the grass and viewing the world in a different perception due to the fact that they lost someone they love. It says "When I look at the sky now, I look at it for you" (1). I did the exact same thing once my aunt died years ago. I was about the age of 12, and I thought that if I stared up at the sky long enough, I might actually be able to see some sort of sign. Once someone passes, their soul is free, but ours are the ones that are here hurting. Chase "Wondered how finite these lustered days seem to you" (7) because time and feelings of pain are not suppose to exist once a soul is set free. The unknown is what keeps us questioning however and the poem writes that "It will take a long time to know how it is for you" (9).
I really like how in the last sentence the exaggeration of counting the terms in dog years is used by stating, "Like a dog's lifetime--long--mulitiplied by sevens". As a young girl I always would keep track of how old my dog was, but at the same time, knew that it was not exact. My parents would tell me that you would have to take the 'human amount of years' and mulitply it by 7. So when my dog was 3, he was actually 21. Karen Chase uses this example simply because it is relatable. No one knows how long they have on this planet, and as we watch the ones we love disappear into another place, all we can do is sit and imagine what life is like for them.
Asturi V 7/8.
Before I begin, I would like to state my immense frustration that the poem I wished to use has already been selected in the above comments. After contemplating, I made the decision to stick with it. The poem I chose is “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath. Over my years of education, I have grown rather fond on her work. Most of her work has a dark depressing twist, but it works to her advantage for no one will forget her. Out of all her poems that I have read (which isn’t nearly as much as she has had published) this one has stuck to me the most. In this poem, it is basically her emotional outburst towards her father. It is easily understood that those feelings are not positive, and it can be inferred that there is a lot of dark background between the father and daughter. She used a thick, dark tone for this poem to easily convey her disgust. In the second stanza, she writes, “Daddy, I have had to kill you/ but you died before I had the time”. Instead of only allowing the reader to peak through the door she opened, she flung it wide open. I took this to mean she had so much hatred that she was not afraid to express it.
ReplyDeleteShe uses allusions frequently throughout this poem, mostly centered to the Holocaust era. In the poem, she feels she is a Jew and her father is equivalent to Hitler. The addition of these allusions was to compliment the tone and balance out the message. The most interesting thought I had about this piece is that she is blunt, but yet there are still so many layers. She will pull the lens in, but then suddenly pull it out. The emotions she had for her father were more than just hate. She claims in stanza 6 that she has always been scared of him. Which backs up her allusions, for that was how the Jews were during that era. They obviously contained hatred towards Hitler, but still contained a strong fear towards him. She is dark and depressed, but she uses that to her advantage.
Reva 7/8
“To a Daughter Leaving Home”, by Linda Pastan
ReplyDeleteWhen I taught you
at eight to ride
a bicycle, loping along
beside you
as you wobbled away
on two round wheels,
my own mouth rounding
in surprise when you pulled
ahead down the curved
path of the park,
I kept waiting
for the thud
of your crash as I
sprinted to catch up,
while you grew
smaller, more breakable
with distance,
pumping, pumping
for your life, screaming
with laughter,
the hair flapping
behind you like a
handkerchief waving
goodbye.
For this blog I chose the poem “To a Daughter Leaving Home”, by Linda Pastan. This poem is from the point of view of a parent speaking to their daughter. The poem seems to be an extended metaphor comparing the daughter being taught to ride a bike and the daughter leaving her parent. This can be seen in the poem as the parent starts out “loping along/ beside [her]/ as [she] wobbled away” (lines 3-5), to “sprint[ing] to catch up” (line 14). The beginning of the poem the parent remembers when his or her daughter was a child and when she was first learning to ride a bike. The parent lopes along protecting the child from any harm, just like in childhood a parent would protect their child and teach them how to grow and learn and expand their horizons. Then as a child gets older they start to pull away and as the parent in the poem waited for the “thud/ of [her] crash” (12-13), parents wait for their children to need them, to lean on them, but they pull farther away. While a child moves farther out of reach of a parent’s arms, they seem more and “more breakable” (line 16), because they are away from the parent’s safe embrace. Pastan then uses a simile between the child’s “hair flapping/ behind [her]” (lines 21-22), and a “handkerchief waving goodbye” (lines 23-24). She uses this simile to show the parent seeing their daughter getting farther and farther from reach and that the daughter will eventually wave goodbye and leave the parent’s protective arms for good. Using a handkerchief waving goodbye shows what the parent is probably dealing with at the current moment as the daughter leaves. The parent reflects on the similarity between chasing after his/her daughter on the bike and not being able to keep up as the child found happiness and laughter away from the parent and his/her daughter leaving and pulling away from the parent as the parent struggles to keep up with his/her growing child that wants to leave. That being said, this poem is basically about the feelings that a parent feels as his/her child grows up. This poem resonates with me because I will be leaving my parents all too soon to go to college, and they will be like the parent in this poem while I ride on without them. It made me think of how my parents must feel about me growing up.
-C. Lenhoff 2nd period
Immortality
ReplyDeleteLisel Mueller
In Sleeping Beauty's castle
the clock strikes one hundred years
and the girl in the tower returns to the
world.
So do the servants in the kitchen,
who don't even rub their eyes.
The cook's right hand, lifted
an exact century ago,
completes its downward arc
to the kitchen boy's left ear;
the boy's tensed vocal cords
finally let go
the trapped, enduring whimper,
and the fly, arrested mid-plunge
above the strawberry pie,
fulfills its abiding mission
and dives into the sweet, red glaze.
As a child I had a book
with a picture of that scene.
I was too young to notice
how fear persists, and how
the anger that causes fear persists,
that its trajectory can't be changed
or broken, only interrupted.
My attention was on the fly;
that this slight body
with its transparent wings
and lifespan of one human day
still craved its particular share
of sweetness, a century later.
At first glance this poem seems to be just talking about a scene from a fairytale. When put out of this context, it can be used as a metaphor for most things such as fear as Mueller says, "fear persists, and how
the anger that causes fear persists". It took me a while to realize that could be pulled from such a simple scene. It is completely true though. The fact that even though those people were frozen for a hundred years, they woke up and nothing had changed. Time changes nothing. Even if life is a day long, there is so much to be soaked in and so little that is wanted to be lost. Though something like fear may seem bad and most would not want it, it is always underlying and continuously burning in the back of minds making us want it.
My favorite poem is “An Echo from Willowwood” by Christina Georgina Rossetti.
ReplyDeleteTWO gazed into a pool, he gazed and she,
Not hand in hand, yet heart in heart, I think,
Pale and reluctant on the water’s brink,
As on the brink of parting which must be.
Each eyed the other’s aspect, she and he,
Each felt one hungering heart leap up and sink,
Each tasted bitterness which both must drink,
There on the brink of life’s dividing sea.
Lilies upon the surface, deep below
Two wistful faces craving each for each,
Resolute and reluctant without speech:—
A sudden ripple made the faces flow
One moment joined, to vanish out of reach:
So those hearts joined, and ah! were parted so.
The imagery in this poem allows the reader to clearly picture what is happening. Rossetti writes, “pale and reluctant…lilies upon the surface…a sudden ripple…” All of these phrases allow the reader to picture the scene unfold. The alliteration throughout the poem gives it a distinct, pleasant sound. Rossetti writes, “Resolute and reluctant…” (11) and “Hungering heart…”(6). The alliteration is also combined with personification when Rossetti writes, “Each felt one hungering heart leap up and sink”(6). A heart cannot actually leap and sink. It is personified to show the feelings of the two people in the poem. They are happy they are with each other, but they are sad that they have to part.
The reason why I like this poem so much is because it is about love and parting with someone you love dearly. There are two people, who are on there verge on parting. They love each other very much and do not want to part. Rossetti talks about the pains of parting with someone who means a lot to you. The two people in the poem are attached by their hearts, which indicates that they are very close (mentally) to each other. When the ripple comes, it is not mentioned whether the wind or the rain caused it. But the ripple forces the faces of the two people to fade and they separate.
Patel, D 2
"Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson.
ReplyDeleteWhenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentlemen from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But he still fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good morning," and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich---yes, richer than a king---
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought he was everything,
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.
I chose to analyze a poem that holds a very special place in my heart, "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson. The purpose of this poem is to demonstrate the idea of perspective, how one human life is viewed differently by human people. The commoners in the poem view Richard Cory as this godlike person who could not be more satisfied with his life, while in the contrary, he is not happy at all. The word choice of the writer is intended to be glitzy and glamorous--not at all foreshadowing the end of the poem. The use of the dramatic last line of the poem suddenly forces the reader to see this other persective that he may not be as satisfied with life as one may assume so. As a reader, we do not expect the poem to end in the way it does because nothing but nice things were presented about Richard Cory in the opening stanzas. It proves that seeing someone is not knowing someone. This poem means a lot to me because I think it can apply to everybody. Being in high school, judgement can not be avoided. I frequently think of this poem and try my hardest to have an open mind towards everyone, because I do not know what goes on outside of school or inside of their head.
-Javorsky, R. 2*
I read this prompt earlier this week and was planning on writing about Emily Dickinson because she has written some of my favorite poetry, but then today I heard a poem that struck me with its words. Here is that poem.
ReplyDelete“Those Winter Sundays” By Robert Hayden
Sundays too my father got up early
and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,
then with cracked hands that ached
from labor in the weekday weather made
banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.
I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he’d call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house,
Speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out the cold
and polished my good shoes as well.
What did I know, what did I know
of love’s austere and lonely offices?
Hayden’s diction is wonderfully percussive in this piece, the K sounds of the words “blueblack, cold, cracked, ached, banked, thanked, breaking, chronic” create a harsh feeling to the poem. The house is crisp with cold and that is clearly indicated with the diction. These words also show the harsh pains of the father, his “cracked hands that ached” shows that his hard work of the week leaves him sore, yet he rises early out of love for his family. This father loves his family and shows it by doing things for them no one else would want to do, though he is tired and it is not asked of him. The son is recalling this memory of his father who is passed, the son is now an adult and is recounting on the memories of love his father had for him.
This poem not only shows the love of his father, but is commenting on the thankless love of many parents and parental figures. How often do we go through our days, weeks, months, lives without thanking our moms and dads? Our parents raise us without thanks or praise, parenting is a thankless job as is love. The last few lines of the poem indicate that the author is older and understands the ways of love, and wishes he would have known sooner. He didn’t know as a child of his father’s great love, and now he see’s how it can be thankless. The word “austere” means grave and without adornment, and this is the word paired with love in the last line. The author has now learned how love can be work and grave, but it is still love.
This poem made me feel cold though it is about love. The density of the chill in the home is pushed aside by the warmth of the fire, ultimately the father’s love. I think the reason I really love this poem is because it truly captures the feeling of thankless love, which is something I think we can all connect to. Personally I often feel like I love people more than they love me, and it’s a strange feeling though it does not keep me from loving them. This poem resonated to me because I can see myself as the father and also the son. I often do things for the people I love without anything in return, as the father would. On the other hand I may be the boy in some ways taking the kindness for others for granted. I really enjoy this poem and I hope you do too.
Parey C 7/8
Prayer for Joy
ReplyDeleteBy Stuart Kestenbaum
What was it we wanted
to say anyhow, like today
when there were all the letters
in my alphabet soup and suddenly
the ‘j’ rises to the surface.
The ‘j’, a letter that might be
great for Scrabble, but not really
used for much else, unless
we need to jump for joy,
and then all of a sudden
it’s there and ready to
help us soar and to open up
our hearts at the same time,
this simple line with a curved bottom,
an upside down cane that helps
us walk in a new way into this
forest of language, where all the letters
are beginning to speak,
finding each other in just
the right combination
to be understood.
Stuart Kestenbaum uses his poem “Prayer for Joy” to comment on society’s need to find joy in the little things of life. The letter ‘j’ is used to create an extended metaphor throughout the piece. The letter represents the joy that is not always seen, but is important, and lives would be lost without it. Kestenbaum writes, “…an upside down cane that helps / us walk…” (15-16). The letter ‘j’ is compared to the cane, which is used to help a person to maneuver around the earth, allowing him or her to live life to the fullest by opening new opportunities in new places. This is comparable to joy. Joy and happiness help a person navigate the twists and turns of life, and serves as a light in the darkest points in his or her life. The mention of alphabet soup alludes to children, and in the context of the poem, to their happiness. They are able to be delighted by the smallest things, whether peek-a-boo, the light of a flashlight, or the rattle of keys. The poem ends by discussing that letters “find[ing] each other in just / the right combination / to be understood” (20-22). The hard times that a person goes through never seem to have a purpose while that person is in the moment. Week, months, maybe even years later, that person may begin to see and understand the reason the trial had to be faced. Joy can be found if one removes themselves from the situation and looks at the big picture. It just takes the extra effort.
Recently, I have found myself complaining a lot more than I used to. I don’t know if it is just the stress of senior year or what, but I don’t like it. I am trying to having a brighter outlook on my circumstances and the situations I face. This poem speaks to that goal I have set for myself: I need to find joy in the little things. Something as simple and as seemingly insignificant as the letter ‘j’ can put a smile on someone’s face. I want to have the same outlook. Even the rain can bring joy if one chooses to let it. I have to remember that it maybe be hard to find the perfect word that includes the letter ‘j’, but it will be worth a lot of points in the game of life when I do.
Woods, L 2
Robert Frost, stopping by woods on and snow evening.
ReplyDeleteWhose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound's the sweep Of the easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.
The imagery in this poem, allows the reader to visualize the woods that the speaker is traveling through. ''Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year.'' But, on a personal level. This poem represents some recent hardships I have been going through in my everyday relationships. Me being the one who travels, my heart being the little horse and people being the little house in the woods. And the snow being the hard times I try to help people with, but every time I stop at the sound of the bell they keep ringing because I'm not the person they want to help them. And it's finally time for me to stop watching them suffer and just go on with my day, even though it might be wrong. I can no longer risk my skin for their own, I can no longer stop by the woods on a snowy evening.
“This is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams
ReplyDeleteI have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
When I first came across this poem almost six years ago, I found it humorous for its simplicity and for the author’s choice of fruit- plums are rather unique over the more common use of apples or pears. As the years past and the appropriately-chosen plum-colored paper faded hanging by my window, I saw the layers of this poem written upon the paper unfold.
Why plums? Google informs me that they are a symbol of strength. This could be the author’s intention, or maybe they were simply the author’s favorite fruit.
Why were the plums being saved? I can relate to this. The last of the leftovers sitting at home in the fridge are the only thought to push through the day. When the anticipation peaks and the refrigerator door is opened, dreams are crushed when the leftovers have been previously consumed by a family member bored with their routine. At least Williams included a note of apology to act as a warning to the plums’ rightful owner. This ironic event adds a layer to Williams’ poem.
Another, deeper layer could be that this entire poem is metaphor. Perhaps Williams’ intention was to metaphorically illustrate the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit. The icebox could be metaphor for a “cold” location, i.e. the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God could have been saving the fruit “for breakfast”, or another time. Continuing forward, in the next stanza our speaker asks for forgiveness, which is relatable for humans after sin, which is sometimes “so sweet/and so cold.” This layer is a stretch, and perhaps the author’s true intention was an apology for snacking on someone else’s plums.
-K. Brav 7/8*
The Emperor of Ice Cream
ReplyDeleteWallace Stevens
Call the roller of big cigars,
The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month’s newspapers.
Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
Take from the dresser of deal,
Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet
On which she embroidered fantails once
And spread it so as to cover her face.
If her horny feet protrude, they come
To show how cold she is, and dumb.
Let the lamp affix its beam.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
I chose this poem because it is very complex and I still do not know what it is really about. I spent time analyzing it last year but I still could not find a complete answer. At first it seems happy and that it can be about something good, but after reading it a few times you can see a darker meaning. What I believe it is talking about is how a funeral compares for the living and the dead. In the first stanza Stevens talks about the different type of people who attend funerals, while in the second he talks about the person who has passed. I also believe that the “emperor of ice-cream” symbolizes Death. The “ice-cream” also representing the block of ice the people used to be placed on a long time ago when they passed. Stevens also uses a great deal of imagery to describe the people and what is around, for example, “Bring the flowers in last month’s newspaper” (6). The poem is very complex where each line has a meaning, and representing something. There is no official statement as to what the poem means, which is why I like it so much.
LoDolce, A 7/8
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite poems is by F. Scott Fitzgerald. While I know that he is not known as a poet, he is a reputable author and I think that one can find some literary merit in this poem. It is entitled “A Poem Amory Sent to Eleanor and Which He Called ‘Summer Storm’”; this peculiar title is because the poem was written imbedded in the story of the book “This Side of Paradise”, so I suppose by itself the poem might be entitled merely “Summer Storm”. I will not post it here as it is rather long.
ReplyDeleteThis poem speaks of love, though not a love in the easy sense. It is a story:
“The shadow of a dove/ Falls on the cote, the trees are filled with wings,” The exposition of the poem is peaceful; a type of bliss is conveyed in the descriptions. They imply that the beginning of the summer was calm and quaint- that the love that sparked was peaceful, a release.
“The body of the darker storm flies; brings
With its new air the breath of sunken seas
And slender tenuous thunder . . .
But I wait”
This is where the narrator admits that he saw some darker clouds on the horizon. He fell in love with the girl; a summer fling turned into something that would have a climax and turn black. Yet he waits. He waits in the hope that it might resolve. “There was a summer every rain was rare;
There was a season every wind was warm.” There was a summer in the past tense. Fitzgerald reveals that the narrator’s summer was spent and that he is nostalgic about it. The wind is rare, or the chaos is few. The bliss is high. The love and happiness is peaked; warm.
But everything good must come to an end. At this point the narrative turns to a present perspective. The narrator observes the environment and becomes lost in the emotion: “Love for the dusk . . . Love for the glistening after; Quiet the trees to their last tops . . . serene . . .” The day comes to a close and with it does the summer. The narrator reflects upon the love in the air, yet the calmness- it is totally quiet. The passion has peaked and while it is still vibrant, it is for some reason ended. As we leave the picture of summer the narrator pints, we are left feeling happy- serene.
This poem is about a woman, who comes into the narrator’s life for a summer like a storm and leaves him changed after. I like it so much not for its depth or literary significance, but for its masterful narration. It is a story- full in the limited bounds of a poem. It moves one in the same way that one of Fitzgerald’s full-length novels would. The prose gives the impression of a boat drifting in the waves. It rocks with rhythm until gently let to float into infinity with the final ellipsis: “Faint winds, and far away a fading laughter . . .” It leaves one feeling nostalgic about a story they only half know. Yet it is beautiful.
A. Jankovsky 7-8*
Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost
ReplyDeleteNature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
This poem has been one of my favorites since the 7th grade when I read The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, in which they use this poem, the signature line being, “Stay gold, Ponyboy.” The poem begins as very optimistic, and ends in the realization that, “nothing gold can stay” (8), meaning that everything will pass on eventually. Frost uses a biblical allusion in line 6 to drive home the point, saying, “So Eden sank to grief.” He is referring to the story of Adam and Eve, when they are banished from the Garden of Eden after eating the fruit from the forbidden tree. After they were exiled, the Garden of Eden was never touched again. Though it was perfect and beautiful in every way, even it “sank to grief.” Frost is commenting on the life cycle and the reality of death and oblivion. Though we may think that our memory and our accomplishments will last forever, nothing gold can stay. Everything will one day be forgotten, and not even the best accomplishments will be remembered. Some may see this poem as pessimistic, however I see the reality and truth behind his words. He is not trying to be pessimistic, he is just stating the facts. Nothing gold can stay.
I enjoy this poem because I think the acknowledgment of our own mortality can cause this poem to have a “carpe diem” feel to it, which is how I view it. What I take from it is the fact that there is so much beautiful nature and wonderful things to enjoy on earth, and we, as humans, need to seize the opportunity to appreciate and enjoy the earth while we have the time to do so. Also, the phrase, “Stay gold, Ponyboy,” is just great.
-Dushek, K 2˚