"Getting Out"

The whole process of divorce is devastating in general. Personally, I would call it one of my worst fears. So much goes along with it and there just doesn't seem to be an easy way out. One of my friends has parents who are going through a divorce right now and it is definitely not easy on the family.

In the beginning of the poem, the speaker uses the word we. Then, in the middle stanza, the speaker uses I and you. This change of word just shows how they slowly separate. The worst part about this poem is the tone. I can hear the speaker actually saying there words in my mind. Their nostalgic, reminiscent, and sorrowful tone is clearly shown through these words. I actually felt sympathy for the speaker after reading this poem. It is obvious that breaking apart was a hard route. The speaker shows this by two paradoxes at the end of the poem, "taking hands we walked apart" and "we held on tight, and let go."

The Apparition

The biggest thing to get from this poem was definitely the tone. I felt as if I could actually hear this man's threat to his lover. This man is saying that if his lover goes off with this imaginary man and thinks she is free, she won't be because he is going to come and haunt her. The speaker gives off this foreboding and creepy tone which makes him almost seem like a stalker or something. He goes far enough to say that this new and imaginary man will not even be able to protect her.

Donne also has some imagery that contributes to this eerie theme. "Then thy sick candle will begin to wink." This text gives this creepy mental image of a candle flickering in the silent darkness, but the use of personification here just adds to the creepiness. Winking is just an uncomfortable action in general. It can freak people out and it is just awkward.

Crossing the Bar

I really enjoyed this poem , but it was probably because I found it the easiest to interpret. The most prominent literary device in this poem would have to be the extended metaphor of crossing over to death throughout the piece. In the poem, I believe the "Bar" is actually a sand bar, but it serves as the point where one crosses into the afterlife. The "boundless deep" is referred to as home, so this has to be the unknown life of heaven where everyone is welcomed and feels comfortable. Lastly, the Pilot is Jesus or God, whom the narrator wants to meet.

Death in this poem is not looked upon as a terrible thing. It is quite the opposite actually. When speaking of life after man passes, the speaker has an optimistic and hopeful tone. There must be "no moaning of the bar" which means that people should not be sad. The speaker also says that "there be no sadness of farewell." The speaker is ready for that after life and I think it is fair to say that the speaker might even be looking forward to it.

My Mistress' Eyes

"Your eyes sparkle like the stars above at night."



Seriously? Do these kinds of statements really impress the ladies? I find saying like these to be trite and cheesy because there is no possible way that they could be true. After realizing that Shakespeare wasn't being rude in this poem, I started to see the truth in his words. If some body's eyes were really like the sun, they would be hard to look into. Also, would a man really like a woman with skin as white as the snow? These are unrealistic things that probably wouldn't be attractive even if they were true. This poem satirizes people who write things like this in literature. This use of satire is helps the sarcastic tone of the poem stick out. When I first read the poem, I read it with a kind of harsh tone, but at the end when I realized what Shakespeare was doing, I re-read the poem in a sarcastic tone and it made much more sense.

Ozymandias

I thought this poem was very interesting and had a good moral to it. This king, Ozymandias, seemed to have greatly oppressed his people. He thought that he would become the greatest king with all of the power if he did this. In the poem, all that is left of him are the legs and the head of a statue of him. He really left his mark, didn't he? I think this poem represents the idea that people get nothing accomplished by bossing others around and thinking that they are better than everyone else. When it comes down to it, these kinds of actions will only lead to defeat and damage to everyone. All people were created equal, so when people try to rule others, problems will always arise. It is just quite ironic that this "king of kings" has left nothing behind on this earth but rubble and remains of a statue.

Barbie Doll

Personally, I liked this poem because it portrays today's society very well. Girls have so much pressure that is put on them when it comes to looks and actions. Younger girls who are going through their "awkward" stage always feel as if everybody's eyes are upon them. Our society today is very sad. Girls get terrible examples of how to look or act through magazines, television, the Internet, and music. Public sources say what is "cool" and what isn't. Teenage girls really take these examples to heart.I am just glad that Marge Piercy wasn't afraid to just tell it like it is when it comes to these societal problems. Nobody is perfect, but every girl strives to be in their teenage years.

next to of course god america i

#11



This piece of poetry was definitely my favorite our of this section. I have always believed that if people don't truly think about what they are saying when they say it, they don't really mean it. The words we all utter in songs about our country or even the pledge to our country are some of the most beautiful and meaningful words we will ever utter. Even though they are extremely important and people die for these words, I would have to say that most Americans just recite these words like "The Night Before Christmas" poem. I would venture to say that most people don't think about it, they just say it. This is a satirical poem because it is trying to change the way people view these forms of honor to our country, the land of the free. There is no capitalization in the quote from the man speaking. I believe this represents the lack of respect that we give our country when saying the pledge. Also, there is almost no punctuation which represents the speed that we utter these songs and the pledge. We go so fast sometimes that we are saying words just to say them.

Batter my heart, three-personed God

#13

In general, this is a very strong and touching poem, but I think that the author wanted to get one of his main points across by using paradoxes. Donne wanted to let the reader know that most of the time, situations have to get worse before they truly get better. For example, the text says "If you don't imprison me, I will never be free." This makes no sense when read literally, but the speaker will never be free from sin if they aren't punished and repremanded. This whole poem can be summed up by the theme "Break me down to Build me up." The human race will never know how to do things the right way if they don't get punished for the wrong. Also, once we have done wrong, we can't just sprint back to where we were before we fell behind. We have to learn to crawl, then stand, then walk, then jog, and finally reach where we were. It's a hard thing to do, but sometimes our hearts have to be battered before they are renewed.

February ... Cat = Human

February was easily my favorite poem out of the collection we read this week. My favorite part was the truth she spoke about the Winter months. I would also have to say that I liked her extended comparison of cats and humans through out the poem. I believe that the poem is based around this metaphor. In the beginning of the poem, the cat expresses his indifference towards the human. I also think that humans can have this indifference too. To me, indifference is not a very good thing. I feel that we should all care about decisions and what is happening in out lives and in the lives of others, but unfortunately, this mind set is a reality in the human race. Atwood expresses that if humans were treated the same way other animals were treated (snip humans, or humans eat their young), life would be much easier. "But it's love that does us in. Over and over again." This might be my favorite part of the poem because it shows how humans have true and honest feelings that make us who we are and no matter what, love is what dictates our life.

February

In my opinion, the only thing Winter is good for is Christmas. I love the Holiday Season and everything that leads up to it, but once it hits December 26th, there isn't much to look forward to until Spring Break. The days are long and dark and one drives to school in the dark and returns home in the dark. If it werent for windows, nobody would even know that the sun actually comes up. This poem expresses my feelings of winter and the "month of despair" but maybe expresses them to a greater extreme. I found Atwood to be hilarious. Once I understood the just of the poem, I couldn't agree more with her. During winter, some days the toughest thing to to is to just get up out of one's warm and comfortable bed.

Dream Deferred

# 10/11

This poem has some very interesting imagery. Five of the six images are similes. The last image, "Or does it explode?" is a metaphor. Langston wants to give the reader a mental image of what will happen when a dream is put off and pushed aside. I think it is very important that the first four images are posed as rhetorical questions to the reader. Hughes is trying to make his audience see this image and visually imagine what will happen if people do not act upon their dreams. One will keep thinking about their dream and it will start to bug them. Also, once the prime time for the dream to be put in action passes, the chance for change and new experience is lost. Maybe it will even start to become sugarcoated and bring the dreamer down. Maybe, just maybe, it will explode and affect everyone around it and associated with it.

I taste a liquor never brewed

# 7

Look around, Nature is intoxicating.


Through out this entire poem, Dickinson speaks of the world around her and how one can get drunk of off experiencing nature. She gets drunk off of the air and dew. Then, she talks about how she gets drunk by the summer days with the blue skies. The third stanza talks about how she will drink and get drunk off of nature forever. This drunkenness is a good thing. I actually liked this poem because I am someone who thinks that the world today passes by nature and doesn't really "take it all in" as much as we should. We definitely take it for granted. Also, this poems give me hope that Dickinson also had some good thoughts in her head.

P.S. Picture is from SFS. Twilight Peak/Crater Lake

Bright Star

#11

This whole new section of poems that we are studying is centered around figurative language. I found it very fitting that the first poem to study was a huge apostrophe. The speaker it directly addressing a star throughout the poem. He speaks of all the qualities he likes about being a star and how great it would be to be steadfast, but he doesn't want to be alone like the bright star. He wants to be steadfast only if he can have his lover forever or die at the peak of their love. I found his worry of being alone kind of ironic though. Everyone always says that stars are countless and there are millions of them. Why was this one star thought to be alone?

To Autumn

To Autumn is a great example of imagery. Autumn is my favorite season, so I may be biased, but I believe the picture drawn with these words is a beautiful one. I believe that Keats set this poem up to be in the format of a fall day. First, there are three stanzas which I believe represent morning, afternoon, and evening. The first stanza begins with talk of the beginning of fall when everything is "plump" and "ripe." He refers to a lot of fruit here in stanza one. Stanza two contains my favorite part of autumn, cider. I believe here he is explaining the middle days of fall where everything is being reaped because the end of fall is near. The last stanza represents the end of fall. Keats give the image of the sun setting. ("While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day, and tough the stubble-plains with rosy hue") The day and the season are "soft[ly] dying." He says that "gnats mourn", "full-grown lambs bleat", and "the red-breast whistles softly." The last image he gives the reader is the image of swallows twittering and gathering food for the winter.

Those Winter Sundays

This was one of my favorite poems out of the eight. For me, it really hit home. I know that I do not thank my parents enough for all they do for me. I do not even realize half of the sacrifices they make to give me a life that they could only dream of. The line, "No one ever thanked him" really made me think. Do I always thank people for the things they go out of their way to do for me? Do I thank people for the little things in life? I know that I am very blessed to have the family and community that I have, but I do think that I take it for granted too much. Lastly, I want to make reference to the last couple lines of the poem. "What did I know, what did I know of love's austere and lonely offices?" This is where the idea of tough love is presented. Sometimes when someone is strict, they aren't trying to punish you, they are actually looking out for you. This kind of care represents a hidden love.

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain

#15

I have to say that my impression of Emily Dickinson has not changed after reading this poem. I would definitely have to describe her as a very unique writer. In this poem, Emily truly emphasized the sense of sound. The speaker is in the casket and can not see or say anything, so they rely on their ears. The speaker hears the people "treading- treading" and there was a drum "beating- beating." He/She hears the people lift the box and then "all the Heavens were a Bell." The function of these sounds is to make the reader realize what it would be like in the "box." This poem can be interpreted in many ways, but I feel that the speaker is going through a mental breakdown. This poem makes me see an image of a person with this blank look on there face, but their brain is going crazy with noise.

The Widow's Lament in Springtime

#12

In this poem, the season of Spring is portrayed again, but not really in the same way. This widow used to love Springtime, but ever since her husband has passed, it could almost be considered a haunting season for the widow. Even though this is a rather depressing poem, there are many symbols in it. The woman is in her yard in the poem. Her yard is a confined area which represents her familiar sorrow. The widow's son tells her about a meadow with beautiful white flowers, but there was a woods in between the meadow and her yard. The meadow represents a peaceful and unfamiliar place with no boundaries. This is a place for her to move on and get away from her sorrows, but first she must go through the woods. This forest is symbolic of the rough times she will have to go through to reach the peaceful meadow. Lastly, I believe the white flowers are a symbol of her husband in her life. These white flowers are found on a plum tree in her yard where all of her memories are with her husband. Also, her son speaks of white flowers in the meadow in the distance. This means that even if she moves on away from her sorrows, her husband will always be with her.

Spring

#11

I particularly like this poem. Spring is a season that I believe everyone should enjoy because who doesn't like to start over fresh and new after a dark cold winter? In this poem, I believe Hopkins' use of alliteration is very clever and wise. When I began reading this poem, the emphasized syllables beginning with the same letter gave a nice sound to the poem. It was almost a pure and precious sound. This is how the season of Spring should be portrayed. Spring is a time for new beginnings and nature is one of the best examples of this fresh start. His imagery is so clear here that I could actually create a vivid picture of an open field with flowers, trees, leaves, weeds and racing lambs.

Perrine Poetry Blog

Poetry has always been one of my favorite styles of writing. I think it is a beautiful, short, to the point way of getting the writers ideas or thoughts across. When I first began to read the Perrine's thoughts on poetry, I became a little perturbed. I believe that poems can be interpreted in more than one way. In the beginning of his writing, Perrine contradicts himself. He says that there is only one correct interpretation of a poem, but then proceeds to tell the reader that when he passed out the Emily Dickinson poem to other students and colleagues, "not one of them interpreted the poem as I did." This obviously shows that every mind cannot think the exact same thing, but he still says there is only one "correct" answer? This threw me off. Poetry inspires the reader and most of the time, the reader receives a message that they absorb and carry with them. Is is right to tell them that the personal message they received s incorrect?

I began to understand Perrine a little more when he started speaking about symbols and meanings. Symbols do not have infinite meanings. When people begin to assume details, their interpretations of a work can become quite off, but I like Perrine's thoughts about the "cone of light" that he brings up. I believe that poetry can strike people differently, but in reason. Readers can't just make the poem whatever they want it to be. Details do need to match up and there must be a good reasoning for their thoughts. As long as their thoughts are somewhere in the cone of light, I believe they are acceptable. Even though Perrine was not on my favorite list when I began reading this article, I do believe the last sentence holds the true meaning of this work. " Any correct interpretation must satisfactorily explain the details of the poem without being contradicted by any detail; the best interpretations will reply on the fewest assumptions not grounded in the poem itself. "