B. "You fit into me" by Margaret Atwood
Atwood, Margaret. "You fit into me." Introduction to Poetry. 12th ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2007. 122.
"you fit into me
like a hook into an eye
a fish hook
an open eye"(lines 1-4).
As simple as this poem is, it has a whole lot of ambiguity going on. There is the repitition of the word "eye" in lines two and four. "Hook" is also repeated twice. I assume the speaker is a woman, since Atwood was a lady. In the first two lines, the speaker is describing how well her lover fits into her life. We could also assume that the speaker wants us to think that this other person is not even a lover, but maybe an enemy. The way I see that is because when one thinks of the word "Hook", you most certainely think of something sharp that is piercing the "eye". The eye could be the eyeball on your face. It could also be a button that hooks perfectly into your jacket. When I read this poem I automatically thought of the sharp hook going in to the eyesocket, but when I looked up the words hook and eye, I believed the speaker was trying to say that her lover fits into her life. The repetition of the word eye is meaningful because you must imagine that the eye is delicate and fragile, just like your heart.
Friday, February 29, 2008
BA #5
B. "Triolet" by Robert Bridges
Bridges, Robert. "Triolet." Introduction to Poetry. 12th ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2007. 211.
"When first we met we did not guess
That Love would prove so hard a master;
Of more than common friendliness
When first we met we did not guess.
Who could foretell this sore distress,
This irretrievable disaster"(lines 1-6).
This poem is a triolet. Its two opening lines are repeated according to a set pattern. It is usually used for a lighter poem, but Bridge's poem carries heavier material. The rhyme scheme is [a b a a b b a b]. At first the speaker explains that he/she did not guess at first that the love relationship would be more than friendship. The first line is repeated in line four to show meaning that the speaker was clearly not thinking that something could go wrong later down the road. The speaker does not talk about the sweet things involved with being in "Love", but instead focuses on the negatives such as the "sore distress"(5). At the end of the poem, the first two lines are again repeated. The meanings of these lines have changed from the beginning of the poem. At the end, the speaker is saying those lines with regret.
Bridges, Robert. "Triolet." Introduction to Poetry. 12th ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2007. 211.
"When first we met we did not guess
That Love would prove so hard a master;
Of more than common friendliness
When first we met we did not guess.
Who could foretell this sore distress,
This irretrievable disaster"(lines 1-6).
This poem is a triolet. Its two opening lines are repeated according to a set pattern. It is usually used for a lighter poem, but Bridge's poem carries heavier material. The rhyme scheme is [a b a a b b a b]. At first the speaker explains that he/she did not guess at first that the love relationship would be more than friendship. The first line is repeated in line four to show meaning that the speaker was clearly not thinking that something could go wrong later down the road. The speaker does not talk about the sweet things involved with being in "Love", but instead focuses on the negatives such as the "sore distress"(5). At the end of the poem, the first two lines are again repeated. The meanings of these lines have changed from the beginning of the poem. At the end, the speaker is saying those lines with regret.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
BA #4
1. Datlow, Ellen and Terri Windling. Snow White, Blood Red. New York. HarperCollins, 1993.
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?isbn=9780380718757&atch=h&utm_content=You%20Might%20Also%20Like
AND
http://www.rambles.net/windling_snow.html
2. The text, in short, is amazing. Snow White, Blood Red is a collection of Fairy Tales that defies everything you know – or what Disney has led you to believe. These collections of short stories tell you the real fairy tales that you and how cruel or odd they really are. They almost take on a kind of Brothers Grimm aspect as some of them are so dark. This book I would say does fall into fantasy minus all the fairy godmothers and glamour.
3. The most intriguing part of this whole book for me was that these are Fairy Tales the way they are meant to be told not just Disney cover-ups for little tots.
4. Since there are so many stories in this book, I am going to only focus on one called, “Like a Red, Red Rose” by Susan Wade. It’s about a beautiful girl who happens to be the daughter of the town witch. All in all, the prince falls in love with her and they make love in the forest. After this, the prince dies. I am relating this to “What lips my lips have kissed” by Milay. Even though the poem and story are very different, what I found similar is that in “what lips my lips” the speaker is almost lamenting over past lovers and how they no longer come to see her and then in “Like a Red, Red Rose” after making love to the prince and having him die from that the girl takes no more lovers and is constantly reminded of him through a child that was conceived that night.
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?isbn=9780380718757&atch=h&utm_content=You%20Might%20Also%20Like
AND
http://www.rambles.net/windling_snow.html
2. The text, in short, is amazing. Snow White, Blood Red is a collection of Fairy Tales that defies everything you know – or what Disney has led you to believe. These collections of short stories tell you the real fairy tales that you and how cruel or odd they really are. They almost take on a kind of Brothers Grimm aspect as some of them are so dark. This book I would say does fall into fantasy minus all the fairy godmothers and glamour.
3. The most intriguing part of this whole book for me was that these are Fairy Tales the way they are meant to be told not just Disney cover-ups for little tots.
4. Since there are so many stories in this book, I am going to only focus on one called, “Like a Red, Red Rose” by Susan Wade. It’s about a beautiful girl who happens to be the daughter of the town witch. All in all, the prince falls in love with her and they make love in the forest. After this, the prince dies. I am relating this to “What lips my lips have kissed” by Milay. Even though the poem and story are very different, what I found similar is that in “what lips my lips” the speaker is almost lamenting over past lovers and how they no longer come to see her and then in “Like a Red, Red Rose” after making love to the prince and having him die from that the girl takes no more lovers and is constantly reminded of him through a child that was conceived that night.
I chose to write about Robert Frost's 'The Road Not Taken' (http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/frost_road.html or page 245 of I.P.). The persona is the author, or the author writing as another. It tells a story of a person who is traveling in the forest and comes across a break in paths, and chooses to walk the one not traveled. He walks down this path for a long while, and he knows that if he lets curosity take control, he will keep traveling and eventually become lost. He ends the poem by saying how when he is older, he will look back on this experince and be glad he took the road less traveled. Although this may seem like a simple anecdote about a man roaming the woods, I believe it conveys a deeper message. I think Frost is trying to imply that although it is easier to conform and do what everyone else is doing, one should stride against the norm, or perhaps even an injustice, for it will pay off in the end. The lines "Yet knowing how way leads on to way/I doubted if I should ever come back"( "The Road Not Taken" 245) are an important part of this message, implying that once you start to fight against something, it is impossible to be re-accepted by society and its current standards. In the last stanza, the lines "I shall be telling this with a sigh...I took the one less traveled by,/And that has made all the difference" ("The Road Not Taken" 245) implies that tackling a wrong in society will make you remembered, because it is so difficult to do, and an important part of history to future people. This poem adovcates the strength and power of one person to mobolize change.
BA #4
A.
1. Whitman, Walt. "When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer.” Poetry; an introduction. 5th ED. Michael Meyer.
< http://www.bartleby.com/142/180.html>
2. Walt Whitman had already become a well-known spokesman for the lonesome travelers of the world by 1865, the time of this poem’s creation. So it’s no surprise that the poem is essentially about casting away institutional understanding for his typical “nature is beautiful and not to be understood” mantra.
3. I’ve always enjoyed Walt Whitman, beginning with my introduction to Leaves of Grass in an earlier poetry class. There’s nothing especially intriguing or exemplary within the poem itself to warrant much discussion. Rather, there is the lasting affect Whitman has upon me that cannot be shaken and is only embellished when re-reading his work or discovering something new of his. It’s like listening to the Beatles: they’re simple and actually not that great if you pull apart the tracks of the song, but they deliver the listener to a different place, time and time again.
4. What better person to compare to Whitman’s stylistic prose than Shelley, specifically “Ozymandias”; written in 1818. Where Whitman emphasizes on the individual and his limitless place in the world, Shelley strikes the reader’s aspirations down. Ozymandias is belittling the individual, the seemingly colossal, where as Whitman glorifies the possibilities of discovery and exploration. Bringing nature into the discussion, Shelley considers the shattered visage in the ground as laying “boundless and bare”(13), where “The lone and level sands stretch far away”(14). It’s not much of a stretch to compare the infinite universe as a desert, so why does Whitman consider his desert “mystical”(8) and in “perfect silence”(9)? It seems as if Shelley investigates the dour attitude of the seemingly insignificant where as Whitman looks to find beauty and enchantment.
BA#4
"The Whipping" by Robert Hayden
Hayden, Robert. "The Whipping." Introduction to Poetry. 'Ed'. X.J. Kennedy. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2007.
"The old woman across the way
is whipping the boy again
and shouting to the neighborhood
her goodness and his wrongs."
"The Whipping" by Robert Hayden uses imagery to show how a child abuser can consider herself to be the child's owner because of the power she wields over that child. The word "whipping" (line 2) is primarily used when discussing the horrors of slavery, and also in reference to the training of horses and other animals. Because of these disgusting and painful acts performed on slaves and animals by their "owners", the word "whipping"(line 2) has extremely negative connotations attached to it. The paradox in this poem can be found in line 4, when the old woman who is abusing the boy, is screaming at him and telling him he is bad and that she is good, which is clearly contrary because she is an adult beating a young boy with a stick. The meter of this poem is iambic trimeter, which is effective because the reader focuses on main words like, "woman," "whipping," "boy," "shouting," "goodness," and "wrongs." (lines 1-4)
Hayden, Robert. "The Whipping." Introduction to Poetry. 'Ed'. X.J. Kennedy. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2007.
"The old woman across the way
is whipping the boy again
and shouting to the neighborhood
her goodness and his wrongs."
"The Whipping" by Robert Hayden uses imagery to show how a child abuser can consider herself to be the child's owner because of the power she wields over that child. The word "whipping" (line 2) is primarily used when discussing the horrors of slavery, and also in reference to the training of horses and other animals. Because of these disgusting and painful acts performed on slaves and animals by their "owners", the word "whipping"(line 2) has extremely negative connotations attached to it. The paradox in this poem can be found in line 4, when the old woman who is abusing the boy, is screaming at him and telling him he is bad and that she is good, which is clearly contrary because she is an adult beating a young boy with a stick. The meter of this poem is iambic trimeter, which is effective because the reader focuses on main words like, "woman," "whipping," "boy," "shouting," "goodness," and "wrongs." (lines 1-4)
Thursday, February 21, 2008
BA #4
A.
1. Stevenson, Anne. "The Victory." An Introduction to Poetry. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. 92 http://www.anne-stevenson.co.uk/poetry.htm
2. Anne Stevenson's "The Victory" was written in 1974. The poem is about a mother who is having thoughts of regret towards her son. She does not say nice, kind words about him. Instead, she refers to him as mean and abusive. It seems as though the son is not older yet. He is still a baby and is consitently crying like all babies do. I presume the the mother did not intend to have this child. Maybe that is why she asks, "Why do I have to love you?" ("The Victory" 15)
3. This text was something different than everything I have ever read which made it interesting. My view of babies entering the world from their mother's bodies is something beautiful. The mother in this poem is not referring to her son as a beautiful creation. It intrigued me to read this because I have never heard of someone describe their child like this.
4. I chose to compare this poem to "First Poem for You" by Kim Addonizio. This poem can be found on page 204. Although the speaker in Addonizio's poem is not referring to a child, he/she is talking about a close person to their heart. The mother in Stevenson's poem is afraid of making a commitment to her child, just like the speaker in Addonizio's poem is afraid of making a commitment to his/her lover. The tone of both poems is dark. The mother in Stevenson's poem speaks as though her child is actually stabbing her with a knife. The speaker in Addonizio's poem speaks of love as a frightening thing, referring to it with words such as lightening, a dragon, and a serpent.
1. Stevenson, Anne. "The Victory." An Introduction to Poetry. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. 92 http://www.anne-stevenson.co.uk/poetry.htm
2. Anne Stevenson's "The Victory" was written in 1974. The poem is about a mother who is having thoughts of regret towards her son. She does not say nice, kind words about him. Instead, she refers to him as mean and abusive. It seems as though the son is not older yet. He is still a baby and is consitently crying like all babies do. I presume the the mother did not intend to have this child. Maybe that is why she asks, "Why do I have to love you?" ("The Victory" 15)
3. This text was something different than everything I have ever read which made it interesting. My view of babies entering the world from their mother's bodies is something beautiful. The mother in this poem is not referring to her son as a beautiful creation. It intrigued me to read this because I have never heard of someone describe their child like this.
4. I chose to compare this poem to "First Poem for You" by Kim Addonizio. This poem can be found on page 204. Although the speaker in Addonizio's poem is not referring to a child, he/she is talking about a close person to their heart. The mother in Stevenson's poem is afraid of making a commitment to her child, just like the speaker in Addonizio's poem is afraid of making a commitment to his/her lover. The tone of both poems is dark. The mother in Stevenson's poem speaks as though her child is actually stabbing her with a knife. The speaker in Addonizio's poem speaks of love as a frightening thing, referring to it with words such as lightening, a dragon, and a serpent.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
BA #3
B.
Drayton, Michael. "Since there's no help, come let us kiss and part." 1619.
"Now at the last gasp of Love's latest breath,
When, his pulse failing, Passion speechless lies,
When Faith is kneeling by his bed of death,
And Innocence is closing up his eyes,
Now if thou wouldst, when all have given him over,
From death to life thou mightst him yet recover." (lines 9-14)
These six lines of the poem bring the message that the persona portrays from its previous statement of the closure of a relationship to a desperate plea for a change of heart. This poem (and specifically these lines) adhere to the form of an English Sonnet, with the exception of the final couplet. Each line in the couplet has one extra syllable, as if the final lines of the sonnet are struggling to outlive the "end" of the lines (where the iambic pentameter of the poem would have them end); this is representational of the emotional situation in which this last quatrain and the couplet are presented. The author uses the personification of intangibles such as love, passion, faith, and innocence to express the fragile vitality of these emotions which the persona is striving to save. I find it interesting that sonnets are usually about love, because it seems contradictory for something as chaotic and random as love to be organized (in poetry, no less) in such a structured fashion as a sonnet. It seems that in traditional sonnets, this contradiction either serves the purpose of contrasting the disarray of love with this strict form of poetry, or the structure and order that come with a sonnet act as a counterpoint to the disorder of love. I believe the latter is the situation in this sonnet; the stress, sadness, and hope in the voice of the poem seem to be soothed by the secure structure of a sonnet. Though in the first two quatrains of the poem, the persona tries to be strong and secure, the expression of fragility and the reliance on the security of structure show that the true point of the poem, though it contradicts the title and earlier lines, is an imploration for a sign of hope when there seems to be none.
Drayton, Michael. "Since there's no help, come let us kiss and part." 1619.
"Now at the last gasp of Love's latest breath,
When, his pulse failing, Passion speechless lies,
When Faith is kneeling by his bed of death,
And Innocence is closing up his eyes,
Now if thou wouldst, when all have given him over,
From death to life thou mightst him yet recover." (lines 9-14)
These six lines of the poem bring the message that the persona portrays from its previous statement of the closure of a relationship to a desperate plea for a change of heart. This poem (and specifically these lines) adhere to the form of an English Sonnet, with the exception of the final couplet. Each line in the couplet has one extra syllable, as if the final lines of the sonnet are struggling to outlive the "end" of the lines (where the iambic pentameter of the poem would have them end); this is representational of the emotional situation in which this last quatrain and the couplet are presented. The author uses the personification of intangibles such as love, passion, faith, and innocence to express the fragile vitality of these emotions which the persona is striving to save. I find it interesting that sonnets are usually about love, because it seems contradictory for something as chaotic and random as love to be organized (in poetry, no less) in such a structured fashion as a sonnet. It seems that in traditional sonnets, this contradiction either serves the purpose of contrasting the disarray of love with this strict form of poetry, or the structure and order that come with a sonnet act as a counterpoint to the disorder of love. I believe the latter is the situation in this sonnet; the stress, sadness, and hope in the voice of the poem seem to be soothed by the secure structure of a sonnet. Though in the first two quatrains of the poem, the persona tries to be strong and secure, the expression of fragility and the reliance on the security of structure show that the true point of the poem, though it contradicts the title and earlier lines, is an imploration for a sign of hope when there seems to be none.
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/all-day-i-hear-the-noise-of-waters/ (page 158 IP)
I choose to read and analyze James Joyce's "All day I hear". I believe the poem is about a person who is sucidal, comparing his montone and depressing state to the cold wind and the ocean. The persona is the author speaking as himself or someone else, and the tone is saddening. I believe it is about a sucidal person (who wants to drown himself), reason being the poems says "The gray winds, the cold winds are blowing/Where I go./I hear the noises of many waters/Far below". ("All day I hear" 158). The lines "Where I go" and "Far below" imply a sense of leaving ("All day I hear" 158). Also, even the title itself, 'All day I hear', implies a dull, monotone, constant routine of something negitive. I think the person lives by the ocean, as the whole poem is about the 'moaning' water and the 'sad' seagulls; even by these adjectives, one can tell the speaker is of a somber state of mind. As a side note, lines two, four and six all have exact end rhymes, of which two and four are masculine. Lines 8, 10 and 12 rhyme as well, with lines 8 and 12 being masculine. The poem has an imabic pentameter.
I choose to read and analyze James Joyce's "All day I hear". I believe the poem is about a person who is sucidal, comparing his montone and depressing state to the cold wind and the ocean. The persona is the author speaking as himself or someone else, and the tone is saddening. I believe it is about a sucidal person (who wants to drown himself), reason being the poems says "The gray winds, the cold winds are blowing/Where I go./I hear the noises of many waters/Far below". ("All day I hear" 158). The lines "Where I go" and "Far below" imply a sense of leaving ("All day I hear" 158). Also, even the title itself, 'All day I hear', implies a dull, monotone, constant routine of something negitive. I think the person lives by the ocean, as the whole poem is about the 'moaning' water and the 'sad' seagulls; even by these adjectives, one can tell the speaker is of a somber state of mind. As a side note, lines two, four and six all have exact end rhymes, of which two and four are masculine. Lines 8, 10 and 12 rhyme as well, with lines 8 and 12 being masculine. The poem has an imabic pentameter.
BA #3
I.
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15433
II. Gwendolyn Brooks wrote “We Real Cool” in 1960, and it’s about seven youths hanging out at a pool hall, enjoying themselves. The poem is very rhythmically structured, possibly in part to the reference to jazz in line 6.
III. I especially like this poem because of the players’ attitude towards themselves. They’re obviously social deviants, maybe even a gang, but the poem reads arrogantly enough to make the reader believe they’re good at whatever it is they do. It reminds me of when my friends and I used to hang out at a pool hall and drink underage and get into fights and believe that no one could touch us.
IV. I link Brooks’ poem with David Mason’s “Song of the Powers” by the shared tone of the personas in each. Both share a confident tone that escalates in the persona’s voice until the final few lines. The similarities end there, as in Brooks’ poem the speaker never has a doubt about the subjects’ actions, maybe even inferring that they do not care they will die young. In Mason’s, the speaker shows in the final lines that the game of rock paper scissors is useless in the end, that it is played in vain because no matter what happens, you’ll “all end alone”(22).
BA #3
"To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell
(http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/marvell/coy.htm)
This is a poem that was written in 1681. It is a poem of a man who is promising this girl that if he had all the time in the world, he'd spend it with her. He explains all these things he'd do for her in a very sexual way. Then there's the turning point of the poem where he says that he doesn't really love her, he just wants sex from her. He continues to explain that he would love her forever, but time doesn't stop for anyone and she'll soon die and rot in a marble casket. In the third stanza of the poem, the man is pressuring her with the word "now" and uses it repeatedly along with images of lovers; suggesting that this is how he wants them to be.
I compared Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" with Michael Drayton's "Since there's no help, come let us kiss and part" and I think that there are very subtle differences and similarities to these two poems. First, both men speak of love, and how they will lose their love because eventually they'll die. A difference I noticed first was the language in each poem. Marvell uses imagery often and references things that would make it hard to really understand what he was saying. But Drayton is very straight forward in his poem about the love he once had. Marvell made his love for her seem forced and rough, while Drayton's was full of sincere passion.
(http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/marvell/coy.htm)
This is a poem that was written in 1681. It is a poem of a man who is promising this girl that if he had all the time in the world, he'd spend it with her. He explains all these things he'd do for her in a very sexual way. Then there's the turning point of the poem where he says that he doesn't really love her, he just wants sex from her. He continues to explain that he would love her forever, but time doesn't stop for anyone and she'll soon die and rot in a marble casket. In the third stanza of the poem, the man is pressuring her with the word "now" and uses it repeatedly along with images of lovers; suggesting that this is how he wants them to be.
I compared Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" with Michael Drayton's "Since there's no help, come let us kiss and part" and I think that there are very subtle differences and similarities to these two poems. First, both men speak of love, and how they will lose their love because eventually they'll die. A difference I noticed first was the language in each poem. Marvell uses imagery often and references things that would make it hard to really understand what he was saying. But Drayton is very straight forward in his poem about the love he once had. Marvell made his love for her seem forced and rough, while Drayton's was full of sincere passion.
BA#3
I chose to explicate the poem "Reluctance" by Robert Frost.
Frost, Robert. "Reluctance." Ketzle. 06 September 2005. New Orleans Missing Persons List. 12 Feb 2008 http://www.ketzle.com/frost/.
"Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?"
The speaker in the poem seems reluctant to accept the norms of conventional behavior. He declares he will go against the grain, and follow his own intuition. While saying this however, he proclaims he will "...bow and accept the end/ of a love" (23-24) which appears to be the speaker saying he is coming to terms with the conclusion of a personal relationship.This poem is also about dead ends, and dead hopes, and the speakers way of dealing with them. This is mirrored in lines 21 and 22 when he says, "To go with the drift of thing/To yield with a grace to reason ". The only distinct rhyme scheme I could detect is on the repetition of b lines.
Frost, Robert. "Reluctance." Ketzle. 06 September 2005. New Orleans Missing Persons List. 12 Feb 2008 http://www.ketzle.com/frost/.
"Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?"
The speaker in the poem seems reluctant to accept the norms of conventional behavior. He declares he will go against the grain, and follow his own intuition. While saying this however, he proclaims he will "...bow and accept the end/ of a love" (23-24) which appears to be the speaker saying he is coming to terms with the conclusion of a personal relationship.This poem is also about dead ends, and dead hopes, and the speakers way of dealing with them. This is mirrored in lines 21 and 22 when he says, "To go with the drift of thing/To yield with a grace to reason ". The only distinct rhyme scheme I could detect is on the repetition of b lines.
BA #3
B. "The Ruined Maid" by Thomas Hardy can be found on page 63.
-"You left us in tatters, without shoes or socks,
Tired of digging potatoes, and spudding up docks;
And now you've gay bracelets and bright feathers three!"-
"Yes: that's how we dress when we're ruined," said she. (5-8)
In Hardy's poem, there are two women speaking to each other. The first woman's persona is of a towns woman who is living the life of a typical lower middle class person. The second woman's persona is a woman who has turned to prostitution. As this passage shows, the prostitute was once like the first woman. She used to be poor and dirty looking, but now she has "gay bracelets and bright feathers three!"("The Ruined Maid" 7). The prostitute's tone in this poem is of someone who is proud to be living that life. She is content in that she has such fine material things, never mind the fact that she's giving away her body to men for money. What we question in this poem, and what I would ask to other students is whether or not the prostitute is happy? The rhyme scheme that the poet uses is:a a b b c c d d e e f f g g. The poem has more lines than that, but that is the general rhyme scheme. This poem contains four lines per stanza and the two women converse in each stanza.
-"You left us in tatters, without shoes or socks,
Tired of digging potatoes, and spudding up docks;
And now you've gay bracelets and bright feathers three!"-
"Yes: that's how we dress when we're ruined," said she. (5-8)
In Hardy's poem, there are two women speaking to each other. The first woman's persona is of a towns woman who is living the life of a typical lower middle class person. The second woman's persona is a woman who has turned to prostitution. As this passage shows, the prostitute was once like the first woman. She used to be poor and dirty looking, but now she has "gay bracelets and bright feathers three!"("The Ruined Maid" 7). The prostitute's tone in this poem is of someone who is proud to be living that life. She is content in that she has such fine material things, never mind the fact that she's giving away her body to men for money. What we question in this poem, and what I would ask to other students is whether or not the prostitute is happy? The rhyme scheme that the poet uses is:a a b b c c d d e e f f g g. The poem has more lines than that, but that is the general rhyme scheme. This poem contains four lines per stanza and the two women converse in each stanza.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
"Dust of Snow"
The passage I chose was from Robert Frost's "Dust of Snow."
Mason, David. "Dust of Snow." Western Wind. Edited. Emily Barosse. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2006.
"The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued." (Frost 121-122)
This haiku, written by Robert Frost in 1923 seems to mean how nature and life go on.I think the speaker in the poem is most likely Frost himself because many of his poems reflect his own experiences. I think that when the snow fell down on the speaker, it made him realize that nature never stops and it will keep cycling, no matter how angry or upset someone is, because their problems are extremely small in the grand scheme of life and nature. I think the speaker realized this and it made him feel better knowing how small his troubles really are. The tone of this piece, although the speaker is irritated, is very soft, and calm. His diction makes the tone soothing with phrases like,"...dust of snow " and "...change of mood." (Frost 121-122) On the flip side, the diction can also be representative of something more sad and disturbing. Words like dust remind the reader of what it really is, which is dead skin. It could also remind the reader of the saying, " Dust to Dust," which is used in burying the dead. The fact that it was snow which shook down on the speaker, stirs images of a cold winter depression. The imagery created in this poem is one of death and sadness.
Mason, David. "Dust of Snow." Western Wind. Edited. Emily Barosse. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2006.
"The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued." (Frost 121-122)
This haiku, written by Robert Frost in 1923 seems to mean how nature and life go on.I think the speaker in the poem is most likely Frost himself because many of his poems reflect his own experiences. I think that when the snow fell down on the speaker, it made him realize that nature never stops and it will keep cycling, no matter how angry or upset someone is, because their problems are extremely small in the grand scheme of life and nature. I think the speaker realized this and it made him feel better knowing how small his troubles really are. The tone of this piece, although the speaker is irritated, is very soft, and calm. His diction makes the tone soothing with phrases like,"...dust of snow " and "...change of mood." (Frost 121-122) On the flip side, the diction can also be representative of something more sad and disturbing. Words like dust remind the reader of what it really is, which is dead skin. It could also remind the reader of the saying, " Dust to Dust," which is used in burying the dead. The fact that it was snow which shook down on the speaker, stirs images of a cold winter depression. The imagery created in this poem is one of death and sadness.
"Sex Without Love"
1. Olds, Sharon. "Sex Without Love." Thinking and Writing About Literature. 'Ed'. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin's, 2001. http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sex-without-love/
2. In “Sex Without Love” by Sharon Olds, the speaker is trying to understand how any human could have sex with someone they’re not in love with. This poem was written in 1984, and I think that the genre is Love.
3. I like this poem because of the question the poet poses to the reader which, as I stated above, is how someone can sleep around and not feel love for the one they’re sleeping with. I also like how at the end of the poem, Olds states that the“…truth…” of why people sleep around, “…is the single body alone in the universe against its own best time.” (Olds 838) Olds begins the poem with flowery imagery about love, but quickly compares sex to “…wet as the children at birth whose mothers are going to give them away.” (Olds 838)
4. “Sex Without Love” by Sharon Olds has some similarities to “Qunicinera” by Judith Ortiz Cofer. One of the most obvious similarities I noticed about these two poems, was how they both represented something natural and expected, but are portrayed in a way that made it sound dirty and unnatural. In “Sex Without Love”, the speaker uses the words “red”, “steak”, and “wet” and compares these words to a newborn child. The imagery is grotesque because it makes the reader look at sex as if it were repulsive. The speaker in “Quncinera” does almost exactly the same thing, with words like, “nailed”, “poison”, “blood”, and “…skin stretched tight over my bones.” ( Cofer 284) Cofer uses going through adolescence seem painful and dreadful.
2. In “Sex Without Love” by Sharon Olds, the speaker is trying to understand how any human could have sex with someone they’re not in love with. This poem was written in 1984, and I think that the genre is Love.
3. I like this poem because of the question the poet poses to the reader which, as I stated above, is how someone can sleep around and not feel love for the one they’re sleeping with. I also like how at the end of the poem, Olds states that the“…truth…” of why people sleep around, “…is the single body alone in the universe against its own best time.” (Olds 838) Olds begins the poem with flowery imagery about love, but quickly compares sex to “…wet as the children at birth whose mothers are going to give them away.” (Olds 838)
4. “Sex Without Love” by Sharon Olds has some similarities to “Qunicinera” by Judith Ortiz Cofer. One of the most obvious similarities I noticed about these two poems, was how they both represented something natural and expected, but are portrayed in a way that made it sound dirty and unnatural. In “Sex Without Love”, the speaker uses the words “red”, “steak”, and “wet” and compares these words to a newborn child. The imagery is grotesque because it makes the reader look at sex as if it were repulsive. The speaker in “Quncinera” does almost exactly the same thing, with words like, “nailed”, “poison”, “blood”, and “…skin stretched tight over my bones.” ( Cofer 284) Cofer uses going through adolescence seem painful and dreadful.
BA #2
A.
Poe, Edgar Allen. "The Raven"
(http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/edgar_allan_poe/poems/18848)
This poem is narrated from the persona of a lonely and sorrowful man who's lover has died. He is visited late at night by a raven, which perches above his door and torments him by answering his questions only with the word "nevermore."
I particularly like this poem because, though it is dark in mood, the language and imagery is beautifully crafted to create a fantastic, yet melancholy scenario. From beginning to end, there is a significant amount of tension in each stanza of the poem. It tends to stay with me because there is something about the poem that grasps my attention on a deep level.
I can liken this poem thematically and in mood to "Rough Weather" by James Reeves. The Raven is darker, but they both express a tension and, as stated in "Rough Weather," a "madness" (line 14) that comes when one is languishing in memories of an absent loved one. Though, as the reader can assume, the "rough weather" is referring to a period of separration, and the lovers in "The Raven" are separated by life and death, both are situations that make the poems have lonely and melancholy undertones.
Poe, Edgar Allen. "The Raven"
(http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/edgar_allan_poe/poems/18848)
This poem is narrated from the persona of a lonely and sorrowful man who's lover has died. He is visited late at night by a raven, which perches above his door and torments him by answering his questions only with the word "nevermore."
I particularly like this poem because, though it is dark in mood, the language and imagery is beautifully crafted to create a fantastic, yet melancholy scenario. From beginning to end, there is a significant amount of tension in each stanza of the poem. It tends to stay with me because there is something about the poem that grasps my attention on a deep level.
I can liken this poem thematically and in mood to "Rough Weather" by James Reeves. The Raven is darker, but they both express a tension and, as stated in "Rough Weather," a "madness" (line 14) that comes when one is languishing in memories of an absent loved one. Though, as the reader can assume, the "rough weather" is referring to a period of separration, and the lovers in "The Raven" are separated by life and death, both are situations that make the poems have lonely and melancholy undertones.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
I read Robert Frost's "Fire and Ice" (http://www.online-literature.com/frost/744/). The speaker in the poem is Frost, and the tone of the poem is dark, and apocolyptic. The rhyme scheme goes A-A, B-B for the first two lines, and then A-B-A-B for the rest of the poem. The intention of the poet is to comment on the faults of humanity that are bringing us down as a whole. In the poem, the concept of fire is, in my opinion, supposed to represent creulty in active forms, like murder and rape, and maybe even some of the seven deadly sins, such as lust, wrath, and pride. As seen in the poem, the speaker himself has partaken in some of these activities; "From what I've tasted of desire/I hold with those who favor fire" ("Fire and Ice" Frost). Evident also is the fact that the speaker believes, from personal experince, that this 'fire', or those sins, will be the downfall of us as a whole. However, the author expresses the feeling that he "knows enough of hate" ("Fire and Ice" Frost) to know that the concept of ice is just as bad as that of fire. Moreover, I believe 'ice' resembles hatred in the sense of coldness, ignorance and apathy, which can be translated into the sins of gluttony, sloth and greed. Frost ends the poem gloomily, conveying a sense of pessimism and the self-destruction of our own kind. The questions I would ask to other readers of the text would be ; What do you feel 'fire' and 'ice' represent? and What other contexts might this poem be written in, if not a general sense of human destruction?
BA #2
The passage I chose to explicate was "Homage to my hips" by Lucille Clifton. Her poem can be found on page 439.
"They don't fit into little
petty places, these hips
are free hips.
they don't like to be held back." (4-7)
Clifton's persona for this poem is a woman, more specifically an African-American woman. This woman is talking about her hips, but even deeper than that, she is talking about her freedom as a black woman. Her tone is of a prideful woman who is not going to take anything negative from anybody. She describes to the reader that "they don't like to be held back" ("Homage to my hips" 7). This means that no one of a certain race should be held back. They deserve equal opportunity. I believe the voice in this poem is the voice of the poet, Lucille Clifton. She is an African-American woman herself, and I can see a great deal of similarities as to the way she might have been treated as a child, or even still as an adult. Clifton's poem does not show any sign of rhyme scheme.
"They don't fit into little
petty places, these hips
are free hips.
they don't like to be held back." (4-7)
Clifton's persona for this poem is a woman, more specifically an African-American woman. This woman is talking about her hips, but even deeper than that, she is talking about her freedom as a black woman. Her tone is of a prideful woman who is not going to take anything negative from anybody. She describes to the reader that "they don't like to be held back" ("Homage to my hips" 7). This means that no one of a certain race should be held back. They deserve equal opportunity. I believe the voice in this poem is the voice of the poet, Lucille Clifton. She is an African-American woman herself, and I can see a great deal of similarities as to the way she might have been treated as a child, or even still as an adult. Clifton's poem does not show any sign of rhyme scheme.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Blog #2
The poem I chose was “The Author to Her Book” by: Anne Bradstreet written around 1678. The passage I picked to look at is lines 1-4 as follows:
Thou Ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain
Who after birth did’st by my side remain,
Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true.
Who thee abroad exposed to public view;
This poem is known as a conceit poem and is written by one of the first female American poets. The ill-formed offspring that she is talking about in the first line is her book of poetry that she kept from the public, “Who after birth did’st by my side remain” until it was taken from her without her permission and published. All the “who” thereafter she is referring to the book/ill-formed offspring. She uses personification in calling her book her offspring/child and continues doing so throughout the poem. I believe that in line 4, “…abroad exposed” means that after her work was published that not only was it seen by other Americans but also by Europeans. I also believe that this shows the use of a partial rhyme at the end of each line and are in couplets.
Thou Ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain
Who after birth did’st by my side remain,
Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true.
Who thee abroad exposed to public view;
This poem is known as a conceit poem and is written by one of the first female American poets. The ill-formed offspring that she is talking about in the first line is her book of poetry that she kept from the public, “Who after birth did’st by my side remain” until it was taken from her without her permission and published. All the “who” thereafter she is referring to the book/ill-formed offspring. She uses personification in calling her book her offspring/child and continues doing so throughout the poem. I believe that in line 4, “…abroad exposed” means that after her work was published that not only was it seen by other Americans but also by Europeans. I also believe that this shows the use of a partial rhyme at the end of each line and are in couplets.
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