Joy Harjo

Well I finally made it, the last blog. Today I would like to write about Joy Harjo's "Mourning Song". This format is very different to what I am used to and what we have been reading in the past. This poem was one stanza long with 13 single spaced lines. I felt as though I was reading a paragraph instead of a poem. As I had guessed, the title gave away the poem. It is clear to me that this is about a person who no longer wants to mourn death, but to create a song about it instead, "Make a song for death, a song with yellow teeth and bad breath. For lonliness, / the house guest who eats everything and refuses to leave." (lines 9-11). If you have read any of my blogs, you will know that I generally like to pull a few quotes from the poems we read and share them. Within Joy Harjo's "Mourning Song", I found one inparticular quote that I loved and I still am not sure why. The quote reads as follows, "If we cry more tears we will ruin the land with salt," (lines 8-9). I guess the reason I like this quote so much is it took me back down memory lane when I was a child and would lick my tears. It made me remember just how salty they were and the fact that Harjo related that to death and ruining the land was very creative in my eyes. I don't really have much to say beside thank you for an amazing semester and increasing my ability to understand and analyze poems. I can truly say this course was a valuable learning experience and has increased my knowledge not only of poetry but what is inside the poetry.

Richard Wilbur

Normaly I like to start my post by saying, "Today I would like to write my post about...", but for once I am ahead of schedule. I would like to start today by saying, for tomorrows post, I would like to talk about Richard Wilbur's "Playboy". When I began reading the poems that were assigned to us, I came across this title and was imediatly judgmental. Being a girl, I can say that I have somewhat of a grude agains Playboy, weather it be jealousy or morality. I figured I better read the poem seems how it was assigned to us so I went on and scaned the pages. I read the poem once and became interested. The second time I read the poem, I imagined the setting, a boy sitting atop a ladder at work intrigued in a Playboy magazine, rarely taking his eyes off it. I was shocked because instead of being disgusted by this, I almost found it humerous in the sence that this setting is so modern and real life. I can imagine a handfull of people I know doing this. I was shocked to have a favorite quote out of this poem, one that was actually about the women's body. The lines read as follows, "Nothing escapes him of her body's grace/ Or of her floodlit skin, so sleek and warm/ And yet so strangely like a uniform,/ But what now grips his fancy is her face," (lines 21-24). The first thing I liked about this quote was the way the author describes the women's skin as a uniform, it paints the picture of just how inshape and beautiful this woman is. The part I liked the most about this quote was that it went from looking at her body, typical, to being lost in her face. I believe that the face is a woman's most beautiful asset. I guess the lesson is learned here, don't judge a poem by its title. Well done Richard Wilbur.

Ted Huges

Today I would like to talk about Ted Huges "The Horses". As you already know I picked this poem because it had to do with animals. And if you don't know by now that I am a zoology major, clearly you haven't been going to class. But that's not the only reason I picked this poem. The detail in this porm is amazing, the vivid picture it paints is something much different from that of Elizebeth Bishops who I wrote about last week. Sure she had wonderful detail about the fish and so one, but Huges puts you in that setting and make you feel chills as he breathes into the cold air. One of my favorite quotes from this porm is as follows, "There, still they stood,/But now steaming and glistening under the flow of the light," ( lines 27-28). Not only have I been around horses my entire life but I know just how masculint and powerful these creatures are. I feel that Ted Huges does a very good job of painting that picture of these horses you would see hanging on a wall. Feeling not only his breath but there's as well.

Philip Larkin

Today I would like to write about Philip Larkin's "High Windows". This is a rather short poem with six stanzas with a total of twenty lines. When I first read this poem, I had to read it again because I was unclear what the author was trying to get across. I often find myself getting lost in words such as cus words or crude words. It is almost as if these words distract me and I sit there trying to figure out why the author chose those words, instead of trying to find out what the poem is really meaning. As I read this poem the second time, I went under the impression that this was a man looking in on another persons life. This character was seeing the kids and happiness and stereo typing that this was paradise. This is what caught my attention the most. As I am only eighteen, I still think to myself how bad I want to just start a family and be a part of this so called paradise, but why rush it? Another one of Larkin's like was as follows, "...I wonder if/ Anyone looked at me, fourty years back,/ And though, That'll be the life;" (lines 9-11). This line stood out to me for the simple fact that it made me think the same thing. Does anyone look at me and find themselves picturing "paradise" with me? This poem almost made me feel like my biological time clock was clicking. It made me realize how much I do not want to end up like this character, looking into anothers life an wishing I had theirs. Now, I may be completely off on this interpretaion of the poem, but like they say, everyone interprets poems differently. I also read "Sad Steps" and would reccomend any of you who read my blogs to read that poem as well.

Elizabeth Bishop

Today I would like to talk about Elizabeth Bishop's "The Fish". As many of you know by now, I am a zoology major so I am very intrigued by poems about animals. This poem cauth my attention almost imediatly with the various adjectives she choses to describe the fish. The first line reads as follows, "I caught a temeddous fish/ and held him beside the boat. half out of water, with my hook/fast in the corner of his mouth." (lines 1-4). These opening lines give you a vivid picture of the setting this person is in. Obviously the character is fishing but this author's descriptions only get better through out the poem. Another line that I really enjoyed was as follows, "...Here and there/his brown skin hung in strips like ancient walpaper," (lines 9-11). It is here we start envisioning the fish, When I read this line I picture old brown, wrinkly wall paper draped across his body. I also really liked the line about the fish's gills, "While his gills ere breathing in/the terrible oxygen--the frightening gills,/ fresh and crisp with blood," (lines 22-25). My absolute favorite piece of this entire poem, is when the author describes the fish's beard, or so we think. "if you could call it a lip/ grim, wet, and weaponlike,/ hung five old pieces of fish-line,/ or four and a wire leade....Like medals with their ribbons/ frayed and wavering,/ a five-haired beard of wisdom/trailing from his aching jaw". This shows not only how many times this fish had gotten away but his will to live. The poem goes on to explain the feelings the character felt and how the person goes on to let the fish go to live and keep growing his beard.

Dylan Thomas

Today I would like to talk about Dylan Thomas' "Twenty-four Years". After reading just a few of Dylan Thomas' poems, it is clear that he has an obession with death. In the biography that you read before the poems, it states how he enjoyed writing about this darkness with crude and twisted words. His goal was to take an image and undress it, then lay it out for the reader. The moment I read this poem I felt sadness and darkness. I most certainly got the vibe of death and wanted to take it a little further. I did a little more research on this poem and found out that the title was the meaning of his twenty-fourth birthday. It is said that he often did poems to celebrate his birthday but, this was the first one. My question is, why is Dylan Thomas feeling such sadness in a celebratory time. The opening line leads me to think that his life was not so great, "Twenty-four years remind the tears of my eyes." (line 1). It is obvious that as he thinks of the past years up until that point, something is bringing him grief and saddness. There is one line that really stood out to me painting a very grusome and frightening image, "By the light of the meat-eating sun." (line 5). This almost shocked me because when I think of the sun, I think of warm summer days with happiness and laughter. When I read this line by Dylan Thomas, I get this image in my head, almost of a cartoon devil sun. This was probably his goal since he was so intrigued with death. Another line that created a cartoonist image in my head was as follows, "With my red veins full of money," (line 7). The second I got done reading this line, all I imagined was money bills soaring through these red hot veins. The last line brought me to somewhat of a conclustion of what this poem was really about, "I advance for as long as forever is." (line 9). This line gives me the idea that this poem was possibly about him outliving death after twenty-four years. He advanced on to forever. Now this could also mean that he advanced on to heaven making this a fictional poem because as we know he lived past the age of twenty-four, but beings that he followed the Christian ways, it is possible that he was talking about advancing to heaven. As usual I hope this poem is discussed in class so that I can get a better understanding of just what Dylan Thomas was feeling on his birthday.

Howl, Ginsberg

As you know, today we had to read "Howl" by Allen Gisberg. I would like to start by saying I hope I wasnt the only one who was a little confused while reading this poem. I am glad that we are talking about it in class but a little worried for the quiz. If it wasn't for the subscripts at the bottom I am not sure that I would know much of anything about this poem but here it goes. I understand that through much of the poem he is talking about being in an instatute for the mentally insane. I believe it sort of explains how he got there through the pictures on the window and such. I think the thing that confused me was that Ginsberg would jump from one person to another. Although I thought this was creative that he would refer to other authors I found it a little confusing in the story line. I understand that he put hints in there such as the Rocky Mountains and so fourth but I am still very lost. I also wonder why he puts such obsene things in this poem. I am not offended by them but curious as to why they are in there. Through my previous readings, I understand that he is homosexual, but in this poem he makes anal sex seem like a punishment. I hope that through next class period I will be able to understand this poem much better because the way I see it now I am completely lost. "Howl", you have officially baffled me.

Allen Ginsberg

Today I would like to write about Allen Ginsberg's "Sphincter". This poem is only twenty lines but some of the most disturbing twenty lines I have ever read. The title its self means "Ringlinke muscle that maintains costriction of an orifice, such as the anus". That was the first distrubing thing I cam upon right off that bat. I did read in the biography that Ginsberg was in fact homosexual, but little did I know how explicit he was. I chose this poem because it was taking me outside of my comfort zone. I come from a very small town where homosexuality is not only frowned upon but it just is much heard of either. While reading this poem I got the sence of a very proud homosexual who is not afraid to talk about personal things such as his "asshole" or "hemorrhoids". He even goes as far to talk about AIDs and how he is afraid of them but it does not stop him from having anal sex. I am curious as to how his lovers or past sexual relations felt about this poem. I am sure they knew he was explicit about his sexuality but did they know he was this proud of preforming anal sex. It also make me question if all homosexuals are like this. I am glad I read this poem just to get a taste of what homosexuality is really all about. Although it took me outside of my comfort zone it also brought be a great insight about Allen Ginsberg.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Today I would like to write about Lawrence Ferlinghetti's "Dog". This poem is rather long including eighty-four lines. The way I interpreted this poem when I began reading it, was simply a dog wondering around the city. The reader imideiatly gets and image about the setting of where this dog is and the things he is seeing. I think that imagery is one of the things that Lawrence mastered in this poem. As I went on reading the poem, I began realizing that this poem was not just about some dog wondering the streets, but instead how a human should live their life. The poem talks about how the dog does not care about the policemen because they are useless to him. This is a huge symbol to me about how we should live our lives. We should not worry about what those we don't care about think about us, instead we should continue on "through the streets". Another thing that I noticed about this poem was that Lawrence used a pun with the the words "tale" and "tail" in lines 54-56. I also noticed a lot of personification given to the dog in what I thought was the attempt to symbolize a human. In line 58 it states that the dog is deomocratic which clearly is impossible, there for not only showing the symbolism but the metaphore used as well. I think that my favorite part of this poem was one that it was about an animal and I love animals being that I am a zoology major, and two that for the first time I felt like I was reading a story. I know that a lot of the poems that we have read are telling stories,  but I have never felt like it was a story until reading this poem. I also enjoyed the staggering of stanzas toward the end of the poem. It showed creativity and that Lawrence did not want to be like the writers before him. The last thing I would like to talk about is the last lines of the poem, "just about to spout forth/some Victorian answer/to everything" (lines 82-83). I found this rahter amusing because I have spent a lot of time this semester writing about the modernists and their "truth". I find the comment in the above lines amusing in the sense that Lawrence is poking fun at the Victorian era in the sence that they always had some idealistic answer for everything.

William Carlos Williams

Today I would like to talk about William Carlos Williams' "Danse Russe". This poem is somewhat short with two stanzas and 19 lines. I found this poem to be somewhat humerouse to me. I interpreted this poem to be about a male character in his home. When all his family members go to sleep, he then releases his innerself and basically runs around naked. He goes on to admire himself in the mirror and feel on top of the world. I find this to be funny because many, many females do this when no one is around. I find this to be very literral to some extreme. I don't think that most men would dance around the house naked, but I do think that they would do somethings that they may not otherwise do infront of their family. I also find the last line to be very powerful, "the happy genius of my household". I think he has found his dominance in his home when there is no one else to dominate. He has done all the things that he might not to while they are around and feels that nothing can stop him so now he is the leader.

Mina Loy

Today I would like to talk about Mina Loy's poem, "Gertrude Stein". This poem is one stanza long with nine lines. It has personification in lines 5-7 as follows, "she crushed/ the tonnage/ of consciousness". It is known after reading the biography, that Mina Loy was friends with Gertrude Stein, but why would she name a poem after her? Through  my research I found that Gertrude  Stein was a lesbiand, actually she was infactuated with the fact of being a lesbiand. Most people say that that is all she could talk and write about. It is never stated anywhere that I could find, that Gertrude and Mina had sexual relations, but shouldn't it be questioned? Could this poem be a secret love poem to Gertrude. Clearly the poem is to Gertrude, given that that is the title, but what about the content. The poem talks about a famous scientist, Mari Curie, who discovered radium and was the first woman to win the Nobel Piece Prize. But why would Mina write a poem about a scientist and name it after Gertrude? Obviously there has to be symmbolism in this poem. The way I interpreted this is that the whole poem is a symbol. The poem goes on to explain how the scientist powered through to find "radium". I found this in the same lines I mentioned before. I feel that Mina Loy is trying to symbolize all the Gertrude Stein pushed through, possibly including her lesbianism, if that is even a word. I do however feel that Mina Loy wrote this poem as a reflection of Gertrude Stein's accomplishments and did so through symbolyism of an astonishing scientist.

Marianne Moore

Today I would like to talk about Marianne Moore's "The Fish". I would first like to start off by saying that I love the fact that she writes about animals. I am a zoology major and it is so nice to read the feelings of what another person sees in an animal or the way that person interprets the animal. The next thing I would like to talk about is the way the Marianne aranges her stanzas. She does not really care about metrical rythm or endstops, but more of what her stanzas physically look like. In this particular poem she creats her stanzas in such a way that they look diagnal. Marianne even cuts words apart, such in stanza 7, just to make all the stanzas appear in this mannar. I really enjoyed reading this poem not only because the content is something that I am so interested in, but the fact that it is a bresh of fresh air to see a poem arranged like this. To see creativity and not just the normal day to day stanza. I am sure that a lot of modernist viewed this as unproffesional or maybe even stupid but I Marianne to be one of the most interesting writers I have seen so far in this book. The similies she uses to describe things and the word choice she uses, paints such a vivid picture in my mind that I almost feel as if I am there with her. "Crabs like green lillies", "submarine toadstools", these are just some of the words that caught my attention and sent me into this setting Moore has created. I feel that Marianne Moore just may have become my new favorite poet.

Wallace Stevens

Today I have chosen to talk about Wallace Stevens's "The Emperor of Ice-Cream". This is a rather short poem of just two stanzas both of wich are octaves. There is use of anaphora with the word "Let" in lines 4 and 7 in the first stanza and again in line 15 of the second stanza. Stevens also used rhym in lines 7 and 8 with the words seem and cream and again in  lines 14 and fifteen with the words beam and cream. I could sit here and practice analyzing this whole time but I would also like to talk about my interpretation of this poem. I take this so called "emperor of ice-cream" to soemwhat be of a disgrace. In lines 12 and 13 it talks about how "cold and dumb" the girl would be to let her feet protrude. To me this sound very sexual. This girl would be looked down upon if she slept with this whore of a man. The poem sort of glorifies this person with all the vivide pictures Stevens paints with the descriptions of the boys carrying flowers and the women in dresses. This man is glorified but not by this narrartor, instead this narrarotor is being  very sarcastice at the beginning. Insulting this character by saying bring all these great things it means nothing. I do however wonder if the narrartor has some sort of connection to the woman in the poem and maybe there could be a sense of jealousy. I am hoping that we discuss this poem in class so that I can get a better understanding for what this truely is about and if I am even close in my interpretation. 

Wasteland part 2!

Well it turns out that I was somewhat on the right track about this poem. When considering fragmentations and after listening to the poem in class, it is clear that there was different characters speaking in this poem. It is also clear that this poem is very much so about death. We talked in class about possiblities along the lines of death and I personally think that this poem is indeed talking about society after the war. War is a very devistating and disasterful event. Of course there was death in large numbers and devistation everywhere. I think that Eliot was trying to take one perspective or one story but use the different charecters to express different feeling. My favorite part of this poem is all the anologies to the bible and Jesus Christ. It shows that in even the worst of times, even in war, there is hope through faith and the lord. I think Eliot does a wonderful job at making a reader envision these biblical references and also giving the sence of a happy ending. I can see why this poem made it so famous. Obviously war topics generally make it in the spot light but Eliot took it into the modernist view and was bold enough to bring faith and hope into the picture. After the class discussion of this poem I have begun to understand this poem much more and hope that tomorrows class period will make me even more familiar.

The Waste Land (part 1)

As many of you can probably can agree, reading "The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot, was no easy task. This poem is fourteen pages long in our text book and has a lot of words that you must read the meanings of. Although this poem was so long, I found that as I got started it became easier and easier to read. I began getting lost in the words of Eliot. In the beginning I was a little confused, each stanza was so different. I felt that it was seperate pieces from different stories in each one. As I read on I kept learning more and more about these four different stories. Although I was still confused each story was becoming a little more clear but no less overwhelming. I found this very difficult to understand as to what Eliot was trying to accomplish. I hope that after today's class I will be more comfortable with what this poem really means. As of now I feel that this poem is four different poems in one trying to get a meaning across that I am yet to understand. I would like to talk about my favorite part thus far in my understanding. I like the part of the poem where it talks about the tarot cards and that the charecters cards was not part of the deck. I find this to be creepy but so mysterious at the same time. What did Eliot mean by this? Is the charecter a ghost? Or is the ghost really in story/stanza four of this poem. I have yet so much to learn about "The Waste Land".

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

As we well know, our assignment was to read the poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and write our blog entry about it. We started discussing this poem in class, so I would like to start where we left off. The way I enterpreted this poem was that this charecter was going to somewhere of what I think was a high end mistriss joint. He was ashamed by his bald head and did not think that he would even have a chance with these women talking of Michael Angelo. He also was a little ashamed of what he was doing as he did not want anyone to know. As I read on, the poem kept reassuring me that this is where the charecter was going. He kept questioning himself doIdare?" (line 38). He reminded us again of the flaws within himself and what these women would say. He realizes that it is not right for a man of his age to be going to somewhere like this, "Do I dare/Disturb the universe?" (lines45&46). He then goes on to explain that he has done this before in his younger years, he has already encountered this and questions "So how should I presume?"(line54). The character than refers to himself as to what I think is the cat that we mentioned in class, "I should have been a pair of ragged claws/ Scuttling across the florrs fo silent seas." (lines 73&74). He is disgusted in himself. The poem then goes on asking if it would be worth it all and relating the character to Prince Hamelet and realizing that he is not supposed to be living a life like that, he is a simple attendant. The poem is ended by reality slapping the character in the face and realizing that he should not be out doing rebelious things such as seeing these women but instead walking on the sandy beach in clean white trousers just as any retiered senior would want.

T.S. Eliot

Today as you know, we are reading about T.S. Elliot, but I would like to speak about his poem "Journey of the Magi". This poem has 3 stanzas and is 43 lines long. There  is a lot of anaphora used through out all the stanzas mostly using the words "the" and "and". Ploce is also used greatly through out this poem for example on lines 33 and 34. When I read this poem, I think of  myself being with them on this jouney a long, long time ago. I think that the narrarator is obviously someone that is on the journey and the audience is the person taking the time to read this poem and hear about this story. I believe that this was clearlly meant to give you the feel of either the egyptian times or possibly the bible times where a group would travel to a far land to see a god or go to a palace. It talks about camels in line 6 which plaes me in these two time eras. Through out the poem it keeps reminging the reader how harsh the times were and goes on to talk about the snow which now tells me that it can't possibly be egyptian. I now go on to think that this group or person is trying to get to god. In line 23 it talks about how they came upon a valley that smelt of vegitation. This reminds me of versus from the bible that I have read, eg: the garden of Adam and Eve. Line 31 state as follow, "Finding the place; (you may say) satisfactory.". Does this not sound a lot like the bible and how peaceful and beautiful the kingdom was. Line 42 is where things seem to change. It talks about how the "alien people clutched onto their gods" as if they were disgusted by how wraped up the people were with gods. So what is this poem? Am I taking this to be too much like the bible? It is possible that this is just some fiction story that Eliot came up with from that mind of his. But what is this poem really about?

Louis MacNeice (external view)

Today I wanted to do my blog a little differently. I wanted to extend what I did on my essay paper into Louis MaccNeicce's "The Sunlight on the Garden". I wanted to read this poem through an external view so I have not read the biography yet, but plan to read it as soon as I am done with this assignment. I did this so that I would have no bias towards any information in the biography when I read the poem and so that I could see this strictly through an external view. I want to start by saying this poem is 24 lines long within four stanzas. There is anaphora in stanzas 1, 2 and 3. There is also enjambment in lines 1, 3 and 5 just in the first stanza alone. As I read the first stanza I get a sudden dark feeling that the sunlight is noo longer a happy moment but instead one that is capturing souls. "The sunlight on the garden/ Hardens and grows cold" (lines 1&2). The second stanza tells me that the feedome of these peopole is ending and all their happiness too. I see this in the lines that follow, "OUr freedom as free lances/Advances towards its end;" (lines 7&8). "We are dying, Egypt, dying" (line 18). I know have a sense that this could possibly be abut the Egyptian empire ending and taking down all of its people. "But glad to have sa under/Thunder and rain with you," (lines 21&22). This tells me that although this timke is ending, they were still very proud to have been a part of it. In conclusion, from an external view, I get that this poem is about the Egyptian empire is ending along with the proud people in it.

Claude McKay

Today I would like to talk about Claude McKay's poem " The Harlem Dancer". This poem is 14 lines long and uses anaphoria only once with the word "The" in lines 6 and 11. There is a simili in line 3 as follows "Her voice was like the sound of blended flutes/ Blown by black players upon a picnic day". There is also a metaphore in line 7 as follows, "To me she seemed a proudly-swaying palm".It states in the auto biography of Claude McKay that this poem "reflects the poets alientation". I think that is exactly right.The last line of the poem reads, "I knew her self was not in that strange place". Although all eyes were on this exoctice dancer, even the young youth, this was not where she wanted to be and possibly not where she belonged. This was her way of making money, "and tossing coins in praise" (line 10). Coins in praise? Should she be praised that she has to show her body to earn a living or was this a nice way of saying that the people throwing coins were simply enjoying this exoctic show. It is sad to me that any human being should feel that this is what they need or have to do to earn a living but I also need to remember that times were a lot different back when this poem was different. I think that this also reflects the time where African Americans were used as entertainment or help. They were not treated equally, this is clear in that this woman had a job such as this.

Valentine Ackland

Today I would like to talk about Valentine Acklands "Whether a Dove or a Seagull LIghted There". This poem is eight lines long with many different uses of rhym. Ackland uses ploce with the word "or" in lines seven and eight and a metaphore in the same lines. I fell as though that this whitness that has fallen is her fiding out she is preagnant after her several miscarriages. She is not sure if this is something that would be good for he due to all the pain she has faced before or something bad but knows that this life form is glowing in the world that is so boring and bare. "I must know before I go away" (line5). It is getting at her and she has a burning desire to know if this baby is real, if it is worth all of this. "The weather of our love is wild or fair/ Or ill or well" (lines 7&8). This is a metaphore comparing love to something that most of us do at some point in time, illness. Is this love a disease that will kill the baby just as it has so many times before, or is it somthing that will treat her wel and complete her lifel? I feel that this whitness or what I think is a baby has the interst of Ackland and I truly and she will do what ever it takes to find out if this is possibly real.

H.D.

This post is fixing my mistake from this week. This post should have come before my D.H. Lawrence post, just to clear all of that up. Today I would like to extend the discussion from class about the poem, "The Pool". There are many examples of ploce including the repetion of "I", "you". There is also and example of anaphoria with the begining the sentence with "I" in lines two and four. As we pointed out this poem begins with a question and ends with a question. It also includes a similie as follows. "You quiver like a sea-fish" (line 3). Now that I have done a recap of what we have discussed in class I would like to give you my view of this poem. I agree with the person looking in the mirrow and wondering what they have become. "Are you alive" (line 1). I take this as, what have you become, you are dead, you are not the person you used to be. "I touch you" (line 2). I look back at my past and get intouch with what has gone on and am blown away by my actions and who I am. "You quiver like a sea-fish" (line 3). You move in such a way that you remind me of a creature not normal to every day life. Almost as if you are a dark creature that I do not even recognisze. "I cover you with my net" (line 4). I make my mind leave these thoughts of darkness and cover you with what I would like myself to be. "What are you - banded one?" (line 5). What have you become, a monster. A monster that has been constricted in seeing the real you and the feelings you have. This poem brings me great darkness and can probably be related to many college students. You come to a brand new place, a new start and often loose sight of who you really are. Take a step back and think if you are really the person you want to be. I feel that the title does not represent a literal pool such as a swimming pool but instead the pool of life in other words the circle of life. This poem makes me look back and think if my choices have represented the person I truley want to be....if I died tomorrow how would I want people to remember me.

"You" by D.H. Lawrence

Today I have chose to write about the poem "You" by D.H. Lawrence. This poem is only four lines long including an example of episeuscis in the first line and an example of both ploce and epistrophe in lines one and two. The example includes the word "me" at the end of both lines. The first line of this poem is what really sucked me in. "You, you don't know me" (line one). I don't know how many times I have both said this and thought this about many people. Clearly there was an imediate connection to this poem as soon as I read this first line. "When have your knees ever nipped me" (line 2). When have you ever gotten close enough to know how I feel or know the way I think? "Like fire tongs a live coal" (line 3). When have you taken the time to cross over to my firey side and find out a little something about me. "for a minuet?" (line 4). Would you just for one minuet try to find out something about me before you speak about me? Welcome to my world, the world of a small town. Class of 85 graduates and town population of 8,000. "You don't know me" (line 1).

A Station of the Metro

Today I would like to talk about the poem "A Station of the Metro" by Ezra Pound. As most of us well know, Pound was one of the imagist writers. He followed the set rules of things such as stating things as they are and making it simple while still creating an image. This is by far my favorite thing about this poem. Pound took two lines and painted a picture in my head by using simple words and no confusion. The first line of this poem reads, "The apparition of these faces in the crowd" (line 1). This makes  me envision ghostly faces slowly becoming visable in a crowd. You can't yet distinguish the faces you just know they are there and are slowly becoming more visable. The second line reads "Petals on a wet, black bough" (line 2). Once again Pound makes me envision little petals on a huge black bough of a tree. I feel as though he is comparing these faint faces to the small petals on a bough. There is something missing, a dark side almost. I also like the assonance that Pound uses with crowd and bough. These are two completely differett words that actually do have somewhat of the same sound. I feel taht Pound did exactly what he set out to do which was to pain a picture in peoples minds.

Wilfred Owen

Today I would like to talk about Wilfred Owen's preface to his book of war poems. The first line states "This book is not about heroes. English poetry is not yet fit to speak of them". In this line Owen's is stating that the world is not ready for what the war is all about. "Nor is it about deeds, or lands, nor anything about glory, honour, might,/ majesty dominion or power, except War" (lines 2,3). Poetry has nothing to do with all of this. Owens is not "concerned with poetry", bust instead the pity of war, "The poetry is in the pity". Many War poets were a cause of all the pity that came along with War. He says that poetry is used to warn. If the poetry is not about war but the pity of war than I would say that is a pretty fair warning. Owens was trying to take a different route with his poetry. Many of the War poets talked about the casualties, the pain, the chaos and much more. He instead wanted to warn his generation about something they were not ready for.

Carl Sandburg

Carl Sandburg is the poet I chose to do my oral presentation on so I happen to know quite a bit about him. Carl Sandburg was very much into the politics of chicago life and work place. The poem Chicago is a great example of this in that it starts by listing out some of the difficult jobs of this time period. He then goes on to say how wicked these jobs are and how he has seen it first hand. "And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to kill again" (lines 8 &9). He continues describing how awful the working conditions are until he gets to his turning point. "Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning..." (lines 13&14). Sandburg then turns to his climax stating that these workers are "Fierce as a dog with toungue lapping for action". He basically says how hard working these men are but how they love it because they are tough and can do what other men in simple cities can not. "Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has never lost a battle, Braggina and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse and under his ribs the heart of the people" (lines 26-28). Sandburg finishes the poem by taking you back to his opening lines. "proud to be Hog Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and Freight handler to the Nation". (lines 31&32). I believe that Carl Sandburg new first hand what is was like to work in these hard conditions for he quit school in the eighth grade and began working. He isn't complaining about how hard the work was but instead explaining and showing how rewarding it is and how proud a person is to have pushed through these rough conditions. For those who read my blog..I hope you have enjoyed Sandburgs poem and will learn more about him in my presentation.

W.B. Yeats

When I began reading the first couple poems that were assigned to us, I felt as though yeats was very alone and almost depressed. Almost as though he has been hurt by someone he loved or lost his spouse. But then I came upon the poem "The Song of Wandering Aengus". This poem shows a light shining through, a sense of happiness that I did not feel in the poems before it. Yeats writes about how a "glimmering girl, with apple blossoms in her hair" called out his name. The words he chose to use in that sentence alone give a reader such a vivid picture in their head not only of what this girl looks like but the way he is feeling about her as well. The poem then reads on that "she ran into the brightened air" as if she is playful and almost flirty. As you read on it states that he although he is not at a prime age he will search  for this girl and "kiss her lips and take her hands and walk among the dappled grass". He simply paints such a happy picture in my head of what it will be like when he finds this girl and the excitement he will feel.


There is one other poem I would like to point out by Mr. Yeats. "He wishes for the Clothes of Heaven". As you all have read it talks about how if he could have he heavens embroidered cloths that he would spread them under your feet. The next lines goes on "But I, being poor, have only my dreams, I have spread my dreams under your feet; tead softly because you tred on my dreams". This is so powerful to me. This is so much more than a dream to make clothes in heaven. Yeats is telling someone that if he could he would give this person the world but because he can't he has laid everything he has right infront of this person to do with as they please. This includes his dreams and I can say that this is my new favorite quote,"tread softly becuase you tread on my dreams". This person that he is giving his life, his dreams to, could quite frankly ruin it all and I find it so passionate that he is willing to take the chance. The quote alone leaves a lasting impression in my mind just as I hope it will in yours.

Week 1

The poem I would like to talk about is "To an Athlete Dying Young" by A.E. Housman. This was my favorite poem out of the poems that were assigned this week because it reminded me a lot of my home town. The first stanza talks about a person winning a race for his town and how the citizens were so proud and brought him shoulder- high. Back home sports were very important to the town. When a person won at state or took home a title it rang through the whole town. But there is a line that states as follows; "smart lad, to slip betimes away from fields where glory does not stay". The town I come from is very small town where drama, controversy and rumors thrive. Sure you can have the glory when you do such a thing as take a title but truth is the glory fades and the town will soon find something new to talk about. "Smart lad, to slip betimes away..." I feel close to this quote for the simple fact that I got out of the town where I made my mark. I chose to go some place bigger where I can better myself. "The name died before the man" The glory will fade before the man. This is true not only in my town but anywhere.