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.