Fern Hill

The second time I read this poem I focused on the idea of "time." From the first line of the poem the speaker says "Now as I was young," suggests that he is older and looking back on memories of his past. The speaker say's that he was happy ("happy as the grass was green") and that "time let me hail and climb." Therefore, there is two references on the idea of time. First he is living in the current time, thinking about the past. And secondly, while in the memories of his past he say's how it was "time" that made him free. The speaker then goes on to talk about the farm and the farm environment from the perspective of authority. He uses the words lord and prince as if he has some authority in his surroundings. The speaker again refers to time, in the second stanza when he says "time let me play and be golden in the mercy of his means." Here again time gives him freedom and happiness. Then the poem goes on to discuss God and the relation between the divine and farmland and sense of home the speaker feels. But in the last stanza of the poem the mood shifts to a different perspective on time, one of dissapointment to the realization that the time that made him feel free and happy is not infinite and will come to an end and that makes him feel trapped instead of free. I liked how subtly the poet says this when he says "In the moon that is always rising...Time held me green and dying though I sang in my chains like the sea." So here the poet shifts his mood yet again to now knowing the reality that life is not infinite and he will at some point, possibly soon, die but he lived his life on the farm to the best and got all the life out of it. Great poem.

colors, fern hill

I noticed a lot of color symbolism throughout the poem as well. Yet, I regarded the colors as change and an indication of time moving onward. The first color is “green” which embodies youth. Thomas then combines the beauty of “green” youth with “golden” to convey the idea that being young is the prized time in life. Yet, the poem shifts with the “fire green as grass.” The image of this green fire is unusual because one thinks of red, orange, or yellow flames not green ones. I think Thomas creates this green fire because when working with chemicals the color green is emitted when an element is added. For example, barium creates a green flame. I think the image of the green fire is the turn of the poem because the innocence of the pure green youth is gone and something has altered the innocence of the child depicted in the poem. Perhaps, the spoiled innocence is like the barium that changes the color of the fire. Thomas then reverts to the image of innocence with the “wanderer white.” Now, the person depicted in the poem is no longer a child or a child being changed by experience but an adult gazing nostalgically back at his youth. In the ending of the poem the color green is used again as the person is “green and dying.” I think the image of “green” is repeated in the end to reinforce the idea that the person is reverting back to youth. Also, by remembering one’s youth’s green one can keep a piece of their childhood as they wander into death’s arms.

On "Fern Hill"

I thought this poem was good but difficult to understand. However I did find a few points that I thought were interesting. I had trouble figuring out who the speaker of the poem is but I got the impression that the subject is Adam and Eve's fall from grace. There is a lot of reference to colors and time in this poem. Colors appear in every stanza and more specifically green occurs in every stanza. However, the meanings of the colors change as the poem goes on. In the first two stanzas green is correlated with being happy and care free. The third stanza contains a shift as the color green is now associated with fire. This could represent the eating of the apple. Line 35 in the fourth stanza states "out of the whinnying green stable." Whinnying used here may be a sign of distress. It could also possibly symbolize God's discovery of Adam and Eve's actions. In the fifth stanza, "the children green and golden/ follow him out of grace." In the final stanza green takes the worst position: "Time held me green and dying."

For the Union Dead

When I first read the title of this poem, I expected it to be a mournful address of those who sacrificed their lives for the victory of the Union. But instead it opens with a description of the aquarium, and how the speaker remembers being a child and was pressed up against the glass, looking at the fish swim by. It is five stanzas in that the statue is first mentioned, the one that commemorates Colonel Robert Shaw.

What I found this poem to represent was that even though so many died for the Union side, and even though it was a Union victory in the end there is no proper commemoration. Even though what Shaws did was revolutionary, leading an African-American regiment, now all that remains of him is a statue that is ignored by the populous of today. The populous of today is no different than the fish that the speaker watched as a child.

The last stanza brings it all together:

"The Aquarium is gone. Everywhere,
giant finned cars nose forward like fish;
a savage servility
slides by on grease."

The first thought that comes to mind after the first sentence is that the physical building may be gone, but the 'fish' are still here, just moving along in large schools of fish, looking towards the future for survival. There is no looking back on the past, but the 'servility' of people today just forces us forward and doesn't allow us to respect those who have given up their lives for us to have the freedoms we enjoy today. Instead, it seems like something we try to avoid, for it is "like a fishbone/ in the city's throat." It still seems to apply to today, this idea of not respecting those who have given much more than they need to in order for the rest of us to live on.

Plath

I thought this poem powerful in its ability to dipict decay and regeneration. Plath looks at death in a unique light writting that "Dying/ Is an art, like everything else,/I do it exceptionally well./I do it so it feels like hell./I do it so it feels real/.I guess you could say I've a call." It is interesting that the emphasis of the poem is the art of dying not writting. At the same time however, through writting about the art of dying Plath showcases her other art, that of poetry.

Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

It is heartbreaking to see Prufrock struggle with himself to escape his world of monotony, conformity and falsity only to question himself and fall back in line. The poem starts off with Prufrock’s greatest desire, to go into the dark, dirty streets, away from the confining security of the indoors. But instead he remains inside listening to the absent-minded “women come and go talking of Michelangelo.” He has gotten to a point in his life where he can no longer stand the emptiness of his existence in this high-class, crowded world. No one in that world has depth or anything meaningful to say; at each party the same women come back and have the same unconscious conversation about Michelangelo without ever going beyond the surface. As Prufrock says, “It is impossible to say what I mean!” when he lives in constant fear of what his cocooned society will say about him.
Stanza 8 really stood out for me with its vivid language and the hopelessness of his situation. The people around him already have him pegged and no matter how hard he tries or what he does he will always remain that way in their eyes, “pinned and wriggling on the wall.” There is no way for him to move away from his past because he will forever be pinned there.
Also, the lines: “There will be time, there will be time/To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet” jumped out at me for the truth of its message. It reminds of a Beatles song where the character “Lives in a Dream/Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door/Who is it for?” Many times people (especially people living in Prufrock’s world) put on a mask around others as a way to hide their true selves and avoid getting hurt. All in all it is a sad situation for Prufrock.

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

There are many things to touch upon in this poem, but one that always stands out to me is Eliot's use of 'yellow'. It's associated with death, plague - general disease; essentially, death. Also the animal that Eliot uses to describe this yellow fog is most likely a dog. But the first things that come to mind are Cerberus. I'm also not sure about this next association, but in certain mythology, a large black wolf or very large wolf-like creature with red eyes was an omen of death. The yellow fog's muzzle that goes about the streets and rubs against windowpanes is almost like marking those who will be next to die. This is a theme that exists throughout the poem, from the first stanza, where there is a patient about to go into surgery, to the end, where he is a helpless bug pinned to a backing, where he will be dissected and studied. And the feminine presence that Eliot refers to almost holds a death-like fear for the subject as well.

But he is in a dream, and this is most clearly seen by the last stanza, where the human voices will wake him and his companion and then they will drown. But what is important is that no matter if he is dreaming or awake, death is always there.

lady laz

I like the poem “lady Lazarus” also especially because my dorm is Lazarus. Plath’s poem creates vivid imagery, yet the images jump from one picture to another. For example, in the beginning of the poem Plath transforms into a “Jew” with her “face a featureless, fine Jew linen.” I think Plath evokes the image of the oppressed Jew in the Nazi era because she wants the reader to equate her suffering on the grand scale of those who endured the Holocaust. Also, the idea of the phoenix rising from the pyre is the ending image of the poem through “I rise with my red hair.” This symbol parallels with the Jew image as various concentration camps burned people to ashes. Yet, in Plath’s poem, “Lady Lazarus” grows from being killed in the ashes to rising “out of the ash.” Moreover, Lady Lazarus is compared to a “cat” “And like the cat (she) has nine times to die.” Plath’s images are carefully constructed to covey that “Dying is an art.” The entire poem is structured around Lady Lazarus enduring a kind of metamorphosis from one image to another.

Lady Lazarus

I thought this poem was very good especially after reading it over a few times. I believe that in this poem by Sylvia Plath, the speaker represents a female Jesus. She states that she has already died and come back to life three times. The first time she died it was an accident but the second time, she committed suicide. She references "the grave cave" similar to Jesus who was also buried in a cave. Jesus also came back "in broad day/ to the same place, the same face, the same brute." The audience to her death seems to be obsessed with her resurrection . She puts everyone into this audience when she says "you" in line 74. This women is dehumanized by her inability to die and her inability to move, as her right foot is a paper weight. The audience doesn't care who she is, or even that shes human they only use her for entertainment and distraction. Also, the audience is ungrateful if she is dieing for their sins.

"Jubilate Agno"

I found this work to be very interesting, and very modern in style. The piece seemed reminiscent of Ginsberg's "Howl," with it's irregular line length, and the repeated "beat-like" rhythm of the repetition of "For," alongside it's revolution around a single theme, which still manages to touch upon a wide variety of meaning. The author, Christopher Smart, was placed in an asylum for his outrageous public displays of religious fervor, displays which were intolerable for an eighteenth century audience. This selection focuses on his cat. The entire piece serves as a reinforcement for the opening lines: "For I will consider my cat Jeoffry / For he is the servant of the living God, duly and daily serving him." The poem continues with a series of sentences, each addressing the divinity of the cat, or explaining his relationship to the "living God." The cat earns this title of divinity through his natural goodness, "For he will not do destruction, if he is well-fed, neither will he spit without provocation." Smart seems to observe the daily routines of his cat, interpreting each as the actions of a truly pious being. He is physically able ("For the divine spirit comes about his body to sustain it in compleat cat"), yet compassionate ("For if he meets another cat he will kiss her in kindness"). He serves God ("For he knows that God is his savior"), and fights the powers of darkness ("For he counteracts the Devil, who is death, by brisking about the life"). To Smart the cat seems the perfect religious being. It has no need to flaunt it's holiness, rather it serves God almost without consideration. To Smart, this would seem a gift, for his methods of praising and serving God were found distasteful, while the cat both celebrated and ignored.

Dream Song 4: Audio

And look at that, would you? I have a file of Berryman reading his poem, as well.

His intonation is strange. He makes questions of several of the lines where the punctuation suggests direct statement. For example, Henry's imagined plea ("You are the hottest one for years of night / Henry's dazed eyes / have enjoyed, Brilliance."), sounds in his reading like it should be punctuated like this:

You are the hottest one for years of night
Henry's dazed eyes
have enjoyed, Brilliance?

Link

From "Jubilate Agno"

I thought this was a very interesting poem. One noticeable aspect was anaphora with the word "for." Each line seems to be a reason for something, which could be explaining why "I will consider my Cat Jeoffry" or some other point made earlier in the poem. In the beginning, the speaker follows the cat's actions and movements, praising his elegance and devotion to God. The "ten degrees" to which Jeoffry considers himself are neatly laid out, one after another, each conveniently numbered. This gives the impression that this cat goes through the same routine every day in a set, orderly way, which the speaker has observed and knows well enough to list with confidence and numbers. Once "his day's work is done his business more properly begins." Here Jeoffry goes about tasks such as counteracting the devil and powers of darkness, and we learn about his abilities and admirable traits. The speaker also mentions the virtues of cats in general, from England to Egypt to Israel. It seems as if the speaker is observing this cat and letting his mind wander while thinking about cats, and is sometimes interrupted in that train of thought by an especially attention-grabbing incident, such as Jeoffry's alarming rat-inflicted wound.

We Real Cool: Audio

Here's a link to an audio file (mp3) of Gwendolyn Brooks reading her poem. She's an amazing, musical reader. She's also quite funny. Do have a listen.

Link

Holy Sonnet 14

This poem’s core lies in the commands of the narrator to God, with the rest of the poem sculpted around them. Through the poem he demands, “batter my heart,” “o’erthrow me,” “bend Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new,” “divorce me,” “untie or break that knot again,” “take me to You,” and “imprison me.” The first thing to notice is that he is commanding God to do these things, not asking God, and this of course cannot be done as God cannot be commanded to do anything. In this way the poem is unique, as most poems about religion have someone praying to God or asking him for something. The second thing to notice is the tone and language of these commands. The language is full of violence, lust and a need to be controlled. He demands that God free him of the enemy he is “betrothed” to, sin, and therefore human nature, by” imprisoning” him in His love. He tried to rid himself of the enemy and remain faithful to god before (as is indicated by “again” in line 11) but he failed because his reasoning is “weak or untrue.” However his commands cannot be met because only he can “o’erthrow” himself; it is up to him to get rid of his sins.

We real cool

I think this is a very appropriate poem for college students because it reveals a sense of uncertainty and insecurity in oneself. After all, everyone must go through the grueling process of finding out exactly who they are. Self identity is part of growing up and “We real Cool” depicts students who are in the plight for self awareness. The kids hide their insecurities in the poem by calling themselves “cool” as the lines chant phrases such as “we real cool” and “we left school.” The terse sentences serve to resemble the language of these students who are too cool to be grammatical or maybe because they have “left school” so much they are uneducated and only can speak in sentences that are at the level of elementary school children. The enjambment with the “We” in every line except the last subtly shows that the kids are faltering with this concept of “we.” I think the kids have succumb to peer pressure so much that they are having an especially difficult time pulling themselves out of this cookie cutter image of the “cool” kids that skip school and put on the façade of bad teenagers. The last line of the poem is striking because it changes, making the reader realize that this life of uncaring and sticking with the “we” identity instead of the “I” identity results in a death that is practically unimportant. Therefore it is important that these students stray from the group and find themselves as individuals.

Sherman Alexie's Evolution

This poem describes the "decline of life on an Indian reservation," as Vendler puts it, using the example of a pawn shop-turned-musuem to show the hardship and spiralling sense of self endured by these people. In the first sentence, covering two and a half stanzas, people are pawning off their material possessions such as VCR's, jewelry, and precious garments. Once all this is gone, we reach the second sentence, which covers the rest of the poem. Here "the Indians / pawn their hands, saving the thumbs for last, they pawn / their skeltons... / and when the last Indian has pawned everything / but his heart, Buffalo Bill takes that for twenty bucks." Here we reach the climax of the poem, in which "the last Indian" has lost everything, from material possessions, to body parts (a means to live, work, and experience the world), and finally to his heart, which represents the soul and essence of the individual and the people as a whole. Alexie ends the poem with three lines that seem to contradict this climax in their material, unemotional, almost ironic attitude--now that Buffalo Bill has taken everything from the Indians, he profits off their now-gone culture by opening a museum. This part to me is the most powerful and striking, how even after the total ruination--the pawning of the heart, which he doesn't even deem is worth much--of a group of people, this man and whoever he represents still goes on making money off of them as if this was their only purpose.

Dover Beach

The tone of this poem does a complete 180 as is made evident by the comparison of the first line of the poem (“The sea is calm tonight”) to the last line of the poem (“Where ignorant armies clash by night”). At first the narrator looks out onto a scene of waves crashing against a beach and is so taken by its beauty that he calls his lover to the window to enjoy it with him. But this tone of peacefulness stops as soon as he listens to what is going on, and words such as “calm”, “fair”, “tranquil”, and “sweet” are replaced by “grating”, “roar” and “tremulous.” By the end of the first stanza he has woven his internal feelings of sorrow into the natural action of waves hitting the beach, and it brings “the eternal note of sadness in.”
The second stanza transports us to a different time and place, where the Aegean Sea represents “the turbid ebb and flow of human misery” to the Greek tragedian, Sophocles. The end of the stanza takes us back to present day, where the two of them can “hear” the same thing looking at a different sea.
The third stanza also starts off in the past, with the sea now the “Sea of Faith.” This faith used to be “full” and encompassed the whole Earth, but as the tense shifts to present, we see that this sea is now receding and is about to dry up. The world used to be fully clothed in its faith, but now it stands naked and in the dark as its faith begins to drain away.
In the last stanza the narrator starts off with the dramatic proposal: “let us be true to one another!” He sees this as the only way to combat the deceptive world that is devoid of joy, love, light, certitude, peace and help from pain. Sight is deceptive because the world only “seems…so beautiful, so new”, so hearing is the only way to discover the true nature of the world. He is saying that they can only control how they act towards each other while they are surrounded by “a darkling plain.”

Keats' desire to live through "Poesy"

John Keats’ poem, “Ode to Nightingale” grapples with the idea of death. Keats envies the nightingale because she is an “immortal bird.” Keats muses upon death’s tender grip stealing him away from the “weariness, fever, and the fret” of life, yet he also is in love with life. He has been “half in love with easeful death” and “called him soft names” but ultimately Keats does love the sensations of life. After all, through living Keats can experience the nightingale’s eternal chirp. Keats writes in a dream – like state where he is not completely conscious. For example, the poem closes with Keats questioning “Do I wake or sleep?” The diction in the poem with the allusion to Bacchus and the repeating of the word “wine” suggest that narrator is in this dream-like state induced by alcohol. Yet, Keats waves this theory away saying he only thinks of letting Bacchus’ “chariot” his “pards.” Instead Keats wants his artistic vision and poetry to follow the nightingale as he says, “Away! Away! For I will flee to thee.” “On the viewless wings of Poesy.” Perhaps Keats wants his writing to be eternal because he knows his body will eventually be nothing but “grey hairs” but his “Poesy” has the opportunity to keep the nightingale’s call company through the ages. Only then can Keats be like the bird that is “not born for death.”