"To his coy mistress"

"But at my back I always hear
Time's a winged chariot hurrying near;"


This poem's tone has a sense of urgency. The speaker wishes and desires to have enough time to love his lover slowly, however there is not enough time to do this. The speaker is basically saying "life is short and we need to enjoy it while we can.". Instead of wasting time with people and other things, they need focus on loving each other completely while knowing that they have limited time. Time wont slow down for the two people and the speaker is very aware of this. Therefore a tone of urgency is created in the speaker. To me, the tone of urgency kind of creepily became an urgency to have sex with the woman instead of truly love her. The lover in this poem represents the idea that people cannot just wait to do what they want to do in life. Due to the fact that life is short, every moment needs to be treasured.

"Hazel Tells LaVerne"

"an how i can be a princess
me a princess" 

I enjoyed this poem. It was pretty humorous at some parts. The poem begins with the speaker at her job, cleaning a bathroom. When the frog appears and starts talking to the woman, she immediately disagrees with the talking frog and says "an how can i be a princess/ me a princess". The woman is aware of her current state of living, her job, her education, and possibly her looks. All of these things are contributing factors to the woman's disagreement with the frog. Although the lack of punctuation and vernacular language make the woman seems as if she is uneducated, the poem itself could have a bigger meaning. This woman understands that a slimy, green frog cannot give you what you want or desire and it definitely cannot make someone a princess. The necessity of people to desire to be something they are not is an ever present theme in society. This woman knows that even if the opportunity arises, a little frog cannot turn her into something she is not. She is smart enough to stick to her belief of this, regardless of whether she wants to be a princess or not.

"Getting Out"

"Taking hands 

we walked apart, until our arms stretched
between us. We held on tight and let go"


In Cleopatra Mathis's "Getting Out," the tone of the speaker is very reflective and reminiscent. The speaker describes a failed marriage. After reading the poem, I noticed the paradox in the last line "We held on tight and let go." To me, I feel like this line is a good description of the poem as a whole. The entire poem reflects on the marriage and how the bad times outweighed the good times. Although the two loved each other, there love wasn't enough to sustain their relationship and it fell apart. Although the couple loved each other, neither of them could stay in the relationship any longer. The desire to "hold on tight" was present for both parties, yet the truth of letting go was eminent. The vivid imagery really controls this poem and moves the theme forward. 

"Crossing the Bar"

"I hope to see my Pilot face to face, When I have crossed the bar."

This poem is a metaphor for dying and going to Heaven. To "cross the bar" is symbolic of dying and leaving the earth to reach Heaven. However, unlike most people, the speaker speaks of death in an accepting way. The attitude of death is calm and not fearful, especially through this line "and may there be no moaning of the bar". The speaker wants to "cross the bar" with "no sadness of farewell". Although he is leaving and dying, he is going to go to heaven to meet his "Pilot faces to face" and this is the reason as to why there should not be sadness. The speaker is too happy to be going to Heaven to meet God and to praise God for all of his works.   Overall, the speaker has a very accepting and positive view of death. The metaphor of "crossing the bar" serves as the theme of the poem.

"My mistress' eyes"

"My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun"

I had to read this poem twice to understand what Shakespeare is talking about in all aspects of the poem. At first, he describes all of these beautiful things and then follows this by saying his mistress is not like this at all. Shakespeare uses all of these similes to compare the mistress to well-known things, such as the mistress' eyes being nothing like the sun, or wire hairs being the same type of hair that the girl has, or the lack of rosiness in her cheeks. All of these similes contribute to the imagery and tone of the poem. The tone, even though the speaker is describing the flaws of his mistress, is very content with his mistress. The last lines of the poem describe how even though she is not perfect or similar to well-known beautiful things, she is rare. Her rareness is what makes the speaker love her.

next of course god america i

This poem thoroughly confused me. I had a hard time following the poem because of the lack of punctuation. The lack of punctuation is what I first noticed about the poem. I also noticed different songs like the "Star Spangled Banner" and "My country tis of thee" being apart of the poem. I don't understand their purpose, but I did pick up on their presence in the poem. I thought that the language that Cummings uses is confusing such as "deafanddumb" and "by jingo be gee by gosh by gum". I don't really know what he is talking about at all. The "heroic, happy, dead" people could be soldiers. Although, the point about the soldiers "rushing like lions to their roaring slaughter." was interesting. I guess soldiers with pride of their country would be rushing to be killed. The line that confused me the most was the last line, "He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water." To me, this just seemed like useless information that was randomly placed at the end of the poem. I know that it is not random or useless, but I don't understand what it means. Perhaps the speaker is giving a speech and he is pausing to drink water. I cannot relate this statement with the rest of the poem though. I hope E.E. Cummings isn't another Emily Dickinson poet.

Ozymandias

"'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings; Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains."

I feel pretty confident about this poem. This poem describes the king, Ozymandias. He was a king of a great land. He controlled everything and was pretty powerful. A statue was made in his "honor" so that everyone could see this marvelous king. However, now this statue is nothing more than ruins. This statue is surrounded by sand and nothing else. The emotions on Ozymandias face are forever stamped yet the statue is nearly destroyed. I find this poem ironic because of the power that Ozymandias had at one point. It seems to me like this king was very vain and he took advantage of all of the power and wealth that he had as a king. But now, his power is gone, his life is gone, and the statue to honor him is gone as well. I think this is symbolic of the destruction and downfall of those who have power and abuse it. Look at this "king of kings" now, he's a midst sand and a desert and nothing else.

APO 96225

At first, I did not understand this poem. But, after reading the questions and rereading the poem, it made a little more sense. The central purpose of this poem is describing the relationship of a son overseas and the reaction it omits from his parents and most specifically his mother. I felt like this poem was an accurate representation of a lot of people during the era of war and especially the war in Vietnam. Through the diction of the poem, the reader is able to see the truth that the poet is presenting. Often, people leave out major details to protect their loved ones from the harsh reality. When the mother asks her son to "tell us everything", he follows his mothers request and writes the gory details that he had been leaving out in his previous letters. Following this response, the soldiers father tells the son to not write any more letters like that because they upset his mother. I feel like this was the mentality of many people during the Vietnam war and just any war in general. People want to know what is going on. Especially when loved ones are involved, people want to be aware and knowledgeable. However, when the truth comes out, people would rather have not known in the first place because the truth can cause pain or disturbance. In the end, the soldier goes back to writing vague letters, and I don't blame him. Is it better to hold back than to say the entire truth?

Sorting Laundry

When I first started reading this poem, I thought it was going to be a love poem looking back and reminiscing on good times that she had with her significant other. Certain pieces of the laundry had a specific memory tied with them. I also thought it was somewhat ironic that all of the good memories of laundry and her lover turned into bad memories. Therefore, the tone of this poem is very bittersweet. The author made an implication that the speaker found another women's belongings tied into her husbands clothes. In lines 40-43, the speaker says "broken necklace of good gold you brought from Kuwait, the strangely tailored shirt left by a former lover..." I assumed that this former lover is the woman that the main had an affair with. The imagery in this poem really makes it possible to see a women folding laundry and discovering this hidden secret. All of the diction, relating to laundry, helps the reader to understand what exactly the theme of the poem is. In the end, the speaker comments that no amount of laundry can fill the empty side of the bed where her husband or lover used to be. So, yeah, I was completely wrong with my first insight about this poem.

Barbie Doll

I liked this poem for the mere fact that I could actually understand it. Well, at least I hope so (It's not Emily Dickinson, so that's a positive thing). In this poem, the author goes through the life of a girl. This girl was born into a world were she was told she had to behave and look a certain way. When she was older, she was faced with the insecurity of having a big nose and fat legs. Eventually, all of these "imperfections" led to her suicide. I think that all of this poem is ironic. The title "Barbie Doll" is especially ironic because the girl in the poem is not like Barbie. She is not fake and plastic and perfect. However, all of these materialistic, surface characteristics are the reason that she committed suicide. I also assumed that this was the poet's way of speaking out against the wrongs in our society. Our society is too focused on girls having look and behave in a particular way and this poem draws attention to this situation.

Emily Dickinson's lovely poetry

I am not a fan of Emily Dickinson. "I taste a liquor never brewed" is another one of Dickinson's poem that capitalizes random letters and has a bigger meaning that I don't understand at this point in time. I did pick up on certain things that may relate to the theme of the poem. Throughout all four stanzas, the speaker continually uses words that are associated with nature such as "air", "dew", "summer days", "bee", "butterflies", "snowy", and "sun". All of these words are somehow related to outside or nature in a way. The questions that follow the poem state that an extended metaphor is being used, so it is possible that Dickinson is referring to being "drunk" on nature or the outside. This theory would support the title of the poem, seeing as nature isn't a type of liquor that is brewed, but the speaker seems to enjoy a lot of aspects of nature. Also, in lines 13 and 14, the image of "saints" and "seraphs" is presented. Through the phrasing of the poem, it seems as if the saints and seraphs are accepting of this "drunk" person because they "run to the windows" and "swing their snowy Hats". Or this could mean something completely different. Who knows, it's another Dickinson poem.

Bright Star

"Bright Star" was a confusing poem at first. Although at the beginning of the poem the speaker makes it seem like he wants to be like the star, the entire poem lists reasons as to why the speaker does not wish to be like the star. Essentially, the speaker cannot be like the star because the star is not human. The star simply gazes and watches.  As a human, the speaker cannot enjoy simply watching from afar. The speaker does not want to be removed from the world, he wants to be in the world. The world has many things to offer him and he cannot sit back and watch it all happen. Therefore, the star is a very unrealistic object to want to emulate. I was very confused by the last lines of this poem. It seems as if the poet is speaking of a person or possibly a lover. I assume this based off of the line "awake forever in a sweet unrest, still, still to hear her tender-taken breath." (lines 12-13). I think that  if the last lines to refer to a lover, this is another reason as to why the speaker cannot be like the star, he wants to be with his love.

Dreamed Deferred

In the poem "Dreamed Deferred" by Langston Hughes, a rhetorical question is asked to begin the poem. "What happens to a dream deferred?". Although the question is not requiring a response, the question is a simple question that many people can relate to. What happens to an aspiration or a goal that somehow gets messed up? From this point, the speaker begins to ask more rhetorical questions and also uses an alliteration (dream deferred, does it dry up?) Also, an anaphora is used through the question "Does it". Furthermore, several similes are created in the rhetorical questions. Talk about using literary devices... Yet, all of these literary techniques contribute to the poem as a whole. The questions engage the reader and make the reader contemplate the question. Also, the similes that Hughes uses have a deeper meaning. For example, the first simile "Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" (lines 2-3) means more than a dried up raisin. The raisin stands for the dream being changed over time. All of the similes that Hughes uses have this same purpose. Mainly, through using several different, easy to follow, literary devices, the reader truly is able to imagine and discover what the speakers point is throughout the entirety of the poem.

So long, farewell, it shouldn't be that bad to say goodbye.

In "A Valediction: forbidden mourning", I originally had no idea what this poem was talking about. I did not know what a "valediction" was, so I looked up the definition. After finding out that a valediction is a type of goodbye, I assumed that this poem was about saying goodbye to someone. The easy ABAB rhyme scheme made the poem easy to follow along with and the questions below the poem further added to helping me understand the poem. However, I don't really understand all of the metaphors that are created through this poem. I know that the metaphors are there, but I cannot dissect their meaning. In the first stanza, the speaker says that the parting of the two people should be like "virtuous men mildly passing away" (line 2). The goodbye that the two lovers are faced with should not be a big ordeal, essentially. Then, in line 7, the speaker goes on to say that crying over the parting of the two individuals should not evoke tears because "crying destroys their joy". The happiness that the couple shares should not be taken away by the distance they are now faced with. Now, towards the end, I know that the compass is a metaphor for something, but I did not understand what the compass stood for or what it was symbolic of. Regardless of whether I understood all of the metaphors or not, I did see the purpose for the use of metaphors. The metaphors make the reader see the beauty in the love that these two people share. Through the use of metaphors, the speaker states what they mean but in a discrete way. By comparing their goodbye and their love to other things, the speaker is able to convey the point. Their goodbye should not be mournful, but optimistic instead.

Not fond of their siblings...

In "The Joy of Cooking", the speaker uses her sister's tongue and brother's heart to describe their personalities. Although it is somewhat weird to connect body parts to personality traits and the refer to "cooking" them, it does create vivid imagery for the reader to picture. Obviously, from the title and the words the poet uses, the reader can assume that the speaker is not too fond of her brother and sister. Due to her sister's tongue that is "scrubbed and skinned" (line 2) and the statement "it probably will grow back" (line 7), the reader can also infer that the sister is not afraid to say what she thinks and she probably curses (and refrains from biting her tongue...pun intended.)  All of these characteristics that the speaker states about her sister are negative. Also, the fact that the speaker gets enjoyment out of "cooking" her siblings body parts is somewhat maniacal. In the second stanza, the speaker talks about her brother. The speaker doesn't seem to be to enthralled with her brother either. The brother's heart is seen as boring, dull, and careless. (line 11) Furthermore, the fact that his heart "barely feeds two" can make the reader assume that he is somewhat self-centered. Through the imagery of "cooking" siblings negative personality traits, the reader is able to understand the speakers point in the poem.

Confusion with The Panther

In "The Panther" I couldn't really find any meaning in the poet's words. The diction used is all diction of confinement. The image of a panther behind bars, sort of like a zoo, is able to easily be imagined. However, I don't understand what the panther stands for, if it stands for anything at all. Also, the point that the poet makes in the last stanza is referring to the closing and opening of the panther's eyes. Only at times does the panther open his eyes and he sees an image. The image has to stand for something. It seems as if the "image" is entering into the heart of the panther, but I'm not sure what exactly this means. Maybe the image is a sense of hope or desire of the panther. Even though the panther is captive, it still has hope for something more, even if that hope goes away quickly.

I wouldn't want to live in London

The poem "London" was depressing. Throughout the entire poem, the unity of the lines is apparent through the dark diction such as "woe", "fear", "cry", "runs in blood", "Harlot's curse", "plagues" and "hearse". Whatever is going on in London, I would not want to be there during this time...

The first stanza discusses how the city of London is full of unhappy people. Then, the second stanza adds to the first by describing how in every aspect of the peoples lives, there is some sort of unhappiness. Now, the third stanza starts to describe the different types of people in the society. The chimney-sweepers, the church, and the soldier are all presented to the reader. Again, the theme of unhappiness is apparent through each character.The last stanza refers to the destruction of a family through a prostitute.

The only thing I am completely sure of in this poem is the evidence of unhappiness of the people in the city. I'm still confused as to what is going on and why the people are so unhappy and what exactly is driving the people to this universal unhappiness.

Vanity found in the Sea

In "The Convergence of the Twain" the poet is describing the tragedy of the Titanic. A lot of personification is used throughout this poem. The fish and sea creatures "query" and "gaze" at the objects that now occupy their home in the sea. Through the personification of the fish, I was really able to imagine what Thomas Hardy may have been trying to convey to the reader.

I found the word "vanity" to be an important one in the first stanza of the poem. Mostly all of the people on the Titanic were vain, pompous, rich people. Yet, all of their belongings are now alongside the sea-worms and fish. To the passengers, all of their belongings meant everything to them. Their belongings defined who they were and where they stood in society. The passengers and the ship itself represented the high class in society, but now it is nothing but a part of the sea. I feel like this is somewhat ironic. These people were so focused on the pleasures and objects of life and in the end, it got them no where.

I inferred that the last stanza is referring to God when talking about "The Spinner of the Years". I also inferred that this was the way of the poet speaking of the  inevitability of the sinking of the ship. When such vain people and extravagant objects located all throughout the ship are put together, there is no real purpose other than pleasure. Two different worlds are created. A world for God and a world of materialism. The Titanic was a world of materialism.

Metaphorical funeral

In Emily Dickinson's "I felt a funeral, in my brain" poem, she takes us into a metaphor of a funeral taking place in her brain. After I read the questions that went along with the poem, I then noticed that the sense of sight is missing from the poem. The most prevalent sense that Dickinson focuses on is the sense of hearing. When I first read the poem, I initially thought that maybe Dickinson was describing the world of someone who has become blind. It made sense to me because 1.) the funeral taking place would be for the sense of sight that was lost 2.) the person who has become blind is trying to make sense of the world around them by hearing things.

After discussing this poem in class, however, it makes way more sense to describe how the funeral taking place represents a person slowly loosing their mind. Especially in the last stanza when Dickinson describes "a plank in reason, broke" the fact that someone is loosing their mind justifies the lack of reasoning. The plank in reason that is breaking is all that makes sense to the person. There is no reason anymore, just the nonsense of a person who has lost their mind and the person is just slowly withering away.

Even though I was way off in my first interpretation of the poem, I was able to see the importance of the sensory language throughout the poem. The point of the poem is able to be conveyed to the reader through these sensory descriptions. In result of this, a reader can really imagine that a "funeral" is taking place in this person's brain.

Spring and Sin

The poem "Spring" starts off with a lot of alliteration. "When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush." The alliteration helps to evoke the sense of imagery strongly present throughout this entire poem. The first stanza is very descriptive with terms that are associated with spring. Through the description, imagery is also created. For example, the use of vivid words such as "the glassy peartree leaves and blooms." paint a picture in ones mind of a lovely pear tree in the springtime.

The second stanza and third stanza get a little more in depth. Rather than explicitly stating terms that are associated with spring to create imagery, a different type of imagery is created through comparison. The words "In Eden's garden", "Before it could, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning" helped me to see a comparison to something Biblical or spiritual. In my own opinion, I felt as if Hopkins was comparing the season of spring to a world before sin. Usually spring is associated with new life, new beginnings and so on. Similarly, before the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, life was perfect and new. Fall and winter are commonly seen as the cold months of dormant plants and no production of anything new, while the season of spring brings new opportunities to the world. Before sin, our world was full of everything wonderful and great. It seems as if spring is a representation of this perfect world full of opportunities.

Poetry according to Perrine

When first reading Perrine's thoughts on interpreting poetry, I didn't really agree with him or understand what point that Perrine was presenting. I enjoy personal interpretation when reading things. In my opinion, literature or even poetry is enjoyable because of the freedom to think and interpret for oneself. I always became frustrated when a teacher would grade a question that dealt with interpretation and then mark it wrong. I think that interpretation is open to more than just one specific thing. When reading a story, an author does write for a purpose, however, the reader is entitled to think what they want to think, right? I do understand what Perrine means though. When one has to really analyze poetry or any type of literature, there are certain things that make interpretation right and wrong. We, as readers, cannot just think that anything and everything is correct. Some poems can have multiple meanings, but that doesn't mean that we can interpret anything we want from them. 


When I  re-read the poems and picked up on how they were to be correctly analyzed, I began to see what Perrine meant. (especially with the Emily Dickinson poem) Yes, it is true that a garden can be inferred and imagined from the words written, but analytically there is much more than just a garden. It makes sense to see that Dickinson is describing a sunset. The meaning of the poem to be a sunset is much more compatible and appropriate with every single word and detail. I think that this is a good example of how to analyze and interpret poems throughout this next quarter. There can be a lot more to poem beyond the surface. It is easy to say that a poem may be describing a sunset, but through analyzing every single detail, the correct interpretation becomes apparent to the reader. Also, from reading Perrine's thoughts, I have come to see that looking past literal interpretation is sometimes important in poetry. I think it will be difficult to correctly interpret and analyze poems in this way. It seems as if it if will take really observant, attentive people to pick up on the details and learn to connect and interpret in this way...