"I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar." Lines 15-16
I can finally interpret a poem easily! For once in my short career of poem analysis, I believe I completely understand what the writer's purpose was. The "sand bar" being crossed is death. The ocean, which is "asleep" and calm, is heaven. Finally, and most obviously, the "pilot" of the ship is God. The "call" the speaker hears is God calling him home, the time of his death. The speaker wants "no sorrow" when he leaves. He wants only simplicity and a calm departure, which could be interpreted as a quick and easy death. However I doubt that this analysis is entirely true, since he speaks of "returning home". You don't return home after dying, do you? Unless of course "home" is heaven and unity with God. In any case, I am confusing myself even more. I'll quit while I am ahead.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
"The Apparition" by John Donne
"Then shall my ghost come to thy bed" Line 4
This is the first scary, ghost-story poem we have read so far. However it is not at all the first poem inspired by a woman. It seems the speaker is telling the woman responsible for his murder that he will return to haunt her. Since the woman's husband won't wake up, she will be left to fend off the ghost herself. This man obviously has no sympathy for this woman. However I am not sure if he literally means a murder or perhaps merely a figurative one. Furthermore the haunting itself could just be figurative. This woman could be a former lover of his, and he is saying because of his heart being broken, he will never rest until she feels the pain he felt. Maybe his "ghost" is merely memories of their relationship, and her "haunting" is his making her regret the decision she made.
This is the first scary, ghost-story poem we have read so far. However it is not at all the first poem inspired by a woman. It seems the speaker is telling the woman responsible for his murder that he will return to haunt her. Since the woman's husband won't wake up, she will be left to fend off the ghost herself. This man obviously has no sympathy for this woman. However I am not sure if he literally means a murder or perhaps merely a figurative one. Furthermore the haunting itself could just be figurative. This woman could be a former lover of his, and he is saying because of his heart being broken, he will never rest until she feels the pain he felt. Maybe his "ghost" is merely memories of their relationship, and her "haunting" is his making her regret the decision she made.
"Getting Out" by Cleopatra Mathis
"Every night another refusal, the silent work of tightening the heart." Lines 2-4
I guess it's true that marriage is a truly horrid time. At least that's what Mathis implies. In the poem, the speaker starts right off talking of the horrors of marriage, calling her and her husband "inmates", implying that marriage is like a prison. She says that words are "heaved like furniture", hinting that harsh things were said between the two. However, she soon changes her negative diction. By the end of the poem it is apparent that she misses her ex-husband. She tells the reader that she and her husband cried on the last day and unwillingly separated and went on their final ways. Her diction goes from angry to remorseful, which is a reflection on the life of the speaker. Although she seems to be doing all right by herself and still keeps in touch with her ex-husband, she misses him.
I guess it's true that marriage is a truly horrid time. At least that's what Mathis implies. In the poem, the speaker starts right off talking of the horrors of marriage, calling her and her husband "inmates", implying that marriage is like a prison. She says that words are "heaved like furniture", hinting that harsh things were said between the two. However, she soon changes her negative diction. By the end of the poem it is apparent that she misses her ex-husband. She tells the reader that she and her husband cried on the last day and unwillingly separated and went on their final ways. Her diction goes from angry to remorseful, which is a reflection on the life of the speaker. Although she seems to be doing all right by herself and still keeps in touch with her ex-husband, she misses him.
"My Mistress' Eyes" by William Shakespeare
"And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks." Lines 7-8
Shakespeare and his sense of humor! Actually to be honest I'm not really sure if this is a joke or not. I am going to assume this is satire. I believe old Bill is simply saying that although his lover is not perfect, he looks past her flaws and still loves her all the same. He seems to point out in every feature of her that there is something bigger and better. Perhaps that is his point. Or he could be poking fun at her. What I do know is that he states at the end that he, "think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare" Lines13-14. He means that he still appreciates and loves this woman just as much as a man who has ridiculous comparisons for the features and characteristics of the girl they love.
Shakespeare and his sense of humor! Actually to be honest I'm not really sure if this is a joke or not. I am going to assume this is satire. I believe old Bill is simply saying that although his lover is not perfect, he looks past her flaws and still loves her all the same. He seems to point out in every feature of her that there is something bigger and better. Perhaps that is his point. Or he could be poking fun at her. What I do know is that he states at the end that he, "think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare" Lines13-14. He means that he still appreciates and loves this woman just as much as a man who has ridiculous comparisons for the features and characteristics of the girl they love.
"Hazel Tells Laverne" by Katharyn Machan Aal
"when all of a sudden up pops this frog" Lines 4-5
Aal cleverly writes this comical and ironic poem. The reader is first subjugated to the dialect, which is African American. Furthermore, irony is used to make the reader laugh. This woman Hazel encounters a magical talking frog, as one would find in a fairy tale. However she is not impressed by this. She seems more concerned with the fact that the frog showed up at all! When asked by the frog to kiss him in order to turn into a prince, Hazel responds by calling him a "pervert", again seeming to miss what the frog is saying. She is focused on the literal implications of what he says, not paying attention to his words. She later scoffs at the frog's words, saying, "me a princess" in lines 24-25, as if the concept is simply unbelievable. Aal's sense of humor is present in her spunky character of Hazel.
Aal cleverly writes this comical and ironic poem. The reader is first subjugated to the dialect, which is African American. Furthermore, irony is used to make the reader laugh. This woman Hazel encounters a magical talking frog, as one would find in a fairy tale. However she is not impressed by this. She seems more concerned with the fact that the frog showed up at all! When asked by the frog to kiss him in order to turn into a prince, Hazel responds by calling him a "pervert", again seeming to miss what the frog is saying. She is focused on the literal implications of what he says, not paying attention to his words. She later scoffs at the frog's words, saying, "me a princess" in lines 24-25, as if the concept is simply unbelievable. Aal's sense of humor is present in her spunky character of Hazel.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
"Mr. Z" by M. Carl Holman
"'One of the most distinguished members of his race.'" Line 26
What a truly remarkable poem. This Mr. Z appears to be a man who refused to be tied down by racial discrimination and insensitivity. He lived his life cautiously, being careful to present himself in a respectable image to all. Even in what he ate and who he kissed, along with who he married, all was planned out. He was compared to an "airborne plant", implying that although the entire society, the world's way of life, was against him, he refused to be kept down and in fact flourished as a man and a character. He was honest and reliable, in that "Not one false note was struck- until he died:" However, the true irony lies in the inscription on his gravestone, "'One of the most distinguished members of his race'". The entire work of Mr. Z's life was to tear down the walls of racial discrimination, and yet even after his remarkable life, his death was overshadowed by that horrible phrase. They classified his life based on his race. This defeated his entire life's mission and goal, showing that even despite radical influences such as this man, the road to equality was a lengthy and difficult one.
What a truly remarkable poem. This Mr. Z appears to be a man who refused to be tied down by racial discrimination and insensitivity. He lived his life cautiously, being careful to present himself in a respectable image to all. Even in what he ate and who he kissed, along with who he married, all was planned out. He was compared to an "airborne plant", implying that although the entire society, the world's way of life, was against him, he refused to be kept down and in fact flourished as a man and a character. He was honest and reliable, in that "Not one false note was struck- until he died:" However, the true irony lies in the inscription on his gravestone, "'One of the most distinguished members of his race'". The entire work of Mr. Z's life was to tear down the walls of racial discrimination, and yet even after his remarkable life, his death was overshadowed by that horrible phrase. They classified his life based on his race. This defeated his entire life's mission and goal, showing that even despite radical influences such as this man, the road to equality was a lengthy and difficult one.
"Much Madness is divinest Sense" by Emily Dickinson
"Much Madness is divinest Sense-" Line 1
Oh, Dickinson, you never cease to thoroughly confuse me. Yet again, I am left with a poem of yours that makes absolutely no sense. You are deliberately and paradoxically contradicting yourself. How could Madness be sense? And sense madness? I suppose it is all in how one looks at it. From a madman's perspective, what is madness to him could indeed be sense to a normal person. If this is true, then why write from the perspective of a madman? The more of your poems I read and study, the more I am convinced that you yourself didn't have all of your fish swimming in the same direction. However, I can connect what you're saying to the movie my Mom is currently watching. In "Inception", the main character's wife kills herself, believing the real world to be yet another dream, and she desired to get out of it to get back to her real life. Death in her dream worlds brought one back to reality. To the audience, she seemed perfectly insane. However to her, her logic was flawless. If it was a dream, there was no harm in jumping off of a building. She would simply wake up and live her life to the fullest. I still stick with what I said though. I don't understand at all what you're trying to get at.
Oh, Dickinson, you never cease to thoroughly confuse me. Yet again, I am left with a poem of yours that makes absolutely no sense. You are deliberately and paradoxically contradicting yourself. How could Madness be sense? And sense madness? I suppose it is all in how one looks at it. From a madman's perspective, what is madness to him could indeed be sense to a normal person. If this is true, then why write from the perspective of a madman? The more of your poems I read and study, the more I am convinced that you yourself didn't have all of your fish swimming in the same direction. However, I can connect what you're saying to the movie my Mom is currently watching. In "Inception", the main character's wife kills herself, believing the real world to be yet another dream, and she desired to get out of it to get back to her real life. Death in her dream worlds brought one back to reality. To the audience, she seemed perfectly insane. However to her, her logic was flawless. If it was a dream, there was no harm in jumping off of a building. She would simply wake up and live her life to the fullest. I still stick with what I said though. I don't understand at all what you're trying to get at.
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