Final Post!

For my last and final post I chose to write about "After Tonight" by Gary Soto.  Though this poem may seem rather grim and quite saddening  there was a much different meaning that I picked up on as I read the poem.  The narrator describes different scenarios that involved some sort of wait or expectation of something or someone."You expect your daughter/to be at the door at any moment/And your husband to arrive/with the night.(Line 19-22)  These are simple everyday expectations of a mother/wife that she may never think those expectations could be gone in a blink of an eye.  Tomorrow isn't always guaranteed for anyone so why do we as people always expect everything and everyday to be the same.  We should always cherish the life that we have and the loved ones who are in it.  We should of course always expect the best from them but never expect that they are guaranteed to always be a part of our life.  This is the idea that I believe Soto was trying to make with this poem.  Never expect what you think should be certain because nothing is ever guaranteed in life or ever certain.

"We real cool" By Gwendolyn Brooks

Brooks herself has stated that when she wrote this poem she drew her inspiration from music and as you read the poem you are immediately thrown into a rhythm and beat.   Brooks drew from the environment she found herself in and the world around her.  Jazz was one of the most influential forms of music heard around the world.  Jazz was a creative art that in turn influenced others like Brooks to be creative in their works by drawing inspiration from simple things like a pool game or the actions of two men at a pool house.  This poem is a musical reality that uses real life people, and kids who thought they were real cool because they were doing everything they wanted.  They followed the beat of the drum and the sound of the sweet music that existed within their soul.  That is what Brooks was writing about.  She saw that people were real cool because they allowed inspiration to be a part of their life.  "We real cool" was indeed a real cool poem that brought creativity to the reader by the form of sound and music.

"Horses" by Ted Hughes

This particular poem begins and ends in darkness.  It's as if the world has frozen and become this horrible place where their is but one wrong belief.  All this talk of a grey world really represents Hughes views on the idea that the holiness and purity of faith and religion has been lost forever.  The horses that are seen and described in the poem are the only thing left that still holds the faith and purity that once existed.  It's as if Hughes still wanted to leave a piece of hope for the lonely world hoping that someone or something many see what the world has become; the world has become nothing but a lonely dark place where the idea of faith and religion is just that an idea that will never have true meaning if the people do not stop seeing it and not believing in it.  Though Hughes really no longer believed in the sanctity of having faith I believe that he wrote this poem as a form of hope.  Hope that someone somewhere could restore the belief that he and many others once had.  Hope that the one thing that was still pure had the power to restore the world from the lonely grey world that now surrounds everyone as they go through life.

"Sad Steps" Philip Larkin

"Sad Steps" immediately strikes me as a distant memory of the young days of the author's life.  A night sky filled with clouds and a clear moon can be interpreted as a memory of a young man surrounded by a group of friends.  It's as if the moon represents the happiness that the author felt as a young man and the clouds represent the distant days that once were.  The author seems to want to remember those beloved days so much only to reassure that they are still a part of him.  He’s older and his life has changed from what it once was.  He reminisces and yet he is reminded that those glorious days can never be forgotten but they will never come again.  The author then realizes that age and getting older is just a part of life and .though at times realizing it can be a sad, those cherished memories will always be a part of the author's life and his "Sad Steps" are no longer just "Sad Steps".  Those steps are now a cherished treasure of the life that has led the author to be whom and where he is as he remembers his young days.

"One Art" by Elizabeth Bishop

I chose to write about "One Art" because not only does it ring true, but loosing someone or something important is spoken of as a form of art.  Though I never would've considered looking at loss as a form of art, as I continued to read the poem I began to see how loss of something can become a sad and dangerous art that can be easily mastered.  When their is a loss of a loved one their is sadness, pain, and unfortunately as time goes on a person must go on with life and live without their loved one.  As stated in the poem "The art of losing is not hard to master" (Line 6)  When someone lets go of the most important opportunities in life or even their most important relationship their is regret but still life goes on and one must go on as well.  Again the statement "The art of losing is not hard to master" (Line 6) rings true.  Unfortunately mastering the art of loss isn't always the best thing and can become quite dangerous because losing becomes a part of someone and soon losing something important can seem like nothing.  One could  completely loose the feeling of regret and no longer wanting to lose the most important thing(s) in life.  Soon losing becomes so second  nature that one will never be able to learn what to do or how to get out of such a devastating mess.  Losing is the one art that all can master but the question is would anyone want to?

Dylan Thomas "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

Death is an inevitable part of life but one's life and how they live it can be from one extreme to the next.  In Dylan Thomas poem "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" there is a description of three different men.  The first is the wisest men of all.  The wise man knows from experience that life is not perfect and that no matter how hard he plans and tries it is always difficult to make a difference in the world we live in today.   He is very aware that things in life do not come easy and that he to will face a hard road as he approaches death.  The second man that is described in the poem is probably how many wish they could live their life.  This man is so happy and has a positive attitude because, even though he realizes that the end is near, he chooses to live life to the fullest knowing that the road he to will face will not be easy as he comes to meet his death.  The third and final man that is described in this poem is exactly what the first impression you get as you read the poem.  Though he also is living life to the fullest, he is doing it in a wild manner that unfortunately will cost him gravely as he to approaches the end of his life.  Though it is good to have fun as you live your life that doesn't mean you must only have fun and forget about caring for yourself and your health.  By the end of the poem all three men are tied into one because Thomas states in the end that though it is always good to be wise it is  never good  to forget to have fun and enjoy life, but it is also never good to not take care of yourself because as the end of your life comes near the road gets harder and you will not go gently as you die.

"The Perfect High" by Shel Silverstein

It's crazy to think that many people from past and present day turn to drugs to get this rush that they can never find in something positive.  It's as if a person that is addicted to such drugs are always searching for an escape that they never seem to find.  In " The Perfect High"  Gimmesome Roy is on a continuous search for the perfect drug that will lead him to the perfect escape that will help him forget.  He experiments with different drugs like PCP and Cocaine never realizing that in reality he is throwing his life away and only distancing himself from the actual perfect high that comes from experiencing life itself.  In reality this boy continues to go from drug to drug because he is never satisfied.  It doesn't matter how great he may feel when he is high the high never lasts and he can't seem to understand why.  In an odd way he did find the escape though it was not quite the escape he was looking for.  In jumping from drug to drug he slowly left the world around him and the beauty of life that once surrounded him.

"Howl" By Allen Ginsberg

"Howl" was definitely a way for Ginsberg to express his disgust with the generation and its loss of creativity.  Though this poem was rather long it did in many ways show the creative side of Ginsberg and how expressive and free he could be within his writing. Ginsberg was able to create a different form of poetry with "Howl" by not following the typical form of a poem.  In many ways the form of "Howl" sent the message itself about how most people were conforming to the beliefs of society and how very few were choosing to follow the beat of their own drum.  In doing so Ginsberg was able to express his frustration with his genera ton and let all that disappointment and anger out.  He was able to let the reader see that the reason society was being destroyed was due to his generations own destruction caused by non other than the generation itself.  This entire poem was unique and very powerful but there was one thing that I did not care for.  Unfortunately Ginsberg view of women wasn't the greatest and it was definitely seen in "Howl" as Ginsberg describes women as nothing but an object used for pleasure.  Aside from that this poem, though quite different was an interesting read.

"Mugging" By Allen Ginsberg

It's is quite sad and yet interesting to see and feel the reality of "Mugging" The narrator of the story was just simply trying to get from point a to point be soaking up his surroundings as he walked along.  Never did he expect, that what he saw as innocent men were his worst nightmare for the evening.

                              " Walked past a taxicab controlling the bottle strewn cub-/
                               past the young fellows with their umbrella handles & canes
                                leaning against the ravaged Buick-/and as I looked at the crowd
                                of kids on the stoop-a boy stepped up, put his arm round my neck/
                                tenderly as I thought for a moment, squeezed harder, his umbrella
                                 handle against my skull,/and his friends took my arm, and a young
                               Puerto Rican companion tripped his foot 'gainst my ankle-" (Line 11-15)
Fear of course is what came to the narrator's mind but not fear of being hurt as much as loosing the prized poems he had in his brown bag.  It's funny to think that of all things that should be running through a person's head during a time like this should be the fear of loosing their life. It is said to him if he's quite and just gives them all the money he has they'll leave him alone to which he replied "Om Ah Hum there isn't any"' (Line 28)  Yet at the end of the poem as the disappointed robbers leave the narrator stands up to see the damage that has been left not physically but emotionally.  He looks down to the brown bag that the robbers did not make off with with relief in his soul for inside the bag were his most prized possessions.  Inside were his poems which were deemed to be worth the 10.000 dollars that was in there but what to him ment so much more.  So again I say it is quite sad to thing that one cannot step outside in their neighborhood for fear of being mugged but quite interesting to see that in this case the reality was he had the money but his strength to not reveal or give in to the fear of loosing his life saved and preserved his great work that will now live on even after he's gone.

"The Bath" by Gary Snyder

"The Bath"  really caught my attention this week because it was interesting to see how the narrorator(Snyder) found so many different connections while doing something so simple like giving his son a bath.  He describes the entire baby's body from head to toe asking himself the question "Is this our body" (Line 20)  He describes the joy and curiosity that he is experinecing as he sees the joy in his son's face as he washes him and the discomfort he feels when he accidently gets soap in his baby's eyes.  I also thought it was interesting how he connected the pleasure he feels when he sees his wife to the pleasure that his son felt when he saw his mom.  As infants we all are nurtured by our mothers and one way is through breast feeding.  Babies survive on the nutrients they recieve through the milk and interestingly enough Snyder made the connection that as men their is still this pleasure that exists in a different way.  It's as if with baby boys their is this onging want and need for the female body and that is exactly what Snyder sees and describes with this particular poem.

"The Young House Wife"

“The Young House Wife" really caught my attention this week because though it is a rather short poem there is so much meaning and symbolism behind its words. The narrator describes this woman as this "Shy, Uncorseted" (Line 7) woman that is seen already working early in the morning.  She is this beautiful woman that is noticed at first glance yet the narrator compares her to "a fallen leaf." and one asks the question why?  Why is this beautiful woman "a fallen leaf"(line 7)  This woman so young and full of youth is compared to such a leaf because she herself has fallen as a woman due to the fact that she stays within the walls of her house confined and obligated to the rules of her husband.  She must do as he says everyday always obeying and never daring to do otherwise.  The only freedom she has left is that of going to the fence every morning at 10 to yes call out to "ice man, fish man" Line 6 for that is her duty but this is also where she can let others see the young beautiful woman that is left in her before she loses herself completely to her husband and her fallen marriage.

Edna St. Vincent Millay's "First Fig"

"First Fig" Caught my attention this week because I see a relationship between the burning candle and a person's life.  In many ways each and every person's life is indeed like a candle.  When someone buys a newly fresh candle everything about it seems so perfect just like our friends and family view a newborn baby.  A new candle begins it's new yet short journey as it is constantly used to bring freshness to a room.  As we begin our own life and journey we also bring joy and a fresh outlook to all who love and care about us.  There is so much to our lives that at times we forget to sit back and enjoy the beauty of it all. This is the connection that I see within the candle and life itself.  In the poem there is a line that states, "It will not la the night."  Unfortunately a candle doesn't live to burn forever just like how our life must also come to an end one day but it is because of this that we should live our life to the fullest and enjoy the blessings that surround us.  We are given such a great opportunity to let our life be the shining light to our journey so that we to can say "It gives a lovely light!" Line 4

"The Waste Land" Part 2

After reading the poem one more time I have come to see that Eliot's intention was to help his readers see how every new beginning, every life begins its journey from a waste land that was left behind by those who are now dead.  From the start of the poem Eliot says, "April is the cruelest month, breeding/Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing/Memory and desire, stirring/Dull roots with spring rain" (Lines1-4)  When I first looked at these first four lines I thought to myself how ironic it was that the dead were being buried in the spring where everything is supposed to be joyful and full of life, but I never stopped to think that with an example like the first he was trying to also remind us that when Jesus the son of God came to our world to love us and sacrifice his life to save us he to left "The Waste Land" that had become our world.  He left "The Waste Land" to be brought back to life and to be restored by the people left behind.  This poem is very much a way for all of us to see how easy it is to find ourselves in a waste land but to realize that we do have the power to change that land into the beautiful place that we all want and wish it to be.

"The Waste Land"

"The Waste Land"  is one of the most interesting poems that I have read to this day.  This poem really opened my eyes up to see how much time is wasted or how the resources that we are given are wasted.  One of the examples I really liked was that of the lady who was given money by her husband to fix her teeth.  How many of us have done the same thing that she did with betting the money in a game that never should have been considered. It's amazing to see how T.S, Eliot used simple examples to draw in his reader to see that our constant betting of the simple things in life become our very own waste land of our life.  It is always easy to receive the resources given to us whether it be from a loved one or a friend, but it is always harder to keep that resource, whether it be money or something else, and put to good use.  In many cases many of us tend to use the resource carelessly instead of putting it to good use and saving it for when we need it.  I believe that "The Waste Land" was a way for T.S. Eliot to help all his readers understand that we are in power of putting everything we have into to good use and not into something that will cause us to just loose and throw everything away.  This poem was in a way a help to all his readers to prevent them from creating a waste land that they can never come out of.

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

When I first looked at the title I was expecting of course another poem speaking of the great wonders of love but I was completely wrong. This poem takes a completely different route; a route that tells the story of those who suffer from the curse of wanting love but always being afraid of rejection and the pain that love will bring. It is well known from the very beginning that J. Alfred Prufrock loves women just by the way he describes the women around him as they "come and go/Talking of Michelangelo" (L 13-14)   As they come he admires and as they leave he admires making sure never to approach them no matter how much he wishes he could.  As that wish becomes desire the truth behind this poem begins to unravel.  Why is it that J. Alfred Prufrock cannot find the words to say or find the courage to talk to at least one woman that catches his eye?  The reason is of course the fear of rejection and being mocked as he gives his heart the opportunity to open up and really feel. As the poem continues we come to see that this fear and feeling of being inadequate is haunting Prufrock and has become a cycle that no matter how hard he tries to break free from he just can’t. He can wish and desire to have a woman to love but this dark cycle like the dark lonely streets he describes shall forever consume him and be his life.  

Preludes

It's amazing to see how another looks at life and daily routine.  How many times do people go about their daily lives never thinking about the things that are left behind like the smoke from a cigar or the newspapers that were being read thorough out the day?  All this seems like simple little things that have no meaning yet they consume our daily lives to the point where we can't go a day without them. It's as if our whole world will come tumbling down around us if we miss one single thing like our simple morning coffee.  I also love how Eliot describes a person awakening scratching their head as if trying to remember the day before and what they need to do for the day but as we all know we never forget our everyday routine and our world will continue to go round and round just like it does everyday.

Who's Who

W.H. Auden's Who's Who is pure genius and truth.  How many times do we run across written biographies of the great people of the past and yet we are left to wonder what about their life was left out and what was given more attention.  W.H. Auden says,"What were the struggles of his youth,/what acts Made him the greatest figure of his day" (Line 3-4) We always hear about the common hardships of growing up as a poor child or having the disapproval of a parent but we have to wonder if that is what the great people of yesterday considered to be their hardship.  If we were to have the chance to talk to such a person would we get the same answers we read about or would we get something completely different. This where the title is key and comes into play because the entire poem is the big question.  Who is this great person that we know of and not just who are they as in what they have achieved but who are they really? Are they just this intelligent mind that knows nothing else but what they do or is there more?

The Harlem Dancer

"The Harlem Dancer" is a very different yet beautiful and unique poem.  The poem begins with setting a scene within the streets of Harlem.  The street is filled with laughing youth and a dancer who is giving quite the performance yet something about the dancer is different.  The author describes her as graceful and calm.  Both the boys and girls watched her every move as she danced and sang a beautiful melody.  They could not seem to get enough and yet the young dancer seemed distant. "but looking at her falsely-smiling face/I knew her self was not in that strange place." (L 13-14)  Many times young kids and adults are seen only for where they come from and it is assumed that they will be nothing greater and I feel that this is exactly what is being said in this poem.  The young girl is seen only as this amazing dancer yet only one is able to see that this dancer is not happy with being seen as nothing more than a performer or as an object for other youth to watch as some sort of interesting object.  Her false smile gives away that there is so much more to her than what is present on that street and that unfortunately many will never get to see.

"Whether a dove or seagull lighted there

This poem relates so much innocence with the good as well as fear of not knowing with the bad.  The poem begins with the line, "Whether a dove or seagull lighted there/I cannot tell"  How many times do we find ourselves weighing our options wondering which option is not only the best but the right way to go?  As we grow and go on with life we find ourselves in many tough situations having to make a decision on which way to go. We ask ourselves over and over again which way is the right way or is it okay if I choose this path for today.  In most cases we find ourselves faced with such decisions and contemplation when it comes to non other than love.  Everyone has that one experience with love where you must decide whether this love is right or wrong.This poem expresses such contemplating especially when the author states, "And I must know before I go away/If for today/The weather of our love is wild or fair/Or ill or well." When the time comes to accept whether the love we share with another is the worth holding on to or whether it is time to let it become just a beautiful memory we find ourselves second guessing at that moment what is right or wrong good or bad.  In that moment all that is left is to discover if holding on for just one more night will make a difference as you part ways the next morning.

"The Ship of Death"

D.H. Lawrence asks on of the greatest questions through out this entire poem.  "Have you built your ship of death. O have you?"  I believe that with this question Lawrence was not just writing a poem but also asking his readers if they are prepared for when they must leave the world. As humans we all try to live life to the fullest never missing the great opportunities that are given to us yet do any of us prepare for the reality that one day we will all be gone. "O build your ship of death, for you will need it." We should, yes, always live life to the fullest but in doing so we must be ready to enter the dark oblivion of no longer being with our loved ones.  We must spend our time doing the things we love and being the best that we can be so that we have no regrets as we do leave this beautiful world. We must be ready to enter that tiny shade of light and not lose ourselves within the darkness of death as Lawrence so mentions through out the entire poem, so I ask the same question that Lawrence asks us have we built our ship of death yet and if we haven't will we ever build it before it is to late.

"Why Do You Feel Differently"

Gertrude Stein really points an issue that has existed from past to present. We as humans always want bigger and better things whether it be the bigger turkey, as mentioned in the poem, or wanting to be treated like the person on the other side of the block. It's a natural desire to never be satisfied with what we have but that doesn't make it alright.  The example that Stein uses to express this is a perfect fit.  She says, "To Be/No Please/To Be/They can please....." She takes a double standard of a wife always having to please a husband that will never be satisfied.  Again the question arises why is everything a wife can do never enough? I believe that Stein was trying to open our eyes with this poem and help us see that having desires can be great but it can also work against us.  If our desires begin to overtake our mind and body we will always want what we shouldn't and never appreciate what we do have.

In a Station of the Metro

 In a Station of the Metro" is one of the greatest expressions and short poems that Pound has written because he was able to say so much with so little. I can completely relate to the feeling of being at a loss of words to describe how a scene can make someone feel or the inability to describe how beautiful a place that once looked just like another ordinary every day setting. Usually when anyone steps into to the metro station their mind is elsewhere thinking about what they are going to do that day or how much longer until their day is over.  No one ever really pays attention to the surroundings and the amazing things, such as a beautiful face of a child that Pound described in the footnote. "The apparition of these faces in the crowd/ Petals on a wet, black bough." This expression says so much about how an ordinary setting when getting out of a metro train can change into something completely different when you take the time to slow down and take a closer look.

Wilfred Owne "Disabled"

Wilfred Owen is one of the greatest war poets to have ever graced the land and the brutal battles of war. He like many others during the time of WWI were drafted in not only to serve but also into the idea of the glory and praise that comes among being a solider or officer.  "Disabled" I believe is a poem that Owen wrote to show all the harsh reality of war and the hell that those who serve must go through after they leave the battle field.  The poem begins by describing how the young solider feels after returning home. "He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark,/And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey,/Legless, sewn short at elbow." (Line1-3)  I believe that with these opening lines the reader immediately feels the darkness and suffering that the man telling his story is feeling.  The suffering is not only due to the horrific scenes he may have seen in the war but to the scenes that surround him in his present.  He comes back to a town that was once happy, full of children playing their games, and young girls that in his younger days would've given him the time of day.  Unfortunately as the story goes on the reader soon sees that all that has changed.  The young man now feels much older though he may not actually be.  He recalls the moment that he suffered the injury that would leave him without his leg and remembers the day he decided to enlist.  He recalls that moment by saying, "He thought he better join--He wonders why."  Why did he let others tell him there would be glory; he was so young and naive he never thought that he would one day come back to a place where only one man would thank him for his bravery and where the women would over look him to care for the men who were whole and complete.  At the end of the poem he ends the story by asking why no one will come and put him to bed and why no one will come at all and in reality that simple question is the question that lingers throughout the entire poem.  "Why don't they come?"  Why does everyone look at him then look the other way.

Comments on The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken"  is one of my favorite poems.  "The Road Not Taken" is a poem that everyone can relate to everyday life then and now.  As we go through our everyday life we are faced with many decisions some simple and easy to make and other's not so much. As an opening Frost says, "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood/And sorry I could not travel both/." ) I believe that sometimes the simplest decision can become the hardest one to make. We must think about the after and the consequence of the decision we are to make whether it be a positive or a negative one. Other times we must listen to our inner voice even though others are trying to influence us as we wonder and think.  "Oh, I kept the first for another day/ Yet knowing how way leads on to way/ I doubted if I should ever come back" (Line13-15)  Here I believe that Frost was trying to say that with many decisions we make through life there are doubts and we stop and think what would have happened if but in the end we do what is best and right for us no regrets and no looking back. In closing Frost uses my favorite line of all.  He says, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I/took the one less traveled by/And that has made all the difference." (Line 18-20)  With this I believe he was saying that in life we all make decisions that others may not agree with and we take a different road than the others but that decision could be the reason we reach greatness.

The Second Coming

William B Yeats "The Second Coming" ties in one of the world's oldest and longest topic wihtin the world of Christ and religion.  Everyone has heard of the story when the world will change completely and Christ wil return to finally bring peace to his world and those who trust and believe in him. "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold"  As the return of Christ aproaches it is said that the enitre world will be in destruciton and that is exactly what Yeats is describing in this poem.  He describes a nation that is at a loss full of negativity and signs that foreshadows a change that will leave everyone with a differnet view of the world and their beliefs
"Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the second Coming is at hand."  Yeats also paints a picture of a creature, " A shape with lion body and the head of man." The picture he's painting is that of the final battle between God and Satan that has been told from religious leader to religous leader.  This final battle will not only mark the final change of the people but also the victory of either good or evil but the question of how, when, and whom shall this leader be.  That ansewer comes in the last four lines
 That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
nd what rough beast. its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born

"The Second Coming" is here.

"The Voice"

I absolutely love "The Voice"  Hardy just has a way of making the reader feel the sadness and pain that the man feels as his story unfolds through out the poem.  the first line "Women much missed, how you call to me, call to me." I feel is so relatable to anyone who has lost somone so special.  When someone first experiences the loss of somone they can find themselves listening for and hearing the sweet voice they once heard everday of their lives.  The first line in the second stanza is also one that stands out as the man begs the voice to not only speak but to appear as the woman he so longs to see.  The woman he once knew to wait upon his return to town but as it is said within the third stanza reality sets in and the man begins to question whether it truly is the voice of the beloved women "Or is it only the breeze."  As one listens for that special voice reality eventually begins to set in and one must realize that it is the longing to hear the voice that they hear and that they will not appear. The last and final line of the poem ends saying "And the woman calling."  I believe this to be the line of hope for the man and for the reader.  Though one must come to accept the loss of a loved one they can always carry the voice with them in their heart.