"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.