No matter the circumstances, the white mentality will always surface. This idea is is explore in Sharon Olds' poem “On the Subway.” In this poem, a character describes her inner thoughts upon meeting a young black man. She exposes the reality of the conditions a young black man faces and the prejudice that renders them powerless against their own ethics and morals. The author uses diction, syntax, and point of view to convey the protagonist's inner thoughts and their reliability.…
In the many different types of literature, poetry offers us the most compelling insights into personal and public issues. Instead of all the typical topics that poets have used, Australian poet Bruce Dawe uses aspects of his varied and interesting past to express to us the public and private issues of his life. Since he had lived a life full of different occupations, lifestyles and situations, he uses poetic techniques and language to encompass us into his life, two examples being the poems “Home coming” and “Drifters” In the poem “Homecoming”, Bruce Dawe uses a variety of language techniques and imagery to portray his personal point of view towards the war in Vietnam. Its journey depicts the futility of war and the devastations upon human individuals and or the society as a whole.…
Language can also effect people’s emotions everyday. Although these three themes are present in each interpretation there are unique points in the pieces as well. Language is an essential part of human life, it is how…
I like this poem because of the existential themes that Edward Hirsch tackles, such as: mortality, divinity, temporality, and individuality. I can see all the images that the author describes, and feel that I am a part of the poem, too. Even though it is a short poem, it can transmit so many emotions. I think that this poem is about an old man in a wheelchair (“Wheel me down to the shore”), who feels that he is about to die.…
In the poem “The White Judges” by Marilyn Dumont, the speaker is aware of how she and her Indigenous family are consistently being judged by the primarily white population. The poem juxtaposes the family with the encircling colonialists who wait to demean and assimilate the group. Consequently, the family faces the pressures of being judged for their cultural practices, resulting in a sense of shame and guilt. Dumont’s use of prose and lyrical voice distinctly highlights the theme of being judged by white society. Her integration of figurative language enhances the Indigenous tradition and cultural practices throughout the poem.…
“The Firstborn” is a free verse poem, a name first used to describe the movement in French poetry in the late nineteenth century aiming to free poetry from the strict conventions of rhyme and rhythm. Traditional rhythm is abandoned and is replaced by natural rhythm and cadences of ordinary speech, so the flow of the verse rises and falls at random as do the poet’s thoughts and emotions thus enabling the reader to relate to the topic. There are three stanzas in the poem with a rhyming pattern of abab, and four lines in each stanza. The use of rhyme, such as “sighing” and “crying”, allows the reader to have a connection to the poem via their memory, rather than just by reading the words on the page alone. Repetition is mostly used in the first stanza to highlight the main idea of the poem.…
There is a disconnect between real life and what we see in the movies and television about Hawaii. Whether it’s the people, places or things that attracts us to its concept, many inevitably end up not satisfying their curiosity. Alison Luterman’s poem “ On Not lying to Hawaii” uses various poetic devices and strategies to critique modern life that is focused on the ideal. There is a constant stream of examples that describe lives that seek fulfillment.…
She offers sympathy to the monarch, Louis XVI, “whose only crime was being born a monarch” (Smith, 1793). She shows understanding for how the monarchy was and that it was an institution of tradition and that it was expected from many levels that the king and queen were to be and do what they were doing. But they were still humans, persons, who did not deserve to be treated so brutally just because they were doing what they were born to do. She starts off the poem by being nostalgic about looking over the beautiful landscapes of her home country, but now the view does not make her happy anymore. She associates the landscape with the people of the country who have been hostile in the situation of French refugees and been reluctant to welcome them and help them.…
John Frederick Nims’ “Love Poem” is a poem describing someone he loves. The first line of the poem, “My clumsiest dear, whose hands shipwreck vases”, at first may be interpreted as the start of some form of insult. This line also intrigues the reader to continue and explore what Nims has to say about his “dear”. Though the poem begins by depicting some negative attributes that his love possesses, Nims doesn’t forget to describe her positive attributes, “Only with words and people and love you move at ease”. Overall the poem uses different elements of poetry to portray the idea that although his “dear” has many imperfect qualities, he loves her despite of them all.…
“My Son, My Executioner” Analysis “My Son, My Executioner” is a poem written by Donald Hall. It has a very distinctive theme of new life and impending death. As the poem unfolds, piece by piece, it becomes obvious how the author adores his newborn son, but also feels as though he is a sign of growing older. The author exhibits a number of different literary elements throughout the poem to help explain his intended message and meaning.…
Wulf and Eadwacer: They are One One of the most intriguing mysteries about “Wulf and Eadwacer” is whether or not it is designed to portray a specific plot and a fixed set of characters or is it created to have numerous scenarios derived by its audience. Found in the Exeter Book preceding a section of riddles has led many scholars to believe that this poem’s anonymous author intends for it to have a ”cryptic quality” and be ambiguous (Jones 373). Several varied interpretations of the plot include an adulteress woman longing for her lover, a mother mourning the loss of her son, a woman longing for the return of her husband or lover, and a canine love story, but they all must make unsubstantiated assumptions about the original text to fit their…
“Love is Not All” is a sonnet written by Edna St. Vincent Millay regarding a personal message directing the question of value and intensity of genuine love. This fourteen-line sonnet exploits both Shakespearean and Petrarchan sonnet designs. In most Shakespearean sonnets, the turn takes place between the twelfth and thirteenth lines, but the turn in “Love is Not All” does not. Millay’s poem shows a turn after the octave (happens in Petrarchan sonnets), making it a split into two cases or topics. The first eight lines, or octave, introduces that love is not all it is sought out to be, whereas the last six lines, or the sestet, shows a new thought and the speaker’s feelings regarding love.…
The two translations of the poem “Some People Like Poetry”, written by Wislawa Szymborska, each create the tone of the poem differently through chosen diction, including the use of repetition and speaker versus the absence, resulting in a divide of both clear and opaque meaning of the analysis Szymborska tries to convey through the process of questioning. The poem “Some People Like Poetry” is focused around the theme of questioning: not only the idea of enjoying something, but the definition of poetry itself. Szymborska grapples with the idea of the unknown as she asks rhetorical questions reflected in both translations, “But what is poetry anyway? (trans.…
Explore the isolation and resilience of the characters in W H Audens ‘Refugee Blues’? In this essay I will be analysing the poem ‘Refugee Blues’. This poem was written by W H Auden. This poem was written in the year of 1939, 1939 is the year World War 2 started.…
I have decided to analyze the poetic devices and the purpose of the lyrics “The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel. This song is based around the idea that people are unable to communicate with their own species because of advanced technology and media which is symbolized by the “neon god” in the song. It shows us that people strongly believe in celebrities, wealth, and media that they silence a simple, beautiful world, underneath them. The author, Simon intends to make the world realize that people are unwilling to let go of this superficial world and “disturb the sounds of silence" because they strongly accept what is around them. The narrator wants people to look beyond their ignorance and recognize what is around them but his efforts…