Thursday, October 14, 2010
"Edward" ~by Anonymous
This poem is structured as a mother and son speaking to each other. The speaker is clearly very upset about something which can be seen in the repetition of the word "O" at the beginning and end of many lines. The poem begins following a pattern of the mother asking the son what he has done. Each time the son responds with a lie until he finally admits that he killed his father. The mother reacts oddly to this news. One would expect her to be surprised or upset because her son just murdered her husband; however, she reacts by simply jumping into more questions. All of her questions are related to inheritance which reveals her motive. The last line came as a shock to me at the revelation that the mother encouraged her son to kill her husband. "The curse of hell from me shall ye bear, such counsels you gave to me, O." (line 56) In addition, the way the son speaks about his parents shows how he feels toward them. His calls his dad "my father dear" which shows that he cares about him. However, he refused to call his mother "my own mother dear" and only calls her "Mother, Mother;" this shows their distanced relationship.
"Lonely Hearts" ~by Wendy Cope
(#17)
This poem is in the form of a villanelle. It is a set of stanzas that each present a similar situation. The poem is structured similar to personal advertisements as people search for someone to be in their life. Although there are multiple different speakers and various types of people, they all have something in common. They all demonstrate the universal longing and pain people feel about being alone and longing for someone else. Each person presents a different case; however, they all end with either "Do you live in North London? Is it you?" or "Can someone make my simple wish come true?". These lines create a sense of irony. The descriptions each person gives are not actually simple at all. Although they are addressed toward anyone, they each want something very specific and difficult to find.
This poem is in the form of a villanelle. It is a set of stanzas that each present a similar situation. The poem is structured similar to personal advertisements as people search for someone to be in their life. Although there are multiple different speakers and various types of people, they all have something in common. They all demonstrate the universal longing and pain people feel about being alone and longing for someone else. Each person presents a different case; however, they all end with either "Do you live in North London? Is it you?" or "Can someone make my simple wish come true?". These lines create a sense of irony. The descriptions each person gives are not actually simple at all. Although they are addressed toward anyone, they each want something very specific and difficult to find.
"Death, be not proud" ~by John Donne
(#17)
The poem is a set of three quatrains followed by a couplet. The poem is also in direct address to death. In lines 5-8 "From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, much pleasure - then, from thee much more must flow," the speaker is says that death is not dreadful. A comparison is created between sleep and death. The speaker believes that death will be pleasant like sleep only more so. In lines 9-12 "Thou art a slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, and dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell; and poppy or charms can make us sleep as well, and better than thy stroke," the speaker says that death is not powerful. They believe that death will be a brief moment followed by the afterlife where they live eternally. However, the tone of the speaker is one of a man desperately trying to convince himself that there is nothing to fear in death. His uncertainty can be seen in the contradicting viewpoints the speaker makes. First, they say that death is more than sleep, but then they say that death is not strong. The poem is written in an argumentative style as the speaker tries to reassure himself about death.
The poem is a set of three quatrains followed by a couplet. The poem is also in direct address to death. In lines 5-8 "From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, much pleasure - then, from thee much more must flow," the speaker is says that death is not dreadful. A comparison is created between sleep and death. The speaker believes that death will be pleasant like sleep only more so. In lines 9-12 "Thou art a slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, and dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell; and poppy or charms can make us sleep as well, and better than thy stroke," the speaker says that death is not powerful. They believe that death will be a brief moment followed by the afterlife where they live eternally. However, the tone of the speaker is one of a man desperately trying to convince himself that there is nothing to fear in death. His uncertainty can be seen in the contradicting viewpoints the speaker makes. First, they say that death is more than sleep, but then they say that death is not strong. The poem is written in an argumentative style as the speaker tries to reassure himself about death.
"That time of year" ~by William Shakespeare
(#12)
This poem is a sonnet containing three quatrains followed by a couplet. The first quatrain describes fall. The second quatrain creates a description for twilight. The third quatrain describes a fire. These three things all share something similar; they are all ending, but they have not yet reached the end. This is symbolic of a man who is nearing death, but has not passed away yet. Another comparison made between the quatrains is that the objects they describe progressively get shorter. While fall lasts for a few months, twilight lasts for a few hours, and a fire lasts for only a few minutes to an hour. In addition, while fall and twilight both repeat, once a fire ends it cannot be brought back. This is symbolic of death; once someone has died they are gone forever and cannot return. Also, the line "That on the ashes of youth doth lie as a deathbed whereon it must expire, consumed with that which it was nourished by" contains a paradox. It means that the ashes that once nourished the fire now consume it. Although this may seem contradictory, it makes sense when thought about. This is symbolic that by living life, one is inevitably dying. This is the paradoxical truth of life.
This poem is a sonnet containing three quatrains followed by a couplet. The first quatrain describes fall. The second quatrain creates a description for twilight. The third quatrain describes a fire. These three things all share something similar; they are all ending, but they have not yet reached the end. This is symbolic of a man who is nearing death, but has not passed away yet. Another comparison made between the quatrains is that the objects they describe progressively get shorter. While fall lasts for a few months, twilight lasts for a few hours, and a fire lasts for only a few minutes to an hour. In addition, while fall and twilight both repeat, once a fire ends it cannot be brought back. This is symbolic of death; once someone has died they are gone forever and cannot return. Also, the line "That on the ashes of youth doth lie as a deathbed whereon it must expire, consumed with that which it was nourished by" contains a paradox. It means that the ashes that once nourished the fire now consume it. Although this may seem contradictory, it makes sense when thought about. This is symbolic that by living life, one is inevitably dying. This is the paradoxical truth of life.
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