¶ … Sonnet: Shakespeare's Sonnet 129
I selected this sonnet because it is different from typical sonnets in that it is so angry. Shakespeare is writing not about love but about lust and the awful consequences it can bring to one who submits to it. It is also very graphic but in a subtle and elegant way, such as in the line ("the expense of spirit in a waste of shame"). Shakespeare's conclusion about lust is that while it is fun ("the heaven") it is also bad for one's physical and spiritual health ("this hell"). To me, this poem is a big warning sign to keep control of the passions.
1 Sound Poem: Hugo Ball's "Gadji beri bimba"
This poem is about how words are just sounds, noise, without meaning. It is a Dada poem. Dada is an art movement that satirized the very concept of art. Thus, Ball writes a poem that is just babble -- baby sounds. Dada is a good joke, but this should not be considered poetry -- that's demeaning to poetry and real poets. Ball and the Dadaists are jokesters. I only chose this poem because the name Hugo Ball sounded nice.
1 Concrete Poem: George...
It is a poem about the heart being an altar to God. Herbert was an Anglican priest and his spirituality resonates in this poem. It is a little too country priest-ish for me though and perhaps a little too cute. Considering that England was full of "broken altars" at this time and full of real spilled blood, this poem's cute factor becomes more irritating. Perhaps if it weren't a concrete poem, it might be more tolerable.
1 Poem about Death: Emily Dickenson's "I Heard a Fly Buzz -- When I Died"
Emily Dickinson does what Herbert doesn't: she gets to the heart of things in a real, mature, heart-felt way without having to get cute about it. Dickinson explores the topic of death and despair in this poem and anyone can relate to it who has ever had concerns about dying or the afterlife or faith in God or confidence in one's self. To me, the poem is about the fear of being on the verge of eternity and suddenly being overwhelmed by doubt and losing faith. "I could not see to see" -- this is a powerful line…
Poetry analysis "True Love" Wislawa Szymborska "Acquainted Night" Robert Frost Wislawa Szymborska's "True Love" Wislawa Szymborska's poem "True Love" is initially likely to induce feelings related to simplicity and to the overall impression that love is overrated. However, upon second reading and a more in-depth analysis, one is probable to discover that the poet was concerned about putting across a more complex message -- one that relates to the benefits of love
The horse race that Bukowski remarks upon as meaningless acts as a metaphor for life in general. We are all racing to win, but against the light of eternity, what does any of it mean. Are there any winners in life? This defeatist thinking is something everyone does; it is something that I have done, but when I step back and see that for myself the horse race is
" (lines 20-21) the journalist, the activist... must be the observer and not make the news. Lastly the point-of-view of the unnamed dead, "enemy" whose ears were cut off to use an example of cruelty and to elicit fear, "Some of the ears on the floor/caught this scrap of his voice. Some of the ears on / the floor were pressed to the ground." (lines 31-33) Perhaps the ears were
For this, I found it to be quite interesting. With hints of rhyme, the progression of the tale expresses something dark, which is constantly eluded after the depiction of undesired ash. This poem altered in mere few, subtle absences and additions with the revised edition. Both poems provoke an interest as to what the main issue and dilemma remains for the poet. It progresses smoothly without escaping the vestige
Poetry That Grabs Your Attention I agree with you that poetry, by virtue of its compressed form, needs to grab the reader's attention immediately in the way that prose does not. While readers of a novel might be willing to read a book for thirty or so pages if they are assured that the action will eventually 'pick up,' a poem needs to use intense images and arresting language from the
Poetry by Knight and Groddeck There are facets of Etheridge Knight's poem, "A Wasp Woman Visits a Black Junkie in Prison" that both participate in a dying tradition as posited by Groddeck and which also attest to a variation of the notion of democracy -- which is far from ideal. In that respect, one can successfully defend the notion that this work of the author actually embraces more of the former