...In Sharon Old’s poem, “The Clasp”, we explore a mother's experience through her own eye’s. Weeks in their home causes the mother's emotions to intensify and her daughter’s mistake causes her to erupt. She punishes her daughter but she obviously had regret and was distraught. “The Clasp” uses these characters, tone, and setting/mood to show the theme of how one reflects on their misdoings. In “The Clasp”, mood throughout the story really impacts how it progresses and how the theme forms. This quote, “it has been raining, we had colds, we had been in the apartment two weeks straight”, gives us an idea what’s to come. The setting is cold, dull, and being locked up in their home affects the mom greatly. This sadness and distant isolation surrounding...
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...Darwin Quinde Comp.Lit March 1, 2012 An Essay on love Love is a huge feeling that carries many other emotions along with it. The common theme on the poems “Love one another” by Khalil Gibran, “Meeting at night” by Robert Browning and “If you forget me” by Pablo Neruda is that love is more than just being next to the person that we love. In the three poems we see that love is the main theme but it is presents it in a different point of view in each one. In the poem “love one another” by Khalil Gibran the narrator talks about how individuality is important for relationships. The narrator tells the readers that love shouldn’t be rigid and inflexible in the first line of the poem “Don’t make a bond of love” because it could cause the end of a relationship. The tone of voice in this poem is a little persuasive. The narrator is trying to convince us that doing things together is good for a relationship but there should be things that people should do individuality. For instance, “Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone” demonstrates the narrator’s tone of voice and how people need their own time. The author uses imagery to show how love isn’t just about being together but it is also about knowing how to adapt to different situations in life. A perfect example of it is “Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.” Which demonstrate that love shouldn’t be rigid and not changing but instead passive and changing. The Narrators...
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...Thesis Statement: The poem is a great example of communicative techniques and display of mood. Themes of the poem include man and nature, life and religion to list a few. Because the identity of the poet isn't really entailed in the poem but further investigation on him has given me answers which prove relevant to the poem. Although the setting of the poem isn't explicitly listed in the poem one can get a feel of the setting due to the fact that it was written in 1877 which was in the industrialization era. And all of the themes are strongly conveyed within the poem and descriptive in nature. (1. Themes a. Man and Nature b. Life c. Religion (2. Setting a. Industrialization Era b. 1877 (3. Mood a. Melancholy The poem I choose to discus in my essay is “God’s Grandeur” by Gerald Manley Hopkins, and was first captivated by the form of which the Poem is written in which is an Italian Sonnet. As we delve deeper into the poem we noticed it isn’t subjugated to one theme but has an abundance of themes such as man and nature, life and religion to list a few. In line two of the poem we see that Gerald Manley Hopkins states, “It will flame out, like shining from shook foil,” indicating that once was will eventually flame and cease to exist. We see this happening with nature in our current state will the rapid depletion of many nature resources and the continual decline predicted by experts. Another theme this poem speaks about is life and...
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...Although the poets Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman were alive around the same time, they had different interpretations of death in their poems. Both of the poems, “I heard a fly buzz- when I died” from Emily Dickins and “Song of Myself” from Walt Whitman, express their disparate perspective about the theme of death. In the two poems, the poets also have diverse approaches of conveying their conception of death. Which is either optimistically or depressingly. Consequently, it accentuates the differences of the mood in both poem and style of the authors. Emily Dickinson is most famous for her gloomy poems that illustrate the concept of death. For example, her poem “I heard a fly buzz- when I died” and “After Great Pain, A Formal Feeling Comes”....
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...how is the theme of loss and separation explored in remember, a mother in a refugee camp and poem at thirty nine? The three poems Remember written by Christina Rossetti, A Mother In A Refugee Camp by Chinua Achebe and Poem at Thirty-Nine by Alice Walker share the same theme of loss and separation. Remember explores the pain of losing loved ones. A Mother In A Refugee Camp emphasizes the relationship between a mother and her child living in a refugee camp. Poem at thirty nine is a poem about the reminiscences of a loved one. Remember expresses the pain in losing and letting go of a loved one. This is shown through the techniques of imperatives and contrasts. The first few words said by the speaker are "remember me". This is very effective in expressing the personas demanding tone. This quote can have multiple interpretations such as speaking in a selfish tone or a concerned tone. The usage of ‘remember’ , shows that there is a sense of fear the speaker holds that their lover might forget them too quickly. The title itself consists of this word which shows the power of the word and the entire poem. The speaker at first appeals to her lover to remember her after death, but as the poem progresses she dispels her selfishness. As the poem unfolds the reader understands that there is separation between two lovers. The reason of the separation becomes clearer when "gone far away" is used. This quote conveys the concept of death. The speakers sorrow is stressed by the reappearance...
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...Comparison of the poems “The Flea” and “If we must die” Many authors use images to convey a message from their theme in their work, as well, to enhance the meaning behind their theme. In the poems “The Flea” by John Donne, and “If we must die” by Claude McKay, both authors use images of animals to convey the theme of death, but each poem uses a different approach to death, one being symbolized by two lovers being united through a flea using a metaphor, and the other being introduced by the brutality of a hog’s life by using a persona. John Donne’s “The Flea” is a poem illustrating the metaphor of a flea to represent the sexual act and relations between a man and a woman. Portrayed through the image of the flea, which is made to seem insignificant throughout the poem, the flea goes through a “sex” journey without even knowing it. The poem maintains one speaker until the end, but has two significant characters: the speaker and his lover. While he is trying to convince his female lover to see that her virginity isn’t all that it’s hyped to be, he compares a flea to sex in the process, “It suck'd me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be” (line 3), this quote suggests that the flea has united the two into one. Ultimately by comparing the flea to the bond between his lover and himself, the bond that “is you and I, and this Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is” (line 12), he tries to persuade his lover that if she kills this flea, she will not only...
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...change, people’s viewpoints and themes of literature all change with it. The interpretations of many poems are based upon the measures of the time period in which they were written and often tend to reflect on the time period. A poem’s theme is usually interpreted by not only the plot, but the elaborate diction and language used that contribute to the mood evoked by the poem. Three poems were written in different time periods that all contain a similar theme of “supremacy” are “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning, “I like to see it lap the Miles” by Emily Dickinson, and “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke. Disregards to the dissimilar time periods of these poems, the audience’s comprehension of the theme to each poem will...
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...Leaden Sieves” Thesis: A good example of themed poem is “It Sifts from Leaden Sieves”, written by Emily Dickinson, which has a theme hidden in many metaphors. In this poem, the theme is not explicit and is intertwined with several other minor ideas. I. The figurative language is strongly present in the “It Sifts from Leaden Sieves” poem, and it represents the strongest particularity. A. The poem is filled with metaphor, as most of the descriptions or nouns are this figurative language. 1. The theme of this work, which is snow, is only represented by metaphors, and is never mentioned directly. 2. The metaphors are present throughout the body of the poem, and can be found in every stanza. B. The metaphors point to some other topics related to the supposed narrator’s point of view in a very indirect way. 1. The poem can have multiple meanings for the reader depending on what the audience is looking for. 2. The double meanings of the metaphors work as a riddle. II. The theme of “It Sifts from Leaden Sieves” is the snow, but it also is ambiguous and can lead to different theme interpretations. A. The stanzas by themselves do not picture snow, but when they are put together in one poem they describe snow accurately. 1. The audience may not realize the theme is snow after reading the first time. 2. The snow is described by its effects or by comparison of its similarities with other things by the use of metaphor. B. The theme can be interpreted as a housewife or as nature...
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...simple object in both “This Is Just To Say” and “To a Poor Old Woman” by William Carlos Williams brings great joy to ones within the poem. Both of these poems share many similarities, consisting of similar subjects, tones, themes and imagery. “This Is Just To Say” is a short poem in words, but endless in interpretation. The imagery within this poem is so vivid. As one reads the poem, one’s mind gets flooded with images the words of the poem provide. Vivid pictures of a kitchen, an icebox, and purple plums fill one's mind. The words give the reader a chance to bring the scene to life. One of the subjects in this poem are the plums. The plums were so irresistible, that they tempted the man in the poem to steal and eat them from someone he loved. Eating the plums caused him to have serious guilt, leaving one to infer that whomever he ate them from valued the plums....
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...There are several themes within the language of poetry; from love to divorce, to death and life, to war and worship. The themes of a variety of poems depend on the time and date the poem is written and published as well as what the poet likes and if there are any significant political or societal events happening. Sometimes, themes are easy to analyze and other poems are written in a way that the poet hides the message by using different languages. Death was important to poetry from the medieval times to the 20th century. Poets write about death resulting from being in love, young, and in war. The poems that strongly portray the themes of death over different centuries and cultures that will be analyzed throughout this paper are “Lord Randal”,...
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...his poetry was affected tremendously based on what he endured throughout is life. Frost has a very particular style and form, which is what makes him one of the most beloved poets to ever live. Frost’s themes were also affected from his life occurrences, subsequently he wrote about themes like: death, loneliness and isolation. He also chose to write about the theme of nature in his poetry, some poems having to do with death and sorrow, but he chose to write some of his poetry based on nature (Hollander). Robert Frost wrote his poems based on his life experiences he had in his past. Robert Frost had a specific style that can be found in most of his poems, he includes in his poems, some type of end rhyme. For example in the poem “Now Close the Windows”, he includes end rhyme in the entire poem. Now close the windows and hush all the fields: If the trees must, let them silently toss; No bird is singing now, and if there is, Be it my loss. It will be long ere the marshes resume, I will be long ere the earliest bird: So close the windows and not hear the wind, But see all wind-stirred. (1-8) Frost likes using personification in his poems, like “Now close the windows and hush all the fields,” (3). He uses a lot of personification especially on nature in his poems like in the previous one (Oster). Robert Frost wrote a lot of his poetry with a traditional type of...
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...“Still to be neat, still to be dressed” by Ben Jonson and Delight and Disorder by Robert Herrick are two poems that exemplify similar themes. In “Still to be neat, still to be dressed” the speaker discusses how women portray themselves in an unreal manner. While in Delight and Disorder the speaker implies that there is a sense of beauty in disorder. The theme in “Still to be neat, still to be dressed” is that true beauty occurs when women are natural, and the theme in Delight and Disorder is beauty is most attractive when it is a mess. The two poems illustrate similar themes of beauty, but both use different literary devices to depict this theme. The title of “Still to be neat, still to be dressed” implies to the reader that the poem is written in a neat and organized style. At first glance the poem’s structure appears disorganized, but the arrangement of the poem actually helps explain the theme of beauty. In the first stanza the speaker describes how a lady hides her beauty in the way she puts on makeup and the way she dresses. In the first stanza the speaker goes on to say, “Though art’s hid causes are not found, All is sweet, all is not sound.” The meaning behind these lines is that although women may look like art, what might the makeup be hiding. Then in the second stanza the speaker describes how he/she wishes women would represent themselves. The speaker says, “Robes...
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...that is scary; it is the fact that it is unknown. Emily Dickinson is known for her poems on death. The poem Because I could not stop for Death argues on this topic. According to Dickinson, death is a peaceful experience. She emphasises this theme with the use of style, characters, and imagery. Emily Dickinson uses tender diction, and repetition to emphasise the theme of death being a peaceful experience. In the poem, the reader is continuously bombarded with the peaceful vocabulary. Words such as “kindly,” “slowly,” “civility,” “setting sun” and others are used to make the tone quite mild and smooth. These words provide encouragement to the previously established image in the readers mind. This is significant because it helps emphasize the theme even more. Next, Emily Dickinson uses repetition in her work to help support the theme. She constantly repeats the word “We,” that symbolises the fact that she1 and death are together, with no pain. If there were some sort of tension between the personified death, and the speaker, Emily Dickinson would have used a word that shows separation between the two distinct characters. By using the style of diction and repetition Emily Dickinson supports her theme. There are two (and a minor one)2 major characters in the poem that all share the show the element of peace. The kind characteristics of the speaker, death and the horses’ highlight the theme. From the line “I had put away My labour and my leisure too,” one can understand that...
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...BRADSTREET POEMS NAME INSTITUTIONAL AFFILIATION Anne Bradstreet is one of the renowned poets of all times. Her volume of poetry conveys several themes, values and ideals that revolve around human character and environment where we leave. Bradstreet although never got a chance to attend any school, she received an excellent education from her well read and educated father Thomas Dudley. Bradstreet had a reading from a diverse collection of books stocked by her father who was by then a steward. Her poetic work was loved to the extent that she received several awards. In her poetic work, Bradstreet wrote several poems such as poem entitled; To my dear loving husband, A letter to my her husband, Absent upon public employment, Contemplation, The hunter, the four elements, The plague, Before the birth of her children, In the honor of the High and Mighty and many more which all revolves around several the around the several themes, values and ideals. The central themes, values and ideals that are expressed in her work include puritanism, motherhood, and matrimonial love, the theme of nature, feminism, humility, sickness and death. Bradstreet also employs the metaphoric language in her work of poetry which is relevant in all her poems she wrote. Theme of Matrimonial Love Bradstreet in her poem “To my dear and loving husband” which is one of her most lovely poem centers on her love for her husband, in this poem she brings out the theme of matrimonial love where she writes on how...
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...In the poem, "Sympathy" by Paul Laurence Dunbar and the poem "Caged Bird" by Maya Angelou the theme is freedom. The authors writings are similar but not quite the same. These two poems are similar and different in many ways because they share the same theme but the authors convey differently. "Caged Bird" and "Sympathy are very similar poems. In both poems the man character are birds. "I know why the caged bird sings." (Dunbar 21) " The caged bird sings"( Angelou 15) Both birds are being tantalized by where the poems are taking place, and are pouring their feelings about freedom into songs. Also, the theme in both poems is freedom. "... he would be free" (Dunbar 17) "sings of freedom"(Angelou 21) In both poems the main theme is freedom and the cage is a symbol of an internal or external conflict. The two poems may be similar but Dunbar conveys being caged and wanting freedom in his own way. In Dunbar's poem the bird is beating its wings and is physically hurting itself. " When his wings is bruised and his bosom is sore/ When he beats his bars"(Dunbar 12-13) The bird is really trying to get out of its confinement and is willing to hurt itself to achieve it. In "Sympathy" the bird isn't singing with joy. "Not a carol of joy or glee/ But a plea, the upward to heaven he flings."(Dunbar 18-20) The...
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