When you are tasked with writing a poetry analysis essay you will have to discuss the details about how the language used in the poem contributes to the overall meaning of the poem. You will be graded more than likely on how well you can identify poetic devices such as meter and imagery as well as metaphor.
In addition, the exam will feature five “excerpts” from your work, which will be written as essays instead of poems. These excerpts can be used as the basis for your final essay, or it can be used to supplement your writing.
Each of the excerpts will be assigned a grade of 3 out of five, and these five excerpts provide important context to what you should know before finishing.
Finally, your final essay, on one of the five excerpts, will be evaluated in two parts. The first part will focus on the overall meaning and implications of the poem while the second will detail how you can further expand upon the poem via a further examination of its literary context.
These two parts allow you to examine your essay further, as well as how the poem has influenced your work. The latter two elements will be evaluated again on your CSCS essay on Monday 1 January – which may affect the rest of your coursework or even your academic career.
The speakers in “A Stone’s Throw” and “The Woman Who Speaks To The Man Who Has Employed Her Son” both have different perspectives on women. Each poem employs literary devices to display the speakers’ attitudes towards women. In “A Stone’s Throw”, for example, a group of self-righteous men wanted to stone an indecent prostitute when … Read more
In “Richard Cory,” Robinson tells the story of a man who seems to have everything going for him, but who nonetheless kills himself. The poem was written in 1897, and Simon and Garfunkel later wrote a song by the same name based on the poem. The song Richard Cory is about a man that everybody … Read more
Langston Hughes was an African American writer who is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance. “Theme For English B” is a short poem that addresses the issue of racism in America. The poem centers around the speaker’s experience as a black student in a predominantly white college. Despite the challenges he faces, … Read more
This poem is about a boy who makes a lanyard for his mother. The poem reflects on the act of giving and how it can be more important than the gift itself. The poem begins with the boy creating the lanyard. He is focused on making it perfect for his mother. He takes pride in … Read more
Robert Graves was an English poet, translator, and novelist. He is best known for his historical novels The White Goddess and I, Claudius. He also wrote the popular poetry collections The Golden Fleece and Count Belisarius. “Symptoms of Love” is a poem from Robert Graves’ collection The White Goddess. The poem is about the speaker’s … Read more
On The Subway is a poem by Sharon Olds. This poem is about the speaker’s experience riding on a subway train. The speaker describes the other passengers on the train, and how they are all connected in some way. The speaker also reflects on her own life and how she is connected to these other … Read more
Marge Piercy’s Barbie Doll poem is a searing critique of the Barbie doll and its impact on young girls. Barbie is presented as an unrealistic ideal that girls are encouraged to aspire to, but can never attain. The poem reflects the insecurity and self-doubt that many girls feel as they compare themselves to Barbie’s impossibly … Read more
Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” is a poem that is rich in symbolism. The title itself is symbolic of the speaker’s message: do not meekly accept death, but rather fight against it. The poem is structured around six stanzas, each representing a different stage in life. The first stanza talks … Read more
Edgar Allan Poe’s “A Dream Within a Dream” is a poem about the nature of reality and perception. The speaker in the poem reflects on how time seems to move differently when one is in a dream. They also question whether dreams are real or just an illusion. The poem begins with the speaker asking … Read more
“Mother to Son” is a poem by Langston Hughes that was first published in 1922. The poem is written in the voice of a mother talking to her son about life and its challenges. The poem is a metaphor for the journey of life, and the speaker encourages her son to keep going despite the … Read more
“To An Athlete Dying Young” is a poem about the death of a young athlete. The poem reflects on the fleeting nature of life and how death can come suddenly and unexpectedly. The poem also explores the idea that death may be a blessing in disguise, as it allows the athlete to avoid the pain … Read more
Karl Shapiro’s “Auto Wreck” is a poem about a car accident. The speaker in the poem describes the scene of the accident, and the aftermath. The poem ends with the speaker reflecting on the event, and its potential significance. “Auto Wreck” is a powerful poem that speaks to the fragility of life, and the importance … Read more
A study of Reading Habits is a poem by Philip Larkin that explores the idea of how reading habits can change over time. The poem begins with the speaker talking about how, as a child, he used to love reading poetry. However, as he got older, his interests changed and he began to read more … Read more
The Whipping is a poem by Robert Hayden. The poem tells the story of a boy who is whipped by his mother. The boy’s mother is angry at him for playing with a white girl. The boy’s father tries to stop the whipping, but the mother continues. The boy’s mother eventually stops and the boy … Read more
Mary Oliver’s poem “Singapore” is a beautiful poem about the city of Singapore. In the poem, Oliver describes the city as a place of great beauty and wonder. She writes about the city’s many different cultures and how they come together to create a unique and vibrant place. The poem is a celebration of the … Read more
Jimmy Santiago Baca is an American poet who is known for his work about the immigrant experience. One of his most famous poems, “Coming Into Language”, tells the story of a young boy who is struggling to learn English in school. The poem explores the child’s frustration and confusion as he tries to make sense … Read more
Edward Taylor’s poem “A FIgg For The Oh Death” is a haunting and powerful exploration of death. The poem centers around the speaker’s fear of death, and their attempts to rationalize and come to terms with their own mortality. The poem is both dark and hopeful, offering a unique perspective on death and what comes … Read more
Golden Retrievals is a poem by Mark Doty. The poem is about a golden retriever who loves to fetch things. The speaker in the poem is the dog, and he talks about how he loves to retrieve things for his owner. The speaker in Hawk Roosting is the hawk itself. The hawk is talking about … Read more
Kamau Brathwaite’s poem “South” is a beautiful and powerful piece that speaks to the human experience in a way that is both relatable and unique. The poem explores the concept of home, and how it can be both a physical place and an emotional state. Brathwaite’s use of language and imagery creates a vivid picture … Read more
Anne Bradstreet’s “Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House” Anne Bradstreet was a prolific poet and writer, who is considered to be one of the early pioneers of American literature. Her poem “Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House” is a perfect example of her rhyming style and ability … Read more
The poem “In Japan Beyond” by Yone Noguchi, talks about the issue of immigration that goes on in America. It deals with the struggle all immigrants have when they leave their homeland to venture off to a new land in hopes for finding opportunity and a better lifestyle; which can summarize the situation for many … Read more
Malala Yousafzai once said, “I raise up my voice—not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard… we cannot succeed when half of us are held back”. This quote depicts the audacious voyage of one of the most influential poets, with a focus on woman’s empowerment, Anna Laetitia Barbarald. … Read more
Tolkien has experienced a resurgence of interest in the last two decades-in a large part thanks to Peter Jackson’s film adaptations of both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. However I do not wish to look at the movies, or indeed at any of Tolkien’s more prevalent work. I wish to focus on … Read more
Linda Pastan’s poem “To a Daughter Leaving Home” tells the story of when a little girl first learned how to ride her bike while her parent watched over her. The poem is written from the parent’s perspective so it can, therefore, show the parent’s thoughts and inner conflict with the daughter learning how to ride … Read more
In “Cold in The Earth”, Emily Bronte seeks to explore the dramatic psychological journey of losing a loved one. Bronte emphasises the speakers’ inner struggle and pain which she attempts to overcome throughout the poem as well as demonstrating the stages required to reconcile herself to the truth. Bronte also analyses the dualistic thoughts whereby … Read more
I have chosen Emily Dickinson’s poems, “Hope”, “Faith”, “Nature” and “Heaven”. Emily Dickinson was born in 1830 and died in 1886. Her family was highly educated and very well known in the New England area. Her father started Amherst College. Emily Dickinson was very reclusive and left school when she was a teenager. Emily lived … Read more
[Slide 1] Edith Sitwell was a British poet whose writing was looked favorably upon by many prominent authors and poets of the 1920’s. Her poetry, which was influenced by her life as a child, evolved exponetially over the years. In her final period of poetry, Edith Sitwell formed her writing around “traditional values, spiritual matters, … Read more
Alexander Isayevich Solzhenitsyn once said “Literature transmits incontrovertible condensed experience… from generation to generation. In this way literature becomes the living memory of a nation. ” Literature was not created “in a vacuum. ” Literature was created in an open environment, it expands and reaches places that not everyone believes it will. Literature is made … Read more
William Blake’s “Little Girl Lost” exposes authority for being predators that feast on those who lack power in order to urge the vulnerable to break the cycle of power and realize the danger around them. The images of the lion and the beasts illustrate the negative power-mongering qualities authority figures possess while the image of … Read more
Randall Jarrell’s poem “A Lullaby” has both a glaringly bleak and starkly literal tone; it evokes despair about war and human society altogether. Set in an unclear place and time, the poem tells the story of a soldier who has sacrificed everything to fight for his country, and describes his insignificant life and death with … Read more
In Elizabeth Browning’s novel Aurora Leigh, while it becomes an endeavor for Aurora to defy what modern society considers normal for women, her hopes are repressed by her aunt and cousin as they insist she take on the role of a proper “angel in the house”. Though her own family makes an effort to stifle … Read more
“War is the best thing in the world,” said no sane or knowledgeable person, ever. Whatever reasons there are to go to war, such as benefiting or protecting the way of life, the outcome is inevitably devastating. War affects not only the people intimately involved who are in combat, but also civilians who live near … Read more
World War I’s powerful and long lasting impact affected people all over the world. A significant figure from the literature of World War I, Wilfred Owen, expressed his powerful thoughts on the war in his writing. Owen had experience in the war as a soldier himself which made him particularly noteworthy. He noted many hardships … Read more
Beowulf, an epic poem takes place around 500 AD. Many of the characters in the poem, the Swedish and Danish royal family members, correspond to actual historical figures. Originally pagan warriors, the Anglo-Saxon, and Scandinavian invaders experienced a large-scale conversion to Christianity at the end of the sixth century. Though still an old pagan story, … Read more
A metaphor is defined as being “the transfer of a quality or attribute from one thing or idea to another in such a way as to imply some resemblance between two things or ideas” . The key features of metaphor ranges from exaggeration and extension to the resemblance and connection between ideas within the poem, … Read more
Mark Twain, toward the end of his life, was characterized as . . . speaking candidly in his last years but still with a vitality and ironic detachment that kept his work from being merely the fulminations of an old and angry man. 1 Growing up around slavery, discrimination, and loss, Mark Twain was bombarded … Read more
The act of masterfully capturing an audience’s attention to gaze upon a piece of artwork and feel a sense an interest, is achieved as artist’s endorse the role of crafting unprecedented work with the use of conventional materials. This notion will be explored through use of the following artists: Pablo Picasso a Spanish cubist, Marcel … Read more
Line 1: No worst, there is none. Pitched past pitch of grief, For an overworked and alienated priest, Gerard Manley Hopkins was able to exert an immense amount of creativity during and memorable lines into his poem ‘No worst, there is none. ’, as its named in short. Let’s begin the analysis right away at … Read more
Another poem by Philips called, “To the truly competent Judge of Honour”, genuinely goes in-depth in the trials and tribulations of the abuse of a women’s honor in everyday situations. The whole reason Philips wrote this poem was to provide damage control to her friends on a rumor that J. J. started. Philips begins by … Read more
Working has become part of the norm in today’s society for both men and women in the American culture. People waste so much of their life and time in their occupation, that it seems that is the only part of their life that is significant. Jobs revolve around the world and people are so caught … Read more
The speaker of Emily Dickinson’s “I started Early – Took my Dog -” dramatizes the conflict between nature and man. The speaker dramatizes her need to unite with nature, but with the ever present reluctance of humanity, by describing a scene in which she is friendly with the ocean and they both yearn for each … Read more
Although The Poem of The Cid was written during the Spanish crusades, The Cid could not be further from the heroic crusader ideal, as established, for example, in The Song of Roland. Roland was so passionate, so convinced of the rightness of his beliefs that he was willing to demonstrate all of his heroic qualities … Read more
How cool is your grandmother? Nikki Giovanni, Gary Soto, and Lorna Dee Cervantes share poems with their audience about their grandmothers and the lessons they have been taught. Throughout the year as we grow most of our grandparents get to see us change into the person we are today. “Lord these children”, Grandparents do not … Read more
Changes in a poet’s life often impact the topics of their writing, but a poet’s unique tone can survive the transformations. Ogden Nash, a New Yorker born in 1902 grew up in several cities and towns along the East Coast of the U. S. Nash left his job as a copywriter and editor relatively early … Read more
How are injuries and their effects explored in the poems Disabled by Wilfred Owen and Out, Out by Robert Frost? “Out, Out” and “Disabled” both represent physical injuries and their effects in several ways. Robert Frost and Wilfred Owen both show the consequences of injuries, for example they demonstrate how injuries caused physical pain due … Read more
“My Mistress Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun” is William Shakespeare’s 130th sonnet. It follows the traditional sonnet style that many of Shakespeare’s poem incorporate. The sonnet is 14 lines long and has an ababcdcdefefgg rhyme scheme as do many of Shakespeare’s famous works. Lines 1 and 3 rhyme sun and dun, lines 2 and … Read more
Various Perspectives: Manet’s Bar at the Folies-Bergere Manet’s Bar at the Folies-Bergere effectively speaks volumes without requiring words, or even a detailed analysis by professionals. With anything longer than a quick glance, the viewer can extract from the painting an air of boredom, separation, and perhaps even contempt. The composition of the painting pulls us … Read more
The poem “Titanic” by David R. Slavitt is related to one of the most significant yet terrible point in time, of the world shipbuilding. David R. Slavitt, goes into great description in order to help the reader imagine the terrifying situation. The author creates a unique impression of power and money, but shifts gears to … Read more
The Relationship Between Dickinson and Higginson Emily Dickinson’s poetry expresses her feelings of love and life which seemed so different then how her life really was. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a literary friend, gave insight into who Emily Dickinson was as a poet from his correspondence through written communication with Miss Dickinson, and a personal meeting … Read more
We only see what we are shown but not what the soldiers know. The theme “People in power lie to persuade civilians to do their their dirty work without them knowing the true aftermath of war”, is seen evidently throughout the four texts I have chosen. The song Hero of War by Rise Against, the … Read more
As an advocate for individuality, E. E. Cummings flooded pages with his thoughts and transformed traditional poetry into his own. Varying from topics of love to death, Cummings never restricted himself with strict rules, but rather expressed his feelings through innovative poems. He often included aspects of nature into his poems to express its ever-changing … Read more
Poetry, whether written in 1877 or 1922, has a brilliant effect of diving into one’s mind and unfolding latent meanings that otherwise remain undiscovered (Browning and Cousin 242-243, 331). Coming from two opposite worlds, Gerard Hopkins and Robert Frost have both left their imprints on the universal galaxy of poetry. “Pied Beauty” written by Hopkins … Read more
In his poem, “Rwandan Genocide,” William Cheesman states, “all the shouts every night, screams of pain, screams of fright, screams for mercy, to see morning’s light, to pardon them and to stop this fight. ” Illustrated in the poem is the general perspective of a victim facing genocide, the pain is incomprehensible, and the urgency … Read more
many people can recreate what life was like in a Spanish speaking, neighborhood, barrio, like Gary Soto. Gary Soto was born in Fresno, California to working-class Mexican-American parents in 1952. Soto’s father died when he was 5 years old from a work accident. Soto used this tragedy to help him write later on in life. … Read more
Shelley and Rilke use contrasting syntax to describe the impact of environment on a child’s development. Whereas structure provides a child with basic social skills, a child in an unstructured environment does not learn these skills and consequently faces problems communicating with others as he grows up. In his poem, Rilke favors short, commanding sentences, … Read more
Both “Tears in Sleep” by Louise Bogan and “Shoeing the Currach” by Mary O’Malley are short, but intense poems. “Tears in Sleep” is one stanza that is composed of nine lines. “Shoeing the Currach” is three stanzas. The first stanza is five lines, the second stanza is five lines, and the third stanza is three … Read more
Through the literary techniques of personification, paradox and imagery of simple experiences or objects, Jane Hirshfield manages to simplify the complex emotions and ideas within society by utilizing symbolisms of everyday items and experiences to convey her perceptions about nature and regrets in life as well as analyze the complexity of one’s identity. Perhaps Hirshfield’s … Read more
Jimmy Santiago Baca’s A Place to Stand shows the change Baca goes through while in prison for six and a half years. With several charges of drug possession, no one believed he would be a better person. However, through the power of poetry, he managed to become an incredible writer, he was able to come … Read more
To live is to die; this is the message both poems convey, a somber reminder that without death there cannot be life, and without ignorance there cannot be knowledge. These poems represent a duality of two opposing forces, akin to how shadows are born by light, and how change will always be a positively and … Read more
Thomas Sterns Eliot, an influential poet and literary critic that caused massive change with his work in social and cultural theory. According to the article “T. S. Eliot” in Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Elliot had such a unique view on the social and political world that he was able to create many works of art that … Read more
Content Summary The book, The Great Divorce, was written in 1945 by C. S. Lewis. Lewis wrote the book as a response to William Blake’s book, Marriage of Heaven and Hell. In many ways, it is a refutation of Blake’s book; there is no marriage of heaven and hell. The book begins in a sad, … Read more
A soldier’s suffering holds no refrain from anyone, no matter what title or identity they have. In both the worlds of soldiers in those in the poem entitled “losses” by Randall Jarrell and at Devon school in “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles, there are several relationships that they share. Both center around the lives … Read more
Everyone grows up, leaving their childhood and their old life behind. When this happens, they will often look back on those happy times fondly, remembering how easy and nice it all was. In Theodore Roethke’s poem, “My Papa’s Waltz”, the speaker does just this. Nostalgically, he reflects upon a time when his father would waltz … Read more
What goes through your mind when you read a poem? What is the message that the author implements into their writing? Well, the two prominent poems that need further explanations towards these questions are “Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas and “Love is not all” by Edna St. Vincent Millay. … Read more
The Paper Fan is a piece of art that in its time has been in the presence of princesses, ninjas, and college students. Taking on several roles both in an imaginary and reality. Each experience aging the paper that stretched across bamboo frame. Opening it reveals a water color and ink print covering the face … Read more
Text Response: War Poetry Dulce et Decorum est by Wilfred Owen and Homecoming by Bruce Dawe are about the disaster of war, yet they speak of different wars with different mindsets of the soldiers. In the following essay I discuss the history behind the poems, the poetic devices that Owen and Dawe used. Each poem … Read more
Meghan Giudice Exercise I – Observation and Mediated Technology (September 30th 3. Reflect on how the medium you used to document your subject impacts your overall message (how the form is integral to the meaning) as well as respond to the following questions in a one-page reflection paper: The medium I used to document my … Read more
I grew up on a ship. Not a cruise ship, and not a houseboat or a yacht; the MV Logos II was a converted car ferry that sold books and did aid work around the world. My family moved aboard for four years when I was ten. It’s a singular experience; very few people can … Read more
In Osip Mandelstam’s poem numbered “300”, and in Marina Tsvetaeva’s poem “you loved me” both speakers are struggling with a loss of love. For Tsvetaeva’s speaker, the loss stems directly from a love built in a relationship and partner and the sudden feeling of betrayal and loss. For Mandelstam’s speaker however, the loss of love … Read more
Through her poem, “Some Say Plants Don’t Speak”, Rosalia De Castro stressed the importance of respecting the natural world. She was a Spanish writer and heavily influenced the people of that culture. She believed that for a person o really connect with themselves, they should listen to what nature has to say through its naturalness. … Read more
It all begins with a blank canvas, copious amounts of emotion and insight, and a sixth sense. These are the elements needed to get started on Jair’s philosophy of life and to better comprehend his ideology you will feel what he feels and know what he knows, I am deprecating and collecting dust like furniture … Read more
“Society does not consist of individuals but expresses the sum of interrelations , the relations within which these individuals stand” by Karl Marx. The poem “Pull the Next One Up” by Marc Smith expresses that same quote with the reader as a mountain climber reaching the top of a mountain roped together with countless others. … Read more
Death is a very serious topic something we all must deal with. People all choose to deal with it in the different ways. Poets like to tackle this subject in their own unique ways. The two contrasting portrayals of death could not be further on further realms from the spectrum. “The Vacuum” by Howard Nemerov … Read more
Through the hot, cloudless days in the back of North Queensland there is always something beside the sun watching you from the sky. Over the line of the hills or above the long stretches of plains, a black dot swings round and round: and its circles rise slowly or fall slowly, or simply remain at … Read more
How does your culture influence the way you look at the world and others? A person’s culture always influences the way they see the world and others. The Literary texts “My mother pieced quilts” by Teresa Paloma Acosto, the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker and the letter “An Indian Fathers Plea” by Robert … Read more
I remember when I first experienced goosebumps raise on my arms and send a shiver through my body, simply because the words leaving the speaker’s lips left such an imprint on me. I didn’t think that a simple sentence could bring tears to my eyes, could cause me to react in any physical way. I … Read more
Discoveries and discovering can offer new understandings and renewed perception of ourselves and others. By broadening and deepening our perspectives on the wider world, discovery can lead us to new worlds, values and future possibilities. However the process of discovery can be conflicting with our personal beliefs. Whilst Allan Bailie’s The China Coin examines the … Read more
Jack Nguyen Ap Art History 20th, August 2015 AP Art History: As Above, So Below by Rudy Rucker In the extraordinary and fictional novel, As Above, So Below, Rudy Rucker exquisitely used the very little-known historical facts and paintings left behind by the renown painter, Peter Bruegel, to create a lasting depiction of this Flemish … Read more
In Maxine Kumin’s poem “Woodchucks”, the reader is led into a short tale of a woman whom is dealing with a family of woodchucks that are eating away at her garden. While this poem appears to be a simple tale following this woman’s methods to exterminating the pests, it rather is a poem that uses … Read more
“First Poem for You” is a poem by written by Kim Addonizio, an American poet. This poem “First Poem for You” is a closed-form poem but written as an English sonnet. The poem a person who loves the tattoos in his or her lover’s skin. At the same time the tattoos scares him or her … Read more
‘Both these poems are love poems with a twist. ‘ Do you agree? ‘i wanna be yours’ by Cooper Clarke and ‘Stop all the Clocks’ by Auden are both unusual romantic poems. To judge whether they’re both love poems, and if so, if they have a twist, we’d have to analyse classical love poetry. Cooper … Read more
Gold Turns To Grey As humans, throughout our lifetime we will be faced with a moment of life altering decisions, these decisions we make will impact how we live our life. As time passes and we grow older, closer to death, it is the question of have we preserved our gold throughout the years. Poet … Read more
The first thing that comes to mind upon reading this poem is a sense of calmness and relaxation. Described well is an attempt at reminiscing at one’s past, and how it may have affected life at present. It is a poem of truth, and the joy that comes with the realization of one’s self, the … Read more
John Milton, a poet who was completely blind in 1651 wrote “Sonnet XIX” in 1652; this sonnet is his response to his loss of sight. The theme of the sonnet is the loss and regain of primacy of experience. Milton offers his philosophical view on animism and God. Furthermore, “Sonnet XIX” explores Milton’s faith and … Read more
E. E. Cummings, who was born in 1894 and died in 1962, wrote many poems with unconventional punctuation and capitalization, and unusual line, word, and even letter placements – namely, ideograms. Cummings’ most difficult form of prose is probably the ideogram; it is extremely terse and it combines both visual and auditory elements. There may … Read more
As a Jesuit priest who had converted to Catholicism in the summer of 1866, Gerard Manley Hopkinss mind was no doubt saturated with the Bible (Bergonzi 34). Although in “Gods Grandeur” Hopkins does not use any specific quotations from the Bible, he does employ images that evoke a variety of biblical verses and scenes, all … Read more
Love can exist in a broad diversity of forms and feelings. The poems “Decorated for a Kiss” by Ian McDonald and “Alone” by Walter de la Mare emphasise this. Whilst the poem “Decorated for a Kiss” is obviously the description of unspoiled love blossoming, in which a man is coming to his woman for love, … Read more
The second sonnet in Mark Jarman’s group of sonnets entitled The Word “Answer” can be interpreted two different ways. Is there a “right” way from which to view this poem, or is the poet simply exercising his God given right to ambiguity? Sonnet 2, as I will refer to it, revolves around someone sitting in … Read more
All three of these poems explore a mans love for a woman and the complexities and changes that relationships may bring, be they for the good or the bad of the lovers involved. Marvell portrays the passionate pleading of an unacknowledged lover in his bid to win a womans heart; Keats dramatises the effects of … Read more
I think Robert Frost is a understandable, but yet an unconventional poet. Frost wrote in his own style, and as a result, he took quite a bit of heat from the critics of his period. Frost has an elegant style of writing descriptive and understandable poems. I am going to tell you about the five … Read more
In our class we have been discussing sonnet cxxx. Many of my classmates believe that Shakespeare was saying that, although this girl is ugly, he still loves her. While others claim that he was not making any statements about her looks, but instead being realistic. It is my view that he was making a point … Read more
Emily Dickinson is an important poet principally because of the distinctiveness of her writing. Though only 7 out of her 1,200 poems were published critics still classify her as one of the principle poets of her time. In Dickinson’s life the most important things to her were love, religion, individuality and nature. While writting about … Read more
The Poem “Ode to A Nightingale” by John Keats is a unique poem, written sometime during the 1815- 1820’s while he was visiting at a friend’s house. This Romantic Age poem is well known for the way it is written. The main writing style Keats uses is imagery. This style is an excellent example of … Read more
Like as, to make our appetites more keen, With eager compounds we our palate urge; As to prevent our maladies unseen We sicken to shun sickness when we purge: Even so, being full of your ne’er cloying sweetness, To bitter sauces did I frame my feeding; And, sick of welfare, found a kind of meetness … Read more
The poem The Nymphs Reply to the Shepherd, is a look into the mind of a realistic (or some may even say pessimistic) person. It was written as a response to the more idealistic poem, The Passionate Shepherd to His Love, by Christopher Marlowe. The Passionate Shepherd is the story of a man trying to … Read more
In La Belle Dame sans Merci: A Ballad, John Keats, the author, relates feelings of heartache to the reader by using metaphors of somberness and sorrow. The poem is set around a knights story of how his heart had been broken when he was left by a woman whom he had recently fell in love … Read more
Poetry is a fascinating entity. It is impossible for one to accurately define poetry; its forms and styles are multitudinous in nature, and its essence is often as original and individualistic as the manner in which it is written. Two prime examples of poetry, its eccentricity, and its aesthetic value are Sonnet CXLVII by William … Read more
Rita Dove has written many different kinds of poetry. She also wrote books, short stories plays and all types of literature. This essay will focus on specifics of her writing by analyzing three pieces of poetry that Rita Dove has written. The works we will be looking at are In the Old Neighborhood, My Mother … Read more
Robert Frost takes our imagination to a journey through wintertime with his two poems Desert Places and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. Frost comes from a New England background and these two poems reflect the beautiful scenery that is present in our part of the country. Even though these poems both have winter … Read more
John Milton, a poet who was completely blind in 1651 wrote “Sonnet XIX” in 1652; this sonnet is his response to his loss of sight. The theme of the sonnet is the loss and regain of primacy of experience. Milton offers his philosophical view on animism and God. Furthermore, “Sonnet XIX” explores Milton’s faith and … Read more
