The speaker in the poem "96 Vandam" is a homeless person who is travelling around for a home. There is selfless feeling about the whole poem, like the homeless person doesn't want to bother people for a place to stay and that he/she just wants to live in a nice house/apartment. The sorts of imagery in the poem start with "I am going to carry my bed into New York City tonight." (Stern 1) This menas that now the homeless person is on his/her way to New York City to search for a place to stay. "Dangling sheets and ripped blankets" (Stern 2) tells that it is, indeed a homeless person because he/she has tattered sheets that are probably dirty and filthy form him/her sleeping everywhere. "Push it across three dark highways" (Stern 3) means that the homeless person is lonely and has a long way to travel to get to New York City or where ever else he/she is going. "Exausted friends" imply that he/she doesn't want to bother anybody to take him/her in for the nights that the homeless person is alone. "In case a dream or fantasy should pass by" (Stern 9) is a personification because dreams and fanatsies can't "pass by" like humans and it means that in case he/she is tired and just wants to go to sleep, the homless person will have something to sleep on to "catch" the fantasy or dream. "Wake up dazed and hungry" (Stern 10) means that the homeless person just wants to live in a normal apratment/house where he/she can wake up "dazed and hungry" like people do in the mornings. "Garbage grinding" (Stern 11) means that the gargabe truck in his fanatsy is picking up garbage and compressing it into the truck. "Smell of coffee cooking" (Stern 12) means that the homeless person would like to drink coffee again, and maybe take it to work like people do. The whole poem repeats "I am" and "I want" at the beginnings of every 2 lines besides the last 4.
These elements help us understand the meaning of this poem because they give us the feeling of being a homeless person and givng us a taste of what these people yearn or try to do in life and
giving us a tast e of what they lost. The meaning of this poem is that the homeless person and maybe others would just like a another chance at life.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
"Piano" Analysis
The speaker in the poem "Piano" is a man who is remembering his childhood. The reader knows this because he says, "Of childish days upon me, my manhood is cast" (Lawrence 11). In the beginning of the poem, words like softly, dusk, sitting, tingling, and poised have a calm and bland connotation. In the second stanza, words like insidious, betrays, and weeps have negative connotations, almost opposite to those of the first stanza. The third stanza uses words with negative connotations as well like vain, clamour, apassionato, cast down, flood, and weep. The speaker describes his memories as "the flood of remembrance" (12), and a flood is usually a bad thing. When a house floods, many problems occur because the family must pay for the repairs and damage that the water did, especially to the basements of most houses. Weep also has to do with excessive amounts of water because when one weeps, he is letting out a lot of tears at once, just like a flood is bringing an excessive amount of rain at once.
The speaker creates an image of a woman singing to him "Softly, in the dusk" (1). This image sparks his memory because he then goes on describing the image of "A child sitting under the piano" (3). A mother is smiling at the child as she sings to him. This part of the poem is calm and happy. Then the speaker says "the heart of me weeps to belong To the old Sunday evenings at home" (6-7). This changes the mood of the poem to sad because instead of feeling joy from his happy memories, the speaker cries because he misses those wonderful times, the calm Sunday nights at home that he describes in the first stanza. He goes on to describe the image of "winter outside And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide" (7-8). This image causes him to cry because these memories were his childhood and now he is taken back to those special days, only now it is a woman, not his mother, singing to him. First her voice was soft, but by the end of the poem, "the singer to burst into clamour" (9). The singer's voice is loud, and the speaker is weeping.
The change in mood of the poem can easily be identified through the images and diction that the speaker uses. This contributes to the meaning of the poem because it shows how important one's childhood memories can be to him. He grows up but will never forget the simple reoccurances like his mother singing to him. His memories will forever stay in his heart because at inside, he is still that little boy as "childish days (are) upon me, my manhood is cast Down" (11-12). The speaker remembers his childhood and knows that he is grown up now, and can no longer act like that child. However, as he thinks about those fond memories, he can't help but mourn that they are over.
The speaker creates an image of a woman singing to him "Softly, in the dusk" (1). This image sparks his memory because he then goes on describing the image of "A child sitting under the piano" (3). A mother is smiling at the child as she sings to him. This part of the poem is calm and happy. Then the speaker says "the heart of me weeps to belong To the old Sunday evenings at home" (6-7). This changes the mood of the poem to sad because instead of feeling joy from his happy memories, the speaker cries because he misses those wonderful times, the calm Sunday nights at home that he describes in the first stanza. He goes on to describe the image of "winter outside And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide" (7-8). This image causes him to cry because these memories were his childhood and now he is taken back to those special days, only now it is a woman, not his mother, singing to him. First her voice was soft, but by the end of the poem, "the singer to burst into clamour" (9). The singer's voice is loud, and the speaker is weeping.
The change in mood of the poem can easily be identified through the images and diction that the speaker uses. This contributes to the meaning of the poem because it shows how important one's childhood memories can be to him. He grows up but will never forget the simple reoccurances like his mother singing to him. His memories will forever stay in his heart because at inside, he is still that little boy as "childish days (are) upon me, my manhood is cast Down" (11-12). The speaker remembers his childhood and knows that he is grown up now, and can no longer act like that child. However, as he thinks about those fond memories, he can't help but mourn that they are over.
"Dreams" analysis
The speaker of this poem is essentially the author that is describing "dreams". The diction in the first stanza is a warning--a warning to hold onto your dreams and follow them, and in the second stanza it is the same feeling, just with different uses of literary devices. There is a lot of imagery in this poem: "For if dreams die" (Hughes 2) tells that you will lose your dreams; "Life is broken-winged bird that cannot fly." (Hughes 3-4) is a metaphor that describes what it would be like if dreams were to die--we wouldn't be able to do anything; "For when dreams go" (Hughes 6) tells about when dreams will die--it is a synonym for "die" in the first stanza; "Life is a barren field filled with snow." (Hughes 7-8) is also a metaphor that describes again, what it would be like to lose your dreams.
All of these elements in this poem help to understand the meaning of this peom by giving comparisons to unlike things, all of which could be found in dreams you could have, or what it would be like to lose your "dreams". The meaning of the poem is that if you don't hold onto your dreams in life, you can never really get far--you will only be shut down, like you "cannot fly" or how life could be "a barren field filled with snow".
All of these elements in this poem help to understand the meaning of this peom by giving comparisons to unlike things, all of which could be found in dreams you could have, or what it would be like to lose your "dreams". The meaning of the poem is that if you don't hold onto your dreams in life, you can never really get far--you will only be shut down, like you "cannot fly" or how life could be "a barren field filled with snow".
piano poem
Piano
by D. H. Lawrence
Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.
In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song
Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong
To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside
And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.
So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour
With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour
Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.
by D. H. Lawrence
Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.
In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song
Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong
To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside
And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.
So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour
With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour
Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.
Dreams poem
Dreams
by Langston Hughes
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
by Langston Hughes
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
nights poem
Nights
Kevin Hart
There’s nothing that I really want:
The stars tonight are rich and cold
Above my house that vaguely broods
Upon a path soon lost in dark.
My dinner plate is chipped all round
(It tells me that I’ve changed a lot);
My glass is cracked all down one side
(It shows there is a path for me).
My hands—I rest my head on them.
My eyes—I rest my mind on them.
There’s nothing that I really need
Before I set out on that path.
Kevin Hart
There’s nothing that I really want:
The stars tonight are rich and cold
Above my house that vaguely broods
Upon a path soon lost in dark.
My dinner plate is chipped all round
(It tells me that I’ve changed a lot);
My glass is cracked all down one side
(It shows there is a path for me).
My hands—I rest my head on them.
My eyes—I rest my mind on them.
There’s nothing that I really need
Before I set out on that path.
"Nights" Analysis
The speaker in the poem "Nights" is a person in his house who is resting one night on his arm. The connotation of the diction seems dark and negative at first, then in the middle stanza, the words are more about change and direction. In the final stanza, the words have to do with rest and direction. An image in this poem is "The stars tonight are rich and cold" (Hart 2). This means that the night is cold but bright because there are so many stars around. "My house that vaguely broods" (Hart 3) is an image of a looming house in the darkness. "My dinner plate is chipped all round" (Hart 5) describes a circular plate that is chipped from adventures and experiences that the speaker underwent. "My glass is cracked all down one side" (Hart 7) paints an image of a glass drinking cup with a long crack running down the side of it. "My hands-I rest my head on them" (Hart 9). This is an image of an exhausted person relaxing and laying his head down on his arms.
In this poem, the speaker identifies that he has changed. He notices this through his chipped plate. He has also acknowledged that there is a path for him; he recognizes this through the glass with the crack down the side. One can notice these changes and paths through simple things like a plate, a glass, or through the "rich and cold" (Hart 2) stars. People can be surprised at what they find when they take the time to look around and acknowledge the little things in life. The speaker says, "There's nothing that I really need Before I set out on that path" (Hart 11-12). He is saying that whatever direction life takes him, he is ready because the ways that he has changed and the experiences he had prepared him to take his next steps.
In this poem, the speaker identifies that he has changed. He notices this through his chipped plate. He has also acknowledged that there is a path for him; he recognizes this through the glass with the crack down the side. One can notice these changes and paths through simple things like a plate, a glass, or through the "rich and cold" (Hart 2) stars. People can be surprised at what they find when they take the time to look around and acknowledge the little things in life. The speaker says, "There's nothing that I really need Before I set out on that path" (Hart 11-12). He is saying that whatever direction life takes him, he is ready because the ways that he has changed and the experiences he had prepared him to take his next steps.
96 vandam
96 Vandam
Gerald Stern
I am going to carry my bed into New York City tonight
complete with dangling sheets and ripped blankets;
I am going to push it across three dark highways
or coast along under 600,000 faint stars.
I want to have it with me so I don't have to beg
for too much shelter from my weak and exhausted friends.
I want to be as close as possible to my pillow
in case a dream or a fantasy should pass by.
I want to fall asleep on my own fire escape
and wake up dazed and hungry
to the sound of garbage grinding in the street below
and the smell of coffee cooking in the window above.
Gerald Stern
I am going to carry my bed into New York City tonight
complete with dangling sheets and ripped blankets;
I am going to push it across three dark highways
or coast along under 600,000 faint stars.
I want to have it with me so I don't have to beg
for too much shelter from my weak and exhausted friends.
I want to be as close as possible to my pillow
in case a dream or a fantasy should pass by.
I want to fall asleep on my own fire escape
and wake up dazed and hungry
to the sound of garbage grinding in the street below
and the smell of coffee cooking in the window above.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Literary Term Examples
Apostrophe: Ancestors, bring me the courage from your experiences.
This is an apostrophe because it makes reference to people who are not alive.
Irony: She said, "I don't care if I die tomorrow," but the next day the girl died.
This is irony because it contradicts the speaker’s idea.
Metonymy: She drank a cup of tea. She drank a mug of tea.
This ia a metonymy because cup is replaced with a similar noun, AKA "mug".
Paradox: The canopener was created 47 years after the can.
This is a paradox because it's true even though it seems unrealistic.
Personification: The wind whispered in my ear, "Turn back now!"
This is a personification becuase the wind is given the human quality of whispering.
Synecdoche: Room 122 was so silent that you could hear a pin drop.
This is a synecdoche because Room 122 is representing the whole school.
Tautology: The big, loud, horn, made a screeching honk that blasted everyone's eardrums.
This is tautology because there are unnecessary repetition of the same idea, just in different words, within the same sentence.
Understatement: "It's just a few cuts and scars," he said nonchalantly.
This is an understatement because it's making the accident seem smaller than it really is, the purpose being to make a bigger point.
This is an apostrophe because it makes reference to people who are not alive.
Irony: She said, "I don't care if I die tomorrow," but the next day the girl died.
This is irony because it contradicts the speaker’s idea.
Metonymy: She drank a cup of tea. She drank a mug of tea.
This ia a metonymy because cup is replaced with a similar noun, AKA "mug".
Paradox: The canopener was created 47 years after the can.
This is a paradox because it's true even though it seems unrealistic.
Personification: The wind whispered in my ear, "Turn back now!"
This is a personification becuase the wind is given the human quality of whispering.
Synecdoche: Room 122 was so silent that you could hear a pin drop.
This is a synecdoche because Room 122 is representing the whole school.
Tautology: The big, loud, horn, made a screeching honk that blasted everyone's eardrums.
This is tautology because there are unnecessary repetition of the same idea, just in different words, within the same sentence.
Understatement: "It's just a few cuts and scars," he said nonchalantly.
This is an understatement because it's making the accident seem smaller than it really is, the purpose being to make a bigger point.
Alexa A
Brendan E
Ariana N
We have modified this blog because our groups have been changed and we would like to introduce the new members. We hope to communicate and share our thoughts and
analysis of poetry. The members of Poetry Pals enjoy studying poetry in class. So far we have learned about the importance of the specific word usage of poetry that help communicate certain connotations about the poem's setting, meaning, and speaker. We still hope to learn more about writing poetry and the different ways a speaker can be portrayed in a poem.
Brendan E
Ariana N
We have modified this blog because our groups have been changed and we would like to introduce the new members. We hope to communicate and share our thoughts and
analysis of poetry. The members of Poetry Pals enjoy studying poetry in class. So far we have learned about the importance of the specific word usage of poetry that help communicate certain connotations about the poem's setting, meaning, and speaker. We still hope to learn more about writing poetry and the different ways a speaker can be portrayed in a poem.
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