Because I Could Not Stop For Death
Dickinson, Emily. "Because I could not stop for Death." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton 2007. 531.
I chose to look at this poem by trying to see connections between Dickinson's own life and the poem. I'm not sure how well it worked out, but I thought I'd give it a shot just to see what might happen.
1. In the third stanza, why do you think Dickinson chose the images of childhood, ripe wheat, and a sunset?
2. Emily Dickinson wrote a large amount of poems in her lifetime. Do you think the title and first line of the poem reflect anything about her?
3. What do you think Dickinson's own thoughts on death were based off this poem?
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Fire and Ice - Close Reading
Fire and Ice
Robert Frost
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/robert_frost/poems/531
"Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice."
It's interesting that Frost gave different emotions to the two elements of Fire and Ice, though both the elements and the emotions fit well together. Classically, fire is seen as being passionate, while ice is seen as being distant and unfriendly. While both elements can be seen as agents of destruction, they can also be seen as symbols of rebirth. For example, when a forest catches on fire, the trees burn and the animals are killed or are forced to leave. After a little while, however, the fire goes out and the soil becomes richer from the burnt materials. During winter, the world is covered in ice. Plants die and animals hibernate, but when spring comes and the snow melts, life can begin again. It's interesting how the syllables in the lines jump between nine, eight, seven, and four. I'm not entirely sure why that would be, maybe just so he could fit everything, but maybe the staggering and jumping around of lines is supposed to show that life isn't predictable and no one knows how anything is really going to end and that the narrator's guess is as good as anyone's.
Robert Frost
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/robert_frost/poems/531
"Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice."
It's interesting that Frost gave different emotions to the two elements of Fire and Ice, though both the elements and the emotions fit well together. Classically, fire is seen as being passionate, while ice is seen as being distant and unfriendly. While both elements can be seen as agents of destruction, they can also be seen as symbols of rebirth. For example, when a forest catches on fire, the trees burn and the animals are killed or are forced to leave. After a little while, however, the fire goes out and the soil becomes richer from the burnt materials. During winter, the world is covered in ice. Plants die and animals hibernate, but when spring comes and the snow melts, life can begin again. It's interesting how the syllables in the lines jump between nine, eight, seven, and four. I'm not entirely sure why that would be, maybe just so he could fit everything, but maybe the staggering and jumping around of lines is supposed to show that life isn't predictable and no one knows how anything is really going to end and that the narrator's guess is as good as anyone's.
A Dream Within A Dream - Close Reading
A Dream Within A Dream
Edgar Allan Poe
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/edgar_allan_poe/poems/18847
"I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand--
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep--while I weep!"
The word roar in the first line, is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary Database as, "a loud and deep sound uttered by one or more persons, esp. as an expression of pain or anger." This definition carries great importance to understanding the rest of the lines, since they carry a deep sense of pain and fear. The image of falling sand, for instance, calls to mind the image of an hourglass and how time is always moving despite a person's deepest desire and fondest wishes for it to stop. Additionally, the lines seem to flow together really smoothly and give the sense that you're hearing waves when you read it out loud or at least it did for me. It's an interesting technique, especially since the poem discusses waves on a beach and it's cool that he decided to make it sound peaceful when the words themselves speak of pain and fear. It's also interesting that he chose to make the sand golden in color, instead of a dull brown or gray. Golden brings to mind the good times in life, so it might be that the narrator is lamenting growing older.
Edgar Allan Poe
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/edgar_allan_poe/poems/18847
"I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand--
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep--while I weep!"
The word roar in the first line, is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary Database as, "a loud and deep sound uttered by one or more persons, esp. as an expression of pain or anger." This definition carries great importance to understanding the rest of the lines, since they carry a deep sense of pain and fear. The image of falling sand, for instance, calls to mind the image of an hourglass and how time is always moving despite a person's deepest desire and fondest wishes for it to stop. Additionally, the lines seem to flow together really smoothly and give the sense that you're hearing waves when you read it out loud or at least it did for me. It's an interesting technique, especially since the poem discusses waves on a beach and it's cool that he decided to make it sound peaceful when the words themselves speak of pain and fear. It's also interesting that he chose to make the sand golden in color, instead of a dull brown or gray. Golden brings to mind the good times in life, so it might be that the narrator is lamenting growing older.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
CLose Reading of "Of the Light" by Josh Ashbery
Lines 6-11:
Yes, day may just be breaking. The importance isn't there
but in the beautiful flights of the trees
accepting their own flaccid destiny,
or the tightrope of seasons.
We get scared when we look at them up close
but the king doesn't mind. He has the tides to worry about,
I have read this poem over about 15 times now, trying to make some true sense of the few lines that are there and to be honest there is not a clear answer to what the speaker is discussing here. I have theories, but i dont really know. I chose to do a close reading of these lines because they are the most absurd and i thought that maybe if i look at them alone, it will make more sense of the poem as a whole...
To start I'll share what i think is happening: The day is just breaking, but that is not important, what is important is what is happening around the day, how each day is different and the trees respond differently to each change in weather, like the seasons. The speaker uses the word flaccid to describe the tree's destiny, then tightrope to describe seasons. These words create tension, for they are opposites and the tree's destiny goes along with the seasons. What this says about light i do not know? Then the speaker comments how "we get scared when we look at them up close." i think "we" is just people in general, and "them" refers to the tension created by the tree and seasons. The King i believe is a god-like figure to men who doesn't mind the changes for he is the one who does the changing.
Overall, i have been trying to connect this whole poem back to light, and from these lines i conclude that the poem uses light as a analogy for life. People want to trap life and stay young as long as possible. Therefore they need the days to never end, to trap light and keep it. These lines are explanations of this analogy. If anyone has a different opinion, i would LOVE to know, because i am really kinda lost with this one...
Yes, day may just be breaking. The importance isn't there
but in the beautiful flights of the trees
accepting their own flaccid destiny,
or the tightrope of seasons.
We get scared when we look at them up close
but the king doesn't mind. He has the tides to worry about,
I have read this poem over about 15 times now, trying to make some true sense of the few lines that are there and to be honest there is not a clear answer to what the speaker is discussing here. I have theories, but i dont really know. I chose to do a close reading of these lines because they are the most absurd and i thought that maybe if i look at them alone, it will make more sense of the poem as a whole...
To start I'll share what i think is happening: The day is just breaking, but that is not important, what is important is what is happening around the day, how each day is different and the trees respond differently to each change in weather, like the seasons. The speaker uses the word flaccid to describe the tree's destiny, then tightrope to describe seasons. These words create tension, for they are opposites and the tree's destiny goes along with the seasons. What this says about light i do not know? Then the speaker comments how "we get scared when we look at them up close." i think "we" is just people in general, and "them" refers to the tension created by the tree and seasons. The King i believe is a god-like figure to men who doesn't mind the changes for he is the one who does the changing.
Overall, i have been trying to connect this whole poem back to light, and from these lines i conclude that the poem uses light as a analogy for life. People want to trap life and stay young as long as possible. Therefore they need the days to never end, to trap light and keep it. These lines are explanations of this analogy. If anyone has a different opinion, i would LOVE to know, because i am really kinda lost with this one...
Theory Questions: Allen Ginsberg, "America"
"America" Allen Ginsberg
Cultural Poetics
I grabbed this one from an earlier post for theory presentations. from the other class. Since Ginsberg is one of my favorite poets, I figured i would end the semester with something I am familiar with.
The beat generation was truly an anti establishment way of literature. As Ginsberg, Kerouac, Burroughs and Ferlinghetti had written in their very complex, yet almost a satirical look in the vein of post modernism, they each found their own light through their works. Ginsberg's "America" is one that resonates deeply with me. I find its lyrical structure to be very revealing, he opens his mind and captures his audience with very sincere images of his world around him.
1. Why does Ginsberg shift his tone to say that his America rather than continue to stay the voice of America?
2. Why does Ginsberg make America such a personal poem?
3. Why does Ginsberg seem to make America out to be more than just a country, more like a human being?
Cultural Poetics
I grabbed this one from an earlier post for theory presentations. from the other class. Since Ginsberg is one of my favorite poets, I figured i would end the semester with something I am familiar with.
The beat generation was truly an anti establishment way of literature. As Ginsberg, Kerouac, Burroughs and Ferlinghetti had written in their very complex, yet almost a satirical look in the vein of post modernism, they each found their own light through their works. Ginsberg's "America" is one that resonates deeply with me. I find its lyrical structure to be very revealing, he opens his mind and captures his audience with very sincere images of his world around him.
1. Why does Ginsberg shift his tone to say that his America rather than continue to stay the voice of America?
2. Why does Ginsberg make America such a personal poem?
3. Why does Ginsberg seem to make America out to be more than just a country, more like a human being?
Close Reading of " Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night"
Dylan Thomas' " Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" ( http://www.bigeye.com/donotgo.htm)
Close reading of the first two stanzas:
"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night" (lines 1-6)
The first thing I noticed about these first two stanzas was the fact that every line has exactly ten syllables, and the importance of day/light and night, which are naturally contrasted in the words themselves, and by the fact that they stand out, being the last words ( except for line5) of each line. The mentioning of not going into "that good night" is significant as it is repeated multiple times throughout the poem- the word “night” signifies darkness, which brings about thoughts of the unknown, unconscious, and more importantly for this poem, death and ultimate ending. The fact that Thomas calls it a "good night" is a pun. He wants his father to not go easily into that "good night" as in the expression "goodnight", the simple saying of goodbye for the day. If his father gives into the saying “goodnight” then he is acknowledging the end. It’s interesting that Thomas sets up the words so that they can mean this expression which signifies a simple parting at the end of the day, which, seems to be a light way of referring to death. However, if you read “good night” as two separate words, it implies that the night is good, which may indicate how alluring the night, the end, is, under harsh conditions. The speaker of the poem makes a case against simply going willingly, gently into the night, instead of fighting it. He seems to be looking at other’s reactions to death, in order to set his own expectations for life and death. In the second line he says, “Old age should burn and rave at close of day”, and in the entire second stanza he speaks of wise men and their unwillingness to go gently into the night because they had not gotten to fulfill their goals and intentions during life. It’s interesting that Thomas speaks of not being able to complete life and fully live it out ( giving the impression that something else is needed before one can die), yet each stanza is composed of perfect pentameter, showing completeness and nothing lacking.
Close reading of the first two stanzas:
"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night" (lines 1-6)
The first thing I noticed about these first two stanzas was the fact that every line has exactly ten syllables, and the importance of day/light and night, which are naturally contrasted in the words themselves, and by the fact that they stand out, being the last words ( except for line5) of each line. The mentioning of not going into "that good night" is significant as it is repeated multiple times throughout the poem- the word “night” signifies darkness, which brings about thoughts of the unknown, unconscious, and more importantly for this poem, death and ultimate ending. The fact that Thomas calls it a "good night" is a pun. He wants his father to not go easily into that "good night" as in the expression "goodnight", the simple saying of goodbye for the day. If his father gives into the saying “goodnight” then he is acknowledging the end. It’s interesting that Thomas sets up the words so that they can mean this expression which signifies a simple parting at the end of the day, which, seems to be a light way of referring to death. However, if you read “good night” as two separate words, it implies that the night is good, which may indicate how alluring the night, the end, is, under harsh conditions. The speaker of the poem makes a case against simply going willingly, gently into the night, instead of fighting it. He seems to be looking at other’s reactions to death, in order to set his own expectations for life and death. In the second line he says, “Old age should burn and rave at close of day”, and in the entire second stanza he speaks of wise men and their unwillingness to go gently into the night because they had not gotten to fulfill their goals and intentions during life. It’s interesting that Thomas speaks of not being able to complete life and fully live it out ( giving the impression that something else is needed before one can die), yet each stanza is composed of perfect pentameter, showing completeness and nothing lacking.
Theory questions: "Anorexic" by Eavan Boland
The poem "Anorexic" by Eavan Boland can be viewed using Gender Criticism. Although there are males with eating disorders, they tend to be more common in females. This poem is written by a woman so there is the possibility that she or someone she knew was anorexic. The poem is written in the first person referring to the narrator's body in the third person calling her a "bitch." However the disease is a male, the narrator says she will give up food and, "slip/back into him again." The poem is devoted to being thin and doing anything to stay that way. The things like breasts and hips are erased as the narrator loses these feminine qualities in her quest to be as thin as possible.
Critical questions:
1) How would this poem be viewed had this poem been written by a man or had a male narrator?
2) What is the narrator saying about herself and what message is she sending to the reader about anorexia in that she is ridding herself of feminine physical qualities to be thin?
3) Why is the disease referred to as a male and what does this say about the narrator's views on the male gender?
Critical questions:
1) How would this poem be viewed had this poem been written by a man or had a male narrator?
2) What is the narrator saying about herself and what message is she sending to the reader about anorexia in that she is ridding herself of feminine physical qualities to be thin?
3) Why is the disease referred to as a male and what does this say about the narrator's views on the male gender?
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