God's Grandeur

1.) The most important theme in this poem is the connection between god and nature, the author has a deep belief in god, and knows that he created the earth. And he doesn't not understand how people can walk on the soil that god created and not recognize is greatness, or even care about as they "trod" along. The Poem ultimately represents the disconnection between people, and god. But the poet himself, sees this and questions society as a whole. The recognition of god's creations are what will bring you closer to him, but the land to which he created so beautifully, has been transformed society, a process by which that higher power has watched. 

2.) "It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;" This simile represents the how the respect of gods beautiful creations, have been shaken away, and have been taken over by industry. The world that god created is the shiny part of the foil, but it could not withhold the shake that society gave it and it lost its shininess and importance, and became even more weak, and wrinkled. 

"And wears man's smudge and shares man's smells: The soil

Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod." 

Man is making an unfortunate "footprint" on the god-made earth. Soil no longer connects people to god, because there is a shoe that separates them, just as industry separates men from god. 

"And though the last lights of Black West went 

Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs"

Black symbolizes the darkness, and the hope that this earth does not have. During the west the sunsets, which refers to darkness, and unfortunate, fate. But the brown brink eastward, springs, bring hope. As long as man reconnects himself to nature, he can overcome society and connect to god through nature. 

3.) "reck his rod" reck is a shortened term referring to recognize, the men are no longer recognizing god and things he has created for them, instead they are allowing industry to take over their lives, which disconnects them from nature. "spent" reflects on hope, it is placed on the shift in the poem, and it allows the readers to understand that nature is forever, you can never run out of it. "bent" bent refers to a reckless behavior, which consists of men who show disrespect, and are disconnected from the lord. 

4.) alliteration- the title has alliteration; shining, shook; flame, foil, reck, rod; gathers, greatness; last, lights; brown, brink 

assonance, consonance, internal rhyme- Smeared, Seared, Bleared 

Punk Pantoum

This poem is a representation of the rebellion that took place during the Punk Movement in the 1970's. Punk Rock, which originated from garage rock, consisted of short, hard-edged, fast music, that targeted politics, and jabs at capitalism, made popular by bands such as The Clash, The Sex Pistols, and the Ramones. This Movement not only consisted of a new type of music, but also a whole new style, which in in itself rebelled against the normal dress code of that particular era. 

This Poem refers to this movement, because it represents a person who is rebelling against society, rebelling against their own lives, and the way they were raised. Not only is this speaker rebelling, but he is encouraging his lover to rebel with him. In the first stanza the speaker states 

"Tonight I'll walk the razor along your throat

You'll wear blood jewels and last week's ochre bruise"

Causing pain to themselves is the type of rebellion that they are involved in, it is how they release the stress that society has placed on them. Committing suicide would be the ultimate stance against politics, and everything they are against. They connect their rebellion with the music, and drugs, two things that were very common during these times. In The Velvet Undergrounds song Heroin, released in 1967, there are several statements that connect drugs to freeing people from society, and what has become of it for example; 

"I really don't care anymore 

About all the Jim-Jim's in this town

And all the Politicians makin' crazy sounds 

And everybody puttin' everybody else down

And all the dead bodies piled up in mounds" 

The message becomes clear during the lines above in this song, people resort to heroin and hurting themselves as away to free themselves from current events.

The Poem is a pantoum, because it is sending a message. In order to get the reader to truly understand what is happening the poem must repeat itself. The repetition of the razor walking across the speaker, and his lover neck, allows the readers to understand how far people during this movement would go in order to rebel against society. This poem, like many songs created history. Although politics, and society are still quite corrupted, the punk movement aloud people to take charge of music, style, and eventually their own personal opinion. The speaker no longer wants to be the man that he was raised to be, he wants to release himself from that unfortunate lifestyle, and inflicting pain on himself, and his lover is what will free him from that lifestyle. 

Traveling Through the Dark

1.) He has hit a pregnant deer on the road, and he is hesitant on whether or not he should kill the deer or just throw it with the rest of the road kill. He is a man, just like the rest of the society who have been taken over by technology, nature has now become much less important to everyone because technology has taken its place. He calls his hesitation is swerving because it signifies his hesitation, he hesitated before throwing it over the road and that hesitation could have caused another car to swerve off of the narrow road and person could be killed. This suggests that a persons life is much more important than the life of any animal.

2.) He uses imagery to describe the condition of the deer, and how the deer is dead. Saying that the body is cold and stiff but the stomach is warm. He also describes the car, and its lights, and the exhaust, and then quickly switches to the sound of nature in order to contrast the two different themes.

3.) In Stanza 2 lines 2 and 4, the double L is repeated between "killing" and Belly" representing consananc. In Stanza 1 the words "road" and dead" are repeated.

The Man He Killed

1.) Half-a-crown is a crown formally used in Great Britain, worth two shillings and sixpence.

2.) He uses the word because twice in a row, as a way to justify his actions for killing the man that he could have possibly killed because they were "Foe's". The Speaker clearly feels remorse for his action because, he killed a man who could have been someone he met in a pub and became friends with. He repeats himself, and restates his reason for killing the man, only for himself, as way to make it okay for himself. Although symbolizes the second thoughts that the man is having about killing the other man.

3.) The Man He Killed, is in fact an Anti-War statement. It's sending the message then when people are in battle they kill people who they know nothing about, people who they could have gotten a long with. People who may have been very special to them. This is an "elevated thought" by one Thomas Hardy, he gets his message across by using symbols and repetitions that allow people to analyze the piece and understand the message as an art form. Rather than writing a paragraph about his opinion, he writes a poem, to make it interesting to the readers. Information you can get from anywhere, there are probably several books and web pages that contain anti-war statements. But poetry has a uniqueness about it, it is your job as a reader to understand the message, and your not only gaining that information, but your studying a piece of art that tests your brain.

Love in Brooklyn

1.) The poem most likely takes place in Brooklyn, around the WWII era because their is a hint that the man fought in WWII. Also this was a time before computers because the woman typed on a typewriter. The two are affectionate towards each other. I would not say they are completely in love, they clearly work together and they have started an office romance, that i don't believe will last based on the dialogue of the poem.

2.) The first speaker has obvious lust towards the woman, she makes him crazy because she is so beautiful. He begs and pleads for her attention, and claims that he loves her but his intentions are not to love her. his reasons for loving her are all based on looks and attraction rather than personality.

3.) The woman is playing hard to get. She is aware of her good looks and she knows that until she gives him what he wants he will continue to compliment her, in a sense she is fishing for compliments in order to get attention. She finally gives in and claims that she is kidding, but as stated before their is no strong bond between the two lovers. They are young drunk coworkers who only find a certain pleasure with one another. Nothing that will last them a lifetime.

4.) The telephone signifies the bond of distant love, and how even the strongest love can break with distance. Love in Brooklyn, signifies the use of the word love as a way to get a different kind of relationship. In both poems one of the speakers is doing everything they can to get with this other speaker, although their intentions are different their strategy is the same. Love is a very complicated feeling, and the word has been used so frequently that is has lost its importance and its meaning. The second poem in no way represents the actual feeling of love, but the first poem does.

The Telephone

1.) The characters are in two different places physically, and mentally. They seem to share distant love, or that is what the first character thinks, in order to get to her he must become vulnerable, and put himself out there when she calls for him. He can see their love from a distance, the flower on both ends is what connects them. And she defends their love when she shews the bee away from the flower signifying that nothing can break them.

2.) The telephone signifies the distance between the two characters, they are not together, they do not have the human interaction that is so important to love. Instead they are left guessing to whether or not their love is as strong as each character thinks. Telephones only display voice, what the characters hear is their only knowledge of what they feel. And sometimes telephones lose connection, words get misinterpreted, meaning the first speaker didn't know whether or not his love was asking for him personally or if someone else was asking for him. But he went either way.

3.) The first speaker is unsure about his/her loves feeling towards him. He is trying to prove that she/he loves him by having her repeat what she had once state. He is vulnerable, and in love which causes him to be nervous, and needy. He does not know whether or not it was his love that wanted him/her to come to her/him. But he puts himself out their, in order to defend their love.

4.) The second speaker, although once on love seems to be portrayed as hesitant. Or at least that is what the first speaker thinks in the beginning the second speaker defends their bond, which is their flower that bonds them, by getting rid of the bee that trys to destroy the flower, it is clear that this speaker's prospective has changed based on distance.

5.) The poem signifies distant love, and how being apart from the one that you love for a long period of time can cause controversy and doubts. The first speaker still holds the loves and watches it from afar, but the second speaker seems to be hesitant towards it. The lovers lack human interaction, and when that happens it forces people to think about the situation they are in and almost always leads to heartbreak. The only true way to find out if the love is still strong is to finally come together, which is why the second speaker calls for the first speaker. In order to finally see whether or not their love can still last, or if their own doubts, and thoughts have gotten the best of them.

My Last Duchess

It would appear that the Duke pretends to think quite highly of himself but in reality he has the subconscious of a teenage girl, he states in line 41 "E'en then would be some stooping; and I Chose Never to stoop." Her attention towards other man, he considers that quality that is beneath him, so he kills her. An explanation for his actions could be that he is in fact and insecure sociopath. He wants his wife to give attention only to him, seeing her smile and talk to other man makes him believe that he is less of a man, or that she does not want to be with him. Any man who feels, insecure acts with insanity. Rather than talking to the Duchess about her actions, which I don't believe were as beneath him as he say they are, he kills her. Because men show their emotion with violence and rage. He also doesn't want other people to think that his duchess is interested in other men, so he gets rid of her and moves on to the next woman. 

The title signifies the feeling of the Duke, he has no care for that women, how could he? She made him look bad. If the poem was more about the love he had for his late wife, the title would have a different significance, but in this case it shows how important she wasn't to him. Indeed the woman was beautiful, why else would the duke marry her? But her beauty was not enough for the duke. He needed more attention in order to feel good about himself. 

The irony of this poem, is that the duchess was actually doing her job by tending to her people, she was kind, and giving. But the Duke was so blinded by the fact that she was talking to other men that he didn't realize she was just being a good duchess. He claims that she was not good enough for him, and that he stooped when he married her, but the truth is, he is not good enough for her. He cared way to much about what people though which made him such a sociopath, and lead him to kill his duchess. 

The duke proves his insanity when he tells the story to the count of his future father-in-law as a way to send a message to his future bride. He fears that history will repeat itself and again he will look like a fool. But his own actions are what make him a fool. 

The structure of the poem signifies the Dukes need to hold power, he tries so hard to be firm and appear to be the greatest duke in the world, but his insecurities are what hold him back which is shown in the structure. Little things that affect him personally also affect his job, and his mind. He has become mad with power, and with power comes judgment, that he believes he will get if everything around him is not perfect. But the only attribute of this poem lacking perfection is the Duke himself. 

The speaker ends the poem saying "Notice Neptune though, Taming a Sea-Horse, though a rarity, Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!"

His mentioning of Neptune alludes to the Roman god Neptune, who was the god of the sea or the god of the horses, he points out the sculpture of this god, because the god is taming the sea horse which is rare. He is giving the message that he wants to tame his wife to be everything that HE wants her to be. And if in fact she proves to be beneath him he will take unnecessary actions. The duke is comparing himself to Neptune, which is ironic because Neptune was not as powerful or respected as say the Greek god Poseidon. 

A Road Not Taken

1.) By taking the road "less traveled by" the speaker is taking the harder route towards his destiny. Because he has chosen this path, things will not come easy to him, which is why it may seem that he has regret. He must create his own path as he goes, which shows his individuality, rather then him following the same path as everyone else which leads him to the same destiny. He sighs, because with creating your own destiny, comes overcoming hardships, and struggles that life throws at you. 

2.) The choice simply signifies, going through life the easy way, or going through life the hard way, which contain two different outcomes. By choosing the hard way the Speaker has chosen a life that will give him greater rewards, he will now will be a strong individual among society because he has created his own path which led him to a greater destiny. If he were to chose the easy way, he would have gone though life the way that the path was made for him causing him to be just the same as every man in a society. When choosing the road, most people would choose the easy, already formed road because they are afraid of facing the struggles that come with creating an entirely different path on your own. 

3.) A road not taken is simply about choosing the way that you go through life, most people choose the easy road, causing them to be equally important with everyone in society making their voice unheard. But then there are others who choose Road not Taken, those are the people who want to stand for something other than what society wants them to stand for. These are the people who fight long and hard to create the road (destiny) that they have longed for, which not only in the end helps themselves, but helps the people around them. People who choose the easy road should be considered lazy, because they are thinking about what is easier for them. People who chose the road not taken are the people who are not only fighting to create a great life for themselves but also to create a great life for everyone around them. 

Fielding this is definitely by far my favorite poem, I really enjoy the meaning of it, or at least what i think it means, and it has proved to be quite inspirational, i will try to no longer take the easy road, and instead choose the Road not Taken. =)

After Apple-Picking

1.) The speaker seems to be lazy with his work, has hasn't filled one of his barrels and he has missed a few apples. He no longer wants to smell the apples, or listen to "rumbling sound" of the apples coming in, his feet are aching from the latter, and he just wants to be done. He has been picking apples for so long that every touch, smell, and sound of the apple picking has been burned into his brain, and although is was something that he once loved he has become tired of it, he shows to be overworked and he craves sleep. The speaker is simply becoming lazy with his work because he has been doing it for so long, and it is not enough for him anymore.

2.) It is obvious that the speaker once loved apple picking, but he no longer enjoys doing it because he has been doing it for so long. At this moment the speaker is no longer doing a good job at apple picking because he has become lazy with his work. He doesn't care to fill up one of his remaining barrels and he doesn't care enough to pick a few more apples hanging from the tree. He used to love his job, he loved the  great harvest of the apples, and he loved "cherishing" each apple in his hand and not allowing them to fall onto the ground. But that is no longer the case, now the apple picking seems to be more of a berdon then a privilege.

3.) Not only does he spend his days picking apples, but he also spends his nights dreaming about picking apples. This man's life is completely centered around his apple picking, has nothing else to live for, nothing else to dream about, and he is realizing that which is what is causing the resentment towards picking apples.

4.) The speaker seems to be going through life as if he is asleep, he has been doing the same thing everyday for so long that he is constantly thinking about, and even dreaming about it. He does nothing else but this one job and he has probably done it so much that he could do it in his sleep. In order for this to end for him he needs to wake up and do something different with his life. Because Apple Picking no longer contains excitement for him. Sleep is usually a time that people cherish, but in this case sleeping for the speaker is just like being awake because all he does is dream about what he does during the day, which is apple picking.

5.) a.) The latter symbolizes the repetitiveness of this mans life, he just keeps climbing up the latter, hoping to be free when he gets to the top, but each step is just another step towards the same fate, and the end of latter could mean the end of the speakers life. B.) Winter is the time that the speaker is not picking apples, the speaker seems to be looking forward to winter because it is the one time that his life is not completely surrounded by picking apples, just as the apple trees are dead, the speakers exhausting repetitive career is also momentarily dead. C.) The harvest symbolizes another chapter in the speakers repetitive life, something that he used to look forward to but now dreads. Each harvest means another year older, and another year wasted doing the same thing that he no longer loves. D.) The speaker is watching his life drag on through the window pane, he sees himself living a life he no longer loves and it causes even more resentment. The essence of winter symbolizes, the last step of the speakers journey, when winter comes his repetitive life will end but it will seem less like a tragedy and more like relief.

6.) Woodchucks, like bears hibernate, instead of sleeping at night they sleep all winter,
this could symbolize that when winter comes and the harvest is over, the speakers life will also be over, he will permanently hibernate and no longer will have to go through life only picking apples.

7.) This poem explains the life of a man who is no longer satisfied with the career he has chosen, it was a career he once loved, but he did it for so long that it completely took over his life, and now his time is coming to an end, and as his life fades, so does his appeal to work hard. Not only does he spend his days picking apples, but he spends his night dreaming about picking apples, and the smells, and the sounds, and the feelings, all have become burned into his mind and he just wants to break free, but as he walks up the repetitive latter of his life, he gets closer and closer to the end where he will fade into a deep sleep that will no longer consist of dreams of apple-picking but will be essentially the end of his life.

Lit Term 2

Satire: The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule, to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices.  

Example: "by and by they fetched the niggers in and had prayers, and then everybody was off to bed." (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn)

Function: Twain is criticizing the fact that Ms.Watson is trying to become a better christian but still owns slaves, and considers them property. He is using satire to criticize religion, and how practicing Christianity is supposed to make you a better person, but would a truly "good" christian own another person and consider them their property. Twain is ultimately making a stab at religion. Twain uses a lot of satire, which shows an authors personal opinions within the text. Twain is constantly using satire to show is views on religion, and slavery throughout Huck Finn, Twain is obviously against slavery, and he doesn't understand how a person can own a slave, and still consider them self a good Christian.

Lit Term 1

Imagery: Visually descriptive or figurative language in a literary work. Imagery involves one of your five senses. The author uses a word or a phrase to stimulate your memory of those senses.

Example: "Down the ravine behind the empty house, The cowbells follow one another Into the distance of the afternoon." (Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota)

Function: This poem is made up entirely of Imagery. In this line Wright is invoking sound, by explaining the sound of the cowbells in the distance, to help describe that time is passing as the cows move on down the ravine. The sounds of the cowbells also lets the readers know that the farm is not completely abandoned, because there are still cows roaming around. Imagery, especially in this poem, allows the readers to understand what the subject is sensing, which helps describe the setting of the poem. What the subject hears, sees, and smells are all described in the poem, which help describes the overall theme that time is passing around him.