Sharon Olds was born on November 19, 1942 in San Francisco. She has won many prizes, including the Pulitzer Prize in 2013.
When Mother divorced you, we were glad. She took it and
took it in silence, all those years and then
kicked you out, suddenly, and her
kids loved it. Then you were fired, and we
grinned inside, the way people grinned when
Nixon's helicopter lifted off the South
Lawn for the last time. We were tickled
to think of your office taken away,
your secretaries taken away,
your lunches with three double bourbons,
your pencils, your reams of paper. Would they take your
suits back, too, those dark
carcasses hung in your closet, and the black
noses of your shoes with their large pores?
She had taught us to take it, to hate you and take it
until we pricked with her for your
annihilation, Father. Now I
pass the bums in doorways, the white
slugs of their bodies gleaming through slits in their
suits of compressed silt, the stained
flippers of their hands, the underwater
fire of their eyes, ships gone down with the
lanterns lit, and I wonder who took it and
took it from them in silence until they had
given it all away and had nothing
left but this.
"The Victims" by Sharon Olds is talking about a bad divorce (where the dad was a bad person) from the child's point of view a few years later. While looking back, the speaker reflects on the moment the mother kicked out her father and how all the kids were happy about it. They found happiness in the father's misery, which makes the audience believe that he was not a good person. She gets a little carried away with listing all the things the father lost, but she is finally coming to the conclusion that he got what he deserved. More than half way down, the speaker refers to her dad by calling him "Father" instead of "you". She starts thinking of all the "bums" she sees and how they were probably in the same situation as her dad. She can relate to how they got to where they are now, unlike most of us who just look at the people on the street and judge them. The audience and speaker's thoughts change from thinking the mother and children were the victims to maybe the father being the victim. This is especially relevant when the speaker reveals that her mother had "taught" her children to hate him and resent him.
There is alliteration, sibilance, and enjambment in "The Victims". All these tools add to the reader's understanding of the poem. It puts emphasis on certain parts of the poem, and it adds more rhythm to the poem as a whole. Especially in the part where she starts talking about the bums, all the "s's" catch our attention. We are able to realize her change of opinion.
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
"Marks" by Linda Pastan
Linda Pastan was born on May 27, 1932 in New York City. She is an American poet of Jewish background.
My husband gives me an A
for last night's supper,
an incomplete for my ironing,
a B plus in bed.
My son says I am average,
an average mother, but if
I put my mind to it
I could improve.
My daughter believes
in Pass/Fail and tells me
I pass. Wait 'til they learn
I'm dropping out.
The speaker is showing the audience how her family grades her on her motherly and wifely duties. The poem, as a whole, is an extended metaphor for how the speaker is judged. It is very clear that she is not pleased with the way she is always being critiqued by her family, just like anyone else would. The fact that she is using the metaphor of grades suggests her irritation further. There is no emotion in the speaker's words, which shows that she is so tired of serving others with no appreciation. The speaker also talks about three different grading systems that are used in schools. She uses language from school all the way till the end. She ends up giving into the metaphor that irritates her so much. Since her family treats her like a student, she can have the student's rights. She will be leaving the family or "dropping out".
"Marks" is a one stanza, free verse poem. There is no rhyme scheme, but there is enjambment in a few lines. Linda Pastan uses enjambment in this poem to add some rhythm and to also help the readers continue thinking about the idea talked about in the previous line.
The extended metaphor is comparing life to school. In this poem specifically, life as a housewife, but we are always being judged, in everything we do. At any job our boss is constantly looking out and "grading" us. In our everyday actions people are always watching and judging us. If we were kind to someone we get an A, but if we were rude we could Fail. Not only are other people watching, but God as well. He is the almighty judge who gives us the grades that matter.
My husband gives me an A
for last night's supper,
an incomplete for my ironing,
a B plus in bed.
My son says I am average,
an average mother, but if
I put my mind to it
I could improve.
My daughter believes
in Pass/Fail and tells me
I pass. Wait 'til they learn
I'm dropping out.
The speaker is showing the audience how her family grades her on her motherly and wifely duties. The poem, as a whole, is an extended metaphor for how the speaker is judged. It is very clear that she is not pleased with the way she is always being critiqued by her family, just like anyone else would. The fact that she is using the metaphor of grades suggests her irritation further. There is no emotion in the speaker's words, which shows that she is so tired of serving others with no appreciation. The speaker also talks about three different grading systems that are used in schools. She uses language from school all the way till the end. She ends up giving into the metaphor that irritates her so much. Since her family treats her like a student, she can have the student's rights. She will be leaving the family or "dropping out".
"Marks" is a one stanza, free verse poem. There is no rhyme scheme, but there is enjambment in a few lines. Linda Pastan uses enjambment in this poem to add some rhythm and to also help the readers continue thinking about the idea talked about in the previous line.
The extended metaphor is comparing life to school. In this poem specifically, life as a housewife, but we are always being judged, in everything we do. At any job our boss is constantly looking out and "grading" us. In our everyday actions people are always watching and judging us. If we were kind to someone we get an A, but if we were rude we could Fail. Not only are other people watching, but God as well. He is the almighty judge who gives us the grades that matter.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
"This Is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams lived in the years 1883 to 1963. He is said to have been one of the principal poets of the Imagist movement.
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
"This Is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams is a poem with no true meaning. Williams warns us of this in the title; he is writing it just because. The speaker in this poem is most likely talking to his roommate, telling him about the unforeseen tragedy that he ate his plums. Throughout the entire poem there is a lot of sarcasm. From the beginning, when he starts out dramatically by saying he "eaten the plums" to the last stanza with his immensely sincere apology, the audience is able to detect his sarcasm.
There is no strict form or meter in "This Is Just to Say. There is no punctuation either. Each line is very short, made up of three words at most. Even with all that, we automatically pause at the end of some lines which give the poem a "dramatic" effect. The setting of this poem is most likely in a kitchen. The poem could almost be a letter put on the refrigerator to let the other person know the speaker had eaten the plums.
Even though there is no rhyme or rhythm in this poem, there is still a reason Williams wrote it and why it is considered poetry. It gives an example of a everyday experience that anyone could say. It reminds the audience that a mundane experience can be seen in another way, and it can be worthy of poetry.
Two unique aspects of poetry in "This Is Just to Say" are enjambment and sibilance. Enjambment is when the lines of poetry run together, which is clearly seen in all of the lines of this poem. Sibilance is the use of words with a hissing sound or the use of the letter "s". There is a great deal of sibilance in the title alone, not to mention the poem as a whole. It gives the poem a unique and subtle effect while also slowing it down.
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
"This Is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams is a poem with no true meaning. Williams warns us of this in the title; he is writing it just because. The speaker in this poem is most likely talking to his roommate, telling him about the unforeseen tragedy that he ate his plums. Throughout the entire poem there is a lot of sarcasm. From the beginning, when he starts out dramatically by saying he "eaten the plums" to the last stanza with his immensely sincere apology, the audience is able to detect his sarcasm.
There is no strict form or meter in "This Is Just to Say. There is no punctuation either. Each line is very short, made up of three words at most. Even with all that, we automatically pause at the end of some lines which give the poem a "dramatic" effect. The setting of this poem is most likely in a kitchen. The poem could almost be a letter put on the refrigerator to let the other person know the speaker had eaten the plums.
Even though there is no rhyme or rhythm in this poem, there is still a reason Williams wrote it and why it is considered poetry. It gives an example of a everyday experience that anyone could say. It reminds the audience that a mundane experience can be seen in another way, and it can be worthy of poetry.
Two unique aspects of poetry in "This Is Just to Say" are enjambment and sibilance. Enjambment is when the lines of poetry run together, which is clearly seen in all of the lines of this poem. Sibilance is the use of words with a hissing sound or the use of the letter "s". There is a great deal of sibilance in the title alone, not to mention the poem as a whole. It gives the poem a unique and subtle effect while also slowing it down.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
"Morning" by Billy Collins
Billy Collins was born in New York in 1941. He is said to be "the most popular poet in America".
This is the best—
throwing off the light covers,
feet on the cold floor,
and buzzing around the house on espresso—
maybe a splash of water on the face,
a palmful of vitamins—
but mostly buzzing around the house on espresso,
dictionary and atlas open on the rug,
the typewriter waiting for the key of the head,
a cello on the radio,
"Morning" by Billy Collins is about the speaker's morning routine, and how "[it] is the best" (6). He starts out the poem by putting down all the other parts of the day. All the little aspects of the morning are so refreshing. Collins mentions things that we all do everyday without giving it a second thought, like "throwing off the light covers" and putting our "feet on the cold floor" (7-8). The poem as a whole clearly shows that Collins enjoys a peaceful morning to start out the rest of the day. It is the one part of the day that he can take his time. Everything is not going by so quickly, and he can actually take the time to have a cup of coffee and look outside the window to take in all the beauty.
The setting is clearly stated, even before you read the actual poem. It is the speaker's house during the morning. There is not a strict structure to the poem. It is free verse, and it does not rhyme. It reads almost like a story.
Personally, I am not a morning person. I have mutiple alarms set in the morning to get me up and I press the snooze button every time. I hate taking off the warm covers to enter the cold, and I do not drink coffee to make waking up easier. The only thing I have in common with this poem is that I splash water on my face to wake me up. However, I still enjoyed reading this poem along with the content it holds. It gives me a new outlook on the morning I never look forward too. Billy Collins makes it seem so simple and calming.
Why do we bother with the rest of the day,
the swale of the afternoon,
the sudden dip into evening,
the swale of the afternoon,
the sudden dip into evening,
then night with his notorious perfumes,
his many-pointed stars?
his many-pointed stars?
This is the best—
throwing off the light covers,
feet on the cold floor,
and buzzing around the house on espresso—
maybe a splash of water on the face,
a palmful of vitamins—
but mostly buzzing around the house on espresso,
dictionary and atlas open on the rug,
the typewriter waiting for the key of the head,
a cello on the radio,
and, if necessary, the windows—
trees fifty, a hundred years old
out there,
heavy clouds on the way
and the lawn steaming like a horse
in the early morning.
trees fifty, a hundred years old
out there,
heavy clouds on the way
and the lawn steaming like a horse
in the early morning.
"Morning" by Billy Collins is about the speaker's morning routine, and how "[it] is the best" (6). He starts out the poem by putting down all the other parts of the day. All the little aspects of the morning are so refreshing. Collins mentions things that we all do everyday without giving it a second thought, like "throwing off the light covers" and putting our "feet on the cold floor" (7-8). The poem as a whole clearly shows that Collins enjoys a peaceful morning to start out the rest of the day. It is the one part of the day that he can take his time. Everything is not going by so quickly, and he can actually take the time to have a cup of coffee and look outside the window to take in all the beauty.
The setting is clearly stated, even before you read the actual poem. It is the speaker's house during the morning. There is not a strict structure to the poem. It is free verse, and it does not rhyme. It reads almost like a story.
Personally, I am not a morning person. I have mutiple alarms set in the morning to get me up and I press the snooze button every time. I hate taking off the warm covers to enter the cold, and I do not drink coffee to make waking up easier. The only thing I have in common with this poem is that I splash water on my face to wake me up. However, I still enjoyed reading this poem along with the content it holds. It gives me a new outlook on the morning I never look forward too. Billy Collins makes it seem so simple and calming.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
"She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways" by William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770 in Cumberland. In 1843 Wordsworth was named poet laureate of England.
She dwelt among the untrodden ways
Beside the springs of Dove,
A Maid whom there were none to praise
And very few to love:
A violet by a mossy stone
Half hidden from the eye!
—Fair as a star, when only one
Is shining in the sky.
She lived unknown, and few could know
When Lucy ceased to be;
But she is in her grave, and, oh,
The difference to me!
In this poem, William Wordsworth is talking about a young woman named Lucy. In the first stanza he is talking about the place Lucy used to live. It was not very crowded and you get the idea that Lucy was lonely. In the second stanza he tells us that she was very beautiful. She was as "fair as a star, when only one is shining in the sky" (7-8). Finally, in the third stanza, it is made clear that Lucy is not popular and very few people know who she is.
There is a regular rhyme scheme in "She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways". It is ABAB. The audience is able to realize that the speaker cares for the girl throughout the poem. In the way he states her beauty, but more clearly in the last couple lines. When it is obviously stated that Lucy is dead the speaker says that it made a "difference" to him (12). We are now able to see that he cared for her, even though she was cared for by no one else.
People say that this poem describes the "growth, perfection, and death" of Lucy. The tone is sad and grieving. From the very beginning you can tell he is missing the girl because it is all in past tense. Also, the fact that he did not tell us her name in the beginning added strength to her not being known by others. Then, when he reveals her name we are able to see that she meaned something to him because he actually knew who she was.
Monday, November 3, 2014
"Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy
Marge Piercy was born on March 31, 1936 in Detroit. :) Piercy says that her mother was the reason she became a poet. She "doesn't understand writers who complain about writing, not because it is easy for her but because it is so absorbing that she can imagine nothing more consuming and exciting at which to labor."
http://margepiercy.com/about-marge/biography/
This girlchild was born as usual
and presented dolls that did pee-pee
and miniature GE stoves and irons
and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.
Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:
You have a great big nose and fat legs.
She was healthy, tested intelligent,
possessed strong arms and back,
abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.
She went to and fro apologizing.
Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.
She was advised to play coy,
exhorted to come on hearty,
exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.
Her good nature wore out
like a fan belt.
So she cut off her nose and her legs
and offered them up.
In the casket displayed on satin she lay
with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on,
a turned-up putty nose,
dressed in a pink and white nightie.
Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said.
Consummation at last.
To every woman a happy ending.
"Barbie Doll" is a well-structured, four stanza poem. Marge Piercy is showing her strong feminist opinions through the girl in the poem.
The poem starts out like any other story from a young girl's childhood. She has dolls and lipstick. Everything seems great until she hits puberty. In a typical girl's world, puberty starts at thirteen and that is when everything changes. Instead of being friends with everyone in your class, the girls are judged by their looks, and their faults are now pointed out. Then the speaker goes on to say that even though the girl was smart, kind, and in every way normal, just because she had a big nose and fat legs she was looked down upon. Soon, all the pressures got to her and she got a new nose and new legs legs. Even then, the girl was not happy until her death. All the people who judged her for her looks when she was alive finally said she looked pretty in her casket. She finally looked beautiful, when she did not even look like herself with all the makeup the undertaker put on her.
The tone Piercy uses is very sarcastic and sympathetic. She wants her readers to understand that these kind of opinions about young women are not okay. Every girl is beautiful and should not be judged just because they do not look absolutely perfect, because let's be honest, who does?
There is no rhyme or meter in this poem. In the seventies people wanted to be free; some think that is why Piercy chose to write in free verse. Also, she is talking about how girls should not be constricted to the "norm" of being beautiful, so that's why she did not want a strict form. There is also a lot of enjambment, where lines run on into the next. She also made the poem more like a story so that her audience would not get distracted by the rhymes and structure, but be more focused on the important lesson of the poem.
http://margepiercy.com/about-marge/biography/
This girlchild was born as usual
and presented dolls that did pee-pee
and miniature GE stoves and irons
and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.
Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:
You have a great big nose and fat legs.
She was healthy, tested intelligent,
possessed strong arms and back,
abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.
She went to and fro apologizing.
Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.
She was advised to play coy,
exhorted to come on hearty,
exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.
Her good nature wore out
like a fan belt.
So she cut off her nose and her legs
and offered them up.
In the casket displayed on satin she lay
with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on,
a turned-up putty nose,
dressed in a pink and white nightie.
Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said.
Consummation at last.
To every woman a happy ending.
"Barbie Doll" is a well-structured, four stanza poem. Marge Piercy is showing her strong feminist opinions through the girl in the poem.
The poem starts out like any other story from a young girl's childhood. She has dolls and lipstick. Everything seems great until she hits puberty. In a typical girl's world, puberty starts at thirteen and that is when everything changes. Instead of being friends with everyone in your class, the girls are judged by their looks, and their faults are now pointed out. Then the speaker goes on to say that even though the girl was smart, kind, and in every way normal, just because she had a big nose and fat legs she was looked down upon. Soon, all the pressures got to her and she got a new nose and new legs legs. Even then, the girl was not happy until her death. All the people who judged her for her looks when she was alive finally said she looked pretty in her casket. She finally looked beautiful, when she did not even look like herself with all the makeup the undertaker put on her.
The tone Piercy uses is very sarcastic and sympathetic. She wants her readers to understand that these kind of opinions about young women are not okay. Every girl is beautiful and should not be judged just because they do not look absolutely perfect, because let's be honest, who does?
There is no rhyme or meter in this poem. In the seventies people wanted to be free; some think that is why Piercy chose to write in free verse. Also, she is talking about how girls should not be constricted to the "norm" of being beautiful, so that's why she did not want a strict form. There is also a lot of enjambment, where lines run on into the next. She also made the poem more like a story so that her audience would not get distracted by the rhymes and structure, but be more focused on the important lesson of the poem.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
"To Enter That Rhythm Where The Self Is Lost" by Muriel Rukeyser
Muriel Rukeyser was born on December 15, 1913 in New York City. "She felt a deep responsibility to comment on human rights issues and was particularly concerned with gender, class, and racial inequalities."
http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/muriel-rukeyser
To enter that rhythm where the self is lost,
where breathing : heartbeat : and the subtle music
of their relation make our dance, and hasten
us to the moment when all things become
magic, another possibility.
That blind moment, midnight, when all sight
begins, and the dance itself is all our breath
and we ourselves the moment of life and death.
Blinded; but given now another saving,
the self as vision, at all times perceiving,
all arts all senses being languages,
delivered of will, being transformed in truth –
for life’s sake surrendering moment and images,
writing the poem; in love making; bringing to birth.
"To Enter That Rhythm Where The Self Is Lost" is a very short poem. It does not have much depth; the title itself tells the reader what it is talking about-- losing yourself in the rhythm.
In this poem Muriel Rukeyser is talking about how someone feels when writing poetry. She says that the author loses themselves in the rhythm of the piece. She compares the act of writing poetry to dancing and singing. Muriel Rukeyser is implying that poetry can be very passionate, and that when writing a poem the author loses themselves in their own work. Not just that, but even when reading poetry, the reader gets lost in the rhythm. It is all consuming. Just like when a really good song comes on the radio, you don't even think about singing along, it just happens. You could be in the car and all of a sudden you lose yourself in the beat, unconsciously having a dance party.
"To Enter That Rhythm Where The Self Is Lost" is all about the rhythm in poetry. This is something not usually recognized in a poem. We all know it is there, but no one really appreciates it. Most people do not like poetry if it does not rhyme or flow all together, but what they do not realize is that it takes hard work to get there. Although the rhythm in poetry is sometimes subtle, without it, the poem would not be classified as real poetry. Personally, if I do not find my self getting lost in the perfection of a poem, I don't really enjoy it. I want the poem to consume me with the rhythm and meaning so that I am blinded too.
http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/muriel-rukeyser
To enter that rhythm where the self is lost,
where breathing : heartbeat : and the subtle music
of their relation make our dance, and hasten
us to the moment when all things become
magic, another possibility.
That blind moment, midnight, when all sight
begins, and the dance itself is all our breath
and we ourselves the moment of life and death.
Blinded; but given now another saving,
the self as vision, at all times perceiving,
all arts all senses being languages,
delivered of will, being transformed in truth –
for life’s sake surrendering moment and images,
writing the poem; in love making; bringing to birth.
"To Enter That Rhythm Where The Self Is Lost" is a very short poem. It does not have much depth; the title itself tells the reader what it is talking about-- losing yourself in the rhythm.
In this poem Muriel Rukeyser is talking about how someone feels when writing poetry. She says that the author loses themselves in the rhythm of the piece. She compares the act of writing poetry to dancing and singing. Muriel Rukeyser is implying that poetry can be very passionate, and that when writing a poem the author loses themselves in their own work. Not just that, but even when reading poetry, the reader gets lost in the rhythm. It is all consuming. Just like when a really good song comes on the radio, you don't even think about singing along, it just happens. You could be in the car and all of a sudden you lose yourself in the beat, unconsciously having a dance party.
"To Enter That Rhythm Where The Self Is Lost" is all about the rhythm in poetry. This is something not usually recognized in a poem. We all know it is there, but no one really appreciates it. Most people do not like poetry if it does not rhyme or flow all together, but what they do not realize is that it takes hard work to get there. Although the rhythm in poetry is sometimes subtle, without it, the poem would not be classified as real poetry. Personally, if I do not find my self getting lost in the perfection of a poem, I don't really enjoy it. I want the poem to consume me with the rhythm and meaning so that I am blinded too.
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