"General Review of the Sex Situation"

When reading the question on page 727, I immediately interpreted an “audible voice” in poetry as something that I can understand, that I can “get” easily, and I know exactly where the speaker stands. Flipping through the book I fell upon “General Review of the Sex Situation” by Dorothy Parker. I read through it and it was quite simple. The speaker says what she feels in a very straight forward way. She feels as though women live completely for love and men have no time for it. She praises women throughout the poem and makes derogatory comments towards men. As the reader you know exactly how the speaker is feeling and where she stands on this matter. In line 7 and 8, the speaker tells the reader “With this the gist and sum of it, What earthly good can come of it?” These lines show that there isn’t much to it. It’s pretty simple to understand-even though women want love and live for it, they would be better off not loving the man because men are incapable of love.

Fire and Ice

"Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor 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."

Line 1: Talking about the end of the world, this line shows us one point of view on how it will end.

Line 2: This shows us the other point of view on how it will end.

Line 3: This line shows us how man has lots of desire, and how desire might bring man down.

Line 4: This line shows the poets opinion.

Line 5: If the world were to be destroyed twice, he wouldn't know which to choose.

Line 6: The world is full of hate, and it has proven itself to the poet.

Line 7: If the world were to end by ice...

Line 8: ... There is a good possibility for that ending also.

LIne 9: Either way, the world coming to an end will happen.

The Eagle, Line by Line

The first line, He clasps the crag with crooked hands: We know "he" is an eagle. He is sitting upon a roughly surfaced rock. Crooked hands refers to the grip he takes upon the rock. It indictates the surface is not firm. Close to the sun in lonely lands, the second line implies that he is up on a mountain top close to the sun where there is no one. Ringed with the azure world, he stands, the third line noting the blue sky that surrounds him (the azure world). The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls. This line represents reinforces the idea as to how high the eagle sits. the roaring sea so far below appears only to be crawling slowly. He watches from his mountain walls, and like a thunderbolt he falls. The eagle looks at his surroundings, and then does not actually fall, but takes off from his place with speed.
This poem is about a place so serene that only eagles are able to reach.

Stop all the Clocks, cut off the Telephone

This poem is being expressed by someone who has recently lost a loved one. The speaker is suffering from severe sadness and feels as if nothing else matters besides the one he has lost. The speaker emphasizes that everyone should be thinking of his lost loved one when he says “prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone” and “let the traffic policeman wear black cotton gloves”(Auden). The speaker seems to think that the death of his loved one is a worldwide crisis. For example, when a hurricane is near everyone knows about it and prepares for the hurricane. The speaker expresses that everyone should be preparing for the death of his loved one. The speaker remarks “he was my North, my South, my East, and West” (Auden). This line tells us that this man was very close to the speaker; maybe a father or a grandfather. One idea that crosses my mind when I read this poem is that the speaker seems to be suicidal. He feels that not only is his loved ones world gone, but like his is also gone. In the last line of the poem he says “for nothing now can ever come to any good” (Auden). This tells me that he doesn’t seem to have a reason to live anymore. . .