The Man He Killed

This poem is about war of two people meeting who are not on the same side and if they meet anywhere else but the battle field they would probably have bought him a drink. Saying that war can make you do things that you normally don't do. If he was needing help you would help or assist him if asked. But when you are on a side and face a foe you are to choose your life or his in order to survive. You have no control which is what he states about killing in his poem.

Prophyria's Lover

This was a twist of tales of irony that showed her coming to tell him that she would give her love to him and in that moment of giving herself to him he became mad at the thought that no one else can have and made sure of that so he killed her with that last thoughts of him on her mind of his love. The irony is ironic that he thinks that that is what she wanted is to be with him forever and this is how to do it. I thought that this was a good poem because of the twist in the middle and changes moods.

Do not go gentle into that good night

This poem talks about his father dying and tells of others who die like the wild men, good men, wise men and grave men it tells them that all men die and the they do not want them to die as said when they say do not go gentle into that good night, seems as though they do not want him to go but to fight it and stated Rage rage against the dying of the light to say I am not going easy I will fight and the last he gives to the fact that his father is dying.

My Papa's Waltz

I likes this poem because it reminded me of my dancing days with my grandfather showing me how to polka instead. The imagery given makes things seem more real to see as if your in the kitchen with them walking them. The description of the father with the dirt on the hands and the breath of whiskey tells you of a man of hard work and drinks a lot. It was as if they were having their own little dancing party by themselves because the mother was not impressed.

My Last Duchess

“My Last Duchess” is most descriptive of the speaker and his dramatic dialogue and how it conveys his feelings for his late wife. I start to wonder if he did not kill or have her killed in his possessiveness?! He only shows her portrait at his own whim, and more as a possession than anything else—she is still his possession as a portrait and “good taste”. The Duke has high expectations for a new wife and will likely treat her in the similar obsessive manner as his deceased wife. There is trickery in the duke’s voice as he pretends “flattery and self modesty” (p. 704).
Lauri Beier

The Man He Killed

The poem "The Man He Killed" conveys the sadness of the infantry fighting for our country, yet these soldiers do not want to kill anyone anymore than you or I do. They would more likely sit down and have a drink at a bar with these friends, but they are foes because they are fighting opposite each other in our war, and if they do not kill they will be killed. It would be disturbing for anyone who is forced to kill. To think that the person you are killing is a father, brother, son and friend to others and how it would feel to be that person can only eat at one (soldier) and cause deterioration of mind and conviction.
Lauri Beier

You Fit into Me

The poem “Hook and Eye” is likely the shortest poem I have ever read, yet it takes some thought to develop a meaning. Hook and eye is a term for a clasp of a garment that closes at the top of a zipper—they fit neatly inside each other and keep the zipper from becoming undone. The title of the poem has a connotation of sexual explicitness, prior to reading the body, but the second stanza is utterly painful and crude in comparison to what the reader expects to be forthcoming! Many interpretations could be made, but one that really stands out is that the hook and eye fit together so well, as husband and wife or two lovers, yet this coupling is the same that can scratch and claw at each other as a fish hook can take out an eye. Been there, done that—second divorce!
Lauri Beier

We Real Cool

The poem “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks shows an emphasis on word choice and order. The vision that appears in my mind, while reading this poem, is a gang of colored teenagers from the city who are growing up in a world that has paved a way for a life that is described in the poem. Dropping out of school, singing sin, thinning gin, and dying soon (young) are not what we want for our teenagers. Critic D.H. Malhem describes this as a maternal poem. When I read it with this thought in mind, I can envision a black mother mocking the words of the gang after her son has been in trouble, jailed or died young due to his associations with gangs and the type of life described in the poem.
Lauri Beier

Sadie and Maud

This poem emphasizes sound with rhythm and rhyme, which is what most of us normally associate with poetry, especially from our years of experience with nursery rhymes. It starts out reminding me of everyone’s favorite, “This little piggy went to market/this little piggy stayed home. . .” It makes for easy reading, yet understanding the meaning of the poem takes more thought and delving into the written word. It boils down to that Maud led the proper, dull life, while Sadie led the fun and frivolous, short life. It might be somewhat parallel to the fictional short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates. Connie would be considered like Sadie, very carefree and living life for the moment, and her older sister, June, would be a lot like Maud, always doing the boring, but “right” thing.
Lauri Beier

you fit into me

I found this to be a very short and very strange poem. At the same time it makes sense. "you fit into me"(1), I see as two people who make sense together, a perfect match. "like a hook into an eye"(2), I see this line though stating not without pain. Maybe this poem is about a love-hate relationship. The relationship may be a good one yet at times it causes pain or heartache. Or my other thought is that the narrator wants nothing to do with a certain relationship because it is needed "like a hook into an eye", meaning not wanted, not needed to live.
JenN

My Papa's Waltz

I liked this very short poem. As I was reading it I imagined a young boy standing on his father's feet and hanging on tightly while dancing. Apparently the father decided to have a nightcap first, "The whiskey on your breath" (1). The words used in this poem allow for the description of the father as a hard laborer, "Was battered on one knuckle"(10). Lines 15 and 16 make it clear that it was time for bed whether the boy was ready or not, "Still clinging to your shirt"(16). I can look at this poem in two ways. Either the boy just did not want to go to bed or he was clinging to his fathers shirt out of freight because his father was really drunk.
JenN

The Mending Wall

When reading this poem I could relate to the narrators opposition to having such things as separation fences or walls. This is a poem about neighbors who try to keep separation of their lands. The narrator tries to find the fun in mending this fence every spring, "Oh, just another kind of outdoor game"(21). The narrator wonders why they should need separation and why "Good fences make good neighbors"(27). "What I was walling in or walling out"(33), in other words if your such good neighbors why is a wall needed? The wall may signify tradition and it is just what people have been doing forever. Maybe the other land owner wants it known what is his without any question.
JenN

You fit into me

This is a very short poem that to me has a lot of meaning behind it. The first two lines reveal "you fit into me like a hook into an eye." In the world a hook into an eye would not be very pleasant. It would be painful and may result in permanent damage. I am under the impression that who ever the speaker is talking to they don't "click" They are not right for each other and they don't work together. The last two lines says "a fish hook an open eye." I took this two different ways the first time I read the poem I thought of a fish hook with no string in the eye of the hook. The second time I read it I thought of a hook going through and open eye. That is what I got out of the short, but interesting poem.

Barbie Doll

While reading this poem I pictured a girl in high school who was only trying to be like everyone else. Some "popular" girls took it upon themselves to comment on her "big nose and fat legs". Bullying her to the point that she no longer felt like she wanted to live. She had beautiful inner beauty that others apparently couldn't see. When the speaker mentioned "she cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up" (17) I pictured a paper doll that she destroyed. In the end I felt like she took her own life and others finally accepted her.

My Last Duchess

After reading “My Last Duchess” I am left wondering more about who the duke is? Why does he feel the need to be so possessive of his late wife’s painting? “His” Duchess has many desired attributes such as her “approving speech,” a heart, and was portrayed as a very happy lady. Instead of recollecting all of these good things about his Duchess he speaks about them with bitterness and jealousy; as she was “too soon made glad, / to easily impressed” (22, 23). The Duke sounds like a very unhappy man, one who covets the attributes and character of his late wife. His way of dealing with this is to possess her: “I gave commands” (45) and “My favor at her breast” (25) or “My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name” (33). This possession is only a way for him to cover up where he is lacking as bitterness and jealousy eat away at him.
Emera Gould

My Last Duchess

After reading “My Last Duchess” I am left wondering more about who the duke is? Why does he feel the need to be so possessive of his late wife’s painting? “His” Duchess has many desired attributes such as her “approving speech,” a heart, and was portrayed as a very happy lady. Instead of recollecting all of these good things about his Duchess he speaks about them with bitterness and jealousy; as she was “too soon made glad, / to easily impressed” (22, 23). The Duke sounds like a very unhappy man, one who covets the attributes and character of his late wife. His way of dealing with this is to possess her: “I gave commands” (45) and “My favor at her breast” (25) or “My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name” (33). This possession is only a way for him to cover up where he is lacking as bitterness and jealousy eat away at him.
Emera Gould

Barbie Doll

A poem is not what is said but how it is said; the words used or by the way it is printed on the page. In “Barbie Doll” the diction of the speaker is what stuck out to me. The speaker uses alliteration “color of cherry candy” (4) and simple innocent words such as “pee-pee” and “wee.” Even later on in the poem when the speaker is explaining the sad fate of this girl, her words remain light without a negative connotation. This is where I find the irony. The speaker talks about this tragedy as if it is a normal thing that happens all the time. The speaker effectively makes his point showing that this “Barbie Doll” image is a silent killer to many women that continues to happen without anything being done to stop it.
Emera Gould

We Real Cool

In “We Real Cool” the speaker tells of what I believe to be juvenile delinquents in the speaker’s eyes. It is interesting to see how every line ends in the word “We”, except for the last line. Although this is a short poem, you get the gist of it; it is short and to the point. It talks about kids who “Left School We” (2) would lead the reader to believe that they are drop-outs. “Lurk late. We” (3) suggests that they come out at night, “Sing sin. We” (5) they may lead not so moral lives. The last lines says “Die soon.”, which would make you also think that they lead the kind of lives that may lead them to trouble and untimely deaths. The people that this poem is about seem to think that their actions are cool and the right thing to do, but they fail to realize the consequences of their actions, such as the last line says. This poem reminds me of a gang; they may drop out of school, drink, have their own code of conduct for life and die too young due to their carelessness. This is a very profound poem for being so short, it really makes you think about how precious life is and how soon it could end.

The Man He Killed

In “The Man He Killed” the speaker is talking about war and the feelings of the kill or be killed mentality. I have thought many times what it must be like to be in the midst of war and battle, what would I do, think, feel, say? I think that the lines where it says “Had he and I but met, By some old ancient inn, We should have sat us down to wet, Right many a nipperkin!” (1-4) tells a whole story in itself. Many of the people who are in battle do what they are trained to do and don’t view the others as a person, but the enemy. If these two gentlemen had met at a bar they may have shared a drink together and got to know one another is a huge turning point in thought. It is so true, if the people who are in war against each other met under different circumstances could they be friends? It is possible, of course, anything is possible, but this poem shows us that the speaker realizes that he has to kill or be killed, but he could have been friends with that man. I was left with a profound sadness after reading this wondering if other people of war think along these lines and what must they feel like?

Porphyria's Lover

In “Porphyria’s Lover” the speaker is infatuated with Porphyria but is unaware of her complete feelings. I found this poem to have irony and a thick mysterious background. You get the sense that the two are happily in love the first part of the poem until the speaker seemingly goes crazy. He kills his precious Porphyria with her hair ribbon, “Three times her little throat around,” (40). Instead of loving her and being a couple, he chooses to kill her to have eternal love. “Porphyria’s love: she guessed not how” (56) the speaker says after she is dead, he was now sure that she loved him and didn’t want her love to falter. This is a strange poem and you don’t really understand how deranged the speaker is until you have a chance to let the poem sink in. I thought that this would end with a happy ending for the loving couple, but it ended in murder and the poor woman who seems to fall for the speaker should have kept any doubts she might have had. Her instincts were not good enough to keep her away from this crazy man!

Stop all clocks, cut off telephone

In “Stop all clocks, cut off telephone” the speaker seems to be mourning the loss of a man that they loved. The speaker I assumed to be a woman, possibly the widower of the man she speaks about losing. It is a very sad poem, you almost feel like you are inside her body and feeling the loss for yourself. She wants to turn the world off and believes that nothing good will ever come. The speaker doesn't want to be bothered with people from outside the walls of her home, she feels as though she will be alone forever and seems to want to be. I believe this poem is an elegy due to the mourning of the man’s death. It is dramatic and vivid, you are able to feel what the speaker feels and you feel as though you may have known the nameless man who died. I liked this poem because of its ability to grab you in and keep you interested throughout. The simple to the point nature of the poem allows the reader to understand what the poem is about without the possibility of missing the point, this is a nice change to some of the harder poems that we have read!

Sadie and Maud

In “Sadie and Maud” I really felt like I could completely relate with Sadie, scraping through life just as she has “With a fine-tooth comb.” (4). I have a very similar story as Sadie and it is quite ironic how this poem could almost describe my life compared with my brothers’. I feel as though Sadie isn’t given the benefit of the doubt and Maud is the child prodigy. Even though Sadie’s life isn’t as conventional as Maud’s, she seems to have a lot of knowledge and life experience over Maud. Some times in life things happen for a reason and things also follow a certain path, Sadie just seems to have a more difficult time finding her way, but seems to reach her goals anyway. Maud, who follows the path that people are suppose to politically correctly follow seems lacking, “Maud, who went to college, Is a thin brown mouse. She is living all alone” (17-19).

My Papa's Waltz

The title of the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” foreshadows and helps to bring understanding to what the speaker is saying. What strikes me about the title is the fact that is it the speaker’s papa’s waltz, not theirs but his. Don’t you need to work as partners in order to dance together? The creative language used by the speaker: romped, battered, scraped, beat, and clinging prove that this is no easy dance. Instead the dance the speaker and the father share is very rough and aggressive. The speaker is in the mercy of her fathers actions. The speaker has no part in this dance other than to be clumsily dragged around. I think that the title mimics the relationship the speaker has with his or her father. He is controlling, not sensitive to his child’s feelings, and is preoccupied drinking “The whiskey on your breath/ Could make a small boy dizzy” (1, 2), and work “With a palm caked hard by dirt” (14).
Emera Gould

mending wall

Why is the wall so significant/ important? Who are these two men who hold the responsibility of mending the wall each year? Why do they keep the wall in-between them as they mend it? What is the wall protecting? Keeping out? Is the wall keeping a secret? The neighbor makes the remark that “Good fences make good neighbors,” (27) is there not trust between neighbors? As I read on throughout the poem the wall represents the indifference between the two neighbors. The speaker describes his neighbor “like an old-stone savage armed” (40). By the speaker descriptively saying how he sees his neighbor, it shows that he does not seem him in a positive way. There is indifference there, as the speaker wonders why they have a fence in the first place and questions the motives of his neighbor. The neighbor has something that he is hiding. He has some reason for keeping his neighbor out.
Emera Gould

you fit into me

“You fit into me!” What a good and positive thing to say about someone! Wouldn’t you feel good if someone said that about you? The speaker does not say much but his words are painful and hurtful, “like a hook into an eye”(2). The speaker is able to accomplish this through the use of hyperbole. The exaggeration used helps the speaker to make a point and quickly. Because of the speakers frankness the audience gets a feel of this speaker. The speaker sets off a theme of extreme hate and dislike. He is serious about what he says and it is scary. Instead of rambling on and on about his dislike for this person the speaker is able to say it in four lines, which leaves the reader mystified and wondering who this speaker is.
Emera Gould