My Papa's Waltz

I read “My Papa’s Waltz a few times and I realized that the speaker isn’t recounting a bad memory from childhood but one that he appreciated and maybe enjoyed. Even though he didn’t like the smell of whiskey or his right ear scraping his father’s belt buckle he makes a couple of references that changed my viewpoint from that of any kind of abuse on his father’s part. For instance, “But I hung on like death” (line 4) and “Then waltzed me off to bed/Still Clinging to your shirt” (lines 15-16). His mother is frowning the whole time his father is dancing with him but she doesn’t stop them because she sees they are playing around, which is referenced by “We romped until the pans/Slid from the kitchen shelf” (lines 5-6). Maybe the speaker’s father didn’t spend a lot of time with him so even when his father handled him roughly the speaker didn’t care because at least he was spending time with him.

Unto Death Do Us Part - Poetry Blog 4

The first thing that caught my attention when reading this poem was the title. “To His Coy Mistress.” When I first read this I asked myself the question; what does the poet mean by coy? I got the impression that the poet’s mistress must be shy. The poet describes how he would spend his time with his mistress throughout the next several lines. “We would sit down and think which way/ To walk, and pass our long love’s day./ Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side/ Should’st rubies find; I by the tide/ of Humber would complain. I would/ Love you ten years before the Flood,” (lines 3-8). I also got the impression that the poet is from India. This is because of his mention of the “Indian Ganges” in line five. I found it interesting how the poet worded lines eleven and twelve. “My vegetable love should grow/ Vaster than empires, and more slow.” (lines 11-12). I then realized why the poet described his love as a vegetable. This is because his was growing for his mistress much like vegetable grows. I liked how the poet described his love for his mistress throughout the rest of the poem. From discussing how long he would love her to what he would do with her were they together. I found the last few lines very intriguing. “And tear our pleasures with rough strife/ Throrough the iron gates of life./ Thus, though we cannot make our sun/ Stand still, yet we will make him run.” (lines 43-46). The poet seems to be saying that he would love his mistress until death. I found this a very powerful statement and got the impression that the two were either married or were going to be in the near future.

"Dulce et Decorum Est"

I think what Wilfred Owen was trying to get at in his poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” is that even though people say it is noble and heroic to die for your country, sometimes it doesn’t turn out that way. However, in Owen’s poem, people encourage you to fight for your country. “But someone still was yelling out and stumbling/ And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime…” (Lines 12-13) He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning./ And watch the white eyes withering in his face,” (16, 19) Those lines basically state that fighting for your country is simply sentencing yourself to an unnecessary death. “If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood/ Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs” (21-22)

"Do not go gentle into that good night"

The poem “Do not go gentle into that good night” written by Dylan Thomas was confusing to me. I re-read the poem a few times, but I couldn’t quite get the right idea. I tired reading between the lines, but I still am confused. The part, “Old age should burn and rave at close of day;” (line 2) makes me think that old age should not come until you are ready and want it to come; however, I don’t think that is right because that doesn’t make any sense. “And you, my father, there on the sad height, / Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray, / Do not go gentle into that good night.” (16-18) hits me as he sees his father as an aged man, and he can really see how he has aged when he looks at him. He remembers his father when he was young, strong, and healthy. He also sees his father when he had more life in him.

"Photograph of My Father in His Twenty-Second Year"

Raymond Carver’s poem “Photograph of My Father in His Twenty-Second Year” was a good poem. I thought the part “He would like to pose bluff and hearty for his posterity,/ wear his old hat cocked over his ear./ All his life my father wanted to be bold.” (lines 8-10) was good that his father was trying to be bold and the child could recognize the way his father tried to be bold and how he wore his hat. I also liked the part “In jeans and denim shirt, he leans/ against the front fender of a 1934 Ford.” (6-7)I am a little confused by the end, though. “yet how can I say thank you, I who can’t hold my liquor either,/ and don’t even know the places to fish?” (14-15) Is he thanking him seriously or sarcastically? I really cannot tell. The way I read it seems like it would be sarcastically, but I don’t know for sure.

"Photograph of My Father in His Twenty-Second Year"

Raymond Carver’s poem “Photograph of My Father in His Twenty-Second Year” was a good poem. I thought the part “He would like to pose bluff and hearty for his posterity,/ wear his old hat cocked over his ear./ All his life my father wanted to be bold.” (lines 8-10) was good that his father was trying to be bold and the child could recognize the way his father tried to be bold and how he wore his hat. I also liked the part “In jeans and denim shirt, he leans/ against the front fender of a 1934 Ford.” (6-7)I am a little confused by the end, though. “yet how can I say thank you, I who can’t hold my liquor either,/ and don’t even know the places to fish?” (14-15) Is he thanking him seriously or sarcastically? I really cannot tell. The way I read it seems like it would be sarcastically, but I don’t know for sure.

"My Papa's Waltz"

Theodore Roethke’s poem “My Papa’s Waltz” is one of my favorite poems that we have read so far. The part that I liked the most was the part “We romped until the pans/ Slid from the kitchen shelf;” (Lines 5-6) I think that was the part I liked the most because the father likes to spend time with his child, which is the way it seemed in the poem. The end was also good. “Then waltzed me off to bed/ Still clinging to your shirt.” (15-16) Makes me think of spending a perfect evening waltzing, then being tucked into bed by my father. The part that stuck out most to me was the beginning “The whiskey on your breath/ Could make a small boy dizzy;/ But I hung on like death:/ Such waltzing was not easy.” (1-4) The father may have had just one drink of whiskey or had a lot, but he still spent time with his child so that shows that he really does care for his child.

"Porphyria's Lover"

In the poem"Porphyria's Lover", the narrator shows how one can use words to make an evil person sound like a warm and loving person. Browning writes, "Nor could to-night's gay feast restrain/A sudden thought of one so pale/For love of her, and all in vain"(lines 27-29). In this lover's calmness, he thinks how she can be taken from him and he can't bare to think of her with someone else. The narrator states, "Happy and proud; at last I knew/Porphyria worshipped me; surprise/Made my heart swell, and still it grew/While I debated what to do"(32-35). He became evil after he saw how much she loved him. It would be that she was never to have another lover. He made sure she would be kept only for him in the end. Even God did not punish him. Browning writes,"And all night long we have not stirred,/And yet God has not said a word!"(59-60). To him all was well.

Ode on Grecian Urn

I have to admit the first time I read Ode on a Grecian Urn I had no clue what it was about. As I read it over a few times and listened to the audio annalist, things began to become much clearer. With some help figuring out the poem, I really began to like it. I feel as if I am being brought into someone’s mind to be shown their thinking process. I think much like this poem. My thoughts go up and down and some times all around. You can see this in two different lines within one stanza, “More happy love! more happy, happy love!, (line25)” and “A burning forehead, and a parching tongue, (line 30).” I am amazed at what all this poem says while the speaker is staring at an urn in a museum. I don’t think I would ever spend that much time thinking about an object in a museum. I have in the past often wonder what people are looking at so long. This has helped me to understand better what a person could be thinking of while taking hours to go through a museum. It is amazing to me how so much symbolism comes from an urn. I wonder if the speaker would have had this realization with some other object or painting. If this message truly came from the urn or was simply their at the time the speaker was processing his thoughts.

You Fit into Me

When I first read “you fit into me” I never thought of any positive connotation in the first stanza. My original thought was that of a sharp hook into an eyeball and that thought was reiterated by the second stanza “a fish hook/an open eye”. I was content with that thought and figured that the author just wasn’t very lucky in love. It wasn’t until I read the Unit 10 notes that there was further interpretation that needed to be done…which is like most poems so I don’t know why I thought this poem would be simple.

After further analysis and a little googling I discovered the first stanza meant a hook and eye closure, duh. After looking at the poem with that image in my mind I decided that the poem is still simple and gruesome. I cringe every time I read it. I still believe the author is making the point that love hurts but knowing that it will hurt even worse if you are alone, or “taking a fish hook out of your eye” so we are complacent with our current situation.

My actual first first thought of the poem was judged by its title and I thought it might be a little risqué or lovey dovey….I was way off.

"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"

This poem by Dylan Thomas has always been one of my favorites. I hope that when my time comes I do not "go gentle into that good night." I want to fight the good fight and live as long as possible. I do not want to regret not doing things that I wanted to like "wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight." (Line 10) I hope to be one who "rage, rage against the dying of the light." (3) This poem is filled with the surprise of death "good men, the last wave by, crying how bright," (7) and the knowledge that death is near "do not go gentle into that good night." (19) It is a poem which also has a rhythm that appeals to me. It is one that I have always liked.

"To His Coy Mistress"

I liked reading the poem “To His Coy Mistress”. After reading it a couple times I thought that it was humorous how the narrator was trying very hard to get this woman to love him or at least become his lover. He must have really found her attractive and irresistible, because it seemed he wanted to boost her confidence and pay her compliments so he might have a chance with her.”For, lady, you deserve this state,/Nor would I love at lower rate” (lines 19 & 20). I think that he wasn’t really in love with her as he may say, but he rather would just like to an affair (because by the way he is talking she is quite beautiful). “And tear our pleasures with rough strife/Thorough the iron gates of life” (lines 43 & 44). It seems kind of pathetic that he has to go through all this trouble in trying to seduce this woman, but I guess you have to give him credit for doing so.

"Mending Wall"

In the poem "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost conflict between neighbors is the message. Some people want their privacy and build up walls while others find walls to be a sign that they don't like you. "Good fences make good neighbors"(lines 26, 45) is repeated because the speaker feels that fences help to keep your life private and so no one can invade your space. Sometimes people just want to keep their life personal and to be able to be themselves and not be judged. Fences are also to keep things safe, like people use them so their children and pets are safe from getting lost, stolen, or hurt. "Something there that doesn't love a wall"(1, 35) is like asking who wouldn't live a wall? They keep things safe and they help keep privacy and from people intuding. Some people are offended by walls, it's like saying that they don't like you or that they don't want you to get to know them. Walls also make it hard to get to know someone because walls are like big blockades and don't all people in. I know in my neighborhood people don't have fences but at the same time people are good about not getting to everyones buisiness and keeping to themselves when appropriate, but we also get along and hang out at times. I feel that fences are good and that sometimes are needed and people shouldn't take offense.

To His Coy Mistress

I really enjoyed this poem. I wonder if it is more acceptable now to have an affair then in 1681 when the piece was written. Clearly the narrator of the poem did not feel free to be able to have an affair. I also found it interesting to read the historical references. In line 10 the narrator states, “Till the conversion of the Jews.” I wonder if this is meant as an anti-semetic view or if is speaking of strength of their views. The tone used in this piece gives the reader a lot of information. It reflects the sarcastic tone but yet it also shows the narrators raw desires. I have not experienced wanting something or someone to such a desire and then not being able to have them. The narrator in the last couple of lines shares the pain of not being able to fulfill his desires, “Thus, though we cannot make our sun, (Line 45).” It is funny because I almost feel sorry for him.

"Mending Wall"

In the poem "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost illustrates the conflict between neighbors. You get the idea of this because of the repeated line "Good fences make good neighbors" (lines 26, 45). The speaker questions this and doesn't understand what he might have done to offend his neighbor "And to whom I was like to give offense" (line 34). I believe the speakers feels they can get past their differences and be friends but the neighbor has no intentions in getting to know him. "He is all pine and I am apple orchard" (line 24). I feel that this does happen between some people today. Others might feel the need for privacy but some people might take that as an offense and that their neighbor isn't friendly or doesn't want to get to know them. I personally like to have open space but I don't have a pet or children of my own. I feel that it is more friendly that way. My neighbor has a fence up and I don't take any offense because they have a small child and a large dog who needs the space to run, but we are good friends. Now everyone feels the need to be friendly with their neighbors either and I know I hear a lot of gossip about that on my block about the people who don't. Its sad really that it is such a big deal, I myself wave and smile at least. This poem might also have deeper meaning about friendship other than just two neighbors and the conflicts between friends.

"To His Coy Mistress"

I found "To His Coy Mistress" somewhat difficult to read. After reading it a few times I gathered that the speaker was trying to seduce a woman, or make her fall in love with him. I thought it was somewhat ironic with the way he spoke. He was saying he loved her but he used many exaggerations; which made it seem that he wasn't genuine. At first I found it some what romantic by his exaggerations, " My vegetable love should grow/ Vaster than empires, and more slow" (lines 11-12). When I read further I got the idea that the speaker was speaking more lustfully and it was just a mere ploy, he didn't mean what he was saying. " Now let us sport us while we may;/ And now, like amorous birds of prey"(lines 37-38. With this line, I feel as if he is almost is saying it in a jokingly manner. By the title of the poem, I feel the woman (coy mistress) must be a shy and a innocent girl, and I wonder what she decides at the end of the poem. Does she go for him or does she realize it is just a ploy as well? To me the ending isn't very clear, and I didn't understand it very well, but I am interested in knowing.

"We Real Cool" Poem #7

This poem was an intersting little poem. It was short phrased, and did not pay any attention to grammar,but rather getting its point across through short little two to three worded lines. It talks about basically rebels that have taken their own path. I think that the speaker is not one of the actual rebels, but more of somebody trying to mock the ones who did this, or get the point across that it was not the way to go, or the "cool thing" to do. The speaker states "We real cool. We/Left School. We/Lurk Late. We/ Strike Straight. We/Sing sin. We/Thin gin. We/Jazz June. We/Die soon" (Lines 1-8). Though this was a very short worded poem, with only 8 lines, it has big meaning to it. The speaker is trying to get across that living this way is a dangerous life, leaving school, drinking, listening to profound music, and staying out late is surely going to lead to them dieing at a young age.

Fire and Ice

This poem was very short and wrote by Robert Frost. I believe that he is talking about how the world will end and the people in it. I believe by Fire he means people bringing death and tragedy upon themselves through being greedy and selfish. People always want what they can't have, and that leads to problems in this world. He is also stating "From what I've tasted of desire/I hold with those who favor fire" (lines 3-4). By those lines he is saying that what he has experienced in this world from desire, whether it means people being greedy, hateful, or just wanting stuff that they should not have, that that is how this world will one day end. Our own people will destroy it, chasing there dreams of wanting to conquer and control everything in their reach.

Porphyria's Lover

This poem kind of reminds me of Romeo and Juliet! To people deeply in love ending in death. Although it wasn't both who died, it was the selfish doing to the man because he was worried that the lady wouldn't stay with him forever. He was scared that she might not always love him, thus the easy solution: kill her! This poem also reminded me of the short story we read earlier this semester, "A Ross For Emily" where Emily kills the man she loved because she was afraid that he, like everyone else she cared about in her life, would leave her. I wonder what kind of message Robert Browning was trying to portray in "Porphyrais's Lover". How is it possible that someone so much in love with someone could kill them because they couldn't stand to see them leave and love someone else. I think it's pure selfishness. A real "man" would let his love go and be content with her loving someone other than himself because a real "man" would never harm his love. "Murmuring how she loved me - she/Too weak, for all her heart's endeavour." (21-22) He must have been an insecure man with no trust in his love to believe that she loved him and wouldn't leave him. It seems to me that the only reason she would have left him would be if he was mistreating her, which judging by his actions, wouldn't completely surprise me.

My Papa's Walt

In the poem of "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke has perfect imagery. I can see a boy being whipped around by his drunk father while his mother stood helplessly and watched. "My mother's countenance/ Could not unfrown itself" (line 7-8) I the first stanza I laughed at the way he described the dance. "But I hung on like death:/Such waltzing was not easy" (line 3-4) I picture then dancing in the kitchen but I think of a wedding when a drunk uncle is making a small child dance. The rhyming in the poem makes the speaker seems to make a joke of this situation. "At every step you missed/ My right ear scraped a buckle" (line 11-12) I just think of the child who does not understand the father who is enjoying the dance but the child is not at all. I don't know why I think this is so funny. Maybe because the child is not being hurt and the father is clearly having a good time. "Then waltzed me off to bed/ Still clinging to your shirt" (line 15-16). I see the child completely relieved that the dancing is over and can just go to bed so he doesn't have to spend anymore time with his father who thinks that the dance was a good time for them both.

Mending Wall

In the poem "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost it is written about a wall that seperates the speaker and his neighbor. I think of it as a fence in the yard. Some people do not like the fence because they see it as a wall to keep them out, others see a fence as something to keep something in. Throughout the poem, the words "Good fences make good neighbors" (line 27 and 45) These words speak loudly when I think of my neighborhood. There are many fences and each house is sectioned by the fence. I have a fence but it is not to keep the neighbors out but to keep the dogs in. The speaker does not seem to want the wall there but he and his neighbor go out each year and replace the fallen stones. "My apple trees will neer get across/And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him" (line 25-26) The speaker does not like the wall and is trying to explain that even if the wall was gone, he would not try to get to close into his space. I think this is a good example of a physical wall between neighbors and maybe a wall we put up emotionally for allowing some people to get past the wall, and making sure others don't get to close. "Good fences make good neighbors" is a good sentence to describe the poem and to give insight into his neighbors mind.

Walls Don't Solve Problems

Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Walls” is as relevant today as it was when it was written in 1914. The speaker wants to tell his neighbor, “…Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,/That wants it down.” The meaning of this is any wall is a man-made thing and it always takes a lot of energy to maintain because it isn’t natural. Ultimately, it isn’t a good solution.

Today one of the most famous walls is in Israel to separate the Palestinians from the Israelis. This seems like a good idea to “make good neighbors,” but in fact many people are cut off from their jobs or fields—just like Frost is pointing out in the poem. The other famous wall, the Berlin Wall separating Germany after World War II, has finally come down. That too was done for “making good neighbors” but in fact it was never a natural way to deal with the people or issues of the time. The speaker in “Mending Walls” may have been a farmer who was especially aware of these rules of nature, however, he did not feel confident in ending the “wall” and instead he walked the wall each spring to fix it rather than confront the issues with his neighbor. Unfortunately, the Middle East is doing the same thing—continuing with a solution to problems that is really no solution at all. It is just a wall where “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,/That wants it down.”

Keats Life Tells All

In trying to understand the Keats poem, “Ode to a Grecian Urn” the life of Keats helped shed more light on the possible meaning of the poem than any number of readings. From the Lit 21 CD suggested site, http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/66, Keats biography is available. From his biography, the “ode” form was something Keats used in multiple poems of this same time (1819) when he met and fell in love with Fanny Brawne. This suggests that Keats was very happy and wanted to "sing" out about his new understanding of life and relationships.

Also in the context that Keats had suffered losses of this family (father, mother, and brothers) and then found a true love, in "Grecian Urn" he wanted to explain about the beauty or happiness that exists in the world, even if you may suffer and lose loved ones through death. The poem ends with what Keats has learned, namely he found out there is beauty and love in the world even with all the suffering you may experience in life and that one item is the most important thing to learn or believe in.