Emily's+Poetry+Log+(February)

Favorite Line(s): "that’s as much sense/or nonsense as I can make in such blue light." || Favorite Line(s): "For one who learns to be wise, however,/its doors are open toward the East" || Favorite Line(s): "from the water clock the drops unfold/in lazy honey or ethereal gold" || Favorite Line(s): "Sometimes I use my darkness well—/in the overcast and sunlight of my mind./I can still wink, sing, my eyes are songs./Darkness is precious, how long will darkness last?" || (Translated fro the Swedish by Averill Curdy) || The poem "Now it is Fall" describes the season of autumn, when the "golden birds/fly home across the blue deep water" and depart from their previous residence. The speaker conveys a feeling of sorrow as these birds fly away, leaving the environment surrounding him empty and lifeless. The only comfort the speaker has seems to be his mother, who provides him with warmth amidst the emptying and cooling season. The speaker's mother encourages the speaker to sleep and "dream now the sun is gone," suggesting that good dreams are yet another source of comfort that may get the speaker through this time of emptiness and sorrow. Favorite Line(s): "when all the golden birds/fly home across the blue deep water;/On shore I sit rapt in its scattering/glitter" || Favorite Line(s): "I hope that when Dad first held me,/it was with haddock-scented hands, apron/over his black pants still sprinkled with flour,/forehead oily from standing over the deep fryer,/telling the fish to hurry //hurry.//" || Favorite Line(s): "They are all here in the magic of the set,/every soul in the guise of a guest" || Favorite Line(s): "Be silent, creatures of my making,/so I might hear my children pray." || Favorite Line(s): "Hiding in the middle of our room, we watched the cycle/of the sun, gazed at the stars, clutched hands and felt at home." || Favorite Line(s): "When beechen buds begin to swell,/And woods the blue-bird’s warble know,/The yellow violet’s modest bell/Peeps from the last year’s leaves below. ||
 * || **Date** || **Title** || **Poet** || **Comments** ||
 * 81 || February 10, 2012 || [|Eagle Affirmation] || John Kinsella || The poem "Eagle Affirmation" details the sighting of a pair of eagles in one stanza without any full stops. The structure of this poem conveys the graceful and flowing nature of the great birds as they fly over the speaker's home. The speaker describes the powerful physiology of the eagles and the magnificence of the scene around him. However, the speaker also reveals the violence and pain that surrounds these eagles as they hunt down prey. The poem reveals that a surface of magnificence is also often accompanied by a reality of suffering.
 * 82 || February 10, 2012 || [|The Nut Garden] || Yoesif Gikatilla || "The Nut Garden" is a metaphor for overcoming the challenges we face in our lives. The speaker reveals that the garden is protected, and obstacles exist to prevent intruders from taking the nuts in the garden. The garden is surrounded and "barred to pretenders forever," with "flames of fire about it." However, the speaker suggests that those who are wise enough to overcome the challenges they face will find the open door and be able to obtain the nuts of the garden.
 * 83 || February 12, 2012 || [|Music Box] || Jorge Luis Borges (Translated From the Spanish by Tony Barnstone) || In the poem "Music Box," the speaker reveals the nostalgic feelings he experiences through a music box. The "Music of Japan" produces the "ethereal gold" of Japan's old shrines and mountains. The music box seems to have the power of keeping time still. The speaker conveys that whenever he hears the music box play, he is brought back to a time of Japan's beauty and is of ultimate tranquility. The speaker also reveals his desire for these old memories to return to "their far future," the present, where the speaker currently exists, suggesting that the current situation of Japan is not the beauty that used to be.
 * 84 || February 15, 2012 || [|A Blind Fisherman] || Stanley Moss || In the poem "A Blind Fisherman," the speaker conveys his skepticism for the phrase "The power of beauty to right all wrongs." The blind fisherman in the poem focuses on the positive aspects of his blindness, stating that even though he cannot see, he can still smell, hear, and taste. The blind fisherman appreciates the senses he still has, and states that the darkness from his blindness is precious. However, the speaker maintains skepticism, and at the end of the poem describes the blind fisherman as very unable: "He could not fish, he could not walk, he fell in his own feces. He wept. He died where he fell."
 * 85 || February 15, 2012 || [|Now it is Fall] || Edith Sodergran
 * 86 || February 19, 2012 || [|Fish Fry Daughter] || Sara Ries || The poem "Fish Fry Daughter" details the speaker's father, and his actions upon receiving a hospital call that his wife was giving birth. The speaker conveys that her father did not seem to rush to the hospital, but waited until the meal he cooked was finished, when the "batter [was] crispy, cold salads scooped on platters, rye bread buttered." The speaker's father seemed to have taken his time and not been excited for his daughter's birth, in contrast with the nurse in the hospital who rushes the father upstairs for the birth. This contrast is ironic, as it seems that the nurse, who barely knows the family, seems more anxious than the father of the child is. The speaker reveals her hope that her father had indeed rushed to the hospital, contrary to her mother's account of the story, and that he had held her with "haddock-scented hands, apron over his black pants still sprinkled with flower," that he had rushed directly from his restaurant to see her (as opposed to gone home to change and wash up). The speaker possesses a hope that her father had been excited to see her and not nonchalant as he appears to have been through other accounts.
 * 87 || February 19, 2012 || [|Trailer] || Chard Deniord || The poem "Trailer" illustrates the making of a silent film trailer for the deaf. While the poem outlines the process of making the film, it also adds the extra experience of creating a silent film. The speaker conveys that the director wishes to allow actors and actresses to experience the silence, as the deaf would, in order to allow the cast to identify with the film better. Therefore, the poem seems very graceful and silent, with the only break in the silence being the director's orders. The description of the scenes within the silent film appear ambiguous, suggesting that the readers of the poem will similarly be unable to understand the specific details until he or she truly experiences it as the cast members of the film have.
 * 88 || February 19, 2012 || [|Each Day] || Anonymous (Translated by Peter Cole) || In the poem "Each Day," the speaker conveys God's blessings upon the creatures of the earth. At the same time, however, God commands theses creatures to "Be silent" so he might "hear [his] children pray." This command suggests God's value of people over the creatures as he wishes to listen to our prayers. At the same time, the command suggests the ability for people to have free will and not automatic daily blessings as the holy creatures of the earth may receive.
 * 89 || February 29, 2012 || [|In Childhood] || Sarah A. Chavez || The poem "In Childhood" illustrates the idea of childhood innocence and the treasuring of objects that an older generation may see as waste. The speaker and her companion Christy play in the dumpster, which shows the joy the speaker may have in scavenging the area for what she considers to be treasures. The speaker reveals that "when we found bricks, it was the best" for the small shelter the children were creating in their backyard. The speaker states that "For months we collected bricks" and "drug them to our empty backyard," showing the diligence of the children and their willingness to work hard to create a great product, in which they "feel at home." This feeling of comfort is ironic, as the speaker and her friend seem to find solace in a structure created of what is considered junk rather than finding comfort in their own homes.
 * 90 || February 29, 2012 || **[|The Yellow Violet]** || William Cullen Bryant || "The Yellow Violet" is an oxymoron in itself, with yellow and violet being contrasting colors. The poem follows an ABAB rhyme scheme, instigating an atmosphere of cheerfulness and lightheartedness within the season of spring. The description of spring throughout the poem is full of color, grace, and light, which emphasizes the beauty and peacefulness of the spring season. The speaker conveys the beginning of spring as a first sign on life that breaks the emptiness and the silence of winter. During the springtime, nature becomes full once again.