Amy+Lowell

Amy Lowell

//32. Petals// *In this poem, the speaker reflects upon life and dreams. *Life is viewed as 'a stream on which we stew, ' and dreams are compared to the 'petals' of the 'flower of our heart.' *Water possesses the quality of being unpredictable and unstable, thus the speaker can be utilizing this characteristic to convey the mysterious in life and its unpredictability. *Dreams however, is compared to a short-living and fragile flower. The speaker comments on how 'we only watch their glad, early start,' but 'their distant employ we shall never know.' Here, the speaker is reflecting the nature of goals and dreams, we are only able to see and control their beginnings, but as the 'stream' 'sweeps them away,' how they manifest is completely out of our control. *Although the dreams 'fared forth,' their 'fragrance still stays.' While the dreams may slowly fade as the 'years run on,' they will not disappear.

//33. A Winter Ride// *Through this poem, the speaker shares the beauty in common things that are usually overlooked. *The speaker speaks in an enthusiastic tone enhanced by the use of exclamation marks. This allows the poem to be more lively and upbeat. *Also, the poet's diction contributes greatly to this livelihood, words such as 'run' and 'flight' represents vigorous physical movement, thus conveys enthusiasm and excitement. *'wild heather,' 'snow crystals,' and 'blue shadows' are praised for their beauty where the speaker believes 'everything mortal has moments immortal,' and all one has to do is to recognize them. *The colors 'white' and 'blue' were mentioned frequently through out the poem, and these plain colors are to contrast the 'shinning snowcrystals rainbowed by the sun.' Such vivid imagery allows the audience so view the common snowcrystal in an entire different light.