Teresa's+Poetry+Journal

You cannot look into his eyes/Because your pulse must not say/What must not be said. You are the beautiful half/Of a golden hurt This poem revolves around being in love with someone, however when that person is gone, the hurt and longing for that person's presence is unbearable. Brooks uses second person narration, with the speaker addressing the character as"you", in effect allowing the reader to step into the poem and better understand the feelings and emotions described in the poem. || Favourite line: Sometimes it rained so hard it hurt (We usually think of rain as cleansing and peaceful, but in the context of the poem, the rain is violent and beats down on people.) || I love you so You bind my freedom from its rightful quest. In mercy lift your drooping wings and go. || My favourite line is "Although we are alone, I lock the door" because it demonstrates the speaker's constant fear as well as awareness that he is doing something wrong. || My favourite lines are: He thought of Paradise. Such is the vision that extremity grants. The enemy is described metaphorically as a "fat serpent" who is "intent upon the apple's of his eyes", which relates to the biblical story of Satan tempting Adam and Eve with an apple. As the man is killed, he thinks of "Paradise". However, "in the clean brightness of magnesium flares", which is probably the "white light" he sees after being killed by mortar shells, he sees "seven angels by a tree" which makes him doubt that they are from "Elysium", the Greek afterlife. The portrayal of this man's death casts a negative light on war and provides skepticism on religion. || I felt better when everything was in disorder. <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Checked 18 September 18/15-25 KBoyce <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Good variety in the collection, but you could incorporate more classics as well. Solid commentary, but perhaps address some specific/smaller literary features.
 * || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Poem Title** || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Poem Author** || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Comments** ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">1 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Give All To Love || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Ralph Waldo Emerson || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The most interesting feature of this poem is its structure. Each line of the poem only has a couple of words, causing the poem to appear to have a very long, vertical shape on a page. Throughout the poem here and there will appear two lines with the same beginnings, giving emphasis to how we should 'give all to love'. This poem has a special rhyme scheme, with a mixture of perfect rhyme and imperfect rhyme (assonance and consonance). ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">2 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Via Dolorosa || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Traci Brimhall || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A narrative poem that deals with truth and suffering. The author uses enjambment all throughout the poem, and stanzas are cut midway between sentences, serving as a disruption to the continuous flow of the poem. The poem itself is a story, and within the poem are also other embedded stories. 'Via Dolorosa' is Latin for 'Way of Suffering' and is an allusion to the route that Jesus took to Calvary. This poem evokes a sense of grief and sadness for those who are suffering. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">3 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">To Be In Love || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Gwendolyn Brooks || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Favourite lines:
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">4 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Ode on Solitude || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Alexander Pope || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This poem revolves around finding contentment and satisfaction in solitary life. The images of fields, flocks of animals, 'sound sleep at night', a 'peace of mind' create the picture of a blissful life in a quite, secluded area away from the hustle and bustle of city life. 'Ode on Solitude' evokes a sense of peacefulness that draws me to want to lead a solitary life as depicted in the poem. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">5 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Sonnet XLII: I Hunt For A Sign Of You || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Pablo Neruda || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A beautiful lyrical poem about the speaker searching for a specific women amongst all the other women, remarking that 'no one else had your rhythmns' and there were no other women that could be compared to her. The sonnet is divided into four stanzas and includes many metaphors related to water bodies, such as 'rivers', 'water', 'wide Mississippi' and 'feminine sea'. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">6 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Metamorphosis || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Charles Bukowski || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A humorous poem about a guy who feels that he has been 'robbed of [his] filth' because because of the order and change his girlfriends have brought into his life. The lengthy description of all the changes in his life that have made his life clean are all rendered futile when the speaker remarks, "I felt better when everything was in disorder". I find this poem strangely interesting because the speaker is essentially complaining that his life is too clean and orderly and he wishes his life were back to its 'normal' messiness. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">7 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A History Without Suffering || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">E.A. Markham || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This poem opens up with a very direct and absolute statement, "In this poem there is no suffering." Ironically, the poem revolves around an imagined history with all the violence, war, fear, suffering removed, trying to point out that "It shows you can avoid suffering, if you try", but it is exactly through this depiction of a history without suffering that the speaker emphasizes the undeniable existence of suffering and the hopelessness in trying to prevent it. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">8 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">At the Altar || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Eleanor Ross Taylor || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In this poem, the speaker talks about his/her dilemma on whether or not to unpack the things in the 'bag' given to him/her by a special someone. The speaker wrestles with the thought of unpacking the bag, and through the speaker's tone of voice it seems like opening the bag would lead to "fatal" consequences which the speaker has not yet mustered up the courage to face. I really enjoy the progression of this poem, as there are many distinct parts that make up the poem. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">9 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Sleeping Trees || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Fady Joudah || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A beautiful poem about the impact of war on man, illustrated through the imagery of dreams and nature. The speaker talks about his father and the impact war (perhaps civil war) that ruined his village had on him. The speaker claims that "this is the story of a sycamore tree he used to climb when he was young to watch the rain", the sycamore tree representing the innocence and peaceful childhood of his father. The rain symbolizes violence and causes "the mud ...[to] run red".
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">10 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Patterns || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Amy Lowell || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This narrative poem is filled with imagery about patterns in nature as well as of the speaker in her "brocaded gown", exploring "patterned paths" with her husband-to-be. The poem follows a unique pattern, and the differences in language used to describe the motifs of the gown and patterned paths reflect the transition from the speaker's blissful, passionate moments with her lover to the speaker's time of mourning for the loss of her husband-to-be. The poem ends with the exclamation, "Christ! What are patterns for?" The exasperated tone of this last line ties the whole poem together. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">11 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A Fixed Idea || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Amy Lowell || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In this poem, the speaker comments wearily about the pain of having recurring thought within oneself, as well as the loss of lover to a beloved. The speaker's inner conflict is evident through the juxtaposition of the speaker's strong feelings of torture and burden with the speaker's love and joy for this "fixed idea". I think this poem is a message about love and feeling bound and restricted by someone's love. My favourite lines are:
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">12 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Penumbra || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Amy Lowell || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In this poem, the speaker describes the sounds heard while siting in the "quiet summer night". The speaker addresses a loved one, conveying that even after the speaker's death, the memories will remain forever and the loved one should not feel lonely. Similar to the other poems written by Lowell, 'Penumbra' has a progressive structure and contains many recurring motifs. The poem's sad, melancholic tone gives me a very bittersweet feeling, because though the poem deals with a depressing topic like death, the speaker's love for the person he/she is addressing is very touching. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">13 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">New York at Night || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Amy Lowell || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">My favourite line in this poem is "Where art though hiding, where thy peace?" This poem contrasts the quiet, soothing beauty of nature and the cacophonous, chaotic New York City. The speaker portrays New York as a bustling, tumultuous "man-filled city", taking a toll on mother nature. I personally love New York and enjoy the chaos of the city but I can also understand the speaker's perspective. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">14 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Piano || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Dan Howell || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This short poem is one single sentence, broken up into lines by commas and hyphens. The structure and layout of the poem on the page looks somewhat like a piano keyboard. The speaker describes the piano playing of a certain female, whose playing isn't as smooth and graceful as before, but manages to produce a melodic sound more beautiful and pure than ever. The mood of this poem is light and nostalgic. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">15 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The End of the Weekend || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Anthony Hecht || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"The End of the Weekend" is filled with religious and sexual connotation. The tone of the speaker is one of fear of consequence, probably relating to the sexual act the speaker is about to commit with his "girl in skin tight jeans." The title, "The End of the Weekend" also emphasizes the speaker's fear of the future, as he is fearful of what happens after the weekend, in the future.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">16 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A Friend Killed in the War || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Anthony Hecht || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This poem is filled with religious allusions relating to Christianity as well as Greek mythology. This poem is narrated in third person and revolves around the final moments of a man's death in the war.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">17 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">More Light! More Light! || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Anthony Hecht || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This poem is filled with gory depictions of people (Jews) killed brutally by the Nazis during the Holocast. The speaker of the poem narrates in a very formal and serious tone, beginning the poem by addressing "For Heinrich Blucher and Hannah Arendt /Composed in the Tower before his execution" and then later in the poem mentioning to the reader" We move now to outside German wood." The central motif of the poem is "light", which is present in the title as well as the body of the poem. This "light is most likely referring to hope from religion, and the lack of "light" amongst the chilling war deaths is probably a comment on the unnecessary nature of religion. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">18 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Blasting from Heaven || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Phillip Levine || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This poem is composed of four stanzas of six lines each. The narrative poem is characterized by simple diction, and the enjambment between stanzas makes the poem read almost like a work of prose. Levine incorporates dialogue within the poem, and inserts quotations from the "mother". The poem begins with a third person narration of the "little girl", the "mother", the "cook" and the "Negro", but shifts to first person during the second stanza when the speaker says "I hope he gets it." Through lines such as "everyone's been out all night trying", it can be inferred that this poem is a portrayal of the harsh, difficult life of the working class (represented by the characters within the poem). The speaker seems to be someone observing these characters, and looks upon their situations with helpessnes. The speaker says "if I were Prince Valiant", "I would say fate brought me here to quiet the crying, to sweeten the sandwich of the child...", expressing his/her wishes in changing their situation but helpless in doing so. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">19 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Animals Be Passing from Our Lives || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Phillip Levine || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This six stanza poem is narrated from a pig's point of view. The poet incorporates many detailed descriptions of the pig, such as its "four honed-down ivory toes" and "massive buttocks". Levine creates an image of a pig who is fully aware that he is being sent to the market to be chopped up and sold as food, and by using the 'victim' as the narrator, the reader is provided with a refreshing perspective. The pig speaks of "the boy", the "children", the "consumers" the and housewives is a bitter tone, further eliciting sympathy from the reader towards the pig. The last line "No, not this pig" displays the pig's resolute stance, and also serves to differentiate the pig from other pigs. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">20 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Feel They Lion || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Phillip Levine || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A central motif of this poem is "they lion", and I'm not sure what it is supposed to represent. In each stanza except the last one, "They lion grows" is the ending line, and seems to demonstrate that a certain "lion" (a monster?) is becoming an increasingly larger presence. It seems to be a fearful and haunting presence. The last line of the poem "They feed they lion and he comes" suggests that the lion is approaching. Anaphora is heavily used within this poem, namely "out of" and 'from the" seen in the beginning of most lines. Diction used in this poem suggests that Levine is creating an image of an industrial city, where people toil and work hard. Images of the industrial city are juxtaposed with the images of nature, such as the "gray hills" and "earth". ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">21 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">During The War || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Phillip Levine || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This poem discusses loss resulting from the war, and the title 'during the war' suggests that the setting of this poem is during a warn-torn period. The mood of the poem is grim, as shown by the descriptions of the lost arm of the speaker's brother, and words such as "pain", "hell", and "burning to death". The speaker's encounter with a woman in despair while "in a long line waiting for bread" causes him to contemplate in the last stanza, "looking for something", perhaps peace during this time of unrest. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">22 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">You Can Have It || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Phillip Levine || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This poem talks about the speaker's loss of his brother. Images of the speaker and his brother working "at the ice plant", feeding "the chutes its silvery blocks", demonstrate that the speaker and his brother are part of the working-class, toiling day and night to support themselves. A central idea in this poem is time and how it cannot be regained. The line 'I think now we were never twenty" shows the speaker's recognition that he and his brother had to bear heavy responsibilities at a young age and were unable to fully enjoy their youth. The speaker proceeds to say in subsequent stanzas, "I give you back 1948. I give you all the years from then to the coming one", trying to bargain with the addressee to "give me back my young brother" and to give back all the time that has been lost. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">23 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Death, be not proud || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">John Donne || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This fourteen line poem is also referred to as 'Holy Sonnet X' and is written in iambic pentameter. Death is personified in this poem, and the speaker addresses Death in a challenging and rebellious tone. Right from the beginning, the speaker states, "Death, be not proud, though some have called you Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so", openly telling Death not to be prideful for the speaker does not believe it to be that great. The speaker declares "nor yet canst thou kill me", believing that while "soonest our best man with thee do go", Death can only claim the lives of people temporarily, for "one short sleep past, we wake eternally, and death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die." The paradox that death will die hints that there is something greater beyond death. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">24 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Silence || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Thomas Hood || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This is a sonnet written in iambic pentameter, revolving around silence. In the "cold grave" or "wide desert", there is silence because "no life is found". However in the "green ruins, in the desolate walls, of antique palaces", where men and animals are present, although there are sounds such as the "calls" of the hyena and the "moans of the low winds" amidst all the cacophonous sounds is where "the true silence is". The poet juxtaposes the soundless graves and deserts with the noisy sounds of antique palaces, and comments that true silence is where the sounds really are. This paradox seems to demonstrate that even if a place is filled with life, it can empty and lonely. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">25 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In the Well || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Andrew Hudgins || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The imagery in this poem is especially powerful and striking. Through the five stanzas of this poem, Hudgins illustrates the image of a father lowering his child into a dark well to rescue the "neighbor's missing dog". Words such as "rot", "blood" and "gagged" portray the experience as frightening and contrasts with the warmth and love evoked from the image of the "wet" dog. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">26 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Today We Make the Poet's Words Our Own || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Henry Wadsworth Longfellow || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This poem is composed of eight rhyming couplets and the speaker seems to be praising "the other living called the dead." The speaker tells the addressee not to utter the poet's words to those who are living, but to those who are deceased, for they are the ones who are worthy. The speaker casts the dead in a positive light, saying that they are "robed in sunshine" and lead "simple lives, complete and without flaw". The speaker seems almost to be exalting those who have passed away by saying that they are perfect, and reveals the reason why he has such praise for these people - they "labored in their sphere" and were not "afraid". This poem also alludes to religion, as it mentions the "Lord" and "the fulfillment of a great behest." ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">27 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Evening Solace || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Charlotte Bronte || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This poem by Bronte is characterized by four stanzas with a rhyming pattern of ABABCDCD. "In the evening silence", the speaker muses alone, contemplating past events. The poet shows that there is a significant contrast between the feelings felt by the speaker in the past during the events ("feelings, once as strong as passions") and the feelings that the speaker feels while reminiscing those past events("and thoughts that once wrung groans of anguish now cause but some mild tears to flow"). The mood of the poem is solemn and quiet, and descriptions of the background ("moonlight glimmer", "the sky grows dim and dimmer") seem to give the scene almost an ethereal quality. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">28 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Shall I compare thee to a Summer's Day? || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">William Shakespeare || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This Shakespearean sonnet compares what seems to be a figure to a summer's day. I'm not really sure who or what Shakespeare is referring to. The poem includes the personification of heaven, and compares this figure to the summer season as well as heaven, commenting on the eternal nature of this certain figure. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">29 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Aftermath || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Tony Connor || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This poem talks about the 'aftermath' of the war, in terms of its impact on the speaker. In the first few stanzas, the speaker is shown to be "slumped on a prickly armchair", listening "dully" to dogs and drinking beer, creating an image of a bored and lifeless speaker. The words "Victory flags", "eagles" and "Stars and Stripes" seem to be building up an image of patriotism, but the adjective "flightless" and the harsh image of "foreign corpses" diminish the greatness of this American pride. The speaker's cynical and uninterested attitude throughout the poem is ultimately transmitted to the reader as well, as even in the last stanza with the image of the "Heroes ...coming home", the reader is affected by the speaker's attitude and similarly feels that the event is not as glorious as it seems. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">30 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A Boy and His Dad || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Edgar Guest || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This poem is composed of four stanzas of four rhyming couplets each. This poem talks about fishing trip between a father and a son, a trip that will brings joy to both and helps the boy learn "the glorious depths of him." The relationship between father and son is greatly emphasized in this poem, and the speaker makes the relationship seem greater than any other in the world. Even "kings" cannot compare to the "gentle father". The mood of the poem is joyous and even evokes feelings of "envy" from the speaker, who is reminded of his own relationship with his father. It is a heartwarming piece that will undoubtedly cause many (male) readers to be reminded of their fathers as well. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">31 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">If You Get There Before I Do || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Dick Allen || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In this poem, the speaker seems to be addressing a specific person. The speaker tells the addressee to "air out the linens, unlatch the shutters on the easern side" and to " fill the pantry with cereal, curry, and blue and white boxes of macaroni" when "you think I'm on my way." Through the use of descriptive language,the poet creates an image of a house and it's surrounding community where the speaker will be going to soon. The title of the poem "if you get there before I do", lines such as "what I'd like to do when I get there is a few hundred years to sit around and concentrate on one thing at a time", "I'll be coming, I'll be coming too", as well as various religious references seem to indicate that the place that the speaker describes is a place of rest, perhaps afterlife. Along with the speaker' imagining what he/she will do when he/she gets to that place, anecdote of the ski bum possibly show that the speaker is commenting on how people put off doing things they want to do because they are preoccupied with everyday responsibilities, but when time comes it might already be too late. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">32 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I Made a Mistake || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Charles Bukowski || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This poem seems to read like a short story because of the sentences distinguished by clear punctuation marks, and also because of the addition of dialogue between the two main characters of the poem. The poem seems to offer two contrasting views on the male speaker. In the beginning lines of the poem, the speaker asks "her" if the blue panties in his closet belong to her, as she takes offence, saying "no, those belong to a dog" (dog here is a euphemism for the female version of a dog). The reader finds out about the speaker's alleged infidelity right from the start. The remaining lines in the poem seem to cast the male speaker with a sympathetic, positive light, by using images of him "searching the streets" and leaving "notes" and "a book of poems" at the female's door. I think it's ironic how the female is cast in a negative light even though the male speaker was the one who made a mistake. I think Bukowski is perhaps commenting on the behaviour of people in relationships. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">33 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Icecream People || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Charles Bukowski || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In this poem, the speaker seems to be a recovering drug addict who has begun to change his lifestyle, turning away from harmful substances and instead goes for to Baskin Robbins. The juxtaposition of "listening to Shostakovich and Mozart through a smeared haze of smoke" with parking outside Baskin Robbins and eating sundaes is very strange, creating a contrast between a negative, unhealthy image with a happy and almost child-like one. The way the speaker describes the "Icecream people" (people eating ice cream, "a very healthy and satisfied people") demonstrates the speaker's fascination and awe of the normal, healthy lives that people lead. What follows is an image of the speaker and a female (his wife? girlfriend?) embracing each other, described by lovely words such as "love", "glorious" and "long and true." ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">34 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Break, Break, Break || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Alfred Tennyson || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This poem is composed of four stanzas, and within each stanza the second and fourth lines rhyme with each other. The speaker seems to be talking to the sea, expressing "the thoughts that arise" within him/her. //Break, Break, Break// is characterized by several exclamations, with words such as "O Sea", "play", "bay" and "still". The exclamations bring emphasis to these words and also contribute to the desperate tone of the speaker. The speaker describes joyful images of the fisherman boy, sailor lad and the stately ships, but comments more despondently and wishfully for "the touch of a vanished hand" and "the sound of a voice that is still." The speaker seems to be longing for a certain person who is now deceased. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">35 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Tears, Idle Tears || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Alfred Tennyson || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">An interesting aspect of this poem is that the last line of every one of the five stanzas ends with the words "the days are no more." Initially it seems like the speaker is commenting about the arrival of a new season, Autumn. However, as the poem progresses the speaker expands his/her commentary to all the days that have passed and touches upon the topic of "Death in Life." Words such as "dying", "sad", "underworld" and "dark summer" contribute to the resigned tone of the speaker and the melancholic mood of the poem. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">36 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Between Going and Coming || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Octavio Paz || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This poem is heavily-ridden with contrasts and juxtaposition, and revolves around the theme of time. Paz writes, "all is visible and all is elusive, all is near and can't be touched." The juxtaposition of "time" and "unchanging" as well as "light" and "ghostly theater" is paradoxical and serves perhaps to emphasize the in-between of going and coming, the confusion of one's existence in life. The last stanza is particularly striking: The moment scatters. Motionless, I stay and go. I am a pause. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">37 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Source || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Rabindranath Tagore || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This poem is composed of three stanzas, each stanza beginning with a question about the source of "the sleep that flits on baby's eyes", the source of "the smile that flickers on baby's lips" and the source of "the sweet, soft freshness that blooms on baby's limbs." The imagery in this poem seems to be very supernatural and ethereal, with references to a "fairy village" and the "buds of enchantment." This poem seems to celebrate the innocence and beauty of the baby, as well as the love of the young mother radiating from the little baby. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">38 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Sunlight || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Seamus Heaney || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I'm not very sure what this poem is trying to convey. It offers an image of a female who stands in front of the oven and is baking scones. Even though the title of this poem is "sunlight", phrases within the poem such as "sunlit absence" and "cooling" seem to show the absence of light. Throughout the poem the coolness of the sun and nature is contrasted with the "plaque of heat" from the oven. The last stanza confuses me - "and here is love/like a tinsmith's scoop/sunk past its gleam/in the metal-bin." ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">39 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Listen. Put on Morning || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">W.S. Graham || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The lines of this poem are short and choppy, and the poet describes one image after another in a discontinued fashion to highlight the different sounds that one can hear if only one would "listen." The poem seems to be talking about the speaker's continued legacy. From the lines "a man's imagining suddenly may inherit the handclapping centuries of his one minute on earth", it can be inferred that this man's work/contribution on earth could be passed down for centuries. Even though the poem refers to the morning using words such as "lightbreak" and "falling bright", the tone of the poem seems quite grave. "Morning" seems to be symbolic for a time when people listen to all that has happened before. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">40 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Night City || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">W. S. Graham || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This is a narrative poem in which the speaker describes his experience in at night in the city of London. Similar to in //Listen. Put on Morning//, Graham throws in a lot of references to people and places, and while it does make the speaker's account seem a lot more realistic and personal, these references are probably quite unfamiliar to a lot of readers. Although the speaker calls London "the golden city" in the first stanza however, it seems like London has not been great as he expected ("the city is empty" and "the fire had burnt out") and might have even be the reason for his "falling" (demise). The "Fire" seems to be symbolic for the city's passion and energy, which is now lost. The last stanza of the poem incorporates a simile comparing the speaker to a "flea crouched in the stopped works of a watch", portraying the speaker as lost and trapped in a London that is no longer "golden." ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">41 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A Reminiscence || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Richard O. Moore || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A note at the bottom of the poem reveals that it is dedicated to a person named "Kenneth Rexroth." As the title of the poem suggests, the speaker is reminiscing an encounter with another person that took place on one Autumn day. The diction of the poem is simple, and poet rhymes the last words of the first and last lines of most verses. The subtle rhyme helps to tie the lines of each verse together. The mood of the poem is peaceful and calm. The word "fall" is constantly repeated, alluding to the literal fall of the Autumn leaves but also hinting to the metaphorical disintegration of the peaceful relationship. The last stanza of the poem suggests that everything fell apart "quick as the leaf-fall." ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">42 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Chamber Thicket || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Sharon Olds || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In this narrative poem, the speaker describes being in a living room listening to a string quartet and experiencing conflicting emotions about an approaching "being" (who turns out to be the speaker's husband in the future). The speaker wants to warn the person away, but is also attracted by "his beauty." Enjambment and listing are noticeable literary features in this poem, adding to the emotional intensity of the poem. They cause the poem to read like one long, never-ending statement, revealing the speaker's conflicting thoughts and feelings. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">43 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Acts of Love || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Pam Rehm || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A short and sweet poem about small acts that makes one feel in love. The word "endear" in the first line seems to purposefully relate to the word "dear" in the last line. The poem evokes a feeling of warmth as the speaker conveys the message of the power of love. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">44 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Gotham Wanes || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Bryan D. Dietrich || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The first two lines of the poem are very striking - "The mask? Because we were never ugly enough. Because our ugliness was epic." These lines set the tone for the rest of the poem, as the speaker uses a contemplative but direct tone to comment on people's facades and judgment based on appearance. The speaker refers to literal masks, such as those that Pharaohs wear, but also uses it as a metaphor for the facades that people put on. The speaker alludes to "Kings, Pharaohs," "the Madonna" to emphasize his/her point that putting on facades is common to "every culture, every eon." ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">45 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Ballad of the Dream That Was Not Dreamed || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A. M. Klein || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In this poem, the speaker addresses a mannequin (manikin) and asks it questions. The stanzas are rhyming couplets that show the speaker to be speaking in a child-like tone, as if on purpose. The rhyme adds to the fairytale-like atmosphere of the poem. Certain words, such as "hell","dagger" and "ink poisoned" contrast with the innocence and passiveness of the mannequin, and the last line of the poem "poor little manikin, wake to find/this was no dream bred in your mind" is chilling and frightening, suggesting that the horrific images are reality. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">46 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In The Novel || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Susan Stewart || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This poem is filled with vivid imagery of a woman's lips as a man kisses her and thinks of them as "full of ashes." Ashes have the connotation of being dark and deteriorating, and describing the woman's lips as "at the limit of another darkness" seems to bode negatively for his relationship with this female. She is given an eerie and dark portrayal. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">47 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Time to Play || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Landis Everson || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I'm not very clear as to what this poem is trying to say...The poem incorporates images of birds and water, and of the speaker's "bones" leading it to "make a poem." In the poem "bones" are personified as having a certain control over the speaker and having the capability of feeling "joy." Perhaps the poem is about the speaker being drawn to the sight of birds over a water body, leading him to compose this poem. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">48 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Daddy || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Sylvia Plath || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This is a long poem in which the speaker addresses her deceased "daddy" and seems almost like a confession. From the speaker's description, it seems that the speaker's father had a great impact on her life. The metaphor of the shoe and the foot to represent the speaker's father and her seems to show the protective role of her father in her life. The motif of the colour black demonstrates the sadness and darkness the speaker associates with her father. An interesting aspect of this poem is the references to the German and Jewish relationship, specifically the Holocaust. The speaker views her father as a frightening, controlling man such as one in charge of the Nazi concentration camps and refers to herself constantly as Jew. Along with the bitter and crude words of the last line, "daddy, daddy, you bastard, I'm through," the speaker seems to portray her father as a 'devil' and a terrifying figure, but at the same time the speaker's resentment seems to stem from her immense love for her father. The speaker seems deeply impacted and haunted by her father's death. The mood of the poem is very heavy and grim. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">49 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Cats Will Know || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Caesar Pavese (translated by Geoffrey Brock) || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The mood of this poem is calm and peaceful, probably due to its nature imagery such as "light rain," "breeze," and the "hyancinth dawn." Lines such as "they are the sad smile you smile by yourself" and "we will suffer at daybreak" also offer a melancholic tone to the poem.The poem is written in second person as the speaker addresses "you," offering words of comfort that there will be "other days, other voices and renewals," perhaps insinuating that better days will come. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">50 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Death Will Get into the Suburbs || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Michelle Boisseau || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This poem centers around death and uses imagery to convey the idea that death lurks everywhere. The personification of death which "sweats," "slides" and "whirls" emphasizes the prevalence of death all around society. "Death" could be literally interpreted, or figuratively possibly be interpreted as symbolizing darkness and destruction. The poet uses anaphora to further emphasize the presence of death all around society. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">51 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Coffee Lips || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">David Ferry || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This narrative poem describes the encounter of the speaker with an elderly man. The elderly man is described by the speaker as a "little elderly boy," which is paradioxical and contrasts youth and old age, perhaps trying to suggest that this elderly man seems old and experienced but also innocent (like a child) at the same time. There are many contrasts within the poem, namely between young and old and the elderly man's way of "balancing the world" and the speaker's instability ("falling down"). The lines of the poem are arranged so that each stanza consists of two lines, and the enjambment between stanzas breaks apart the flow between the lines and separates different ideas. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">52 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In His Love, His Grammar Grew || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Stephen Dunn || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This poem about love is very sweet and interesting. The poem is narrated from a third person point of view, about how a man's love for a woman, Sheila, resulted in his accumulation of grammatical words. His words are used to describe his love for Sheila, and uncontrollably pour out of his mouth. The enjambment and run-on sentences used in this poem reflect the abundance and continuity of words this man uses to express his uncontrollable love. Words such as "fell madly," "couldn't resist," "desperation" portray the man as being head over heels in love with this girl. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">53 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Bright Day || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Stanley Moss || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> In this poem, the speaker narrates in a confident and assertive tone of voice. The language of the poem is simple and straightforward, emphasizing the speaker's purpose of proclaiming the brightness of life. The juxtaposition of light and dark is common in many literary works, and in this context, seems to serve to reflect the purity and goodness of one's soul. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">54 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Cenotaph || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Fanny Howe || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A cenotaph is a monument erected in honour of a dead person who is buried elsewhere. The first two lines of the poem, "I want to leave this place unremembered" is striking and provides much insight into the character of the speaker. It also sets the tone of the poem as somber and gloomy. The speaker of this poem appears to be person who is dying or is already dead. The speaker describes a room and the various appliances such as the gas stove, refrigerator. The adjectives used to describe such objects are dreary and gloomy, illustrating the depressing environment that the speaker resides in. The last stanza is composed of two questions - the speaker's contemplative questions about existence and death ("where does life begin and end?"). The speaker concludes with an odd statement "the pillow is my friend," perhaps suggesting the loneliness of living and dying. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">55 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">To You || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Kenneth Koch || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A poem in which the speaker expresses his love towards a certain person. The poem has just one stanza and the run-on sentences and use of enjambment causes the poem to read like a passionate expression of feelings. The speaker's voice is evident and through the hyperbolic, poetic language of the speaker, the speaker can be characterized as a passionate and devoted lover. The poem follows a structure each major part begins with "I love you as...," and continues with a description of an image seemingly irrelevant to love (such as a kid looking for a goat and a sheriff with a murder case). The various images in the poem convey the timelessness of the speaker's love, that the speaker will love the addressee in all circumstances. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">56 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Dead || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Don Paterson || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In this poem, the speaker contrasts the freshness and youthfulness of crops with the dead, inactivity of the soil. The poem is composed of many questions as the speaker contemplates the existence of the flowers and fruit borne from the soil. The poem is concerned with the mystery of the crops, with phrases such as "the secret brothers of the harrow" and "here's the question." The speaker is confused by the crops and whether they are a held out as gifts to humans, their masters or whether the crops themselves are "the lords" governing the harvest.The word choice used by the speaker, "business" and "largesse" seems to imply a formal relationship between the crops of nature and humans. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">57 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Promises Are For Liars || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">James Galvin || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The title of this poem suggests that the speaker is fed up with false promises and the lies everywhere. In this poem, the speaker's attitude is cynical and slightly harsh, as if he/she is frustrated about the behaviour he/she sees around. The poem is composed of many lines each with just a few words, and the terse usage of words emphasizes the pointed criticisms of the speaker. The two lines that stand out the most in this poem are "Let's don't worry/Let's don't ask." These two lines are grammatically incorrect but underscore the speaker's argument of the ridiculousness of people's attitudes towards important matters. The first part of the lines (let's) suggest that the statements will follow with "let's....do something," but the speaker uses words that are passive (don't worry/don't ask) to follow up and provide a twist to what is expected. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">58 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Bent to the Earth || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Blas Manuel De Luna || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This narrative poem is depicts a scene in which a van full of Mexicans drove into an irrigation ditch, resulting in their capture by immigration officers. The speaker recalls the scene from when he/she was five years old, when his family was lucky to escape because of their green cards but others were not as fortunate and were sent back home. The speaker states that "no great truths were revealed to me then" but continues to say what he/she has learnt about the cruelty of life from a very young age. Enjambment is a prominent literary feature in this poem and serves to bring attention to certain parts of the poem addressing important issues. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">59 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">You People || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Nance Van Winckel || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The speaker of this poem speaks with an angry, reproachful tone of voice as he addresses the "People," evidenced by the word choice of the speaker. The poem reads almost like a tirade, loaded with rhetorical questions which further emphasize the speaker's frustrated attitude.The speaker seems to be representative of a group of people in society who are less fortunate and are bitter about the injustice of the world. The "shoes" that is repeatedly mentioned in the poem might symbolize protection (not only from harsh weather but also the cruel world) that the speaker lacks. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">60 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Dog Gospel || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Brian Barker || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The poem revolves around a boy finding a dog on the side of the road and imagining all the things he can do with it, such as "[thump] the dog's belly as a drum." The dog seems to be a symbol, perhaps of pain and loss as evidenced by the line "the dog as a parable of pain or loss." As the narrative poem progresses, the boy transforms into a man, which seems to be more of a metaphysical/emotional journey rather than a physical one. Through the dog, he boy seems to reach a certain enlightenment at the end of the poem, about himself and what he "hungers" after. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">61 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Lewis Carroll || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This poem is taken from Lewis Carroll's famous work, "Alice Through the Looking glass" In this lyrical poem, each stanza is composed of three lines which rhyme with each other (some are perfect rhymes and some are near rhymes). An interesting feature of the poem (which I discovered through online sources) is that the first letter of each line put together spells "Alice Pleasance Liddell", which makes the poem an acrostic poem. Alice Pleasance Liddell is a girl who is said to have inspired the children's classic//, "Alice in Wonderland."// The poem is centered upon the change of seasons from summer to autumn and children in Wonderland who gather together to listen to stories. The poem ends with the rhetorical question, "Life, what is it but a dream?" emphasizing the fairytale, fantasy quality of the environment describe//d// in the poem. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">62 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Before You || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Carl Rakosi || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The poem is filled with allusions of many historical people and events vents, such as the greatness of Corinth of Ancient Greece and the Puritans of Massachusetts, to illustrate a great spectrum of time. The main point of the poem seems to be showcased evidently in the last sentence: "Tumblers in the nebula, is not every man his own host?" This last line suggests that the poem is a reflection of mankind and how humans can only satisfy themselves. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">63 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Apollo Musagates || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Matthew Arnold || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The language of this poem is very passionate and dramatic, with the speaker exclaiming as he/she describes the sighting of Apollo and "his choir." The tone of the speaker is very grand and exalting. The poem alludes to Apollo, the Greek god of prophecy, and uses rhetorical questions such as "what sweet-breathing presence/Out-perfumes the thyme?" and seems to be almost like an ode to Apollo. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">64 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">kept busy || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Joanne Burns || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This piece is a prose-poem, and is written to read like a series of paragraphs. A distinct feature of this poem is its lack of capitalization and the short, choppy sentences. The sentence and paragraph structure is flowy and continuous, which effectively conveys the passage of time and the continuity of the speaker's thoughts. The poem talks about the speaker and her sister's observations of the world from their verandah. Although, the old age of the speaker, sixty, is revealed early on in the poem, the speaker's tone of voice seems to be very young and child-like, especially when the speaker talks about her mother's advice to them. A motif in this poem is that of sight and recording observations. The last line, "there are no mirrors in the hallway" is very interesting as it suggests that the speaker and her sister are so focused on observing others that they are not introspective and seem to neglect themselves. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">65 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In Memoriam || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Leopold Sedar Senghor (translated by Melvin Dixor) || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In this poem, the speaker cries out to his ancestors to guard and protect him and his fellow citizens. The mood of the poem is tense, and images of the "dead," "blood," and crushed dreams seem to illustrate an environment that is rife with instability and chaos. There is contrast between the quiet contemplation of the speaker and the rowdy crowds that line the streets. The speaker seems to be protected from the turmoil and might be a person of certain high status, but desires to "[join] my brothers with blue eyes and hard hands." The tone of the speaker is desperate and lost. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">66 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Asking Too Much? || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Marin Sorescu (translated by Michael Hamburger) || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -12pt;"> I find this poem very creative and have not read anything like it before. The poem is a conversation between the "Lord" and the speaker, with the "Lord" posing a question to the speaker: 'Suppose that, to give a few lectures/daily you have to commute between Heaven and Hell: what would you take with you?' In a series of responses back and forth, the speaker requests a book, a bottle of wine and a woman. Each time, the "Lord" asks the speaker to give up something and the speaker gives up the book or the wine but refuses to give up the woman. Sorescu uses an interesting format to convey the power of women and to highlight the necessity of certain things in life. From "cross out Heaven and Hell for me/it's either all or nothing" the reader can infer that Sorescu is trying to show how much he values these things (which could represent knowledge, love and entertainment), so much so that he would be willing to give up heaven or hell. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">67 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Love Poem For An Enemy || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Richard Katrovas || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This poem seems to have political undertones, especially with its references to a "decades-long guerrilla war" and "flagships," suggesting tense relationships between political parties or countries. The speaker seems to seek peace with its enemy ("For I have let my anger pass"), after decades of "constant dread" and "rage," however the condescending tone and crude statement ("But, while you're down there, kiss my ass.") suggests a hidden agenda and the inability to truly reach a truce. Even the title "love poem for an enemy" shows that this proposed peace/truce is merely a facade and belies bitter feelings. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">68 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Wheel || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Vinda Karandikar || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In this poem, there is constant repetition of "someone is about to come but doesn't. Is about to turn upon the stairs but doesn't" throughout the stanzas. This repetition intensifies the feeling of anticipation and mystery, as the reader wonders who exactly this "someone" is. The speaker seems to be waiting for this "someone" and although he/she repeatedly states that "it doesn't matter," such repetition only further emphasizes the speaker's desire for that "someone" and disappointment that that "someone" has not appeared. The mood of the poem seems disturbed and uncomfortable, but the last line of the poem "nine conches and one wheel," (which according to Indian palmistry, fortell a happy life) bodes well for the family described in the poem. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">69 || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Dear One Absent This Long While || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Lisa Olstein || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The tone of the speaker is bitter and haunting, filled with disappointment and longing. From the first line "I expect you," it is clear that the speaker is pining for someone that has not been around for a long time. The speaker seems to be trying to cope with this loss, but is lonely ("We expect you, cats and I, bluebirds and I, stove.") and slipping into dark tendencies such as practicing "eulogies." Enjambment adds to the tone and atmosphere of the poem, leaving the reader feeling sad and sympathetic for the speaker. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">70 || They Say It's New || Clark Coolridge || * Contemplative, melancholic mood
 * Poem is surrounded the passage of time and how quickly time flies
 * Narrated in third person point of view, seen through a man who seems to be contemplating the passing of time
 * imagery is centered around emptiness and absence ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">71 || Marblehead || Rebecca Lindenberg || * The poem reads as one long text, is not divided into stanzas
 * The speaker seems to be talking to a person he/she is romantically involved with
 * The tone of the speaker is loving and tender
 * The enjambment of the poem and the sequence of images helps the poem flow very well ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">72 || In the Museum of Lost Objects || Rebecca Lindenberg || * The poem is composed of many couplets, which works well for the poem because each couplet describes an image of the museum
 * Centered around a vacant museum of objects that could and would have been
 * Addresses key themes of absence and loss
 * Some lines in the poem hint at the speaker’s personal loss and longing of a person
 * The tone of the speaker is wistful and melancholic ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">73 || Above Pate Valley || Gary Snyder || * The speaker seems to be do construction work with some others on a highland
 * Lots of nature imagery, seem to portray and emphasize the beauty of the valley
 * The man-made tools used by the speaker (“cold-drill,” and “single jack”) seem to contrast greatly with the scenic environment, perhaps showing the destruction of nature by humans ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">74 || Song || Muriel Rukeyser || * The tone of the speaker is assertive and confident, and the speaker seems to be a poet
 * The speaker seems to be make a declaration about a time when something great/big is going to happen
 * Fire, music and fantasies are key elements in this poem
 * This poem is a celebration for a glorious time that is coming ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">75 || Little Ice Age || Kathy Nilsson || * The “little ice age” refers to a permanent “cessation of feeling”
 * The poem starts off with the speaker recounting her “one good memory,” which is of a total eclipse
 * The speaker seems drawn in by darkness, as it helps with offsetting and forgetting negative emotions such as loneliness and emptiness
 * It is hinted that the speaker is lonely and might lack love from others (“by a mother who put honey in my hands so that the bees would love me”) ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">76 || ! || Wendy Videlock || * The title of this poem really caught my attention. It is different from any other title I have ever seen, and the exclamation mark truly does its job in “exclaiming” and attracting attention
 * The poem has a whimsical and playful tone, but addresses a serious issue
 * The main point of the poem is to accept those who are deemed different, or even “weird” and to steer clear from those who “adhere” to what is socially accepted and what is deemed as “normal”
 * The speaker lists different people/animals/objects that stand out from what is normal, such as a “metrosexual squirrel” and “fruit with cauliflower ear”
 * It is an interesting take on an idea that has is quote common ||
 * 77 || Black Sheep || Hailey Leithauser || * The black sheep in this poem represents a person who is odd and ill-fitting amongst a group
 * This poem has may interesting literary elements
 * The speaker has a confident tone – he/she accepts being different, and is unashamed of his/her identity
 * The poet uses many words that relate to “black,” such as “nicotine spat” and “ebony” to convey the distance and difference between the speaker and others
 * The enjambment and short, fragmented lines add to the playful and almost defiant tone of the speaker ||
 * 78 || Gone by Then || Harmony Holiday || * I’m not very sure what this poem is trying to convey, but it is centered around the passage of time
 * The words “gone” and “risen” are constantly repeated, which might show how something is disappearing and going away, but will be elevated to an even higher level
 * The structure of this poem is unique, and each line is increasingly long as it progresses downwards, so that it looks almost like a staircase on the page ||
 * 79 || Success is counted the sweetest || Emily Dickinson || * The general idea of this poem is that those who appreciate success the most are those who never succeed and require the “sorest need”
 * The poem is characterized by simple and terse language
 * The poem is composed of three quatrains
 * There are allusions to a victory and defeat ||
 * 80 || May || Karen Volkman || * The mood of this poem is grim dark
 * The predominant images of parts of the body (bones, flesh) add eeriness to the atmosphere
 * May is characterized as deceptive and enticing
 * The poem reeks of death (“the rose sighs, //Touch me, I am dying// ”)
 * Red is a dominant colour and contrasts with the grey, dark colours of everything else ||
 * 81 || I Don't Miss It || Tracy K. Smith || * Poem filled with longing and emptiness
 * The speaker seems to be addressing her past (“imagine myself inside that life again”), and misses someone (a lover) dearly
 * Most of the poem is composed by couplets, only two stanzas are only a single line
 * Diction and imagery – light, nature, sound ||
 * 82 || Silence || Billy Collins || * Repetition of the word “silence” serves as a constant reminder, reinforcing the poet’s message and purpose
 * Poem composed of six tercets
 * The speaker starts off talking about the silence of scenes/objects/times and then narrows his/her focus to the speaker’s personal feelings ||
 * 83 || Zebra || C.K. Williams || * The first few stanzas are the speaker’s rhetorical questions, conveying a cynical and skeptical tone towards the government/military’s protection of civilians
 * The mood of the poem is grim and dark
 * Significant mood and tone shift mid-way through the poem
 * The speaker then starts to talk about the Thanksgiving Day parade, commenting on the extravagance of the celebration
 * The last sentence seems to show that the speaker’s attitude is a result of personal experience, and he/she used to be a soldier ||
 * 84 || Report from the black box || Bob Hicock || * Long run-on sentences that are not broken up by punctuation, except for at the end to conclude a single idea/thought
 * One entire poem, not divided into stanzas
 * Enjambment, lack of punctuation and the repetitive syntax convey the speaker’s confusion and introspective thoughts
 * Centered around acting and theater
 * The poem seems like a release of the speaker’s pent up thoughts and emotions ||
 * 85 || The Beauty of Things || Robinson Jeffers || * Lines are long, uncharacteristic in poems
 * Comparison of nature and humans
 * Centers around the idea that beauty is the reason for writing poetry ||
 * 86 || Mirror Meteor || Edwin Torres || * Tone of speaker is filled with passion and desire
 * Seems to have many sexual references (“let’s moan and breathe,” “match our limbs to the credible,” “a horny section”
 * Diction relates to carnal desires and outer space
 * Language is fragmented, adding to the confusing and disoriented mood of the poem ||
 * 87 || Signature Song || Bill Berkson || * Completely different from any other poem I have seen
 * Narrative poem, reads like an account of the history of the song “I Can’t Get Started”
 * Direct references to many musicians
 * The last three lines of the poem are about the Spanish Civil War and are connected to the song by the line “I’ve settled revolutions in Spain”
 * According to some websites, the song is about a man who has achieved a lot, except for the attention of the woman he desires
 * The poem is about history, popular culture and is perhaps a social commentary on achievement and success ||
 * 88 || Makeup on empty space || Anne Waldman || * Very long lyrical poem, one entire stanza, really emphasizes the intensity of the speaker’s emotions as the poem progresses line after line and seems never ending
 * Main idea is truly conveyed through this line – “Everything crumbles around empty space” – no matter how much the speaker tries to add to the “empty space,” by adorning and embellishing it, in the end there is still emptiness
 * The use of anaphora intensifies the speaker’s emotions and also conveys the abundance of things that cannot change the fact that there is still emptiness
 * Repetition of “empty space” highlights the theme of the poem ||
 * 89 || ANWR || Sherwin Bitsui || * Sherwin Bitsui is a Native American writer who writes about the intersection/clash between his culture and urban culture
 * The poem is composed of three stanzas, the first two are tercets while the last stanza ends with two italicized lines that seem to come from a legend/mythology that is probably related to the culture
 * ANWR is possibly an acronym for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
 * Seems to be a commentary on the overuse of natural resources and the impending consequences
 * Use of imagery – the contrasting images convey a sense of unnatural-ness ||
 * 90 || Bronzed || Dean Young || * “All is as temporary as a perfect haircut” concisely conveys the meaning of the poem – everything seems ephemeral but time spent with a love one seems like it will last forever
 * Different images of bubble gum, extinct dinosaurs, old urinals and the sea’s tides are used to convey the show the changes that take place with the passing of time
 * Poem starts off with images that are more general and slowly converge to the speaker’s own life
 * Use of enjambment and long run-on lines convey the speaker’s melancholic but accepting attitude ||
 * 91 || Four Fibs || A.E. Stallings || * Poem composed of four stanzas that are marked by number (“1.” “2.”…)
 * Rhyming (mostly perfect rhymes at the end of lines)
 * Alludes to the Biblical story of Adam and Eve, in which they ate from the forbidden apple after being tempted by Satan, who was disguised as a serpent
 * Consequences of lying
 * References an old religious oath that originates from a poem “cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in your eye”
 * Linear progression of poem: show the root cause, subsequent reaction and ultimate consequence ||
 * 92 || Sixty-One || Doug Anderson || * Personification of “the world” and “Death” to show the dynamism of the speaker’s world, understanding the realness of beauty and darkness
 * Allusion to Greek mythology (“Aphrodite”) and a French Renaissance writer (“Montaigne”)
 * Poem about aging and its accompanying sickness, and reminders of approaching death
 * Tone of speaker is defiant and challenging, won’t give in to fears
 * Images – nature, animals, objects ||
 * 93 || the library of t-shirts || Joanne Burns || * humorous prose poem
 * poet’s style is characterized by poems that read like prose, without proper capitalization of words, long run-on sentences that are divided by punctuation, long and blocky stanzas that look like paragraphs
 * creates a world where poems are printed on t-shirts and loaned in a library to increase readership
 * makes poetry/writing more personal ||
 * 94 || More Juice Please || Linda Kunhardt || * Two identical stanzas
 * Entire poem is just a repetition of the interrogative sentence “Does Rhea think?” (repeated ten times)
 * The title gives a bit more insight into the poem and its meaning – setting seems to be at a dinner table, during a meal
 * Leaves the reader with a lot of questions - is Rhea asking for more juice and the speaker wondering in a sarcastic/bitter tone whether she thinks? who is Rhea? ||
 * 95 || dear love, || Barbara Jane Reyes || * lack of capitalization
 * lyrical poem filled with lines spoken in a matter-of-fact manner
 * the speaker is addressing her lover (“my love”) who he/she seems to be distanced from
 * the simple, style of this poem conveys the speaker’s heartache and longing ||
 * 96 || from Anecdote of the Jar || Wallace Stevens || * The jar is dominant, “gray and bare,” – seems to symbolize something but I’m not sure what
 * poem composed of three quatrains
 * simple language ||
 * 97 || To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Nothing || William Butler Yeats || * Imperfect rhyme in alternate lines
 * Poem about betrayal and defeat
 * Compares work to war, as shown through diction
 * Poem characterized by short lines and enjambment, shows the speaker trying to convince/comfort his friend ||
 * 98 || A Prayer for Rain || Liesel Mueller || * Links the weather to love
 * Rain symbolizes renewal, a cleansing power to help lovers to wash away their griefs
 * Some rhyming – perfect and imperfect rhymes at the end of the sentences, aid with the flow of the poem ||
 * 99 || The Sorrow of True Love || Edward Thomas || * Rhyme scheme – AABBCC
 * Poem about disappointment and loss
 * Lyrical poem, the speaker expresses the pain and grief of losing true love ||
 * 100 || One Day || Patricia Jabbeh Wesley || * Under the title in italics there is a note that seems to address the poem as “a love song for the newly divorced”
 * “Thick air” and “river” symbolize the past, filled with sorrow and lies
 * Speaker is encouraging those who have been hurt by relationships to stay strong, for there will be a time when “the heart of yours will be totally mended”
 * The poem is filled with hope
 * Lots of nature and animal imagery to convey a certain simplicity and peace ||

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Checked 21 November 42/42-70 <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Continued diversity though another convert to Levine! <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; height: 1px; left: -40px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: -25px; width: 1px;">listening to Shostakovich and <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; height: 1px; left: -40px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: -25px; width: 1px;">Mozart through a smeared haze of smok

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; height: 1px; left: -40px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: -25px; width: 1px;">e <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt; height: 1px; left: -40px; line-height: 115%; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: -25px; width: 1px;">Puritans of Massachuse