This poem was very interesting. My first take on it was as if it was a consoling poem, saying that everything will be okay, "you" will get a nice chair to sit and relax in after death. Yet the simplicity of my take on the poem was unsettling, and I felt there was much more that I was missing.
As I read it a couple more times I started to think there was a dark, possibly evil, tempting tone. Like the poem was trying to get me or whoever to do something we weren't supposed to.
I began to research about other people's views on the poem... I came across multiple different perspectives, but the two most common were death and heaven.
While both thought similarly about "wandering" through life, the chair and the friends with their smiles were completely different. The darker version took the chairs as the "home" of the rich and wealthy - they forced their way to wealth and "bought" the chairs to sit and relax on their pedestals. The friends smiled, welcoming the newcomer, but they weren't really friends; there was no sincerity about them, and they were just engrossed in themselves as the newcomer supposedly is.
On the other hand, the view about heaven thought it was more of the relaxing part after death. Everyone got chairs because man was created equally; the friends and family were the friends of the newcomer who were already deceased.
I reread the poem multiple times trying to figure out which "take" I thought more suited my interpretation of the poem.
Whether the chair symbolized the wealth and money of the selfish and wealthy, or the nice relaxing seat of the old and tired.
I decided the poem was a combination of the two. That it took a positive outlook on life; positive in how people were selfish in the way they tried to saw themselves before others: survival of the fittest.
Towards the end of the poem I decided I was unsure about whether I liked it. The poem definitely got me to think about life.
I thought about my life.. How it's possible that the chair could be both the selfish's home but also the place where old friends connect... I almost found the poem to be a lesson on perspectives. But maybe it wasn't the poem that "taught," but the research to discover what the poem was about.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
A Poison Tree
I really enjoyed this poem - and connected to it on a personal level (which I think most people can in some way or another.)
The poem begins by sharing two personal stories of "wrath." One was with a friend, the other with a foe. When the speaker was angry with his friend, he communicated his feelings to his friend and his "wrath did end." On the other hand, when he was mad at his foe, he didn't say anything and in his silence, his "wrath did grow." We begin to see what the poison Blake was talking about.
The second stanza Blake discusses fears. Fear and anger go hand in hand, and fear can make people do crazy things they otherwise wouldn't do. He then talks about smiles, implying the idea he is happy about this growing wrath inside of him... He ends the stanza with the word "wiles." I didn't know what it meant, so naturally I looked it up. It means a trick or way to deceive someone. Is the narrator going to play a trick on the foe?
The third stanza the speaker talks about his wrath growing and growing. It had now become that dangerous poison. The speaker then says it "bore an apple bright" - I naturally thought of a tree, because apples grow on trees. The metaphor has been completed. The poison tree was the wrath growing inside the narrator. The foe sees the apple and desires it - obviously because it looks so tasteful. He knows it's the narrator's too..
The fourth stanza the foe steals the apple when he thinks no one is looking, unaware of the poison it contains. The narrator awakes to see the "foe outstretched beneath the tree." He won. The narrator conquered his foe.. But in the end, did he really win?
I think Blake wrote this poem because he has seen what wrath can do to a person - it can drive them mad. My take on this was to be a warning to anyone and everyone to communicate; let others know when you feel angry with them instead of letting your feeling slowly fester until one day they burst. Don't let wrath be the poison tree that cuts you down.
The poem begins by sharing two personal stories of "wrath." One was with a friend, the other with a foe. When the speaker was angry with his friend, he communicated his feelings to his friend and his "wrath did end." On the other hand, when he was mad at his foe, he didn't say anything and in his silence, his "wrath did grow." We begin to see what the poison Blake was talking about.
The second stanza Blake discusses fears. Fear and anger go hand in hand, and fear can make people do crazy things they otherwise wouldn't do. He then talks about smiles, implying the idea he is happy about this growing wrath inside of him... He ends the stanza with the word "wiles." I didn't know what it meant, so naturally I looked it up. It means a trick or way to deceive someone. Is the narrator going to play a trick on the foe?
The third stanza the speaker talks about his wrath growing and growing. It had now become that dangerous poison. The speaker then says it "bore an apple bright" - I naturally thought of a tree, because apples grow on trees. The metaphor has been completed. The poison tree was the wrath growing inside the narrator. The foe sees the apple and desires it - obviously because it looks so tasteful. He knows it's the narrator's too..
The fourth stanza the foe steals the apple when he thinks no one is looking, unaware of the poison it contains. The narrator awakes to see the "foe outstretched beneath the tree." He won. The narrator conquered his foe.. But in the end, did he really win?
I think Blake wrote this poem because he has seen what wrath can do to a person - it can drive them mad. My take on this was to be a warning to anyone and everyone to communicate; let others know when you feel angry with them instead of letting your feeling slowly fester until one day they burst. Don't let wrath be the poison tree that cuts you down.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Beginning Again
This poem intrigues me from the very beginning. As people grow older, we learn and become more experienced; I know personally looking back on my past I would have done some things differently if I had known what I know now.
The first line of the poem "If I could stop talking, completely cease talking for a year, I might begin to get well." I immediately thought this was going to be a poem all about why a person should heal themselves through not talking. But he goes on to compare not talking with brain surgery - I'm assuming he was using brain surgery as a metaphor; not talking for 365 days would enable him to "renew" himself and therefore "begin again."
The second and third stanza he brings the big question to surface. "Why," should we begin again. I began to think about why a person would want to begin again. I know I've learned lessons through the mistakes I have made, and through that I have become the person I am today; I wouldn't want to start all that over, but I haven't had as tough a time as others.
Maybe he means beginning again by starting over, coming clean and refusing to let the judgmental voices inside our head (sometimes formulated only because we have heard good or bad things - not because we've had that experience ourself.)
The fourth, and last, stanza in the poem brings forth a name, instead of the vague "he's" mentioned throughout the poem: Li Po. Of course I didn't know the name, so I had to research it. Li Po was a famous poet who many, now consider, to be one of the top Tang poets if all time. He lived secluded on a mountain a couple times throughout his life; Li Po was also banned from different cities because people found a way to claim his poems were vulgar or malicious.
Maybe Wright wanted Li Po to get the recognition he deserved instead of being banished, and by beginning again he would be able to?
Overall, the poem made me think really hard about starting over. I've thought that to begin again is the coward way to deal with difficult situations, but I think it all depends on the perspective and the situation.
Which brings me to the question, would you ever want to begin again? And why? What encourages the idea of starting over?
The first line of the poem "If I could stop talking, completely cease talking for a year, I might begin to get well." I immediately thought this was going to be a poem all about why a person should heal themselves through not talking. But he goes on to compare not talking with brain surgery - I'm assuming he was using brain surgery as a metaphor; not talking for 365 days would enable him to "renew" himself and therefore "begin again."
The second and third stanza he brings the big question to surface. "Why," should we begin again. I began to think about why a person would want to begin again. I know I've learned lessons through the mistakes I have made, and through that I have become the person I am today; I wouldn't want to start all that over, but I haven't had as tough a time as others.
Maybe he means beginning again by starting over, coming clean and refusing to let the judgmental voices inside our head (sometimes formulated only because we have heard good or bad things - not because we've had that experience ourself.)
The fourth, and last, stanza in the poem brings forth a name, instead of the vague "he's" mentioned throughout the poem: Li Po. Of course I didn't know the name, so I had to research it. Li Po was a famous poet who many, now consider, to be one of the top Tang poets if all time. He lived secluded on a mountain a couple times throughout his life; Li Po was also banned from different cities because people found a way to claim his poems were vulgar or malicious.
Maybe Wright wanted Li Po to get the recognition he deserved instead of being banished, and by beginning again he would be able to?
Overall, the poem made me think really hard about starting over. I've thought that to begin again is the coward way to deal with difficult situations, but I think it all depends on the perspective and the situation.
Which brings me to the question, would you ever want to begin again? And why? What encourages the idea of starting over?
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Lost Brother
I really liked the poem Lost Brother by Stanley Moss. Even though on the surface it's talking about two trees, the deeper hidden meaning is very real, raw and something many people struggle with daily.
I thought of the author as a younger brother tree who had been separated from his brother long ago, and was now remembering his older brother's life: "when I heard he was cut down.."
When the tree talks about his mother, I thought of Mother Nature. Every living organism has a purpose on Earth, whatever it may be, and if it tries to be something it's not, it's ruining itself. Life is short to be upset about the small things!
The poem talks about how the tree survived "impossible locations, at elevations over ten thousand feet in extreme weather." It persevered - everyone has their ups and downs, it's part of life. He had friends, and little "creatures old and young he sheltered" needed him to protect them against the brittle cold.
Towards the end I think Moss is trying to make a statement about how precious our environment is. If we keep tearing down animal habitats sooner or later there will be no more animals left.
My interpretation of the poem is to remind people how important they are to society - even when they feel there is nothing left, someone or something still needs them, like the "black-tailed jackrabbits and horned lizards." It's also hinting at how we judge ourselves against everyone we know. How can we be the best we're supposed to be if we are constantly trying to be someone else? People, animals, plants, and microorganisms were put on the face of the earth for a reason. To disrupt the animals kingdom by destroying habitats, food, and our source of oxygen will turn around and hurt us in the long run. We as a society, need to preserve the beautiful earth for as long as we possibly can, for what would we do if it all just disappeared?
I thought of the author as a younger brother tree who had been separated from his brother long ago, and was now remembering his older brother's life: "when I heard he was cut down.."
When the tree talks about his mother, I thought of Mother Nature. Every living organism has a purpose on Earth, whatever it may be, and if it tries to be something it's not, it's ruining itself. Life is short to be upset about the small things!
The poem talks about how the tree survived "impossible locations, at elevations over ten thousand feet in extreme weather." It persevered - everyone has their ups and downs, it's part of life. He had friends, and little "creatures old and young he sheltered" needed him to protect them against the brittle cold.
Towards the end I think Moss is trying to make a statement about how precious our environment is. If we keep tearing down animal habitats sooner or later there will be no more animals left.
My interpretation of the poem is to remind people how important they are to society - even when they feel there is nothing left, someone or something still needs them, like the "black-tailed jackrabbits and horned lizards." It's also hinting at how we judge ourselves against everyone we know. How can we be the best we're supposed to be if we are constantly trying to be someone else? People, animals, plants, and microorganisms were put on the face of the earth for a reason. To disrupt the animals kingdom by destroying habitats, food, and our source of oxygen will turn around and hurt us in the long run. We as a society, need to preserve the beautiful earth for as long as we possibly can, for what would we do if it all just disappeared?
Evening Concert, Saint-Chapelle
Evening Concert, Saint-Chapelle by John Updike was a very beautiful poem. The words flowed flawlessly off the tongue and created vivid imagery in the brain: "glow became a milk," "cased in thin but solid sheets of lead."
I thought Updike chose words that evoked an emotional kind of feeling - music moves people, it calms the anxious, pumps up the nervous, and even soothes the broken. I think he was trying to (in some way) move the audience like music moves him. I researched about his childhood and he had a condition called psoriasis, a disease with scaly patches covering the body.
In the poem he referred to the violin and playing music as though he was a part of it: "we rustled into place," "our beating hearts," and "our violins." Updike took solace in music because of his insecurities about his disease; now he is sharing the beauty of it with us.
My favorite quote in the poem was "listening eye." I connected with this because I am a very visual person, but when I am listening to music, I listen with my eyes. I paint pictures of the music in my head to emphasize the beauty of the music for me.
After reading the poem, I researched Seine (a long river near Paris), how Vivaldi or Brahms sounded. Vivaldi is more powerful, in your face, and Brahms is a shorter, almost staccato kind of rhythm.
I really liked the poem and connected with it, even though I'm more of a visual person rather than a listener.
I thought Updike chose words that evoked an emotional kind of feeling - music moves people, it calms the anxious, pumps up the nervous, and even soothes the broken. I think he was trying to (in some way) move the audience like music moves him. I researched about his childhood and he had a condition called psoriasis, a disease with scaly patches covering the body.
In the poem he referred to the violin and playing music as though he was a part of it: "we rustled into place," "our beating hearts," and "our violins." Updike took solace in music because of his insecurities about his disease; now he is sharing the beauty of it with us.
My favorite quote in the poem was "listening eye." I connected with this because I am a very visual person, but when I am listening to music, I listen with my eyes. I paint pictures of the music in my head to emphasize the beauty of the music for me.
After reading the poem, I researched Seine (a long river near Paris), how Vivaldi or Brahms sounded. Vivaldi is more powerful, in your face, and Brahms is a shorter, almost staccato kind of rhythm.
I really liked the poem and connected with it, even though I'm more of a visual person rather than a listener.
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