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.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Wallflowers
The cute, fun little poem "Wallflowers" by Donna Verreyer appears to be about words. She uses personification to make the words have humanistic qualities to ensure a connection with the audience. Many readers can sympathize with the lonely, "tired," "poor" words that "no one speaks."
In the beginning of the poem she talks about how she "heard a word I'd never heard before" automatically bringing the audience in - I know I've heard words I had no idea what they meant! Yet instead of perhaps ignoring the word, or looking at the definition but soon forgetting, she "let it know it was loved" with her pen.
She continues on to introduce the idea that people can own words by saying them three times. I never thought about a word being mine and this made me think about if I own any words.
In the third stanza Vorreyer compares the words to "hollow-eyed orphans in Dickensian bedrooms." The change in tone draws my attention and I think about how maybe the poem is a metaphor for homeless, orphan items, or even people! She continues to explain how the unknown words "wait patiently, shy shadows at the high school dance." This draws my attention to the title - Wallflowers. A wallflower is (by dictionary.com definition) "a person who, because of shyness, unpopularity, or lack of a partner, remains at the side at a party or dance." These words are wallflowers by definition - they "wait bitterly" for someone to discover them, to turn them from the unknown into the known.
At the end of the poem the author does what she says she wants to do and gives the two words, gegenshein and zoanthropy, a home. She "helps" the two words by putting them out into the world; some people who read her poem will be curious to figure out what gegenshein and zoanthropy mean and now if not more, at least one person knows about the two forgotten words.
My interpretation of the poem was a light way to express real, raw feelings about being useful versus being useless. I really like the poem and I think it resonates deeply with audiences who read it because they can relate to how the words "feel".
In the beginning of the poem she talks about how she "heard a word I'd never heard before" automatically bringing the audience in - I know I've heard words I had no idea what they meant! Yet instead of perhaps ignoring the word, or looking at the definition but soon forgetting, she "let it know it was loved" with her pen.
She continues on to introduce the idea that people can own words by saying them three times. I never thought about a word being mine and this made me think about if I own any words.
In the third stanza Vorreyer compares the words to "hollow-eyed orphans in Dickensian bedrooms." The change in tone draws my attention and I think about how maybe the poem is a metaphor for homeless, orphan items, or even people! She continues to explain how the unknown words "wait patiently, shy shadows at the high school dance." This draws my attention to the title - Wallflowers. A wallflower is (by dictionary.com definition) "a person who, because of shyness, unpopularity, or lack of a partner, remains at the side at a party or dance." These words are wallflowers by definition - they "wait bitterly" for someone to discover them, to turn them from the unknown into the known.
At the end of the poem the author does what she says she wants to do and gives the two words, gegenshein and zoanthropy, a home. She "helps" the two words by putting them out into the world; some people who read her poem will be curious to figure out what gegenshein and zoanthropy mean and now if not more, at least one person knows about the two forgotten words.
My interpretation of the poem was a light way to express real, raw feelings about being useful versus being useless. I really like the poem and I think it resonates deeply with audiences who read it because they can relate to how the words "feel".
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Mr Fear
Throughout the entire poem Mr Fear by Lawrence Raab, "fear" is personified as being a living, breathing human. By giving "fear" human like qualities, Raab is able to let the audience view fear in a different way.
The tone in the poem is an almost tired, "fed up with" voice of fear, perhaps living in fear. "Mr. Fear, we say in our dreams, what do you have for me tonight?" Raab seems to be so used to fear that he is blatantly asking, "what are you going to scare me with tonight?"
Later in the poem, Mr. Fear is thought to either smile or feel sorry about pulling the fears out of his "black sack of troubles." By giving the option of the audience deciding whether or not they think fear is evil at its core, Raab is adding to the idea of Mr. Fear being a human. The indecision and possibility of a good guy steered in the wrong way is the core of all human's mistakes.
Contradicting the beginning of the poem when Raab seems almost bored of fear, he pleads that fear "Make it small, please. Let it fit in my pocket, let it fall through the hole in my pocket," showing that no matter how fearful he can tell himself he is, fear still has an underlying power that can not be defeated. This "power" that fear holds - even to a fearless person - shows the audience how real fear is. Fear is a part of everyone's life, and Raab uses the pleading as a way to comfort those scared souls to show them that it's normal to be fearful.
Towards the end of the poem, Raab hints at his views of fear being evil. "Fear, let me have a small brown bat and a purse of cricket" implies youth and innocence. The idea that fear is preying on the young and the weak implies he is no "good guy steered wrong," but a guy who enjoys to bring unhappiness and despair into people's lives.
I think Raab is trying to take a stance against fear, but he "can't" do it by himself - he needs the support of loved ones. I like the poem because it is saying, in its own way, that it's okay to be scared, but if you have the support you need to believe - not let something as small and common as fear stand in your way.
The tone in the poem is an almost tired, "fed up with" voice of fear, perhaps living in fear. "Mr. Fear, we say in our dreams, what do you have for me tonight?" Raab seems to be so used to fear that he is blatantly asking, "what are you going to scare me with tonight?"
Later in the poem, Mr. Fear is thought to either smile or feel sorry about pulling the fears out of his "black sack of troubles." By giving the option of the audience deciding whether or not they think fear is evil at its core, Raab is adding to the idea of Mr. Fear being a human. The indecision and possibility of a good guy steered in the wrong way is the core of all human's mistakes.
Contradicting the beginning of the poem when Raab seems almost bored of fear, he pleads that fear "Make it small, please. Let it fit in my pocket, let it fall through the hole in my pocket," showing that no matter how fearful he can tell himself he is, fear still has an underlying power that can not be defeated. This "power" that fear holds - even to a fearless person - shows the audience how real fear is. Fear is a part of everyone's life, and Raab uses the pleading as a way to comfort those scared souls to show them that it's normal to be fearful.
Towards the end of the poem, Raab hints at his views of fear being evil. "Fear, let me have a small brown bat and a purse of cricket" implies youth and innocence. The idea that fear is preying on the young and the weak implies he is no "good guy steered wrong," but a guy who enjoys to bring unhappiness and despair into people's lives.
I think Raab is trying to take a stance against fear, but he "can't" do it by himself - he needs the support of loved ones. I like the poem because it is saying, in its own way, that it's okay to be scared, but if you have the support you need to believe - not let something as small and common as fear stand in your way.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
The Halo That Would Not Light
From the very beginning of reading the poem, The Halo That Would Not Light by Lucie Brock-Broido, it sounds very sorrowful and depressing, almost spiritless. Starting out, the title provides a glimpse of the youth trodden down by darkness referred to throughout the poem. A halo is thought to be connected with innocence and angels; a halo that won't light sounds wrong - as though the purity was taken away.
Just glancing at the structure of the poem, it is odd - sentences start halfway towards the end of a line and lots of empty space. (As after reading the poem I think the empty space symbolizes and reassures the idea of endlessness.)
Reading through the poem, I find the second line describes what the first line is saying: "dropped your tiny body/wrapped in its nest of linens wound." The dropped bundle was wrapped in linens. The words continue to hint at a child or baby, "tiny body," "carriage," and "child," but the darker, more haunting words give a different meaning: "raptor," "scarab-colored hollow," "invisible," "endlessly," and "hunting." The combination of the two (youth and innocence with dark, haunting scariness) imply something was taken from the child. "Endless childhood" at the end of the poem solidify the idea that the child never grew up; endless meaning it will stay a baby for forever. Perhaps the spirit of the young is caught, forever as a child roaming the heavens, because in heaven you don't age... So it's young for forever.
Just glancing at the structure of the poem, it is odd - sentences start halfway towards the end of a line and lots of empty space. (As after reading the poem I think the empty space symbolizes and reassures the idea of endlessness.)
Reading through the poem, I find the second line describes what the first line is saying: "dropped your tiny body/wrapped in its nest of linens wound." The dropped bundle was wrapped in linens. The words continue to hint at a child or baby, "tiny body," "carriage," and "child," but the darker, more haunting words give a different meaning: "raptor," "scarab-colored hollow," "invisible," "endlessly," and "hunting." The combination of the two (youth and innocence with dark, haunting scariness) imply something was taken from the child. "Endless childhood" at the end of the poem solidify the idea that the child never grew up; endless meaning it will stay a baby for forever. Perhaps the spirit of the young is caught, forever as a child roaming the heavens, because in heaven you don't age... So it's young for forever.
Friday, January 25, 2013
1943
Throughout the poem 1943 by Donald Hall it switches back and forth between being "in" the war and being away from the war.
It begins by talking about two males - one who "knocked out" the other in a high school boxing tournament and ten months later Dominick Esposito is killed in the third wave at Tarawa. War changed the boys' lives so quickly; one minute they were carefree high school students, the next they were fighting for their country.
The poem goes on to talk about how every morning the milkman brings each house bottles of milk. The daily task of getting fresh milk every morning symbolizes the idea that life goes on. Even in times of war, life goes on.
The poem then switches back to describing events about the war - soldiers marching "with frost bitten feet as white as milk." Popping up into the readers' mind (because of the blatant pause in the poem to ask "what could we do?" is the question what are we (the citizens who are not "in" the war) supposed to do? How are they supposed to help their country? are they supposed to enlist in the military also? Maybe their whole job is to keep the country "alive" so the soldiers have something to fight for.
War is a tragic worldwide occurrence that can alter many thousands of people's lives in an instant. Perhaps throughout the poem Hall is trying to portray the idea that as life goes on when people are away from the war, and time stops when faced with the difficult situations and obstacles soldiers had to overcome in the war. For the boys in the beginning life was drastically changed (and ended) so differently than had the war not even happened.
It begins by talking about two males - one who "knocked out" the other in a high school boxing tournament and ten months later Dominick Esposito is killed in the third wave at Tarawa. War changed the boys' lives so quickly; one minute they were carefree high school students, the next they were fighting for their country.
The poem goes on to talk about how every morning the milkman brings each house bottles of milk. The daily task of getting fresh milk every morning symbolizes the idea that life goes on. Even in times of war, life goes on.
The poem then switches back to describing events about the war - soldiers marching "with frost bitten feet as white as milk." Popping up into the readers' mind (because of the blatant pause in the poem to ask "what could we do?" is the question what are we (the citizens who are not "in" the war) supposed to do? How are they supposed to help their country? are they supposed to enlist in the military also? Maybe their whole job is to keep the country "alive" so the soldiers have something to fight for.
War is a tragic worldwide occurrence that can alter many thousands of people's lives in an instant. Perhaps throughout the poem Hall is trying to portray the idea that as life goes on when people are away from the war, and time stops when faced with the difficult situations and obstacles soldiers had to overcome in the war. For the boys in the beginning life was drastically changed (and ended) so differently than had the war not even happened.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
To Myself
First reading the poem To Myself by W.S. Merwin I didn't have the slightest idea of what it "meant." To be honest, I don't think it has one specific meaning, or way to interpret. It's for the reader to feel as he pleases.
For me, the first two lines "Even when I forget you I go on looking for you" are impactful. The idea we are always searching for something even though we don't realize it is really eye opening.
Reading the title of the poem I began to have a "take" on the poem. He is talking about who he is as a person. Even when he isn't consciously asking "who am I?" he's always thinking about it. As the poem reads on it's clear that the no punctuation has a purpose other than make it more difficult to comprehend. It symbolizes the passing of time, and no matter how badly we want time to stand still or time to hurry and pass by, it keeps going without fail.
Towards the middle of the poem, the tone changes to more accusatory: "you who are not what they say."
He is analyzing himself, realizing he may not be the person who he claims to be. He is different, constantly changing but never acknowledging the changes.
We begin to see he was searching for himself for the entire poem, and at the end "you who are not lost when I do not find you" ties the poem together. Even if we want to be someone else, we can never truly not be ourselves, or even the slightest little piece of ourselves. We may sacrifice parts of our self because of the situation we're in, but we are who we are; we're not lost, we're just hidden until we can allow ourselves to be free.
For me, the first two lines "Even when I forget you I go on looking for you" are impactful. The idea we are always searching for something even though we don't realize it is really eye opening.
Reading the title of the poem I began to have a "take" on the poem. He is talking about who he is as a person. Even when he isn't consciously asking "who am I?" he's always thinking about it. As the poem reads on it's clear that the no punctuation has a purpose other than make it more difficult to comprehend. It symbolizes the passing of time, and no matter how badly we want time to stand still or time to hurry and pass by, it keeps going without fail.
Towards the middle of the poem, the tone changes to more accusatory: "you who are not what they say."
He is analyzing himself, realizing he may not be the person who he claims to be. He is different, constantly changing but never acknowledging the changes.
We begin to see he was searching for himself for the entire poem, and at the end "you who are not lost when I do not find you" ties the poem together. Even if we want to be someone else, we can never truly not be ourselves, or even the slightest little piece of ourselves. We may sacrifice parts of our self because of the situation we're in, but we are who we are; we're not lost, we're just hidden until we can allow ourselves to be free.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Kite Runner
I finished reading Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini last week but have been procrastinating the "blogging" of the book because I don't know what to write. I have never blogged before and this is a completely new experience for me. Please forgive me for my inexperience.
In my AP Lit class we (as in the students) are supposed to blog about Kite Runner. I don't exactly know what we are supposed to blog "on" and my inexperience doesn't work in my favor.
I completely jumped face first into the story. I understood the characters and loved reading the book almost as much as I love watching movies - which is saying something! The author Khaled Hosseini was able to incorporate such disgusting parts of life into a story of understanding, growing up, forgiveness, and redemption. It was truly spectacular in every way.
I absolutely loved the book. It was very heart wrenching. I remember reading when Hassan and Assef had their encounter in the alley. I wanted Hassan to give the kite back to Assef so he would leave! I was soooo upset with Amir for not helping out the best friend he ever had. I shed tears while reading the horrible events that happened; I felt sick to my stomach for the rest of the day and had a hard time eating. I felt so bad for Hassan and hated Amir for what he hadn't done, yet I understood the difficult situation he had been in. I still think he should had "grown a pair" and gone to stand up for his friend like Hassan had done for him so many times before.
After Hassan's assault and Amir was the one ignoring Hassan while Hassan was trying to be friends again I was furious with him! Especially when he yelled at Hassan telling him to leave him alone, to stop talking to him, to "leave." When Amir hid his watch and some money in Hassan's house blaming Hassan for stealing and Hassan "confessed" to the crime he didn't commit I wanted to slap Amir in the face. I wanted to shake the cowardice out of him. How could Amir not see the loyalty and love Hassan had for him?!?! I was extremely upset. My heart ached for Hassan. My stomach knots up just thinking about it.
Rahim Khan finally gets Amir to go back to Pakistan. The trip ends up changing Amir's life forever. While Rahim Khan was explaining what happened to Hassan and his wife I hoped that Hassan was still alive. I wanted Amir to be able to apologize for wronging his friend so many years before. But unfortunately that was never an option. Instead, Amir was sent on a mission to find Hassan's son. This was the last possible way to redeem himself for his mistakes in the past.
When Amir and Farid sit in the seats surrounding the field and two people, an obedient man and the screaming woman, were carried out and buried in the field I felt sick to my stomach. And how the doctors checked to see if the people were still alive disgusted me. I wanted to puke of the wretchedness written in the book. How could the school make us read about the stoning and bloody scene in which Amir and Farid watched?! It was one of, if not the most disturbing part of the entire story.
I think the most shocking part in the story was realizing Assef was the man in white. My mouth literally dropped open when I read who he was. I was appalled, but I understood how the horrid scene in the field was "possible." It was Assef, the cruel twelve year old who raped other boys his age. When Sohrab, Hassan's son, was introduced into the story by "performing" for Assef and the other security guards I wanted to rip Assef's eyes out. He was abusing Sohrab and I wanted him to stop.
I don't know what else to explain about the story except I learned a lot about the harsh realities of war, the terrible lives people lived, and the extent to no extremes people will go to to get the answers they want. This book opened my eyes into the world which can be so good yet so horrid to others at the exact same time on opposite sides of the world.
This book was astounding. I would definitely recommend it to others.
In my AP Lit class we (as in the students) are supposed to blog about Kite Runner. I don't exactly know what we are supposed to blog "on" and my inexperience doesn't work in my favor.
I completely jumped face first into the story. I understood the characters and loved reading the book almost as much as I love watching movies - which is saying something! The author Khaled Hosseini was able to incorporate such disgusting parts of life into a story of understanding, growing up, forgiveness, and redemption. It was truly spectacular in every way.
I absolutely loved the book. It was very heart wrenching. I remember reading when Hassan and Assef had their encounter in the alley. I wanted Hassan to give the kite back to Assef so he would leave! I was soooo upset with Amir for not helping out the best friend he ever had. I shed tears while reading the horrible events that happened; I felt sick to my stomach for the rest of the day and had a hard time eating. I felt so bad for Hassan and hated Amir for what he hadn't done, yet I understood the difficult situation he had been in. I still think he should had "grown a pair" and gone to stand up for his friend like Hassan had done for him so many times before.
After Hassan's assault and Amir was the one ignoring Hassan while Hassan was trying to be friends again I was furious with him! Especially when he yelled at Hassan telling him to leave him alone, to stop talking to him, to "leave." When Amir hid his watch and some money in Hassan's house blaming Hassan for stealing and Hassan "confessed" to the crime he didn't commit I wanted to slap Amir in the face. I wanted to shake the cowardice out of him. How could Amir not see the loyalty and love Hassan had for him?!?! I was extremely upset. My heart ached for Hassan. My stomach knots up just thinking about it.
Rahim Khan finally gets Amir to go back to Pakistan. The trip ends up changing Amir's life forever. While Rahim Khan was explaining what happened to Hassan and his wife I hoped that Hassan was still alive. I wanted Amir to be able to apologize for wronging his friend so many years before. But unfortunately that was never an option. Instead, Amir was sent on a mission to find Hassan's son. This was the last possible way to redeem himself for his mistakes in the past.
When Amir and Farid sit in the seats surrounding the field and two people, an obedient man and the screaming woman, were carried out and buried in the field I felt sick to my stomach. And how the doctors checked to see if the people were still alive disgusted me. I wanted to puke of the wretchedness written in the book. How could the school make us read about the stoning and bloody scene in which Amir and Farid watched?! It was one of, if not the most disturbing part of the entire story.
I think the most shocking part in the story was realizing Assef was the man in white. My mouth literally dropped open when I read who he was. I was appalled, but I understood how the horrid scene in the field was "possible." It was Assef, the cruel twelve year old who raped other boys his age. When Sohrab, Hassan's son, was introduced into the story by "performing" for Assef and the other security guards I wanted to rip Assef's eyes out. He was abusing Sohrab and I wanted him to stop.
I don't know what else to explain about the story except I learned a lot about the harsh realities of war, the terrible lives people lived, and the extent to no extremes people will go to to get the answers they want. This book opened my eyes into the world which can be so good yet so horrid to others at the exact same time on opposite sides of the world.
This book was astounding. I would definitely recommend it to others.
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