"Theme for English B" - Langston Hughes
LIKE
"Dulce et Decorum Est" - Wilfred Owen
LIKE: Somehow, this poem would not get near to capturing the same emotions if it were prose. The poet essentially criticizes the reader (or at least, a reader who is not in his same situation), and yet does so in such a round-about way that the reader doesn't feel offended in the least, but rather is inclined to agree with him - it's positive genius.
"This is Just to Say" - William Carlos Williams
ummmmmm. No comment
"Silence" - Marianne Moore
LIKE: "The deepest feeling always shows itself in silence; not in silence, but in restraint."
"Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town" - E.E. Cummings
STRONGLY DISLIKE: Maybe I just missed something, but this poem seemed to be absolute nonsense. It made me feel rather hostile towards poetry in general. :) I refuse to answer the questions about it, because I honestly can't. It made no sense to me. At all.
"Southeast Corner" - Gwendolyn Brooks
NO OPINION: Fortune could mean her accumulated wealth, or her luck, or fate perhaps. It's kind of an odd poem - but it wasn't absolute nonsense like the one before it.
"In a Station of the Metro" - Ezra Pound
LIKE: This is my kind of poetry. Simple, yet powerful. It makes your mind go all sorts of places beyond the poem, and yet is clear enough to understand.
"The Piercing Chill I Feel" - Taniguchi Buson
DISLIKE: I'm not a big fan of haikus, but I like what the analysis after the poem said, explaining the symbols.
"The Winter Evening Settles Down" - T.S. Eliot
LIKE:
1. Kind of a lonely, desolate feeling. There isn't a lot of hope or joy felt with the words and images he uses. Overall, definitely more negative connotations than positive.
2. I think it's a working-class, meat-industry neighborhood that's very beat up and slum-like. The day ends at 6 o'clock, and the smell of steak in addition to the description of the das as "smoky" indicates some sort of meat/factory combination nearby. The vacant lots, newspapers sweeping around, broken blinds, etc. give the impression of poverty - if not poverty, then certainly not upper-class nobility.
"Root Cellar" - Theodore Roethke
LIKE:
1. He gives very vivid descriptions, and not only visual - the smells and feelings he describes seem very real. It is evident he has experienced it himself.
2. Again, both visual and smell. "roots as ripe as old bait" and "lolling obscenely from mildewed crates"
3. It starts out as pretty gross. But the last two lines show that he thought of it as more than just a gross cellar. It's as if he admires the dirty and disgusting plants, for holding onto life and pressing on despite their circumstances and surroundings. Maybe he too felt trapped, perhaps by the pressure to remain in the family business, and like the plants, searches for chinks of light, clinging to life. Maybe I've been reading too much poetry and it's making me invent meaning that isn't there.
"In the Old Stone Pool" - Matsuo Basho
DISLIKE: It's dumb
"To See a World in a Grain of Sand" - William Blake
LIKE: The imagery is beautiful. In only four lines, he conveys such a vivid picture of earth and heaven. Again, simple words and phrases, to the point, and yet allowing your imagination to go forward to wherever you will.
"Metaphors" - Sylvia Plath
I missed something important in this one, and hope we discuss it in class tomorrow. Somehow, I am entirely unable to make sense of the questions. It seems like just a silly poem, and yet the questions make it sound like there is all sorts of hidden meaning. Hopefully, I am illuminated tomorrow. *Ohhhhhhhh. She's pregnant. I see now. :D
"You Fit Into Me" - Margaret Atwood
YIKES: Okay, so at first thought, I approached this with caution, expecting it to be sexually related. Boy was I surprised. It starts out okay, but suddenly turns weird and absolutely disgusting. Not in a sexual way - but in a nasty, ewwwwww, don't make me think of that because it makes chills run down my back way. So yeah. If she was going for shock and surprise - she wins.
"Recital" - John Updike
LIKE: It was fun to read aloud, and incredibly creative and silly. I enjoy poetry like that.
"The Splendor Falls on Castle Walls" - Alfred, Lord Tennyson
LIKE: I thought it rather beautiful. Definitely one of those poems that is for the ears. Which I enjoy.
"The Panther" - Ogden Nash
LIKE: I laughed when I read "anther." I like these poems, that don't require great thought or in depth analysis. Is it because I'm lazy? Or perhaps I'm just a simple person and not capable of great though. Eh, no matter.
"We Real Cool" - Gwendolyn Brooks.
LIKE: Somewhat odd, but again - fun and interesting rhythm.
"Resume" - Dorothy Parker
LIKE: I don't understand the title, but I really enjoy the irony of it. It's a tragic thing to joke about, and yet shows how someone like me would probably treat it. Afterall, suicide is impractical.
"The Parable of the Good Seed" - Matthew 13:24-30
LIKE: I never thought of this as poetry. I still don't think of this as poetry. The end.
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