Evaluation of the poem Sacrifice
The title of the poem is 'sacrifice', this gives you a first
impression of the poem. It gives a feeling of giving something up.
When you think about the word sacrifice, it also can mean
self-sacrifice, to some people this could be t do with religion,
(Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross), or a greater good.
In stanza one, the first three words, 'as he move' this tell, us a
lot. It informs us that whatever is going on, there is, a man or a boy
is involved. The lexical choice of 'moves' describes the action as
being, unsurprising, almost normal. The poet then goes on to describe
the knife on the goats throat, the feeling of it being normal to slit
an animals throat. The second line reads 'I can feel its point on my
throat.' The lexical choice of the 'I' and 'my' shows us that it's
first person perspective, he also makes it ambiguous, we don't know if
it's the person killing the goat or the goat who's speaking.
'as the blood geysers,' the lexical choice of 'geysers' describes ho
the blood travels. The meaning of the word 'geysers' is a natural
spring sending a column of hot water, this tells us that the blood was
pumping out. The use of the word jugular b gives the feeling of it
being exact, very clinical. The poet wants us to feel sorry for the
goat. He also us to realise that it's cruel, and that he's not
enjoying what's going on. The last thing that he's doing in the first
stanza is, is making us feel the pain the animal is going through, as
spectators, we are made to feel the pain, we empathise with it, it
almost makes it metaphorical. The poet tells the killing like all the
personalities are lost in the act. The use of the sibilance 'sticky
sweat,' almost makes the act of killing even more cruel and immoral.
The fist word in stanza two is 'we,' this shows us straight away that
there is more than one person.
There are many different types of heroism that exist among the heroes of past and present. Heroism usually is thought of as battling and triumphing over an obstacle, or conquest of a fair-maiden’s love. But notice what this passage from the Mahabharata says about “The True Hero.”
In today’s society, sacrifices play a big role in our everyday lives. They range from small, such as sacrificing that piece of cake to keep you feeling healthier and a little better about yourself, to big sacrifices such as a firefighter sacrificing his life for a complete stranger. At the end of the day, they all all make a difference for better or for worse. In the play “The Crucible”, many various sacrifices were made during the process of exposing the possible witchcraft that was going on in Salem. These sacrifices were a result of fear. People were afraid that they would be accused of witchcraft and would do anything to avoid being pinned. A few of the sacrifices that were made were people 's lives, the happiness
In the poems, Suicide Note by Janice Mirikitani and Dreams of Suicide by William Meredith, the element of suicide is unmistakably the theme. Although both poems are tragic and melancholic, each poet focuses their attention on different aspects of suicide. Mirikitani dissects the inner thoughts of the speaker and focuses on suicidal ideation, while Meredith’s version brings attention to the suicides of three writers by dedicating and honoring them individually. In Dreams, “the speaker conveys his own empathy for those writers who could not survive the struggle to reconcile art and life” (Kirszner & Mandell).
Description: A coffin. It is normally two pieces, a top and bottom, but it is now contrived to look like one cohesive piece. The coffin has a realistic face that is uniquely colored green with a beard that is plaited (braided) and turns upward. These attributes are done in homage to Osiris – who is said to be the Lord of the Underworld and the god of resurrection. The head of the coffin has been adorned with a traditionally worn Egyptian nemes headdress and a traditional collar necklace trimmed in tear drops is placed around the neck area. The bodily outlines are subtle, but in close examination, you can see the meticulous efforts added by the sculptor. This coffin is lucid, but uses line in remarkable patterns for detail. The base of the coffin has a prayer to Osiris along with the name of the deceased inscribed. This artifact represents Horankh’s coffin for his bodily remains.
The 1990 poem “I Am Offering This Poem” by Jimmy Santiago Baca is themed around the life of a prisoner who has nothing else to offer except poetry. As one learns, more about the author’s background, the context of the poem becomes clearer. Examine this piece of information taken from the biography of Baca, “A Chicano poet, Baca served a ten-year sentence in an Arizona prison and his poetry grows out of his experience as a convict” (Baca). Baca’s experience as a prisoner reflects in his writing in that prisoners are often deprived of their rights and many of their possessions while serving a sentence. In his poem, “I Am Offering This Poem”, Baca speaks from the point of view of a prisoner having nothing to offer his love interest except the
Sylvia Plath was known as an American Poet, Novelist and Shorty story writer. However, Plath lived a melancholic life. After Plath graduated from Smith College, Plath moved to Cambridge, England on a full scholarship. While Plath was Studying in England, she married Ted Hughes, an English poet. Shortly after, Plath returned to Massachusetts and began her first collection of poems, “Colossus”, which was published first in England and later the United States. Due to depression built up inside, Plath committed suicide leaving her family behind. Sylvia Plath was a gifted and troubled poet, known for the confessional style of her work, which is how “Mirror” came to be. Although this poem may seem like the reader is reading from first person point of view, there is a much deeper meaning behind Plath’s message throughout the poem. Plath uses several elements of terror and darkness to show change to the minds of the readers.
Romanticism is a major concept used in the 18th-19th centuries in revolt against Enlightened thinkers of prior centuries. The writer, Wordsword, is a poet that uses romantic ideas in his writings. Wordsword wrote the poem, “Daffodils”, using the characteristics of romanticism to develop the theme of nature’s connection to humanity. Wordsword uses appropriate setting, imagery, speaker, literary techniques, and other writing tools. These tools help his readers grasp the beauty and personality of daffodils.
Helen of Troy, known as the most beautiful woman of ancient Greek culture, is the catalyst for the Trojan War. As such, she is the subject of both Edgar Allen Poe’s “To Helen” and H.D.’s “Helen”; however, their perceptions of Helen are opposites. Many poets and authors have written about Helen in regards to her beauty and her treacherous actions. There is a tremendous contrast between the views of Helen in both poems by Poe and Doolittle. The reader may ascertain the contrast in the speakers’ views of Helen through their incorporation of diction, imagery, and tone that help convey the meaning of the work.
In E.E. Cummings poem “dying is fine) but Death”, the poet talks about the the ever discussed topic about dying and Death itself. Cummings talks about how dying is something to look forward to and how it is inevitable, from the moment we are born, to the fateful day it occurs. I agree with this analysis and the author’s analysis of the poem. Cummings uses his legendary shape style to form “dying is fine) but Death” to show how life begins. He may have wanted to symbolize the start of life with “o baby” which if you look at the paper version of the book, “o baby” is split up and very small compared to other sentences in the poem, signifying the start of someone’s life. When the middle of the poem starts to appear, the word “why?” pops up. This could signify the middle of someone’s life, or the “why” that many of us began to ask ourselves this question when we realize that not
Poems reveal many inside thoughts of the speaker that can be interpreted by the reader. Death is expressed quite often in poetic work because of the simplicity to be able to express feelings. Suicide, for an example, is a form of death that may be used in poetry and is usually portrayed in a negative fashion. Surprisingly, some poems that involve death have a positive outcome. There are views found in poetry relating to suicide as a form of death that are both positive and negative. Suicide as a negative perspective is a common form of death displayed in poetry. A very good example of death brought upon by suicide is “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson. In the passage, “And he was rich-yes, richer than a king,” Robinson describes the wealth and riches in which he lived. Richard seemed to be a person without problems. Later at the end of the poem in line fifteen the speaker says, “And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, went home and put a bullet through his head.” In one’s opinion, it may appear that money, wealth, and power is not everything. Perhaps Richard Cory was miserable because of the way people gazed at him which describes his suicide. Theoretically, the reader has to try to interpret the poem because of the lack of evidence explaining the reason of Cory’s suicide. This poem is an example of death in a negative perspective. Another poem that explains suicide as a form of death, but in a somewhat positive fashion, is “Résumé” by Dorothy Parker.
Swimming through the river, like a red bolt of lightning, the salmon tries to find the place it was born at so it can spawn. It has learned this through the species’ trial and error, which is acquiring knowledge, one of the most important parts of a journey. As we’ve seen through many journeys, such as the poem by CP Cavafy “Ithaka”, and the migrations of animals like salmon, beluga whales, and horseshoe crabs, the journey is the most important thing out of an adventure. Although the destination still matters, the journey is where you gain all of your knowledge and your important items from.
“The Spring and the Fall” is written by Edna St. Vincent Millay. The poem is about two people, the poet and her significant other that she once had love for. The poem integrates the use of spring and fall to show how the poet stresses her relationship. Of course it starts off briefly by having a happy beginning of love, but the relationship soon took a shift for the worst, and there was foreshadow that there would be an unhappy ending. “I walked the road beside my dear. / The trees were black where the bark was wet” (2-3). After the seasons changed, the poet begins to explain why the relationship was dying, and all of the bad things she endured during the relationship. So, to what extend did the poet’s heart become broken, and did she ever
While in exile in France Léopold Sédar Senghor wrote a beautiful poem called Black Woman. This poem revolves around Senghor love, definition and praise of a natural black woman. In Senghor’s life and poetry women are viewed in a higher status, are held in high esteem and regard. Senghor poem is more than an individual black African woman, she is an antecedent of his race and thus a symbol of the African race. He takes pride in his race and in this poem especially Senghor completely showed his love and respect for the black woman. Senghor uses an accumulation of metaphors to show his love for African women, and how African black women by portraying them as being beautiful, comforting and emphasis on the black woman’s physical beauty.
Sylvia Plath’s confessional poem is a free formed twenty line poem consisting of ten couplet stanzas which illustrate death as a state in which our imperfections are ignored. The subject of the poem is a woman who has been ‘perfected’ in death, having been released from her own personal suffering. For Plath death seems to be an achievement and just like the woman in the poem, Plath feels she will ultimately become ‘perfected’ when she too is dead. By not using the first person, Plath causes ‘the woman to become depersonalised’ and as a result the woman is distanced from the reader. This could possibly foreshadow how Plath herself, was withdrawing from life and people as she became more engulfed by depression and anxiety.
The Theme of Death in Poetry Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson are two Modern American Poets who consistently wrote about the theme of death. While there are some comparisons between the two poets, when it comes to death as a theme, their writing styles were quite different. Robert Frost’s poem, “Home Burial,” and Emily Dickinson’s poems, “I felt a Funeral in my Brain,” and “I died for Beauty,” are three poems concerning death. While the theme is constant there are differences as well as similarities between the poets and their poems. The obvious comparison between the three poems is the theme of death.