Imagine stumbling across grandmother’s old love letters, showing that she was once young, or playing the piano with her, or going as far as to explain something she rejects almost immediately. That’s the scenario Hart Crane plays out in his poem “My Grandmother’s Love Letters” at least to some extent. He uses various poetic techniques to show numerous ideas, one of which being that the gap between generations is so large that it’s hard to connect across the ages. One of the techniques Hart Crane uses is imagery to show how delicate and nerve-wracking the situation with the speaker’s grandmother appears to be. The first example, which is a part of the title, is her love letters. When they are first brought to attention, the speaker describes them as “...brown and soft/And liable to melt as snow” this shows that they have been forgotten and they have aged quite a bit over the years (10-11). The details may be used to represent how fragile the situation may be. The second line that shows rather than telling and helps set the scene of the delicateness of the scenario is about halfway through the poem. The line “It is all hung by an invisible white hair” shows the relationship between the grandmother and grandchild, as it appears to be so thin that it hardly exists (13). As stated earlier, it also shows the delicacy of the situation playing out in the poem, as hair is easy to destroy much like the bond they appear to share. The line that follows suit also uses imagery to help convey the feel of the poem. Crane uses the phrase “It trembles as birch limbs webbing the air” to help picture in one’s mind the uneasy and nervous energy that appears to be tied in to the situation (14). As a reader, there are other interpretations to t... ... middle of paper ... ...And so I stumble. And the rain continues on the roof/With such a sound of gently pitying laughter” which just lets off a feeling of resignation and humiliation (24-25). Obviously, the grandchild was flustered and possibly overwhelmed with what needed to be said and disliked her for ignoring what was said and she just calmly laughed, pitying her loved one, and the world went on. The last stanza uses an end rhyme between the first two lines to get the thought to stand out better while briefly summarizing what appears to be the purpose of the poem. Imagine feeling defeated, the bond between grandmother and grandchild broken by the unwillingness to listen and the heartbreak that follows. That’s what Hart Crane did so beautifully in the poem, “My Grandmother’s Love Letters” by using simplistic words to convey a much deeper and complex meaning that many can relate to.
The poem explains her hardships. Reading poetry is different from reading prose because you really have to dig deeper and study harder. A poem is not always straight forward like many other writings. You have to use context clues and understand imagery, tone, and sense. Summarizing a poem becomes difficult if you do not re-read several times. I learned that figurative language and lifestyle really tells a great story. Language especially helps you understand what is going on between the lines. Overall, family is always there at the end of the day. Sometimes situations get tough, but there is always a light at the end of the
trauma can have on someone, even in adulthood. The speaker of the poem invokes sadness and
The poem starts out with the daughter 's visit to her father and demand for money; an old memory is haunting the daughter. feeding off her anger. The daughter calls the father "a ghost [who] stood in [her] dreams," indicating that he is dead and she is now reliving an unpleasant childhood memory as she stands in front of his
Granny seems to be bitter about somethings, but not about the life and love she had with her husband. Granny says, “I wouldn’t exchange my husband for anybody except St. Micheal himself.” (Porter, 210) Though not ready for death, “I’m not going, Cornelia. I’m taken by surprise,” (Porter, 270) she seems to have a purpose brought by love even in death. She had a loved one that she wanted to go see. “Granny made the long journey outward, looking for Hapsy.”(Porter, 270) Her loving, though full of loss, seems a prime example of what it means to be a
Poems are often designed to express deep feelings and thoughts about a particular theme. In Theodore Roethke’s poem, My Papa’s Waltz, and Ruth Whitman’s poem, Listening to grownups quarreling, the theme of childhood is conveyed through their details, although we can neither see a face nor hear a voice. These poems are very much alike in their ideas of how their memories pertain to the attitudes of their childhood; however, the wording and tones of the two poems are distinct in how they present their memories. The two poems can be compared and contrasted through the author’s use of tone, imagery, and recollection of events; which illustrate each author’s memories of childhood.
Not only the words, but the figures of speech and other such elements are important to analyzing the poem. Alliteration is seen throughout the entire poem, as in lines one through four, and seven through eight. The alliteration in one through four (whisky, waltzing, was) flows nicely, contrasting to the negativity of the first stanza, while seven through eight (countenance, could) sound unpleasing to the ear, emphasizing the mother’s disapproval. The imagery of the father beating time on the child’s head with his palm sounds harmful, as well as the image of the father’s bruised hands holding the child’s wrists. It portrays the dad as having an ultimate power over the child, instead of holding his hands, he grabs his wrists.
In all three poems, ‘My Grandmother Had One Good Coat’ written by poet Tony Medina, ‘Seeds’, which was written by poet Javaka Steptoe, and ‘The Farmer’, which was written by poet Carole Boston Weatherford, there is a general theme that you can relate to the moral of the story. The developed theme is to build a kind/giving legacy, the family values that are passed down, to give to your children and others who matter. There are also contrasting elements that are different between each poem. To start off, all three poems are about an adult and a child, for example, in ‘Seeds’ the child is giving advice to the parent. In ‘The Farmer, the child thinks about his stern pa. Again, in the poem about the coat, the child talks to the adult and gets help. Another relative component is that the speaker is the child in each poem.
The poem “I Go Back to May 1937” written in 1987 by poet and writer Sharon Olds, is based on a child’s perspective on her parent’s marriage that is destined to fail and the child’s wishes to go back and stop them from making the mistake of marriage. The poem is told from the perspective of the couple’s future child, who ultimately goes back in time to try and convince them that their marriage would be a mistake. Although this creates conflict, as by preventing the couple from marriage would ultimately lead to the end of her own existence. Olds uses imagery, conflict and symbolism to show the differences between the couple and their child’s emotions and feelings about their ill-fated marriage.
When writing poetry, there are many descriptive methods an author may employ to communicate an idea or concept to their audience. One of the more effective methods that authors often use is linking devices, such as metaphors and similes. Throughout “The Elder Sister,” Olds uses linking devices effectively in many ways. An effective image Olds uses is that of “the pressure of Mother’s muscles on her brain,” (5) providing a link to the mother’s expectations for her children. She also uses images of water and fluidity to demonstrate the natural progression of a child into womanhood. Another image is that of the speaker’s elder sister as a metaphorical shield, the one who protected her from the mental strain inflicted by their mother.
The author uses imagery, contrasting diction, tones, and symbols in the poem to show two very different sides of the parent-child relationship. The poem’s theme is that even though parents and teenagers may have their disagreements, there is still an underlying love that binds the family together and helps them bridge their gap that is between them.
Nikki Giovanni and Linda Hogan both wrote poems in the 1970s about their grandmothers that seem totally different to the unaware reader. In actuality, they are very similar. These two poems, Legacies and Heritage, express the poet’s value of knowledge passed down from grandmother to granddaughter, from generation to generation. Even though the poems are composed and read very differently, the underlying message conveyed is the same, and each are valid first-hand accounts of legacies and heritages.
Imagery in literature provides the writer with an instrument for establishing a viewpoint or perspective. The author can use an unlimited amount of symbols, similes, and metaphors that produce an atmosphere for the reader to visualize the story effectively. In the poem "Daddy," written by Sylvia Plath, the author utilizes numerous clusters of images to represent the fury and wrath of a crazed woman haunted by her father's frightening and domineering disposition. Plath uses this imagery to depict the emotional chaos controlling fathers inflict on their offspring.
Toward the end of the poem, it shown how shock Olds was to understand her dad “At the end of his life his life began to wake in me” (Olds 440). It was a new beginning for her and her dad. She tried to create a bond within her dad when she realized that her dad was actually a lovely and caring man. She informed her readers at that she hated her dad but
They let the things that can separate them bring them closer to each other. This poem teaches its readers that love takes sacrifice. Towards the ending on the poem the poet expresses what she is feeling, “She smiled, stretched her arms to take to heart the eldest daughter of her youngest son a quarter century away.” (Ling, 142) The quote shows that the poet traveled halfway around the world to meet her grandmother that she couldn’t communicate with.To sum up the poem, “Grandma Ling,” both the poet and the grandmother take huge sacrifices to see each other. The whole poem represents that love takes
...age within the words of her poem, or even speak about her fears regarding critics and her poetry. Although this is just a random thought, and probably irrelevant to the poem, it is something that has continually surfaced my mind while analyzing this poem over the past week.