Comparison of Ted Hughes Poems: The Warm And The Cold and Work and Play The first thing that you notice about these two poems is the similarities in subject. Work and Play and The Warm and the Cold both feature the presence of wildlife and the countryside. The Warm and the Cold: And the butterfly in its mummy Like a viol in its case And the owl in its feathers Like a doll in its lace. Work and Play ============= The swallow of summer, she toils all the summer A blue-dark knot of glittering voltage A whiplash swimmer, a fish of the air. Both of these verses project the main theme of each poem as the countryside and wildlife. There are though, some differences. Like the layout of the poems. Work and Play is set out with three lines at the start of each stanza then five small lines at the end of the stanza, of which there are four. The end stanza changes to one beginning sentence and four ending the piece. The Warm and the Cold however, has three verses of twelve lines, then a finishing part where seven lines are spaced out to give a slowing down effect. This poem also has a recognisable effect where nearly every other line is a simile. E.g. But the trout is in its hole Like a chuckle in a sleeper. The hare strays down the highway Like a root going deeper. The snail is dry in the outhouse Like a seed in sunflower. The owl is pale on the gatepost Like a clock on its tower. The language of each poem is also very different. Work and Play has an almost sarcastic view, mocking the people featured in it. E.g. Nude as tomatoes With sand in their creases To cringe in the sparkle of rollers and screech. The cynicism in the poem makes it enjoyable to read, giving you a
also be seen as a man who enjoyed killing but must come up with an
As Edgar Allan Poe once stated, “I would define, in brief the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of beauty.” The two poems, “Birthday,” and “The Secret Life of Books” use different diction, theme, and perspective to give them a unique identity. Each author uses different literary devices to portray a different meaning.
As one grows up and experiences the taste of life, opening one’s eyes to both negative and positive aspects of the world, it is common that one starts to lose their innocence little by little throughout one’s journey. The title of novel, The Catcher in the Rye (1952) by J. D. Salinger, signifies the desires of Holden Caulfield, the narrator, to preserve innocence, and the allusion to the Robert Burns poem “Comin Thro’ the Rye” further emphasizes his desires and also represents his innocence.
each stanza do rhyme with at least one other, in this way: 1st & 3rd,
There are diseases in the world that we can touch and see and there are those which we cannot feel or see. Depression and suicide are one of the few that are not physical diseases but mental. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of deaths in America, and 20-25% of Americans eighteen and older have depression. The two poems ‘Summer Solstice, New York City’ by Sharon Olds, and ‘The Mill’ by Edwin Arlington Robinson are both discussing the different ways that suicide and depression can affect an individual. The first poem by Sharon Olds goes into details of suicide prevention whereas the poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson goes into the details of how suicide and death affect the loved ones of the deceased.
on: April 10th 1864. He was born in 1809 and died at the age of 83 in
Since the beginning of our country's history, people of African descent have continuously undergone persecution by those of European descent. Although the state of racial affairs in the 1990's is an enormous improvement from the days of slavery, racial tension still exists. In the twentieth century, no time surpasses the 1950's and 1960's in relation to racial injustice and violence. In every facet of American life, prejudice and racial inequality exude during these tumultuous twenty years. Langston Hughes, an African-American writer, exposes the divisions between Caucasians and African Americans in the social construct of the educational system during this chaotic time period. In Hughes' poem, "Theme for English B," he discusses racism through the stage of a university in America, using narrative and poetic devices to express the feelings and emotions involved in the struggle for equality.
where every third line had to rhyme and the last two lines also had to
Poetry is a literary form of art in which poets express their emotions and opinions about the world. There are many forms of poetry and goals that poems wish to achieve. Some poems exist merely for the reason of entertainment and release of emotions, but poems should exist as a form of art that is trying to achieve something or get a point across. Poems typically have an overreaching theme and can “speak to each other” or in other words can relate to one another. For one to understand these themes and connections among poems one must use a method of closing read. Among the many poems that have been explored in my jazz literature course, two poems standout “Black Art” by Amiri Baraka and “A/Coltrane/Poem” by Sonia Sanchez. Both poems “speak
Although many African Americans can easily lose their identity due to the oppression they face, the tone in Claude McKay’s and Langston Hughes’ poems show that fighting back for equality will allow them to maintain their identity. In McKay’s poem “If We Must Die,” he talks about the issue of lynching. African Americans were being lynched for no reason without getting a say in what happened. In response he says, “Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack, / Pressed to the wall dying, but fighting back!” (McKay). Although the white Americans were trying to put them down, they are refusing to leave without a fight. McKay uses the word “we” to emphasize that this is a problem for many African Americans. He is speaking to the
Langston Hughes and Kate Chopin use nature in several dimensions to demonstrate the powerful struggles and burdens of human life. Throughout Kate Chopin's The Awakening and several of Langston Hughes' poems, the sweeping imagery of the beauty and power of nature demonstrates the struggles the characters confront, and their eventual freedom from those struggles. Nature and freedom coexist, and the characters eventually learn to find freedom from the confines of society, oneself, and finally freedom within one's soul. The use of nature for this purpose brings the characters and speakers in Chopin's and Hughes' works to life, and the reader feels the life and freedom of those characters.
When humans and nature come together, they either coexist harmoniously because nature's inhabitants and humans share a mutual respect and understanding for each other, or they clash because humans attempt to control and force their ways of life on nature. The poems, "The Bull Moose" by Alden Nowlan, "The Panther" by Rainer Maria Rilke, "Walking the Dog" by Howard Nemerov, and "The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop, describe what happens when humans and nature come together. I believe that when humans and nature come together they either clash and conflict because individuals destroy and attempt to control nature, which is a reflection of their powerful need to control themselves, or humans live peacefully with nature because not only do they admire and respect nature, but also they can see themselves in nature.
last, which is four lines. In the first three stanzas, the poem is told in
perhaps of Clarence's dream of the sea of fish-eaten victims of the Wars of the
When analyzing the poem, “Life is Fine” by Langston Hughes, at first glance, it may seem like a short and simple poem about life. The poem is much more complex. The poem is about the obstacles that some people face in life and how to find the strength to persevere. This poem helps the reader appreciate life and encourages us to triumph over the most emotionally challenging obstacles rather than considering death as a solution. The character in the poem, although weak and confused at first, finds the strength to deal with the issues he is struggling with and comes to appreciate life, rather than turning to a tragic way out. The character makes a half-hearted attempt to take his life twice during the short poem because of the emotional pain of lost love, but fortunately, finds reasons why he shouldn’t. The character, although very confused, sees that there is good in his life and realizes that his lost love is not worth giving his life up for. Hughes had a tough childhood, being raised mostly by his grandmother. His poem “Life is Fine” very possibly was close to his heart considering he may have faced some of the same struggles he wrote of in his poems. Hughes has written other works such as biographies and short stories about life and its experiences and his works are valuable to readers in their lives as well (Norris). Throughout this poem, the character continuously tries to take their life but cannot do so because there are clearly more reasons to live than to die. This poem echoes the thoughts that people have about death when things get difficult and how they consider turning to death as the answer. Learning to deal with obstacles and appreciate every moment is a valuable skill in life. This poem is an inspiration...