Introduction “We Real Cool,” perhaps Brooks’ single best-known poem, subjects a similarly representative experience to an intricate technical and thematic scrutiny, at once loving and critical. The poem is only twenty-four words long, including eight repetitions of the word “we.” It is suggestive that the subtitle of “We Real Cool” specifies the presence of only seven pool players at the “Golden Shovel.” The eighth “we” suggests that poet and reader share, on some level, the desperation of the group-voice that Brooks transmits. The final sentence, “We/ die soon,” restates the carpe diem motif in the vernacular of Chicago’s South Side. Analysis This poem has a touch of freshness of youth mixed with carelessness and the rebellious zeal. It is a small couplet with great use of rhymes. On one level, “We Real Cool” appears simply to catalog the experiences of a group of dropouts content to “sing sin” in all available forms. A surprising ambiguity enters into the poem, however, revolving around the question of how to accent the word “we” which ends every line except the last one, p...
“September Elegies” is a poem written by an American poet Randall Mann in memory of Seth Walsh, Justin Aaberg, Billy Lucas, and Tyler Clementi. It articulates a gloomy story about four young boys who took their own lives by jumping off the George Washington Bridge. The memorialization is a reminder of how cruel our world can be and how bigotry and indifference destroy people’s lives. The poet reveres their memory by making use of various literary devices in order to transmit the pain the boys experienced.
Gwendolyn Brooks and Sonia Sanchez, in their poems “We Real Cool” and “Summer Words of a Sistuh Addict”, are both alike in their idea of dealing with troubled youth. Brooks discusses in her poem “We Real Cool” rebellious pool-playing youth that “sing sin” (Line 5) and “thin gin.” (Line 6) The whole poem centers around disturbed youth. The narrator in Sonia Sanchez’s poem “Summer Words of a Sistuh Addict”, is also a disturbed young woman who is addicted to heroin, and seems to live a rather rebellious lifestyle. In addition, both of these poems use tone via word choice, sentence structure, and meter in order to vividly describe the scenarios in their poems, and to impact their reader. However, both poets use the literary elements mentioned above differently in their poems.
To help Year Twelve students that are studying poetry appreciate it's value, this pamphlet's aim is to discuss a classic poem and a modern song lyric to show that even poetry written many years ago can still be relevant to people and lyrics today. By reading this may you gain a greater knowledge and understanding of poetry in general, and not just the two discussed further on.
The tone of Brendan Galvin’s poem “An Evel Knievel Elegy” is quickly established by the writer’s use of the word elegy. Elegy is defined to be a sad lyrical poem or song that expresses sorrow for someone who is dead. In this poem the writer chooses to reflect on some of the public events in the life of motorcycle stuntman, Evel Knievel. This free verse poem has no stanzas or rhyme scheme and there is no set rhythm. The poet’s use of the word “We” in the first line implies the speaker and the poet are one in the same.
The popular American Poet, Billy Collins, is playing a significant role in the evolution of poetry. His writing style evokes an array of emotions for the reader. Every stanza in his poetry passes the satirical standard that he generated for himself over his career. Collins swiftly captivates his readers through his diverse use of figurative language. More specifically, his use of vivid imagery paired with humorous personification and extended metaphors create his unique style of satirical poetry. This developed form of writing appeals to a large crowd of people because the generally accessible topics that he discusses are fairly easy to resonate for the common man. However, his poetry offers an interesting perspective on what otherwise would be simplistic ideas. The main themes and concepts that are being presented in each of his writings are revered and coveted by the general population. An appealing aspect of his writing is his ability to directly convey the main idea within the poem. As a result, the reader can understand the meaning of his work with ease. The typical beginning of his work gives the reader a slight taste of what is to come. Billy Collins’ unique writing style and various trademarks directly influenced by his ability to propagate an array of emotions for the reader, his humorous tone, and the accessibility of the topics he describes within his poetry.
When reading literature, the excitement level is enhanced through an author’s use of irony. Through Housman’s poem he uses different literary devices; irony, alliteration, metaphors. Irony (death) is used to be the main theme of this poem. Alliteration appears only in a few lines to demonstrate feelings. Metaphors are used to show the contrast from before to after. In To An Athlete Dying Young, A.E. Housman uses irony to describe a character who overcomes all his accomplishments by time, memory, and the victories of others.
Traditionally, dirges are composed in the form of a song or hymn of mourning as a memorial to a dead person. The very definition suggests that the particular qualities of the dead individual deserve recognition. The dirge is not just written for anyone, but for those deserving of glorification, who survive in the memories of the living as testaments to the greater capacities of humankind. It is against this traditional definition that Kenneth Fearing’s poem, “Dirge”, is working, not only as an overt commentary on the social, cultural, and political factors surrounding the destabilization of 1930’s America but also as an abstraction of the prevalent views of reality: the dehumanization of the human. Fearing superimposes these thematic projects onto the context of the Great Depression, a period of American history often seen as representing overarching society decline, the dull malaise of futility, and the alienation of the individual. Through an exploration of the structural elements of “Dirge”, one can find just how Fearing constructs a particular vision of modernism.
An analysis of metaphor can offer us insight into the deeper meaning within literature. As almost nothing is directly revealed regarding its nature, such analysis is vital in the case of Thomas Wolfe’s short story ‘Only the Dead Know Brooklyn’. While the plot may be simple, even bemusing, it is in fact a delicately woven philosophical allegory. Wolfe is alluding to the theme of what it really means to live life to the fullest, can we merely wait for our ‘train t’ come’ or must we “thrust our feelers in distressful ooze” in order to truly appreciate the world around us, even if we end up ‘drownin’? The aim of this essay is to consider how Wolfe’s enigmatic story, expounded by metaphor, delivers an urgent defence of our threatened individuality, one which transcends the ordinary encounter at a Brooklyn subway station.
The poem, “Young Athletes Dying Young” written by A.E. Housman gives inspiration to those who are athletes but teaches them that anything can happen. According to Mark Ruby, “A. E. Housman's ‘To an Athlete Dying Young’ was published in his first collection, A Shropshire Lad, in 1896 and is generally considered one of his best poems. Like much of the poet's work, its themes include the preciousness of youth and the nature of early death. It is a speaker's narrative, or dramatic monologue, that tells the story of an athlete, a runner, who has died at the peak of his youthful and abundant athleticism. The lyrically presented images contain the irony that the same crowd of townspeople who once carried the runner on their shoulders after he had won a race now carries him to his place of final rest” (Overview). Young Athletes around fear that one thing in their career is losing their stats and records. In sports as the years go by, better and stronger athletes are getting in these leagues and it is getting harder to even compete.
We Strike straight. We” (5-6). The frequent use of alliteration has a percussive effect, similar to crashing ciphers or the boom of a dual bass, “Sing sin” (7), “Jazz June” (9). These lines also symbolize their music tastes, as the pool players seem to know something about the deep jazz culture. Imagery is also used in this poem, as it also creates an image of their intensive dancing and self-indulgent enjoyment of life which distracts them from the final sentence of the poem, “Die soon” (11). This explains that there is a cost to such enjoyment of life and why it cannot be ignored at the end of the day. Nonetheless, as there are no direct examples of figurative language in the poem, some of the descriptive details as being implied metaphors in their demonstration of young
Anyone with genuine interest in literature, has heard about the recent leakage of Three Stories, a collection of three short stories written by famous American writer, J. D. Salinger. While I do not support the fact, that those are now known to general public despite author’s wishes for the stories not to be published until 50 years after his death, I cannot say, that I wasn’t thrilled when I heard they leaked. I will only focus on one of the three stories here, namely The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls, precursor to the famed The Catcher in the Rye, taking place on the day of Allie’s death. More specifically I will be dealing with the meaning and symbolism behind the phrase “bowling ball” in the text.
Frost is far more than the simple agrarian writer some claim him to be. He is deceptively simple at first glance, writing poetry that is easy to understand on an immediate, superficial level. Closer examination of his texts, however, reveal his thoughts on deeply troubling psychological states of living in a modern world. As bombs exploded and bodies piled up in the World Wars, people were forced to consider not only death, but the aspects of human nature that could allow such atrocities to occur. By using natural themes and images to present modernist concerns, Frost creates poetry that both soothes his readers and asks them to consider the true nature of the world and themselves.
I will discuss the similarities by which these poems explore themes of death and violence through the language, structure and imagery used. In some of the poems I will explore the characters’ motivation for targeting their anger and need to kill towards individuals they know personally whereas others take out their frustration on innocent strangers. On the other hand, the remaining poems I will consider view death in a completely different way by exploring the raw emotions that come with losing a loved one.
By rethinking the carpe diem theme, Andrew Marvell makes his point more effectively than many other poets working with the same ideas. Using the methods described above, he makes the ideal scene of timelessness more concrete, so that when it is swept away the alternative seems all the more frightening and imperative. In this way he recreates a feature of real life- death is imperative, but trivialities can often make it seem distant. Invariably, however, it will greet us all.
The nature also seems to join in with their joy as the sun shines with sheer brilliance over the playing children. The azure sky also seems to be smiling at the joy of these innocent children. The whole atmosphere further seems drunk with high-spirited fervor; the church bells add their sonorous chimes to this festive atmosphere. The poet symbolizes the innocence and delicacy of children with the...