There is a phrase that people here time and time again, but don’t truly understand the meaning of it until the phrase can be applied to their own lives. “You don’t realize what you have until it’s gone.” Atwood’s poem is a direct reflection of this quote. Her poem “Bored” talks about how she hated the repetitiveness of her daily events with her father. But it was only until he had passed on was it that she truly did realize how much she missed those daily events. Sometimes people don’t understand how important others mean to them until it is too late. I found the poem “Bored” to be very well written and very touching. Atwood did a good job of describing how easy it is to overlook some of the better things in life. This poem revolved around repetition. And it was the repetition that makes the reader aware of the love that Margaret has for her father. Her poem starts with “All those times I was bored out of my mind. Holding the log while he sawed it. Holding the string while he measured, boards, distances between things, or pounded stakes into the ground for rows and rows of lettuces and beets, which I then (bored) weeded”(588). Atwood is obviously conveying to the reader that the time she spent with her father wasn’t what she considered of much importance and actually disliked it. This is because she only saw it as work and as a constant hardship of recurrence on herself. She never comprehended that these days with her father were the better days of her life, and she only wishes she could have them back. “Why do I remember it as sunnier all the time then, although it more often rained, and more birdsong”(589)? Another aspect that can be derived from this poem is Atwood’s father’s obvious intentions to give her an awareness of the many adversities life can obtain. He has made sure she leads a life that doesn’t result from a spoiled childhood. He made her attentive of a hard days work, which is probably one of the best things a father can teach his child. It is absolutely essential that parents in general teach their children the many hardships life may behold. This gives the child a better direction in means of future obligations. Atwood describes her father’s ambition to show her some of the finer things in life and the beauty of nature and nature’s way of life.
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
These lines demonstrate the stage of adulthood and the daily challenges that a person is faced with. The allusions in the poem enrich the meaning of the poem and force the reader to become more familiar with all of the meaning hidden behind the words. For example, she uses words such as innocence, imprisonment and captive to capture the feelings experienced in each of the stages. The form of the poem is open because there are no specific instances where the lines are similar. The words in each stanza are divided into each of the three growth stages or personal experiences.
All through the times of the intense expectation, overwhelming sadness, and inspiring hope in this novel comes a feeling of relief in knowing that this family will make it through the wearisome times with triumph in their faces. The relationships that the mother shares with her children and parents are what save her from despair and ruin, and these relationships are the key to any and all families emerging from the depths of darkness into the fresh air of hope and happiness.
When the poem is read aloud, the explicit rhyme and rhythm of the lines becomes extremely obvious. In fact, the bouncy rhythm is so uplifting, it occasionally makes the audiences feel like it is too predictable and straight-forward. An example would be “bright with chrysolite”, the word “chrysolite” feels like it is forcefully implemented for the sake of the rhyme. This is somewhat similar to a children’s tale. Most children’s tale as we know it, conveys messages straightforwardly and are easily understood by children, it also has an amiable tone and a merry mood that engages the children 's attention. Similarly, the rhyme and rhythm of this poem is very obvious and explicit, creating a delightful, casual mood that appeals to a young audience. Even though the legend dealt with deep insights about parenting that are intricate and puzzling, the father delivered it in such a gratifying, simple manner that made even the most dark and dreadful matters: like the description of precarious beasts and vicious monsters to sound like a blissful adventure of friendly animals. The sole purpose of this contradiction between the tone and message is to make this seemingly strong and serious topic more tolerable and captivating to the son of the father. Unsensible, impulsive youth is very similar to restless children, a long insipid lecture about deep insights is very difficult for them to buy into. In the same time, a harsh, threatening warning will only make them obey unwillingly, and creating a doubtful relationship will make them uncomfortable to communicate or appeal to their parents. Clearly, the percipient father recognized the ineffectiveness of these unsuitable parenting methods. Instead, he conveyed the message in a uncomplicated, friendly way that made his son to accept his teachings more comfortably. A
2. It represents her desire to be what her father wants her to be and the secret satisfaction she gets by making him proud. This quote shows how her father recognizes her hard work around the farm and that she is competent enough as a strong and boyish figure for him to express his pride in her to others.
In the short story ‘’Nature Lessons’’ by Nancy Lord, Marco is a very compassionate, experienced and thoughtful father of Mary, who lives in Los Angeles which is very far from where her father lives in Alaska. In addition Marco wants to have a more closer relationship with his daughter & also, tries to show her that he is very thoughtful : ‘’These encounters with god’s other creatures, that he valued most about living in the woods it was this he wanted to Mary to know, this that was important, this that had value’’ (1). This indicates that Marco is very thoughtful about living in the woods he also, wants his daughter to value nature with him and he wants her to know there are more interesting creatures to discover by living out in the woods.
In “Bored,” Margaret Atwood displays her regret towards not appreciating time spent with her father during childhood, creating a repentant and nostalgic tone, suggesting to the reader enjoying life is important and to recognize the brevity of it. For example, “Holding the string while he measured, boards...which I then (bored) weeded,” conveys her resent towards the smaller tasks she was given to do while her father did the main tasks. The author implies that her father guided her throughout life, “..he drove, steered, paddled...” Moreover, the line “Perhaps though boredom is happier,” indicates once she grew up she had to lead herself through life, and misses her simple childhood in contrast with her complicated adult life. In conclusion,
The poem is written in the father’s point of view; this gives insight of the father’s character and
Harwood wrote the poem with relatively simple composition techniques but it provides a rather big impact which helps to give an insight into the life of a mother or nurturer which bares the burdens of children.
Fulfilling the roles of both mother and breadwinner creates an assortment of reactions for the narrator. In the poem’s opening lines, she commences her day in the harried role as a mother, and with “too much to do,” (2) expresses her struggle with balancing priorities. After saying goodbye to her children she rushes out the door, transitioning from both, one role to the next, as well as, one emotion to another. As the day continues, when reflecting on
The poem also focuses on what life was like in the sixties. It tells of black freedom marches in the South how they effected one family. It told of how our peace officers reacted to marches with clubs, hoses, guns, and jail. They were fierce and wild and a black child would be no match for them. The mother refused to let her child march in the wild streets of Birmingham and sent her to the safest place that no harm would become of her daughter.
Although this section is the easiest to read, it sets up the action and requires the most "reading between the lines" to follow along with the quick and meaningful happenings. Millay begins her poem by describing, in first person, the limitations of her world as a child. She links herself to these nature images and wonders about what the world is like beyond the islands and mountains. The initial language and writing style hint at a child-like theme used in this section. This device invites the reader to sit back and enjoy the poem without the pressure to understand complex words and structure.
Theodore Roethke once wrote in his poem “In dark times, the eyes begin to see” (Roethke). His quote meant that, when we are in the toughest time of life and there is no hope, that’s when we begin to realize how important life is to us. In life, we face a lot of troubling’s and difficult circumstances that we are unable to prevent them. But it happens so that we may learn from them to better our life due to the impact it might have on us and through that, we become educated people in the society.
...parent-child relationship through the mother’s perspective. Hughes uses negative imagery, focused on light like ‘no light’ and ‘dark’, where the mother is begins by accepting the hardships of life instantly and trying to teach them. Although portrayed as a negative idea, it is also a positive as it is preparation, in contrast to Piano where Lawrence had to eventually face such hardships and due to his lack of preparation he was beaten easily. Hughes shows some methods of preparation in the poem through imperatives such as, ‘don’t turn your back’ where she is encouraging the child to always have faith and believe in himself-never giving up. Hughes follows an idea of an extended metaphor of life being a stair that is never ending in with obstacles trying to stop you, ‘splinters’, however as taught, you must keep going forward and have the will to beat the challenges.
While other writers use their poetry to decipher the meaning of life, Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea was busy writing about how to live it. Five of her poems, “Jupiter and the Farmer,” “The Tree,” “The Shepherd Piping to the Fishes,” “Love, Death, and Reputation,” and “There’s No To-Morrow,” convey strong messages to the reader about how to live their lives. In her poetry, Anne Finch uses anecdotes to help illustrate the validity of her statements, thereby providing the reader with a strong, meaningful, and important message about how life should be lived.