Too often, people pack their days with as many activities as possible no matter if they are enjoyable or not. This causes them to never stop and appreciate the little, enjoyable moments. Jane Kenyon’s poem “Otherwise” emphasizes the problem with that and shows the reader that life is short and appreciation is key. Right off the bat, Kenyon established this as the theme of her poem with the use of her words “It might have been / otherwise” (lines 3-4) after every simple moment she describes. With her use of diction and symbolism, Kenyon stresses the importance of appreciating the simple things in life before they are ripped away due to life’s conciseness. At first glance, the structure of the poem is very brief and simple. Kenyon strategically …show more content…
After digging deeper, it is obvious that is not true. Kenyon used symbolism in order to enhance the meaning of the poem, while making sure that it kept its simple aspect. Kenyon explained, “I took the dog uphill / to the birch wood” (9-10). According to the article “The Magic of the Ogham Trees” a birch tree represents “new beginnings… and the promise of what is to come” (Eco Enchantments). The decision to choose a walk to a birch tree is significant because with the end of life, Kenyon expects heaven to be her promise of what is to come and her new beginning. Another symbol that Kenyon added in the poem is “a table with silver / candlesticks” (17-18). Silver candlesticks can represent riches and wealth, not necessarily with money, but with Kenyon’s life and the things that she loves. Silver candlesticks are also something that might only be taken out for special occasions, so in this line, Kenyon’s message to the reader is to get out the candlesticks and enjoy every aspect of life while it’s still possible. Lastly, kenyon used the symbol, “I slept in a bed / in a room with paintings / on the walls” (20-22). These paintings that she speaks of are not pictures of her family, but paintings of settings in beautiful faraway places that many people would love to visit in their lifetime. This shows that although Kenyon enjoys
The poem I have chosen for the assignment is Maple Valley Library, 1967 by Rita Dove. After reading the poem I concluded that the speaker is Dove when she was fifteen years old sharing Dove’s perspective of being in the library and checking out books. Now looking at the poem, it has five or six wide stanzas and one or two skinny stanza each having a range of long to short lines except for the last two stanzas being short. The poem is long reaching the two pages mark with a rugged look. Then looking at the rhyming there appears to be none in the poem that I can
The poem is written in the style of free verse. The poet chooses not to separate the poem into stanzas, but only by punctuation. There is no rhyme scheme or individual rhyme present in the poem. The poems structure creates a personal feel for the reader. The reader can personally experience what the narrator is feeling while she experiences stereotyping.
First, I will illustrate how structure is being used in the poem and ties into the speculation. Structure of a poem is very important. The structure of a poem focuses on having a beginning, middle, and end to give a poem a clear meaning. The speaker starts the poem with “You can always start with the was of things,” trying to illustrate when writing a poem it is good to begin with jotting down the things
People has times that they are looking forward to. The times such as childhood, schooling help lead us through our life. While this way of thinking has many positive side, we forget the appreciation of all details of the moments. We see the moments in Thornton Wilder's play “Our Town”. This play takes us to a small town in New England and we see how simple it is, to the point where we may get bored to our lives. After looking through the events in the play we might have see as big and important described as relatively simple and straightforward, we begin to question how important that these events are in our life. Not like Emily realize how much of life was ignored until death. But after death, she can see how much everyone goes through life without noticing the events that are occurring all the time.
C. Connotations:The poem is written in free verse with no rhyme or rhythm to be
Lastly, Alexie sets forth a particular structure and form in this poem. The stanzas are
Although we all strive to obtain the best in life, we quickly learn that there is much more to life than just filling an empty void with luxuries. This is the prime theme in the narrative poem titled "Pathedy of Manners" by Ellen Kay. Kay uses strong imagery to describe this woman's superb lifestyle and the change of winds that occur as time passes. The woman in this story appears to be everyone's envy, however we quickly learn that perception is not always reality. Material things simply cannot fulfill and empty void of one's life.
* This stanza is much shorter than the other 2 and most of the word
There have been many American poets throughout the centuries, but none compared to Robert Frost and Jane Kenyon. Jane Kenyon and Robert Frost can make the simplest thing such as picking a pear into something darker. Often Jane Kenyon and Robert Frost compose themes of nature, loneliness and death into their poetry. Both poets evoke feelings and stimulate the reader’s sensory reactions. Jane Kenyon’s Poem Let Evening Comes (1990) and Robert Frost’s Poem Desert Places (1936) may have been written in different eras, but both poets collaborate nature, spirituality and emotional solitariness in their poems.
The most noticeable aspect of the structure of the entire poem is the lack of capital letters and periods. There is only one part in the entire forty lines, which is at the very end, and this intentional punctuation brings readers to question the speaker’s literacy. In fact, the speaker is very young, and the use of punctuation and hyphens brings to attention the speaker’s innocence, and because of that innocence, the
its order and rhyme making it easy to read but as it is undemanding it
While reading “The Ordinary Life” by Barbara Crooker, one is able to understand the dramatic irony of the poem and the irony of her ordinary day being rather interesting. In the first line, Crooker states that nothing happened that day, however she later goes on to contradict herself. When reading the poem, one can see her describe a day full of activities, such as: cleaning the cupboards, taking care of her baby, making dinner for her family, and a few other pastimes. Additionally, Crooker uses strong descriptive language to illustrate what the mother sees as an unremarkable day. For instance, “[...] sat in a circle of sunlight,” (line 9) and “[...] a long slow kiss, tasting of coffee and cream,” (lines 26-27) show the depth of her awareness
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.
While this poem might be confusing at first glance, if one takes the time to look at it carefully, then they can see how this poem is a prime example of the Modernist movement and everything Modernists stood for.
Not only do the words express the speaker's feelings. The structure of the poem has a memorable effect as well. The sentences in the first half of the poem are shorter with a two-line, a four-line, and a six-line sentence. Even in the six-line sentence there are pauses to keep order. However, there are only two sentences in the second half, with one being eight lines. This sentence also has very little structure and runs on. There is no caesura present in the second half, even though there is plenty of it in the