This was my first experience attending a poetry reading. I did not really know what to expect, though I did imagine that the reading was going to be a bit dull and longwinded, like a required course. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that the reading was entertaining and even enjoyable. Kay Ryan was very funny and the content of her poems really embodied her humor. It was really fascinating to learn Kay Ryan’s process of writing, such as obtaining her ideas from her surrounding, for example, reading that an angler fish undergoes 500 different modification in order to attain mimicry lead her to write “Young Angler Fish.” Or hearing the phrase mock playing monk leader her to write “Monk Styles.” Through the collection of poetry she read, there was one reoccurring theme and that was the theme of nature. Therefore, majority of her poems were poetry of nature reflecting life. A few of my favorites from her compilation were: “Doubt,” “The Hinge of Spring, “ and “A Plain Ordinary Steel Needle can Float on Pure Water.” None of these poems, in fact most of the poems that Kay Ryan read, had no discernable rhythm and form, therefore it is free verse. As Dr. …show more content…
In “Doubt,” Kay Ryan uses several images to describe doubt and the act of doubting, first the hatching chick, the myth of Orpheus, and then the “Person from Porlock,” which Kay Ryan defines it as the interrupter, or an unwelcomed visitor. In “the Hinge of Spring,” Kay Ryan builds a beautiful image of the west just turning into spring. She uses the feeding Jackrabbit and coyote to describe to the hinge of spring, and she also includes the colors of spring, which during the winter, and as the rabbit fed on the flowers, the world was colorless. “A Plain Ordinary Steel Needle can Float on Pure Water” uses the imagery of the steel needle floating on water to describe the oddity of people trying to change other people’s character or
Nearly everyone has had that dreadful encounter with the last person they want to see in places such as the supermarket, dry cleaners, or the movie theaters. What follows are a few awkward moments of strained conversation while one looks for signs of bitter regret in the eyes of his or her ex. Carolyn Kizer’s poem “Bitch” depicts such a meeting. The poem guides the reader to reality of what really occurs deep beyond conversation while seeing an ex. Through the use of personification, diction, and tone, Kizer illustrates the speaker’s strife with feelings of animosity, repression, and desire for reconciliation.
The fact that they’re 24 carrot gold indicates that she wants the best for herself and her new life. It also symbolizes her purity and strength as a person.
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.
Humor and Irony are a unique combinations Collins displays in many of his poems, challenging the readers to interpret his work in different perspectives. In “Introduction to Poetry,” Collins offers a witty comparison between the definition of poetry and various other experiments. He asks the reader to “hold [the poem] up to the light/ like a color slide” (1-3), “press an ear against its hive” (4), “drop a mouse into a poem” (5), “walk inside the poem's room” (7), and “waterski across the surface of a poem” (9-10). Rather than stiffly explaining the definition of a poem, he finds creative and humorous approaches to explain his methods of enjoying the poems, and promote the readers’ interest towards discovering the true meaning of poetry. Just as the surrounding would seem different through color slides, he asks the readers to see the world in diverse viewpoints while reading and writing poems. Moreover, by listening to poem’s hive, dropping a mouse, and walking inside its room, Collins encourages readers to discover the concealed depth of poetry. He comments ...
The poet Galway Kinnell has a very lighthearted and playful tone in this poem. The speaker also expresses his feelings about his child joining his lover and him in the bed after they have made love. The poem dramatizes the mixed feelings the speaker has in the poem. The speaker feels the need to speak out now because he wants to share his feelings with possibly new parents. The audience of this poem could be new parents. This poem takes place in the speaker’s bedroom after he and his lover is almost caught in the act of making love. The time of day may be night time, since in the poem it mentions darkness. The speaker explains to us what happens while he and his partner tries to makes love in this poem, their child comes into
Alexander’s beautiful poems of witness and stream of consciousness; however, are the poems that I have gained the most from. In American Sublime, there is an entire section dedicated to witness poetry. While reading the witness poems, I noticed that Alexander put a significant amount of research into her witness poetry; from learning the names of slaves, to pulling official court documents. This demonstrates how serious poems are witnessing are. These are not poems that one can write without an extensive amount of knowledge. Elizabeth Alexander’s witness poems are a tremendous example of what a witness poem should be. In addition to this form of poetry, Alexander’s stream of conciseness poems have broaden my ideas on what those poems can look like. Until now, I have been intimidates by stream of conciseness poems. They were full of energy, often anger, and decorated with cursing. Although I enjoy reading these poems, I cannot bring myself to write this way. Therefore, I never attempted to write a stream of consciousness poem. However, Elizabeth Alexander’s stream of consciousness poems are not like this. While they are energetic, they are not an angry or annoyed tone; instead, they are explanative. This style is one that I am comfortable with writing, and plan to attempt one day. Hopefully, with the guidance of Elizabeth Alexander’s work , I will
In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by the name of Langston Hughes. A well-known writer that still gets credit today for pomes like “ Theme for English B” and “Let American be American Again.”
“This afternoon was the colour of water falling through sunlight; the trees glittered with the tumbling of leaves; The sidewalks shone like alleys of dropped maple leaves; And the houses ran along them laughing out of square; Open windows” (Lowell 185). This quote, taken out of Amy Lowell’s poem “September 1918,” illustrates the ability of the author to be very descriptive in order to give the reader an image of where she is and what is surrounding her. Through this poem she also give's the reader a sense of being there as well. Another author that resembles Lowell is Emily Dickinson. In Dickinson’s poem "I heard a Fly buzz-when I died" she says, “I heard a Fly buzz-when I died- The Stillness in the Room Was like the stillness in the Air- Between the Heaves of Storm” (Dickinson 1202). Like Lowell, Dickinson describes what she sees surrounding her, and by saying that she was dead in her poem she provides the reader the ability to create a mental image of a person actually dead in a coffin. Also in her poem called “Because I could not Stop for Death” Dickinson says, “Because I could not stop for Death- He kindly stopped for me- The Carriage held just but Ourselves and Immortality” (Dickinson 1206). In Dickinson’s second poem, she describes how death is taking her in its carriage to immortality. Making the reader create a picture of death actually taking her to infinity.
In the poem by Joy Harjo called “Eagle Poem,” Harjo talks about prayer and life and how they revolve around mother-nature. She suggests that while being one with nature, we feel we are in a place in which we haven’t imagined and the things in which we would love to do in that magnificent and calming place. After one reads the poem, he/she enjoys the lyrical type of it. This is because “Eagle Poem” sticks to one idea and extends it throughout the entire poem. For instance, it talks about prayer, nature, and animals from start to finish.
The poem On Girls Lending Pens that is written by Taylor Mali tells that a boy forgets to bring his pen for class, so he has to borrow one from a girl beside him. However, he does not expect that girl has too many pens to pick from. It seems that the girl cares too much about her stuff and makes the simplest thing more difficult to deal with. At the end, the boy decides that he would rather come unprepared than borrow a pen from the girl. It is a very humorous and rhymed poem. Through different poetic devices, it shows the theme of being prepared.
little house an' a room to ourself. Little iron stove, an' in the winter we'd keep a
With fewer than fifty published poems Elizabeth Bishop is not one of the most prominent poets of our time. She is however well known for her use of imagery and her ability to convey the narrator?s emotions to the reader. In her vividly visual poem 'The Fish', the reader is exposed to a story wherein the use of language not only draws the reader into the story but causes the images to transcend the written work. In the poem, Bishop makes use of numerous literary devices such as similes, adjectives, and descriptive language. All of these devices culminate in the reader experiencing a precise and detailed mental image of the poem's setting and happenings.
Poems are a way of expressing the feelings and emotions that the writer chooses to describe, usually using symbolic objects and comparing it to another thing using figurative language. There were many poets that came and went throughout history and there are still a lot today, one of which really caught my attention and her name is Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou is a very astounding poet with her 166 poems, but one really stood out to me and that was The Lesson. Maya Angelou had a very difficult life with the many challenges she faced being an African American during the timeframe of her life and she outlined these troubles in most of her writings. With her circumstances she just kept moving forward and giving it her best without giving up; she is a great model for anyone to follow.
A poem without any complications can force an author to say more with much less. Although that may sound quite cliché, it rings true when one examines “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop. Elizabeth’s Bishop’s poem is on an exceedingly straightforward topic about the act of catching a fish. However, her ability to utilize thematic elements such as figurative language, imagery and tone allows for “The Fish” to be about something greater. These three elements weave themselves together to create a work of art that goes beyond its simple subject.
While much of Emily Dickinson's poetry has been described as sad or morose, the poetess did use humor and irony in many of her poems. This essay will address the humor and/ or irony found in five of Dickinson's poems: "Faith" is a Fine Invention, I'm Nobody! Who are you?, Some keep the Sabbath Going to Church and Success Is Counted Sweetest. The attempt will be made to show how Dickinson used humor and / or irony for the dual purposes of comic relief and to stress an idea or conclusion about her life and environment expressed by the poetess in the respective poem. The most humorous or ironic are some of the shorter poems, such as the four lined stanzas of "Faith" is a Fine Invention and Success Is Counted Sweetest.