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Introduction to poetry poem analysis
Introduction to poetry poem analysis
Introduction to poetry poem analysis
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With close reference to Before you were mine Mother..any distance and On my first Sonne explain how imagery, structure and language are used to convey these relationships. Relationships between Parents and Children are described in several poems in the Anthology. With close reference to 'Before you were mine' 'Mother..any distance' and 'On my first Sonne' explain how imagery, structure and language are used to convey these relationships. The three poems all contain different ideas on relationships between parents and children. In before you were mine, the author writes about how someone imagines their mother, and her life, before they were born. Mother..any distance tells of a son's changing relationship with his mother, and what has happened as he has grown older. On my first Sonne is elegiac, ittells a fathers story of his son's death, and the emotions which he has felt. The two poems, Before you were mine and Mother..any distance use imagery; On my first Sonne does not. Carol Ann Duffy uses imagery freely in Before you were mine describing the mother, 'The three of you bend from the waist, hoolding each other, or your knees, and shriek at the pavement.' The author gives a different image in each stanza, each containing her mother, as well as others, different in each paragraph. In the first stanza she includes her mother, her mother's friends, and boyfriends. In the second she goes on to describe the mothers red shoes, how they are now relics to her child. In the last stanza it is explained how, even when she was a child, she wanted her mother to be a friend, 'Even then I wanted the bold girl winking in Portobello, somewhere in Scotland, before I was born.' The poemMother..any distance uses i... ... middle of paper ... ...lking to him son, it seems as though he assumes that the boy can read his words. He calls his son the child of his 'right hand' these ideas suggest the boy is of great worth and also that he would have been as his father, the writer's heir. An image which comes from the Bible. It reflects ancient cultures, how Jesus is shown as sitting at God's right hand. Before you were mine describes, in each stanza a little more of the image of the mother, each stanza is different, and this is effective, as each has it's own little story, and image. The author also reminds you in each paragraph, that the mothers child is not yet born, and it is only their imagination. The poem flows well, and she uses the title as the last phrase of the poem, 'Where you sparlkle and waltz and laugh before you were mine' - this is a very effective ending, and completes the poem well.
Stanza two shows us how the baby is well looked after, yet is lacking the affection that small children need. The child experiences a ‘vague passing spasm of loss.’ The mother blocks out her child’s cries. There is a lack of contact and warmth between the pair.
...eath" a song, a secular, correlates to her thoughts. Repetition is of course, used in the song with a trace of syncopation in the first line "oh Death, oh Death, where is thy string." The oral tradition is unmistakably. The chapter then concludes with the song--- a cathartic release.
to the powerful imagery she weaves throughout the first half of the poem. In addition, Olds
She was free in her wildness. She was a wanderess, a drop of free water. She belonged to no man and to no city”
On the second stanza, the woman was haunted by the voices of her child in her mind. She said that under the circumstance she is right now, she has no choice but to have a abortion. Then she express her feeling and felt sorry about what she had done. “And your lives from your unfinished reach, If I stole your births and your names, Your straight baby tears and your games” (Gwendolyn Brooks) she show remorse that she stolen her child life and her child would get to experience the first tear and games. So now her baby already going through death.
Similarly to the way people hold expectations for the daystar, or sun, to rise every day, mothers are expected to perform their duties like cleaning the house or taking care of the children. Both are taken advantage of and are not fully appreciated until they stop performing their duties. Throughout the poem, the woman’s daughter and husband are given names, “Liza” (line 12) and “Thomas” (line 17) respectively, but not her. The woman is only referred to as “she” or “her” which further highlights the lack of acknowledgement she receives. The mother is taken for granted by her family and is not regarded as important. Her efforts are ignored and she is never thanked for completing her tasks around the house because that is the role she is “supposed” to fulfill.
Although the little girl doesn’t listen to the mother the first time she eventually listens in the end. For example, in stanzas 1-4, the little girl asks if she can go to the Freedom March not once, but twice even after her mother had already denied her the first time. These stanzas show how the daughter is a little disobedient at first, but then is able to respect her mother’s wishes. In stanzas 5 and 6, as the little girl is getting ready the mother is happy and smiling because she knows that her little girl is going to be safe, or so she thinks. By these stanzas the reader is able to tell how happy the mother was because she thought her daughter would be safe by listening to her and not going to the March. The last two stanzas, 7 and 8, show that the mother senses something is wrong, she runs to the church to find nothing, but her daughter’s shoe. At this moment she realizes that her baby is gone. These stanzas symbolize that even though her daughter listened to her she still wasn’t safe and is now dead. The Shoe symbolizes the loss the mother is going through and her loss of hope as well. This poem shows how elastic the bond between the daughter and her mother is because the daughter respected her mother’s wish by not going to the March and although the daughter is now dead her mother will always have her in her heart. By her having her
Further into the first stanza Millay begins to ruminate about how she will go beyond her own boundaries and become familiar with the "Undefined." At this point the girl decides to achieve her knowledge by simply lying on her back and touching the sky. This is the juncture where readers may draw different conclusions about what she is really doing here. I personally thought that she fell into a dream like state or literally fell asleep and began to dream about infinity and the wonders of the heavens.
For the most part of the poem she states how she believes that it is Gods calling, [Then ta’en away unto eternity] but in other parts of the poem she eludes to the fact that she feels more like her granddaughter was stolen from her [or sigh thy days so soon were terminate]. One of the main beliefs in these times was that when someone died it was their time; God needed them and had a better plan. Both poets found peace in the idea that God had the children now and it was part of the plan, but are also deeply saddened and used poetry as a coping mechanism.
To being with, the poem “The Lamb” by William Blake fits into the category Songs of Innocence by using simplistic views and easy language. This poem is written using very simple words and English along with a rhyming scheme. For example, “Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest clothing wooly and bright, Gave thee such a tender voice, Making all the vales rejoice!” (Blake, The Lamb, page 784, lines 5-8) This poem is written for children since it uses a comforting tone and an almost soothing voice. From these examples it is for an educated reason that this poem shall be placed in Songs of Innocence. Due to the fact that this poem is made for the warm hearted, and for young children this poem shows the innocence of the lamb in its entirety. Th...
lower world and in the world above when it is wrapped in darkness . . . . She was
the meaning around in the story to mean able. Now that she has given many
The first stanza begins by stating, The children go forward . They are leaving their mothers behind, going to a place inaccessible to them. At the moment the children are on their way to school, but as they progress, they will begin to move past the achievements of their parents. Instead of becoming resentful, the mothers do all they can to ensure this progress continues. All morning the mothers have labored . They exert themselves strenuously for the benefit of their children. They put forth much time and energy at manual labor. The mothers labored in giving birth to their children, and are laboring to raise them to adulthood. They sacrifice themselves so that their children may have a future better than their own.
The structure of the poem is also interesting, there are three stanzas’, the first and second stanza are equal in length but the third is slightly longer. The third stanza is the longest because that is where she is living now and has been the longest.
The first three verses are about other people and the repition is to give it atmosphere.