Seamus Heany, Rita Dove, and Sherman Alexie wrote three poems that favors punishments from different angles in life. The authors wrote in third person and different styles in each of the stories to help the reader get a better visual. The authors aim was to show a feeling towards the punishment. Everybody deserves punishment at least once in their life either for something they have done unintentionally or by nature. Even though the poems are all about punishments, each author gives the reader their own meaning of the word in their own situations.
Seamus Heany beginnings as a poet started with him meeting the woman whom he was to marry and who was to be the mother of his three children. Marie Heaney has been a central part to Heany's life, both professionally and imaginatively, appearing directly and indirectly in individual poems from all periods of his poems. Heany wrote a poem called Punishment where he describes to the reader how a woman is being tortured because she committed adultery. The narrator also shows some type of affection towards the woman in a couple lines saying, "I almost love you but would have cast, I know, the stones of silence (1167)." That line proves that he loves the girl but know that everybody, even him has sinned before. Heany's point of view shows sympathy and bitter love towards this act of punishment and shows me that Heany has been either hurt or subliminally receiving the other end of the punishment by describing the pain.
Rita Dove was the youngest person and the first African-American ever named Poet Laureate of the United States. Much of Dove's work concentrates on revealing the beauty and significance of everyday events in ordinary lives. In "The Yellow House on the Corner (1980)" and "Museum (1983)", she shows how such moments make up individuals' history and add to the experiences that human beings share. That explains why she wrote a poem called The Cane Fields. The Cane Fields was about a group of Haitian soldiers who was attacked by the dictator of the Dominican Republic because they could not roll their r's in the word Perijil on Oct 2, 1957. In the story there was a phrase used frequently which was "a parrot imitates spring" meaning, the parrot was a symbol of something beautiful and represented peace.
That phrase was used repeatedly through each line after the narrator describes his horror from the Dominican army to symbolize the gift and the curse of the war.
In the Poem Parsley, Rita Dove uses a legion of figurative language to make a point about the political state of the Dominican Republic and to draw attention to the socioeconomic issues in that society. She effectively utilizes a narrator who gives the reader insight into the lives of the migrant workers as well as the life of the wealthy dictator. We can see into both of their lives and gain an understanding of how they perceive their existence. Diction plays a key role in showing the violence that is going to and eventually does occur. The words chosen relate back to war or make the most ordinary, everyday tasks sound violent. Finally, the parrot in the poem is used to signify all of the major themes and provide insight into the two worlds.
Which she made appearances in magizines and newspapers. Rita dove had even had some collarbations with musical artists to work on song lyrics. Rita’s first poem The Yellow House on the corner, which she had written in 1980, then Museum, and Thomas Beulah had all won a national acclaim. In 1970 her poem, Thomas Beulah, won the Pulitzer Prize. Rita had gotten a to a two-year term as Poet Laureate of the United States and Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (“Rita”). Also Rita was the first young, African- American to reach this high level in poetry. Rita was asked in 1994 to her poem, called Freedom for the 200th annverseritay of the state capitol. Rita also earned other awards such as the Heinz
Collins’ poems aren’t preachy or meant to teach a lesson; their purpose is to help readers be exposed to different ways of seeing things. Collins seems to go through life with his head slightly tilted; he finds amusement in both the ordinary
Tagore, Rabindranath. “Punishment”. The Norton Anthology of world literature (3rd edition, Volume E) ed. Martin Puncher. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2012. 893- 898.
"Rita Dove: The Poetry Foundation." Rita Dove. Poetry Foundation, 2011. Web. 27 July 2011. .
The stanza comes at the end of the poem after the men labored hard and rucked through difficult terrain. The men were tired and exhausted and being shelled by 5.9 caliber shells. Owen then shifts the scene when someone warns of gas in the air and the chaos that ensues as people try to put on their gas masks. The conflict in the situation is that someone is without a gas mask and left out and the speaker of the poem describes the man choking towards him. In the final stanza, the graphic death of the unfortunate soul is described, and Owen ties it up with how it is a lie that people believe that “it is a sweet and fitting thing to die for your country.” I will explicate the last few lines of the poem by analyzing the point of view, Owen’s utilization of Latin, and the tone.
Many people find it hard to imagine their death as there are so many questions to be answered-how will it happen, when, where and what comes next. The fact that our last days on Earth is unknown makes the topic of death a popular one for most poets who looks to seek out their own emotions. By them doing that it helps the reader make sense of their own emotions as well. In the two poems “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickenson and “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas, the poets are both capturing their emotion about death and the way that they accepted it. In Dickenson’s poem her feelings towards death are more passionate whereas in Dylan’s poem the feelings
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.
Foucault, Michel. “Discipline and Punish.” Literary Theory: An Anthology-Second Edition. Ed. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Malden, Massachusettes: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. 549-566.
The Roman poet, Juvenal, once said that, "Revenge is always the weak pleasure of a little and narrow mind." Most people would agree with Juvenal that revenge is an abhorrent human need that can only satisfy narrow-minded people. Even though, we know revenge will generally not bring us much satisfaction, we still constantly lust for taking revenge on someone. It is because revenge is such a natural part of human nature that writers so often use it as their theme. Revenge can easily be an awe-inspiring theme for a novel because it is something that all people can relate to, whether they know it or not. The suspense from it will make most people sit on the edge of their seats.
The Theme of Death in Poetry Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson are two Modern American Poets who consistently wrote about the theme of death. While there are some comparisons between the two poets, when it comes to death as a theme, their writing styles were quite different. Robert Frost’s poem, “Home Burial,” and Emily Dickinson’s poems, “I felt a Funeral in my Brain,” and “I died for Beauty,” are three poems concerning death. While the theme is constant there are differences as well as similarities between the poets and their poems. The obvious comparison between the three poems is the theme of death.
The Theme of Freedom in Poetry Write about three poems on freedom: On Liberty and Slavery (George Moses Horton), Sympathy (Paul Laurence Dunbar) and Caged Bird (Maya Angelou). I have chosen to write about three poems on freedom: On Liberty and Slavery (George Moses Horton), Sympathy (Paul Laurence Dunbar) and Caged Bird (Maya Angelou). The full text of the poems is attached.
The Theme of Love in Poetry Love is a very common theme in poetry. By closely examining the ways in which two poets(one must be pre 1900) have explored this theme. Show what you have found to be similar/different in their handling of this theme. Many people have different views on love. Many of these views throughout the ages are explored through poetry as love has much contemporary relevance in today's society as it ever did before.
Poetry unlike fiction is solely based on the author’s personal take on a certain subject. The tone, diction, syntax, and mood of a poem are all determined by the author of the poem. For some readers, to interpret a poem or explain the plot can be a difficult task. Other forms of literature such, as fiction is much easier to understand and discuss.