Proof by Emily Dickenson LAST ONE!!!! YES!!!

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Heart, we will forget him,
You and I, tonight!
You must forget the warmth he gave,
I will forget the light.

When you have done pray tell me,
Then I, my thoughts, will dim.
Haste! ‘lest while you’re lagging
I may remember him!

 

this is the perfect breakup poem.  this poem is very intense because it recognizes that when a person breaks up with another person, the individual must not only forget herself ( or hisself) but also convince his or her heart to let go and forget.  any memories of love are often what can keep a person tied to another person.  this is why the heart must forget all together.  “you must forget the warmth he gave. i must forget the light” . In this poem she is talking to an object that a person does not talk to, in other words, Emily is personifying her heart as a friend that must also forget her love.

When you have done pray tell me,
Then I, my thoughts, will dim.
Haste! ‘lest while you’re lagging
I may remember him!  

THis part of the poem is particularly interesting.  Emily longs to be over him, and prays to know as soon as possible.  but until then, while the heart has not yet healed and forgotten, she says that she “may” remember him. May as in that she still wants to be able to remember him.   and that is the ironic pain of being in a break up that emily is trying to display.  she longs to forget, but dwells on memories.

He Had His Dream – Paul Laurence Dunbar , april 24

He had his dream, and all through life,
Worked up to it through toil and strife.
Afloat fore’er before his eyes,
It colored for him all his skies:
  The storm-cloud dark
  Above his bark,
The calm and listless vault of blue
Took on its hopeful hue,
It tinctured every passing beam -
  He had his dream.

He labored hard and failed at last,
His sails too weak to bear the blast,
The raging tempests tore away
And sent his beating bark astray.
  But what cared he
  For wind or sea!
He said, “The tempest will be short,
My bark will come to port.”
He saw through every cloud a gleam -
  He had his dream.

The first thing I notice about this poem is that the rhyme scheme goes AABBCCDD …etc.   This is something that I actually have not seen in a while. Lately I’ve  been seeing a lot of ababab terza rima.  In other words, this poem contains a lot of couplets.   The diction of this poem but Paul Dunbar has a very sophisticated diction with words such as toil,  tinctured, etc.  The diction makes me feel that this was written in the victiorian era.  It definitely has that type of mood to it.  There are two stanzas. The fifth and sixth lines of both stanzas are further indented than their predecesors. Then the indention goes back to normal, but then the last lines of both stanzas are also indented.   These are indented more to emphasize those particular lines.  Overall this is a very simple, elegant poem.

A wounded deer leaps highest, Emily Dickinson, #4

A Wounded Deer — leaps highest –
I’ve heard the Hunter tell –
‘Tis but the Ecstasy of death –
And then the Brake is still!

The Smitten Rock that gushes!
The trampled Steel that springs!
A Cheek is always redder
Just where the Hectic stings!

Mirth is the Mail of Anguish
In which it Cautious Arm,
Lest anybody spy the blood
And “you’re hurt” exclaim!

The visual in the opening stanza is very very affective in my opinion.  Personally, i find the idea of a wounded deer about to die with extacy to be an interesting point of view. The idea is sort of suggestive that animals have a soul.  Just the idea of a dear leaping high because it is about to die … very interesting i suppose.  hm.

well there are a lotof interesting techniques used throughout this poem. At the very end, the word exclaim and the word arm are both used as a slant rhyme.  I feel inclined to say that if they were anyless of rhyming friends, they wouldn’t even be able to be called a slant rhyme. None-the-less they are a slant rhyme. 

The excessive use of exclamation marks creates a very excited tone through-out the entire poem.  A lack of these marks, could allow this poem to become all to dreary, so i believe that the purpose of these marks is to create a more excited tone with a sort of dark theme.  The end result is not morbid however. 

Unfortunately i do not understand the last two stanzas… but i feel that the line

quarter 4, poem 3, amy lowell’s a decade

When you came, you were like red wine and honey,
And the taste of you burnt my mouth with its sweetness.
Now you are like morning bread,
Smooth and pleasant.
I hardly taste you at all for I know your savour,
But I am completely nourished.

This is honestly the most perfect poem I have ever read in my entire life.  This poem is the reason, that I am once again inspired by language.  A decade, by Amy Lowell is well composed, has a beautiful subject, and intense imagery.  As I read this, I can imagine the savor of red wine and the feeling of sweet honey burning my mouth.  That is the most perfect perfect perfect way to describe love.  The imagery of red and honey, creates this imediate emotion of affection, as those are very warm colors.  I bet that his lady, Amy Lowell, would know how to paint a great painting. She immediately demonstrates that she has an understanding of color as well as the psychology of it.  Now, the sensory is a completely different level of subject.  The imagery already creates the idea of love, but the sensory of red wine and honey burning a mouth. I don’t think she literally meant “burn”, but a burn is something that you can’t ignore… In a way it is sort of like the most addicting pain, something so sweet and perfect making burning its place into your mouth, making itself permanent…   A burn is a completely new and rare sense to the tongue.  I imagine that this is what lowell was trying to impress.  How this sweet amazing taste of red wine and honey is so new to the mouth that it is a completely different feeling.  Truly, this poem is perfect. perfect.  I absolutely want to study language for the rest of my life, because of this poem.

To the Moon, #8

Art thou pale for weariness

Of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth,

Wandering companionless

Among the stars that have a different birth,

- And ever changing, like a joyless eye

That finds no object worth its constancy?

The first interesting technique that i see, is that this entire poem could be considered one single, but also extended, sentence.  Rather, it could be considered a very very beautiful rhetorical question.  This poem is definitely one single open ended question, with a lot of gorgeous phrases.  I really really enjoy percy bysshe shelly’s style of writing.   Lets begin.
SO I have already pointed out that one technique is the poem being one sentence. The second technique is that the poem is rhetorical. The third, is it’s elevated, romanticized diction, “art thou pale”. It is a beautiful beautiful style of writing.  The diction, is very very euphonious as well as the syntax.  The words are all very soft.  Also, the inverted syntax makes the poem very interesting. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, which is similar to a sonnet, but I am sure there is a special word for it.  The last two lines don’t even completely rhyme, however they are similar enough.

It is interesting to me, that this poem, truly is absolutely beautiful.  Interesting enough, this poem is a ridiculously romanticized poem, but it really was only written to the moon. WIth this style of writing, if a man were to read this poem to me, i would probably cry, because it is just beautiful… the humor would be that there would not be much about it.

Love’s Philosophy, #7

The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean;
The winds of heaven mix forever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single;
All things by a law divine
In another’s being mingle–
Why not I with thine?

See, the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister flower could be forgiven
If it disdained its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea;–
What are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me?

Looking at the life span of Percy Bysshe Shelly, I really think that this poem is truly remarkable.  I read his history, and he was married to a sixteen year-old girl. It is difficult to imagine that a man at such a young age of his, could really conceive the meaning of love.  Then again, Romeo and Juliet is a classic example of the limitless age of love.  On another hand, looking at his age, it would only make sense the Percy Byssche Shelly was so in love.  He was a love sick young man… luckily for him, he was also poetically blessed, for he truly captured some strong feelings with his literary techniques. 

One of the more noticable techniques used, is that Shelly had used several open ended questions. Obviously, he had not expected an answer to these questions, rather, they were a statement of his love.   He used a lot of semi- colons and also rhyming.  his references to nature really also help him develop the lovey-dovey mood of his poem…

break, break, break, #4

Break, break, break,
On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me.

O, well for the fisherman’s boy,
That he shouts with his sister at play!
O, well for the sailor lad,
That he sings in his boat on the bay!

And the stately ships go on
To their haven under the hill;
But O for the touch of a vanished hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still!

Break, break, break,
At the foot of thy crags, O Sea!
But the tender grace of a day that is dead
Will never come back to me.
This poem, without looking at the actual meaning yet, has a lot of very interesting techniques. These include alliteration, repetition, and parallelism.  The word break, which is repreated about 3 times per several lines is the perfect example of repetition, becuase it is not only the same sound being repreated but it is the same word.  This phrase can be looked at as parallelism, because it is the same concept used in more than one place of this poem.  “O” is also used alot.  This is also repetition and also parallelism, for the same reasons. Also, there is the technique of alliteration as i have previously stated. Simply, obviously, blatantly, this poem has a lot of repetive sounds. let me demonstrate

Break, break, break,
On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me.

O, well for the fisherman’s boy,
That he shouts with his sister at play!
O, well for the sailor lad,
That he sings in his boat on the bay!

you get the idea right?

The Death of Lovers, #3

We shall have beds full of subtle perfumes,
Divans as deep as graves, and on the shelves
Will be strange flowers that blossomed for us
Under more beautiful heavens.

Using their dying flames emulously,
Our two hearts will be two immense torches
Which will reflect their double light
In our two souls, those twin mirrors.

Some evening made of rose and of mystical blue
A single flash will pass between us
Like a long sob, charged with farewells;

And later an Angel, setting the doors ajar,
Faithful and joyous, will come to revive
The tarnished mirrors, the extinguished flames.

This poem has a lot of alliteration.  Alliteration, being where a lot of words sound alike rather than being the same word, can be found between “perfumes” and “us”,  with the “s” sound.  “heavens” and “shelves” with the “v” sound. “emulously” and “light” with the “l” sound. “torches” and “mirrors” with both the “r” sound and the “s” sound…etc.  This effect definitely makes the poem fit together more and makes it seem as if this poem was planned by God in which the syntax, subtly  fits with eachother.

The overall mood that I am getting from this poem, gives me a sense of passion, foreig,  burning,  and forbidden love and mournful. Words that give me the impression of deep love or passion are “perfumes” “divans” “deep”   “beautiful” “heavens”   “hearts” “immense” “torches”    “souls”  “twin mirrors”. WOrds that give me the impression of foreignity are”shelves” “strange”   and mystical”. Words that give me the impression of mourning are  “dying” “pass” “sob” “farewells” “tarnished” “extinguished”

Ode to Mrs. Mason, #2

Tell them, though ’tis an awful thing to die (‘Twas ev’n to thee) yet the dread path once trod, Heaven lifts its everlasting portals high And bids “the pure in heart behold their God.”

The title of this poem alludes that we are speaking of  an elderly lady, because of the title “mrs”.  It is interesting to me to read this, because the idea of death is always one that is sure to catch just about anyone’s attention.  Tell them, makes the poem seem very urgent and important.  Then the poem starts to become very grave by saying “though tis an awful thing to do” which forsets the mood and ties together the idea of an ode to mrs. mason.  Twas even to thee, suggests that it is an awful thing for anyone to die no matter who you are.   Death is scary, is what the poem is suggesting.  Then, the poem turns to a different view, and says yet the dread path once trod..   THis simply suggests that life itself is very dreadful, and perhaps just as dreadful as death.  To a non-christian, or to anyone who does not have the mind set of “HAPPY DEATH DAY”, this poem a very … “grave” statement.  However, the mood switches quite a bit, with the next few lines.  “Heaven lifts its everlasting portals high And bids “the pure in heart behold their God.”   This line is saying that after the dreaded death, a Christian’s soul is then brought to heaven and life  is great. This fits the sermon i just listened to very well.

The Dying Christian to His Soul, Blog #1

Vital spark of heav'nly flame!
Quit, O quit this mortal frame:
Trembling, hoping, ling'ring, flying,
O the pain, the bliss of dying!
Cease, fond Nature, cease thy strife,
And let me languish into life.

Hark! they whisper; angels say,
Sister Spirit, come away!
What is this absorbs me quite?
Steals my senses, shuts my sight,
Drowns my spirit, draws my breath?
Tell me, my soul, can this be death?

The world recedes; it disappears!
Heav'n opens my eyes! my ears
With sounds seraphic ring!
Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!
O Grave! where is thy victory?
O Death! where is thy sting?

This poem is not exactly what I had expected.
However, this poem is exactly what the title suggests.  Rather than the poem being
about Christianity and the consequences of life's choices by the time death has
arrived, as I would have expected, this poem is true to its title.  This poem is
by a man talking talking to his soul.  The poem's title "Christian", is there
because it is being told by a Christian man.  The fact that the author, or speaker
is a Christian affects the Point of View, according to literary theory, in a way that
shows the reader the view of death in a Christian's perspective.  Certain aspects in
the poem that separate the Christian man's view of death from a normal man's view of
death lies in the last two lines of this poem.
O Grave! where is thy victory?
O Death! where is thy sting?
These two lines show the Christian Man's anticipation of their judgement. It is the
Christian Man's anticipation of now that he is dead, can he declare victory and marry jesus?
Or, will he be eternally stung by hell?