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Parent and child relationships across their poetry
Parent and child relationships across their poetry
Ballad of birmingham poem analysis
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There are many wonderful well written poems from the 1900’s but two poems that stand out are “Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall and “The Writer” by Richard Wilbur. These poems introduce a whole new level to parenthood and dealing with their child’s desire to do something. The poems are very similar in the way the poets use poetic devices. The tones develop and change throughout the poems in a way that make the audience feel they are riding a rollercoaster. Also, the amount of imagery that consists in the poems makes the audience see, feel, and emotional feel what the poets are trying to get across. While reading and analyzing “Ballad of Birmingham” and “The Writer” the reader will feel a sense of many similarities that reveal the poems were written by superb poets. Both poems have a parent that cares about them. The mother in “Ballad of Birmingham” tries to protect her daughter from potential violence by not letting her go to the freedom march. Even though the daughter really wants to go out to march and make a difference the mother sends her to safest place she knows. Chur...
Presentation of Family Relationships in Carol Anne Duffy's Poem Before You Were Mine and in One Poem by Simon Armitage
Early on, poetry was often used with rhyme to remember things more accurately, this still rings true today, even though its use is more often to entertain. However, although it appeals to both the young, in children's books, and the old, in a more sophisticated and complex form, people are bound to have different preferences towards the different styles of poetry. Dobson’s poetry covers a variation of styles that captivate different individuals. “Her Story” is a lengthy poem with shorter stanzas. It’s free verse structure and simplistic language and face value ideas might appeal better to a younger audience. This poem includes quotes with informal language that children or teens would better understand. It’s narrative-based style is easy to follow, and although the poem covers very basic concepts, it’s message is still communicated subliminally. This particular poem is interesting because it focusses on the universal experience of pain and it’s relation to time. Similar to this is “The Householder”, written in a cyclical style, opening with a “house” and ending with a “home”. With only three stanzas, it is
In the Ballad of Birmingham, the poem Dudley Randall authored, tells the tale of a mother trying to protect her daughter from the dangers of the cruel, violent streets of Birmingham, Alabama. Randall, in his poem, used slant and exact rhymes to create an upbeat rhythmic tone to the story which later became a sadder, memorable tone as though the story were being recalled by an outside party.
The mother’s great concern for her daughter is relatable as well in the poem. Readers of the Ballad of Birmingham who have children will strongly relate to the mother’s spoken concern for her daughter’s safety:
The first four stanzas are a conversation between the mother and daughter. The daughter asks for permission to attend a civil rights march. The child is a unique one who believes that sacrificing something like “play[ing]” for a march that can make a difference will be worthwhile (2). However, the mother understands that the march is not a simple march, but a political movement that can turn violent. The mother refuses the child’s request, which categorizes the poem as a tragedy because it places the child in the chur...
The major poets of the early twentieth century tended to reflect in their poetry elements of the rural, agrarian society in which they lived, much of their work focused on traditional American values and yet foreshadowed the changing character of America, hinting at the factors that ushered the changes of the twentieth century: war, urbanization, technological development, increased mobility, and the emergence of minority voices in culture. Edgar Lee Masters indited 243 poems about the people buried in the Spoon River?s Cemetery, which is where the poem Lucinda Matlock came from. Each character speaks from the grave about his own epigraph.
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.”
Both poems inspire their reader to look at their own life. In addition, they treat the reader to a full serving of historic literature that not only entertains, but also teaches valuable lesson in the form of morals and principles.
The poem is written in the father’s point of view; this gives insight of the father’s character and
Family bonds are very important which can determine the ability for a family to get along. They can be between a mother and son, a father and son, or even a whole entire family itself. To some people anything can happen between them and their family relationship and they will get over it, but to others they may hold resentment. Throughout the poems Those Winter Sundays, My Papa’s Waltz, and The Ballad of Birmingham family bonds are tested greatly. In Those Winter Sundays the relationship being shown is between the father and son, with the way the son treats his father. My Papa’s Waltz shows the relationship between a father and son as well, but the son is being beaten by his father. In The Ballad of Birmingham the relationship shown is between
Both authors use figurative language to help develop sensory details. In the poem It states, “And I sunned it with my smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles.” As the author explains how the character is feeling, the reader can create a specific image in there head based on the details that is given throughout the poem. Specifically this piece of evidence shows the narrator growing more angry and having more rage. In the short story ” it states, “We are below the river's bed. The drops of moisture trickle among bones.” From this piece of text evidence the reader can sense the cold dark emotion that is trying to be formed. Also this excerpt shows the conflict that is about to become and the revenge that is about to take place. By the story and the poem using sensory details, they both share many comparisons.
The mother, on the other hand, is very adamant that the child should not go because it is dangerous. It is obvious that the child is concerned about the events surrounding the march and wants to be part of the movement. The child expresses these feelings in a way the appears mature and cognizant of the surrounding world, expressing a desire to support the civil rights movement rather than to?go out and play.? The desire to no longer be seen as a child and have her voice heard by those being marched against and by her mother (who can also be seen as an oppressive form of authority in this poem) is expressed by the first few lines. The opinion of the child is much like that of all young people who want to fight for their freedom.
The poem also focuses on what life was like in the sixties. It tells of black freedom marches in the South how they effected one family. It told of how our peace officers reacted to marches with clubs, hoses, guns, and jail. They were fierce and wild and a black child would be no match for them. The mother refused to let her child march in the wild streets of Birmingham and sent her to the safest place that no harm would become of her daughter.
Each of these poems is written in different form and with different style. Each form represents the time period of my life I am representing. “Daddy’s Girl” was inspired by “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke. The two share the perspective of a young child desiring a close relationship with their fathers, due to their lack of involvement. “Daddy’s Girl,” is structured in three stanzas, each representing a different part of the scenario. The first stanza offers my desire to spend time with my dad. The parenthetical statement that “(I don’t actually like baseball)” (l. 2) shows that the activity I desired had nothing to do with the activity and everything to do with him. The second stanza is more in line with the time spent at the ballpark. My father always worked, but I didn’t mind as long as I got to be with him. My comment that, “Mr. Heller seems nice” (l. 8) relayed a desire to converse with my father about things he was interested in. I didn’t have the mental capacity to talk about the actual work, so the business partners involved would have to suffice. The third stanza displays the ever present fact that my father would leave, and I had to cope with that. I would take every opportunity I had to spend time with him. Furthermore the short stanzas and
In the poetry of William Blake and William Wordsworth, this difference between children and adults and their respective states of mind is articulated and developed. As a person ages, they move undeniably from childhood to adulthood, and their mentality moves with them. On the backs of Blake and Wordsworth, the reader is taken along this journey.