O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman can be connected to Elegy for J.F.K by W.H. Alden. They are similar in how they both seem to be about remembering the lives of former presidents—Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. The poems both explain how people choose to remember the two—with good or bad memories. The poems are about sorrow and joy for the two presidents. The speakers in both poems seem to be questioning why the great men had to die. In O Captain! My Captain! the speaker says that “It is some dream,” and in Elegy for J.F.K., the speaker asks, “did he die?” The speakers do not want to believe that the deaths of two important men happened. The two poems also share the fact that they use repetition. The phrases being repeated are “O Captain! my Captain!”, …show more content…
When my grandpa died, my whole family experienced a period of depression. In the poem and in the event that my grandpa died, everyone was sad and mourning, but people also celebrated the life he lived. Eventually everyone accepted that he, Lincoln and my grandpa, was gone. They accepted that he was now in a better place. When my grandpa died, we had a shrine of some sort to honor him and give offerings. In O Captain! My Captain! the speaker explains that “the flag is flung” for the fallen captain. That can be compared to a shrine of some sort because it is seen as an offering and a sign of respect. Also, the poem explains that there are “bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths.” Those two items are significant for a funeral. The poem is explaining a funeral for one man that includes the whole nation, and since the nation participated, that explains that they were close with Lincoln and respected his ideas highly. The funeral service for my grandpa included my whole family as well as many friends. Of course, all who knew attended. It was a
The central characters in both of these works of literature tragedy are referring to the death of someone important to them although for very different reasons. “My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still, My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will” discusses the passing of Abraham Lincoln who was an advocate for freeing enslaved persons. This poem talks about the seeking and winning a prize, “...the prize we sought is won,” meaning the
The speakers in A. E. Housman poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” and Edward Arlington Robinson poem “Richard Cory” serve different purposes but uses irony and rhyme to help convey their message. In “To an Athlete Dying Young” the speaker’s purpose is to show the audience dying young with glory is more memorable than dying old with glory. In “Richard Cory” the speaker’s purpose is to show the audience “you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
as told from the point of view of a friend serving as pall bearer. The poem
The memorials symbolize the men that fought and served in the war and who was honored for the great worked they accomplished. The direction that the poet was trying to give the reader a critical and lyrical feeling about the poem, why, a reader may ask because the poet took a serious look and dissected his thoughts. The poet was very lyrical and straight forward about the Vietnam memorial. The Vietnam memorial is a symbol for a soldier who fought in the war.
In the eulogy that President John F. Kennedy gave for the lately departed poet, Robert Frost, only three out of the four common elements that Kunkel and Dennis found in eulogies can be found in this specific eulogy. The elements I found in this eulogy are positive reappraisal, praise, and problem-focused coping while self-disclosure of emotion, credibility, affirmation of vivid past relationships, and continuation of interactive bonds could not be found. John Kennedy imminently starts off with a positive reappraisal: “Robert Frost was one of the granite figures of our time in America. He was supremely two things—an artist and an American,” (lines 3-4). Kennedy is telling the thousands listening that Robert Frost not only had a good life but
Though most have a desire to leave earth and enter eternal life peacefully, without any sorrow, the departure of a loved one can be despondent. Previously in 2011, my grandfather passed away due to heart failure. It was an arduous battle, not only for my grandfather, but also for the close knit family surrounding him. His battle with heart failure enabled me to create unforgettable memories with him, even in his final days. Laughing together, playing together and learning significant values about life together made me grow to become a more mature and wise person. Therefore, my personal experience is entwined with empathy because the death of my grandfather has made me realize how dismal it is to lose someone important. It also interplays with self-interest because I have grown as an individual to deal with the ache that is attached to losing a family member. It has helped me to realize how beautiful the gift of life is. Stephen Dunn, the poet behind Empathy and my story are connected because they both involve the feeling of empathy for others and the self-interest of an individual. They help us to grow and learn about ourselves and the emotions of
Both poems have been written about death dying and the loss of loved ones, in a once thriving Welsh mining community. The first poem by Mike Jenkins is a reflection and remembrance by a Father who tragically and suddenly lost his son in a horrific and unfortunate disaster that happened in Aberfan in 1966, where many young lives were lost.
The title ‘Anthem of Doomed Youth’, is juxtaposed to its real meaning of anthem being something to celebrate and be proud of. The assonance between the ‘Doomed’ and collective noun ‘Youth’ can come as a shock to society as topic of death and youth do not go together. In other words, the soldiers are too young and are already fated to death by enlisting in the war. This highlights how war is cruel as the soldiers are stolen of their youth, entering a battlefield designed to ‘sapt the soldier 's spirit.’ Furthermore, Owen shows that the fallen soldiers themselves will not get a proper burial of “candles,” “pall,” nor “flowers.” Instead, these are substituted with negative imagery “The pallor of girls’ brows” and personification “patient minds” to demonstrate that the thoughts of the ones waiting for the fallen soldiers back home are the closest thing they will have to a funeral. This is epitomised in the personification “bugles calling them from sad shires,” which conveys a nation in mourning back home. Collectively, these poetic devices in “Anthem for the Doomed Youth” shows that the death of the young soldiers negatively affects the people around
The “fat and …bone” are compared to symbolize the difference between whites and blacks. The second stanza compares black and whites to rivers and the sea; one is fresh and the other salty, but both are bodies of water. The third stanza uses a metaphor to compare living out lives alone while pitching a tent in solitude, all alone in our own little world. It also uses the “sun and shadow” to symbolize whites and blacks. In stanza four grief and joy are contrasted with the use of personification. While joy only favors a few, grief is a common factor shared by all people, making it a common ground one in which anyone can come together. The fifth stanza or the last uses similes to give the message that although it is sometimes painful and unpleasant to share other’s grief it is something that must be done in order for everyone to live in harmony. It also relates grief to a weapon, calling it a “blade shining and unsheathed that must strike me down”. It also compares sorrow to a crown of “bitter aloes wreathed”. The overall poem contains Biblical allusions. It sends the message that everyone should rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. Cullen is calling all Americans to do as Jesus did and be a man of the people
Lastly, in line 25 of the poem, it says “But i with mournful tread.” This states that even though the president is no longer there with them, they will never forget him. This also shows that the legacy and all of Abe Lincoln’s doings will be remembered and never forgotten. The citizens of America will continue admiring him and walking in his
This poem makes it seem like when you lose someone you go into a small amount of depression for a while. Because they want nothing to go on anymore they just want everything to stop and them be able to have time to
In conclusion, the poem helps you to realize and accept that just like birth is natural, death is a natural process in life. No matter what, death is inevitable. But instead of holding on to the sad memories, you can use the happier memories to cope and deal with the loss of a loved one or family pet. However, you are able to be at peace with the fact that you loved them until the end.
Walt Whitman was arguable one of the most influential poets during the Civil War era. Though never directly involved in war, Whitman was able to talk about the war in a more insightful way than many poets at the time could. Whitman was most active in writing during the times before and after the war, choosing to dedicate himself to helping wounded soldiers during the war instead. Walt Whitman’s poetry reflects the progression of his philosophy of America: his initial view of America was uplifting, represented in his Pre-Civil war poems and while the Civil War poetry presents the degradation of American society, Whitman’s final poetry returns to a realistic, optimistic view for America.
(Funnel Rita, Koutoukidis Gabrielle, 2009) The group members were then asked to get in group of twos to identify their significant individual loss and come up with a poem or song to express how they feel about the loss. Process: During the session, the group members identified that their significant loss was a parent or grandparent. Through songs, poems and dance, they expressed how they felt about losing their loved one. Group 1 Song and dance: Grieving is troublesome and can lead you to do something gruesome, that it is harder to deal with if it’s a parent or grandparents because they love you.
This allows for a smooth transition in his description of the ritual that marks a soldier’s death. To draw attention to the tears “in their eyes”, which could be in the eyes of the dead soldier or of their brothers at war, they are connected to the “glimmer of good-byes”, to represent the quick mourning for the soldiers (10-11). The connection here is furthered with the use of enjambment at the end of the tenth line; with no grammatical separation, the thought smoothly transitions from one line to the other. On the other hand, Keats uses the exact Shakespearean rhyme In the sonnets “When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be”, by John Keats, and “Anthem for Doomed Youth”, by Wilfred Owen, the poets’ use of formal elements create distinctions to mark the speakers’ thoughts and build upon the situation.