This was my first experience attending a poetry reading. I did not really know what to expect, though I did imagine that the reading was going to be a bit dull and longwinded, like a required course. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that the reading was entertaining and even enjoyable. Kay Ryan was very funny and the content of her poems really embodied her humor. It was really fascinating to learn Kay Ryan’s process of writing, such as obtaining her ideas from her surrounding, for example, reading that an angler fish undergoes 500 different modification in order to attain mimicry lead her to write “Young Angler Fish.” Or hearing the phrase mock playing monk leader her to write “Monk Styles.” Through the collection of poetry she read, there was one reoccurring theme and that was the theme of nature. Therefore, majority of her poems were poetry of nature reflecting life. A few of my favorites from her compilation were: “Doubt,” “The Hinge of Spring, “ and “A Plain Ordinary Steel Needle can Float on Pure Water.” None of these poems, in fact most of the poems that Kay Ryan read, had no discernable rhythm and form, therefore it is free verse. As Dr. …show more content…
In “Doubt,” Kay Ryan uses several images to describe doubt and the act of doubting, first the hatching chick, the myth of Orpheus, and then the “Person from Porlock,” which Kay Ryan defines it as the interrupter, or an unwelcomed visitor. In “the Hinge of Spring,” Kay Ryan builds a beautiful image of the west just turning into spring. She uses the feeding Jackrabbit and coyote to describe to the hinge of spring, and she also includes the colors of spring, which during the winter, and as the rabbit fed on the flowers, the world was colorless. “A Plain Ordinary Steel Needle can Float on Pure Water” uses the imagery of the steel needle floating on water to describe the oddity of people trying to change other people’s character or
The poem is written in the style of free verse. The poet chooses not to separate the poem into stanzas, but only by punctuation. There is no rhyme scheme or individual rhyme present in the poem. The poems structure creates a personal feel for the reader. The reader can personally experience what the narrator is feeling while she experiences stereotyping.
The author of Casey at the Bat classifies the poem as humorous. The author most likely decided this due to the rhyme and irony in the poem. As mentioned before, Casey at the Bat includes humor such as rhyme, examples include the following; "If only Casey could but get a whack at that - we'd put up even money now, with Casey at the bat.", and "So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat, for these seemed but little chance of Casey getting to the bat." The other example of humor is irony. In the end of Casey at the Bat, Casey strikes out. At first Casey was like a super hero, because he seemed to have super human strength and appeared unable to be defeated. Casey's strength is exaggerated in the following text, "And now the air is shattered
...r’.” Poetry for students. Ed. Sara Constantakis. Vol. 43 Detroit: Gale, 2013. Literature Resource Center. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?>.
Alexander’s beautiful poems of witness and stream of consciousness; however, are the poems that I have gained the most from. In American Sublime, there is an entire section dedicated to witness poetry. While reading the witness poems, I noticed that Alexander put a significant amount of research into her witness poetry; from learning the names of slaves, to pulling official court documents. This demonstrates how serious poems are witnessing are. These are not poems that one can write without an extensive amount of knowledge. Elizabeth Alexander’s witness poems are a tremendous example of what a witness poem should be. In addition to this form of poetry, Alexander’s stream of conciseness poems have broaden my ideas on what those poems can look like. Until now, I have been intimidates by stream of conciseness poems. They were full of energy, often anger, and decorated with cursing. Although I enjoy reading these poems, I cannot bring myself to write this way. Therefore, I never attempted to write a stream of consciousness poem. However, Elizabeth Alexander’s stream of consciousness poems are not like this. While they are energetic, they are not an angry or annoyed tone; instead, they are explanative. This style is one that I am comfortable with writing, and plan to attempt one day. Hopefully, with the guidance of Elizabeth Alexander’s work , I will
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.”
A poem without any complications can force an author to say more with much less. Although that may sound quite cliché, it rings true when one examines “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop. Elizabeth’s Bishop’s poem is on an exceedingly straightforward topic about the act of catching a fish. However, her ability to utilize thematic elements such as figurative language, imagery and tone allows for “The Fish” to be about something greater. These three elements weave themselves together to create a work of art that goes beyond its simple subject.
They are many different forms of poems that writers make. Poems are meant to read in order to go beyond traditional form of thinking. The poem “Read This Poem from the Bottom up” by Ruth Porritt is a reverso poem in which you can read the poem from bottom up to top down. This would be consider a free verse poem and yet saying it’s a free verse could be consider an oxymoron to free verses because it must have the same words to read from the top down to bottom up. This poem has all the ingredients to be consider a good poem. The purpose of the poem is to break traditional form of thinking and challenge the narrator to break the rules of how poem can be written.
With fewer than fifty published poems Elizabeth Bishop is not one of the most prominent poets of our time. She is however well known for her use of imagery and her ability to convey the narrator?s emotions to the reader. In her vividly visual poem 'The Fish', the reader is exposed to a story wherein the use of language not only draws the reader into the story but causes the images to transcend the written work. In the poem, Bishop makes use of numerous literary devices such as similes, adjectives, and descriptive language. All of these devices culminate in the reader experiencing a precise and detailed mental image of the poem's setting and happenings.
In the poem by Joy Harjo called “Eagle Poem,” Harjo talks about prayer and life and how they revolve around mother-nature. She suggests that while being one with nature, we feel we are in a place in which we haven’t imagined and the things in which we would love to do in that magnificent and calming place. After one reads the poem, he/she enjoys the lyrical type of it. This is because “Eagle Poem” sticks to one idea and extends it throughout the entire poem. For instance, it talks about prayer, nature, and animals from start to finish.
Poems are a way of expressing the feelings and emotions that the writer chooses to describe, usually using symbolic objects and comparing it to another thing using figurative language. There were many poets that came and went throughout history and there are still a lot today, one of which really caught my attention and her name is Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou is a very astounding poet with her 166 poems, but one really stood out to me and that was The Lesson. Maya Angelou had a very difficult life with the many challenges she faced being an African American during the timeframe of her life and she outlined these troubles in most of her writings. With her circumstances she just kept moving forward and giving it her best without giving up; she is a great model for anyone to follow.
In his dramatic monologue, Robert Browning uses irony, diction, and imagery to achieve a haunting effect.
Emily Dickinson wrote over 1800 poems. Dickinson is also known for her use of personification and extended metaphors. Dickinson uses personification and extended metaphors in order to establish a picture in the reader’s mind and make the reader think of a deeper meaning.
Alfred Tennyson gifted the Victorian Era, and the literary world with two iconic poems. The author explored the themes of personal development and culture clash in one of his most famous poems, “Ulysses”. Tennyson also discovered and analyzed the themes of love and death through his renowned and eminent poem, “Tears Idle, Tears”. The poet was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire in 1809 in the East Lindy district of England. Tennyson experienced numerous amounts of difficulties in his childhood and growing adolescent phases that spilled into his adult life. These trials and tribulations became a foundation and source of inspiration for Tennyson, who used them as a stimulus and catalyst to aide his literary progress and ideas. Two of the most prominent poems that Tennyson wrote were “Ulysses “and “Tears Idle, Tears”. These poems defined the peak of his literary endeavor and symbolized the struggles that Tennyson had experienced in his life. Throughout time readers have been able to distinguish a direct correlation between his life journey and the poems he crafted.
While in exile in France Léopold Sédar Senghor wrote a beautiful poem called Black Woman. This poem revolves around Senghor love, definition and praise of a natural black woman. In Senghor’s life and poetry women are viewed in a higher status, are held in high esteem and regard. Senghor poem is more than an individual black African woman, she is an antecedent of his race and thus a symbol of the African race. He takes pride in his race and in this poem especially Senghor completely showed his love and respect for the black woman. Senghor uses an accumulation of metaphors to show his love for African women, and how African black women by portraying them as being beautiful, comforting and emphasis on the black woman’s physical beauty.
There are an assorted of various characteristics included in poetry including Rhyme, Rhythm, and Mood. Some poems use rhyming words to create a certain effect but not all poems rhyme, poetry that doesn’t rhyme is called “free verse poetry”. Sometimes poets use repetition of sounds or patterns to create a musical effect in their poems, rhythm can be created by using the same number of words or syllables in each line of a poem. Rhythm can be described as the beat of the poem. The mood of a poem is the feeling that it has. A poem can be sad, gloomy, humorous, happy, etc. There are many more various characteristics in poetry including shape, figurative language, descriptive imagery, punctuation and format, sound and tone, and choice of