Matthew Olzmann and Joy Harjo employed distinctive poetic techniques to convey humanity's profound connection to life in their poems "Remember" and "Letter to Someone Living Fifty Years from Now." Both poets explore themes of gratitude, nature, and the importance of memories in their poetry, each offering a unique perspective on these universal concepts. While their works share similar ideas, such as gratitude for life's experiences and reflections on the order of nature, their approaches differ significantly. Olzmann uses humour and a more informal and conversational tone in his poem, since it is technically a letter. Whereas, Harjo draws on her Native American heritage, incorporating cultural and spiritual elements to delve into the poem's …show more content…
Jay Harjo’s poem delves into the theme of memory by making the reader recall and acknowledge the deep connections between their own ancestry and the natural world. She emphasises remembering the origins of life, from stories of the stars and the moon to the personal struggle and sacrifices our ancestors had to go through to get to where we are today.. By invoking the elements of earth— in the lines “Remember the earth whose skin you are:/red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth/ brown earth, we are earth.—uses personification to highlight the link between humans and the earth, suggesting that we are not merely on this planet but of it, made from the same materials and subject to the same The repetition of the word "Remember" serves as a powerful incantation, binding the reader to the natural world, their ancestors, and ultimately, to the broader universe, highlighting the notion that memory is a vital link to understanding the essence of life itself. Matthew attempts to make it clear to a person who will be alive in 50 years that their generation did not harm the environment out of resentment. Instead, he suggests that by ignoring the risks and taking nature for granted, humans unintentionally destroyed the earth. He reminisces on a time when the world was more composed and natural, highlighting the loss of various species of animals and environmental wonders. These memories served as a contrast to the apparent current state of the world, which is characterised by pollution and environmental destruction. The poem suggests that the person reading it may remember Matthews' generation for the negative impact they had on the environment, but instead, he claims that they also had moments of joy where the earth was better. He uses juxtaposition to compare these two different memories in the lines “There were bees back then, and they pollinated/a euphoria of flowers so we might/ contemplate the great mysteries and
distinguished, contemporary poets in America today is Joy Harjo. Born in 1951 in Oklahoma and a member of the Creek (Mvskoke) Nation, her work is deeply influenced by her American Indian roots and upbringing. She has won numerous awards and has published a fair amount of poetry books as well as a memoir, Crazy Brave published in 2012. She is currently a professor of English and American Indian Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In 2014, Harjo has been named a Guggenheim Fellow, a prestigious
“Explication” 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
Survival: A Poetic Message In How We Became Human: New and Selected Poems, Joy Harjo presents passionate and intense language, as she emits raw emotion while exploring various aspects of life. Harjo speaks out against injustice, communicates her opinions, and honors her Native American heritage. Joy Harjo was born in 1951 in Tulsa, Oklahoma and belongs to the Muscogee Nation. Her poetry is inspired by her culture and focuses on ideas such as: spirituality, nature, feminism, humans, and history
Vreeland. Joy (Foster) Harjo an inspiration to many people of all different ages and cultures, she has had her ups and downs throughout her life. But, she never let that get in the way of what she believes in. Harjo’s main topic of her writing is about her culture, and how the whites took everything that the Native Americans have. How did Joy Harjo’s childhood life influence her writing?
Horses Essay. Joy Harjo’s She Had Some Horses The poem collection She Had Some Horses by Joy Harjo is nothing short of phenomenal. In fact, I do not think that a word as simple as “phenomenal” does these poems justice. Harjo beautifully incorporates motifs such as horses, bones, the moon, etc. within this collection of images. The two poems I have chosen to analyze within this essay, “The Friday Before The Long Weekend” and “Alive,” are no exception to these motifs. These two poems have an abundance
Joy Harjo is an American poet, musician, and teacher. She was born My 9th ,1951 in Tulsa Oklahoma to Wynema Baker and Allen Foster. Her name was not Joy Harjo yet though, it was Joy Foster. Joy’s father and subsequently her, are decedents of a long line of tribal leaders including a famous Native American chief that fought in the Red Stick War. At the young age of 19, Joy made a decision that changed her life, she changed her last name to Harjo and enrolled as a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation
Joy Harjo, born Joy Foster, lived in a relatively large family in her hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Joy lived with both her parents and three siblings until the age of eight, when her parents divorced due to the father's abusive drinking habit (Joy Harjo 1). Joy is the oldest of the four children in her family. Joy could often be found in her local church, writing passionate sermons that affected her peers(Joy Harjo 2). Harjo, a common Creek name. Early on in Joy Harjo’s career, the nature and
The poem, "Remember" by Joy Harjo means that life has more value than what human kind rates it as. Everybody and everything are equal and remember who you are in the inside because we are the key to the future. In this poem, Joy Harjo repeats remember quite frequently and this could mean that she wants to emphasis on the word remember and that we as a human should remember the important things as this could help grow our future and improve the future. The poem also explain that life is important
Not Taken” by Robert Frost, and “Perhaps the World Ends Here” by Joy Harjo, are all poems that use symbols to represent their intended meaning. Each poem also uses literary devices to add some spice and interest to the poem. Symbols and literary devices are both used to represent the themes present in each poem. The biographical information of each author strongly influences the style in which they write and the themes of their poems. Many poets use symbols to create illusions and to give the reader
In life all humanity faces a struggle or heartbreak that seems almost impossible to make it through. In the poem Everybody Has a Heartache the author Joy Harjo discusses and introduces the opinion that everyone faces a heartache or blues. The author goes into detail about the different kinds of heartbreak that goes on in a variety of peoples’ everyday life. This poem was very interesting to me because the author chose very diverse and out of the normal heartbreaks for her characters to face rather
In Joy Harjo’s poem Remember, a person is being instructed to remember a number of different things in his/her life. It contains twenty-eight lines, which lack rhyme and rhythm. Conceptually, however, the poem divides itself; when mentioning another else to remember, a new line starts, beginning with the word “remember.” The speaker within the poem sounds like an elderly person, perhaps a grandfather due to the in-depth statement about “[your mother's] life, her mother's, and hers” and the subtle
The Poetics of Carol Muske and Joy Harjo I began a study of autobiography and memoir writing several years ago. Recently I discovered two poets who believe that recording one’s place in history is integral to their art. Carol Muske and Joy Harjo are renowned poets who explore the intricacies of self in regards to cultural and historical place. Muske specifically addresses the poetics of women poets, while Harjo addresses the poetics of minority, specifically Native American, writers. Both poets
Joy Harjo’s “The Woman Hanging from the 13th Floor Window” Joy Harjo is a really known author who likes to write about women with some of her Native American writing. She is more direct than other writers like Wendy Rose, but still has that cryptic way of teaching yet easier to understand. Which is something I particularly like. her style of writing is, like I said before, Indirect but still direct, for example at the end of the “Hanging from the 13th floor” Joy Harjo says, “ as she falls from
Joy Harjo has been my favorite author that we have studied this year. She brought a level of insight and understanding that many of the other authors did not. Her love of life and her theme of continuing on despite challenges puts a spin on Native Americans that is not always addressed in Native American literature. Harjo’s works do not ignore the difficulties of life, but encompass them as well as the things that make life worth living. It is important to understand when discussing Harjo that she
Joy Harjo (1951--) Joy Foster was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 9th, 1951 to Wynema Baker and Allen W. Foster. She is an enrolled member of the Creek tribe, and is also of Cherokee, French, and Irish descent. Descended from a long line of tribal leaders on her father’s side, including Monahwee, leader of the Red Stick War against Andrew Jackson, she often incorporates into her poetry themes of Indian survival amidst contemporary American life. In 1970, at the age of 19, with the blessings