Poetry is a self-reflection of life and the nature of living things. It is created by the author’s own life stories, emotions, and thoughts. Everyone will experience and remember the happiest moment in life, also the lowest point that occurs. Sometimes the worst time such as bereavement can cause a trauma and grief. Besides, it will become the stain in their mind for the whole lifetime. Because of this reason, all poets use their personal life experiences as the motivation to write the poem. By looking at the poems of Elizabeth Bishop, Jack Gilbert, and Natasha Trethewey, we can see how the loss of important people in their lives has influenced their writings. The poet's life story such as family, and love life will be appear in their literature. …show more content…
“Lose something everyday. Accept the fluster of lost / door keys, the hour badly spent” (4-5), according to the second stanza, “It shows the reception and approval of that resulting disorder—the "fluster"” stated Doreski (1993). The limitation of losses become broader and deeper in the third stanza “Then practice losing farther, losing faster: / places, and names, and where it was you meant” (7-8). Besides, the fourth stanza, “I lost my mother's watch” (12), Bishop talked about her lost of important object which is irretrievable. Also, she expressed her feeling of regret through the poem. Her mother's watch is literally her mother's time. (Doreski, 1993). She mentioned the watch due to the facts that it refers to her life, she lost her mother when she was young so she is unable to stay with her mother just the same as she lost her mother’s watch because she cannot take care of it. In the fifth stanza, she mentioned the two cities she have been lost which are United States of America; her hometown and Brazil; a place where she met her lover. Bishop usually changes her residence since she lost her beloved parents. She used to lived with her maternal grandparents, then stayed with her paternal …show more content…
Natasha Trethewey's poems “What the Body Can Say”, “Genus Narcissus” and “After Your Death” were like a mirror that reflected her woe of bereavement on her mother's death. She talked about her memories and feelings she had when her mother was about to died in “What the Body Can Say”. At the first two stanza, they envisioned image of an unbalance by a representation of a contorted human body. (Anderson, 2008). “How easy it is to read this body’s language / or those gestures we’ve come to know—the raised thumb” (7-8), the authors exemplify about the body’s language (“The raised thumb”) that can be considered in many meanings. Nevertheless, Trethewey was struggle against her mother ambiguous gestures, that was not enough to understand the full significant information. Also, she was usnable to understand what her mother tried to tell her because her mother was died: “That day not long before her death” (12). In addition, Anderson (2008) claimed, “The speaker reflects, “What matters is context” (15). When all a person or society has left as testament to a life are memories, even the best-preserved recollections will be missing part of the complete picture.” Trethewey was being in the moment of regret and doubtfulness about her mother’s motions and words while she was writing this poem. In “Genus Narcissus” the writer was comparing herself to the flower, Daffodil. “The road I walked
“Pass On” written by Michael Lee is a free verse poem informing readers on grief, which is one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome not only when losing a loved one, but also in life itself. “Pass On” successfully developed this topic through the setting of an unknown character who explains his or her experience of grief. Despite Lee never introducing this character, readers are given enough information to know how they are overcoming this difficult obstacle. In fact, this unknown character is most likely the writer himself, indirectly explaining his moments of grief. One important piece of information Lee provides is the fact that he has experienced loss twice, one with his grandfather and the other a friend who was murdered by the
Vicki Harrison once graciously described the grief that loss fathoms in few short words. Grief she says is, “like the ocean; it comes on waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim” (A Quote by Vicki Harrison). As I process these captivating words, I am reminded of writer Elizabeth Bishop in her work notably known as, “One Art”. In "One Art", Bishop writes of loss in such an apathetic and absent tone. It is quite evident that perhaps she as Harrison described after experiencing grief in high and low tides, has learned how to swim, and how to live with the pain. This numbness is prevalent in her writing and explanatory of the tones and moods Bishop has chosen for this
In “Passed On” by Carole Satymurti, the central purpose of this poem is to tell a narrative, as it show's the narrator's reflection of coping with her mother's death, even though the narrator is strongly suggested as a woman. The second stanza in the beginning of line 8, “Only, after opening it, I saw/ how she'd rendered herself down in flesh/to paper...”, suggests that she is reviewing memorabilia that represented her mother from the past, and in line 15: “I'd shuffle them/to almost hear her speak” reminds her of the memories and helps her to relive her experiences with her mother. Overall, the poem reveals her emotions and experiences after her mother's death. This purpose is achieved through the utilization of visual imagery, use of diction, and transitional structure, and by showing a sense/tone of dependency in the second and third stanzas. However in the fourth stanza, a shift of tone suggests that the narrator is ready to live on her own and think independent thoughts.
Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art” on the surface appears to be a poem about preparing one’s self for loss but through close reading it becomes clear that the poem takes a deeper look at what loss truly means. At its’ core “One Art” is about the journey of loss and the new perspectives gained through the experience. The speaker of the poem is trying to convey that losing things, people and places as we gain them throughout life is an inevitable experience that must be accepted but the speaker is trying to control the experience by denying it power. The poem invites the reader to believe that the persona of the speaker is actually the poet, which is evident in the final line of the poem with the inclusion of “(Write it!)” the speaker/poet has written
poem. The parts that it emphasizes are mainly the speaker’s actions during her crossing of the
Death, it scares even the greatest heroes on the face of the Earth, nobody knows what will happen after the blackness has taken over your sight and you lay down for your final rest. It has been a purpose of thousands of writers all across the globe for centuries, three of which being: “Remembrance” by Emily Bronte, “The Darkling Thrush”, and “Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?” by Thomas Hardy. “Remembrance” is a fantastic poem based on a wife who is speaking of her past lover who had died Fifteen years prior. There are mixed emotions running amuck, but all in all it is a very great read. “The Darkling Thrush” is a short poem, a monologue of a man on a Christmas walk pondering what his future will behold, a very pessimistic man, who finally notices happiness in a passing singing bird. And finally, the poem, “Ah, Are You Digging on My Grace?” coming from the mind of a recently dead women, who finds that the world has passed her by after her death, and nobody misses her as she thought, which then crushes her. All of these fantastic poems share a common goal, to express what loss is, each have their own way to tell it with different stories of examples of loss.
The poem becomes personal on line 10 when she uses the first person and says “I lost my mother’s watch”. She is letting the reader know what she has lost in reality. Then she gets sidetracked to mention other things she has lost; she then mentions other things she has lost of much more importance such as houses, continents, realms, and cities, but then again mentions it was not so hard to lose those things. But in the end, mention the loss that really matters. She remembers the qualities of the lover she lost.
Edgar Allan Poe, the famous American author, loves to use the topics of love and loss when he writes his poems. One of his most influential topics is when he writes about loss. Whether it is the loss of a loved one, as shown in “Annabel Lee” or the loss of someone’s dignity as shown in “Hop-Frog”, Poe always seems to leave an impression on the reader's mind. Loss is one of the most influential emotions that a human can face. It has thrown people into depression, started drug addictions, and even can become an incentive for murder. No matter what, humans will always be influenced by loss, especially the loss of something important, more than anything.
the poem in a sombre tone, and to suggest a feeling of loss and death.
During the long journey of life, we experience many events that create deep impressions and effects that make us have an emotional attachment to them. The poems all have evident recurring themes of emotional attachment, whether it is to an object, a person or an idea. The selected poems comprises of distinctive features in which the persona is attached to their memory of the mother like DH Lawrence, while another such as Christina Rossetti wishes to be remembered by her lover. All the poems use imagery to express emotions, ranging from very aloof emotions, to the feeling of safety and comfort.
Emily Bronte’s Remembrance is about one who is reminiscing a lost love who had died. It is an elegy poem which is “a poem that laments the death of a person, or one that is simply sad and thoughtful.” Remembrance is also a lyric poem in which “expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet.” The poem reflects the historical context of the 18th century and expresses the romanticism of the Victorian era. Bronte has influenced her 18th century audience and 21st century audience to connect to the tone and mood of the poem through the literary devices she has used, such as imagery and repetition. Through her use of these literary elements, Bronte has created a sense of heartache and remembrance for those who have experienced similar loss to the loss present in the poem. For me personally, these elements, along with the romanticism she has included, make me appreciate my life in that I have not yet experienced this heartache, and encourages me to realise how fortunate I am to have people in my life in which have a similar love for me as the speaker has for their lover.
How has theatre helped me grow? I joined theatre to experience something new, to explore a new concept and grow as a person. I have learned to speak louder, memorize more, improvise a scene, and learn about the life and incredible works of William Shakespeare. Joining such an organized, wholesome organization is starting to feel like a good idea!
Funeral Blues by W. H. Auden is a short poem that illustrates the emotions that he is dealing with after the love of his life passes away. The tone of this piece evokes feelings that will differ depending on the reader; therefore, the meaning of this poem is not in any way one-dimensional, resulting in inevitable ambiguity . In order to evoke emotion from his audience, Auden uses a series of different poetic devices to express the sadness and despair of losing a loved one. This poem isn’t necessarily about finding meaning or coming to some overwhelming realization, but rather about feeling emotions and understanding the pain that the speaker is experiencing. Through the use of poetic devices such as an elegy, hyperboles, imagery, metaphors, and alliterations as well as end-rhyme, Auden has created a powerful poem that accurately depicts the emotions a person will often feel when the love of their live has passed away.
6 Reflections that I have come to hold true for my life Life is a gift Life is truly a gift from God. When God created the world, he meant for it to be in harmony with Him. He wanted us to experience a relationship with him, happiness and love. When Jesus died on the cross, we were given victory from sin. So we can still enjoy life through a close walk with God.
Hi, my name is Rob Geis and I am currently in grade 12. I have been at County High School for a year now; I joined at the start of 11th grade, and have thoroughly enjoyed myself here. The school is great, the people are fantastic and the atmosphere is one that makes you actually want to go to school. Before I joined ASB I was studying at the Singapore American School for two years and prior to that I was at the International School of Kuala Lumpur for two years. I was born and raised here in Bombay city and grew up here.