Kim Addonizio’s “First Poem for You” portrays a speaker who contemplates the state of their romantic relationship though reflections of their partner’s tattoos. Addressing their partner, the speaker ambivalence towards the merits of the relationship, the speaker unhappily remains with their partner. Through the usage of contrasting visual and kinesthetic imagery, the speaker revels the reasons of their inability to embrace the relationship and showcases the extent of their paralysis. Exploring this theme, the poem discusses how inner conflicts can be powerful paralyzers. The poem begins with the speaker’s vivid descriptions of the tattoos, reflecting their state of mind and reveling their great inner struggles. Describing the tattoo that …show more content…
These detailed descriptions of a simple tattoo create a vivid image of seemingly mythical proportion. The words “neat lines” and “blue swirls” suggests that the setting of the scene is supernaturally created, as lightning strikes are seldom “neat” nor are ocean waves “blue” in reality. Yet, this supernatural setting provides a fitting backdrop, for the violence and struggle in the foreground. Serpents and dragons are certainly supernatural beings: both are associated with great power, violence and destruction. The word “twist” may describe the natural movement of the body of the serpent, but can also suggest that its body is twisted out of shape from great exertion or from sustained injuries. …show more content…
In the second stanza, the speaker reflects upon the enduring quality of tattoos, of how “whatever persists / or turns to pain between [them]”, the tattoos will last “until [their partner is] seared to ashes”, (10-11). From this contemplation, the speaker then concludes that “such permanence is terrifying” (13). The phrase “seared to ashes”, while describing death, also emphases the ephemeral nature of the human body, of how it is reduced to mere “ash” after death. The word “sear”, meanwhile, is associated with sudden and intense heat and pain. This choice of phrase reflects the dark and violent thoughts of the speaker: images of fire, ashes, pain, and death. Attributing their fears and struggles to the fact that the tattoos will remain “whatever persists / or turns to pain between [them]” suggests that the speaker associates the tattoos something else that one retains over a long time: memories, specifically, the memories of this relationship. Yet, the speaker does not seem to think that these memories would be positive: to the speaker, the possible negative outcome of the relationship is for it to “[turn] to pain” and positive outcome is merely for it to “persist”. The world “persist” suggests a steady continuation, but without any excitement or fun. To the speaker, the only possible way forward in this
The speaker’s rocky encounter with her ex-lover is captured through personification, diction, and tone. Overall, the poem recaps the inner conflicts that the speak endures while speaking to her ex-lover. She ponders through stages of the past and present. Memories of how they were together and the present and how she feels about him. Never once did she broadcast her emotions towards him, demonstrating the strong facade on the outside, but the crumbling structure on the inside.
The overall themes of this poem are beauty, love, and destiny. The speaker constantly discusses beautiful things and how they can help us. Love can be felt throughout the entire poem. In the first stanza, the speaker verbalizes how he “came with love of the race.” He also expresses love for the beautiful things around him. The theme destiny can be seen in the third stanza when the speaker talks about staying on course. It can also be identified in the last stanza when he describes something inevitable that was about to
Living in the present is the first step a couple should make to pursue a healthy relationship. Worrying too much about the what ifs and possibilities of a break up should not become a burden to the relationship. In Kim Addonizio’s “First Poem for You”, the fear of breakups and sour relationships is shown throughout the poem (). Scholar Christopher Porre had a similar analysis: “During the fourteen lines of the poem the speaker fascinates her/himself with the tattoos of her/his lover, at times expanding on the specific imagery of the tattoos, at others meditating on the blue ink’s permanence in comparison with love’s tendency to “[turn] to pain” (Addonizio, The Philosopher’s Club Line 12)” (Porre 1). Addonizio uses imagery and symbolism to represent the pain that a relationship can bring
Love can come at unexpected times, through current situations or through memories, and they will always have that permanent effect on us, just like a tattoo. Because of strange stanza breaks, unusual imagery, and elongated punctuation, the reader can determine the deeper meaning of the poem. The two-lined stanzas signify short-lived loves, and the stanza breaks depict the break-ups and passing of loved ones. The imagery of skulls and the metaphor that love is a tattoo shows that love never deteriorates. And lastly, the poem is only two sentences long, so this shows the fluidity and never ending power of love. Too often people take advantage of love, but what they aren’t aware of is that their experiences with each and every person they have loved tattoo their mind to make them into who they are, much like a tattoo permanently inks one’s skin to commemorate a
The poem “One Today” by Richard Blanco has a variety of excellent vocabulary. Although there are a few words where I would have chosen a couple different paths that would make it more interesting. Maybe even flow a bit better. For starters in the beginning of the poem in the 3rd paragraph in the 4th line it says ‘…the “I have a dream” we all keep dreaming’ I believe that if we could replace the second “dream” with fantasizing it will leave more of a mystic and mysterious effect. The next word that I would change is in the 5th paragraph 3rd line and it is the word gorgeous. To me I don’t find the “honking of cabs” gorgeous. But I do find it pleasing, if I were to keep up with the positive tone of this poem. Words. They do have a big impact
In the poem “A Story”, Li-Young Lee depicts a frustration in a man’s relationship with his son. The poem engenders a complexity and ambivalent nature of parenthood through the “story” of the father’s silence.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy tells a story of a father and son fighting to live throughout their journey to the south during the apocalypse. Even though they face many obstacles along the way, the bond they share always keeps them fighting to survive. This deep story of the bond between father and child makes it easier to see what it means to be human. The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart contains poetry relating to this topic of what it means to be human as well. The Road helps to enhance the understanding of many of the poems from The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart including “With Kit, Age 7, At the Beach” and “Faith.” Even though the poems differ from The Road, the book helps by giving examples to explain the poems better, making the message behind them clearer.
In J. Coles album “4 Your Eyez Only” Cole discusses matters such as violence, his and his friends dreams, and drugs, but the main focus of the album is racial inequality. Throughout the ten songs on his album, Cole is able to express events in his life that helped sway his mind on controversial topics.
The reason I picked the bible I did was because this is my favorite bible verse and it encourages me to keep my faith strong in the lord everyday. I picked the quote about doing the impossible because for most people driving and the ground is their limit everyday. For pilots the limit is the skies and it is almost a privilege to have the right to be in the skies. I love the song The Motions by Matthew West because it gives me the inspiration to try my hardest everyday of my life because you want to make your life count. I choose the Flyer’s Poem because to me it summarizes the coming of aviation and Christianity in my life.
Did I Miss Anything? is a poem written by a Canadian poet and academic Tom Wayman. Being a teacher, he creates a piece of literature, where he considers the answers given by a teacher on one and the same question asked by a student, who frequently misses a class. So, there are two speakers present in it – a teacher and a student. The first one is fully presented in the poem and the second one exists only in the title of it. The speakers immediately place the reader in the appropriate setting, where the actions of a poem take place – a regular classroom. Moreover, the speakers unfolds the main theme of the poem – a hardship of being a teacher, the importance of education and laziness, indifference and careless attitudes of a student towards studying.
What is poetry? And what makes it different? According to Webster’s Dictionary poetry is described as the art of writing stories, poems, and thoughts into verse. Poetry has many different parts to it that makes it different; for example rhyme, rhythm, and format/stanzas. In poems feelings and ideas are expressed in fewer words and the techniques used in poems are different as well. Another thing that makes poems a little different is that their meanings are a bit difficult to understand and the language seems to be manipulated in; other words, a poet can create a language of their own. The poems of “When we two Parted”, “A Pity, We Were Such a Good Invention”, and “Modern Love” all have the same theme of being broken hearted, but their use of vocabulary’s, emotions, and thoughts are very different allowing the poems to be unique. Therefore, Poems can be interpreted for anyone there is no direct reference as to who. For instance, reading a poem with a known theme and then having the ability to read what the author has written for that theme makes the poem interesting, for their choices of vocabulary and their thoughts are all different.
I wish I could describe my first interaction with playing the saxophone as a glorious and life changing moment, but that would be a lie. In fact, I remember being disappointed that my arms weren’t long enough to hit all of the proper notes on the trombone slide. As soon as I accepted that I had no choice but to play the saxophone, I immediately did everything in my power to become the most technical, strongest player in the band, making music a competition like I have done with every aspect of my life for as long as I can remember. This trend continued throughout my elementary school, middle school, and early high school career, and it wasn’t until I entered the summer after my sophomore year of high school, that my opinion on the importance of music and playing music changed.
A well written line or two in a poem can make us see a past experience in a totally different way. We can gain understanding that had escaped us so many times, which gives us new perception and insight. Poetry strengthens our sense of community, cultivates emotional resilience, and promotes literacy. It can cross boundaries that little else can. Poetry helps us to know ourselves and each other. Poetry can allow kids to use words to describe their lives like paints for sketches. As well as, using imagery, symbolic language, and metaphor to describe experiences, or parts of themselves that they feel they are not ready to share with anyone. Poetry opens avenues of speaking and listening that are neglected, important areas of the English Language Arts
“The Spring and the Fall” is written by Edna St. Vincent Millay. The poem is about two people, the poet and her significant other that she once had love for. The poem integrates the use of spring and fall to show how the poet stresses her relationship. Of course it starts off briefly by having a happy beginning of love, but the relationship soon took a shift for the worst, and there was foreshadow that there would be an unhappy ending. “I walked the road beside my dear. / The trees were black where the bark was wet” (2-3). After the seasons changed, the poet begins to explain why the relationship was dying, and all of the bad things she endured during the relationship. So, to what extend did the poet’s heart become broken, and did she ever
This poem has captured a moment in time of a dynamic, tentative, and uncomfortable relationship as it is evolving. The author, having shared her thoughts, concerns, and opinion of the other party's unchanging definition of the relationship, must surely have gone on to somehow reconcile the situation to her own satisfaction. She relishes the work entailed in changing either of them, perhaps.