An Analysis Of Mid-Day By H. D

711 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Nature in poetry

The poem I chose to analyze further is Mid-Day by H.D. Personally I have a hard time reading into what a poet would want the reader to experience or understand through their works of art. After reading this poem a few times I felt like I saw two completely opposite sides to this piece. I feel that the poet wants the reader to see both a negative and positive path that could be taken in life. The question that came across my mind when I was reading this was, does H.D actually feels or felt this type of negativity in her life? Also another is whether or not she is trying to show readers that one may be on a negative path or part in their life, but can still see the positive and beauty of the good and growth in the world. In part one of the second …show more content…

I felt that as a reader you could sense the growth and hope that came from the poplar. H.D. turns around the piece when she talks about, “The poplar is bright on the hill. The poplar spreads out, deep rooted among trees.” This is showing how in another place there is growth and what I believe could represent positivity and hope. There is different words that are used in the second half of the piece, there is “bright on the hill”, “the poplar spreads outs”. This word choice is more positive when the poet is using “bright” instead of “black seeds”. Also we can see the difference between in the first part H.D. uses “shriveled” and the second part there is “spreads out”. All of these are opposites from the beginning to the end. When I was reading this poem I thought that maybe H.D. is trying to represent someone or something in a dark place, but can see still see the good. The reason why I feel that it would be someone that is already in a bad place is because she says, “yet far beyond the spent fruit-pods and the blackened stalks of mint” showing that she is already in that dark place looking toward that poplar that is growing. Also another example would be in the last two stanzas when she says, “While I perish on the path among the crevices of the rocks”. The rocks are a hard, dull, and a cold object in my opinion, so I could see that this would represent the bad place that the poet could be

Show More
Related

  • Analyzing Wilbur’s Orchard Trees, January

    538 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the poem, it seems that somebody is inside his or her dwelling place looking outside at a tree. The person is marveling at how the tree can withstand the cold weather, continuous snow, and other harsh conditions that the winter brings. Witnessed throughout the days of winter by the person in the window, the tree’s bark stays strong, however the winter snow has been able to penetrate it. The tree becomes frozen, but it is strong enough to live throughout the winter until the spring relieves its suffering. When spring finally arrives, the effects of winter can no longer harm the tree. The freezing stage is gone, and the tree can give forth new life and growth in the springtime.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Poem When The Time's Toxins

    1072 Words  | 3 Pages

    Plot in line three was changed to garden. The feel was slightly changed in line three because while plot means, “A small piece of ground marked out for a purpose such as building or gardening” (oxforddictionaries.com). A garden is more specific. It is a plot set aside for the use of vegetation. Therefore, garden gives the poem more of feel for nature. Line four has three alterations. The first of which is changing rain to precipitation. The author’s use of nouns is better; since rain has a natural feel, and precipitation has more of a scientific feel. The author’s choice of green was better than my choice of vegetation again for the same reason as the last alteration. Green has more of a natural connotation than vegetation. Line four’s last switch was replacing the prepositional phrase “are gone” with “have receded.” The phrase “have receded” gives the feeling that something has fled slowly. Yet, the phrase, “are gone” just states that they/it are/is no longer

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Komanuyakaa Facing It

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first two lines of the poem set the mood of fear and gloom which is constant throughout the remainder of the poem. The word choice of "black" to describe the speaker's face can convey several messages (502). The most obvious meaning ...

    Read More

  • Hymn By A. R. Ammons: Poem Analysis

    1962 Words  | 4 Pages

    This stanza highlights the turn created by the previous couplet by beginning with “I walk down the path down the hill where the sweetgum” (21), which strays from the anaphoric “If I find you” that is found through the beginnings and lengths of the previous stanzas. The speaker observes the sweetgum trees and notices the “spring sap” (22) coming from the tree. Spring typically symbolizes life or rebirth. The speaker not only observes the natural beauty of springtime around him, but the life that comes with it as well. The speaker then notices the bark on the tree with great details, and how its cracks are “chasmal to my ant-soul” (24). The “ant-soul” is a beautiful metaphor here in which the speaker compares him/herself to an ant running through the chasms of the cracks in tree bark. Though the speaker is clearly human, s/he seems to feel small compared to the depth of the nature around him/her. The speaker is overwhelmed by the life and complexity held by the environment surrounding him/her. Moreover, the poem finishes “and if I find you I must go out deep into your/far resolutions/and if I find you I must stay here with the separate leaves” (25-27). In these final lines, the speaker returns to his/her quest or possible death entailed with finding this larger force. The concept of going “into you/far resolutions” is quite abstract. It is difficult to dissect this because it is not

    Read More

  • Commentary on Robert Hayden Poetry

    943 Words  | 2 Pages

    The diction helps exemplify the imagery even better, the reader can sense how the speaker’s home felt like as well as the father’s hard work. The speaker awakens to the "splintering, breaking" of the coldness. This allows the audience to feel a sense of how cold it was in the speaker’s house. One can infer that the poem is set in a cold city or town during the winter, which gives the reader an idea of how cold it might be. “Slowly I would rise and dress, fearing the chronic angers of that house,” represents how the father battles to keep the family away from harm of the cold and darkness, implying that the speaker grew up in poverty. His father’s “cracked hands” shows how hard his father worked to keep his family safe.

    Read More

  • A Father's Phaethon: The Legend Of The Father

    1407 Words  | 3 Pages

    When the poem is read aloud, the explicit rhyme and rhythm of the lines becomes extremely obvious. In fact, the bouncy rhythm is so uplifting, it occasionally makes the audiences feel like it is too predictable and straight-forward. An example would be “bright with chrysolite”, the word “chrysolite” feels like it is forcefully implemented for the sake of the rhyme. This is somewhat similar to a children’s tale. Most children’s tale as we know it, conveys messages straightforwardly and are easily understood by children, it also has an amiable tone and a merry mood that engages the children 's attention. Similarly, the rhyme and rhythm of this poem is very obvious and explicit, creating a delightful, casual mood that appeals to a young audience. Even though the legend dealt with deep insights about parenting that are intricate and puzzling, the father delivered it in such a gratifying, simple manner that made even the most dark and dreadful matters: like the description of precarious beasts and vicious monsters to sound like a blissful adventure of friendly animals. The sole purpose of this contradiction between the tone and message is to make this seemingly strong and serious topic more tolerable and captivating to the son of the father. Unsensible, impulsive youth is very similar to restless children, a long insipid lecture about deep insights is very difficult for them to buy into. In the same time, a harsh, threatening warning will only make them obey unwillingly, and creating a doubtful relationship will make them uncomfortable to communicate or appeal to their parents. Clearly, the percipient father recognized the ineffectiveness of these unsuitable parenting methods. Instead, he conveyed the message in a uncomplicated, friendly way that made his son to accept his teachings more comfortably. A

    Read More

  • The Death of a Toad

    424 Words  | 1 Pages

    The first stanza incorporates a lot of imagery and syntax. “A toad the power mower caught,”(line1). The use of syntax in the very first sentence is to catch the reader’s attention and to paint an image for them. The stanza goes on to talk about how the toad hobbles with it’s wounded leg to the edge of the garden, “Under the cineraria leaves”(line4). The speaker uses the word cineraria, which is similar to a cinerarium, a place where the ashes of the deceased are kept. By using this, the speaker further illustrates the death of the toad. “Low and final glade.”(Line6) this line is like a metaphor for the dying toad, the final rest for the toad could be the final glade. In the first stanza it seems as if the speaker is making fun of the dying toad saying the garden sanctuaries him as if he were a person. The opening line even seems a bit humorous to the reader. The following stanzas also have a tone of sarcasm.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Shampoo

    1385 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bishop begins by admiring not her lover, but lichens, described as “still explosions on the rocks.” The lichens’ growth records the passage of time, and yet “they have not changed”. Lichen is a type of fungal organism that grows very slowly and gradually. Over time, the lichen can spread and overtake the surface it grows on. A metaphor describes how the lichen “grow by” means “spreading, gray, concentric shocks” in a pattern that can be compared to an “explosion[s]”. The idea of “gray” is used here to describe the pattern of lichen growth; it is repeated throughout the poem and echoed in the third stanza. Bishop uses a whimsical hyperbole to describe the meeting of the lichen with the “rings around the moon”. Lichens cannot actually grow far out enough to meet with an object in space, but Bishop exaggerates their growth to emphasize that they are

    Read More

  • Use of Poetic Devices in Two Love Poems

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    This poetic device aided the reader to visualize not only how silent and dead the leaves were, but also to perceive the atmosphere of the poem. In the poem “Time Does Not Bring

    Read More

  • Louise Erdich Indian Boarding School The Runaways

    1032 Words  | 3 Pages

    The poem contains the central idea that many of these children never understood what home really means. In Native American culture the people venerate earth and it is referred to as mother nature which we see in the poem. The rails cut right through their home but they don’t view them like the average person. They view the tracks as if they are scars across mother earths face and her face is the Native American’s homeland. She is scarred for eternity but she is perfect in their dreams. This symbolism is ironic because the children try to reach home using the railroad that ruined natural life for them and many other Native Americans. In the second stanza the speaker says “The worn-down welts of ancient punishments lead back and fourth” (15-16). Which can be talking about the marks on the children’s bodies after getting caught while running away. But the “word-down welts” can also symbolize the welts that were put on mother nature throughout history. The last five lines of the poem sums up the symbol of hope through their memories and dreams. The last line of the poem says, “the spines of names and leaves.” (20-24). The “spines” symbolize the physical strength of the children and their ability to maintain hope individually “names”, and for their tribe

    Read More

  • A Days Time

    407 Words  | 1 Pages

    A symbol of nature utilized in both poems is a flower. In full bloom, a flower is in its most beautiful and prolific state. In youth, man is in the same state of a flower in bloom, resplendent and bountiful, but the time of beauty for a flower and youth is short. Herrrick states in lines 3-4 “And this same flower that smiles today,/ Tommorrow will be dying,';(728) which is a symbol of the shortness of youth. Frost in lines 3-4 “Her early leaf’s a flower;/ But only so an hour,';(989) also symbolizes the fleeting time of youth. In the beginning, a flower and youth are filled with vitality, but in a short amount of time the flower will wilt and die, and the youth will be an adult on a passage to death.

    Read More

  • The Taxi

    1442 Words  | 3 Pages

    To begin, the reader may gather that the poem has a very dark and saddened tone. Due to Lowell's vivid imagery, a mental image of a dark urban setting is created. It also seems very cold, with the mentioning of wind and nighttime. Readers may be able to relate to urban places they know, adding to the reality of the poem. Connections can be made. The imagery is left in such a way that the reader can fill in the gaps with their own memories or settings. Also, since the poem uses free verse, the structure is left open to interpretation. This makes the poem more inviting and easier to interpret, rather than reading it as a riddle. However, though simple in imagery, the poem still captures the reader's interest due to the creation it sparks, yet it never strays away from the theme of bei...

    Read More

  • The Intricate Meanings of Robert Frost 's Poetry

    777 Words  | 2 Pages

    Robert Frost is considered by many to be one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century. Frost’s work has been regarded by many as unique. Frost’s poems mainly take place in nature, and it is through nature that he uses sense appealing-vocabulary to immerse the reader into the poem. In the poem, “Hardwood Groves”, Frost uses a Hardwood Tree that is losing its leaves as a symbol of life’s vicissitudes. “Frost recognizes that before things in life are raised up, they must fall down” (Bloom 22).

    Read More

  • Edmund Burke Essay

    1198 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ty of the daffodils. The powerful effect that they have on his mind and body snap him out of depression and cause him to experience such a strong and powerful joy. This poem shows the powerful affect nature can have on the emotions of a person.

    Read More

  • True Love Poem Analysis

    1706 Words  | 4 Pages

    The tone in the first 11 stanzas of the poem seems very resigned; the speaker has accepted that the world is moving on without them. They says things like “I don’t reproach the spring for starting up again” and “I don’t resent the view for its vista of a sun-dazzled bay”. By using words like “resent” and “reproach”, the author indirectly implies that the speaker has a reason to dislike beautiful things. The grief that has affected the speaker so much hasn’t affected life itself and they has come to accept that. The author chooses to use phrases like ‘it doesn’t pain me to see” and “I respect their right” which show how the speaker has completely detached themself from the word around them. While everything outside is starting to come back to life, the speaker is anything but lively. “I expect nothing from the depths near the woods.” They don’t expect anything from the world and want the world to do the same thing in return. This detachment proves that the speaker feels resigned about themself and the world around

    Read More

More about An Analysis Of Mid-Day By H. D

Open Document