A midlife crisis is something many people go through once they reach a certain age. It can be hard looking back at your life and being proud where you stand. Many people question themselves and life choices as a result of lack of happiness. The protagonist in the poem, In Media Res, is unhappy with how he is going through life. He cannot come to terms with both how he looks and his repetitive lifestyle. In Michael Mcfee’s poem, In Media Res, personification, form, and diction is used to show the theme of a midlife crisis. Throughout this poem there are many aspects of the protagonist life that are personified to show the lack of control he has. He feels his life wasting away and does not know how to change the track he is on. The poem reads, “under the …show more content…
zipper’s sneer” (Mcfee, 16) to show how he feels mocked by his own pant zipper. The protagonist is allowing his body to take control of his emotions, causing him to be unhappy. Along with this, his stomach is personified throughout the poem, which gives it power over the protagonist. Mcfee writes, “a belly hibernation-/soft, ready for/the kill” (18-19). This shows how the protagonist feels defeated by his stomach. The way the stomach is discussed as a seperate part of the protagonist throughout the poem shows the separation he feels with his body. He does not see himself anymore when looking in the mirror, and as a result is questioning his whole life. The form of the poem is used to show the expansion of both his body and unhappiness throughout his life. In the progression through the poem, the situation escalates as the shape grows. From the side, it is shaped to look like a stomach, but one could also view it as a hill. This hill symbolizes his struggle to get through this midlife crisis. Although the protagonist struggles, it is evident that he is ready for change. In the beginning of the poem it reads, “like the plot, /thickens” (Mcfee, 2-3) showing how the poem is going to grow along with the protagonist. The start of the poem is very somber as it describes the weight he is gaining over time. As the poem progresses it reads, “that separates a house from it’s foundation” (Mcfee, 10). This shows the hopelessness the narrator feels towards the middle of the poem. A house would collapse without its foundation, as would his life without his mind. Towards the end of the poem, there is sense that the protagonist is content with leaving the world. It reads, “soft, ready for/ the kill” (Mcfee, 18-19). This has a melancholy tone to it and shows the defeat the protagonist faces. The diction used in this poem expresses the protagonist’s hopelessness in this stage of his life.
The tone of this poem is very dark, with is shown with words such as “grim” (Mcfee, 11), and “graves” (Mcfee, 12). These words are used to show the defeat the protagonist faces in his battle with himself. He can no longer stand living his repetitive lifestyle, in which he has lost his ability to love himself. Moreover, this enhances the theme of a midlife crisis through the use of depressing language. Mcfee writes, “belly’s cambium/ expanding to match each birthday” (6-7) to show how the protagonist is comparing his body to a tree. Cambium describes the addition of rings to woody plants. This shows how the protagonist is dehumanizing himself and can only view himself in terms of how he looks. As he grows older, he feels he grows more and more unattractive due to the excess of weight he is carrying. In addition, as the poem progresses, the language become more and more dark, similarly to his life. Mcfee writes, “stars collapsing on themselves” (13) which symbolizes the narrators loss of hope. It can also represent him physically collapsing from the weight he has to carry both physically and
emotionally. In Media Res by Michael Mcfee, personification, form, and diction are used to show the theme of a midlife crisis. The protagonist in this poem loses himself as he progresses through life. This is both a result of his poor self image and loss of purpose. He can no longer live the same lifestyle and is content with moving on. The personification used throughout this poem enhances the idea that he is at a loss of control in his life and has let his body take over him. The form of this poem is used to show the obstacles he faces as he grows in size. Along with this, Mcfee’s diction provides the tone of this poem, which is dark. Overall, this poem shows how the protagonist suffers a midlife crisis due to his loss self-worth.
As the first poem in the book it sums up the primary focus of the works in its exploration of loss, grieving, and recovery. The questions posed about the nature of God become recurring themes in the following sections, especially One and Four. The symbolism includes the image of earthly possessions sprawled out like gangly dolls, a reference possibly meant to bring about a sense of nostalgia which this poem does quite well. The final lines cement the message that this is about loss and life, the idea that once something is lost, it can no longer belong to anyone anymore brings a sense...
This essay is anchored on the goal of looking closer and scrutinizing the said poem. It is divided into subheadings for the discussion of the analysis of each of the poem’s stanzas.
His outside actions of touching the wall and looking at all the names are causing him to react internally. He is remembering the past and is attempting to suppress the emotions that are rising within him. 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 ... ...
...ttachment or emotion. Again, Heaney repeats the use of a discourse marker, to highlight how vividly he remembers the terrible time “Next morning, I went up into the room”. In contrast to the rest of the poem, Heaney finally writes more personally, beginning with the personal pronoun “I”. He describes his memory with an atmosphere that is soft and peaceful “Snowdrops and Candles soothed the bedside” as opposed to the harsh and angry adjectives previously used such as “stanched” and “crying”. With this, Heaney is becoming more and more intimate with his time alone with his brother’s body, and can finally get peace of mind about the death, but still finding the inevitable sadness one feels with the loss of a loved one “A four foot box, a foot for every year”, indirectly telling the reader how young his brother was, and describing that how unfortunate the death was.
The poem “anyone lived in a pretty how town” by E.E. Cummings talks about the cycle of life and the importance of structure, symbolism, and language of the poem. For instance, the poem has nine stanzas, which has a rhyming pattern of AABC. The rhythm of the poem is significant for it supports one of themes, the cycle of life. Cumming uses season to explain the poem's progress. “spring summer autumn winter” (3) and “sun moon stars rain” (8) symbolizes time passing, which represents life passing. In the poem, as the seasons and skies rotate, life continues along with them. In addition, the uses of the words “snow” (22), “buried” (27), “was by was” (28), and “day by day” (29) leading to death. Towards the end of the poem, the depression of death was mention, but Cumming was just stating the n...
This poem describes the worry of decision-making and the rewards of forging your own path. The subject of the poem is faced with a decision of taking the "safe" route that others have taken before or breaking new ground. He finds that making original and independent choices makes life rewarding. One poetic device is imagery described in the lines, “long I stood/ And looked down one as far as I could/ To where it bent in the undergrowth;” (lines 3-5). The imagery is used to describe his sight of the not literal two paths that he could choose. One form of figurative language used is Metaphors. This poem is attractive because is its very inspirational to me at a time where I am making a lot of important
Though the way it relates to people in the 19th century and the way it relates to the modern world greatly differs, the symbolism in the poem and shift in tone throughout it shows a great appeal to human nature, and how desperate one can be to change it. The symbolism in the poem paints a ghastly picture of a man’s life, falling apart as he does his best, and worst, to keep it safe from himself. In lines 1 through 8 (stanza one), he gives a brief description of an incident in his life where things have gone wrong. “When the tiger approaches can the fast-fleeting hind/Repose trust in his footsteps of air?/No! Abandoned, he sinks into a trance of despair,” He uses these lines to show the lack of control he has over his actions, how his will to change his circumstances has weakened.
In the poem “What Are Years,” written by Marianne Moore there are two poetic devices being used in order to convey the meaning of the poem. Through the use of different figures of speech and unique forms, she discusses the different life stages a person experiences. The entire poem is based on powerful metaphors used to discuss the emotions and feelings through each of the stages. For example, she states “The very bird/grown taller as he sings, steels/ his form straight up. Though he is captive (20-22).”
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
Chaos and drudgery are common themes throughout the poem, displayed in its form; it is nearly iambic pentameter, but not every line fits the required pattern. This is significant because the poem’s imperfect formulation is Owen making a statement about formality, the poem breaks the typical form to show that everything is not functioning satisfactorily. The poem’s stanza’s also begin short, but become longer, like the speaker’s torment and his comrades movement away from the open fire. The rhyming scheme of ABABCDCD is one constant throughout the poem, but it serves to reinforce the nature of the cadence as the soldiers tread on. The war seems to drag on longer and longer for the speaker, and represents the prolonged suffering and agony of the soldier’s death that is described as the speaker dwells on this and is torn apart emotionally and distorts his impressions of what he experiences.
The poet uses examples of imagery in this poem. The poet uses a simile in the first line of the first stanza to start off the poem. The simile she uses is ''the skin cracks like a pod''. The opening of the poem gives a clear message that something is severely wrong. A pod cracks with barely any resistance so the comparison to the skin is a unreserved statement outlining how easily the skin is. There is obviously a drought or a vast undersupply of water. The opening surprises the reader and gives an indication of what is to come. The poet uses a short and abrupt line which is effective
I thoroughly enjoyed reading David Berman’s poem “Self-Portrait at 28”. Reading this poem made me feel sad, pensive and nostalgic for the events in my life that I miss. I’m not twenty eight, but I feel like the events that the persona talked about in this poem were very universal. I also sympathize with the persona’s depression and feeling with loneliness. I can relate to feel like I am bothering someone while I am talking to them. I often get scared reaching out to people because I am always afraid I am bothering them. The voice is this poem were very strong. The uses of imagery, tone and symbolism help make this poem strong.
The consistent pattern of metrical stresses in this stanza, along with the orderly rhyme scheme, and standard verse structure, reflect the mood of serenity, of humankind in harmony with Nature. It is a fine, hot day, `clear as fire', when the speaker comes to drink at the creek. Birdsong punctuates the still air, like the tinkling of broken glass. However, the term `frail' also suggests vulnerability in the presence of danger, and there are other intimations in this stanza of the drama that is about to unfold. Slithery sibilants, as in the words `glass', `grass' and `moss', hint at the existence of a Serpent in the Garden of Eden. As in a Greek tragedy, the intensity of expression in the poem invokes a proleptic tenseness, as yet unexplained.
The use of the word “heart” emphasises this passion as the heart is considered the most important organ and so demonstrates how his passion (the “summer” in the sentence) is alive. Within these three poems, the use of nature as a mechanism impacted the poems, allowing them to convey meanings in an ambiguous sense yet still get across the general meaning of the poem.
One piece of the poem hints towards imagery involving slavery, this occurs when the speaker talks about the “charter’d street….charter’d Thames” and later on mentioning “The mind-forg’d manacles”. The street and Thames being described as charter’d shows the power of the government having the control of parts of the city such as a river and the streets. The use of “the mind-forg’d manacles” is symbolic by showing that their brains or minds are being controlled and limited by the government and is a symbol of enslavement. The poem seems to express a lot of imagery about death and sadness, terms such as cry, curse, plagues and hearse are used. The use of such words tells the reader that the soldiers are being forced by the government to kill. Therefore, causing the soldiers despair. Another portion of the poem uses phrases such as “in very infants cry of fear” and “how the chimney sweepers cry” to show an image of child labor. The term “appalls” is used to describe the “blackning Church” to allow the audience to realize that the church is horrified of the child labor. The chimney sweepers are a specific example of child labor. And the use of the word “blackning” suggests that a sin such as child labor is occurring. Lastly, imagery is used in the last stanza to show the horrifying cycle of living in London, England. “How the youthful Harlots curse, blasts the new-born Infants tear” describes how prostitutes are