Analysis of Wallace Stevens' "13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird"
'Thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird' by Wallace Stevens is a poem
about what it means to really know something. In this poem, Stevens shows this
connection by writing a first person poem about a poet's observation and
contemplation's when viewing a blackbird. He does this by making each stanza an
explanation of a new way he has perceived this blackbird. First, he writes about
his physical perception of the blackbird as an observer. Then, he writes about
his mental processes during this time. These are as the thoughts and
perceptions of the blackbird itself, as what it must be like to be that bird. By
the end, he has concluded that by seeing this blackbird, a connection has been
made and he now knows the blackbird has becomes a part of him.
In the first stanza, he focuses on the eye of the blackbird as an
outside observer. This symbolizes the thoughts and the consciousness of the
blackbird. It is also a transition from the observer's perception to the
blackbird's perception. In the second stanza, Stevens goes on to say that he
was of ?three minds, Like a tree, In which there are three blackbirds.? This was
the first time he makes the connection between seeing the blackbird and him
himself metaphorically being the blackbird. He makes this connection even more
clear in the fourth stanza when he says that ?A man and a woman Are one. A man
and a woman and a blackbird are one." In the sixth stanza he goes back to being
the poet observer as he watches the blackbird fly by his icy window. Again in
the next stanza he goes back to the point of view of the blackbird wondering why
the men of Haddam only imagine golden birds instead of realizing the value of
the common blackbird. At this time, he makes the connection that in seeing and
knowing the blackbird it becomes a part of himself. When he says in the eighth
stanza ?I know noble accents And lucid, inescapable rhythms; But I know, too,
That the blackbird is involved In what I know.? he is acknowledging that he is
still a poet but when he sees, thinks, and writes about the blackbird, in a way
he is also the blackbird. After this, the black bird and the poet observer are
separated but in the twelfth stanza Stevens writes ?The river is moving. The
blackbird must be flying.? This is meant to show that though the observer's
As a way to end his last stanza, the speaker creates an image that surpasses his experiences. When the flock rises, the speaker identifies it as a lady’s gray silk scarf, which the woman has at first chosen, then rejected. As the woman carelessly tosses the scarf toward the chair the casual billow fades from view, like the birds. The last image connects nature with a last object in the poet's
Martin Luther King and Henry David Thoreau each write exemplary persuasive essays that depict social injustice and discuss civil disobedience, which is the refusal to comply with the law in order to prove a point. In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” King speaks to a specific audience: the African Americans, and discusses why he feels they should bring an end to segregation. Thoreau on the other hand, in “Civil Disobedience,” speaks to a broader, non-addressed audience as he largely expresses his feelings towards what he feels is an unjust government. Both essays however, focus on the mutual topics of morality and justice and use these topics to inform and motivate their audience to, at times, defy the government in order to establish the necessary justice.
In the last stanza, he talks about how he left his heart with her on
Like “On the Departure of the Nightingale”, the flight of the bird also symbolizes the removal of the song, and the loss of the creative force for the poet; the nightingale is free to escape from a world of decay and death, while the poet is forced to suffer in it.
Dunbar finishes off the poem with powerful lines: “But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core, But a plea that upward heaven he flings— I know why the caged bird sings!” The caged bird is depicted as battered, bruised, and beaten from his violent rebellion— praying as his last chance of freedom. The bird’s belief in its virtuous rebellion justifies the revolt, as we see the bird’s constant persistency, even as the mutiny is demoted to
John Keats’s illness caused him to write about his unfulfillment as a writer. In an analysis of Keats’s works, Cody Brotter states that Keats’s poems are “conscious of itself as the poem[s] of a poet.” The poems are written in the context of Keats tragically short and painful life. In his ...
Angelou once again explains this concept by saying, “his wings are clipped and his feet are tied/so he opens his throat to sing,” (28-29). The only thing a bird can do when it is physically and emotionally fettered is sing. This song is meant to be a cry, but is often believed to be mimicking the joyous sound from when it was free. Additionally, Dunbar explains what the song truly means. “It is not a carol of joy or glee/But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core/But a plea that upward to Heaven he flings,” (18-20). The bird is an important symbol here because it is considered to be a boundless spirit. Nevertheless, the fact that it has been repressed to such a point that all it can do is sing proves how desperate its situation is. Ultimately, the caged bird cries for emancipation, but is ignored.
Whenever the narrator questions the Raven on when his deceased love will return, or when he will stop grieving, the Raven responds with the repeated word “Nevermore” (Poe 102). The bird’s incessant reminders signify that since Lenore’s death is eternal, the narrator’s consequent anguish from it must be as well, which is why the narrator is incapable to ever recover from the Raven’s words on his loss. For, this leaves an everlasting impression on the narrator, prompting him to demand the bird, “‘Take thy beak out of my heart’” (Poe 101). In this metaphor, the author alludes that the Raven’s ‘beak’ is the words it is saying to the narrator, and the ‘heart’ is not representative of the narrator’s physical heart, because the bird is not physically attacking the speaker, but is making him aware of his eternal loss and irreversibly breaking him down emotionally. Therefore, Poe’s use of repetition and metaphor aid him in expressing the loss induced anguish of the
Furthermore, the opening “I stand” sets e assertive tone in the [poem. The speaker never falters in presenting the complexity of her situation, as a woman, a black [person], and a slave. The tone set at the beginning also aid the audience to recognize that the speaker in the “white man’s violent system” is divided by women, and black by whites. The slave employs metaphors, which Barrett use to dramatized imprisonment behind a dark skin in a world where God’s work of creating black people has been cast away. To further illustrate this she described the bird as “ little dark bird”, she also describes the frogs and streams as “ dark frogs” and “ dark stream ripple” Through the use of her diction she convey to readers that in the natural world unlike the human one, there is no dark with bad and light with good, and no discrimination between black and white people.
As the concept of traditional female is significant in Elizabethan society, Lady Macbeth is rather contradictory as she is ambitious and takes control to persuade Macbeth. To begin, when Lady Macbeth receives Macbeth’s letter with the witches appearance and the prophesies, she realizes that her husband is weak-willed and plans to persuade him to remove any obstacles. Worth mentioning is that not only she takes control of the situation but she spurs Macbeth into murdering Duncan by saying “…When you durst do it, then you were a man” (1.7.49). She acts out of her role as she insults his manliness and declares that she would have “dash’d the brains out” (1.7.58) her child while it was feeding at her breast. This reveals her unwomanly characteristics as Lady Macbeth do not care for her children. At the same time, Lady Macbeth overrides the source of evil as she believes in witchcraft and calls for evil spirits for help. She state...
His question to the bird asks if there is “balm in Gilead,” which is answered only with “Nevermore” (Poe, lines 89-90). Third, the emotional pain the raven exacerbates makes the narrator become mentally unstable, shouting at the black bird to leave, but it refuses. The speaker commands the raven, “Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!,” but once again, he answers “Nevermore” (Poe, lines 101-102). Though Lenore was the cause of his grief, the talking raven heightens this feeling by not giving him the answers he wants, deepening his sorrow and leading the protagonist down a path of insanity. From the beginning to the end of the story, the narrator inquires if the misery he experiences will ease or pass whilst conversing with the bird.
Freakonomics as a whole has portrayed the conception that people use information as incentives to do one of two things—right or wrong. Chapters such as one, two, and three describe how incentives push people to make lamentable choices, and in contrast chapters four, five, and six expound incentives in a more positive matter. In chapter two, it verbalizes “Experts of every kind are in the impeccable position to exploit you,” (page 67) which is a common theme found throughout your novel. The previous verbal expression transmuted my perspective, by providing multiple examples of experts apostatizing uneducated and uninformed Samaritans.
Edgar Allan Poe tells the story of a bereaved man who is grieving for his lost love in the poem, “The Raven.” During a dark and gloomy night, the man hears a knock at his door. Hoping that it is Lenore, his dead lover, coming back to him, he goes to open the door. Unfortunately, he is only met with emptiness and disappointment. Shortly after, a raven flies into the room through the window and lands on the bust of Pallas. The man begins to converse with this dark and mysterious bird. In response to everything the man says, the raven repeats one dreadful word: “Nevermore.” The symbolism of the raven being connected to death, and the man’s interaction with the dark bird reveals to readers that he is going through the stages of dying. Subsequently, the repetition of the bird’s one worded reply makes it known that the man will never see Lenore again because there is no afterlife.
The Raven is associated with darkness, death, and the haunting refrain of "Nevermore," all of which suggest a deeper, symbolic existence beyond its physical form. For example, when the narrator asks the Raven if there is "balm in Gilead," he is seeking relief from his sorrow (line 89). The Raven's response of "Nevermore" reinforces the idea that there is no escape from the narrator's pain, emphasizing the bird's symbolic significance and suggesting that it is a creation of the narrator's imagination.
Throughout the play Macbeth, characters start to emerge as dark and cruel. The author William Shakespeare writes about a strong and ambitiously powerful woman named Lady Macbeth. In the play, Lady Macbeth’s character shares with the audience that she believes her husband is not man enough to excel in completing the prophecy that the three witches have given to him. As a women, she makes sure to tell us that just because she is a women that you can be strong and independent. Although it may seem that Lady Macbeth has a tough exterior, she does proceed to have a conscience that causes her problems that comes to display later in the play.