From the Hazel Bough

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From the Hazel Bough

In poetry, we can vent our frustration and interpretations of the world around us on paper. Poets make their points using metaphors or little stories to bring them out. When reading poetry, I always put myself in the shoes of the first or third person to better understand what is trying to be put across in the words of the sonnets. Most poems can mean anything to anybody. There are many cases in which you see people finding beauty in things they don't even understand, such as an Italian Opera or Ancient Hieroglyphics painted on a pyramid wall. Poetry can be silly, cheesy, boring or down right appealing and consuming to the readers eyes.

The poem I read was "From the Hazel Bough" by Earle Birney. This poem paints a great picture of a specific situation and also represents an aspect of life that I am sure we all have experienced in one way or another. In order to get the full affect of this poem, you have to clear your mind and envision the close details that Birney is using in the descriptions of the characters. This poem has to be read line by line.

In short, this is a story of a random meeting of two strangers, and an attraction or feeling that is overlooked and ignored. A man describes a lady such that you could only envision in your dreams, of stunning beauty and overwhelming confidence of which encounters of the opposite sex occur not so very often. The mans attraction is met by a possible interest by the lady, but only a couple flirtatious gestures are exchanged as the two cross paths for the first time and very possible the last.

To see the scene, every stanza must be broken down piece by piece.

He met a lady

On a lazy street

Hazel eyes

And little plush feet

This stanza begins the encounter. It sets the scene saying it is a lazy street. He begins to describe the woman's beauty, pointing out her hazel eyes and tiny feet.

Her legs swam by

Like lovely trout

Eyes were trees

Where boys leant out

Here we are entranced by the woman's style and the way she moves. Reminding us of when we were boys and climbed trees to see beautiful sights.

Hands in the dark and

A riverside

Round breasts rising

With the fingers tide

Here is an observation of the body of the hazel-eyed lady, compared to that of the tide rising over moonlight.

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