Triumphs Turned Into Tragedies The life of Jane Kenyon was one full of victories, hardships, and all around love for her creative and poignant poetry that she shared with the world. Throughout the terrible events that plagued her adulthood, Kenyon maintained persevering and doing what she loved most, which was to keep writing and inspiring others. Many people who read her poetry were able to catch a glimpse into the underlying meaning that was intertwined into the verses. The purpose of Kenyon's writings was to show the world about her attempt to do her best in staying strong even through all the deprivations that occurred in her life. She was able to combine her private life with her love for her work, just like most great poets do. However, …show more content…
When Kenyon got married to another poet, Donald Hall, her world became completely turned around after she left her old life behind and moved to Eagle Pond Farm in 1975 (Gundy). These new surroundings influenced Kenyon in ways she could never have imagined, making her feel as though she was part of something great and giving her a sense of community and togetherness (Gundy). As Kenyon stated, “It makes one less self-obsessed...it gives you a feeling that you are part of the great stream” stressing the importance of the ideology that working together does achieve more (qtd. in Gundy). As Hall and Kenyon never had any children of their own, Kenyon often explored the farm she lived at with her dog, waking up early every morning to write and wander (Hall). This routine is clearly explicated in her poem “After An Illness, Walking The Dog” where she recalls how in the mornings, “Soaked and muddy, the dog drops, / panting, and looks up… / It’s so good to be uphill with him, / nicely winded and looking down on the pond” where she felt the most at peace (lines 20-23). During the summer time, Kenyon enjoyed her other favorite pastime which was gardening and she had a natural affinity to any nature that grew outside, especially flowers and trees (Hall). In one of her most famous works, “The Pond at Dusk”, Kenyon admires the way that “The green haze on the trees changes / into leaves and what looks like smoke / floating over the neighbor’s barn / is only apple blossoms”, validating her deep knowledge of the natural world (lines 5-8). While living in New Hampshire, Kenyon enjoyed going to church and worshipping God gave her a feeling of hope, knowing that she was never alone (Gundy). This feeling translated deeply into her writings, especially in the poem “Let Evening Come” where she tells the reader, “Let it come, as it will, and don’t /
The poem explains her hardships. Reading poetry is different from reading prose because you really have to dig deeper and study harder. A poem is not always straight forward like many other writings. You have to use context clues and understand imagery, tone, and sense. Summarizing a poem becomes difficult if you do not re-read several times. I learned that figurative language and lifestyle really tells a great story. Language especially helps you understand what is going on between the lines. Overall, family is always there at the end of the day. Sometimes situations get tough, but there is always a light at the end of the
Gwendolyn Brooks was born on June 7, 1917 in Topeka, Kansas, to KeziahWims Brooks and David Anderson Brooks. Brooks’ family didn’t have much income. Her father David Brooks was a janitor. Keziah Brooks, Gwendolyn’s mother was a school teacher. Soon after Gwendolyn was born her family moved away from Kansas. The Brooks family relocated to Chicago, Illinois, where Brooks remained the rest of her life. Brooks, as a child, loved to read. She was encouraged by her family and friends to do so. She spent most of her childhood immersed in her writing. Gwendolyn became a published poet at an early age. At age 13, Brooks’ poem Eventide was published. Her poem appeared in “American Childhood.” Brooks’ poems were frequently published in the Chicago Defender. At age 16, Brooks had written over seventy poems (J.Williams 28).In Brooks’ early years of writing she spoke on a lot. She talked about racial discrimination and praised African American heroes. Also, Brooks satirized both blacks and whites (A.williams1). In 1993, Gwendolyn meet poet James Weldon Johnson and writer Langston Hughes. The two influenced Brooks’ writing tremendously. The influence lead her to write over seventy poems (Bloom 12).
Both awe-inspiring and indescribable is life, the defined “state of being” that historians and scholars alike have been trying to put into words ever since written language was first created. And in the words of one such intellectual, Joshua J. Marine, “Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful”. Essentially, he is comparing life to a bowl of soup. Without challenges or hardship into which we can put forth effort and show our potential, it becomes a dull and flavorless broth. But for characters in novels like Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, and Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, the difficulties and trials that we all must face can transfigure the mundane liquid mixture of existence into a vibrant and fulfilling gumbo. The protagonists of these works are two strong-willed and highly admirable women, who prevail in the face of overwhelming odds stacked in everyone’s favor but theirs. In their trying periods of isolation brought about by cold and unwelcoming peers, particularly men, they give their lives meaning by simply pushing forward, and living to tell the tale.
She gets to the point and proves that in our current world we tend to say more than we should, when just a couple of words can do the same. In her writing, it is evident that the little sentences and words are what make the poem overall that perfect dream she wishes she were part of.
Jane Addams was a Victorian woman born into a male-dominated society on September 6, 1860 in Cedarville, Illinois. Her father was a wealthy landowner and an Illinois senator who did not object to his daughter’s choice to further her education, but who wanted her to have a traditional life. For years after his death, Addams tried to reconcile the family role she was expected to play with her need to achieve personal fulfillment.
Her poetry is greatly informed by her childhood in hockey town Swift Current, Saskatchewan, with that environmental aesthetic often forming the backdrop to her stories of poverty, alcoholism, and the natural world. As a prairie girl myself, it’s easy for me to picture the agricultural landscapes and rustic animals described in poems such as “Inventing the Hawk”. Her authorial voice is wistful yet confessional, a voice that looks back fondly, but not blind to the issues of the past. Sex is also a recurring theme of her work, and the intimacies of her relationship with her husband Patrick Lane are a common topic of her work. One of her poems, “Watching My Lover”, tells of Lane bathing his dying mother, the mother’s scent lingering "so everyone who lies with him / will know he’s still / his mother’s son". Animals from cats to horses feature heavily in her work, tying in once again to her love of nature.
The fact that Wheatley’s poetry was read in her time is another impressive factor. She was black and a female, yet she received a decent amount of readership. In addition, she was respected for her art. However, the controversy and power existed not only within the time period Wheatley lived in, but they also existed within the content of her poetry.
When sorting through the Poems of Dorothy Parker you will seldom find a poem tha¬t you could describe as uplifting or cheerful. She speaks with a voice that doesn’t romanticize reality and some may even call her as pessimistic. Though she doesn’t have a buoyant writing style, I can empathize with her views on the challenges of life and love. We have all had experiences where a first bad impression can change how we view an opportunity to do the same thing again. Parker mostly writes in a satirical or sarcastic tone, which can be very entertaining to read and analyze.
Emily Dickinson, a transcendentalist author, demonstrates how settings away from society and technology are representations for virtue and individuality. In her poem Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church she writes about how she stays home on Sundays saying, “I keep it, staying at Home/–With a Bobolink for a Chorister/–And an Orchard, for a Dome” (Some Keep the Sabbath going to Church). Dickinson uses objects of nature such as birds and flowers to convey that she loves nature so much she stays away from society. She basks in her natural haven far from a massive stone cathedral and an orthodox way of life. She is at peace in nature but more importantly she follows her own beliefs and ideas, exhibiting her independence. In Ken Kesey’s writing, one such example of a character who prospers greatly in nature is Billy Bibbit, the stuttering patient from Nurse Ratched’s ward. Throughout the first half of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Bibbit fails to show any genuine feelings other than fear due to the immense control the nurse has over his life. However, he finds courage on the expansive open ocean. When on the boat trip there is “a fuss as to who'd be the three that braved that [storm] without [life]jackets... Everybody was kind of surprised [when] Billy...volunteered...and helped the girl right into [his]” (252). Bibbit acts like a hero on the stormy seas, a far different
Influenced by the style of “plainspoken English” utilized by Phillip Larkin (“Deborah Garrison”), Deborah Garrison writes what she knows, with seemingly simple language, and incorporating aspects of her life into her poetry. As a working mother, the narrator of Garrison’s, “Sestina for the Working Mother” provides insight for the readers regarding inner thoughts and emotions she experiences in her everyday life. Performing the daily circus act of balancing work and motherhood, she, daydreams of how life might be and struggles with guilt, before ultimately realizing her chosen path is what it right for her and her family.
The poem is a combination of beauty and poignancy. It is a discovery in a trajectory path of rise and fall of human values and modernity. She is a sole traveler, a traveler apart in a literary romp afresh, tracing the thinning line of time and action.
From poverty to stardom Louisa May Alcott has thrived through many trials and tribulations, but with her unremitting passion and determination, Alcott became a well-known author and role model. Alcott experienced many setbacks in her life. With these setbacks, she was able to create stories that portrayed her life experiences. Alcott’s writings captured the hearts of young children to grown adults. Although she lived for only fifty-five years, she showed her audacity to be support herself and her family.
Nikki Giovanni and Linda Hogan both wrote poems in the 1970s about their grandmothers that seem totally different to the unaware reader. In actuality, they are very similar. These two poems, Legacies and Heritage, express the poet’s value of knowledge passed down from grandmother to granddaughter, from generation to generation. Even though the poems are composed and read very differently, the underlying message conveyed is the same, and each are valid first-hand accounts of legacies and heritages.
Society has redefined the role of woman by their works thru poetry that has changed their life
In “On the Beach at Night Alone,” Walt Whitman develops the idea that everyone has a connection with everything else, including nature. Whitman uses a variety of writing techniques to get his point across. First, the repetition and parallel structure that his poems contain reinforce the connection between everything in nature. The usage of “All” 11 times emphasizes the inclusion of everything in the universe. The sentence structure remains the same throughout the poem, without any drastic change; however, the length of the lines in the poem vary. In addition, Whitman’s’ extravagance with his words further illustrates his idea of the Over-Soul. For example, “A vast similitude interlocks all” (4) shows his verbose nature. Whitman does not do directly to the point, but gives every little detail. Most importantly, Whitman’s’ use of catalogues stands as the most recognizable Whitman characteristic that illustrates his beliefs. These long lists that he uses set the mood of the poem. “All spheres, grown, ungrown, small, large, suns, moons, planets,” (5) shows the idea that everything is connected in nature. Similarly, “All nations, colors, barbarisms, civilizations languages.” (10) furthermore emphasize Whitman’s belief in the Over-Soul.