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Rita Dove Thomas and beulah poem analysis
Analysis of the poem daystar
Analysis of the poem daystar
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From a global viewpoint, the passing of generations of the human race is a smooth and natural cycle, one generation bringing another generation into this world, as they themselves begin to leave it. From the perspective of the individual, however, this cycle can bring about a mixture of feelings, from pride to depression, as they watch their own lives fall second to that of their children. Donald Hall’s “My son, my executioner” and Rita Dove’s “Daystar” describe how the birth and growth of a child is a massive turning point in a person’s life and can be looked at as either the continuance of one’s legacy or the withering of one’s own life, depending on the viewpoint. Donald Hall’s “My son, my executioner” describes the speaker’s acknowledgement that the arrival of the speaker’s son signals the beginning of the speaker’s own coming death, but muses that the child will carry on their legacy. The speaker holds the child “in [their] arms” (line 4) and reflects upon the situation. The speaker refers to the son as their “instrument of immortality” (line 6), its “cries and hunger” (line ...
In John Knowles’ A Separate Peace, characters Gene and Phineas begin their journeys to adulthood in a war torn environment. The dynamic formed between a world full of struggle and the crucial age of development in high school proves to be an excellent setting to examine the abilities of both Gene and Phineas to “come of age.” Being a Bildungsroman, the theme of coping with war and death is highlighted via the imagery that surrounds both Gene’s epiphany moment at the marble stairs, and its introduction at the beginning of the novel. Additionally, Knowles employs a flashback to set a nostalgic and somewhat reflective mood, which further extends this meaning. In Knowles’ “coming of age” novel A Separate Peace, the use of imagery surrounding the marble stairs, and a reminiscent flashback aid Gene is discovering that war and death can never be understood.
In John Connolly’s novel, The Book of Lost Things, he writes, “for in every adult there dwells the child that was, and in every child there lies the adult that will be”. Does one’s childhood truly have an effect on the person one someday becomes? In Jeannette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle and Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, this question is tackled through the recounting of Jeannette and Amir’s childhoods from the perspectives of their older, more developed selves. In the novels, an emphasis is placed on the dynamics of the relationships Jeannette and Amir have with their fathers while growing up, and the effects that these relations have on the people they each become. The environment to which they are both exposed as children is also described, and proves to have an influence on the characteristics of Jeannette and Amir’s adult personalities. Finally, through the journeys of other people in Jeannette and Amir’s lives, it is demonstrated that the sustainment of traumatic experiences as a child also has a large influence on the development of one’s character while become an adult. Therefore, through the analysis of the effects of these factors on various characters’ development, it is proven that the experiences and realities that one endures as a child ultimately shape one’s identity in the future.
As society changes around us, we spot things we never noticed before: high divorce rates, murder rates, and drug use just to name a few. James Riddley-Scott and Mary Shelley noticed and had a fear of child abandonment. In Frankenstein, Shelley explores this subject through the viewpoint of a man, Victor, who creates a child so hideous that he cannot bear to look at it, and consequently deserts it. In Blade Runner, Scott explores this matter through a businessman, Tyrell, who makes replicants of humans, the Nexus 6, gives them only four years to live, and sells them as slaves. The children of these creators turn out to be smarter and more human than expected, and revolt against the way society treats them, giving us all a lesson in parenting and child development.
Death is one of life’s most mysterious occurrences. It is sometimes difficult to comprehend why an innocent young child has to die, and a murderer is released from prison and gets a second chance at life. There is no simple explanation for this. Though, perhaps the best, would be the theological perspective that God has a prewritten destiny for every man and woman. In J.D. Salinger’s
Telling my family that I was pregnant was one of the scariest moments of my life. Even worse was being rushed into the hospital and being handed a life that I’ve created. After reading through the collections of poetry, I was struck by term “Daystar”, which means a brand new day would start, another day would end. He became my light in the darkness. The dichotomy of loving and fearing my sweet baby sums up my experience as a teen mother suffering post-partum depression.
During the process of growing up, we are taught to believe that life is relatively colorful and rich; however, if this view is right, how can we explain why literature illustrates the negative and painful feeling of life? Thus, sorrow is inescapable; as it increase one cannot hide it. From the moment we are born into the world, people suffer from different kinds of sorrow. Even though we believe there are so many happy things around us, these things are heartbreaking. The poems “Tips from My Father” by Carol Ann Davis, “Not Waving but Drowning” by Stevie Smith, and “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop convey the sorrow about growing up, about sorrowful pretending, and even about life itself.
As a child Dave Pelzer was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother; a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games that left one of her sons nearly dead. She no longer considered him a son, but a slave; no longer a boy, but an 'it'. His bed was an old army cot in the basement, his clothes were torn and smelly, and when he was allowed the luxury of food it was scraps from the dogs' bowl. The outside world knew nothing of the nightmare played out behind closed doors. Dave dreamed of finding a family to love him and call him their son. It took years of struggle, deprivation and despair to find his dreams and make something of himself. A Child Called 'It' covers the early years of his life and is an affecting and inspiration memoir of one child's determination to survive.
In the text, a Devoted Son, by Anita Desai, there is a boy that is raised and becomes extremely intelligent, and brings great honors to his family, as they were illiterate. One day, the boy, Rakesh, got his exam grades back, and they were amazing! He soon went to America to get his degree and become a doctor. Things went well and all for Rakesh, he got his doctors degree, and even found a girl and married her. One day, Rakesh found out that his father had become very sick, and he had to take care of him. Things went well until one day, his father started thinking that his son wasn’t treating him right, so they began to fight! Finally, the father decided to give up on life, because he wasn’t agreeing with the treatments that his son was giving him, and then he died. The author, Anita Desai says on page 1417 that she wanted to capture the duality of human nature. In Anita Desai’s text, A Devoted Son, the duality of human nature is used in three ways, including age, health, and generations.
“He killed it! My father killed it!” Imagine a world where babies are killed because they don't weigh as much as their twin. In the book, The Giver by Lois Lowry, the protagonist, Jonas feels trapped in this numb, heartless world and feels he needs to escape. He undergoes a journey where he figures out how life was before him. While Jonas’ society is emotionless with no love, experiences Sameness, and does not have the freedom to choose, modern day society is free to love, celebrates individuality and has the freedom to choose.
Many people usually never think about the way they will die or how they will be remembered. No one will ever exactly know what to expect but creative writers help readers understand the inevitable path everyone will eventually take. In the poem “And Death Shall Have No Dominion” by Dylan Thomas, he explains how death will happen to everyone but the memory of those dead will be remembered. Similar to the powerful poem by Thomas, Michael Robbins’ recent poem “Not Fade Away” reminds the readers about the music artists whom have died and their legacies that carry on through different generations but in the end he is afraid to die. Both poems are inspired by older works of literature and share the common theme of death with their use of imagery despite not having similar characteristics like rhythm and rhyme scheme.
During the early seventeenth century, poets were able to mourn the loss of a child publicly by writing elegies, or poems to lament the deceased. Katherine Philips and Ben Jonson were two poets who wrote the popular poems “On the Death of My Dearest Child, Hector Philips”, “On My First Son”, and “On My First Daughter” respectively. Although Philips and Jonson’s elegies contain obvious similarities, the differences between “On the Death of My Dearest Child” and “On My First Son” specifically are pronounced. The emotions displayed in the elegies are very distinct when considering the sex of the poet. The grief shown by a mother and father is a major theme when comparing the approach of mourning in the two elegies.
Mayall, Berry. “Conversations with Children: Working with Generational Issues”. In AP/HUMA 1970 9.0A Worlds of Childhood. Fall/ Winter. Ed. Jeffrey Canton and Steve Gennaro. Toronto: York University. 2010-2011. 139-147. Print.
The poem “My Son, My Executioner” speaks of realizations a young father has when he has his first child. It emphasizes how life as it was before, is over. He is not immortal like he believed and he is now an adult. The first line, “My son, my executioner” is representing the newborn son as an executioner ending the life that this young parent had before. The parents who are young and used to have a care free life are now having to revolve their lives completely around caring for this child. The father sees his son as being the executioner of his previous care free life.
In the eyes of a child, there is joy, there is laughter. But as time ages us, as soon as we flowered and became grown-ups the child inside us all fades that we forget that once, we were a child.
According to Beckstrand, Rawle, Callister, & Mandleco (2010) “Death of a child evokes deep feelings of tragedy, devastation, and painful confusion at the injustice of a life being ended prematurely.” (p. 544) These are the raw emotions that are prevalent when a child is dying. For the child and the family, these final fleeting m...