“September Elegies” is a poem written by an American poet Randall Mann in memory of Seth Walsh, Justin Aaberg, Billy Lucas, and Tyler Clementi. It articulates a gloomy story about four young boys who took their own lives by jumping off the George Washington Bridge. The memorialization is a reminder of how cruel our world can be and how bigotry and indifference destroy people’s lives. The poet reveres their memory by making use of various literary devices in order to transmit the pain the boys experienced. Examining the literary terms used in this poem, one should mention alliteration first. It is used in the following line: “There are those who suffer in plain sight, / there are those who suffer in private” (line 1-2). Another literary device,
assonance, is transmitted through the next line “posted on his profile,” which is used twice in this poem (line 18 & 21). Consonance is presented here: “The words turn and turn on themselves” (line 20 & 23) and in the following line: “a last shower, a request for a pen, a tall red oak” (line 4 and 7). The tone of the poem is rather desolate and tormented; as it is supported by the use of such words and word combinations as suffer, last shower, enough tournament, and secondhand details. Arbitrating the poem by the word choice and sounds that the letters make it should be noted that such literary devices as cacophony prevails. The sounds characteristic of cacophony enforce the meaning of the composition. In fact, the poet uses it to prompt corresponding emotional reactions in the reader, to be exact, it is used to intensify tension, to convey a sense of disharmony and reflect the emotional tinge of the poem in general. Discussing the form of the poem, it represents a pantoum. The line break performs the role of a powerful and subtle tool of the poem. It should be also pointed out that twenty-seven out of twenty-eight lines are actually full-stopped, which is supposed to slow the composition down and make it more expressive, contained and disconsolate. As mentioned above, the poem itself is a memorialization that is used to honor four young men who committed suicide because they were bullied by society. It may be eminent that the use of the literary devices makes sorrow even more profound.
Alan Shapiro is a poet whom uses the sorrowful tragedies that occurred in his lifetime and turns them into beautiful poems in which he greatly expresses through his poetry. Most of his poems symbolize either a type of sorrow or tragic death, and the expressions used throughout his poetry make it noticeable that Alan Shapiro endured a life of hardship and tragedy. While Shapiro was growing up he lost his brother and his sister in which the poem “Sleet” by Alan Shapiro beautifully encompasses his feeling of grief and sorrow due to the loss of his siblings.
The word choice used in this poem helps to portray a mood of isolation. “And all I loved, I loved alone” (8). What the speaker is saying with this quote is that everything they found interest in, nobody else did, and therefore had nobody to share their life experiences with. Even from a young age, the speaker felt as if they were an outcast, and the loss of the loved one just intensified their loneliness. “Then- in my childhood, in the dawn, Of a most stormy life- was drawn, From every depth of good and ill, The mystery which binds me still” (9-12). The speaker felt that they had no control over their fate. No matter what happened, whether it be good or bad, the speaker felt abandone...
The first literary device that can be found throughout the poem is couplet, which is when two lines in a stanza rhyme successfully. For instance, lines 1-2 state, “At midnight, in the month of June / I stand beneath the mystic moon.” This is evidence that couplet is being used as both June and moon rhyme, which can suggest that these details are important, thus leading the reader to become aware of the speaker’s thoughts and actions. Another example of this device can be found in lines 16-17, “All Beauty sleeps!—and lo! where lies / (Her casement open to the skies).” These lines not only successfully rhyme, but they also describe a woman who
Not only the words, but the figures of speech and other such elements are important to analyzing the poem. Alliteration is seen throughout the entire poem, as in lines one through four, and seven through eight. The alliteration in one through four (whisky, waltzing, was) flows nicely, contrasting to the negativity of the first stanza, while seven through eight (countenance, could) sound unpleasing to the ear, emphasizing the mother’s disapproval. The imagery of the father beating time on the child’s head with his palm sounds harmful, as well as the image of the father’s bruised hands holding the child’s wrists. It portrays the dad as having an ultimate power over the child, instead of holding his hands, he grabs his wrists.
The setting is a key part when presenting suffering. The poem is set in a ‘darkroom’; the concept of being in a dark place (both metaphorically and theoretically) is associated with emotions such as suffering and depression. The dark room can not only signify his place in mind but also the darkroom could reflect his deepest and darkest thoug...
I will discuss the similarities by which these poems explore themes of death and violence through the language, structure and imagery used. In some of the poems I will explore the characters’ motivation for targeting their anger and need to kill towards individuals they know personally whereas others take out their frustration on innocent strangers. On the other hand, the remaining poems I will consider view death in a completely different way by exploring the raw emotions that come with losing a loved one.
"Out, Out," by Robert Frost is a gruesomely graphic and emotional poem about the tragic end of a young boy's life. It is a powerful expression about the fragility of life and the fact that death can come at any time. Death is always devastating, but it is even more so when the victim is just a young boy. The fact that the boy's death came right before he could " Call it a day" (750) leads one to think the tragedy might have been avoided and there by forces the reader to think, "What if." This poem brings the question of mortality to the reader's attention and shows that death has no age limit.
After tragedy strikes people reflect on the importance of their own life and the importance of the lives of those surrounding them. The tragedy that occurred on September, eleventh is no different. There is no definition for a great poem but a good start is one that makes us reflect. The poem “The Names” by Billy Collins is an excellent poem that makes us consider the importance of our names, how we’ll be remembered, and our place in the world.
Identify two themes from the poem and show how they are presented in the poem as a whole.
between the human struggles and the struggles of the speaker in the poem. S/he also uses visual
The speaker is someone who has endured much pain during his time. When reading the poem we can sense that the speaker was born in a time when
The poets studied this year have explored a variety of different themes throughout their poetry, using a number of techniques to accentuate these ideas. The issues that are addressed evoke the emotions of anger, awe and distress in the reader. W.H Auden’s poem ‘Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone’ explores muted anger throughout as the speaker grieves the death of a loved one. Similarly, Wilfred Owen’s poems of and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ express anger in his response to Jessie Pope’s poem, ‘The Call’. Alternatively, William Shakespeare and Pablo Neruda both explore their awe of a loved one where as Bruce Dawe and Wilfred Owen convey their distress by explaining the deaths of soldiers at war. The techniques of metaphors, commands, setting
It seems like the poet wanted to commit suicide but he was too scared. My initial thought is that he is suffering from depression. The theme of this poem is suicide.
“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is a poem composed by Thomas Gray over a period of ten years. Beginning shortly after the death of his close friend Richard West in 1742, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” was first published in 1751. This poem’s use of dubbal entendre may lead the intended audience away from the overall theme of death, mourning, loss, despair and sadness; however, this poem clearly uses several literary devices to convey the author’s feelings toward the death of his friend Richard West, his beloved mother, aunt and those fallen soldiers of the Civil War. This essay will discuss how Gray uses that symbolism and dubbal entendre throughout the poem to convey the inevitability of death, mourning, conflict within self, finding virtue in one’s life, dealing with one’s misfortunes and giving recognition to those who would otherwise seem insignificant.
"Dry September" by William Faulkner is a story about Minnie Cooper, a lonely and unhappy woman, who accuses a black man, Will Mayes, of rape. The story happens in rural South, where racism against black people is wide spread in the society. A group of hard-core bigots, led by ruthless John McLendon, decides to punish Will Mayes, without even bothering to check whether Minnie's claim is true. The only opposition to their plan comes from a barber Henry Hawkshaw, who believes that they should try to "find out the truth first" (339). In their hatred, they accuse him of being a "damn niggerlover" (339) and proceed with their plan regardless. In attempt to change their minds, Henry joins them, as they leave to find Will. Upon finding him, Will tries to reason with the mob, but they handcuff him anyway and take him into the deserted forest. Henry suddenly decides to leave the car and does this by jumping out of it, for McLendon would not stop the car for him. As he slowly walks back into the town he hides when the mob was on their way back, upon executing Will Mayes. Next day Minnie's friends took her out to town for an evening walk and a movie. Everybody is curious about her and she is in the center of attention. During the movie, while watching all the young couples in the theater and realizing the consequences of her frustrations and lies, she starts laughing hysterically and has a nervous breakdown. The author emphasizes that human tendency for self-deception has a good breeding ground within the racist society and one of its consequences is a loss of innocent human lives.