The Poems of Richard Wilbur
Richard Wilbur's New and Collected Poems is full of poems that cover a huge multitude of subjects. The four poems this assignment covers represent that variety, with the topics including love, juggling, grace and music. Wilbur's poems take experiences and ideas (even a juggler) and through his mastery of the English language force the reader to take another look at what his preconceptions are. His poems allow for many different interpretations, and this paper will take a different angle to some of his works.
"Love Calls Us to the Things of This World" sets up, in the first stanza, the feeling that something otherworldly is going to be in the picture. "The morning air is all awash with angels" brings in the image (or concept) of heaven, which Wilbur refers to again later in the poem. In the 2nd stanza, again the concept of not-of-this-world is brought into play with the mention of the halcyon, which is a mythical bird. One literary device that Wilbur seems to draw upon heavily in this poem is the use of oxymorons, contradictory terms together. The angels are rising together in "calm swells." When I think of swells, calm is not necessarily the word that comes to mind. He also states that the angels are "flying in place...moving/ And staying like white water." Flying implies movement, so "flying in place" is not a phrase that is commonly heard. Later in the poem he uses the term bitter love, and while I understand that this concept does in fact exist, it is still two words which are somewhat contradictory. In the last stanza he mentions the "heaviest nuns" trying hard to keep their "difficult balance." This reminded me of that concept of funambilism that we discussed in class. This work seems to utilize the idea of balance (indirectly) in many aspects. The use of the contradictory terms that I discussed earlier could be thought of as balancing each other out. This poem overall was very well put together, with sentences that caught your attention, and my favorite sentence was "The soul shrinks/ From all that it is about to remember."
"Juggler" was probably the most elegant of the poems that were assigned. The other two discussed the concepts of love and grace, but "Juggler" made juggling a very beautiful act. I must state that the fact that I'm able to juggle probably had some influence on my understanding of this poem.
The essence of this poem is the author’s mastery of sound and rhythm and his excellent use of figurative language. Richard Wilbur purposely chose words that have few a syllables and require little to no change in mouth size and tongue movements to appease to the reader when read aloud. There is an ABAB rhythm scheme
and say and do. We don't live alone. We are members of a body. We are
that he was from West Virginia and how his book had been developed into a movie. The speaker
I was in the Infirmary looking at what was left of Eva Smith. A nice
the reality of a racist society. He must also discover for himself that his father is wrong
In "The House of Poe", Richard Wilbur elucidates his criticisms of Poe 's work. He firstly comments on a critic 's purpose, then how Poe 's stories are all allegories. He then addresses the possible opposition to his argument, and then begins his discussion of the common themes in Poe 's writing and provides examples from his stories. This dissertation will analyze Wilbur 's criticism by cross referencing Poe 's work and how it exemplifies Wilbur 's assessment. There is a great deal of evidence to support Wilbur 's theories, but a close examination of each one will determine how legitimate his argument really is.
in jeopardy than how he may have driven a young girl down a spiral to
west, either we make up this gap in five to ten years or they will
In this poem, Wilbur shows that we need to properly grieve death, or it will come back and haunt us. He also shows that you need to forgive yourself for past mistakes, no matter how long ago it was. I really liked this poem, although it was tough to understand at first. Once I understood the general purpose of the poem, I was able to dive deeper to catch the hidden meanings of the poem.
struggling. This not only shows his hardships of attempting to be like his father, but
In the poem “Juggler” by Richard Wilbur, the speaker describes the juggler's act. Wilbur uses tone to further the description of the jugglers movement and actions at the circus. He is excited through the poem while he performs his job but further becomes more serious later in the poem when he explains his job and how entertaining it can be.
In the poem, the author does not describe the difficulty and complexity of being a poet directly. Instead, he uses numerous vivid languages to describe what the acrobats do to convey the underlying theme. ¡§he performs above the heads of his audience¡¨, ¡§the poet like an acrobat climbs on rime to a high wire¡K on eyebeams above a sea of faces¡¨. The author uses metaphor, and even makes up new word ¡§...
Judith Wright is a respected Australian poet is also known as a conservationist and protester. Her poetry has captured the most amazing imagery of Australian Culture. For Australian students to understand their own culture and history it is necessary to study the best poetry and Judith Wright’s poetry is definitely some of the best.
... become a poet. I am not particularly keen on poetry, but I do like Whitman's poetry because it is so beautiful..The boy, the speaker, is transformed, and then translates his experiences in nature into a language the reader can understand. What is special about the boy, why he can become "The Poet" is the risks he takes. He's not only alone, which seems to be necessary in order to be a great Poet, but also "bareheaded, barefoot," to the natural elements. He braves both body and soul to the wind and the sea, the sand with its briers and cutting grasses. Both the poet and the bird "must be still, be still to listen," and wait for the mate, the muse, the poem, the aria to come.We see the formation of the poet and we see him discover his poetic power. Music, the aria, in particular is central to the poem. Poetry and music are combined.I would love to hear this poem aloud.
...er readers. Dickinson’s use of literary devices and her creativity enables her to imaginatively describe the beauty and grace from a simple and familiar observation. It is through her use of tone, imagery, and sound that she exploits a keen sense of respect for at the very least the little bird, if not also nature itself. Dickinson recreates and expresses the magnificence and smoothness of the bird soaring across the sky. She uses tone to create the mood to emphasize the theme. She uses sound and imagery to not only tell the reader about the awesome flight of the bird, but to help the reader experience and connect to the little bird and nature in hope that they too will learn to respect nature.