Shel Silverstein is one of the highest selling children's authors (10 interesting facts about Shel Silverstein). Silverstein was best known for his works as a poet, songwriter and singer, cartoonist, and musician (Shel Silverstein Biography Bio.com). Sheldon Allan Silverstein was born to Nathan and Helen Silverstein (Shel Silverstein Life & Timeline). He was married one time which later ended in a divorce (Shel Silverstein Life & Timeline). Within that marriage he had a daughter, however, his daughter later passed away at the age of 11 (Shel Silverstein Life & Timeline). Another thing about Shel Silverstein is he didn’t originally began writing children's books (Shel Silverstein Biography Bio.com). In, short Shel Silverstein is a high selling …show more content…
A brief summary of this poem is a man is being swallowed by a snake (The Boa Constrictor). He is describing each part of his body being eaten, but he is doing this in a funny entertaining way (The Boa Constrictor). There is no specific setting of the poem (The Boa Constrictor). The audience of this poem is intended to be towards a young group (The Boa Constrictor). Imagery can be seen in depicting a boa constrictor eating a man as he is talking about being eaten by the snake (The Boa Constrictor). The tone of this poem is a little bit of distress because he is being swallowed by a snake (The Boa Constrictor). The structure of the poem includes internal rhyme (The Boa Constrictor). Some examples would be “Oh, I'm being eaten By a boa constrictor, a boa constrictor” that is an example of free verse (The Boa Constrictor). Also an example of internal rhyme would be “Oh, gee, It’s up to my knee.”(The Boa Constrictor). The assonance shown in this poem would be no toe, gee knee, fiddle middle, pest chest, heck neck and those are the uses of assonance (The Boa Constrictor). The theme is that Shel Silverstein is turning what could be a tragic incident in real life, but making it funny and entertaining for the reader (The Boa Constrictor). I remember this poem from a very young age and I have always enjoyed reading this poem, and many more of Shel Silverstein's poem (The Boa Constrictor). To sum it up, this is a very funny poem that Silverstein uses to show many different stories, and he continues to do the same through many of his
To begin, the use of assonance can be heard in the poem in comparing the context or appearance of the black berries to words. This can be seen in the second line of the poem, “among the fat, overripe, icy, black berries,” where words can also be “fat” as in full of positive or negative meaning, “overripe” as in exaggerated,” and “icy” as in hurtful or cold. Nonetheless, the emphasis in the vowels in the phrase makes it stand out more to the ears of the readers. Another example of assonance can be seen in the eighth line, “fall almost unbidden to my tongue,” where the vowels in “fall” and “unbidden” can be heard. According to this phrase, the speaker compares “the ripest berries” to words, seeing as both “fall” from their tongue, as if the speaker could not control the need to learn more words.
The poem is written in the style of free verse. The poet chooses not to separate the poem into stanzas, but only by punctuation. There is no rhyme scheme or individual rhyme present in the poem. The poems structure creates a personal feel for the reader. The reader can personally experience what the narrator is feeling while she experiences stereotyping.
...veryone else. He wakes up every day ready to crow his symbol to bring on that day. In the poem he is ready to protect all the female chickens, from another cock that could be in there house. He is ready to battle to the death for what he thinks is his. In this poem he uses ridicule, when he is talking about the old man in a terminal ward, and he also uses connotations. Some example of connotations are when he uses words like; enraged, sullenly, savagery, unappeased and terminal.
Therefore, Oliver’s incorporation of imagery, setting, and mood to control the perspective of her own poem, as well as to further build the contrast she establishes through the speaker, serves a critical role in creating the lesson of the work. Oliver’s poem essentially gives the poet an ultimatum; either he can go to the “cave behind all that / jubilation” (10-11) produced by a waterfall to “drip with despair” (14) without disturbing the world with his misery, or, instead, he can mimic the thrush who sings its poetry from a “green branch” (15) on which the “passing foil of the water” (16) gently brushes its feathers. The contrast between these two images is quite pronounced, and the intention of such description is to persuade the audience by setting their mood towards the two poets to match that of the speaker. The most apparent difference between these two depictions is the gracelessness of the first versus the gracefulness of the second. Within the poem’s content, the setting has been skillfully intertwined with both imagery and mood to create an understanding of the two poets, whose surroundings characterize them. The poet stands alone in a cave “to cry aloud for [his] / mistakes” while the thrush shares its beautiful and lovely music with the world (1-2). As such, the overall function of these three elements within the poem is to portray the
Shel Silverstein, though shaded from the public eye, was a well known author, poet, illustrator, songwriter, photographer and musician. His poems told the story of incredible people, places and animals from around the world of the imagination. He had a following of millions, yet was very secretive about his life. He had many tragedies take place in a short while, not affecting his professional life enough to hinder him from still creating some of the most unusual and wild poems and stories ever told. He is still recognized as one of America’s best poets and was honored by many awards. Shel Silverstein overcame a lot of struggles and still seemed to touch the lives of millions of children and adults all over the world. Shel Silverstein always encouraged his readers to make their own magic, though he was always making enough for all of us to share.
This poem is divided into six stanzas with four lines each. The poem opens with “When the black snake flashed on the morning road” (1-2). The narrator uses “when” to signify the beginning of the story and introduces the snake as the main character. Labeling the snake as “black” gives it a dark and sinister appeal. The word “flashed” is used to demonstrate how fast the snake moved, and how quickly this event occurred. “Morning” is applied to the time of day that this event occurred. The narrator sees the snake quickly flash across the road. This sets up the scene in our minds. The “truck could not swerve” (3) implies that this was an accidental death. The poet uses “truck” to suggest a big vehicle that is unable to make quick moves or sudden stops. The narrator sees the snake flash across the road, into the path of a big truck that is unable to stop or swerve. “Death, that is how it happens” (4). The word “death” is italicized, emphasizing its importance. The p...
Shel Silverstein was a poet known for his innovative poems that made an advancement in poems. (2) Silverstein was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 25, 1930 and he died in Key West, Florida on May 10 1999. (2) Silverstein served in the U.S. Army in 1950 and got deployed to Korea and Japan then he became a very popular poet. (1)Silverstein made children learn a lot about logic where they are now able to use as an adult. Silverstein was a didactic kind of man. He was this way because he had an unique style to his writing. This style made people and children have to think and educate themselves on the words and the theme of his poems. (2)Although Silverstein was a popular poet, he spent some time drawing cartoons at playboys. Silverstein has been improving children’s minds and is still.
Within the first eight lines, the poet asserts his desire, yet inability, to capture a deer. Wyatt highlights the deer’s femininity by making the word “hind” an unstressed syllable. This poem is written in iambic pentameter. It is simply too exhausting and futile for the speaker to continue chasing after her, but his passions nearly override his mental state. He is “wearied,” “sore,” and “fainting,” but she is intrinsically
Alliteration is a key aspect to how the reader experiences the poem; it especially gives interest toward alliteration of the letter T. This alliteration begins in the very first line “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant-” (1.1). The alliteration on the T is used three times within the first line; however, it does not stop there. Dickinson uses the “T” sound to continually draw back to the theme of truth. Dickinson, through the use of two stanzas, four lines each, uses quite a distinct rhyme scheme to organize her poem. The second and fourth lines of each stanza are clearly examples of end rhyme, by using words such as “lies” (1.2) and “surprise” (1.4). However, every single line is not an example of end rhyme. The first and third lines rhyme words such as “slant” (1.1) and “delight” (1.3); which can be described as near rhymes for they give a small sensation of rhyming. This rhyming pattern continues for the second stanza as well. The sequence of rhyming is not arbitrarily put into practice, rather, it also adds on to the truth theme. The near rhymes Dickinson stresses to not tell the truth in its entirety, but rather, convey a little bit of truth. This is being directly compared to the almost rhyming sensatio...
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.
Lawrence uses figurative language in order to present his ideas of societies expectations of a man. Lawrence changes the structure and style of “Snake” in order to highlight the struggles of the narrator. Specifically, when writing about the snake he uses repetitive and flowing words. He also uses traditional devices like alliteration, for example “and flickered his two-forked tongue from his lips.” The use of these technics gives the snake an almost human like feel that the reader can connect to. At the same time, Lawrence writes about the log used to hurt the snake in a different style creating such a contrast between the snake’s description and the log. The words describing the log are much different, “and threw it at the water trough with a clatter.” The changing styles helps emphasize the internal struggle the narrator is experiencing as he tries to figure out if he should do as society dictates and kill the snake like a man or do as he wishes and leave the snake in peace as his guest at the water
Through all six stanzas, the poet uses a distinctive “aba, aba, aba, aba, aba, abaa” rhyme scheme. In each stanza, the “aba” pattern stresses the significance of the middle line as if it were to hold more importance. This unique pattern in effect also isolates the auditor’s attention to the middle line of each stanza, as the line stands out and does not comply with the rhyme scheme of the surrounding lines around it. It is also noted that although the middle line in each stanza does not rhyme with the lines it is embedded into, it directly rhymes with the second line of previous stanza as well as proceeding; classified as the “b” pattern. The rhyme scheme incorporated into the poem allows the stanzas to flow as if they were a passing of time. In each of the stanzas, the central line directly indicates a negative outcome of the individual’s actions. For instance, in the second stanza which refers to the “wise men” (4) the speaker says “Because their words had forked no lightning they” (5) which indicates that the wise man’s intellectual ability and his knowledge proved to be seldom useful in life. In the third stanza, the speaker makes reference to the “Good men” (7) and says in the second line, “Their frail deeds might have d...
The consistent pattern of metrical stresses in this stanza, along with the orderly rhyme scheme, and standard verse structure, reflect the mood of serenity, of humankind in harmony with Nature. It is a fine, hot day, `clear as fire', when the speaker comes to drink at the creek. Birdsong punctuates the still air, like the tinkling of broken glass. However, the term `frail' also suggests vulnerability in the presence of danger, and there are other intimations in this stanza of the drama that is about to unfold. Slithery sibilants, as in the words `glass', `grass' and `moss', hint at the existence of a Serpent in the Garden of Eden. As in a Greek tragedy, the intensity of expression in the poem invokes a proleptic tenseness, as yet unexplained.
Poets have their ways with words which is how they can pull in their audiences, and cause people to be captivated by the words. A poem by Billy Collins is a typical show of a poet having fun with words. Collins’ poem “Taking off Emily Dickinson’s Clothes” has a funny but sarcastic diction, persona, image, simile, metaphor, symbol, alliteration, slant rhyme, allegory, and assonance. Some of the most noticeable lines are twenty-three, twenty-six, and twenty-eight. These techniques are repeated in several of the lines, but the terms that are focused on mostly are diction, persona, image, and symbol.
First of all, the theme of the poem is about young love, and how they sense personal feelings with each other but endeavor to follow what the social norm dictates. The poem consists of five stanzas, all of which have six lines each, the sentences of the poem are short for the purpose of generating tension between the two lovers and also makes the fast rhythm. For instance, “We crossed the quiet river/Took the embankment walk’’ , referring that they crossed the bridge and walked along the soundless river, producing an atmosphere and tone of tension between the both lovers as they walk on the bridge. The following example is “Tremulous as a hawk/Hanging deadly, calm.” As soon as we read this, Heaney creates a tone of nervousness, due to the fact that the young lovers feel fearful, but they try not to show it, as well as in the third stanza “As hawk and prey apart/Preserved classic decorum” , the tone in these verses is tense, but at the same time, calm, since they were as “two different creatures each trying to get what it needs” but the kept their property as they walk along the river. To conclude, “With nervous childish talk/Still waters running deep/Along the embankment walk”, the postmodern author is portraying a tone of worry, but at the same time, hopeful and wiser, for the reason that the conversation is childish and