"What a world,
Where lotus flowers,
Are ploughed into a field."
Short but oh so sweet. Only three lines but I feel like I can talk about this all day. It's all subject. No rhyme scheme, no fancy wording or extensive metaphors and figurative speech. This is very common in haikus because you don't have too much space to write. You have a very simple yet very important message to get across and you do it in hardly a handful of words. What a world! I think that statement can be used for greatness or for worse. I think this poem is for the latter. Lotus flowers, very beautiful flowers of Japan, being ploughed into a field. What a world! To extend it some more, let's say what kind of world do we live in where... What kind of world do we live in where beautiful flowers are ploughed into a field? A bad one. I totally agree. Like George Carlin said only a population of half-headed dimwits or something could turn such a pristine paradise into a giant SHOPPING MALL! This ocean used to be a vast area of green jungles and lengthy deserts and biodiversity beyond imagination. Nowadays we're building everything we can everywhere and destroying other organisms' habitats and even our own! Our factories and vehicles are causing pollution and not only is it bad for the earth's conditions but how does it make us look? What if an alien civilization comes to see us and figure that we'll be dead within a few hundred years because of how much we're ruining the atmosphere and the great land we've been given. Jungles FULL of life in every square foot are being torn down to make room for more SH*T and cut down to build more too-many-story apartments to accommodate all the filthy, careless humans that we are...
I could go on and on...
Sunday, January 27, 2008
"To The Virgins, To Make Much Of Time" by Robert Herrick
"Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,
Old Time is still a flying:
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he's a getting;
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
That age is best, which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times, still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time;
And while ye may, go marry:
For having lost but once your prime,
You may forever tarry."
This poem has some cool wording and speech in it. Once again, gotta love your a, b, a, b etc. rhyme scheme. Makes it more musical and flows nicely. There are some pretty easy metaphors and stuff in this poem. The flower being happy and alive today is dying tomorrow? Obviously that suggests that things are changing drastically in the short time of a single day. And this relates to the title: make much of time. Gathering the rosebuds may refer to getting as much as you can out of life. Do as much in life as you can while you're still here, gather rosebuds. He talks about being in your prime, which is something ALL of you know well about I'm sure. Everybody's worried about getting old, weak, and ugly. So enjoy being in your prime. In this poem the writer's saying get married now, in your prime, because if you wait too long you may not be able to find a partner. The older, uglier you get the less chance you got. I don't really like it. Because getting married early has always seemed like a real bad idea to me, especially nowadays but I know this was written a long time ago. Premarital sex wasn't common at all in those days so you can see why getting married early wasn't a bad idea back then. How slutty...
Old Time is still a flying:
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he's a getting;
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
That age is best, which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times, still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time;
And while ye may, go marry:
For having lost but once your prime,
You may forever tarry."
This poem has some cool wording and speech in it. Once again, gotta love your a, b, a, b etc. rhyme scheme. Makes it more musical and flows nicely. There are some pretty easy metaphors and stuff in this poem. The flower being happy and alive today is dying tomorrow? Obviously that suggests that things are changing drastically in the short time of a single day. And this relates to the title: make much of time. Gathering the rosebuds may refer to getting as much as you can out of life. Do as much in life as you can while you're still here, gather rosebuds. He talks about being in your prime, which is something ALL of you know well about I'm sure. Everybody's worried about getting old, weak, and ugly. So enjoy being in your prime. In this poem the writer's saying get married now, in your prime, because if you wait too long you may not be able to find a partner. The older, uglier you get the less chance you got. I don't really like it. Because getting married early has always seemed like a real bad idea to me, especially nowadays but I know this was written a long time ago. Premarital sex wasn't common at all in those days so you can see why getting married early wasn't a bad idea back then. How slutty...
"To Lucasta, Going to the Wars" by Richard Lovelace
"Tell me not, Sweet, I am unkind,
That from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind
To wars and arms I fly. -
True, a new mistress now I chase,
The first foe in the field;
And with a stronger faith embrace
A sword, a horse, a shield. -
Yet this inconstancy is such
As you too shalt adore;
I could not love thee, Dear, so much,
Loved I not Honour more."
I like this poem. Obviously there's an a, b, a, b etc. rhyme scheme which is always really nice and fun to read. The wording in this poem is great when he's talking about his equipment and how important it is. He seems more concerned about making sure it is seen that he's going away for honor/glory than resolving his love with his partner. I love the figurative speech in the poem when he says he's chasing a new mistress. It's not a mistress he's really chasing, but he still is going towards something else he has strong feelings for so the relationship is easy to make. This "mistress" he's going to is war (or honor). He's going to war and he is doing so for basically no other reason than his honor and his pride, etc. In the poem he writes that she should like him leaving for war as he does. Call it conceited or self-absorbed, it's typical of a man who's more interested in pride/honor than love to think everybody respects his decision to fight and kill or die for his hometown. Take one for the team! Actually the "mistress" he's chasing is the first foe in the field. My bad. But it's still the same idea. That wording is just even cooler. The thing he wants most is to meet the enemy to do what he does. DO WORK, son! The tone is very proud and glamorous. The soon-to-be warrior is very full of himself and sure of everything he does or thinks. But that's cool because he's hunting down the first enemy in the field, DO WORK!
That from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind
To wars and arms I fly. -
True, a new mistress now I chase,
The first foe in the field;
And with a stronger faith embrace
A sword, a horse, a shield. -
Yet this inconstancy is such
As you too shalt adore;
I could not love thee, Dear, so much,
Loved I not Honour more."
I like this poem. Obviously there's an a, b, a, b etc. rhyme scheme which is always really nice and fun to read. The wording in this poem is great when he's talking about his equipment and how important it is. He seems more concerned about making sure it is seen that he's going away for honor/glory than resolving his love with his partner. I love the figurative speech in the poem when he says he's chasing a new mistress. It's not a mistress he's really chasing, but he still is going towards something else he has strong feelings for so the relationship is easy to make. This "mistress" he's going to is war (or honor). He's going to war and he is doing so for basically no other reason than his honor and his pride, etc. In the poem he writes that she should like him leaving for war as he does. Call it conceited or self-absorbed, it's typical of a man who's more interested in pride/honor than love to think everybody respects his decision to fight and kill or die for his hometown. Take one for the team! Actually the "mistress" he's chasing is the first foe in the field. My bad. But it's still the same idea. That wording is just even cooler. The thing he wants most is to meet the enemy to do what he does. DO WORK, son! The tone is very proud and glamorous. The soon-to-be warrior is very full of himself and sure of everything he does or thinks. But that's cool because he's hunting down the first enemy in the field, DO WORK!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
"Sonnet 130" by William Shakespeare
"My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare."
Gotta love Shakespeare. In a sort of act of mocking other poems with a vast amount of positive imagery and metaphors so unrealistic, he redefines the art of poetry. He writes about something real, something everyday, something normal. However, it opens people's eyes because for so long poetry was written with unrealistic ideals to make it sound more interesting and pleasing. So when Shakespeare wrote about something real that wasn't fabricated by images that one could only dream of people at the time may not have understood it so well, but that's where the last two lines come into play. At first the entire poem seems like it's just a comedy and maybe even brutally harsh. However, in the end, typical of sonnets, the tables turn and you get the message of the entire poem. Though this girl doesn't shine like an angel or have a face too perfect for words or smell like fresh flowers or something ridiculous like that she is still whom I love and that's rare compared to all that other false imagery...
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare."
Gotta love Shakespeare. In a sort of act of mocking other poems with a vast amount of positive imagery and metaphors so unrealistic, he redefines the art of poetry. He writes about something real, something everyday, something normal. However, it opens people's eyes because for so long poetry was written with unrealistic ideals to make it sound more interesting and pleasing. So when Shakespeare wrote about something real that wasn't fabricated by images that one could only dream of people at the time may not have understood it so well, but that's where the last two lines come into play. At first the entire poem seems like it's just a comedy and maybe even brutally harsh. However, in the end, typical of sonnets, the tables turn and you get the message of the entire poem. Though this girl doesn't shine like an angel or have a face too perfect for words or smell like fresh flowers or something ridiculous like that she is still whom I love and that's rare compared to all that other false imagery...
"When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be" by John Keats
"When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain;
When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love;--then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink."
John Keats has a theme of fearing death in this poem which a lot of people look down upon but really I view it as more natural to fear death. Why not? Plus, he has good reasons to fear losing his life. He believes that if he loses his life that will ultimately result in losing his LOVE, and losing his LITERATURE such as writing poetry or books or anything of the likes. Obviously losing love is something you wouldn't want to do. Never looking upon his fair creature of an hour anymore. He doesn't want to leave his fair ladies behind, most men don't. That's more self-explanatory. He also doesn't want to leave behind his ability to write and express himself to other people through literature. That's an awesome reason. In the poem he says fame which can be interpreted wrong as if he's a rock star hundreds of years ago. He doesn't want to lose writing because it's one of the most important things in his life. His writing helps him see his life clearly and develop an ultimate perspective over everything. And as the poems help him they also help others, who may not be able to write for themselves to solve their own mysteries. So something as simple as writing a poem that can be shorter than 10 lines can help a person determine something important about life. A few lines of words chosen wisely and put in a specific order, seemingly so simple, can change a person's entire view on life, something seemingly not so simple...
Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain;
When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love;--then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink."
John Keats has a theme of fearing death in this poem which a lot of people look down upon but really I view it as more natural to fear death. Why not? Plus, he has good reasons to fear losing his life. He believes that if he loses his life that will ultimately result in losing his LOVE, and losing his LITERATURE such as writing poetry or books or anything of the likes. Obviously losing love is something you wouldn't want to do. Never looking upon his fair creature of an hour anymore. He doesn't want to leave his fair ladies behind, most men don't. That's more self-explanatory. He also doesn't want to leave behind his ability to write and express himself to other people through literature. That's an awesome reason. In the poem he says fame which can be interpreted wrong as if he's a rock star hundreds of years ago. He doesn't want to lose writing because it's one of the most important things in his life. His writing helps him see his life clearly and develop an ultimate perspective over everything. And as the poems help him they also help others, who may not be able to write for themselves to solve their own mysteries. So something as simple as writing a poem that can be shorter than 10 lines can help a person determine something important about life. A few lines of words chosen wisely and put in a specific order, seemingly so simple, can change a person's entire view on life, something seemingly not so simple...
Friday, January 11, 2008
Poetry Gallery Walk
"There Will Come Soft Rains" by Sara Teasdale
"There will come soft rain and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum-trees in tremulous white;
Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone."
Rhyme: I love rhyme even though it is the words that give the true meaning of the poem. Rhyme gives a poem musicality.
Mankind at worst: It is a shame mankind put Earth's beauty to a disgraceful, polluted metropolis where nobody has the time or confidence to enjoy the little beauty of nature left. This poem describes a futuristic scene in which humans, with their wars and self interest, eventually kill everybody. And when this happens, the Earth would hardly care or remember.
Tone: The tone is pretty depressing but totally educating. Many people think really long and hard when depressed and therefore may learn something new in any aspect of life.
Connect: I too am ashamed I am part of the desecration of this wonderful paradise that is Earth. And I am ashamed the human race would fight until every last one is erased from existence, but maybe it's for the best. It's Darwinism. And we may not be fit to survive.
Diction: Perish - connotation of complete destruction
There's a mix of very happy words that describe a very unhappy state and it's very contradictory.
"There will come soft rain and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum-trees in tremulous white;
Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone."
Rhyme: I love rhyme even though it is the words that give the true meaning of the poem. Rhyme gives a poem musicality.
Mankind at worst: It is a shame mankind put Earth's beauty to a disgraceful, polluted metropolis where nobody has the time or confidence to enjoy the little beauty of nature left. This poem describes a futuristic scene in which humans, with their wars and self interest, eventually kill everybody. And when this happens, the Earth would hardly care or remember.
Tone: The tone is pretty depressing but totally educating. Many people think really long and hard when depressed and therefore may learn something new in any aspect of life.
Connect: I too am ashamed I am part of the desecration of this wonderful paradise that is Earth. And I am ashamed the human race would fight until every last one is erased from existence, but maybe it's for the best. It's Darwinism. And we may not be fit to survive.
Diction: Perish - connotation of complete destruction
There's a mix of very happy words that describe a very unhappy state and it's very contradictory.
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