Language --> "Lies" by Martha Collins

"Lies" can be found on page 925 of the Norton.

In the first five lines of this poem, Collins plays with the word "lie". She uses the meaning as a fib or as a sexual encounter. The question "is it a lie for her to say she laid him" shows the confusion behind affairs. If there is so much confusion and questioning, then why have an affair? Furthermore, the question "if we don't know, do we lie if we say?" imposes a moral dilemna on the reader. Containing information can be considered "lying" but extending the truth could be as well. The last sentence, "if we must lie, let's not lie around" voices Collins' true feelings towards lyring. She is saying that lying takes a lot of effort and can get both parties in trouble, so it is easier to tell the truth. She is also saying that if you are going to lie, you better think of a good story because the secrets will eventually get out.

Language --> "Symphony in Yellow" by Oscar Wilde

"Symphony in Yellow" can be found on page 937 of the Norton.

By the frequent use of the word yellow, I can infer that the season in fall. From this language, I am able to picture my setting, which is important when reading a poem. The yellow bus crawling "like a yellow butterfly" contrasted by the "passer-by [showing] like a little restless midge" voices the speaker's need for happiness. In this case, the color yellow represents happiness and good times to come for the speaker. Furthermore, the the "fog [hanging] along the quay" represents the negativity in the speaker's life. Up until the last stanza, each object is yellow and describes something positive. However, the "pale green Thames [lying] like a rod of rippled jade" shows the speaker slowly coming back to reality. Hard, depressing times are at "[their] feet" while happiness is "across the bridge".

"Morning" by Billy Collins

"Morning" can be found on page 903 of the Norton.

Collins voices his favorite time of day through diction. Describing the rest of the day after morning as a "bother", I can picture the setting that he enjoys most. The "feet on the cold floor" and "buzzing around on espresso" makes me feel like I am in the scene. The fact that nothing occurs in the early morning radiates a calm and soothing vibe. The lack of situation in this setting makes it "the best". Also, the "atlas open on the rug" and the "typewriter waiting for the key of the head" shows that morning is a time of oppurtunity. Collins voices his enthusiasm for the morning with plethora of situational oppurtunities.

"A Brook in the City" by Robert Frost

The firm house lingers, though averse to square
With the new city street it has to wear A number in.
But what about the brook that held the house as in an elbow-crook?
I ask as one who knew the brook, its strength
And impulse, having dipped a finger length
And made it leap my knuckle, having tossed
A flower to try its currents where they crossed.
The meadow grass could be cemented down
From growing under pavements of a town;
The apple trees be sent to hearth-stone flame.
Is water wood to serve a brook the same?
How else dispose of an immortal force
No longer needed? Staunch it at its source
With cinder loads dumped down? The brook was thrown
Deep in a sewer dungeon under stone
In fetid darkness still to live and run -
And all for nothing it had ever done
Except forget to go in fear perhaps.
No one would know except for ancient maps
That such a brook ran water. But I wonder
If from its being kept forever under
The thoughts may not have risen that so keep
This new-built city from both work and sleep.

In this poem, Frost contrasts city and country life by focusing on housing. The "firm house" has been moved from a rural setting to a city block where "it has to wear a number". This expresses Frost's distaste towards conformity, which is prominent in cities. However, the brook where the house used to stand by has "strength and impulse". This shows that independent thoughts express strength and take a lot of courage. When the house moved to the city, the brook was "thrown deep in a sewer dungeon" which shows its loss of individuality. Frost is conveying that independence will thrive in a city but not country setting.

"We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks

"We Real Cool" can be found on page 879 of the Norton.

In this poem, "we" represents teenagers. This can be inferred by the conversational language and the use of slang. The opening line, "we real cool" shows that the speakers are ignorant. The rebelious teenagers constantly need to get into trouble in order to be considered cool.

The author of the poem is mocking teenagers. Everything that the teenagers due is leading up to their death. The ending line, "we die soon" shows that the author disagrees with crime among young people. This leads me to believe that the author once participated in these trivial acts as a teenager, and was able to come out alive. However, she did learn a lesson and is preaching it to her audience.

By Brooks' use of the teenagers' point of view, it shows the stupidity and ignorance of their acts.

"The Changeling" by Judith Ortiz Cofer

"The Changeling" can be found on page 873 of the Norton.

The speaker is a young girl who enjoys dressing up as a man and performing skits for her father. She is creative and her father enjoys the skits because he it allows him to feel young again. The young girl is more comfortable with her father telling "tales of battles and brotherhood" than she is with her mother.
The mother does not approve of the girls transformations because it distracts her from her womanly chores. The mother believes the place of women is in the kitchen and invisible. The "furious braid" the speaker twists represents her strain and weariness of society's standards.
The young girl is attempting to rebel against the harsh gender roles in her society, but it is impossible. The father is amused by her transformations but will never take her seriously, while the mother will not allow her to go beyond the chores of women.

"Mother of the Groom" by Seamus Heaney

"Mother of the Groom" can be found on page 851 of the Norton.

The tone of the first stanza is reminiscant. The mother remembers her son's "glistening back" and "small boots" when he was a child in the bath.
However, the second stanza reveals the mother's sadness towards her son's leaving. Her lap is described as "voided" which shows her loneliness. Her "soapy hold" shows her longing for the past, but the son's progression in life. She wants her son to be young again, but the reality is that he is moving on with his life in marraige.
However, the tone becomes lighter when the with the mother's hands described as "clapping". Although her son's wedding ring is "bedded forever", their love for each other will never cease to exist.
The tone of this poem ranges from reminiscant and longing, to accepting and hopeful.

"London" by William Blake

"London" can be found on page 841 of the Norton.

Blake is bitter towards the strict barriers and conformity of London. He describes the streets as "chartered" and the people that walk them as "weak". This shows his distaste towards conformists to a constrained society. The tone of the first stanza is negative and bitter.

In the second stanza, Blake speaks about "every ban" which shows his wish to break free of the rules and live his own life. He also speaks about the cries of men and infants who are also trying to break free of conformity. The cries "of fear" explain their hesitance towards leaving the society. They are scared of breaking free with nothing to fall back on.

The tone of the third stanza is also very dark. The "blackening church" shows Blake's disagreement with his religion, or what he is supposed to believe in. The "blood down Palace walls" shows Blake's anger towards fighting and war.

The last stanza is also negative in its description of "the Marriage hearse". This again shows Blake's distaste of conformity and submission because he sees marraige as a form of death. A commitment with anyone other than himself, in this case a wife, is seen as threatening.

Blake's tone in "London" is bitter and expresses his hate for conformity.

post

this is the first post