The simple subject matters of Where the Sidewalk Ends and The Lamb can be seen to disguise the true complexity and deeper significance of the poems. In Where the Sidewalk Ends, the speaker is constructed as an adult, as demonstrated by the description of children in the third person “For the children, they mark, and the children, they know”. Written in a regular verse form, the speaker is certain of a place better than the gloomy present. He (or she) describes it as a magical dwelling of soft white grass in the swaying of a cool "peppermint wind" during the first stanza. The speaker contrasts this captivating beauty with the second stanza which presents the current situation "where the smoke blows black" and the streets are dark.
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein Where the Sidewalk Ends is a poem which speaks about crossing the border of childhood, on to the real world of adulthood. In the poem he speaks of two made up lands. One where “the grass grows soft and white, and there the sun burns crimson bright.” This made up land is represented in the poem as childhood, or in his words, where the sidewalk ends. The other land “where the smoke blows back” is interpreted as adulthood. While reading the poem, Shel assumes that his reader will have some sort of imagination, due to his fictional descriptions.
The word minstrel means a medieval singer or musician, especially one who sang or recited lyric or heroic poetry. The persona, who is the minstrel talks about himself in the poem and tends to show what he has to grow through everyday and the circumstances under which he is living. The poem opens up with the first person and a metaphor “the road unravels as I go/ walking into the sun, the anaemic”. The use of first person at the beginning of the poem tends to incorporate and appeal to the reader to understand what the minstrel is trying to say and explain. It creates an image as if he is directly talking to the reader.
The poet is suggesting that the natural world has so much more to offer than the one he is currently enduring. The drive into the country has made him realize he is more comfortable surrounded by nature. Although through stanza three he is becoming emerged in the scene in which he goes from the naturalism to different thoughts. “The miles yet to go” reveals a tone of melancholic regret. The poem is written as a turning point for the poet, his introspection gives him strength to make the decision that will change his life.
Migrant Chronicle. Brought to book in a tiny Thai village, and a sense of belonging Abraham Maslow described the system that motivates people as a series of specific needs that a person will instinctively seek to fulfil in sequence to achieve a state of self actualisation. What has now become known as Maslow's hierarchy of needs begins with psychological needs then progresses to security, belonging, self esteem and self actualisation. Good morning everyone, Peter Skrzynecki is a man born in a migrant hostel and raised in a foreign country who has struggled with the third stage in Maslow's Hierarchy- belonging, and has accordingly written the poems that comprise his Immigrant Chronicle. I will also be using the short stories- 'Brought to book in a tiny Thai village' and 'A sense of belonging' to dispute the interaction between an individual’s heritage as well as acceptance and assimilation to their environment which shapes their sense of belonging Heritage is in every aspect of us, it is being taught and teaching to live how our teachers were taught to live.
An Explication of Sharon Thesen’s “Summer Twilight” “Summer Twilight” is a short poem, and thus I will be using the linear model to convey its meaning. Sharon Thesen uses vivid imagery, deep feelings and recollection of the narrators past to bring meaning. As you read the title “Summer Twilight”, the first thing that came to mind was a sunset; this thought is confirmed as you read the first word of the poem, being ‘sunset’. The overall tone and attitude of the narrator is calm and relaxed like a sunset. We see the poem starts and finishes with a two-line stanza, with the middle stanzas containing three lines.
Compare the ways in which Larkin and Abse write about place. You must include discussion of at least 2 poems by Larkin in your response Critics have highlighted the reinforcement of place throughout Larkin’s work of ‘Here’ and ‘Mr Bleaney’. This reinforcement of place highlight’s many aspects to the reader such as impact, relations and attitude. The poem ‘here’ is an extended theme of movement; which is ironic as the title is ‘here’ but yet the reader is never informed of where ‘here’ is. This theme of movement is linked with-in place as the reader ‘swerves’ to the countryside observing ‘skies and scarecrow’s, haystacks, hares and pheasants’ then towards town which is ‘traffic all night north’.
The second paragraph the speaker introduces the concept of time, which he personifies, claiming that it was time that allowed him to enjoy his regal activities as a young farmboy. Dylan Thomas has fashioned a remarkable drama, portraying his youth and the farm where he spent it. His colorful language use describes the setting in such as way that it communicates true feeling without becoming sentimental in it execution and in its discovery. This poet is a skilled craftsman. John Keats: “Ode on a Grecian Urn” What do you think the urn may stand for in the first three
‘At the core of any poem is a desire to make sense of the world and our place in it. How does “The Wild Swans at Coole” explore this relationship?’ At the core for the human psyche lies the desire for knowledge and understanding of the world in which we live. As a vessel for universal truths regarding the human condition and the world itself, William Butler Yeats’ poetry explores political, historical and biographical themes in order to reach a point of enlightenment, personally and well as for his audience. In “The Wild Swans of Coole” of the 1919 anthology of the same name, Yeats explores the concept of life’s transience aided by the use of sustained metaphors, symbols and Yeats’s eloquent imagery. The employment of these poetic devices allows the responder to gain an understanding of Yeats’s perspective of the world and one’s place in it.
Both Seamus Heaney poems recollect memories of childhood and frightening experiences that have obviously made lasting impressions on the poet. In ‘Death of a Naturalist’, the structure of the poem allows the writer space for reflection in two distinct stanzas. The first one is 21 lines long, and there are several moments of caesura throughout this stanza, “In the shade of the banks. Here, every spring.” This is as though the poet is finding it hard to remember the series of events. Also, there are instances of enjambment as the poet relives moments that are nice to remember and indulges himself in the same feelings that he felt as a child.