Edgar Allen Poe demonstrates in his written works of “Lenore”, “Annabel Lee”, and “To Helen” an element that seemingly attempts to give the reader exceptional emotional sadness. Poe does this by telling the poem in a point of view where a man tells the story of the death or remembrance of a young love or woman. He also puts a sense of gloom in each of his poems. This allows for the reader to create a mental image if the setting, without him having to directly point it out. As well, the gloominess of his poetry could also be due to his longing effect of sadness that he attempts to express.
From the dangled and drooped shoots to the rankness of the ripe roots, Roethke’s effective use of language enhances the power the poem has on our senses. Being a short poem filled with words that have strong connotations, “Root Cellar” takes readers on a short, vivid journey in a way that leads readers to understanding the tone and mood of the poem. Roethke’s decision to take readers to this foul location reveals the fact that if such a dismal place can sustain life, then perhaps the root cellars, and other places that conjure similar feelings, are not as rotten and desolate as they initially appear. Roethke draws from his childhood experience in “Root Cellar” to highlight life’s persistence and ability to sustain itself even in environments in a state of decay. The theme of life and death is reinforced using depictions that usually are associated with death and flashing glimpses of life.
They were trying to tell a true story in a way that evokes a response from the reader. Responses of sadness, horror, hatred, disbelief, every possible response that the atrocities of the Holocaust deserved to evoke. I found the information provided alongside the poem put it into context, it was very helpful and interesting, giving the poems even more specific and less interpretational meaning. The telling of facts with flair and emotion, history lessons in a poem! I have included a selection of the poems here: STRUGGLE FOR LIFE By Frigyes Karinthy (1887-1938): poet & satirist.
In our book death is talking to us, but in this poem the guy is talking to death. In the book death doesn’t like his job, but in the poem death is very proud of what he is doing. The narrators in both the book and poem don’t kill us we do it to ourselves. The poem states that death has no power over eternal life. Well in the present day it’s the same.
Both The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls and A Psalm of Life share similar philosophies: Death is a part of life. However they differ in the moods of the writing; The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls portrays the philosophy in a dark and pessimistic mood while A Psalm of Life is more optimistic and sanguine. Both poems share the philosophy that death is a part of life. Longfellow states that life is a cycle. He says this in A Psalm of Life: “…the grave is not its goal."
“Old Man” clearly explores in paradoxes the problem of identity, as well as a feeling that we are cut off from our past and our future. The presentation of memory in the poem is directly linked to this idea of having a problem with identity. This is not necessarily the plant that is suffering from an identity issue, yet it may even be Edward Thomas who is suffering in “memory.” The first stanza develops a theme of naming. The plant with strange names is remembered fondly, we feel, by one who ‘knows it well’ – the phrase suggests a familiarity and wealth of memory associations, an idea challenged later in the poem. Here, however, the gentle internal rhymes, ‘tree’, ‘rosemary’, ‘thing’, ‘clings’, suggest a conversational, fond reminiscence.
1 ISRAFEL. BY: EDGAR ALLAN POE Israfel: An Analysis Israfel is a mesmerizing poem, the beginning of which was first set down by Poe during his days at West Point College. (Allen 233) The poem itself is a direct contrast to Poe's usual poetry, which usually deal with death and dark thoughts or other melancholy, Gothic ideas. Poe's idea of the death of beautiful woman being the most poetical of all topics is here, nowhere to be found. This proves that Poe, when so inclined, could indeed write about something other than opium induced nightmares and paranoid grieving men who are frightened to death by sarcastic,talkative, ravens.
The poet uses this inversion for the sake of the rhyme scheme. It also draws the reader's attention to God's justice and accuracy. The word "only" draws the reader's attention to the difference between the play acting and the real life. The poet shows that death is an inevitable fact. Death is the only difference between real life and play acting.
‘Five Bells’ continues to engage readers through its poetic treatment of mortality and mourning. Does this resonate with your own interpretation? Kenneth Slessor was the poet of time, of “the cold fact of time”, as he said in describing the genesis of his wondrous poem “Five Bells”. This poem is strongly engaging through its poetic treatment of mourning, as it is notably encompasses obvious elegy elements, directed towards his dear artistic friend Joe Lynch, but as Slessor mentioned, and from what can be observed, the poem is as much about the compression of memory in time, in relation to symbolic and literal mortality. The poem offers not answers, but questions towards the meaning of existence, and is toned with a sense of failure, loss and desolation, as it seems that neither Lynch's art, nor the art of the poem, can defy death.
Sarah Furtick English 201 Dr. Hornbuckle October 18, 2012 Close Reading One of my favorite poets is Edgar Allen Poe because I am captivated by the darkness he illustrates in all of his poems. One poem of Poe’s that I personally enjoy is his poem Alone. The poem paints a picture of a person who, no matter what, cannot see the good in his own life. No matter if the sun is shining or if it’s raining, he only feels hopelessness. I feel that Poe’s use of words in this poem is interesting because he is showing such a negative side of life.