Reaching For Dreams This essay describes the inspiring poem “I, Icarus” by Alden Nowlan, which requires very close reading. Throughout the poem, it seems there is one dominant idea; reaching for dreams. Many stanzas and lines within this poem work together to depict this theme. Not only do the lines in the poem depict the theme, but different poetic devices correlate to the theme as well (freedom and reaching for dreams). Distinct phrases like “willed myself to fly” illustrate the person’s goal of escaping his present condition and reaching for higher goals.
Both titles serve as a strong beginning for the exploration of aspects of the natural world by effectively introducing the reader to the thoughts and feelings of the poets about the theme. The form of each poem is very important to understand as it deepens the readers understanding of aspects of the natural world. Both poets use the form of a dramatic monologue. Duffy’s use of the dramatic monologue is very effective in her exploration. She takes on the persona of a dolphin so the reader gains access to the inner most thoughts and feelings of
Poets through the ages have been esteemed as possessing the ability to perceive the ordinary in extraordinary and innovative ways. Poetry captures the essences of human emotion and experience and imbues them with further significance by the literary techniques that typify poetry as the language of art. In her poetry, Gwen Harwood explores many thematic concerns that resonate with her readers regardless of their contexts. The universality of concepts such as memory, inspiration, childhood education and the cyclical, yet final nature of death are transformed by Harwood’s poetry to create fresh perceptions of the continuity of experience and provide permanence to these transient elements of humanity through language. The poetic techniques employed by Harwood effectively communicate distinctive aspects of her themes while allowing them to remain universal.
Textual Integrity of Slessor The representation of textual integrity in the poetry of Kenneth Slessor is ultimately the aspect that captivates the reader. The representation of memories, time, life and death in Slessor’s ‘Elegy in a Botanic Gardens’, ‘Five Visions of Captain Cook’ and ‘Sleep’ through their construction, content and language is significant in appealing to their reader’s senses generally, with also the references of individual readings. Slessor’s representation of the reality of Time and how it is relentless allows the readers to be captivated by his awareness that Time continues and will move past us whether we want it to or not. Paul Grover extracts that “Slessor’s rich verbal textures” through his unusual and contrasting patterns of imagery all serve to accentuate the “intensity of his ideas and his unrelenting exploration of life and death, Time and change” to provide his desire to make them worth having; don’t waste what Time gives you and just live it desirably. To achieve the persistency of Time, Slessor uses a study in contrast of the chronometers in ‘Five Visions of Captain Cook’ to show that despite their difference in how they keep time with the personified Kendal “Climbing out of Yesterday” and Arnold always “hurried with a crazed click click”, both shows that Time will move on and as it goes on, we will as well.
This is how this piece of poetry got its name, because it captures the audience’s attention from curiosity of how the title relates to the poem. As we look at these series of similes, we find out what those affects are because, with each question the speaker offers a possibility of each negative effect. The first one “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun”: a raisin is already dry, and as a raisin, it is a good thing, useful and nutritious, but if a raisin is left in the sun to dry up, it becomes hard and impossible to eat; its value sucked out, it no longer serves its useful, nutritional purpose. If the dream does not dry up, maybe it will “fester like a sore—And then run.” The dream that festers becomes infected with the disease of restlessness and dissatisfaction that may lead to criminal activity, striking back at those who are deferring the dream.
Gwen Harwood’s poetry encapsulates human experiences as both timeless and integral to the formation of our present perceptions. By examining the role of memory in her poems “The Violets” and “At Mornington”, Harwood identifies that their significance is that of an everlasting memory that will dominate over time’s continuity and the inevitability of death. Through the exploration of this universal concept and its overarching examination across her body of works, Harwood’s poetry possess textual integrity and simultaneously addresses the personal and universal audience thereby resonating with a broad audience and a number of critical perspectives. Engaging with her own personal experiences, Gwen Harwood conveys the echoing message of the dominant
English Poetry Essay Choose a poem which appealed to you because it was striking – show which techniques the poet has used to capture your interest and engage your feelings “To His Coy Mistress” is a piece of metaphysical poetry written by Andrew Marvell. This poem, like most metaphysical poetry, makes use of original images and has a very profound meaning behind it. “To His Coy Mistress” is particularly striking because of the deeper themes that it deals with, such as mortality and the idea of “carpe diem”, as well as the unique imagery used throughout and the interesting structure and progression of the poem. The use of the image “vegetable love” is very effective in capturing the reader’s interest. “Vegetable” is not usually the
People like Hughie and I, who came to express our interest in poetry, publish them, show our talent but most of all inspire others. But, Langton was a poet and a poet with creativity and an extraordinary mind. All poems he wrote had meaning, thought and significance. My best friend loved the streets and all its characters, and
The poems in this section have to do with “Ars Poetica.” This means The Art of Poetry in Latin. The poets of this collection of poems are actually using poetry to answer the questions of what poetry is, how it should be written, and how it should be read. There is one poem specifically that I felt agreed with my views of poetry and that is Billy Collins’ “Introduction of Poetry.” In this poem, I feel like he is trying to say that people try too hard and over-analyze poems. They sometimes try to force a meaning into a poem because they think that there has to be a reason that poem was written and it has to have some kind of deeper meaning of an issue going on in the world. I think that the end of the poem really points this out with the words “torture of confession out of it” and “they begin beating it with a hose to find out what it really means.” I think that Collins is trying to tell people that they should just read poetry and enjoy it.
Both authors used detailed description that allowed the reader to portray drastic images that allowed the reader to feel as if he or she was living in that time era. They both created a tone of stern deep content that allowed the reader to feel the seriousness of what the author was trying to express. The symbols that were used by the authors were imperative to conveying understood emotion that the authors were feeling throughout their poetry By utilizing their words through poetry instead of a short story form, it put a stronger emphasis on the realization of the history within diversity that continues to still place an impact on the American population today. As the young struggle to find their identity as described by Smith, the older struggle to find where their place is in this world by preserving heritage as described by Morales (Clugston, R. W. , Chapter 12). In similarity, all humans struggle to find where they belong within their identity in this world no matter what race, age, or ethnicity you are.