We can then imply from this suggestion that Larkin feels time is only appreciated during the older years of one’s life. In contrast, we can see that Larkin may mock the way time is spent as he brings in such detail to such trivial things, like the way the “covers pleased her”. Within the second stanza, Larkin tells of how we have “the certainty of time laid up in store,” insinuating that we have the belief in us that we have an infinite amount of time and only when time has passed us do we
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.
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.
Coleridge could have just started the poem with, ‘There was a ship’, but he decided he needed to put forward the fact that the story of the Ancient Mariner was so fascinating and compelling that the wedding guest was unable to move from his seat because he was so captivated by the Ancient Mariner’s ‘glittering eye’. Coleridge uses structural devices such as interruptions within part one. As the Ancient Mariner begins telling his story to the wedding guest Coleridge interrupts him with something that the wedding guest does or says. Coleridge may have done this to show how, more and more involved the wedding guest is getting with the story. In the beginning the wedding guest wants to get away from the Mariner, ‘Hold off!
In the last page of the novel, Nick contemplates human nature, and we learn a little of why Fitzgerald has written the book in this way, and why, in his opinion, we struggle so in life. He describes how our enduring spirits allow us to keep on trying to reach our goals, but recognises the futility of this because we are inevitably involved in our pasts. This is shown in the line "and so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the
“I waited, and about four o’clock she came to the window and stood there for a minute and then turned out the (Fitzgerald 147).” Fitzgerald’s description of Gatsby’s enormous need for Daisy’s love and her insensible rejection integrate a connection that the audience may be able to relate to. In Gatsby’s blind love, he incessantly praises the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock as the importance of keeping hope. When Daisy finally cuts off the light, she also severs Gatsby’s hope for his love’s return. The manipulation supports how crucial love is in Gatbsy’s life, showing that he has nothing without Daisy’s returned
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
“...he was consumed with wonder at her presence… he was running down like an over-wound clock” (92) Gatsby’s love for Daisy was succorded by his deception of her image. This quote compares Gatsby to an overwound clock because Gatsby wants to ignore the lapse of time where they were separated and wants to have it revert back to when they loved each other in Louisville. Once Gatsby realized he had succeeded in acquiring his dream of Daisy’s affection, he no longer had the vitality of his allusion for what life could be with
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
The Great Gatsby “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (180). This is the last line of F Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby . In this novel Fitzgerald tries to show that each of us carries our past with us, but trying to change or relive the past is useless. The novel’s narrator, Nick, tries to show Gatsby that “you can’t repeat the past,” to which Gatsby replies, “Why of course you can!” (110). Throughout the novel, the past plays a enormous part in Nick and Gatsby’s lives causing them to have different views on the present and future.