In ‘The Simple Gift’ the personas also have trouble finding their true identity and have to overcome many obstacles to find their sense of belonging. Throughout the poem ‘The Shadows’, techniques are used to show how characters such as Caitlin are still searching for their true identity. In ‘The Shadows’, the juxtaposition between the positions of Caitlin and Billy show a great deal about the mindset of the characters. Caitlin keeps to the shadows, slyly watching Billy in the sunshine help Old Bill with getting out of his carriage. The sunshine represents the good in someone and the shadows symbolize the knowledge that Caitlin lacks about Billy and that she is an outsider in Billy’s home.
This host’s life is similar to that of writer Emily Dickinson, in that they both are isolated poets who express darkness and death in a lot of their work. The poem that influences Helen the most mirrors a poem of Dickinson‘s, “A Slant of Light,” explaining the book’s title. Helen hopes she is inspiring her host with whispers of encouragement and ideas, thinking maybe that is her purpose for being here. But when the lonely poet
There is an informal tone to the whole piece created partly by the complex sentences. This makes the tone very chatty and in places, such as when Ruby tells us what song she was singing under the covers or which teddies she rescued from the fire, the information being shared with us has no real relevance to the story but does help us to empathise with Ruby as a character. Despite the light-hearted tone, we are still left in no doubt about the vulnerability of Ruby the main character. The use of many long, complex and compound sentences create a chatty, informal tone – the sentences are not to the point – there are many opinions and thoughts that are not necessary to know to be able to understand the story.
The words “drizzle…bedrenches” are negative onomatopoeias which present use of pathetic fallacy to suggest a sombre and melancholic mood to the poem. Although Emma is now dead, Hardy see’s her “phantom figure” remaining on forever on that hillside. Hardy compares the event they shared with his estranged to his present life without her. Repetition is used to
The poem I chose was “Living in Sin” by Adrienne Rich. The title itself leads you to think that the poem is based on two lovers who are not yet “married under God” and are committing sin. Though in none of the lines does it say whether they are married or not, one is left with that impression by the title alone. Perhaps the author’s tone is meant to show you there is no “sweetest sin”. The woman in the poem speaks of her life as though it were a chore and the man, her lover, is but a bother.
Hardy isn't noted for writing satire, which is what "ridicule" is most commonly associated with. His characters are more noted for tracing reality, albeit painful reality. His characters are not noted for tracing satirical exaggerations of society's types. His works were criticized for their reality--and now and then burned--not for their ridiculing satire but for their real depictions of actual persons and situations. He was known however to add twists to the endings of his short stories and poems to produce a chill of ironic horror in the reader, which is notable in "The Son's Veto" as Randolph rides atop his mother's hearse on the way to her final resting place as the route leads past a mourning yet snubbed and rejected--by Randolph, not by Sophy--Sam, the grocer.
In Walt Whitman’s poem, “Of the Terrible Doubt of Appearances,” he questions and doubts reality. Although Whitman is not religion, I believe he might be referring to God towards the end of his poem as he talks about death or perhaps a lover, “I cannot answer the question of appearances or that of identity beyond the grave, but I walk or sit indifferent, I am satisfied, he ahold of my hand has completely satisfied me.” I believe Whitman may also be referencing his sexuality in this poem, he is satisfied; he perceives reality but doubts its uncertainty and appearances. When Whitman mentions his lovers and friends though, it seems as if everything will be okay and reality doesn’t feel so confusing. In Whitman’s other poem, “Song of Myself (Section 11),” he paints an image of a mystery woman watching twenty-eight young men bathing by the shore. I do believe Whitman is also referring to his sexuality in this poem as well, and that he may be the twenty-ninth bath as well as the mystery woman mentioned.
She has seen every bad part of him but still sticks around, she leads him away from his “recent disgrace” and gives him hope. The chorus of Ghosts - “So give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light/Cause oh that gave me such a fright/But I will hold on with all of my might/Just promise me that we’ll be alright” makes me feel that he really cares for her and doesn’t want her to leave. He asks her for help because he’s scared – of both himself and her leaving. He is hoping that she won’t leave because she is the “light” in his darkness, the speaker depends on her. The most telling parts of the song are, the lines - "But I will hold on as long as
In this poem ‘The Lost Heritage’ by Heather Buck, the poet is seemingly concerned about forgotten past; how man is now alienated from nature when at one point, man and nature shared a very close and warm relationship. The poet expresses her views that we are so engrossed and lost in our present lives, that we have forgotten the legacies of the past. Our lives are ‘indelibly printed by one another’. Buck claims that our children today do not have a role; they are merely objectified as something sitting on the floor surrounded by a myriad of towering adults. They are deprived of learning the ‘intricate’ and colourful patterns that have shaped their lives, and thus, have lost their heritage.
A Commentary on Anne Bradstreet’s “The Author to Her Book” With an empathetic tone, Anne Bradstreet creates a poem in which the speaker becomes frustrated while trying to complete a literary work. “The Author to Her Book” compares a writer and her piece to a mother and her child, calling the book her “ill-formed offspring of [her] feeble brain” (1). Most likely referring to a personal experience, Bradstreet uses structure, diction, figurative language, and imagery to convey the difficulty of producing a work with which the author is pleased. The purpose of the structure in this poem is to make words and concepts pop out to the reader. The speaker uses different techniques in order to make sure the certain points are emphasized.