Although Hughes did not technically write "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" in or about Harlem, he addresses themes that would later become closely associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes dedicated this poem to W.E.B. DuBois a few years after its initial publication. It was also read out loud at Hughes's own funeral service in 1967. When Langston Hughes was writing "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," he was most influenced by the work of Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman.
Whitman's Contributions to Transcendentalism Transcendentalism was a group of ideas in literature, religion, culture, and philosophy that developed in the 1830s in the United States as a protest against the general state of culture and society (“Transcendentalism - New World Encyclopedia”). Ralph Waldo Emerson was considered to be one of the widest known Transcendental authors (McNamara). Emerson wrote an essay titled "The Poet" in which he asks for a "new voice"; a gentleman named Walt Whitman did everything he could to try to be this voice. Walt Whitman wrote a poem title "Song of Myself" in which he portrayed many of the nature-related traits of a transcendental writer. Transcendentalists believed that a relationship between man and nature, and that the heightened awareness of this relationship would cause a "reformation" of society away from materialism and corruption (“The Movement and Its Characteristics”).
ENGL200 July 26th 2013 Marlowe and Raleigh’s Pastoral Poetry In 1599 Christopher Marlowe wrote a lyrical poem titled “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” that was significant in a few ways, one of which was that it was his first foray into pastoral poetry. According to the authors of ENG200: Composition and Literature, Gilbert Mueller and John Williams, pastoral poetry is “a conventional mode that celebrates the innocent life of shepherds and shepherdesses” (253). The poem is written in first person from the Shepherd's point of view, all but begging the woman he loves to come be with him for eternity. Obviously influenced by this lyric, in 1600 C.E. Sir Walter Raleigh wrote a response to Marlowe's poem called "The Nymph's Reply."
It is a general reference to humanity as a whole. Even looking at the very beginning of this poem, this can be easily inferred from the line "For every atom belonging to me as well belongs to you" (Whitman). Whitman switches back and forth from his own personal feelings and tangible experiences to generalized, philosophical statements about this "self" and humanity. As Yong-lan notes, this microcosm-macrocosm outlook is necessary to establish the feeling of relation with others, and more importantly, the ability for the reader to relate to what Whitman is saying (Yong-lan). In Whitman's lines "Battles, the horrors of fratricidal war, the fever of doubtful news, the fitful events; these come me to days and nights and go from me again, But they are not the me “myself", he pulls common feelings and events together for the reader to relate to (Whitman).
Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" is one of Whitman's most moving and difficult poems. The poem was first published under the title "A Child's Reminiscence" in the New York Saturday Press for 24 December 1859, with the opening verse paragraph bearing the heading "Pre-Verse." The issue contained also a notice on the editorial page probably written by Henry Clapp, the editor of the Press and a close friend of Whitman, which terms the poem "our Christmas or New Year's present to [our readers]." This poem describes a young boy’s awakening as a poet, mentored by nature and his own maturing consciousness. The poem is loose in its form, except for the sections that purport to be a transcript of the bird’s call, which are musical in their repetition of words and phrases.
“And you that shall cross from shore to shore years hence are more to me, and more in my meditations, than you might suppose.” Much of modern poetry is written in free verse. In these verses, the rhythm is achieved by the arrangement of words, syntactic structure, and so on. This form of poetry was prevalent in Europe until the late nineteenth century. Whitman was the first poet who experienced the possibilities of free verse, making full use of a clear language
This poem, like most of his poems, revolves around a common object or event. But these objects and events are not only what they appear to be, they also have a deeper meaning, they are metaphors for larger issues and themes. By obscuring his theme and working so covertly in metaphor, the reader is forced to come to their own conclusions about the work. This is exactly what Frost is trying to accomplish, through metaphor he strives to make the reader think about his poem, what it means and what he is trying to say. Robert Frost the most famous American poet of the last century was born in San Francisco in 1874.
These sonnets usually support the methodical consideration of an argument or idea, which is then cleverly demonstrated or summed up in some way in the final couplet. In this sonnet it describes a young man being compared to a summer’s day, although, this sonnet does not following his known Shakespearean sonnet form. The final couplet is pulls us in to new path by saying poetry is immortal. This sonnet theme is based upon Shakespeare’s beloved friend, a young man, being compared to a summer’s day, also emphasizing on how his beloved’s beauty shall be forever remembered in the sonnet as his poetry will too. The passages have metaphorical references all throughout, the first line bring us “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”(A Portable Anthology, 2009, p.465) meaning in our modern language “Shall I compare you to a summer’s day?” as well as line 12 “When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:” (A Portable
Peter Skrzynecki's poems "Feliks Skrzynecki" and "Postcard" both explore complex idea about belonging. Both poems suggest that belonging comes from a connection to place and people, people can choose to belong and that belonging can be modified over time. Feliks in Peter Skzynecki's poem "Feliks Skzynecki" feels a close connection to places and people. He is described at the beginning of the poem as loving "his garden like an only child", sweeping "its paths/ Ten times around the world." The simile and hyperbole evoke a sense of his dedication to his garden and his paternal feelings towards it, connecting to this place like a father connects to an only child.
(Turner, 2002) This poem was later converted to song and is now song in all Christian churches worldwide. Like all poems they are composed of literary elements and this poem/song is not any different. Some of the elements I will go over are image, rhyme, and tone. Then I will assess how these literary elements affect my response to the poem. Image is the literary vision that is perceived from reading a poem.