"Facing It"

 At first glance, Facing It is about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I enjoyed the amount of imagery we see when he mentions the women who is brushing a boy's hair; And the small snippet of the war flashback he gets in his head as he touches the name Andrew Johnson make it sound like he was there with Andrew Johnson.

Bishop, Wright and Hass

“Filling Station” by Elizabeth Bishop

This poem was definitely successful in illustrating a very specific setting. So much so that it becomes the focus of the poem. The gas station, or “filling station” that Elizabeth Bishop describes creates an image of a run down, slow-working, business that has been passed down to generations of the same family name. It is certainly not your local, corporate run, shell station. What I liked most about this poem is that it takes a simple place, and goes into grimy depth with it.

“Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota” By James Wright

I sympathize with this poem. Often, I find myself visually taking in my surroundings, admirably.  I can get lost in a moment for over ten minutes. Ambiances can grasp your attention like that. James Wright describes one of his own moments in this beautifully short poem, and then ends it on a thought which I know has crossed everyone’s mind at one point or another (at least every day myself) in five words. “I have wasted my life”

“Meditation at Lagunitas” by Robert Hass

Robert Hass touches me with particular lines in this poem. You know when you read certain lines of a poem, and they just sort of jump out at you, and you’re like, “Woah I completely and totally GET THAT.” It’s written in free verse form with no location in particular, but that’s not what’s important in this poem. From what is described, in an easy going, conversation-like manner, is a glance back to his childhood. The title does however bring together the piece as whole. Assuming that Lagunitas is a place and meditation is referring to his reflections. 

"Filling Station" and "Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota"

I thought that the way Elizabeth Bishop explained the setting in “Filling Station” was really interesting. She began the poem by describing all the dirty people and things inside this gas station, the opening line being “Oh, but it is dirty!” (page 33, line 1). I thought it was particularly interesting to describe this gas station with an “over-all black translucency” (page 33, lines 4-5) because that image is so contradictory. These lines allude to what we later learn about the workers of this gas station; their whole life is a contradiction. The details of the personal lives and stories behind these workers are unknown, but it is clear that they are dirty, ‘manly’ mechanics. The station at first glance is not very inviting, with a cement porch and a grease-covered dog, but upon further inspection we notice things one would typically find in their grandma’s living room; a daisy-embroidered doily covering a table set; a large begonia. This station, like the men, are not as dirty and drab like they are at first glance.

            “Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota” by James Wright describes the subjects surroundings from his point of view in a hammock (as the title says) in grave detail. He describes the scene of a typical farm, but from a slightly different angle. He speaks of “the cowbells follow one another” (page 290, line 5) rather than describing the actual cows. He focuses on their sounds rather than their being, because their sounds are affecting him more in this moment. The final line of the poem, “I have wasted my life,” (page 290, line 13) at first seems like it comes out of nowhere because everything before seemed lighthearted. But after rereading the poem as a whole, some of these lighthearted images can be seen in a much darker light. He notices “The droppings of last year’s horses” (page 290, line 9), showing that he dwells on the past.

James Wright and Robert Hass

Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota
Wright employs vivid visual imagery, such as the "bronze butterfly" and the "field of sunlight between two pines." These visceral descriptions allow the reader to wander off from their waking life and become immediately transfixed into a dreamy, absent-minded daze similar to Wright's. The way he mixes metaphors — fire, excrement, and stones in "The drop pins of last year's horses blaze up into golden stones" — allows the reader to register awe in lieu of such trivial and banal matters as the subject being discussed. The place is primarily introduced to the reader through the emotions that such descriptions evoke — namely as having a serendipitous, serene atmosphere. The shift of the poem registers before the final line, a declaration that he has "wasted [his] life" by laying listlessly in this hammock, watching wonderful mundanities occur all around him instead of actively engaging with them. I sense that there is no tinge of regret here, though, and because of this, the word "wasted['s]" atypically negative connotation is spun around, in this instance hinting more so towards the idea of passively savoring the bliss of being, instead of feeling obliged to be bothered with the trouble of doing.

Meditation at Lagunitas
This poem centers around the idea of deriving meaning from the outside world — Hass employs images of a "clown-faced woodpecker probing the dead sculpted trunk of [a] black birch" to illustrate what visual image prompted his declaration that "all the new thinking is about loss" and "that each particular erases the luminous clarity of a general idea." These images make tangible the setting, and allow the reader to be transported to the same setting as Hass, as if to allow them to derive these same conclusions from the world they would be surrounded by. Here, he is talking about how words never quite do justice to the actual thing of it — how when one assigns a definitive word for what a "bramble of blackberry corresponds to," one is actually writing an elegy for it. He claims that things dissolve when described – things like "justice, pine, hair, woman, you, and I" become less than they actually are, or rather diluted. However, the reader is forced to disagree when he immediately contradicts this assessment by his vivid depiction of "a woman [he] made love to" and how he "remembered... holding her small shoulders in [his] hands sometimes" and feeling "a violent wonder at her presence." This suggests that when words do not evoke tangible, colorful images, then they take away from what is being discussed, because through his poetry and his utilization of rich textile imagery and emotional depth, the reader is allowed the opportunity to identify an experience with Hass, if only for a small moment. He does imply, however, that what is evoked by these words— his saying them, his writing them, his seeking to explain them — is reduced to mere wishfulness and longing for the return of those tender "afternoons and evenings." He is left repeating "blackberrry, blackberry, blackberry" as if calling out for what has gone by, and hoping all the while that the reconstruction of these memories does not pale in comparison to the begone manifestation of them. He thirsts for their reincarnation and writes with the purpose to shorten these "endless distances" that longing imposes.

"The Bight" and “Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota”

One of the most successful ways Elizabeth Bishop establishes the sense of place in the poem “The Bight” is in the first line "At low tide like this how sheer the water is". The use of the words 'like this' create the impression that the place she is referring to is real and immediate, and that the speaker in the poem is present at the location actually describing everything around her. the choice of title also makes it clear of the scene she is depicting. The series of images are successful in setting the scene, in several instances she refers to the colours the ‘white, crumbling ribs of marl’ , the  ‘Black-and-white-man-of-war-birds’ and ‘blue-gray sharks’. In addition to the visual imagery created, the use of other senses- mostly sounds and smells also contribute in illustrating a vivid picture of the landscape presented - the ‘smell’ of the gas, and the sounds of the water with the use of words such as ‘crash’.

James Wright’s poem “Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota” is another poem that establishes a sense of place really well. The title itself is incredibly specific, almost like an address with the full name and location of the poem. The opening line clearly shows the poets own presence with the use of the phrase ‘over my head’. What follows is a presentation of several details about the scene, the ‘bronze butterfly’ (good use of alliteration) the ‘droppings of last years horses’, the ‘chicken hawk’. The poet uses colour frequently in his description- the ‘black trunk’, ‘green shadow’, ‘golden stone’. He does not only rely on what he sees however, one interesting part was the reference to the ‘cowbells’ not the cows, which successfully illustrates the sounds in this poem.

Grease, Peace, and Memory's Release

Elizabeth Bishop's "Filling Station," James Wright's "Lying in a Hammock...," and Yusef Komunyakaa's "Facing It" gave me vivid descriptions of the place which each wanted me to experience. Each poem is filled to the brim with imagery. "Filling Station" uses words such as "oil-soaked," "oil-permeated," "greasy," "saucy," and "dirty" to appropriately give the idea of a family filling station for cars. "Lying in a Hammock..." does an even better job of describing place than "Filling Station" through the use of imagery and simile to place the reader in a calm setting at William Duffy's farm in Pine Island, Minnesota. "To my right, In a field of sunlight between two pines" definitely gives the reader a specific vision of trees and the familiar view of sunlight on grass. The line "...I see the bronze butterfly, Asleep on the black trunk, Blowing like a leaf in green shadow." uses simile to give the reader the calming feel of lying in a hammock, watching a butterfly gracefully pass by. However, out of the three poems, "Facing It" made me feel the most like I was in the place being described - in this case, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It employs imagery and metaphor (stronger than simile) to allow the reader to get a grasp on not only the place, but the author's feelings about the place. "My black face fades, hiding inside the black granite....No tears. I'm stone." Within the first five lines, not only does one get a sense of the place (which is explicitly named six lines down), but one also receives the valuable information of how the author feels simply being in this sacred place. The best line in "Facing It" is "Names shimmer on a woman's blouse but when she walks away the names stay on the wall." simply for how Komunyakaa describes the not-forgotten feel of the names imprinted on the wall of the memorial.

Bishop "Bight" and Wright

“Bight” by Elizabeth Bishop is quite successful in its description of place since it uses a good amount of devices and plenty of imagery to give the reader a clear understanding of the setting or place. “White crumbling ribs of marl protrude and glare” is a good line in the sense that referring to a “rib of marl” is a unique choice of wording, since ribs of the marl is irrelevant, but perhaps allows the reader to visualize much better what the text is describing. “Blue-gray shark tails are hung up to dry for the Chinese-restaurant trade” is also a good line since the reference to a Chinese restaurant trade does not make much sense or is illogical when referring to a ship harbor, however it allows the reader to relate more to the text since they are receiving an outside the box comparison.

James Wright uses similar poetic techniques in his work “In Response to a Rumor That he Oldest Whorehouse, in Wheeling, West Virginia, Has Been Condemned” Wright uses illusions to forests, lakes, ponds, and other wildlife places to describe a deadly or “wild” city. “Upstream from the sewer main” the reader can imagine a combination of settings of both a concrete jungle like city, or an actual wildlife setting. Wright also describes the women walking the streets in the story as “Swinging their purses, the women poured down the long street to the river and into the river.” The women are written as being similar beings in spirit to swans or maybe ducks, that travel the waters or streets together. “What time near dawn did they climb up the other shore, drying their wings?” The mention of drying their wings can be an illusion to preparing themselves for another grueling day in the city. Wright uses these devices as a sort of metaphor, except it extends throughout the entire work. 

"The Bight" by Elizabeth Bishop and "Night, Death, Mississippi" by Robert Hayden

The poems I found the most interesting are “The Bight” by Elizabeth Bishop and “Night, Death, Mississippi” by Robert Hayden. I found it interesting how both poems reflected fire and roughness (or a sort of abruptness that made me cringe). Hayden and Bishop use the title as the first method of revealing place.

            In the “The Bight”, which takes place at the shore, Bishop compares her observations to the process of poetry- starts off simple like a “low tide,” but as you continue to write, your ideas create fire in your brain, that then becomes gas, which leads to music. The poem ends, stating “all the untidy activity continues, awful but cheerful.” The final line implies the continuation of poetry. Once one poem is done, another begins. Her detailed use of imagery makes the poem appeal to the senses. I could not only feel the crashing of the pelicans, and the fire from the flames, but I could also envision the array of colors that reflect the different objects. Throughout the poem, as Bishop continually describes her view, her location becomes even more obvious than it is in the title as she describes the “waves”, the “dock”, the “pelicans”, and “boats.”

            “Night, Death, Mississippi” describes the acts of a lyncher after having lynched someone. The narrator appears to be an observer recounting the lynching performed by a grandfather and a grandson- it is the grandson’s first time. The grandfather rewards the grandson with bottle in which “he’s earned.” Since Hayden mentions “white robes like moonlight,” I assume the lyncher is a KKK member. Hayden’s repeated use of “time was” makes it seem as though the lynching was normal. His reference to Jesus on the cross seems to signify the innocence of those who were lynched.

The Bight: Crunchy Descriptions

I really enjoyed reading "The Bight" by Elizabeth Bishop. For me, the best way to describe a place to someone is to use absolutely amazing descriptive words, phrases, and metaphors.
Although, even though I feel like the entire thing COULD be an extended metaphor, Bishop doesn't really use a lot of metaphor in her poem. Mostly, she uses descriptions and words that evoke sensations of the 5 senses from the reader.
Examples of some of my favorites are "dry as matches," and "how sheer the water is."
But it's not just the adjectives that make it this way. Her repetitive use of the words "dry" is, in itself, one of the most important aspects of the poem. The words like "tense," "untidy," "pickaxes," and "chicken wire" all give the impression that the place Bishop is describing is dark and unpleasant. As she says at the end, it's "awful but cheerful."

Stating the Location

Elizabeth Bishop's poem "Filling  Station" states location within the first stanza, and yet remains interesting enough for the reader to want to finish the work. Using repetition and contrast  throughout the poem is one way which Bishop effectively establishes a descriptive location. An interesting contrast within the poem is present when comparing the repetition of the word "dirty" with the repetition of the word "doily" in the second half of the poem. A doily is a delicate lace piece which is used for decorations on tables, this contrasts the grime and dirt observable within the first half of the work. This contrast breathes a sort of air into the work, as the gas station doesn't fit the stereotypical concept of a station. She does this by attributing more than just a physical presence to the building, showing the life that lives within and around it. This is established by the mention of the father and sons within the second stanza and is solidified by the closing stanza. Bishop's use of questions is also effective in conveying the sense of life that the station holds and carrying the poem smoothly along.  Such as the fourth stanza which is mostly comprised of questions, questions which, according to the  wording, could be directed towards the people living at the station.


"Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota" by James Wright  is another poem which directly states the location.  Wright's choice to state the location allows him to give a detailed universal account of what is observable without need for explanation. The poem employs various prepositional phrases, implying a sense of omniscience to the scene. Furthermore, Wright's word choice is  rich in texture, such as "a leaf in green shadow." and "Blaze up into golden stones."; using these words paint a beautiful scene which imply observation. Finally, the title offers a connection to the final line. Lying in a hammock is usually a relaxing thing, and Wright's choice to use this word is significant. The highlighting of beauty throughout the poem and the connotation of relaxation associated with the idea "lying in a hammock" can draw one to conclude that the final line is a remark on the amount of beauty the narrator has, at this point, missed.

Fathers

The poem Fathers by Grace Paley is interesting since it is very emotional and personal. It is referring to perhaps a hard time in history that hints at a country in war where father’s had to leave their homes and their family’s for an extended period of time. The poem is perhaps an allusion to a time of warfare for a country of people, and alludes to the unstable family dynamic and struggle during that time. “See fatherings of many colors with their round babies on their laps this may also happen in the country side these scenes were brand new exciting for an old woman who had watched the old fathers gathering one again in familiar army camps.” The description of the old woman perhaps observing today’s fathers in a public setting such as a subway transit is very thoughtful since perhaps the most profound scenes are simply observed in a normal daily setting. The scene of the father sort of mothering his child can be seen as a relief or a blessing, a good thing basically to an older generation of parents since whatever the situation past fathers did not have the opportunity to so called “mother” their children. This scene gives the poem theme and much depth with plenty of allusion to a difficult time for an older generation. The image of the father being so close with his child in “many colors” draws attention to an age of almost enlightenment in the next generation, where fathers are a part of their child’s life. The work also describes these scenes as “brand new” perhaps hinting at a happier age in the typical American family. Paley designs the poem as if it a flash back and it is interesting to dive into the old woman’s perspective as she observes such a simple scene on a New York subway. 

Fathers

Fathers by Grace Paley was a poem kept my attention from start to finish.

"Fathers are more fathering these days they have accomplished this by being more mothering."

I enjoyed this part because even if the poem is about fathers, the mothers are being complimented because the fathers are only better fathers because of the mothers.

The poem addresses war as well, and reminds you of how there used to be a time where most, if not all, fathers went to war and the mothers stayed home and acted as both father and mother.

I enjoyed the fact that Paley mentions that these new fathers don't only exist in the suburbs, but also in the countryside. As if you couldn't discriminate between fathers because good fathers can exist anywhere instead of just in the city, which is usually more of a liberal setting.

Overall, I really enjoyed this poem. It gave us a glimpse of the present and past of fathers around the world.

Stillborn

After a debate with indecision, I concluded that "Stillborn" by Sylvia Plath was the best of the Bunch.  I found it very interesting how metaphors were not scattered throughout the poem, but the poem was just one huge metaphor.  From the first line, "these poems do not live: its a sad Diagnosis", I gathered that this poem may be about unfinished work that shoulda-woulda-coulda been finished, but now just waits in a notebook somewhere.  In Slyvia Plath's case, it is about her poetry that she cannot bring to life.  Sometimes I stumble across incomplete projects, songs, lyrics, or even doodles, and they all make me wonder "what ever happened this?".  Sometimes I even run into work that I thought was finished, but obviously was not.  Although I do not think of a stillborn baby when I run into old discontinued work, I see how her morbid metaphor works.

I like the middle stanza, because it seems as if she is excited, looking at her poetry, thinking "this is good stuff!", but cannot find a way to execute it.  Or maybe she did execute it, but it still does not sit comfortably in her self criticism.  The line, "They sit so nicely in the pickling fluid!  They smile and smile and smile at me", briefly puts the spooky, and sad image of a baby staring at me through a jar, but moreover make me think of when I look at unfinished work in my notebook.  And when I try to finish it right then and there, it usually doesn't seem to smile at me anymore.  "and still the lungs won't fill and the heart won't start".

The imagery, metaphor, and voice in this poem is very enticing, but also depressing.  I did some research, and found that Sylvia Plath did not have a stillborn child, but did suffer from depression.  Hopefully I understood this poem correctly, as a metaphor for writers block, and not a literal account of her baby.

The Language of the Brag. Lorien Ennis

Poetry response- The language of the brag - Sharon Olds

There are several things about this poems that caught my attention. I've read Sharon Olds before so I was familiar with some aspects of her style.

The aspects of this poem that particularly caught my attention is the use of repetition of the words 'I have' at the beginning of nearly every stanza. I found it very successful in forming a kind of rhythm, as well as creating a clear unifying sense of theme throughout the entire poem. Also in stanza four, the repeated use of ‘my’, provides a kind of contrast from the other stanzas as well as a more personal tone.

There is also great use of poetic techniques throughout the poem, consistent use of alliteration - ‘blade’ ‘bark’ ‘haft’ and ‘heavily’ in stanza one ‘belly’ and ‘big’ in stanza four and ‘giving’ and ‘glistening’ in the final verse. The use of enjambment creates a more contemporary impression as the poem does not conform to any particular traditional format or use of scheme of rhyming.

The poets use of imagery in this poem is particularly vivid, and is my personal favourite aspect. Her word choice is clear, simplistic, and incredibly authentic. The opening image of the knife throw is particularly effective in catching the attention of the reader, as it is a violent image. The list like fourth stanza presents several images in quick succession and along with the fifth stanzas, is perhaps the most dramatic, and create brutally honest images of the process of childbirth  -

I have lain down and sweated and shaken

and passed blood and shit and water and

slowly alone in the center of a circle I have

passed the new person out

The association of childbirth with the process of creating poetry, which is addressed in the final stanza, and a really interesting theme.

To a Waterfowl

The poem which took me most by surprise, as well as amusement, was “To a Waterfowl” by Donald Hall. At first it is amusing because Mr. Hall addresses his all of his poems,

“Women with hats like the rear ends of pink ducks

Applauded you, my poems”

And then he goes on about the husbands of those very women who like his poems, and how he meets these men on airplanes. He touches upon on how the husbands react to him, engaging in small talk, mockingly. But in turn, he describes himself as the one who comes up on top, driving in limousines to wellness clubs with fine h'orderves and drinks.

Woman seem to be his biggest audience.

And they say, “hah-hah? My goodness, Mr. Hall, but you certainly do have an imagination, huh?”

“Thank you, indeed,” I say; “it brings in the bacon”

He then again addresses his poems in the 5^th and 6^th stanzas.

But in different light; now he is in a motel, with a flask and the film Godzilla Sucks Mt. Fuji.

But hey, he says he’s feeling superior.

Next, he addresses whom I believe to be is the reader, or just an average civilian in blue jeans, a group of average Joes maybe.

 “Will you ever be old and dumb, like your creepy parents?

Not you, not you, not you, not you, not you, not you.”

Before reading this poem I did not know what a “waterfowl” was. After looking it up, I found that it meant “ducks, geese, or other large aquatic birds” which in regards to the poem entirely, was the icing on the cake for me. Donald Hall is clearly witty, which makes this poem a satire for sure. He has literary freshness, conversing with his poetry as if it were a close friend, creating dialogue. His wording directs us through a short story line, with clever twists that work like a double edged sword. 

Gabrielle Buzaid

The Language of the Brag

I loved this poem because commonly, marks of valor, strength, and greatness are reserved for grand acts and unusual feats of extraordinary means, like "crossing... waterfalls" and "throw[ing] kni[ves]". These endeavors are usually connotated as masculine, and in turn, reserved for men, as indicated by Olds' claims that she has idly "stood by the sandlot and watched the boys play." She uses grand metaphors to illustrate these points; namely, "the blade piercing the bark deep" and "the haft slowly and heavily vibrating like the cock." These further illustrate the notion of power she is rebelling against.

When taking claim to her own act of grandeur — giving birth — she emphasizes the gruesome details of her plight. Her belly becomes "big with cowardice and safety," her "stool black with iron pills," her "huge breasts oozing mucus," her "legs swelling," her "hands swelling." It is almost as though through structurally building up these symptoms and "swelling" them into messier and messier problems, she is building up to her eventual surrender; her laying down.

The shift occurs whenever the reader realizes that this laying down is her ultimate act of triumph and strength. Surrender is usually connotated as a weakening, a pulling inwards into the self. Olds redefines it as spreading her legs wide and giving birth, as ridding herself of "blood and feces and water," as ultimately, fully exposing the self and becoming great because of it. She is fully exposed and vulnerable in this moment and she demands to be "praise[d]" for it. In doing so, she reclaims what is is to be powerful and do something great, and subsequently turns concepts of masculinity, patriotism, and heroism as Whitman and Ginsberg define it into a limiting construct. She transcends the limitations such narrow-minded thinking imposes.

Stillborn

Though I am not a father, Sylvia Plath's poem "Stillborn" gives me a glance into the sadness a parent experiences when his/her child has died before even being born. It blends the happiness of a new life with the sadness of that life having been taken away far too quickly. "They smile and smile and smile and smile at me. And still the lungs won't fill and the heart won't start." I find that line to encapsulate the whole poem: a parent doesn't understand why it happened (because everything seems normal), but his/her child is dead. I do not really understand Plath's employment of conceit in the lines "They are not pigs, they are not even fish, Though they have a piggy and fishy air-" Although I understand that she is trying to relate a stillborn baby to pigs and fish, I do not comprehend how they go together. However, I love this poem's vividness, especially in the lines "They grew their toes and fingers well enough, Their little foreheads bulged with concentration." It gives the idea of a well-formed baby that should be fine, but, in the context of the poem, the sadness sets in as the reader begins to realize what has happened. Plath may not think of her poem this way, but I think this poem is one big paradox. She begins with the line "These poems do not live: it's a sad diagnosis." Not only does this line evoke a hint of science and gives me the feeling of a relative being diagnosed with something like cancer, but I think it also just plain lies."Stillborn" is very much alive, even if its subject matter is painfully dead. There is nothing boring about this poem, and it never falls flat. It evokes the sad emotion of a parent losing his/her loved baby and, to use the cliched phrase "to add salt to the wound," the further confusion of why he/she lost his/her seemingly healthy baby.

The Grammar Lesson

I chose to focus on Steve Kowit’s “The Grammar Lesson” because I thought the content of the poem was really important. It is really common among people today to have a very minimal understand of grammar and for them to be completely unaware of it. This oblivion has always bothered me, and clearly it bothered Kowit too since he chose this topic as his subject matter. Kowit used many poetic techniques. This poem is a villanelle, consisting of five stanzas of three lines and one of four lines. It has two reoccurring lines: “a noun’s a thing. A verb’s the thing it does (page 312, line 1)” and “The can of beets is filled with purple fuzz (page 312, line 3).” Each time these lines are repeated, their importance and meaning change slightly. Kowit uses perfect rhymes within these stanzes, rhyming words like “does” and “fuzz,” and slant rhymes such as “known” and “brown.” He also uses alliteration, meaning the consonants of multiple words begin the same. Alliteration is pleasing to the ear when read aloud because it flows so quickly. Examples include “an article, a can’s a noun (page 312, line 5),” and “or might be, might meaning not yet known (page 313, line 8).” There are also many examples of caesuras throughout the poem, meaning that a pause occurs within a line. Caesuras change rhythm and can put a greater emphasis on a certain part because a pause gives you more time to think about what you have just read. I thought the poem was a really creative way to educate people on the subject of grammar. It is almost comical in how blatant he is; by putting these grammar rules in such a simple way, he’s sort of subtly calling out peoples’ stupidity.

Annus Mirablis

"Sexual intercourse began
in nineteen sixty-three
(Which was rather late for me)-"

The poem which most appealed to me was Annus Mirabilis by Philip Larkin. What interested me the most about the poem was the short, rhyming lines. I myself, often write overly detailed and so there is a kind of beauty which attracts me to concise works. The density that overtakes the small lines makes the words all the more powerful. Furthermore, my interest was sparked when the word "Beatles'" struck my eye. As did the odd punctuation, such as having an entire line be in parentheses. One thing that surprised me about the poem was the title. I read the title after reading the poem and was confused as to how the Latin phrase connected to the poem. After some research I discovered that the phrase means "year of wonders," which only added to my fascination with the work.

 Within the poem Larkin employs an end of line ABBAB line rhyme scheme. This rhyme scheme is unique  and works through the use of  enjambment, making line transitions smooth. Alliteration is also visible throughout the work on various lines, it is present on the fifth line of stanza 2 and 3. These lines are longer in syllables in comparison to the other lines in the stanza and the alliteration adds intensity to these longer lines.  The use of repetition is also visible within the work. Larkin repeats the first stanza again as the last stanza, changing only the first line.

The things which I love about this poem is its sense of nostalgia, specifically nostalgia for a period of freedom. Nostalgia is a powerful emotion which can be difficult to express without sounding whiney, I think that Larkin effectively portrays this.  One aspect of the poem which confuses me is the third stanza. While feel I have grasped the other stanzas' function and content within the poem, this stanza seems out of place in comparison. I am unsure at what Larkin means by both "quarrel" and the phrase " And every life became."

Poetic Trebuchet

For this blog post (kind of an unimaginative opening, I know) I picked this poem:

"O Western wind, when wilt thou blow,
That the small rain down can rain?
Christ, that my love were in my arms
And I in my bed again!"

Initially, there are three things that caught my attention. In order of most-attention-getting to least-attention-getting, they are: 1. "Christ!" is my absolute favorite exclamation; 2. I love how the author says at the end that he just wished he/she were in his/her bed again. Like, I feel that way during my 9:30; and 3. The use of the word "rain" twice so close to each other intrigues me a lot.

Probably part of the reason this poem in particular caught my eye is because, as the book points out, it contains no metaphors, only simple imagery. Usually when I think of quintessential poetry (or, bad poetry), it's boiling over with similes and metaphors, like a lot of Emily Dickinson poems that I've read. This poem, however, is not only insanely short (which I also love), but is jarring. That is to say, it only uses simple imagery and assertive language to drive a point across, rather than dancing around that point to make you guess at it. And then, at the end, the author be all like, "I just want to go to bed, holmes!" Sorry for my sudden outburst of street-talk (I was raised on the streets, you see. By gangsters. And wolves...wolf-gangsters?), but my point is that, at least to me, this poem takes all the things you would expect from a poem, and throws them out the window with last week's tax returns.

Then there's one last thing. The last line, "And I in my bed again!" can be interpreted different ways. I, personally, interpret it as a juxtaposition against the rest of the poem, like he's just tired, and he kind of interjects that at the end of the poem. But, it could also be interpreted as having everything to do with the the rest of the poem. So it's like this poem is launching this subject material at your face with a god damn trebuchet at pointblank range, and you look at the giant boulder that's coming towards your face, and you see some etching on it, and you say "oh, maybe this came from the side of a building." but then you look at the other corner of it, and you see there's some moss there, and you think "maybe the bombardiers just found this boulder in a swamp somewhere."

And then you die because a boulder the size of a Lexus that's crushed up into a crude sphere hits you square in the fucking face.

Dang.