Blog #8 Poem #4
Death, Be Not Proud
"And soonest our best men with thee do go"
Essentially, the speaker is saying "Only the good die young". This is a quote that I've heard over and over throughout my short life whenever I lost a family member or close friend. I've always tried to figure out what it meant but I was never able to understand it completely. I was taught that all people are good even if they do bad things. And that is something I truly do believe. I believe every person has at least an ounce, if not more, of good moral in them. And also, it totally sucks when people die young! We make these life plans and try to follow through with them so that we can die with dignity, having accomplished something great.
I guess what the speaker is trying to say is that only the good people aren't scared of death because they know that it's peaceful, not painful. I understand where the speaker is coming from, although I don't understand how we aren't supposed to fear death. The thought of death, to me, is the #1 scariest thing on my list of scary things. I mean, we make this plan for ourselves, right? We go to school, we get an education, get a job, make a family, etc, FOR WHAT?! To die and have everyone forget about you?! I mean, the concept of life totally makes sense to me, but death doesn't. Why do we die? Other than science, why does it happen? If religion is true and people believe that after death you live on eternally in a place called "heaven", why can't we just live eternally here with our loved ones?
The poem has brought me to the point where I don't even know what to think right now. This poem makes sense to me in the sense that the speaker is trying to make death seem like no big deal, although I don't quite understand the whole concept of "only the good die young" when we are taught to map out a perfect life for ourselves and then slowly die with it. So many things in this poem make sense to me, but even more things in this poem boggle my mind.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Monday, April 13, 2015
We Real Cool
The poem was hard to understand because it's so short. I had to analyze it a few times until I was able to get the gist of what is going on. Short poem's are always a problem for me because there's never ever enough detail to explain what it's trying to say. Honestly, what really helped me understand the poem was the opening title that says "The Pool Players. Seven at the Golden Shovel.". When I first read the poem, I never noticed it. I didn't even notice it the second time around. I saw it, and that was my "aha!" moment. I understood finally that the poem was about a few friends who cut school to come to this pool hall and are enjoying their lives. The final sentence, "We die soon", refers to the fact that life is short. Essentially, that's what the poem is about. A short life that we must enjoy while we can. The writer is setting up images for the reader of what a "fun life" is supposed to look like. Hanging out with your friends, listening to jazz, drinking some jin, all the above. This poem is an accurate representation of the simple fact that people need to lighten up. I mean, you only get one life, right?
The poem was hard to understand because it's so short. I had to analyze it a few times until I was able to get the gist of what is going on. Short poem's are always a problem for me because there's never ever enough detail to explain what it's trying to say. Honestly, what really helped me understand the poem was the opening title that says "The Pool Players. Seven at the Golden Shovel.". When I first read the poem, I never noticed it. I didn't even notice it the second time around. I saw it, and that was my "aha!" moment. I understood finally that the poem was about a few friends who cut school to come to this pool hall and are enjoying their lives. The final sentence, "We die soon", refers to the fact that life is short. Essentially, that's what the poem is about. A short life that we must enjoy while we can. The writer is setting up images for the reader of what a "fun life" is supposed to look like. Hanging out with your friends, listening to jazz, drinking some jin, all the above. This poem is an accurate representation of the simple fact that people need to lighten up. I mean, you only get one life, right?
Friday, April 10, 2015
The Second Coming
"Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhereThe ceremony of innocence is drowned;"
These few lines are very significant to the world today. I found that this poem is mainly about the war and how the world was left afterwards. It was thought that the world would be fine after the war was over because there would be no more fighting or anything like that. Little did they realize, the country was at it's weakest point. "Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world" describes terror and tragedy. The country was left in ruins and the people were left with few rations of food. It describes how although people may think everything is fine and dandy, it's not. The next line, "The blood-dimmed tide is loosed" gives the sensation of an ocean of blood surrounding us, describing all the blood spill from the war. Again, meaning that although everything seems fine and we are no longer fighting, it's not fine. People lost their husbands, brothers, children, etc. There's no fixing the pain and heartbreak you feel with loss. The next line, "The ceremony of innocence is drowned", describes the adolescents that were loss in the war. The young soldiers who were under 20 years old. Their innocence died with them. Not only that, the innocence of the children who witnessed the war is gone as well. They saw too much to ever see the world in a clear light again. I think that this applies to our world today because innocence is something children lack these days. Although we are no longer at war, the world is extremely corrupt. Children witness drug addicts, hate crime and violence every single day. These few lines apply to our society in the sense that the world will never be the same or will never be how it was pre-war.
"Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhereThe ceremony of innocence is drowned;"
These few lines are very significant to the world today. I found that this poem is mainly about the war and how the world was left afterwards. It was thought that the world would be fine after the war was over because there would be no more fighting or anything like that. Little did they realize, the country was at it's weakest point. "Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world" describes terror and tragedy. The country was left in ruins and the people were left with few rations of food. It describes how although people may think everything is fine and dandy, it's not. The next line, "The blood-dimmed tide is loosed" gives the sensation of an ocean of blood surrounding us, describing all the blood spill from the war. Again, meaning that although everything seems fine and we are no longer fighting, it's not fine. People lost their husbands, brothers, children, etc. There's no fixing the pain and heartbreak you feel with loss. The next line, "The ceremony of innocence is drowned", describes the adolescents that were loss in the war. The young soldiers who were under 20 years old. Their innocence died with them. Not only that, the innocence of the children who witnessed the war is gone as well. They saw too much to ever see the world in a clear light again. I think that this applies to our world today because innocence is something children lack these days. Although we are no longer at war, the world is extremely corrupt. Children witness drug addicts, hate crime and violence every single day. These few lines apply to our society in the sense that the world will never be the same or will never be how it was pre-war.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Those Winter Sundays
This poem is about a young boy whose father is a hard worker who makes sacrifices for him. This is shown when the speaker says that his father works hard all week long and still gets up on the weekends in winter to make sure that the house is warm. I found this poem extremely relatable to my own life. It often goes unnoticed how much work our parents do just to make sure that we are fed and dressed. It also often goes unnoticed the sacrifices they make for us. When I was five years old my father passed away. Ever since then my mother has played both roles as a single parent raising three children. I never really noticed how hard she really worked until I was old enough to understand money struggles and depression. I watched my mom work her fingers to the bone just for her kids. It was truly inspirational and made me determined to be a good parent when the time comes. This poem was simple, yet so beautiful and inspiring. It makes you realize what your parents do for you everyday and makes you appreciate them a lot more. This poem also says "no one ever thanked him". Which goes back to the point I made that nobody ever truly recognizes how great parents are. This poem was very eye opening for me.
This poem is about a young boy whose father is a hard worker who makes sacrifices for him. This is shown when the speaker says that his father works hard all week long and still gets up on the weekends in winter to make sure that the house is warm. I found this poem extremely relatable to my own life. It often goes unnoticed how much work our parents do just to make sure that we are fed and dressed. It also often goes unnoticed the sacrifices they make for us. When I was five years old my father passed away. Ever since then my mother has played both roles as a single parent raising three children. I never really noticed how hard she really worked until I was old enough to understand money struggles and depression. I watched my mom work her fingers to the bone just for her kids. It was truly inspirational and made me determined to be a good parent when the time comes. This poem was simple, yet so beautiful and inspiring. It makes you realize what your parents do for you everyday and makes you appreciate them a lot more. This poem also says "no one ever thanked him". Which goes back to the point I made that nobody ever truly recognizes how great parents are. This poem was very eye opening for me.
Spring and Fall
I'm not typically a huge lover of poetry, but I did love "Spring and Fall". At first, like many others, I assumed the play was written by a woman named Margaret about some guy named Goldengrove who wouldn't leave her alone. It wasn't until I used my usual tactic, reading over it multiple times, that I realized what the poem was really about. The poem is about a child coming to the realization that he/she won't be young forever. That one day everything will die, just like the leaves die in the fall. The poem speaks about how although we don't cry over the aging and death of the leaves, even though there are heaps of them at our feet, we will one day cry over death for sure. I found this totally relatable to me because accepting death is something I've struggled with since I was old enough to even know what death is. The thought of growing old is a terrifying thought, and nobody wants to accept that it happens. But it does! It happens around us every single day. That's what this poem is about, acceptance. Those of us who are terrified of death need to come to terms with the fact that it simply just happens. It happens to everyone. It's a part of life, a part of nature. This poem was absolutely beautiful.
I'm not typically a huge lover of poetry, but I did love "Spring and Fall". At first, like many others, I assumed the play was written by a woman named Margaret about some guy named Goldengrove who wouldn't leave her alone. It wasn't until I used my usual tactic, reading over it multiple times, that I realized what the poem was really about. The poem is about a child coming to the realization that he/she won't be young forever. That one day everything will die, just like the leaves die in the fall. The poem speaks about how although we don't cry over the aging and death of the leaves, even though there are heaps of them at our feet, we will one day cry over death for sure. I found this totally relatable to me because accepting death is something I've struggled with since I was old enough to even know what death is. The thought of growing old is a terrifying thought, and nobody wants to accept that it happens. But it does! It happens around us every single day. That's what this poem is about, acceptance. Those of us who are terrified of death need to come to terms with the fact that it simply just happens. It happens to everyone. It's a part of life, a part of nature. This poem was absolutely beautiful.
A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
At first, I didn't understand this poem at all. I actually had to read it over about five times until I could completely understand it. I came to the conclusion that the poem is a poem by a man for his wife before going on a long journey. It also wasn't until I completed a TP-CASTT that I identified the theme which is identifying the strength of a bond and relationship. I found it really interesting that Donne forbids his wife from mourning. That sounds really odd because we're used to mourning when someone we love goes a way for a while because there are always risk factors and things like that. I liked it, though because it shows that their love is sacred in a way. It's special. By crying, his wife would be putting it out there to the public instead of cherishing it. My opinion totally changed after reading it over again. At first, I was thinking how annoying and confusing it was. After, I found it really deep and amazing. It really makes you appreciate and cherish those you love so deeply. It also really made me question the whole concept of mourning in general. Like I said earlier, we cry when someone we love leaves for a while because there are always risk factors and things like that. But my question is, why do we mourn when it's not a real separation? It's not forever. I mean I understand why people cry when they break up, because they will never be able to love that same person again. But mourning when someone goes on a trip sounds ridiculous because you should more be looking forward to when they come home. This poem really got to me, on a spiritual level. 10/10 would recommend to a peer.
At first, I didn't understand this poem at all. I actually had to read it over about five times until I could completely understand it. I came to the conclusion that the poem is a poem by a man for his wife before going on a long journey. It also wasn't until I completed a TP-CASTT that I identified the theme which is identifying the strength of a bond and relationship. I found it really interesting that Donne forbids his wife from mourning. That sounds really odd because we're used to mourning when someone we love goes a way for a while because there are always risk factors and things like that. I liked it, though because it shows that their love is sacred in a way. It's special. By crying, his wife would be putting it out there to the public instead of cherishing it. My opinion totally changed after reading it over again. At first, I was thinking how annoying and confusing it was. After, I found it really deep and amazing. It really makes you appreciate and cherish those you love so deeply. It also really made me question the whole concept of mourning in general. Like I said earlier, we cry when someone we love leaves for a while because there are always risk factors and things like that. But my question is, why do we mourn when it's not a real separation? It's not forever. I mean I understand why people cry when they break up, because they will never be able to love that same person again. But mourning when someone goes on a trip sounds ridiculous because you should more be looking forward to when they come home. This poem really got to me, on a spiritual level. 10/10 would recommend to a peer.
Mirror
1) My initial experience reading the poem was simply that I really enjoyed it. It was pretty simple and easy to understand. The only thing that was difficult for me at first was understanding the theme. There were a lot of things that the poem could imply and there were many meanings you could put on it. It wasn't until I read it a second time and completed a TP-CASTT analysis that I could understand the theme. I decided that the theme was accepting yourself as you grow older. The woman struggled with losing her beauty as she got older. After this analysis, my view on the poem shifted completely. The first time around I got the impression that the woman was just looking in any old mirror and watching herself grow old. But after reading it a second time, I realized that this poem is about life in general. While out on the streets, you see yourself in car windows or store windows and see what you look like daily. You literally watch yourself age as the days go by. I also found it interesting that the focus was on a woman. Women in society are usually the more prominent ones that suffer from insecurities. I just altogether really enjoyed this poem because I thought it was very relatable.
2) When answering questions, I really had trouble analyzing what the poet was implying within certain words/phrases. The easier questions for me were those about structure. It was easy to analyze shifts and breaks than it was to analyze the meaning of certain parts of the poem. Some questions I feel like I need more help with would be those understanding the meaning of words.
1) My initial experience reading the poem was simply that I really enjoyed it. It was pretty simple and easy to understand. The only thing that was difficult for me at first was understanding the theme. There were a lot of things that the poem could imply and there were many meanings you could put on it. It wasn't until I read it a second time and completed a TP-CASTT analysis that I could understand the theme. I decided that the theme was accepting yourself as you grow older. The woman struggled with losing her beauty as she got older. After this analysis, my view on the poem shifted completely. The first time around I got the impression that the woman was just looking in any old mirror and watching herself grow old. But after reading it a second time, I realized that this poem is about life in general. While out on the streets, you see yourself in car windows or store windows and see what you look like daily. You literally watch yourself age as the days go by. I also found it interesting that the focus was on a woman. Women in society are usually the more prominent ones that suffer from insecurities. I just altogether really enjoyed this poem because I thought it was very relatable.
2) When answering questions, I really had trouble analyzing what the poet was implying within certain words/phrases. The easier questions for me were those about structure. It was easy to analyze shifts and breaks than it was to analyze the meaning of certain parts of the poem. Some questions I feel like I need more help with would be those understanding the meaning of words.
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