Poetry Page 36

When every pencil meant a sacrifice his parents boarded him at school in town, slaving to free him from the stony fields, the meagre acreage that bore them down. They blushed with pride when, at his graduation, they watched him picking up the slender scroll, his passport from the years of brutal toil and lonely…

“There will come soft rains” is both the title for the short story by Ray Bradbury and the poem by Sara Teasdale and the poem is embedded in the short story. The poem and short story were written in 1920 and 1950 respectively, shortly after WWI and WWII. Thus it is not surprising that both…

            “Richard Cory” is one of Edwin Arlington Robinson’s most studied and analyzed poems. The poem was first published in the year 1897 as part of the volume The Children of the Night (a revision of his earlier self-published volume The Torrent and the Night Before) and showcases the author’s adeptness at combining traditional poetic…

A brave, tough, and a self-confident woman, that is who Gail White is. White claims to be a critic of the world around her and she expresses this through her poetry. In her poem “Dead Armadillos,” she points out the way the society looks at animals and how they give importance to them. Gail White…

“If. ” Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 8th Ed. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. 809. Print. Analysis and Response: “If” by Rudyard Kipling “If” a poem written by Rudyard Kipling in 1910, illustrates some of the various situations of life and how we may want to deal with them. The…

Although the Elizabethan era was known for its romantic and elaborate poetry that delved into human emotions, there existed a group of daring 17th-century poets who focused on analyzing the abstract aspects of life. John Donne, a prominent figure of Metaphysical Poetry, stands out for his use of plain language to address profound subjects. In…

Edwin Arlington Robinson’s poem “Richard Cory” utilizes irony, simplicity, and perfect rhyme to communicate its theme. The consistent rhyme scheme gives the poem a harmonious flow, enhancing its impact. The central message of the poem is that appearances can be deceptive. It narrates the story of Richard Cory, a man admired and respected by all,…

One of the greatest poetic minds of the 20th Century once said, “Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emotions know what it means to want to escape…

The beautiful Helen of Troy has been the subject for many poems and artists over the centuries.  Her fabled beauty created a war that collapsed one ancient civilization and renewed the conflicts among the gods of Olympus.  Many writers have attempted to characterize her both physically and mentally, and from all of these the reader…

The epic poem “The Odyssey” by Homer not only enthralls with its fascinating stories of monsters and sorcery, but it also offers a rich insight into the family and social values of ancient Greece. The story illustrates the extent a Greek hero will go to defend these crucial social norms via the lengthy and difficult…