Analyzing William Stafford's Poem The Beginning Of Everything

Trying To Name What Doesn’t Change By Naomi Shihab Nye Introduction Naomi Shihab Nye is an American novelist and poet born in 1952. She is mostly known for her poetic works that looks at ordinary events in life from a different and interesting perspective. Her approach has been the use of events, people and objects to pass her messages. In this paper, the main focus is on her poem ‘Trying to Name What Doesn’t Change’ which was written and published in 1995.

Mary Oliver’s poem, “The Journey”, is a narrative on the many obstacles one must overcome in order to forge their own path. The way the poem is written makes the reader the subject of the poem because everyone must overcome an obstacle of some form in their life. “The Journey” illustrates the very real struggles everyone must go through to discover something in their life, whether it is their own destiny or their self-worth. Oliver’s poem states that the journey of life is difficult, but she knows that everyone must go through it. Although not stated within the lines of the poem, Oliver hints that the journey of life is a person’s own journey to discover themselves.

The poem "Kindness" by Naomi Shihab Nye speaks about how you experience kindness and what it really is. The main point in this poem is that in order to experience people's kindness you need to experience hurt, sorrow, and loneliness. The author says that when you loose everything and have no one or thing that when kindness comes along it lifts you up "and then goes with you everywhere/ like a shadow or a friend" (33-34). When portraying this message the author uses a sad but hopeful tone to send the message she wants to say. This tone helps portray the message because you can feel how sad someone is when they are lonely and they have nothing.

Human beings are kind and caring in nature. They exude a sense of compassion towards each other. This is called empathy. Humans care for one another and are mostly understanding of each other. However, this not always the case.

“My Papa's Waltz”, by Theodore Roethke, and “Those Winter Sundays”, by Robert Hayden are the two poems that are somewhat similar and both of these poems are about beloved fathers. Father is the man who is spends time with you and takes care of you. While doing so much for the family he gains the respect and love from the family. In these two poems Roethke and Hayden take a flashback at the actions of their fathers. Even though both of these poems propose that their fathers were not perfect, they still love them.

In the poem “A Story” by Li- Young Lee, the audience is introduced to the intricate relationship between the father and the son. There is an obvious internal conflict ongoing within the father’s thoughts; the father desperately wants to tell his son a story but cannot come up with one. The author highlights the altering views held by the father and the son through the use of shifting points of view and the intended structure. These two devices adeptly establish the poem’s profundity and intensity of emotions; moreover, it brings light to a common battle that evolving filial relations face against time; as innocence eventuates into maturity, parents inevitably feel helpless and nostalgic.

As time presses on we can always look back at poetry to truly understand the emotions that were evoked at the time. In "The Pioneer Women" and "Grandma's Apron. " we are faced with similar although not exactly identical themes and imagery that conduct elements of interest in reference to daily life and objects that hide the truth of what we know. In “The Pioneer Women” we are shipped back to the west and the start of America; more specifically in the work of women.

The poem “Cinderella” by Anne Sexton is about a girl who finds her prince charming. In this poem it is told in a different way then I remember it is a lot more gruesome and gory. Cinderella lives with her father, stepmother, and stepsisters and they treat her as a servant. She has to clean, cook, and do all of their chores. When she wishes to go to the ball the evil stepmother tries to load her down with chores, but Cinderella has a white dove that is her guardian angel.

American Romanticism is a literary and philosophical movement that was primarily in the 1800’s and was a response to the Enlightenment. Some key things American Romanticism focuses on is nature, individuality, imagination, insight, and intuition. Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson were two famous American Romantic poets from the 1800’s who were unquestionably influential. Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman are intensely different in the ways they view society. Walt Whitman viewed society as a whole and that society could complete seemingly impossible tasks by banding together.

From a young age, I knew that reading was essential to living, but had been rather discouraged from reading for pleasure, due to the environment in which reading was taught. I was put into lower level reading classes and the expectation was lower than what I knew I was capable of. Reading had become a task that meant little to me until I met my sixth grade teacher, Mr. Bassler. With his influence, reading was something brand new and exciting that was not as enticing before. The challenge that literature posed before was utterly destroyed and I became an entirely different person, the person that I am today, writing about my passion for literature.