In her poem, “Daisies in Namaqualand,” Ingrid Jonker uses the blue Namaqualand daisy as a symbol for peace and prosperity, and describes its role in a war-torn or oppressed society. While the poem begins with a rather ambiguous question about the purpose of the daisy, Jonker’s use of poetic devices engrains into one’s mind the true role of the daisy. Through her reference to the daisy throughout the poem, Jonker reveals the theme that a sense of hope is imperative, and will always exist even when it may seem lost. The first four lines of the poem serve as the essential question and the base from which the theme develops. This is seen in the diction of the word “why,” carefully placed at the beginning of the poem to make known that it is indeed a question. In this stanza, the daisy represents peace, while listening to the …show more content…
Metaphorically, this completes the theme, as the symbol of hope, peace, and prosperity is revealed behind hardship. There is once more a distinct tonal shift to support this, as the use of words like “green mantis,” and “small blue Namaqualand daisy” indicate the lively tone seen before in the first stanza. This distinct tonal shift brings focus to the contrast between the struggles of war, and the prevailing peace that lays behind it. The repetition of the word “something” in the phrase “answering something, believing something, knowing something,” placed at the end of the poem, creates room for interpretation in the purpose of the daisy, highlighting the fact that its emanating hope can reach whoever it needs to. Along with this repetition, the daisy is personified once again, having human traits that are seen as comforting. The combined used of repetition and personification at the end of the poem solidifies the peaceful nature of the daisy, which stands alone with open arms during times of
The overall theme of the poem is sacrifice, more specifically, for the people that you love. Throughout the poem color and personification are used to paint a picture in the reader's head. “Fog hanging like old Coats between the trees.” (46) This description is used to create a monochromatic, gloomy, and dismal environment where the poem takes
This is an example of astonishing imagery where the detail overflows the imagination. You feel immersed as you read the poem. The imagery portrayed in this poem adds a depth that you wouldn't be able to feel if you didn't get the provided
As the tone of the speaker becomes more passionate with the connection of the tree throughout the poem, it is evident that this poem shows the related emptiness in the heart but a mind filled with memories, of their loved and recently
Chrysanthemums are beautiful, delicate flowers, which often symbolize happiness. In the short story, “The Chrysanthemums,” John Steinbeck walks the readers through the lives of Elisa and Henry Allen. They live on a foothill ranch in Salinas Valley, California, where they spend most of their days living a simple lifestyle. The Allens focus their time on maintaining their ranch, but in the eyes of Elisa, this meant more time for her to tend to her beloved chrysanthemums. Steinbeck incorporates quizzical diction and repetition to characterize Elisa and to define happiness, to convey the message that it is more important to be happy than to try to please everybody else.
“Rose that grew from concrete” By: Tupac Shakur Can we always count on people to be by our side when things don’t go right? Many people have to go on and do things on they own. Also having to prove people that you can go do something they swear you can’t do because of your lifestyle. The poem is about how Tupac himself grew up in a bad neighborhood and he became a amazing and inspiring person to many people. In the poem of “The Rose That Grew from Concrete”, Tupac Shakur uses metaphors and power in order to show how people misrepresent and don’t understand people and their struggle to rise from the bottom.
We then see the farmer’s unrequited ‘love’ throughout the poem where his bride is neglecting the idea of a husband “Not near, not near!’ her eyes beseech” the only words we hear from the bride show begging and trepidation, he notices her androphobia and it seems to impact his emotions when we reach the fourth stanza which stands out as a sensual, admiring description of the wife by the farmer. The poet uses sibilance (‘Shy…swift…/Straight…slight/Sweet…She/…Self.’) to convey the farmer’s whispered appreciation and leads on to compare her to nature ‘ Sweet as the first wild violets,’ strengthening the farmer’s positive opinion of his wife, however, she does not show him the affection he desires, contrasting the predator-prey relationship I discussed in the first paragraph where only the farmer benefited. She is ‘Sweet.../To
The poem mentions a flower, one that is “unsweetened by rain, untarnished by simpering, uncuckolded by men” (Maracle 156), pointing out to the reader that the flower is tenacious regardless of the situation that it is placed in. Maracle intentionally chooses a flower to represent the Chinese, as oftentimes a flower is symbolizes “strength and courageousness” (Koehn 1952) in chinese culture, revealing the respect that Maracle has for the Chinese. A discriminatory act upon the Chinese was the racial segregation into Chinatown during the time of the gold rush and the building of the railroad. Overtime, the segregation caused many Chinese to be silenced, fearing for their lives. Maracle chooses to dedicate the poem to Sky Lee and Jim Wong-Chu to show gratitude for the developments they have made towards encouraging the Chinese community to speak out against
In the first stanza’s, the narrator’s voice and perspective is more collective and unreliable, as in “they told me”, but nonetheless the references to the “sea’s edge” and “sea-wet shell” remain constant. Later on the poem, this voice matures, as the “cadence of the trees” and the “quick of autumn grasses” symbolize the continuum of life and death, highlighting to the reader the inevitable cycle of time. The relationship that Harwood has between the landscape and her memories allows for her to delve deeper into her own life and access these thoughts, describing the singular moments of human activity and our cultural values that imbue themselves into landscapes. In the poem’s final stanza, the link back to the narrator lying “secure in her father’s arms” similar to the initial memory gives the poem a similar cyclical structure, as Harwood in her moment of death finds comfort in these memories of nature. The water motif reemerges in the poem’s final lines, as “peace of this day will shine/like light on the face of the waters.”
In her short story “Marigolds”, Eugenia Collier, tells the story of a young woman named Lizabeth growing up in rural Maryland during the Depression. Lizabeth is on the verge of becoming an adult, but one moment suddenly makes her feel more woman than child and has an impact on the rest of her life. Through her use of diction, point of view, and symbolism, Eugenia Collier develops the theme that people can create beauty in their lives even in the poorest of situations. Through her use of the stylistic device diction, Eugenia Collier is able to describe to the reader the beauty of the marigolds compared to the drab and dusty town the story is set in.
Alice Walker uses imagery and diction throughout her short story to tell the reader the meaning of “The Flowers”. The meaning of innocence lost and people growing up being changed by the harshness of reality. The author is able to use the imagery to show the difference between innocence and the loss of it. The setting is also used to show this as well.
The poem “Miniver Cheevy,” is about a man who spends his days wishing that he had been born in a different era than the one he spends his days in. Looking back on the olden days Miniver Cheevy feels that the olden days were much better than modern times and the poem goes on to show his love for the past. However, instead of doing something about his love and curiosity for the past he chooses to reminisce about the past and drink his misery away. Throughout this paper I will discuss the poem’s central purpose and its attitude towards its subject matter, and how the author uses allusion to reinforce the poems central purpose and attitude. First, I will begin with the poem central purpose or theme.
These images show Wordsworth’s relationship with nature because he personifies this flower allowing him to relate it and become one with nature.
In the short story “The Flowers”, Alice Walker sufficiently prepares the reader for the texts surprise ending while also displaying the gradual loss of Myop’s innocence. The author uses literary devices like imagery, setting, and diction to convey her overall theme of coming of age because of the awareness of society's behavior. At the beguining of the story the author makes use of proper and necessary diction to create a euphoric and blissful aura. The character Myop “skipped lightly” while walker describes the harvests and how is causes “excited little tremors to run up her jaws.”. This is an introduction of the childlike innocence present in the main character.
Imagery and tone plays a huge role for the author in this poem. It’s in every stanza and line in this poem. The tone is very passionate, joyful and tranquil.
In the final two lines of the poem, the author describes the vanishing of the ladybugs, once it finally occurs, by writing that “all the wishes that we might have had/in such abundance simply disappeared.” The two repeated sounds, “w” and “h,” are both sharp and distinct sounds. Because the sounds themselves are so sharp, they indicate to the reader that strong emotions of some kind are running high among characters in the poem. The reader concludes that these strong emotions are due to the disappearance of the ladybugs, proving their human counterparts’ attachment. In addition to displaying strong feelings, the alliteration also helps to draw attention to the last few lines and their meaning.