“To the doctor who treated the raped baby and who felt such despair.” Question 1. Explain the ways in which the title of this poem is unusual, and comment on whether or not it is effective in relation to the poem’s content. “To the doctor who treated the raped baby and who felt such despair”, the title of the poem is unusual. Firstly due to the fact that the title is of an unusual length for a poem, its relatively long, as most poems only consists of a word or a very short phase, therefore in this poem the poet is already making a very direct statement to the readers through the title. Which is very effective in terms of this poem, as its draws the attention of the readers and as they would be drawn immediately to want to know more of what happened of “the raped baby” Secondly, it’s unusual because of the words “To the doctor…” it’s conveyed in sense that the poet structured the title like, how one would write a letter to someone, the poet is addressing the this poem directly “To the doctor”. Overall the title of the poem is effective as its draws the reader to want to read the content of the poem, as it almost makes one stiffen to the fact that someone would rape a baby and then the readers also feel the pressure of the doctor “who felt such despair” trying to save the infant baby. Question 2. In the first line, the speaker asserts that he or she is speaking “on behalf of us all” (1). What does he or she mean by this? Write a paragraph in which you refer
The essay will consider the poem 'Practising' by the poet Mary Howe. It will explore how this poem generates its meaning and focus by analysing its techniques, metaphorical construct and its treatment of memory. The poem can primarily be seen to be a poem of missed opportunity. In this way is comes to form, alongside other poems of Howe's a study about a certain kind of loss and the recuperative efforts of memory, alongside the certainty of the failure of this recuperation. The paper will begin by giving a context to the poem with regard to Howe's life and work and will then proceed to analyse it directly, drawing attention to how it can be seen to fulfil this thesis about its content and meaning.
A variety of issues are examined in Dawe’s poetry, most of which, aren’t uniquely Australian. In ‘The Wholly Innocent’, the poet utilises the narrator being an unborn baby to express their opinion on abortion. The emotive language; “defenceless as a lamb” and comparisons of abortion to “genocide”, all turn this poem into a type of activism, for pro-life; a concept that is certainly not uniquely Australian; as abortion is only legal (on request) in 4 states and territories. These issues aren’t always directly referenced in Dawe’s poetry, much like in ‘The Family Man’, which chooses to explore suicide and it’s effect. The man who killed himself had no name - he was just a statistic, that had “all qualifications blown away with a trigger’s touch”.
The poem “From this Height” by Tony Hoagland explores the ideas of the power of wealth, individual versus society, and the circle of life. The speaker, a very wealthy man, uses his money to support his opulent lifestyle. His wealth gives him a very affluent place in society and access to many things a middle class man would only dream of. The speaker struggles with the fact that society played a huge role in his success, yet most people do not get to life the way that he does. The idea of the “circle of life” gives the speaker a reason to justify the way he uses his money and lives his life, because he realizes “it would be a sin not to enjoy” all that he has been blessed with.
Another portion of the text that is worth analyzing is whether or not the poet is a real person or a generalization about all or most poets. All of the lines in the poem use general text and never label a specific person. What’s interesting about the text is that without the title it would be nearly impossible to distinguish whether or not the person the poem is about is a poet or not. The way the text allows the reader to find a figurative meaning to the poem is by being vague enough and
“Execution” by Edward Hirsch is about an adult recollecting his thoughts about his high school football career and especially how his coach inspired him because his authoritative role model was battling cancer. The speaker talks about the coach’s goal for “perfect execution” and the infinite strategies the coach would draw up in order to reach his goal. The speaker concludes with their team’s loss against “the downstate team” and how they were ironically defeated by “perfect execution.” A superficial reader might assume that the poem was about the disappointing results that came from his team working hard to reach a goal, but the author’s use of impersonal tone and irony in the fact that their team’s loss is caused by “perfect execution” shows how a strong force can be conquered even when putting your best foot forward when accepting a challenge. Have you ever been a part of a team that seemed invincible and you lost?
The multifaceted nature of the human condition encompasses all aspects of human life at both an individual and collective level and delves into the notion of humanity and the values it comprises. Gwen Harwood’s poems’ “Father and Child” and “Mother who gave me life,” and Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery” (1998), explore the dynamic and often contradictory nature of the human condition. Harwood portrays the transience of time and inescapable truth of mortality, illustrating the ever changing complexion of the human experience. Whereas, Jackson examines the capability of all humans to be violent and cruel while questioning whether such tendencies can be masked by a constrictive society’s heartless ideals. Harwood explores the brevity
The poem, Useless Boys,is one that portrays a feeling of indignation, rebellion and finally, understanding by two boys who grew up with bitter views of their fathers’ onerous jobs. The narrator believes that the only reason his father stays at his job is for the money. In his naivety the son does not realize that at times living selfishly is the way things have to be. Sometimes commitments are made in a self-sacrificial and cowardly manner. No matter how “wrecking” his father’s career, he stays in order to provide for his family.
In his poem “an Echo Sonnet, To an Empty Page” poet Robert Pack introduces a narrator and his alter ego who exchange questions and answers that subsequently reveals the poet’s prospects and attitudes toward life. The narrator, or “the voice,” seems like a timid man who is afraid to plunge into his own life, because he fears the future and inevitable consequences of his mortality. The “echo,” which is the narrator’s alter ego, or a persona, answers the the voice’s questions in a way that drive the voice to take a certain prospect in life. Pack designed the poem masterfully in a way that it utilizes the traditional form of a shakespearean sonnet and an addendum of on “echo,” which communicates a cleaner and more direct message to the readers. Furthermore various literary techniques such as symbols, extraposition, and imagery add to the meaning of the poem Through form and literary techniques, Robert Pack emphasizes, through the answers of the “echo,” that no matter how frightening life seems to be, it is important to take a “leap.”
His use of words like “battering ram” and “boom burst” are creating even more suspense. As a woman, I found the poem very unsettling. He writes about rape in a very blunt way, he is very expressive and that made the poem quite disturbing to
I am not a father so I cannot express the love for a child. “My son the Man” is a short 16-line poem. In the poem, Sharon compares her son to Houdini and explains how he has grown up. Sharon expresses deeply about her son growing up and leaving her and it is hard for her to watch her little boy become a man. I can kind of relate to this because my mom still looks at me as if I am a little boy.
Rina Morooka Mr Valera Language Arts Compare and Contrast essay on “The poet’s obligation”, “When I have fears that I may cease to be”, and “In my craft of sullen art” The three poems, “The poet’s obligation” by Neruda, “when I have fears that I may cease to be” by Keats, and “In my craft of sullen art” by Thomas, all share the similarity that they describe poets’ relationships with their poems. However, the three speakers in the three poems shared different views on their poetry; the speaker in Neruda’s poem believes that his poems which were born out of him stored creativity to people who lead busy and tiring life, and are in need of creativity, while the speaker in Keats’ poem believes that his poems are like tools to write down what
Poetry Explication: “In a Library” by Emily Dickinson The poem “In a Library” was written by Emily Dickinson as an expression of her love of books, and the way they can transport her. Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830. Emily Dickinson was born and raised in Amherst, Massachusetts.
The poem A Step Away From Them by Frank O’Hara has five stanzas written in a free verse format with no distinguishable rhyme scheme or meter. The poem uses the following asymmetrical line structure “14-10-9-13-3” while using poetic devices such as enjambment, imagery, and allusion to create each stanza. A Step Away From Them occurs in one place, New York City. We know this because of the lines, “On/ to Times Square, / where the sign/blows smoke over my head” (13-14) and “the Manhattan Storage Warehouse.”
Edward Estlin Cummings is one of the most famous American poets of the 20th century. He uses words to “point[] to a reality outside themselves” and on the contrary claims “the only reality is language itself” . He is well known for his disregard of traditional poetic expression, and tendency to invent words. The poem Love is more thicker than forget has 16 lines, which are separated into 4 stanzas.
It is a contrast in comparison to many of Plath's other poems, which are suffused with despair, it is full of tenderness and love. It is a new beginning for both Plath and her baby. This sets the tone as she answers her newbornrole as a new mother. The opening line of the poem – ‘love set you like 's cry, still unsure of her a fat gold watch’ – suggests that her baby is precious. Her baby is depicted as a “new statue in a drafty museum…”