American poets

A Feminist Perspective of Metaphysical Conceit, Action, and Defense of a Woman’s Virtue in John Donne’s Song In his poem Song, John Donne uses metaphysical conceits, persuades his readers, and defends his negative view a woman’s virtue. A woman’s virtue is proven her moral standards in society. Song was written during the Renaissance era, a time in which men used Petrarchan values to place emphasis on their appreciation of women. John Donne’s poem rejects the Petrarchan ideology, and forces…

“The Flea” by John Donne and “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell are two poems classified as carpe diem. Carpe diem is Latin phrase for “Seize the day”. Both speakers use the ideals of carpe diem to persuade the auditor to live in the moment. They do this by saying that the auditor is young and beautiful and that they are meant to be. Although both speakers try their best to persuade the auditor to have sex with them, the speaker in “To his coy mistress” impresses the auditor the best. In…

In this poem, Donne reveals that the man’s empowerment is what enables him to act on his desire. Donne writes “off with that girdle,” “off with that happy busk,” “off with those shoes.” The repetition of the phrase “off with” signifies the man’s dominance over the woman; he is not asking her to do something he is directing the woman. When Donne writes commands like “unpin” and “unlace” when the woman approaches and tells her to “license my roving hands” it is apparent that this dominance he…

Donne and Herbert, both religious poets often radical, clever, and unconventional, and thus not surprising both have been considered leaders of a “metaphysical” school of poetry. Their similarities result from a time where everyone was a religious something. The protestant faith brings about an attitude of humility towards God in both poets. Both poets discuss their relations with God through the use of poetic form. Subsequently, writing roughly round the same time and theologically (both were…

Dove’s familiar campaign promotes healthy image standards, but ironically the corporation also owns Axe, which is one company that imposes such ideals. From day one, children are bombarded with ads, pictures, and expectations. While there have been movements to improve self-image in adolescents, companies are merely capitalizing on the trend to sell their products without regards for their impacts. Our society defines people by appearance, and individuals cannot escape those superficialities…

its downs but writing an anthology for Gwendolyn Brookes, Sherman Alexie, Lucille Clifton, Sylvia Plath and Gary Soto was eye opening. These are some of the best poets that I have had the opportunity to read and appreciate in my lifetime. The diversity among the bunch was very fulfilling, from poetry about racial tension, native American culture, women empowerment, depression to young love. Initially the poems were picked at random but I think they came together perfectly by balancing each other…

Mothers are always going to be caring for their children no matter what they go though. These poems show the morals that the mothers try to pass on to their sons to succeed in life. Both of them are pretty strict and straight forward with their words but try to be kind in a way that their sons would understand what they went through. In the poems, “My Mother” by Robert Mezey and “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughs, there is a direct correlation between the relationship of mother and son, the…

Transcendentalism was a philosophical movement that developed in the late 1820’s and 1830’s in the eastern region of the United States. The movement was a reaction to the protest against the general state of intellectualism and spirituality. There were three main philosophers that spread the word of transcendentalism across the United States. These three men were Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman. The views of these men spread quickly and were adopted by many people.…

Maya Angelou: Strength of the Human Spirit “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty”, [are the famous words of former author, singer, dancer, and poet, Maya Angelou. The famous role model has won many awards including two NAACP Image Awards in the outstanding literary work category, achieved many goals by becoming an activists, and left many marks on the world in her various poems, stories, and biographies. She was…

Freedom Freedom is a word that can be defined in many ways to different minds, but in literary terms freedom means “the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved”. Two great poets by the name of Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes wrote two extraordinary poems called “I know why the caged bird sings” and “Democracy”. These two poems open your eye to the word freedom. I choose these two poems because, me personally being of Haitian decent I see how my people are treated and thought of. We think we…