Assonance

“Do not go gentle into that good night/Old age should burn and rave at close of day/Rage, rage, against the dying of the light.” This is to say that, essentially, one should not go down without a fight. The first and last lines of the stanza are the lines that get repeated throughout the poem, and they summarize Thomas’s message well. Additionally, they offer a bit of nature imagery, by comparing death to night and life to light. There is a significance to the rhyming of “night” and “light” because they are used as opposites and serve as the central meaning to the poem. Thomas uses a combination of assonance, alliteration, and consonance to give the stanza a united and cohesive feel, and the repeated sounds help give the stanza a “spitting” tone––like it’s angry and…

Happiness; a feeling often times expressed by people, even if it is not felt. A poem written by Edwin Arlington Robinson titled, “Richard Cory,” was a prime example of this. This poem does an excellent job of telling a story, through only a single scene. It explains the life of a wealthy, admired man that showed signs indicating his feelings of happiness. Most people were able to assume that Richard Cory had everything he ever could have imagined because of his financial status, nevertheless,…

The mere mention of the word death evokes fear, anxiety and restlessness. It preys on the young and old alike, the poor and rich, the strong and weak, the brave and the cowards. Because of its nature that remains to be a mystery, men and women have turned to poetry to vividly describe it, seeking to shed a glimpse of light on this “might foe” Such thoughts are captured in the two poems by John Donne, “Death, Be Not proud” and “The Tyger” by William Blake. For sure death is just a temporal state.…

Smart by Shel Silverstein on page 157 is an enjoyable poem about a naïve child who believes he is more astute than every person he associates with. For example, the child thought he was getting the better deal when he received a dollar and “swapped it for two shiny quarters/ ’Cause two is more than one” (lines 3-4). By choosing quantity over quality the child is displaying a lack of understanding between amount and worth. Silverstein’s lyrical poem, uses repetition, rhyme, meter, and tone of…

Depicted above are lines 11, 12, and 13 from the poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Shelley. In this sonnet, a broken statue of an arrogant king is described in a desolate place that was once his empire. Line 11 is part of the inscription on the statue itself. I was drawn to this passage by the blatant irony it presents, as I am often frustrated by man who he thinks he owns nature. Humans take extreme action to work against the natural world, such instances include the deforestation of land for…

Poem Analysis: ‘Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep’ How do people grieve when their loved one has passed? What does it mean when someone says that their spirit will be in their loved one’s heart? The poem “Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep” has a melancholy tone that reassures the reader that their loved ones will be with them even after they die, so they have no reason to cry. The poem “ Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep” by Mary Elizabeth Frye uses rhyming, imagery, and metaphors to make the…

All students are excited for breaks from school, but in Seamus Heaney’s case his break was more of a hard blow than a relaxing time. This lyrical poem addresses the reader directly by reaching their emotions. The poem is about an elder brother who was away at school but had to return home in order to attend the funeral of his younger brother who tragically passed away. The poem is written in first person from the viewpoint of Seamus Heaney himself, he focuses on the reactions of his parents…

Me: Hello and welcome to poetry examination plus on iRadio, during todays podcast I will be analyzing the poem ‘The Little Black Boy by William Blake’ with the help of poetry expert Garth Dee. While analyzing the poem we will address areas such as how the William Blake has represented his values attitudes and perspectives, how he has used language, which engages and influences his readers; We will also talk about how the poem has impacted and influenced teenage readers. Hi Garth welcome to the…

The “Sea Rose” How do the sea and a beautiful rose combine together? Both of these items are majestic things and can show love and beauty. In Hilda Doolittle’s, “Sea Rose” published in 1916, shows readers the interaction between a sea and a rose and displays this by the use of extraordinary imagery and two different symbolisms. Today, many women do not realize the beauty they contain. Not only do women not realize this, but also many other people don’t believe that women have the capability…

Structurally, Blake composes the poem as a dramatic monologue utilizing an ABAB rhyme scheme and simple vocabulary. Much of the work uses an anapestic poetic meter, which is often characterized with childish cadence of literature. The composition therefore resembles perhaps a children’s hymn -- establishing the innocence of the boy which narrates it. Ergo, the very nature of youthful innocence is tied inextricably to the overall tone of the poem. Blake not only addresses the reader, but…