English poets

The aim of this assignment is to depict the various differences and similarities in Donne’s courtly sonnets and holy sonnet sequence, with reference to “A Valediction Forbidding Mourning” and “Holy Sonnet XIV”. “A Valediction Forbidding Mourning” depicts through various conceits and metaphors the theme of the bond between two lovers who are separated physically, but are not ready to sacrifice their relationship and passion due to the mere fact that they are separated by distance. This poem…

George Santayana (1863-1952) [Madrid, Harvard, Rome]. A poet and essayist as well as a philosopher, George is an outstanding representative of Critical Realism, a form of naturalism. The objects of knowledge occupy either of two statuses; they may be existing substances or subsisting essences, though it is impossible to prove the independent existence of either type of object. Santayana stated that we believe in the objectivity of substance on the basis of animal faith. The ultimate substance…

Jennifer Strauss, Les Murray and Elizabeth Riddell explore the similar idea of loss of innocence. Strauss expresses concern for her son, whom has lost his innocence to his own anger and depression, through various contrasts. In the opening stanza she describes her son as ‘weightless of cause or consequence,’ which highlights the innocence of her son, unburdened by responsibility. Specifically, the term ‘weightless’ is used as an analogy to compare her son to the likes of Armstrong. This image…

Donne declares love a quick draw, a tyrant and a powerful master that can turn even the strongest hearts to glass. In the first stanza, the speaker compares love to the plague and to a powder blast using metaphor and hyperbole. He states: “Who will believe me, if I swear/ That I have had the plague a year?/ Who would not laugh at me, if I should say/ I saw a flash of powder burn a day?” He extends the metaphor to love saying that no one could possibly be in love for an hour, because love can…

Two poets describe the American plight and experience of the 19th and early 20th century in more detail and emotion than any other poets – Walt Whitman and Carl Sandburg. From two different generations, the younger writer’s content and style is very much an extension of his elder, Whitman. Both write, in a very casual style, about the suffering of the common man that they saw firsthand; Whitman’s “I Sit and Look Out” and Sandburg’s “Chicago” provide great examples of their observations of the…

Milestone Two The two poems being used for this assignment are Sylvia Plath’s “mad girls love song” and Nikki Giovanni’s “balance.” Mad girls love song is about a girl that feels like the man she fell in love with isn’t real, but just something she created in her own head because he suddenly disappeared and never returned. Balance is about the balance of black and white, truth and lies, love and loneliness. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the linguistic principles demonstrated in each of…

Bambara does not explain what kind of neighborhood this is but the reader is able to get an image of it through the language. "And the starch in my pinafore scratching the shit outta me and I'm really hating this nappy-headed bitch and her goddamn college degree" (Bambara 136). This sentence gives the image that this is a poor, low class neighborhood. The reader is able to identify that this is not a high-class place, but one possibly in the slums. The language is symbolic because it represents…

2nd Essay: Responding to Poetry Poetry mainly describes love, loss, and regret. However, every writer adds his or her own twist. For example, “Last Night” by Sharon Olds and “Cherrylog Road” by James Dickey deals with the same theme but are two different pieces of writing. They explore the theme of forbidden love and use imagery to show the lust between the two characters. In this essay I will compare and contrast the two poems by presenting different examples. Titles can say a lot about a…

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is written in an old English ballad fashion while including elements of literary Romanticism to not compromise the meaning and/or depth of his words by confining them to a specific verse structure. Instead, Coleridge chose to bend the rules of poetry by combining Romanticism…

Metaphor and Symbolism in Langston Hughes’s My People My people is one of Langston Hughes’ poems which is about working class black African American people. In this poem, he compared the beauty of nature to the beauty of his people. My people is a very short poem, built in three stanzas which consist of two lines in each stanza. This poem was written in simple language, therefore, the readers can easily understand what he is trying to convey. I believe, beneath its simple words, this poem…