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The poem “The Hawk” written by Harold Witt explores the dominance of the fierce creatures in the natural world and powerful corrupted figures in society. Although Witt describes the hawk’s attempt to capture its prey in the poem, Witt’s ultimate purpose to write this poem is to expose the reality of the social structure in society where dominating figures controls the community. Using literary features such as symbolism and metaphor, the contrast between predator and prey, powerful and weak is…

In Poem 341, commonly referred to by the opening phrase, “After Great Pain,” Emily Dickinson performs an “autopsy of grief” by dissecting the turmoil of the speaker -- allowing the reader to enter the headspace of a person who has experienced a tragedy (ppt). Within each stanza, the speaker travels along the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. However, just like the actual grieving process, Dickinson does not give the poem a finite resolution, but…

Christian Ammerman Dr. Boynton ENGL310 – Nature of Poetry 20 February 2018 Just On Time Originating in Italy in the 13th century, sonnets are a shortened and intense poetic form, which are composed of 14 lines, with 10 syllables in each consequent line. Sonnets have evolved over time, yet their functionality remains the same. John Milton, renowned writer and poet, incorporated his religious beliefs into many of his works, in which he utilized his skills as a poet. Almost 400 years ago, Milton…

“The White House” is a poem written by Claude McKay in 1919 to express the struggles of African Americans with the Jim Crow Laws. McKay was born in Jamaica and his work consisted of poetry, novels, and scientific texts. During this time in America, African Americans were experiencing harsh segregation laws; which caused McKay to portray the struggles of African Americans trying to fit in the society. Title of the poem “The White house” is referring to the whites and the house refers to the…

The importance of nature in Shakespearian poetry is certainly used as a reflection of the speaker’s inner feelings. Sonnet ‘73’ by William Shakespeare takes us on a journey demonstrating the artistry of the natural world. The sonnet is written in iambic pentameter with a rhyme scheme of abab, cdcd, efef, gg. It is divided into three quatrains that each use literal nature to metaphorically explore the impact of ageing and death. Shakespeare engages the readers through the metaphoric use of…

In Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 116” the speaker gives the reader a set of guidelines on what love is and what love is not. Quatrain 1 and 3 focuses on what love is not, except for the last line of quatrain 3 which tells us what love is. In quatrain 1, the speaker uses wordplay and an enjambment to explain that real love does not change under any circumstance. In quatrain 3 the speaker explains what love is not through the personification of time. Love is not at the mercy of time, it is not “Time’s…

Throughout the novel Vardaman presents himself as a curious and innocent character, with simplicity and complexity in equal measure. The reader is left none the wiser as to the true level of comprehension Vardaman possesses with regards to the tragic and morbid events affecting him and his family. Although his age remains unspecified by Faulkner, we can surmise that he is either a young child or a boy in his early teens. The tragedy befalling young Vardaman would prompt inquisition and a thirst…

Kristin Combs is a public school teacher at Penn Treaty High School and also a union member. Kristin combs is the only candidate running for City Council who pledged to take workers wage and introduce legislation or a $15 minimum wage in Philadelphia. She has vowed to take teacher’s salary if elected and donate the rest of her salary to organizations to commit to helping public schools. Another piece of her pledging is spreading awareness and strongly teaching everyone about the kind of…

“When I Consider How My Light is Spent” (Milton Line 1) is a great poem that teaches a highly important lesson about God-given talent. A careful examination of the text helps us understand what John Milton was trying to get across to his audience. The symbolism that he portrays throughout the poem, tells the reader that he was having trouble with losing his vision; which happened in 1652. He was not able to fully use his talent of writing poems and he felt that God would scold him if he wasn’t…

Jane Hirshfield is connected to nature at her home in Marin County, California this is where she gets her inspiration for her poems. Hirshfield published “Tree” in 2000 as a free verse poem, breaking it into 4 stanzas and 4 sentences to convey the nature world. The poem represents a “young redwood” (line 2) that is growing near a house, near a kitchen window. The redwood is already scraping against the window frame of the house, reminding the reader of the “foolish” (line 1) idea of letting it…