Sonnet studies

This poem is a revelation. When beginning to read this poem, you are hit early on with many questions just after reading the title, We wear the mask. You begin to ask, who is we? What is significant about this mask? Why are they wearing a mask? I’ve read this poem numerous amounts of times and I believe I have finally developed my meaning of it. Dunbar’s poem has many themes and symbols, such as hypocrisy, pain and suffering, society, race, and lies. This is a rondeau poem written in iambic…

Elizabeth Gilbert states, “Depression on my left, and loneliness on my right. They don’t need to show me their badges. I know these guys very well.” Similarly, in Robert Frost’s poem “Acquainted with the Night,” he uses effective figurative language such as repetition, metaphor, and personification to underscore the constant loneliness and depressed feelings of the speaker. One way the constant loneliness and depressed feelings of the speaker is conveyed through repetition. This is evident…

Both poems refer to Breughel’s, a Dutch painter’s piece of art, the Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. William’s choice of title is the same as the painting’s while W. H. Auden names the museum. The painting – and thus the poems – illustrates the famous ancient Greek legend about Icarus and his father, Daedalus. According to the myth Icarus did not pay attention to Daedalus’s warn, flew to high and the sunbeam melted his wax wings. Icarus fell into the sea and drowned. This is the moment which…

I never saw, but I know… “I never saw a Moor-”A moor, an unseen object to man, but one the poet Emily Dickinson chooses to title her poem. What is this unseen object called a moor? Webster’s Dictionary describes a moor as “A tract of open, peaty, wasteland, often overgrown with heath, common in high latitudes and altitudes where drainage is poor; heath.” There are many terms that Dickinson uses within this poem that maybe unknown and uncertain to some, but they hold a deeper meaning within the…

Peter Paul Rubens painted “Garden of Love” in 1633 with the Baroque style. While Jean-Antoine Watteau painted “Pilgrimage to Cythera” in 1720 with the Early Rococo style. Both are made in an illuminating colored style and are brightly colored. When in fact they are 100 years apart and have distinct differences. These 100 years was what helped shape the Early Rococo style and later change the style as a whole. Now, let’s start with the “Garden of Love” and move up in the timeline. Ruben painted…

wallows in depression, dissatisfied with his artistry and alarmed that death, later described as “thundering from the heights,” will claim him before he can achieve his long-neglected goals (12). Tonally, Longfellow’s gloominess distinguishes his sonnet from “When I Have Fears,” which explores an unnerving fate but which concludes in an expression of solemn confidence. In his sestet, Longfellow merely replaces the octave’s melancholy with a sense of fearful exhaustion. “Half-way up the hill”…

Three Strongest Words I really enjoyed the poem, Three Strongest Words. I liked this poem because though the poem was very short, it also was very deep and left me thinking about each word the author described. For instance, when the author wrote about the word silence, saying as soon as you say the word you destroy it I had to stop, and think what she meant. This poem also made me very confused because of the way the author presented the poem. For example, when she described someone speaking…

In the poem “Harlem”, author Langston Hughes, utilizes literary devices, such as, the overall structure of the poem, and similes, that contain imagery, and particular word choices to represent the main message. The principle message of poem is that the delaying of dreams can lead to disastrous results. To begin, The free verse, and meter make up the structure of the poem. The poem consists of six questions, and very timid, declarative statement. The poem is able to grow based on the first line,…

Articles of Criticism Slam poetry, like other art forms, is subject to criticism. Sarah Kay is no exception. Kay’s poetry has most commonly been analyzed for college classes, as the newer form of poetry is not as widely recognized or studied. The first article I studied was written by Hayden J, and explored the facets of Sarah’s theme throughout the poem, as well as concentrating on the tone of the poem. Hayden starts by talking of the impact of Kay’s performance. Kay’s performance shows the…

Often referred to a "found" poem, William Carlos Williams's piece, “This Is Just To Say,” is said to be an apologetic note left for a loved one. Williams tries to disguise the incident within the poem as something minuscule and nonchalant but deeper analysis reveals this poem is an apology for a graver adulterous crime rather than just eating some plums. It’s title and overall structure sets the initial aura of nonchalance and casualness. Although simple, the diction allows the reader to…