Sound level meter

Sonnet XIX is written by John Milton. John loved to read and write. In his midlife John slowly began to lose his beloved sight. John’s sight was his open door to god and the world. Milton’s message is to let the reader know that you can cope with misfortunes by serving god. Milton has a very hard time accepting his new life as a blind man. He often goes back in time wishing he had used his sight to its full potential. He…

As one of Emily Dickinson’s few poems that were published during her life, “I taste a liquor never brewed” explores the complexity of nature and its intoxicating power. Dickinson employs an extended metaphor of drunkenness to convey the captivation that the beauty of nature provides (“Overview”). Written in alternating verses of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter, four quatrains comprise the entirety of this lyrical poem. All of the verses follow this pattern with the exception of verse 15:…

verse. However, it soon becomes clear that this is not the case at all. Instead, Prufrock is a disillusioned soul who dwells in self-deprecating introspection and malaise, rooted in the fact that he feels inadequate and viewed only on the surface level. His “love song” is an attempt he makes at the beginning of the poem to court a woman with an eloquent and charming façade; “Let us go then, you and I,” he says, inviting her on a walk down a suspicious city street. However, what begins…

“The form I most enjoy writing is the sonnet or sonnet-like forms, where you have a - you know, three stanzas or two stanzas that lead into a concluding couplet”- Sherman Alexie. In the sonnet, “The Unnaturalists” written by Albin Soni, the literary elements simile, personification, and metaphor are present and used to suggest that things are never as they seem. Firstly, Soni used the literary element simile to compare buildings to a king’s crown. Soni’s quote “The buildings stand as high as the…

Tenth of December is a collection of short stories by George Saunders. In Tenth of December, Saunders uses the theme of selflessness and sacrifice for others in multiple stories. Saunders shows this theme multiple times with a transformation of a character in which he/she ultimately acts in a selfless manner, often at a cost to him/herself. “Escape from Spiderhead” and the title story, “Tenth of December” both demonstrate this. “Escape from Spiderhead” is about a man named Jeff who is…

Planting a Sequoia, by Dana Gioia is about a father that loses his first born son. To honor his memory, he plants a sequoia tree. The narrator of the poem speaks in the the first person viewpoint thru the eyes of the father to the tree. On a very deep level however, he is speaking to his dead son. The speaker expresses that his sons memory will live on and never be forgotten. The first stanza of the poem creates the setting and a very dark, sad scene. The title of the poem literally describes…

At first glance the poem “October” by Bobbi Katz appears to be a lighthearted description of the month October. However, upon further analysis of the poem there seems to be an eerie undertone to it. By looking at each distinct image presented in the poem separately and analyzing different aspects, such as personification and word choice, it becomes apparent that there are two vastly different ways to read and interpret this poem. The first image, given to the audience in lines 1 through 6,…

Past, Present and Future An elegy is a poem written in memory of someone or something that usually ends with consolation. Adam Vines’s “Lures” is an elegy that not only adapts to the traditional concept, but adds a modern spin to its form. The speaker is mourning the death of a childhood friend by reminiscing on past memories. Within the poem there are drifts from past to present and future to separate how the speaker feels about each part of his life without his friend in reference to time.…

I was Incomplete I was sad and blue through the wilderness Didn 't know how lost I was Somehow I made it through I made it I found you Next to me I 'll be yours Touched for the very first time you made me feel your heartbeat I 'd nothing, you made me feel mine My fear is fading fast Shiny and new Like a virgin ah Gonna give you all my love T’ill the end of time Been saving it all for you And you 're mine you make me bold Make me strong, for the very first time scared and cold your love…

Those who have read ‘Great Expectations’ by Charles Dickens would be aware that ‘Havisham’ refers to Miss Havisham in the book. The lack of an honorific title symbolises her embarrassment and denial about her rejection in love and moreover puts her on par with characters like Hamlet and Othello, who weren’t at any point called ‘Prince Hamlet’ or ‘General Othello’. This technique used by Duffy portrays the persona as being of great importance; however, to anyone who hasn’t read the book, the…