The Speaker

stars is acknowledged by the speaker in the first line of the poem when the speaker says, “Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art.” The speaker continues talking to the star saying that they would like to be like a star because they last forever, and are never alone because they are surrounded by others stars. Evidence of this idea is found in line two of the poem when the speaker says, “Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night.” Another reason that the speaker believes that being like…

In Robert Frost’s sonnet Acquainted with the Night, the speaker finds himself questioning the greater triumphs of darkness and light. Throughout the poem, the speaker goes on a journey of self-discovery, but finds loneliness on his walk. The speaker goes on to contemplate life and his place within society. It is of common knowledge that Robert Frost often dealt with complex depression due to many events in his life. Frost’s father died when he was just a boy and only two of his six children…

The figurative language so artfully embedded in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” furthers the at times almost tangible sense of the passing of time as the speaker lays out his story as if he were setting the table for a meal. One such instance presents itself when, in the first stanza, the speaker unceremoniously lays out the initial setting, saying, “When the evening is spread out against the sky / Like a patient etherized upon a table” (2-3). This simile places the poem in a peaceful…

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. Adam Vines's "Lures" embraces the traditional elegy with the mourning of a…

s, t, and f. The speaker of the poem is tired of being cut off: “your door is shut against my tightened face” (McKay, 1). The “your” that the speaker is referring to is White America. The speaker feels like White America is shutting out Black America. The speaker is not afraid to express their unhappiness on this unfair treatment: “and I am sharp as steel with discontent;/ but I possess the courage and the grace/ to bear my anger proudly and unbent” (McKay, 2-4). The I the speaker is referring…

and mercy. The speaker of the poem works at hospitals during the civil war, and accordingly witnesses many gruesome spectacles of dying soldiers: “Priceless blood reddens the grass, the ground” (The Dresser, page 3 of the “Drum-Taps” excerpts). The speaker’s diction of describing the soldiers’ blood as “priceless” depicts the speaker’s valuing of human livelihood. Additionally, the speaker doesn’t specify which side of the civil war the soldiers are on, which shows that the speaker values all…

issues the event revolved around. One audience member spoke about being in an abusive relationship and allowed it to continue because she thought she would be at fault if she left, just as the author in Betrayed by the Angel experienced. Multiple speakers spoke on the negative backlash people receive when they have sex for the first time as examined in The Cult of Virginity. Women studies informs and teaches issues that the community is directly affected by and events such as the…

be, “To see me hold my louring head so low;”(Gascoigne 2). The author uses the word “louring” to express the gloomy, low mind of the speaker.…

(Bloom 37). “Neutral Tones” includes Hardy’s predictable references to God, gloom, and distaste for a relationship. In the poem, the speaker reminisces about standing next to a pond on a winter day with a lover from years ago. The speaker’s choice of wording throughout the poem leads the reader to believe that the relationship grew burdensome and dull for the speaker, and consequently resulted in a depressing and hurtful ending (Artscolumbia).…

took those fun things away from him. The speaker of the poem is a man, looking back on his youthful life, remembering all the details he did not care about when he was a child. The setting of this poem is on a farm with a beautiful countryside. Stanza one talks about how the speaker, a boy, who is young and carefree at one point and describes all of these beautiful things that could relate to happiness. Line one explains to the audience that the speaker was a young and carefree boy. Line two…