“The piercing chill I feel” by Taniguchi Buson
This poem is so short, yet leaves you with such a significant feeling as if you know exactly how the man in the poem felt. It is about a man who is perhaps just walking into the bedroom that he shared with his now dead wife, when he steps on her comb. It portrays the feeling of the cold comb under the man's foot to death and how it must have felt to him. I can relate to the feeling of doing something so insignificant like stepping on a comb, yet that action making you remember every detail of something that happened or someone that you have lost. A poem is given power when it touches you in some way and you can relate to it.
“Embrace” by Billy Collins
This poem is about perception and the way in which we view others and how we view ourselves. It is about the “old parlor trick” where you “wrap your arms around your own body”. It says from the back it looks like you are holding someone close to you and therefore not alone in this world. From this view, people perceive you as desirable and normal. However, if you look from the front, it looks as if you are waiting for someone to fit you for a straight jacket. From this view, people perceive you as looking ridiculous and alone. It is all about how people see things, not necessarily the action that is actually taking place.
“Even the croaking of Frogs” by Hakuro Wada
This is a very powerful poem because it was written by a Japanese man who was confined to a federal internment camp. It is about hearing the croaking of the frogs on the outside of the barbed wire fence. It is not fair to him that something like a frog is able to croak on the outside of the fence when he is caged. It shows the deprivation that these people must have felt being caged like animals. It says “Even the croaking of frogs”, like everyone else was free, even the most menial animal like a frog. These frogs were free to do as they pleased and say what they wanted, but not them.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Chapter 15 reflection
“Batter my heart, three-personed God, for You” by John Donne
This poem is really interesting to me in the way that is structured. It is about a man that has committed sin and is asking God's forgiveness. The way in which the man seeks to be renewed and forgiven for his sin is very forcefully shown in his expression of word choice. It as if the man knows that it will not be an easy task for God to forgive him, but to do whatever he must in order to cleanse him of his wrongs. I especially like the part that says, “Yet dearly I love You , and would be loved fain/ But am betrothed unto Your enemy;/ Divorce me, untie or break that knot again;”. It is saying that the man wants to find God because he knows that he loves him, yet he is tied to the Devil by his sin. He is asking God to divorce him from his evil ways and take him in. Also, in the title it says three-personed God meaning God's three forms in the religious sense: the father, the son, and the holy ghost.
“Grass” by Carl Sandburg
This poem is an anti-war themed poem. It is about the bodies of war being covered up after each battle and people forgetting that they were even there. It gives you a very ominous feeling about the fact that people do not know their history. This is shown in the lines where the passengers ask the conductor where they are and what place is this, as if they had no clue that it is a part of their history. This poem makes you want to remember those people, just to tell them they are not forgotten and were just covered up as if they were never even there.
“Carnation Milk” by Anonymous
This is the funniest poem I have read lately. I think why it appeals to me is because it is so short and to the point. It is about a person who likes Carnation milk and why they like it. It goes beyond the obvious to really give you a mental picture of the type of person who would have written it though. I picture a young boy who has grown up on a farm and had to do the chores of milking the cow and pitching hay day in and day out. Its almost like a little sing song that he made up in rebellion to his chores.
This poem is really interesting to me in the way that is structured. It is about a man that has committed sin and is asking God's forgiveness. The way in which the man seeks to be renewed and forgiven for his sin is very forcefully shown in his expression of word choice. It as if the man knows that it will not be an easy task for God to forgive him, but to do whatever he must in order to cleanse him of his wrongs. I especially like the part that says, “Yet dearly I love You , and would be loved fain/ But am betrothed unto Your enemy;/ Divorce me, untie or break that knot again;”. It is saying that the man wants to find God because he knows that he loves him, yet he is tied to the Devil by his sin. He is asking God to divorce him from his evil ways and take him in. Also, in the title it says three-personed God meaning God's three forms in the religious sense: the father, the son, and the holy ghost.
“Grass” by Carl Sandburg
This poem is an anti-war themed poem. It is about the bodies of war being covered up after each battle and people forgetting that they were even there. It gives you a very ominous feeling about the fact that people do not know their history. This is shown in the lines where the passengers ask the conductor where they are and what place is this, as if they had no clue that it is a part of their history. This poem makes you want to remember those people, just to tell them they are not forgotten and were just covered up as if they were never even there.
“Carnation Milk” by Anonymous
This is the funniest poem I have read lately. I think why it appeals to me is because it is so short and to the point. It is about a person who likes Carnation milk and why they like it. It goes beyond the obvious to really give you a mental picture of the type of person who would have written it though. I picture a young boy who has grown up on a farm and had to do the chores of milking the cow and pitching hay day in and day out. Its almost like a little sing song that he made up in rebellion to his chores.
Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost
I remember reading this poem in every grade through middle and high school. I think that this poem can be taken in many different ways, but I really do not think that it has to do with religion as many people usually associate it with. Frost uses the word fire to represent the desire, greed, and power of the human race, while ice is the hate, selfishness and coldness of humanity. I think what he is saying is that the world is going to come to an end because of one, either fire or ice, according to these meanings of the word. This poem could mean several things though and has been linked to religion, humanity and even the actual events of the ice age. I think the interesting thing about a poem is that no one person reads it the exact same way.
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