My amusing thoughts on assorted poems-
"Because I Could Not Stop for Death" by Emily Dickinson- I remember reading this poem years ago, about tenth grade I think, yet sadly did not remember any conclusions made about it. Which is a good and bad thing. Good because I can form my own opinion of it now that I am older. Bad that I don't remember much from that literature class. Anyway, this was not exactly a happy-go-lucky poem. The emphasis is obviously on death (hence the name of the poem. Wow...) and the theme is repeated several times throughout. She mentions that her clothing is light and airy like an angel's. Then she writes about a house which could be more her coffin than an actual home. Very morbid. I would be sort of curious to see what would become of Dickinson if she lived in this time. Can we say antidepressants?
"This is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams- Again, I read this in tenth grade. And again I didn't remember much about the poem. Yet now that I have reread it I see the symbolism better than before. Of course the plums are not just plums. Instead they represent a forbidden fruit (since the narrator shouldn't really have eaten them. They were being saved for breakfast after all) similar to that in the Adam and Eve story. Actually, all the elements of the Adam and Eve story are in this short little poem- a man, woman (in class we discussed that this is a man writing this little note to his wife in the morning), and the fruit. Instead of the fall of mankind however (all he did was eat some fruit. Not exactly damning behavior), the poem is more about asking forgiveness.
"God's Grandeur" by Gerard Manly Hopkins- One I haven't read before! I noticed that some words were repeated in the poem, such as "trod" which symbolizes an action being repeated over and over. "Trod" especially has another meaning when repeated. The walking is done over and over, slowly and monotonously. Slight yet effective imagery.
Also in the poem is the theme that we pay more attention to our jobs than to God. We need to realize that He is still all around us and in nature although we may not know he is there.
Poor Emily, I think all she needed was a good friend...
And yeah, probably some antidepressants, too. :-\
Posted by: Valerie Masciarelli at February 10, 2005 10:37 PM"all he did was eat some fruit"
Isn't that a defense of Adam, too? ;)
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz at February 11, 2005 03:29 PM