Love Song

Love Song
by Carol Muske-Dukes

Love comes hungry to anyone’s hand.
I found the newborn sparrow next to
the tumbled nest on the grass. Bravely

opening its beak. Cats circled, squirrels.
I tried to set the nest right but the wild
birds had fled. The knot of pin feathers

sat in my hand and spoke. Just because
I’ve raised it by touch, doesn’t mean it
follows. All day it pecks at the tin image of

a faceless bird. It refuses to fly,
though I’ve opened the door. What
sends us to each other? He and I

had a blue landscape, a village street,
some poems, bread on a plate. Love
was a camera in a doorway, love was

a script, a tin bird. Love was faceless,
even when we’d memorized each other’s
lines. Love was hungry, love was faceless,

the sparrow sings, famished, in my hand.

After first reading this poem, I was left feeling slightly bewildered, but it seems as though it was the author's intention to show the ambiguity of love. It is clear that the author uses the metaphor of the baby bird to represent love, as it willingly comes to those who will accept it. However, after the cats and squirrels circled the baby birds' nest, they flew away, which represents the corruption of love by other people. Also, it is possible that the hand holding the baby bird represents a companion--possibly a parent, sibling, or lover--as it is nurturing, but might not always be welcomed by the bird. In the line "It refuses to fly / though I've opened the door," it seems as though the bird does not want to leave the comfort of the hand that it knows so well. In the next few lines, the author discusses the various forms that love can take through describing different objects. She also says that love is faceless, which seems to mean that it is not only meant for one person, but rather is a universal emotion. The author ends the poem by stating, "the sparrow sings, famished, in my hand," which seems to mean that it was unable to find love. In the beginning, it says that "love comes hungry to anyone's hand," which is why the bird found comfort in the narrator's hand for so long. However, because the bird is famished at the end, it seems that he is so hungry for love and can no longer find it in the person's hand. After reading this poem in depth, it is clear that the author is trying to communicate the uncertainty of what may seem to be a very strong love, which is shown through the example of the baby bird and the person's hand.

A Birthday Candle

A Birthday Candle
Donald Justice

Thirty today, I saw
The trees flare briefly like
The candles on a cake,
As the sun went down the sky,
A momentary flash,
Yet there was time to wish

After first reading this poem, the author portrays a feeling of sadness, while still showing some hope. Although he believes himself to be aging quickly, he states that "there was time to wish," which suggests that he still has the ability to do more in his lifetime. Also, the imagery of the trees and the sun appearing to be like the candles on a cake shows that he is getting older and no longer receives birthday cakes, and instead must essentially create his own. In order to achieve the effect of the poem, he writes in form poetry, as he does not use a rhyming scheme but uses a metric pattern instead. Also, the entire poem is essentially a metaphor, as he is associating the sunset with candles on a birthday cake. Lastly, the imagery of the scene makes for a much more vivid picture of what seems to him to be a birthday cake. Overall, through the various poetic devices used, Justice is able to convey how rapidly everything seems to happen in his life through the "momentary flash," but afterwards shows that it is never too late to do something great.

Song by Eamon Grennan

At her Junior High School graduation,
she sings alone
in front of the lot of us--

her voice soprano, surprising,
almost a woman's. It is
the Our Father in French,

the new language
making her strange, out there,
fully fledged and

ready for anything. Sitting
together -- her separated
mother and father -- we can

hear the racket of traffic
shaking the main streets
of Jersey City as she sings

Deliver us from evil,
and I wonder can she see me
in the dark here, years

from belief, on the edge
of tears. It doesn't matter. She
doesn't miss a beat, keeps

in time, in tune, while into
our common silence I whisper,
Sing, love, sing your heart out!

In this poem, Eamon Grennan seems to use the example of a young girl singing to show someone that does something solely for enjoyment and ignores what others may say about it. From the start, it places the reader in the place of the young girl, into a situation that would typically be extremely nerve-racking. However, I became intrigued by the strength of the girl and her ability to completely block out what the people around her think and say. Immediately after reading the poem, I felt uplifted, as this young girl proves that nothing matters besides passion for what she is doing. For me, the last two stanzas evoke the most emotion, in that it shows the girl's spirit in the sense that she does not stop singing despite the fact that she is on the verge of tears. At the very end, the narrator becomes a believer in her and wants her to keep singing no matter what. Clearly, through this struggle, the author possibly tries to convey the message that it is important to do things for one's own pleasure and ignore what others may think about it. One part of the poem that is slightly difficult for me to comprehend is the purpose of her singing the Our Father in French, but it could possibly be reasons for the people around her to judge her.
Starting at the very beginning of the poem, Grennan utilizes imagery, as he sets the scene of a young girl singing in a middle school auditorium in front of her entire school. Also, this is a free verse poem, in that it has no rhyming or meter patterns. Lastly, when the author says "hear the racket of traffic shaking the main streets," he personifies the noise of the traffic in its ability to rattle the entire city.
Overall, I feel that this poem was very thought-provoking, mainly because the narrator transformed from being one of her judgmental classmates to actually rooting for the girl at the very end. This shows that if a person believes in what they are doing, no matter how strange it may seem, other people will begin to believe in it as well. Because of the very meaningful message of this poem, I would strongly recommend it to others, while I would also enjoy reading more poetry by Eamon Grennan.

The Farewell by Edward Field

They say the ice will hold
so there I go,
forced to believe them by my act of trusting people,
stepping out on it,

and naturally it gaps open
and I, forced to carry on coolly
by my act of being imperturbable,
slide erectly into the water wearing my captain's helmet,
waving to the shore with a sad smile,
"Goodbye my darlings, goodbye dear one,"
as the ice meets again over my head with a click.

In the poem "The Farewell" by Edward Field, the author shows how quickly one's life can end because of a simple mistake. When I first read it, I was intrigued by the immense effect that such a short poem achieved. The immediate sensation I got after reading the poem was one of emptiness, as it ended quickly on a sad note. The lines that had the greatest effect on me were the last three, in that the author elongates a moment that could have occurred in a split second in order to give the reader the same feeling as the narrator.
Although this poem may not necessarily be literal in the chain of events, I feel that it is symbolic of the narrator's tendency to trust people too easily. In the poem, the narrator slips into an iced lake because he trusted the people that said the ice would hold. However, the beginning of the second stanza is a bit difficult to understand, especially when he says "I, forced to carry on coolly / by my act of being imperturbable..." I believe the author is trying to say that even though the ice started to crack, he continued because he completely trusted the people and did not think that the ice would break completely. Although this description was slightly extreme, it allows the reader to see the extent of his tendency to trust people no matter what.
In order to achieve this effect, the author uses free verse to make it less poetic and more realistic. Also, he personifies the ice throughout the poem, in that it seems to punish the narrator for trusting the people that told him the ice would not break. I feel that the entire poem is a metaphor, in that it represents the symbolic idea of "walking on ice" when he chooses to trust people too easily. Lastly, throughout the poem, the author uses imagery to portray the frightening and surreal situation that the narrator was faced with.
After analyzing the meaning of the poem, I feel that it is very well-written and it seems that the author truly serves his purpose of evoking a certain emotion through the narrator's slip into the ice water. Due to this metaphor, the poem achieves a great emotional importance and for this reason, I would recommend the poem to others and am curious to read other poems by this author.

Sidekicks by Ronald Koertge

They were never handsome and often came
with a hormone imbalance manifested by corpulence,
a yodel of a voice or ears big as kidneys.

But each was brave. More than once a sidekick
has thrown himself in front of our hero in order
to receive the bullet or blow meant for that
perfect face and body.

Thankfully, heroes never die in movies and leave
the sidekick alone. He would not stand for it.
Gabby or Pat, Pancho or Andy remind us of a part
of ourselves,

the dependent part that can never grow up,
the part that is painfully eager to please,
always wants a hug and never gets enough.

Who could sit in a darkened theatre, listen
to the organ music and watch the best
of ourselves lowered into the ground while
the rest stood up there, tears pouring off
that enormous nose.

In this poem, Ronald Koertge explains the life of the sidekick, the one that stands on the sidelines while the 'hero' receives all of the glory. I chose this poem because it shows an interesting new perspective on someone that is usually overlooked and in essence presents the sidekick to be a hero. It seems to be something that a great deal of people would be able to relate to, as it many people live their lives outside of the spotlight. In my opinion, "Sidekicks" is a very thought-provoking and, at times, sad poem, as it shows the struggles of the person that is commonly overlooked. I find the second stanza to be the most controversial, as it shows the sidekick to be the true hero, as he constanly puts aside his fear and risks his life to save the 'hero's' life. Also, the third stanza makes the poem more personal by saying that everyone is, at times, a sidekick.
While the beginning of the poem clearly describes the trials and heroic nature of the sidekicks that we know so well, the end is slightly more ambiguous and left open to interpretation. I believe that the author is comparing everyone to the sidekick that he described, in the sense that they are very dependent on the 'hero.' It is possible that the last stanza could mean that the sidekick in each of us focuses on his or her weaknesses, rather than strengths. The "tears pouring off that enormous nose" could symbolize the pain that the sidekick feels as a result.
In order to achieve the effect of this poem, Koertge uses a style of free verse, as there is no pattern in rhyming or meter. In my opinion, this makes it more personable and easier to relate to one's own life. Also, in the last stanza of the poem the author uses a great deal of imagery to give the reader a clear picture in order to easily relate to the scene. When he says "watch the best / of ourselves lowered into the ground..." he personifies "the best of ourselves" sinking in order to evoke the emotion of sadness and futility.
After reading and examining the poem "Sidekicks" by Ronald Koertge, I now fully realize what the author's intentions were and how he achieved a certain effect. Although I simply thought the poem's intention was to compare the sidekick to the 'hero,' but I later realized that the sidekick that the author discusses is really just a character trait that can exist in everyone. Because of the writing style and meaning of this poem, I would definitely recommend it to others and would enjoy reading more poetry by Koertge.

"I have known the arms already, known them all"

In my opinion, there are two main ideas in the poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Elliot, which are aging and women, both of which contribute to Prufrock's internal struggles. Both of these themes contribute to Prufrock's character traits and development throughout the course of the poem. First of all, his age is shown by the repetition of the concept of time, as he always says "there will be time." Although this would lead the reader to believe that he is young and has enough time to do the things he discusses, he goes on to say "With a bald spot in the middle of my hair," which is a clear indication of his discomfort about his age. Therefore, the fact that he continues to say "there will be time" can represent a sort of denial about his age, in that he tries to convince himself that he has enough time to do everything he wants. Next, he tells the reader everything he has known, which shows that he has had many experiences with people judging him and with failed love, which is most likely the reason for his timidity. Finally, Prufrock comes to terms with his age, as he ponders changing his appearance and his actions to suit his age.
Next, the women in the poem seem to be the main factor in causing his discomfort in social situations, and he continually mentions the women that "come and go, talking of Michelangelo," who clearly represent the more sophisticated women with whom he does not seem to be able to socialize. He later describes these women when talking about things that he has known, and he notes very specific details about these women which implies that he was merely watching them from a distance and was too timid to talk to them. In the last stanza, he discusses sea-girls, who basically represent the women of his dreams, and the ocean seems to be a place where he feels comfortable. However, he is awakened by reality and the true people that surround him, causing him to drown, meaning that he essentially cannot survive with these unfamiliar people.

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Elliot

In this poem, it is clear that the speaker, who could possibly be J. Alfred Prufrock, is an aging man in distress about his failed attempts at love. When he says "In the room the women come and go / Talking of Michelangelo," it seems that he wonders why every woman that enters his life must leave. Also, I believe that Michelangelo could represent superior men for whom the women leave the speaker. The speaker also seems to feel that his time is running out to find love, as he says "Time to turn back and descend the stair, / With a bald spot in the middle of my hair." This shows that although he can go back to try to find love, he will not get any younger and is therefore constantly losing opportunities.
It is clear that the speaker of this poem has been through a lot and has had his share of experiences with lost love. In many instances, he talks of things that he is very familiar with, such as the "Arms that are braceleted and white and bare," which symbolizes the variety of women that he has loved. He also makes it evident that he has had his fair share of lost love, as he seems to repeatedly hear women say "That is not what I meant at all. / That is not it, at all," which seems to be the typical line spoken after each ended relationship. However, after all of this lost love, he seems to come to terms with his aging, wondering what he should do to essentially go along with the natural process.
Also, the speaker makes it clear to the reader that he is very conflicted in his thoughts, causing him to parallel William Shakespeare's character of Hamlet. As the poem progresses, his anxiety and insecurity seem to grow and grow and each stanza intensifies the feelings in the prior. For example, when he continually repeats that "There will be time..." he is showing that there is no need to rush into action. He continues to wonder "Do I dare?", showing that he is clearly having second thoughts about ever taking action, exactly like Hamlet. As he doubts himself more and more, he decides that he will turn back completely, abandoning the setting that he is in. In the next stanza, Prufrock describes all of the painful experiences that he has endured in his life, which shows the apparent cause of his inability to act. Through these two critical stanzas, it becomes apparent that Prufrock is a Hamlet figure, as he loses all confidence in himself, therefore causing him to "turn back and descend the stair."

Immigrant Blues

Immigrant Blues
by Li-Young Lee

People have been trying to kill me since I was born,
a man tells his son, trying to explain
the wisdom of learning a second tongue.

It’s an old story from the previous century
about my father and me.

The same old story from yesterday morning
about me and my son.

It’s called “Survival Strategies
and the Melancholy of Racial Assimilation.”

It’s called “Psychological Paradigms of Displaced Persons,”

called, “The Child Who’d Rather Play than Study.”

Practice until you feel
the language inside you, says the man.

But what does he know about inside and outside,
my father who was spared nothing
in spite of the languages he used?

And me, confused about the flesh and the soul,
who asked once into a telephone,
Am I inside you?

You’re always inside me, a woman answered,
at peace with the body’s finitude,
at peace with the soul’s disregard
of space and time.

Am I inside you? I asked once
lying between her legs, confused
about the body and the heart.

If you don’t believe you’re inside me, you’re not,
she answered, at peace with the body’s greed,
at peace with the heart’s bewilderment.

It’s an ancient story from yesterday evening

called “Patterns of Love in Peoples of Diaspora,”

called “Loss of the Homeplace
and the Defilement of the Beloved,”

called “I Want to Sing but I Don’t Know Any Songs.”


In my opinion, when the author discusses the idea of "being inside" means having an understanding of something, whether it be a relationship, a culture, or a concept. When a man tells the narrator, "Practice until you feel the language inside you," he means to say that the narrator must practice until he truly understands the language. With his relationship with the woman, she tells him that he is always inside her, meaning that he understands her and she feels a connection with him. Later on, when he continues to ask her if he is inside her, she tells him that he only can be if he believes it. Therefore, it is easy to see that being inside of a person, place, or culture means understanding and having a bond with something or someone.

Neglect

Neglect
R. T. Smith

Is the scent of apple boughs smoking
in the woodstove what I will remember
of the Red Delicious I brought down, ashamed

that I could not convince its limbs to render fruit?
Too much neglect will do that, skew the sap's
passage, blacken leaves, dry the bark and heart.

I should have lopped the dead limbs early
and watched each branch with a goshawk's eye,
patching with medicinal pitch, offering water,

compost and mulch, but I was too enchanted
by pear saplings, flowers and the pasture,
too callow to believe that death's inevitable

for any living being unloved, untended.
What remains is this armload of applewood
now feeding the stove's smolder. Splendor

ripens a final time in the firebox, a scarlet
harvest headed, by dawn, to embers.
Two decades of shade and blossoms - tarts

and cider, bees dazzled by the pollen,
spare elegance in ice - but what goes is gone.
Smoke is all, through this lesson in winter

regret, I've been given to remember.
Smoke, and Red Delicious apples redder
than a passing cardinal's crest or cinders.


In this poem, the narrator ponders the idea of neglect, and although he wants to reap the benefits without doing the work, he is immediately able to see the consequences of neglect. In the beginning, the narrator simply tells the reader that because he neglected his apple tree, all he was left with was a single apple and the remains of the once living tree. From this, he goes on to say what he should have done, and wishes he had watched the tree carefully in order to help it to grow rather than wilt. However, he states that he was "too enchanted by pear saplings, flowers and the pasture" to worry about his measly apple tree. By this point, it is clear that the apple tree represents something much more important--possibly a person--while the pear saplings and flowers represent other aspects of life, such as work and money. During neglect, most people don't realize that this action could, in some way or another, result in death. Just as neglect resulted in the death of the tree, in life, neglecting someone could result in the death of a relationship. While he is throwing the remains of the tree into the fire, he truly ponders the situation and realizes how remorseful he is, but sees that what's done is done.
The fact that the POET uses FREE VERSES rather than a FORM POEM gives the poem an ordinary feeling, as if the reader were right there while this was happening. Furthermore, his use of SIMILE in the poem, such as when he says "Red Delicious apples redder than a passing cardinal's crest or cinders," enhances the work by giving the reader a clear picture of what the poet tries to describe. In this same quote, he uses an ALLITERATION when he says "cardinal's crest or cinders," which makes the poem much more interesting and grabbing for the reader.
Through reading this poem, one is able to see the classic idea of giving something in order to get something. Clearly, the narrator did not give much to the tree, and as a result, all the tree gave him was one apple. In the grander scheme of things, I believe the poem mainly speaks about relationships and the importance of putting in effort to keep them alive.

Introduction to Poetry

Introduction to Poetry
Billy Collins
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.


This poem is a very good way to start our poetry unit, as it tells us how we should and should not be reading poetry. The beginning of the poem tells poetry readers to really get into the poems they are reading. For example, the first stanza tells the reader to look through the poem to 'shed some light' on the deeper meaning. Because there can be a great deal of activity in poems, it is important to dig into it because, at times, the reader won't see anything. At the end, the author states that students often try to draw out a concrete meaning for a poem, rather than leaving it open to different interpretations. Through reading this poem, I have learned the importance of letting poems speak for themselves and taking the poem for what I believe it means.