‘the Poems ‘Remember’, ‘Piano’ and ‘Poem at Thirty-Nine’ All Explore Melancholy Emotions.’ How Far Do You Agree with This Statement?

The awareness we have of our own mortality, the limitations of our flesh, bound only to our nature through subjective perceptions of value and worth has thus far been the driving force behind philosophy and its exploration of the human experience. My interpretation of Gwen Harwood’s poetry, through the two examples ‘Triste, Triste’ and ‘At Mornington’, is that it appeals to the key concepts of existentialism, namely Despair, and ‘the Other’. Through addressing these key concepts, Harwood’s poetry contends the notions of existential nihilism. In turn, the human experiences of loss and consolation are authenticated through her poetic exploration of the concrete and the abstract realms within those key concepts. Although the statement concerning

Margaret Atwood’s collection of poems, Morning in the Burned House, could just as easily have employed morning’s homonym—mourning—in the title. The overriding theme of loss and some of its sources and consequences—aging, grief, death, depression, and anger—permeate this collection and, in particular, Section IV which is a series of elegiac poems about Atwood’s father.

When a reader grasps a theme throughout any piece of literature, he or she never clearly understands the intent without knowing where the theme came from. The theme that is portrayed in the poem is, often times reconnecting with a loved one cannot only bring happiness, but it can also bring sorrow. This theme was emphasized throughout the poem and without knowing the historical context of the poem, one could not necessarily understand where it came from. In the text it

Mourning and mortality is a constant concern that transcends time. Slessor’s poetic treatment of these ideas continue to engage readers as it evokes a sense of awareness. This is evident in Kenneth Slessor 's poem Five Bells as the persona 's grief for his deceased friend, Joe Lynch causes him to realise the significance of time and the strength of spiritual attachments. This further leads him to question the purpose of human life.

In the poem “XIV,” Derek Walcott utilizes the use of inhumane imagery that is being counterpointed with the use of happy imagery to show the view of an elderly woman with his experiences with her; the speaker recalls this information by describing his experiences with her with a sense of happiness, fear and appreciation.

In conclusion, Gwen Harwood deals with the constant relevant issues of loss and consolation by the enduring power of poetic treatment of age and youth. In my opinion, on the most profound of universal truths, there is no certainty in life and we must deal with events and situations as we encounter them. Harwood’s poetry distinctly presents a

In both “Forgetfulness” and “On Turning Ten,” Billy Collins writes in free verse, allowing him the creative freedom to convey his thoughts without the constraints of regular meter and rhyme. Consequently, the speakers of both poems are able to reflect in a stream of consciousness style in order to authentically convey their emotions in regards to the passing of time and the fading of memories. Using free verse, the speakers of “Forgetfulness” and “On Turning Ten” focus on the concept of forgetting, ultimately arguing that remembering would be a much better alternative.

In the poem “ A Bitterness”, Mary Oliver illustrates a case of crippling melancholy. Oliver depicts the speaker reflecting upon the troubled life and death of someone that they knew. The solemn tone of the speaker is maintained throughout the poem to verify their position on the matter upon which they are reflecting. By using consistent repetition and descriptive comparisons, Oliver conveys the general theme that the bitterness accompanying sadness and sorrow can envelop all aspects of life.

Lucinda’s name represents a person who seems to have been extraordinary, unique, and vibrant in life. Unlike George, she lived with purpose and showed ambition. Instead of running away from hardships, Lucinda experienced every emotion in life from the good times to the bad times. This resulted in an amazingly full life with no regrets. Lucinda died at the age of 96, completely satisfied with how well her life went. While alive, she experienced love and sorrow, but also, had an ambitious outlook that allowed her to fulfill her purpose and achieve her goals. At the end of the poem, Lucinda gave these words of wisdom: “Life is too strong for you--/It takes life to love Life.” Her advice is to live life to the fullest even if life begins to become challenging. Lucinda speaks directly to the reader, and challenges the reader to live life to the fullest. “Shouting” and “singing”, “working” and “raising” twelve children are examples of ways she behaved with vibrancy and energy. This carpe diem attitude encourages us to lose the anger, discontentment, sorrow, and weariness that may cause us to live unhappily.

“From the sphere of my own experience I can bring to my recollection three persons of no every-day powers and acquirements, who had read the poems of others with more and more unallayed pleasure, and had thought more highly of their authors, as poets; who yet have confessed to me, that from no modern work had so many passages started up anew in their minds at different times, and as different occasions had awakened a meditative mood.” (2) (paragraph 31).

There are some things that we do know about this poem. It is most often referred to as an elegy because of the mood of mourning and regret. Upon further reading I discovered that this poem is like others of its time period. Many

Poetry has the power to make someone remember positive, unhappy, excited, and angry moments in a prior time. Victor Hugo once said, "Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent." In the poems “Piano” by D. H. Lawrence and “Sonnet XLIII: What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why” by Edna St. Vincent Millay share similar characteristics of regret and loss in each of their themes, however, they portray their theme in different ways.

Title Piano represents music, which is used to convey all sorts of emotions. Paraphrase Stanza 1) The author remembers his mother's singing, which brings back his memories from childhood. Stanza 2) As the emotions overflow, he recalls details from his past.

The third poem “The Song of Despair” could be claimed to be about the loss of someone you love because of the language the author uses. The entire poem could be seen as a simile itself, where the author compares his loss the the leaving of ships from the dock, and the personality of their lover was and is still alive and refreshing as can be. A symbol from the poem is “in you everything sank,” meaning their lover eventually just gave in to the death, such as a ship would have given into the sea after being vulnerable to damage. “Lost discoverer” is another symbol explaining how the author is discovering the feeling of loss. A metaphor from the poem is “deserted like wharves at dawn,” meaning the author could feel deserted from the loss like

Margaret Atwood creates a haunting and beautiful piece describing the experience a sad child goes through. She structures her poem by using five stanzas; two stanzas consisting of five lines, then one stanza with ten lines, and ending with two stanzas consisting of five lines. She uses simple yet powerful diction, tone, metaphors, similes, symbolism, and imagery to show the unknown speaker giving advice to a sad child. Her message/theme is sadness is a part of life and there are different ways to deal with it, but when death comes the thing that one is being sad about doesn’t matter.