The confessional mode of poetry delves into the inner struggles of the persona as she seeks creative independence, free from the constraints of her role as mother and daughter. The juxtaposition between the two settings, “the lit house and the town,” symbolises the persona’s desire for isolation as she contemplates her filial responsibilities relative to an innate desire for solitude, “wanting to be myself alone.” Dobson’s biblical allusion to Peter’s betrayal of Jesus in “Three times I took that lonely stretch,/ Three times the dark trees closed me round” utilises anaphora to indicate her prolonged attempts to embrace her creative potential. Writing in a period of social and gender re-evaluation during the 1960s, Dobson gives us insight into the way women were struggling to balance career against the patriarchal expectations of motherhood. The night, free from daily pressures metaphorically “absolves me of my bonds” creating a lighter sense of being, which is reinforced in the synecdoche “only my footsteps held the ground.” However, the use of conduplicatio in “One life behind and one before” represents her feeling of entrapment, as he remains in a conflicted state. The emotive language in “cut off… from love that grows about the bone” captures the confronting nature of her discovery by examining the
After first reading Edna St. Vincent Millay’s lyric poem, “If I Should Learn, in Some Quite Casual Way,” one may be taken aback by just how unconcerned the speaker, possibly Millay herself, seems to be with this scenario. Only after going back through the poem a time or two can one understand what Millay truly means. Figures of speech are methodically placed to give the impression that not much effort went into this mere thought.
The poem “To my Dear and Loving Husband” by Anne Bradstreet, is not just an exceedingly felt expression of a wife’s marital love and commitment to her husband, as it is about a puritan women who is supposed to be reserved but she makes it her obligation to enlighten her husband of her devotion. A thorough analysis of the poem’s paradox, hyperbole, imagery and repetition reveals how she conveys her message.
Construct a close reading of this poem that demonstrates your awareness of the poet’s body of work.
This essay compares two of Marilyn Dumont’s collection of poems, green girl dreams Mountains, particularly the section “City View”, and her earlier work, A Really Good Brown Girl. There are two key focuses in my essay; the first is that of Dumont’s representation of the self and identity within A Really Good Brown Girl and how it becomes transformative in green girl dreams Mountains, as Dumont is less concentrated on the self and rather on her observations in “City View”. I will also be focusing on the idea of shame; A Really Good Brown Girl is clearly representative of Dumont’s own struggles and emphasizes her marginalized status, whereas in green girl dreams Mountains she uses different socio-economic neighborhoods in order to illustrate the effects and consequences of spatial segregation. There is no lack of effectiveness in regards to the impact on the reader despite the different focuses of the works, one on self and one on the other. Both collections explore the idea of otherness, whether it is on a basis of race, ethnicity or socioeconomic standing.
From the first-time read through, the poem gives a basic understanding of the narrative: a daughter telling the audience about her mother’s struggles
In the thirteenth-century French romance, Silence, translated by Sarah Roche-Mahdi, the titular character faces challenges because of her gender-identity for no reasons of her own. Silence is unable to achieve knighthood as long as she is a woman. The French romance was written to test the boundaries of this genre, and proved that in the end, the female archetype found so often in Arthurian literature will always remain the same.
Upon reading Michael Oakeshott’s “The Voice of Poetry in the Conversation of Mankind”, the contributions made to Diamond’s work can be applied in the following reasoning. Oakeshott states that as human beings, we are “the inheritors”, the inheritors of an intellectual “conversation” begun long ago, that has continued throughout time. I relate this idea of being an “inheritor” as receiving information and knowledge from previous times and previous peoples. The contributions made to the novel selected for this essay are indeed part of this “conversation” between human beings. The author has engaged in his own conversation relating to his topic for his work, further perfecting the art of intellectual conversation through learning and being involved with other conversations- such as the sources he has cited and studied to add to his library of conversational skills to add to the world. Diamond has significantly contributed to this intellectual conversation, not only by listening to the voices of others to expand his repertoire of conversing, but also by challenging past voices. He has listened and engaged himself in the past voices he has been able to “inherit”, but has also engaged in self-inquiry to potentially be a newer, even more significant
Another useful tool in analyzing a poem is to identify poetic devices, meter, and a rhyme scheme. Through her deft use of extended metaphor, Bradstreet weaves an intricate web of parallels between parent and author and between child and book--both relationships of creator to creation. This use of metaphor allows the reader to relate emotionally to Bradstreet’s situation. In line seven, we see the uses of litotes, “At thy return my blushing was not small,” to express the depth of her embarrassment. She also uses metonymy in line eight to express her pain more clearly, “My rambling brat (in print) should mother call.” The simile used in line nine stresses her objection to the published work, “I cast thee by as one unfit for light.” Then in line 19, the poetic device of consonance is used which provides emphasis on her warning, “In this array ‘mongst vulgars may’st thou roam.” In this poem, through the use of personification and apostrophe Bradstreet conveys her feelings and emotions. Anne Bradstreet ensures her poem’s success by linking the triumph and tragedy of authorship with the pain and pleasure of creating and nurturing human life. The meter used is
In “The Author to Her Book,” Bradstreet is inundated in indecision and internal struggles over the virtues and shortfalls of her abilities and the book that she produced. As human beings we associate and sympathize with each other through similar experiences. It is difficult to sympathize with someone when you don’t know where they are coming from and don’t know what they are dealing with. Similar experiences and common bonds are what allow us to extend our sincere appreciation and understanding for another human being’s situation. In this poem an elaborate struggle between pride and shame manifests itself through an extended metaphor in which she equates her book to her own child.
Poetry like so many other things in life is complicated and easily misunderstood, similar to the poem entitled “Poetry” by Marianne Moore. Through her unique way of writing Moore uses literary devices imagery and personification to make the readers question why it is she has come to “dislike”(line 1) poetry. In particular, her word choice leaves a lot of room to wonder exactly why she has chosen to write it this way. A main theme that is represented in this poem is conformity and whether or not it is something to be followed.
Bradstreet wanted her poetry to remain private. She accepted her poetry unconditionally, like a mother accepts her child, because if she tried to correct the poem's flaws more flaws appeared. A distinct expression of Bradstreet true love to her
Amy Lowell is an American imagist poet who uses descriptive language to create specific images in a readers mind. Set in the Victorian era (1800’s,) the dramatic monologue ‘Patterns’ explores the restrictions of unmarried women in society and the desire for freedom. My view of these issues is that of a feminist reader living in a democratic modern day society, where men and women live in a state of equality and have the right to express their opinions. A feminist reading focuses on the specific treatment of women. Through Lowell’s wondrous use of the poetic techniques, primarily visual imagery (symbolism, repetition, contrasts) and poetic voice (persona and tone,) a modern day feminist reader’s negative views of the restricted lifestyles
“The relationship between the energies of the inquiring mind that an intelligent reader brings to the poem and the poem’s refusal to yield a single comprehensive interpretation enacts vividly the everlasting intercourse between the human mind, with its instinct to organise and harmonise, and the baffling powers of the universe about it.”
Anne Bradstreet’s poem, “The Prologue”, is about the struggle of women in a Puritan Society. In the Puritan Society, women are held to a certain standard. Women were not able to speak their mind, openly show they were educated, or express themselves freely, because it was looked down on. “The Prologue”, is titled to mark the beginning of her work. In this poem, Bradstreet acknowledges her role as a woman in a Puritan society, but also makes a brave attempt to achieve freedom from the Puritan Society. Bradstreet is on a mission to prove to the Puritan society that women are worthy enough to do what men do. Bradstreet fights for feminism.