In Philip Larkin’s poem “Lines on a Young Lady’s Photograph Album,” a man looks through a woman’s photo album and reflects on the beauty he sees in photography as an art form. He views photography as an art that shows reality in its actual state, rather than creating the ideal image without blemishes or imperfections. The speaker also reflects on his attraction towards the woman pictured in the album as she appears in the various stages of her life. This attraction is not only towards photographs, but also towards the elements of the photographs that show her as a real person, not an ideal image. However, the photographs also bring him pain, for the subject of the photo will always remain in the past, separated from him. The speaker wants the young lady’s photographs to connect with her as she was, with imperfections, but he realizes that he cannot connect to the images on paper, for they are only preserved images. Nevertheless, he finds comfort in her preserved beauty, as it can only belong to her, and not to any other man, including himself.
The poem begins with the speaker’s intense feelings of attraction towards the woman, and in his exploration of the album he expresses a certain possessiveness for the woman and her features. He describes his eye as “[hungering] from pose to pose,” which suggests a need for the woman similar to that of a predator. He also mentions that it is “(faintly disturbing, that, in several ways) - / From every side [the woman strikes] at [his]
“An Anti-Semitic Demonstration” was the more effective poem by using metaphors to explain the fear one feels during the arrival and anticipation of being sent off to a concentration camp by Nazis. During this time period life as a Jew must have been unbelievably frightening, for one was unsure of when they would be collected and where the would be taken away too. All just because of their religious beliefs or the fact they may be considered “undesirable”. Whereas in “The Family Album” they explained more about how the Jews were before their life changed forever. Neufeld does not go to explain the way they felt during the tough times of the Nazi ruling. However, he instead talks about how life was instantly changed when no one saw it coming.
In “Ways of Seeing”, John Berger, an English art critic, argues that images are important for the present-day by saying, “No other kind of relic or text from the past can offer such direct testimony about the world which surrounded other people at other times. In this respect images are more precise and richer literature” (10). John Berger allowed others to see the true meaning behind certain art pieces in “Ways of Seeing”. Images and art show what people experienced in the past allowing others to see for themselves rather than be told how an event occurred. There are two images that represent the above claim, Arnold Eagle and David Robbins’ photo of a little boy in New York City, and Dorothea Lange’s image of a migratory family from Texas; both were taken during the Great Depression.
· In the first line of the poem, the speaker expresses her feelings towards men by using the word “Anger”(1). From just the
The use of connotative words in this piece is the foundation of this poem and it provides an idea of what this poem is going to be about. In the first stanza he describes the woman as “lovely in her bones,” showing that her beauty is more than skin deep comparing her virtues to a goddess of “only gods should speak.” In the second stanza, the reader can see and feel the love between the two people. The woman taught him how to "Turn, and Counter-turn, and Stand," showing that she was the teacher in the relationship and taught him things he thought he never needed to know. The speaker shows how when they are together, she was “the sickle” and he was “the rake” showing that this woman taught him what love is.
In lines six through nine the speaker says,”She was staring at me with her eyes, her breasts still sturdy, her thigh warming mine.” This sentence shows how the speaker began discovering his love for the first time with her(Harper 6-9). The speaker signifies that the woman is healthy and young when he refers to her still having sturdy breasts. The author uses imagery to represent the connection a person feels when they share a warm sensation of touch. When the speaker realizes she is staring at him he begins to wonder how long she had been staring at him and if she loved him.
The author uses imagery in the poem to enable the reader to see what the speaker sees. For example, in lines 4-11 the speaker describes to us the
The poem’s structure as a sonnet allows the speaker’s feelings of distrust and heartache to gradually manifest themselves as the poem’s plot progresses. Each quatrain develops and intensifies the speaker’s misery, giving the reader a deeper insight into his convoluted emotions. In the first quatrain, the speaker advises his former partner to not be surprised when she “see[s] him holding [his] louring head so low” (2). His refusal to look at her not only highlights his unhappiness but also establishes the gloomy tone of the poem. The speaker then uses the second and third quatrains to justify his remoteness; he explains how he feels betrayed by her and reveals how his distrust has led him
Poetry is a beautiful way to express the subtext within it, using literary devices which enhances the poem 's beauty. Poetry is considered to take distorted ideas and transforms it into beautiful words. Therefore, resulting the harsh truth being displayed in a form of a poem for readers to sink into another point of view. These creators called poets, are a group of people with a wide variety of experiences that an average person does not usually experience. They can create a more unified meaning in their masterpiece, without taking up 300 pages to exhibit their meaning, and still hold different interpretations by different readers. Poets are known to uncover the truth, which could be their experiences or reality based ideas, by beautifying the reality with literary devices to make it more relatable and enjoyable but still hold that very core of the meaning behind the poem. Poetry is a powerful vessel, between creator and reader, to change a person’s outlook of life or one’s surroundings. A poem can change moods, enhances one’s personality, gain a sense of people knowledge and become a bit more sensitive around one 's world. Even if poets are not aware of the power poetry holds, they still do it to convey an experience, a lesson or a journey. All of this relates to 'Love and Roses ' by Tracy Marshall, where the speaker is telling the reader a journey of their blinding love. The abusive relationship exists in the speaker 's life but is distracted by the idea of the
In the first four lines of introduction the speaker states that he wants the person he’s directing the poem to to not be surprised by his actions. The poem states “You must not wonder, though you think it strange, / To see me hold my louring head so low;” (Gascoigne, 1-2). He uses the word ‘wonder’, which was a deliberate use of glamorous diction. He says ‘wonder’ to give off a sense of pondering. He doesn’t want his lover to think and over analyze why he isn’t looking at her. He uses the word ‘louring’ to evoke a feeling of gloom and sadness. He’s trying to portray how he feels an excess of strong emotion and is trying to hold it all back for her sake. He states next that “And mine eyes take no delight to range / About the gleams which on your face
Inner conflicts often dictate what the narrator wants, but cannot have, which creates the overall attitude of the poem. The narrator struggles to look at this woman because his "eyes take no delight to range/ about the gleam which on your face do grow" (3-4). He is not able to look at her even though she is beautiful due to the heartbreak that she left him with. This attitude carries on throughout the poem where he acknowledges her beauty but is unwilling to be hurt by her again. He is in agony from the emotions that she inflicts, and the readers see his mental process of working through it as he comes to the conclusion that he will "wink or else hold down my head" because it is her eyes that cause his "bale" (14-15). His attitude changes from being at war with his inner feelings to being accepted to the fact that if he looks at her he will be in danger of being hurt a second time. The irony being applied shows how his conflicted attitude is made clear by acknowledging that he will not give in to his desire despite what his repressed emotions are saying. Irony can be highly influential in discovering the narrator's hidden agenda and purposes, and the words chosen to reveal these purposes have an impact on the overall attitude of a piece of
I. Analysis of “Cabbage Vendor” by Natasha Trethewey from Domestic Work In “Cabbage Vendor” written by Natasha Trethewey, a woman talks about her gardening and cooking of cabbage. She seems to be selling some of her cabbage to a man and his first request is that he wants everything to be natural. He watches her through a peep hole as she gets the cabbage together for the man. The cabbage made me think as if she is getting herself together for the man.
The violent markings of the photo album and its images, however, produce an equally powerful message that jars the memory as it disrupts and distorts the photographic chronicle of her life and that of her family and friends. The result is a complex visual experience that addresses the use of images in producing knowledge and making history.
For a book about the breakup of a marriage, there is a good deal of feminist going on with Old’s characteristic scathing honesty that will help to understand how this collection of poems has gained so much attention. Old’s demonstrates a poetic line with her magic and imagery lively as ever, and brings a new range to the music — sometimes headlong, sometimes contemplative, and deep. This collection goes beyond the confessional, describing her gift of intimacy in a sense. After decades of being closed in her marriage, she describes a love for her
The structure and tone of the poem enhance the conflict and hopelessness the speaker is feeling towards the woman he loves and desires. For the first twelve lines of the poem there is an “abab” rhyming pattern. This ties into the despairing and desirable tone and how the rhyming scheme can be an example of the speaker constantly going back and forth between emotions for this women. For example, “And that mine eyes take no delight to range About the gleams which on your face do grow.” (Gascoigne 3-4) are two phrases that contradict the speakers feelings. Stating that his eyes take no delight in range can refer to the speaker finding no use or happiness in looking at the woman. Although, he then mentions the gleams upon her face growing, giving the audience the idea that even though the speakers love for the woman causes him deep despair, he still desires her enough to describe her features in attentive detail; in this example the gleams on her face. This shows the back and forth pattern and the speakers struggle when it comes
Susan Sontag said photographs sends across the harmlessness and helplessness of the human life steering into their own ruin. Furthermore the bond connecting photography with departure from life tortures the human race. (Sontag 1977:64)