Backyard Blues Poem Analysis

For example, the first time death is symbolized in this story is when the family passes a graveyard. “They passed a large cotton field with five or six graves fenced in the middle of it, like a small island. ‘Look at the graveyard!’ the grandmother said, pointing it out. ‘That was the old FAMILY burying grounds.’” (99). O’Connor purposely mentions the specific number of graves, one grave for each person in the car. She also mentions that it was a “family” burying ground. This symbolism foreshadows that the family will soon face death. When the family is driving through the town, the grandmother remembers the old plantation is called “Toombsboro”. This plantation’s name is brought up to remind the reader of death. Toombsboro sounds like the tomb, symbolizing the family will soon face their tombs. Another description that is given to symbolize the deaths is that of the Misfits car. “It was a big black battered hearse-like automobile” (103). A hearse is a vehicle designed to carry coffins for funerals. This description also foreshadows the death of the family before the Misfit arrives. Lastly, the “woods, tall and dark and deep” (105) represent the family’s death. The woods symbolize the unknown and fear we have for death, which is considered dark and deep. The Grandmother stood in front of the woods reminding us that death is always near and behind us. Just like the woods, death can be a scary thing

The poem “Blues” by bpNichol is one that pushes against literary tropes and forms that become preciously established. The poem is one that pushes against these forms due to the center positioning that is untraditional. In addition analyzing a part of the poem that pushes against is the spacing between the letters, this can leave the reader speculating how to read and pronounce the poem. Another aspect to consider is the concern of reading from left to right, where as this poem pushes against this due to the typographical and acrostic arrangement. This poem also pushes against the pronunciation of the letters and words, specifically the l, o and e become isolated. Furthermore, the meaning of the words and letters become pushed against the form

In Woodchucks, a poem by Maxine Kumin, a gardener is having problems with woodchucks invading her garden. She attempts to kill the woodchucks with cyanide gas, but the Woodchucks wouldn’t die. The pacifist gardener, resorts to violence and shoots the woodchucks with a rifle. She was hoping for an easy solution but ended up going against her peace loving ways and turned violent. Throughout the poem, Maxine Kumin slowly reveals the underlying meaning of her writing. Kumin emphasizes that there are violent thoughts and tendencies in every individual by referencing real life events, by escalading the tone of the poem, and by using a series of literary devices.

Native Guard is a poem that is built on a lot of passion and precision that makes this entire book of poetry stand out. From the beginning with the elusive imagery and foreshadowing of her childhood and her mother’s life we are easily engulfed in the lifestyle of being born in the south. The imagery continues on in the new memory of the pinnacle time of slavery and the Civil War, which shows the true nature of the south through repetition and metaphoric sentences of many gruesome and remorseful scenes.

Poets have the power to present their perspectives of the human experience through their poetic voice. Gwen Harwood, Judith Wright, and Bruce Dawe, all Australian poets have all expressed common ideas expressed by their unique poetic voice.They also speak for those who have no voice, such as the soldiers in Bruce Dawe’s poem Homecoming and in Gwen Harwood's poem Mother Who Gave Me Life where she gives a voice to the Mothers. A key theme resinating through all of these poets poems would be their common ideas on society and the role of a mother.

The author also uses symbolism through the name of the characters. For example, Mr. Summers; the name “Summers” suggests that he is a cheerful man and to support this, he is described as a “round-faced, jovial man” with “time and energy to devote to civic activities” ; however, the true personality lying behind the name is the total opposite. On the other hand, the name Graves is the most obvious of all, the name relates to the place where corpses are buried, a strong indication of the participation of death in the story.

Natasha Trethewey’s purposeful limited view on her mother’s death in Native Guard reveals her difficult journey through coping mechanisms. Trethewey’s collection of poems revolve around ideas such as grief, her mother’s death and racism. In “Graveyard Blues”, Trethewey

Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Thou famished grave” and “Mindful of you” both include the themes of death, however, “Thou famished grave” uses the personification of a grave as a starving beast, diction to add imagery of starvation, and an image of a strong will to live to show the resentfulness and bitterness that the speaker has towards death, while, “Mindful of you” uses the imagery and personification of the four seasons to remember someone close who has died, to express that although death may take people physically, but they live and are remembered through memories.

In “Monkey Hill,” Stan Rice writes about the speaker of the poem who sits at a zoo with his friend observing the spider monkey exhibit. The two stay the whole day to observe these monkeys. The speaker becomes envious of these monkeys and their ability to be confident with exactly where they are and with who they are. Rice argues that our minds imprison us when we are worried about judgment from others. The monkeys in the exhibit felt free and at ease while the two observers were trapped in worrisome about the outside world in fear of how others would perceive them.

The two short stories “Black Swan Green” written by David Mitchell and “Letters To A Young Poet” by Rainer Maria Rilke both share a common central idea. In both stories, there is a mentee looking for advice from their mentors. The mentees have a passion for poetry and are aspiring poets. The mentors inform their mentees that someone who wants to be a poet should get their motivation from natural aspects. For one thing, It’s your natural beauty that makes you who you are as a person and a poet. Poetry is for yourself, your thoughts and ideas, not an audience.

The central theme or purpose of this poem implies that we favor, saying understanding and pleasant words if a personage passes away. Richard Bone is the central persona and he was brand-new to town. He discovered further knowledge regarding individual personalities of Spoon River. Richard carved anything they paid him too, even if it wasn't genuine. He hides it because he’s influenced to and plainly performs his task. He behaves respectfully and does not aspire to agitate others so he wrote fraudulent chronicles on tombstones yet they weren't a friendly spirit.

Swirls of clouds dancing as they fill the night sky, stars blazing in their own luminescence, casting shadows onto the acres of land. Beyond the corn field lies a small town. A tiny town, my mind has been aching to see.

Have you ever wondered what the prairies in the United States may have looked like before the grasslands became over populated with people?The American Prairie by Phil Epp shows you an image that might come to mind when pondering this question. From the contrast of the purple sky and the golden prairie to the choice of text and border color. This painting is effective due to it's layout, choice of models and colors used.

Court painters continued to paint landscapes during the Southern Song period (1127-1279), but preferred small arrangement and with added lyrical treatments. Above is a large album leaf. It was made by court painter Ma Yuan (active 1190-1224). Noticeable is the poetic couplet that he inscribed on this painting. Around this time, many painters were often using the connections between painting and poetry, either creating a new poem to emphasize the features of a painting they had done or creating a painting in order to capture poetic lines. Another successful Southern Song landscapist after Ma Yuan was Xia Gui (active 1180-1224). His work, Pure and Remote Views of Mountains and Streams, shown above, is oddly tall for a hand scroll. It is almost

Mary Elizabeth Frye became known as distinguished poet around the world, owing her success to the influential time when she fostered a young Jewish German girl early in her career.