Poetry is a form of art that can serve many functions, depending on what point the poet is trying to convey. A poet can use functions such as humor, sadness, or hope to convey a message that can transcend eras. However, the most often used function in the world of poetry is the use of inspiration. Often poets use short, but powerful, lines to inspire their readers into a specific way of thinking or acting. In the poems, "Sadie and Maud", "The Buried Life", and “This Moment”, three poems from three different time periods, three poets use the function of inspiration to inspire readers to follow their passions and to recognize that they come in many shapes and sizes.
In the poem, Sadie and Maud (1945), by Gwendolyn Brooks, two sisters are compared
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This entire poem is an example of the poetic function inspiration. Brooks uses two sisters, one who took the ‘right path’ and one who didn’t, to show us, the readers, that the status quo isn’t always what is best for us. This poem is to inspire us to follow our hearts, and not to fall into the same vicious life cycle that so many fall victims to.
The poem, “The Buried Life” (1852), by Mathew Arnold, written nearly one hundred years before “Sadie and Maud”, communicates a similar message of inspiration as the one we just discussed. In the poem, the speaker is torn as he discovered that his life, goals, ambitions, and desires are all one big hoax. But once he discovers this hoax, he feels a burst of energy that inspires him to make a life he can be happy about. In the poems most polarizing lines, the speaker discusses this sudden wake-up call after he realizes how he wasted his life;
“But often, in the world's most crowded streets,
But often, in the din of strife,
There rises an unspeakable desire
After the knowledge of our buried life;”
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Boland is drawing attention to how to often these tiny moments happen and we fail to realize their significance. Everything described before the moment is still, as if time is stopped, and it’s not until the moment is over that everything begins to move again, the moment when time resumes. Boland uses the poetic function of inspiration to inspire us all to take time to appreciate the tiny things in our lives because something as simple as holding a small child can be the most magical.
Poetry is a timeless form of art, where a function of poetry can be used to share a message, idea, or perspective that was written hundreds of years ago with the world we live in today. In the poems “Sadie and Maud”, “The Buried Life”, and “This Moment”, we witnessed three poems, written in three very different time periods, by very different poets, all portray very similar messages by using the poetic function of inspiration. Inspiration is something that surrounds all of us, and having the ability to find inspiration in timeless pieces of poetry is a tool we all can use, no matter what part of society, culture, or background we come
In poems it is essential to be a creative writer. The author uses many techniques from from exposing deep thoughts to giving humorous jokes throughout the sentence. As a human being, we may have difficult times in understanding what is trying to be said. We may agree or disagree depending our viewpoints on life. One of my Favorite poems is “The Ballad of Sue Ellen Westerfield” by Robert Hayden. My favorite poem is the type of poem that has some history and confusion. When getting the audience confused, it makes them want to know more and reread the whole passage again. Hayden’s poem is a fresh new opening that brought an old dimension, his creativity to open the minds of others and look back to the past.
Poetic techniques displayed through the ideas, poetic features and style of the poet, reveal concepts which transcend time and place. In Gwen Harwood’s poem “the violets” her ability to interweave past and present emphasises the importance of memory in preserving ones journey though the universal experiences of growth, maturity and mortality. Similarly the poem “Mother who gave me life” demonstrates the memory of motherhood as a timeless quintessential part of the human condition. And lastly In Harwood’s “father and Child”, the connection between the father and son/daughter highlights that transformation throughout childhood is inevitable. Through the content and the language, the ways in which human experiences reveal concepts which
Poetry in some way, shape or form, gives realistic ideas to even objects that reflect upon a part of life by using symbolism and personification.
The reflection of each poet's childhood is displayed within these lines helping to build a tone for the memories of each narrator.
Poetry has a role in society, not only to serve as part of the aesthetics or of the arts. It also gives us a view of what the society is in the context of when it was written and what the author is trying to express through words. The words as a tool in poetry may seem ordinary when used in ordinary circumstance. Yet, these words can hold more emotion and thought, however brief it was presented.
Poetry is used by writers such as Zora Neale Hurston and Kate Chopin to express ideas and words through a sense of writing and rhythm that is felt by the poet who is writing it. Years ago, poets would use poetry as a record of history where they told life events that was happening or how modern societies were expected to be. “The Poetry of this period forms the immediate background and matrix of their own work, so much so that unless one keeps the later nineteenth century.” (Venuti, The translator's invisibility, 2017.) Each author made poetry different by changing the tradition and outlook on poetry which is also known as the dead poet’s society. Authors from the past heavily influenced everything that was created in a poem. “Sweat” written by Zora Neale Hurston was written during a time period women didn’t have an opinion and it was frowned upon to disagree or go against your husband. This woman in the story over comes the current times cultural norms. The “Awakening” written by Kate Chopin, speaks out against societies gender roles and says women are evolving to hold more than the titles “mother” and “housewife.” It was the time of shifting order and woman gaining more rights than was handed to them. Kate Chopin used her poetry to give an insight of what limitations she might have encountered in her life as a woman and it explained her choices she chose to help the reader understand what she may have felt towards the subject during this
To help Year Twelve students that are studying poetry appreciate it's value, this pamphlet's aim is to discuss a classic poem and a
In literature, themes shape and characterize an author’s writing making each work unique as different points of view are expressed within a writing’s words and sentences. This is the case, for example, of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “Annabel Lee” and Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death.” Both poems focus on the same theme of death, but while Poe’s poem reflects that death is an atrocious event because of the suffering and struggle that it provokes, Dickinson’s poem reflects that death is humane and that it should not be feared as it is inevitable. The two poems have both similarities and differences, and the themes and characteristics of each poem can be explained by the author’s influences and lives.
The power of the poet is not only to convey an everyday scene into a literary portrait of words, but also to interweave this scene into an underlying theme. The only tool the poet has to wield is the word. Through a careful placement and selection of words, the poet can hopefully make his point clear, but not blatantly obvious. Common themes of poems are life, death, or the conflicting forces thereto. This theme could never possibly be overused because of the endless and limitless ways of portraying life or death through the use of different words.
Poetry is a form of literature in which the writer can express themselves and their ideas as they please. Some writer using similar methods to paint an image in the reader 's head to help understand the poem better. Writers like to use symbols,imagery,themes, and wordplay along with other methods to get their point across for what the poem stands for. These methods are used in many ways depending on who the writer is and what he/she is addressing. Using these methods helps the readers also understand the meaning behind the poems creation or what it goes for/against. In this essay we will Analyze the poem of Dylan Thomas “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” and Emily Dickinson 's “Daddy”and their symbols,imagery,themes, wordplay, and
Poetry as a literally work in which the expression of ideas and feelings is given strength has had great authors overtime who took different perspectives in this genre of literature. These poets used distinctive rhythm and style to express their styles, poetic themes, outlook on life, and had their share of influence on the American society. This paper uses the basis of these styles, themes, outlook on life and subsequent influence on the American society to compare three prolific poets who ventured into this literature genre: Robert Frost, Mary Oliver, and Maya Angelou. Robert Frost (1874-1963) holds a unique and almost sole position in the career span which mostly encompasses
Poetry presents the words of the unspoken truths. Throughout history, many influential writers have made an impact on society through their writing. Raymond Carver, an award winning writer, wrote many poems and stories throughout his career that shaped writing for many other poets. Carver was born into a family of poverty and from a young age, he did not have an ideal relationship with his parents due to the strong use of alcohol by his father. Later in his life, Carver suffered from alcoholism as well and tried to distance himself from everyone around him and pushed a career to the side. Carver was headed down a toxic and negative path whether he liked it or not; Carver rushed into an unhealthy marriage, was diagnosed with cancer, hospitalized for his alcoholism many times and was told he was going to die. Once he moved to California and found his passion for literature, his whole life slowly turned around. He began to feel happier, quit drinking, divorced his first wife and married the love of his life, Tess Gallagher. Carver typically writes short stories and he was also a confessional poet, which was someone that broke the mold of traditional formed poetry and began to write narrative poems about their life. In Raymond Carver’s “Late Fragment,” an enforced message is that it is not necessary to dwell on the smaller things in life, because in the end it’s all up to how we feel we lived life.
In poems it is essential to be a creative writer. From exposing deep thoughts to giving humorous jokes throughout the sentence. As a Human being, we may have difficult times in understanding what is trying to be said. We may agree or disagree depending our viewpoints on life. One of my Favorite poems is “The Ballad of Sue Ellen Westerfield” By Robert Hayden. The type of poem that has some history and confusion. When getting the audience confused, it makes them want to know more and reread the whole passage again. Robert’s poem was a fresh new opening that brought an old dimension, his creativity to open the minds of others and look back to the past.
A child’s future is usually determined by how their parent’s raise them. Their characteristics reflect how life at home was like, if it had an impeccable effect or destroyed the child’s entire outlook on life. Usually, authors of any type of literature use their experiences in life to help inspire their writing and develop emotion to their works. Poetry is a type of literary work in which there is an intensity given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinct styles and rhythm. These distinct styles include different types of poems such as sonnets, villanelles, free verse, imagist poems, and many more. And these distinct styles are accentuated with the use of literary devices such as metaphors, similes, imagery, personification, rhyme, meter, and more. As a whole, a poem depicts emotions the author and reader’s can relate to. In the poem’s “Those Winter Sundays,” by Robert Hayden, and “My Papa’s Waltz,” by Theodore Roethke, we read about two different parent and child relationships. These two poems help portray the flaws and strength’s parents exhibit and how their children follow their actions and use it as a take away in their grown up lives.
In Emily Dickinson's poems “I heard a Fly buzz-when I died” and “Because I could not stop for Death” both have to do with death. Sadly those are the only similarities in the two poems. Although the two poems were written less than a year apart they both have a different perspective of death in both of them. “I heard a Fly buzz-when I died” talks about death at the moment and “Because I could not stop for Death” has to do with after death.