Once again, I have come across a poem that I confidently thought I understood, and after class discussion, realized that I was interpreting the poem in a very different way. I initially believed that “Aunt Jennifer’s Tiger’s” was about the sadness of a widow wearing her husband’s wedding ring. However, the section where the Author writes “The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer's hand” turns out to really be about the suppression of her marriage, more specifically man.
Working in Social Services for most of my adult life, I can compare all too many experiences to this poem. I’ve come across numerous interactions where spouses, through their coping skills, have expressed how they escaped from their life through
In this poem, women are tired and outraged of the limits of their occupation. The poem shows this by the tone of the first line “women are burning”. This shows that women all over America are fed up and angry for being stuck at the house. I believe that burning gives a negative connotation. So when I hear burning this makes me think that the person is angered and outraged. These women are outraged because they are limited to only housework.The poem also states that “she says, once I was the roast duck on your platter with parsley but now I’m spam”. This quote makes me feel that this woman is being treated poorly. I also believe that this woman feels unappreciated and abandoned by their husband who once paid
In Charlotte Mew’s ‘The Farmer’s Bride’ and Simon Armitage’s ‘The Manhunt’, difficult relationships are presented by speakers who are dealing with an emotionally closed partner. Both poems explore how relationships are affected by mental health issues.
In a literary criticism written by Bobby Fong, which addresses the opposing possibilities of abuse and horse play of this poem, is quickly snuffed out when Fong states that most students regard the poem as a happy tale of a tipsy father playing with his child. Fong then writes how the same students said some of the finest moments with their fathers were when their fathers’ were drinking, and how “This “papa” was not the man they knew, so there was some anxiety felt regarding the “stranger,” but he was what these students as children wanted more often from their fathers.” (Fong) There is a reference to this uneasiness or anxiety in Roethke’s poem in line three which says “But I hung on like death:” (Roethke). However, despite the rough housing what the boy enjoyed the most was his father’s unhinged wild side, and that he was included in it.
I feel the poem "Daddy" is a work of rage and powerlessness of her hate towards her father's death and then how she tried to control this rage by creating a new father in her husband. Her husband is seen in two metaphors, a Nazi and a vampire. The vampire "drank her blood", which shows his possessiveness over her. Which correlates once more to how her husband is a model of her father: they both confined her. The metaphor of Nazis brings an understanding of her personal pain and suppression.
Greenberg is so clever with the use of verbal irony throughout the poem. The wife is really being sarcastic to her husband, in an attempt to reveal her desires that are evidently ignored. The main line that triggered my understanding was, "Not strong, not proud, not just, not provident, my lover would blame me for his heart's distress, which you would never think to do" (630). Once again, I initially thought she was complimenting her husband and showing him great respect. This strong, proud, just and provident man seemed perfect. However, the choice of words "...my lover would blame me for his heart's distress..." is what enlightened my thinking (630). The wife wanted to be so important to her husband that she would be the only thing that causes him distress. She actually resents this prideful man who seems to make everything else more important that her.
To start off the analysis, the setting of the entire poem is significant. Though the poem takes place in a house, the atmosphere the house is set in is also important. The month is September which is a month of fall which can be seen as a symbol for decline. It definitely insinuates that the poem is leading towards death. Line 1 has “September rain falls on the house” which gives the feeling of a dark and cold night with a storm on top of that. To further develop that, Bishop gives us the failing light in line 2 to also give us an idea of the grandmother’s struggle. Bishop uses the cyclical theme of changing seasons to show the unending nature of what is transpiring within the
There are clues throughout the poem that express the man’s past experiences, leading him to have a hostile tone. The speaker represents his past as “parched years” that he has lived through (7-8) and represents his daughter’s potential future as
The poet points out that losing her virginity is not a sin. "A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead" He tries to reverse her views that both society and herself share. He is very persuasive in this poem and uses the flea many times as a symbol of their sexual union and uses many metaphors. He uses many sly phrases also which could easily win his argument and I feel it is making her feel guilty and starting to make her confused and think about the prospects of them having sex.
The use of symbolism and imagery is beautifully orchestrated in a magnificent dance of emotion that is resonated throughout the poem. The two main ideas that are keen to resurface are that of personal growth and freedom. Furthermore, at first glimpse this can be seen as a simple poem about a women’s struggle with her counterpart. However, this meaning can be interpreted more profoundly than just the causality of a bad relationship.
The next stanza begins with possibly the most wonderful line in the poem, which speaks to personal survival, joy, and the continuation of life: “You laughed with the spirit of your husband who would toss stars!” (Harjo). Here Harjo uses the metaphor again, this time to compare the widow’s tears to a butterfly, which is both beautiful and fragile. But here, because of the Butterfly Dance, it takes on a special meaning, bringing their daughter into the circle of death and rebirth.
Poetry is made to express the feelings, thoughts, and emotions of the poet. The reader can interpret the poem however they see fit. Critics are undecided about the theme of Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz." Some people believe that the poem is one of a happy exchange between a father and son. The more convincing interpretation is that it has a hidden message of parental abuse. Careful analysis of the keywords and each individual stanza back up this theory of child abuse by a violent and drunken father.
This marks a new stage in the narrator's emotions, as she is glum upon his exit. It is clearly evident that the speaker is worried about her husband's journey because of line sixteen, which states, "Through the Gorges of Ch'u-t'ang, of rock and whirling water." This line shows that the husband is travelling through dangerous terrain. Throughout the third stanza, the narrator is said to slowly transition into a depression phase, as she dearly misses her husband. In lines twenty-three to twenty-five, the narrator sees butterflies flying "two by two" in the garden, and she feels very depressed upon seeing this because the butterflies are all together with their spouses, while she isn't. In line twenty-six, the speaker uses imagery to describe her emotion. She fears that she might start to look pale because of her
Diction is arguably the most important literary device carried throughout the duration of this poem. Many readers were disoriented by the use of Roethke’s word choice, yet it is arguably the most indisputable piece of evidence used to portray the background of abuse in the author’s poem. Roethke uses words that carry negative connotations such as: beat, battered, death, and more.
She seems to be saying that without the pain and the tribulations, a marriage wouldn’t be worth as much. It’s almost like she says that the sacrifices are what makes the marriage worth it. The pain of this marriage results in the ultimate achievement of the objective of marriage. The poem states that all the aches and pains of marriage are worth going through because the love of another is epic. I found that the two of these poems together were a fascinating combination, because one speaks of the hypocrisy of not doing anything about the flaws in a person’s own characteristics, and the other seems to say to live with the pain that you have to live with the faults; through doing so one will find bliss; it is worth the sacrifice.
In the second stanza, the speaker beholds a piper joyfully playing under the tress for his lover to find him with song. “Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on; not to the sensual ear, but, more endeared. The use of imagery of the senses is effective here. For I consider poetry to be more musical in nature than literary text. The speaker claims to be hearing melodies emanating from the urn, which for me the sound transmission from the urn correlates to the finite aspects of fleeting love. While the nature of art of the urn seems to me to represent the exquisiteness and infinity of the universe. Indeed, the sounds of silence from art is akin to vastness of space and time. “She cannot fade, though, thou hast not thy bliss,” (line19). Keats is asking the readers to not grieve for him. Because, her beauty will not diminish over time it is everlasting.