Essay on Poetry Analysis

Richard Blanco is a Cuban- American poet who was given the oppurunity to write an inaugaration poem for Barack Obama's second swearing-in. He wrote a poem titled "One Today" that praised the good and unique things about the United States and also the everyday people who's daily routines help to make America the proud country that it is.

Vendler focuses a lot on what makes a sonnet work as a lyric in her introduction. She focuses on a lot on how a sonnet can be a lyric but one that isn’t necessarily performed out loud and the structure it takes. She references the feelings and thoughts that go into composing a sonnet. How they can be uttered. A lyric is something that used to be performed (usually accompanied by music) but she argues that a lyric can go either way: socially performed or performed in “solitary speech” in the mind. (2) It makes me question just how the sonnet came to be something that can be so intimate between a reader and a poet. Even though she references Shakespeare sonnets, it was still relevant to the way I was looking at Keats’ sonnets. She introduces the question on how does a sonnet work and what kind of mind does it derive from. That can directly related back to my use of the more gloomy of Keats’ sonnets; to see what

In this essay I am going to compare and contrast ‘When we two parted’ a poem of George Gordon, Lord Byron’s written in 1815 and Letitia Elizabeth Landon’s ‘Love’s last lesson’ written in c1838, both poets are British and of the romantic period.

A sonnet by definition is, a poem of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes, in English typically having ten syllables per line. A poem is a piece of writing that says a lot in a few words; this sonnet does exactly that, it utilizes a multitude of literary devices to tell a story of a writer examining life with an ending message to push forward and go. In “An Echo Sonnet”, the author, Robert Pack uses repetition, hypophora, antithesis and synecdoche to reveal the voice experiencing writer's block which leads to the discussion of life and death between the voice and the echo.

The main theme within Clarke’s Sonnet is his distance and inability to communicate with a lover. This poem is written for his lover as an attempt to connect with her, although within the poem, he is continuing to communicate poorly. The way in which he copes with this broken relationship drives the tone of the poem.

The poem is structured in a way which follows the proper metre for a sonnet, however, it is unusual in a sense that it is free verse and has no rhyme scheme. The sentences are broken to fit the iambic pentameter. This creates pauses, and a choppiness in the flow

This poem is a perfect example of a closed form traditional sonnet. The rhyming scheme is in the form of ABCB, the best example of that is if you were to look at the first stanza, the last word in line two and four rhyme. This type of rhyming scheme is very basic, but it really helps emphasize his thoughts and bring out an emotional, aggressive tone.

-We have to carefully compare and contrast all parts of the sonnet in order to see the deeper meaning that all sonnets hold.

In ¨An Echo Sonnet¨ by Robert Pack, he was able to develop a clear message with his carefully structured poem. By employing a Shakespearean Sonnet form and a rhyming echo that answers the question raised by the voice, Pack revealed that the echo was the voice´s alter ego. Through the use of structure and other literary elements such as personification, imagery, and symbolism, the author developed the idea that although one might have insecurities about the future, it is important to take the ¨leap¨ of faith in order to truly be alive.

Befitting of the overall tone, the sonnet commences with uncertainty, plainly illustrated with the language of the speaker’s initial statement: “I’m not sure how to hold my face when I dance” (1), for he arranges his words to portray a feeling of vacillation. Immediately following this reflective proclamation, the speaker poses three questions, all of which allude to the contemplative tone apparent in the text. While these inquiries regard the subject of dance, the speaker also intends for them to be metaphors for the uncertainty he, as a black man, has for his place in society. His questions are rapid-fire, almost probing the audience for answers that are seemingly nonexistent. As a result of the rapidity, there is an absence of breaks for these questions to be answered, evincing the speaker’s belief that they, in fact, have no answers. These first four sentences are crucial in the sonnet’s development, as they kindle ruminations for both the speaker and the audience.

Finally, the structure of this sonnet brings the reader’s attention to what the point really is. Instead of making the narrator, full of desire for self-improvement, the hero of the sonnet, the final couplet corrals the reader’s attention back to the personality of the lunatic, who is the true focus of the poem.

Reflections Within is a non-traditional stanzaic poem made up of five stanzas containing thirty-four lines that do not form a specific metrical pattern. Rather it is supported by its thematic structure. Each of the five stanzas vary in the amount of lines that each contain. The first stanza is a sestet containing six lines. The same can be observed of the second stanza. The third stanza contains eight lines or an octave. Stanzas four and five are oddly in that their number of lines which are five and nine.

The sonnet opens with a statement of uncertainty as the speaker admits, “I’m not sure how to hold my face when I dance” (1). Immediately thereafter, the speaker poses three questions, all of which allude to the contemplative tone of the poem. While these inquiries regard the subject of dance, the speaker also intends for them to be metaphors for the uncertainty he, as a black man, has for his place in society. His questions are rapid-fire, almost probing the audience for answers that may not truly exist. An obvious lack of breaks for these questions to be answered shows that the speaker must believe that they, in fact, have no answers. These first four sentences are crucial in the sonnet’s development, as they provoke thought and contemplation so that the reader’s mind can be in the same place as the speaker.

In this particular sonnet there is a man who is weeping and praying, wishing he was with friends and they say that thinking of your love brings such happiness, but would not change his position in life with kings. In this poem he states “I all alone be weep my outcast state”, “look upon myself and curse my fate” and also “trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries.” In conclusion this sonnet shows that the man knows that there is things stopping him from making him show or commit to his love, all in all his heart wants the love but his mind is fighting with his heart.

     The sonnet, being one of the most traditional and recognized forms of poetry, has been used and altered in many time periods by writers to convey different messages to the audience. The strict constraints of the form have often been used to parallel the subject in the poem. Many times, the first three quatrains introduce the subject and build on one another, showing progression in the poem. The final couplet brings closure to the poem by bringing the main ideas together. On other occasions, the couplet makes a statement of irony or refutes the main idea with a counter statement. It leaves the reader with a last impression of what the author is trying to say.