In the poem “The Arrow and the Song,” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow uses the symbolism of an arrow and of a song to illustrate how actions and words have consequences. Longfellow uses literary devices through this poem, specifically symbolism, personification, and imagery to effectively portray his overall theme about the impact of our actions. Furthermore, symbolism is seen through the use of the arrow and the song representing the lasting effects of our actions. The arrow represents actions that are corrupt, while the song represent actions that are benevolent. Likewise, another literary device is seen in the quotation, “I breathed a song into the air, It fell to earth, I knew not where”(6). Here, personification is used because something impalpable like a song can not fall. In the …show more content…
This idea is similarly seen with the song. The song disappeared without guidance or an intent, but was found “in the heart of a friend” and this additionally relates to the idea of karma. In regards to the mood and tone, the mood was inspiring and uplifting, and the tone was instructional. The mood is inspirational since the author is making the audience think about the intent of our actions, because in most cases we are unsure where they will end up like what happened to the arrow and the song, in which the poem states, “It fell to earth, I knew not where (2). Furthermore, the tone was instructional because the poem is seen in a cause and effect sequence. The author illustrates two scenarios of our action to either be adverse and hit a tree, like the arrow did or fill someone’s heart, which the song accomplished. Therefore, Longfellow’s poem is effective through the use of the tone, mood, literary devices, and most specifically parallelism. Parallelism is seen in the first two lines of stanza one and
However, the poem has fluidity despite its apparent scarcity of rhyme. After examining the alteration of syllables in each line, a pattern is revealed in this poem concerning darkness. The first nine lines alternate between 8 and 6 syllables. These lines are concerned, as any narrative is, with exposition. These lines set up darkness as an internal conflict to come. The conflict intensifies in lines 10 and 11 as we are bombarded by an explosion of 8 syllables in each line. These lines present the conflict within one's own mind at its most desperate. After this climax, the syllables in the last nine lines resolve the conflict presented. In these lines, Dickinson presents us with an archetypal figure that is faced with a conflict: the “bravest” hero. These lines present the resolution in lines that alternate between 6 and 7 syllables. Just as the syllables decrease, the falling action presents us with a final insight. This insight discusses how darkness is an insurmountable entity that, like the hero, we must face to continue “straight” through “Life” (line 20).
Analytical Essay In the poem “Who Understands Me,But Me” by Jimmy Santiago Baca talks about his experiences and how he felt while he was in prison. This was also about how being closed up in a prison feels like everything you thought you’d always have is now gone. But at the end things will start having its positive ending.
In the poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” the author, Henry Longfellow, uses figurative language, and sound devices to create suspense and tension within the poem. The way he uses the figurative language and sound devices makes readers want to keep reading to find out what will happen next. In Longfellow’s famous poem he uses devices such as rhyming, rhyme scheme, and repetition to allow the readers to feel fear and push them to the edge of their seats. Some figurative language the storyteller uses is personification, and similes to compare objects, and fearful moments to something more dramatic.
Bruce Dawe’s poems “Katrina”,” A Victorian Hangman Tells His Love”, “Homo Suburbiensis “ and “Enter Without So Much As Knocking” depict life and death through the use of similar poetic techniques such as metaphors, imagery, onomatopoeia, tone and similes, although, with different circumstances. The events in these four poems evoke emotions within the reader, the most common being sadness and frustration. These emotions are explored, in all four poems, through the tone of melancholy.
The similarities in the poem deal with similar topics expressed throughout the poem dealing with Keats’ and Longfellow’s fear of death. Differences between the two include the structure and the different images, metaphors and diction that they give off along with their different train of thoughts while writing the two poems. Their thoughts of the subject of death are able to relate to a variety of people because everyone is just human and cannot last forever. Just as these two poems show similar ideas can branch off into many different ideas and interpretations. The desire to continue to
Jack Whites, Carolina Drama, in short is about a mother, and her two sons, whom are living with the mother’s redneck and presumably violent boyfriend. While the first two verses can be considered the background, the third begins the story. Billy, who is one of the sons- the other remains nameless, wakes up one morning in the back of his truck. While looking through the window, he can see his mother’s boyfriend with his hands wrapped around a priest. He later realizes that the priest is in fact actually his father, and comes into the house, demanding an explanation.
While both Keats and Longfellow often reflect on their own unfulfilled dreams and impending deaths, the poems however contrast on their own dispositions towards death and the future. Here, Keats expresses a fear of not having enough time to accomplish all that he believes he is capable of doing, but as he recognizes the enormity of the world and his own limitations of life, he realizes that his own mortal goals are meaningless in the long run of things. On the other hand, Longfellow speaks of a regret towards his inaction for allowing time to slip away from him in his past and is at a crossroads for the ominous future that looms ahead of him. Through the use of light and dark imagery, and personification, Keats and Longfellow similarly yet also differently, reflect on their own ideas for death and the futures that lay ahead of them.
Firstly, the speaker’s attitude or the tone demonstrates how a person can be the cause of their own misery. From the very start of the poem the speaker has a depressing tone. Any little event that occurs the speaker reads it as a negative occurrence that adds to his ever growing misery. For Example, when the speaker says “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” The speaker hears a knock on the door and opens it to see that there is no one there. Instead of going back to sleep he demonstrates his negative attitude by
symbolic richness, but at the same time the poem supplies the reader with a wide
Wordsworth demonstrates his use of tone and syntax in the following stanza, “Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in a sprightly dance.” The tone of the stanza is joyful because he is happy when he talks about how beautiful the daffodils are. This shows how his relationship with nature is positive since he is happy when watching the daffodils. Wordsworth uses traditional syntax in this stanza. He uses several phrases divided by commas to describe the daffodils and their movements. This gives the stanza a playful pace which again expresses that his relationship with nature is happy and
Poems and songs may have strength in literary terms, but have you ever wondered what makes them powerful? In this essay, there will be analyzed two poems “The Boy Died in my Alley” and “Daddy”, as well as the song “Firework” in which theme, metaphor, and repetition are the literary devices that make them powerful.
*Remember: each response must include at least one specific quotation from the poem or story in question. Do not quote from discussion notes, summaries from the textbook, or other study materials. Quotations should be taken directly from the primary readings.
In the first few lines of the poem, the reader can already receive a feel of the irony as the poet describes the scene of a maiden left behind as her lover falls in battle. The poet illustrates a scene as to where most readers would feel sorrow and sympathy towards the maiden and perhaps have the speaker in the poem enlighten the
Finally the poem has an emotional appeal. The poems tone is positive in a negative way it is sort of uplifting even though there is nothing encouraging about the situation. This is shown tough the use of words such as " I am the thousand winds that blow/ I am the diamond glints on the snow" these phrases have positive connotation saying that he will always be with us
Symbolism plays a large role in most poems. "A pure-white doe in an emerald glade/Appeared to me, with two antlers of gold" (Petrarch lines 1-2) is a perfect example of symbolism is poetry. Petrarch is not actually talking about a white deer with golden antlers, he's talking about a beautiful woman with golden hair. Wyatt also uses