The Sky Above The Roof's Poem 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.

Lorna Dee Cervantes' poem, “Poema para los Californios Muertos” (“Poem for the Dead Californios”), is a commentary on what happened to the original inhabitants of California when California was still Mexico, and an address to the speaker's dead ancestors. Utilizing a unique dynamic, consistently alternating between Spanish and English, Cervantes accurately represents the fear, hatred, and humility experienced by the “Californios” through rhythm, arrangement, tone, and most importantly, through use of language.

When a reader grasps a theme throughout any piece of literature, he or she never clearly understands the intent without knowing where the theme came from. The theme that is portrayed in the poem is, often times reconnecting with a loved one cannot only bring happiness, but it can also bring sorrow. This theme was emphasized throughout the poem and without knowing the historical context of the poem, one could not necessarily understand where it came from. In the text it

The tone of the poem changes as the poem progresses. The poem begins with energetic language like “full of heroic tales” and “by a mere swing to his shoulder”. The composer also uses hyperboles like “My father began as a god” and “lifted me to heaven”. The use of this positive language indicates to the responder that the composer is longing for those days – he is nostalgic. It also highlights the perspective of a typical child. The language used in the middle of the poem is highly critical of his father: “A foolish small old man”. This highlights the perspective of a typical teenager and signifies that they have generally conflicting views. The language used in the last section of the poem is more loving and emotional than the rest: “...revealing virtues such as honesty, generosity, integrity”. This draws attention to a mature adult’s perspective.

In “The Great Scarf of Birds” by John Updike, he describes the power of nature to impact people by using structure, diction, figurative language, and imagery. By incorporating all of these literary devices, Updike constructs an authentic poem and a great read. The author is truly able to chronicle all the emotions that come with having a change of heart. Every literary device he uses is equally important in construction of the poem and the meaning behind it.

The sense throughout the entire poem is that the speaker is nervous about embarking on a new journey in their life. Something encapsulated perfectly when the speaker says “this is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself” (24). The irony here is that many children dream of becoming older from the time they can talk. Hell, maybe even before that. They see a distorted view of freedom in adulthood and oppression in childhood. This speaker’s view of blossoming out of childhood, however, is bleak and contrast with what most children want. Maybe the speaker is scared of getting closer to going to high school, having to leave certain things or people behind or, maybe they just fear change in general. The poem does not hand the correct interpretation to the reader and leaves it up for interpretation, something that makes the poem more powerful by allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions as to why the speaker is apprehensive about reaching their new milestone. Thus rings the bell, calling for a pause of reading and the start of thinking. This openness leaves different readers with different backgrounds, different experiences and different personalities to all read differently into what the speaker fears about growing up. A reader who grew up affluent may attribute this concern as a normal progression of feelings which starts as fear but grows into excitement due to having new experiences to enjoy. A reader who grew up poor may think the speaker realizes they will have to make tough decisions to survive and that the best years of their life are behind them. This openness of having different people read differently into the speaker’s irony is why a thirty-two-line poem leads to an infinite amount of interpretations. As well as being used for humour, irony is also used to highlight certain expectations of growing

“The Man to Send Rain Clouds” by Leslie Marmon Silko: This story tells of the death of a tribal elder (Teofilo). Upon his death, his grandsons, Leon and Ken, secure his body and proceed to apply their cultural rituals for a burial. “Before they wrapped the Oldman, Leon took a piece of string out of his pocket and tied a small gray feather in the old man’s long white hair. Ken gave him the paint. Across the brown wrinkled forehead, he drew a streak of white and along the high cheekbones he drew a strip of blue paint.” (Silko, 439) Not knowing much about Native American beliefs I do know that feathers and face painting is a large part of their culture. This is the first clue given that the characters in this work are Native American. After gathering his body they proceed to bring him back to they have an interaction with the local Catholic priest, Father Paul. During this interaction, the family members don’t tell Father Paul that their grandfather has passed when he asks did they locate him. At once I could tell that there is a rift of some nature because the ritual they just performed on the body would be in stark contrast/opposition to a Catholic burial. The author of this novel is describing the encroachment of religion on Native American culture. This is again shown when Ken and Leon stop by the church to ask Father Paul to use holy water to the graveyard. The reasoning for the sprinkling of the holy water is so that Teofilo could send big thunderclouds from the

The other section where symbolism is evident is “Small Porch in the Woods.” It is divided into several poems. In the first one, there is the mention of “unshifting star” which represents a change that is undisturbed. It is the turning point of the society. Despite the challenges communities face in their life, their ambition leads them towards achieving their objectives in life. The second poem under this section is about a heavy rain that fell in the month of April. Heavy rain is the representation of unhappy moments. The description presented by the narrator shows that it is a sad moment where everything is carried away. Throughout the poem, the rain is seen, as a lesson

The poem begins with the poet noticing the beauty around her, the fall colors as the sun sets “Their leaves and fruits seemed painted, but was true, / Of green, of red, of yellow, mixed hue;” (5-6). The poet immediately relates the effects of nature’s beauty to her own spiritual beliefs. She wonders that if nature here on Earth is so magnificent, then Heaven must be more wonderful than ever imagined. She then views a stately oak tree and

Does a beetle’s death require as much thoughtful consideration as a human’s? Is a beetle only less significant as a human due to the contrasting proportions? Does size matter at all? A dead beetle lies on a path through a field and is meditated on for only a glance. The passing person then continues the right of way. Wislawa Szymborska attempts to change our ideas of death to comprehend that even small things are relevant as shown in the poem, ‘Seen From Above,’ by utilizing the imagery of the dead beetle, through claiming death’s metaphorical right of way, and with the contrast of a deceased human and a dead animal.

During the Victorian Era in 1837 the period that was ruled by Queen Victoria I, women endured many social disadvantages by living in a world entirely dominated by men. Around that time most women had to be innocent, virtuous, dutiful and be ignorant of intellectual opinion. It was also a time associated with prudishness and repression. Their sole window on the world would, of course, be her husband. During this important era, the idea of the “Angel in the House” was developed by Coventry Patmore and used to describe the ideal women who men longed. Throughout this period, women were treated inferior to men and were destined to be the husbands “Angel in the House”.

The poem begins by the father first giving his son a very formal goodbye and explains the relationship between the two. Though it initially does not seem to be that deep, it later demonstrates the connection as he says “child of my right hand, and joy” showing the happiness the child brings his as well as how he is dependable or always right there. In the next line, he goes on to explain his sin which plays into the guilt aspect of this piece. He fears that his trouble was having too high of expectations for his first born, thus not giving the child enough faith that what he was doing was also acceptable. Perhaps the father is feeling that he did not give his child enough reassurance while he had the chance. The next line is key to the poem and tells us the age of his son when he died, telling us that he was seven year old, while the second part is saying that he is paying for his childs death.

Poetry is a reduced dialect that communicates complex emotions. To comprehend the numerous implications of a ballad, perusers must analyze its words and expressing from the points of view of beat, sound, pictures, clear importance, and suggested meaning. Perusers then need to sort out reactions to the verse into a consistent, point-by-point clarification. Poetry utilizes structures and traditions to propose differential translation to words, or to summon emotive reactions. Gadgets, for example, sound similarity, similar sounding word usage, likeness in sound and cadence are at times used to accomplish musical or incantatory impacts.

It starts off saying that once in a while on a nice day, go outside and enjoy the day. Breathe in the fresh air and feel the breeze in your hair. (Lines 3-4) The reader should take the time to feel the grass between their toes, smell the flowers, and watch the clouds. (Lines 6-7) Listen to the bees buzz, and to climb the trees. (Lines 9-10) Look out into the meadow and watch the deer play. (Lines 11-12) People should pick the flowers, watch the streams glisten and listen to the sound of the water splashing. (Lines 13-16) When you feel at peace inhale and lay on the ground. Let nature tranquilize you. (Lines

This piece has several “mini” themes given to almost each stanza, emphasizing reminiscing, grief, and isolation. Appearing to be from the point of view of a man (apparently the writer himself) profoundly grieving the departure of a lover who has passed on. He starts by calling for quiet from the ordinary objects of life; the phones, the clocks, the pianos, drums, and creatures close-by. He doesn't simply need calm, but be that as it may; he needs his misfortune well known and projected. Its tone is significantly more dismal than earlier versions, and the themes more all inclusive, despite the fact that it talks about a person. There is almost an entire stanza demonstrating a  bunch of analogies that express what the speaker intended to his lover. The style in the piece readers typically perceive it as a dirge, or a mourning for the dead. It has four stanzas of four lines each with lines in