Themes In 'On Not Shoplifting Louise Bogan's'

"The Author to Her Book" shows Bradstreet's feelings about the unauthorized printing of her work. She expresses her modesty about her ability to write by comparing her work to "homespun cloth" meaning that is was coarse and unrefined. Bradstreet also uses humor to express her feelings about the publication of her work without corrections, but there is still some genuine discomfort. "At thy return my blushing was not small" shows that she was a bit embarrassed about the world reading her rough drafts, but she amends her view towards the book as the poem continues. "Yet being mine own, at length affection would Thy blemishes amend…" illustrates that she truly loves her poetry, and after it is "cleaned" she takes pride in it. She show her delight in her work with the admonition "If for thy Father asked, say thou had'st none." Bradstreet wanted everyone to recognize her for the talented woman writer that she was, but requested this acknowledgment in a humble way.

The absence of meaning in both Carroll and Lear’s poems is significant, even though it may seem like the opposite. When reading these poems for the first time, the reader may be

In “The Author to Her Book,” Bradstreet is inundated in indecision and internal struggles over the virtues and shortfalls of her abilities and the book that she produced. As human beings we associate and sympathize with each other through similar experiences. It is difficult to sympathize with someone when you don’t know where they are coming from and don’t know what they are dealing with. Similar experiences and common bonds are what allow us to extend our sincere appreciation and understanding for another human being’s situation. In this poem an elaborate struggle between pride and shame manifests itself through an extended metaphor in which she equates her book to her own child.

Within this passage the central idea of “beauty” is developed by Crommelynck’s explanation of beauty and its application to art, and more specifically, poetry. Crommelynck’s description of the beauty develops the idea because it gives an understanding of how wide the scope is for something to be beautiful. She also explains that beauty cannot be created and how it instead resides in something which ties in with her view on truth in art. She believes that if an art form is truthful then beauty can reside in it. This develops on the concept of what beauty

The poem suddenly becomes much darker in the last stanza and a Billy Collins explains how teachers, students or general readers of poetry ‘torture’ a poem by being what he believes is cruelly analytical. He says, “all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it”. Here, the poem is being personified yet again and this brings about an almost human connection between the reader and the poem. This use of personification is effective as it makes the

· In the first line of the poem, the speaker expresses her feelings towards men by using the word “Anger”(1). From just the

The books and reading materials we read and encounter can have an impact in our education and in who we are. This is because our ideas, beliefs, imaginations and way of thinking can change based off how we react to the material. In Julia Alvarez’s poem “On Not Shoplifting Louise Bogan’s The Blue Estuaries” the author uses various literary devices, such as tone, imagery and selection of detail to convey the speaker’s intriguing and suspenseful discoveries of her voice and her talents.

Imagery plays an imperative role in creating emotional duality throughout the text. The reader is presented to the narrator being called upon by the Queen. When the narrator looks behind, “[the Queen’s] expression, at first quizzical, now turned joyous, showing brilliant white and perfect teeth” (lines 3-4). Verghese’s use of imagery through this line magnificently illustrates the Queen’s enthusiasm to see who she has called upon. At first, the quizzical countenance of the Queen’s face arouses misperception in the reader, questioning why she is puzzled to lay eyes on the narrator, but soon resolved when her expression turns joyous. The joyous mood created through this line is epitomized through the dazzling imagery as she shows her brilliant white and perfect teeth through her smile. Soon after, the narrator ascertains the Queen as Tsige, as he “towered over her…tongue-tied” (line 9). The use of the idiom, tongue-tied illustrates to the reader

The speaker focuses on the fact that this book ordinary with all the writing covering the front and back of the book, taking away from its true value. The speakers says, “Your book surprised me on the bookstore shelf ”(1) showing that this book is unique, catching her eye. She continues in saying “no blurbs by the big boys on the back; no sassy, big-haired picture to complicate the achievement; no mentors musing over how they had discovered you had it in you before you knew you had it in you” (3-10). This provides further evidence that this book is special to the girl. Another important part of this poem is how the girl discovers a different part of herself. When she starts to read, she feels a new energy, “your poems were stirring my own poems” (23). This new feeling that she is feeling cause her to ponder stealing the book. The girl “wanted to own this moment, my breath came quickly, thinking it over” (38-39). Her quick breath shows that this would be the first time to steal anything from how worked up over it she was. As the rush started dissipate the girl held the book before her “as if it was something else, a mirror reflecting back, someone I was becoming” (46-49). Here as the girl is looking at the book her realizes who she was becoming, a thief, and decides not to take the

When a reader initially reads Donald Justice’s “The Poet at Seven,” he or she might take the easy route and conclude it for what it says, only. If this method were taken, the poem’s presumed plot would have been taken quite literally: the poet is reminiscing about his childhood memories; the poem is sweet, simple, and nostalgic. However, poems are not that simple. They are complex riddles, full of hidden meaning. To truly shed light on Justice’s purpose of the poem, it is necessary to look at the “what-if’s” through its intricate designs of language. The poem’s form is an important start when close reading. Also, to discern the hidden meaning, it is important to consider the specific word choice and how it paints a picture inside the reader’s mind. As a result, the reader will grasp the poem’s true intention. By doing this, the reader will sincerely have an understanding of “The Poet at Seven,” the way Justice probably would have wanted.

Another useful tool in analyzing a poem is to identify poetic devices, meter, and a rhyme scheme. Through her deft use of extended metaphor, Bradstreet weaves an intricate web of parallels between parent and author and between child and book--both relationships of creator to creation. This use of metaphor allows the reader to relate emotionally to Bradstreet’s situation. In line seven, we see the uses of litotes, “At thy return my blushing was not small,” to express the depth of her embarrassment. She also uses metonymy in line eight to express her pain more clearly, “My rambling brat (in print) should mother call.” The simile used in line nine stresses her objection to the published work, “I cast thee by as one unfit for light.” Then in line 19, the poetic device of consonance is used which provides emphasis on her warning, “In this array ‘mongst vulgars may’st thou roam.” In this poem, through the use of personification and apostrophe Bradstreet conveys her feelings and emotions. Anne Bradstreet ensures her poem’s success by linking the triumph and tragedy of authorship with the pain and pleasure of creating and nurturing human life. The meter used is

“From the sphere of my own experience I can bring to my recollection three persons of no every-day powers and acquirements, who had read the poems of others with more and more unallayed pleasure, and had thought more highly of their authors, as poets; who yet have confessed to me, that from no modern work had so many passages started up anew in their minds at different times, and as different occasions had awakened a meditative mood.” (2) (paragraph 31).

Bradstreet wanted her poetry to remain private. She accepted her poetry unconditionally, like a mother accepts her child, because if she tried to correct the poem's flaws more flaws appeared. A distinct expression of Bradstreet true love to her

Veering from the egocentric poems of the Romantic era, Victorian poets began to write poetry not only to express the feelings of an “I,” but also to inspire change in the collective “we.” Being from a historical period with a dramatic class divide, Victorian poets wrote with the intention of crafting beautiful lasting poetry as well as articulating a need for cultural reform in their now. One of the most renowned Victorian poets, Elizabeth Barrett Browning possessed the expert skill of integrating not only imagery and precise rhyme scheme into her poetry, but afflicting her readers with a sense of pity so paramount they had no choice but to make a change.

Stafford furtively conceals the profound meaning of his poem behind a story of the narrator, who stops alongside the road to care for a deer. The genius behind poem is better understood when the superficial meaning is expressed deeply.