'Toads' and 'Toads Revisited' Comparison (Philip Larkin)

Prompt 2: “The Poem You Asked For” In “The Poem You Asked For” by Larry Levis, he is comparing writing a poem by comparing it to a plant, stubborn person, and toad. Larry Levis, a 20th-century writer is well known for his brevity and surprise approach in poetry. This poem magnifies the complications that authors may face while trying to write something of such importance. The speaker uses an abundant amount of figurative language to personify how writing is so difficult, and can lead to many difficulties and dead ends. The author uses figurative language to portray the theme of difficulties in the writing process such as: difficulties prewriting, writers block, and how hard it is to let go of writing as an author.

Herman Melville’s short story, “Bartleby, the Scrivener” was written in the mid-nineteenth century, during a time when economic revolutions swept across Europe and class riots erupted in New York. Inspired by this environment, Melville depicts the working class as laborers struggling to survive the game of life and achieve their goals. The working class possesses a very hectic and repetitive life that often leads to unhappiness. This is demonstrated in the office where Bartleby and his coworkers, Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger Nut work. They all exhibit signs of depression, they all appear easily bothered, and they all possess an odd and unique quality. The context of the story and the environment in which it was written encourages an analysis from the lens

The use of simile in the last stanza ‘matchstick hands as pale as the violet stems they lived among’ is used to compare a frog to violet flowers, which are very delicate and easily broken. The innocence of childhood is painted through this visual technique as the narrator only sees the frogs being very delicate, but to the readers the simile also creates a vivid image of the condition of the ‘Frogs’/ the French. The use of first person helps to create a reminiscent tone about the narrator’s experiences, and further helps to stress the ideas of childhood innocence and the influence of war on children because the poem is written from a child’s perspective. The use of enjambment generates a conversational and personal tone, emphasizing to the readers the reality of the themes discussed throughout the poem. The use of symbolism of frogs as pets and also representing the French highlights the idea that adults saw ‘Frogs’ as insignificant or unworthy to speak about, whereas the children could not understand this adult thought, and they placed exemplary regard to the wellbeing of the

Robert Frost and William Shakespeare have been celebrated by many people because of their ability to express themselves through the written word. Here we are years after their deaths analyzing these fascinating poems about life and death. It’s clear they had similar thoughts about this subject at the time of these writings, even though their characters could not have been more opposite. For both poets, life is too

The Recurring Theme of Death in the Poetry of Philip Larkin. In reading the poetry of Philip Larkin for the first time, one is struck by the characteristically glum atmosphere that pervades most of his poems. The vast majority of his verse is devoted to what is generally taken to be negative aspects of

“My charming work was just my life with Miles and Flora, and through nothing could I so like it as through feeling that I could throw myself into it in trouble. The attraction of my small charges was a constant joy, leading me to wonder afresh at the vanity of my original fears, the distaste I had begun by entertaining for the probable grey prose of my office. There was to be no grey prose, it appeared, and no long grind; so how could work not be charming that presented itself as daily beauty? It was all the romance of the nursery and the poetry of the schoolroom. I don’t mean by this, of course, that we studied only fiction and verse; I mean I can express no otherwise the sort of interest my companions inspired.”

To some, Billy Collins’ The Rain in Portugal may seem to be a collection of random poems that have no correlation. At first sight, an individual may be confused while skimming through this book as to what the poems mean and how they all piece together. The poems in The Rain in Portugal all have one aspect in common; there is no rhyme scheme. Not a single poem rhymes with the next, let alone within itself. By doing this, Collins breaks the normality of basic poem writing—lines having to rhyme with one another—and explores his own take on free verse writing, which leaves the audience to form their own interpretation of the work. Majority of the poems within the book correlate with the speaker either reminiscing back in time, getting lost in the thought of the present, or predicting events of the future, which somehow include his reoccurring feeling of loneliness. Though this book has three different sections, each with its own collection of poems, the theme of loneliness is inserted within each section with one or two poems solely focusing on this topic. As a whole, this book provokes the audience to think and examine more in depth what Collins is attempting to portray through his seemingly simplistic writing.

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.

The metaphor transfers the journey from a physical one. The persona is confronted with the choice of two roads, both fairly similar ‘two roads diverged in a yellow wood’, and must decide which one he wants to travel. This is similar to Lewis’s situation where he has to decide between politics, and true love and fidelity and which is more important. The persona, with ultimately choosing the one that was ‘grassy and wanted wear’ and the ‘ one less travelled by’. He wanted to break away from the norm and experience something new. This road may be more rewarding despite the fact it presents more challenges. The inner journey is depicted through the use of language techniques such as, extended metaphor, first person pronoun, repetition and symbolism.

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

“People forget. We are here to act. We are here to deliver results. We are agents of change. Our job is to change the United Nation- and, through it, the world.” -Secretary-General Ban-moon. In this essay, I am going to talk about a poem called, “The Secretary’s Chant” by Marge

The Structure, style and poetic techniques of a poem contribute greatly to the development of the central idea of a poem. Three poems with central ideas that stood out to me were ‘The Darkling Thrush’ by Thomas Hardy, ‘Days’ by Philip Larkin, and ‘Remembrance’ by Emily Brontë. The central idea of each of these poems revolve around the idea of time and change. Firstly, I will discuss how in ‘The Darkling Thrush’ the simple and traditional structure, the bleak yet straightforward style and techniques such as vivid imagery and capitalisation combine to develop the central idea of change. The same can be said for the simple structure and style used in ‘Days’ which combine with poetic techniques such as metaphors to develop Larkin’s argument against time and change. Finally I will discuss how the idea of time is developed through techniques such as vivid imagery and symbolism in ‘Remembrance’ along with changing styles and a slow, consistent rhythm.

“Piano” and “Snake” in D.H Lawrence’s representations express an inner conflict; the troubles they face are based upon distinct and similar reasons, they want an escape to their present state. “Piano” and “Snake” in D.H Lawrence’s representations express an inner conflict; the troubles they face are for distinct and similar reasons; they want an escape to their present state. The interpretation received when analyzing “Piano” was that the narrator himself was having a troublesome time because he aspired something that was nostalgically unreachable for him, his childhood. What caused this inclination to be unreachable was due to the time passing which resulted in him becoming an adult and conforming to the constitutional systems. Snake’s narrator’s inner distress came from the need to break down the structural voices and principles that educational systems had constructed upon him. Both narrators have heavily built up emotions for the want of liberation from the prisons that confine them to the structures meant for them; their desires although differing in context are similar in topic matter. There are in fact differences in what they long for, but there is no doubt that they do desire something different from what they presently have.

In the next stanza, he starts to compare his life to other’s. He mentions how he heard that one man “walked out on the whole crowd”, and this leaves him feeling uncomfortable. It is not normal for someone to go against the majority, and Larkin acknowledges that. However, the author later says “Surely I can, if he did?”. Now we know that the anxious feeling Larkin had was actually restlessness, and maybe jealousy too. He wants to defy the norm, and do things his own way, yet something is holding him back. He knows that he could do it if he tried, but he fails to take action. Perhaps, just the reassuring thought of “I am capable of doing my own thing” is enough for him; just like how we

The sixth and final local metaphorical construction to be explored can be found in line twenty nine, “Suns have worn him, like an old sun-tool”. Instead of just using animals the poets makes use of nature to help portray the image of the old thatcher. The thatcher (tenor) has spent many a year thatching roofs under the heat of the sun, and has become tanned and rusty like his tools. There are ample metaphorical constructions to be explored in this poem; however, these six constructions are adequate in giving a clear description of the old thatcher and his way of life, thus proving how figurative language does contribute to the understanding of