This poem, we are seven, tells the story of a man talking to a young girl about her family and how many siblings she has. Even though two of her siblings are dead, and only four are alive, she insists that she and her brothers and sisters "are seven" in total. The man, however, thinks that they are only five. He thinks that the dead siblings don't count and that she should only count the family members that are physically there. Throughout the writing and the dialogue in this poem, we can clearly understand that the little girl and the man think about death entirely differently. The girl believes that when people die, they are still apart of the family and life that they once lived and then left behind. She thinks that although her siblings …show more content…
In these 2 specific stanzas I think there is a lot of interesting imagery that really shines through and it also shows the extreme difference in the way the girl thinks about death and the way the man thinks about death. The girl speaks of her siblings as if they are still with her. The little girl says that "she dwells near them with my mother" at their cottage. She is explaining her sibling’s state in a more matter-of-fact language. That she does this and that she is with them. Also in this part of the poem, the little girl describes heir burial with the word "dwell" which suggests sleeping rather than actually being dead. The little girl also uses imagery to explain the reality of her two deceased siblings. She tells the man, "their graves are green." This detail of color imagery makes it more real to the girl. By sharing this detail it shows that these graves mean something to her, they are not just where her siblings lie dead but where they are currently residing. She also mentions to the man the activities she does when she is "with" them: knitting, sewing, eating and playing. By saying that she does these activities “with” them, it really shows how she thinks of her siblings continuing to be with
When she first begins the poem, the sense of sorrow is present. The author speaks of what her brother has done wrong, but she does so with an attitude that shows she does not care about those actions. She speaks like this until the near end, where she openly expresses her endearment for her brother and sheds a more positive outlook onto him. The last stanza demonstrates that, as a person who has made poor decisions, he was a caring brother until the end. It also shows how, regardless of what others think, she will always view him in her own way.
Jane Addams was a feminist, social worker, author, famous activist, and leader of the women's suffrage movement. She believed that before women’s suffrage that their voices should be heard in legislation and therefore should have the right to vote. She strongly believed that women should generate aspirations and search out opportunities to find them. She also cared for all kinds of people. Jane Addams and her college friend Ellen Starr moved into a old mansion in an immigrant neighborhood in Chicago, 1889. Which then became the Hull House. She responded to the needs of the community by establishing a nursery, dispensary, kindergarten, playground, gymnasium, and cooperative housing. This attracted many reformers dedicated to social service. She and other
There are many famous Hispanic Americans, in our world today. These first two are from Mexico. Mario Molina (1943) is a chemist who discover the danger uses of Chlorofluorocarbons. His work with Rowland helped with banning the use of CFC. All the other Hispanic Americans scientist are astronaut. Rudolfo Anaya (1937) is an author from Mexico. He was known for his novels that where published in the 1970s. He wrote many stories and books. He won a Pen-west fiction award. Comparing to other Hispanic authors he just like Castillo considered a Chicano American writer (The Hispanic American). Benicio del Toro (1996) is an actor from Puerto Rico. He was the first Hispanic American to win An Oscar, Comparing to other actors like Jose Vicente who also
They begin with saying “I can’t see my own arms and legs / or know if this is a trap or blessing, / finding myself back here, where everything / in this house has long been over,” (22-25). The speaker is questioning why they are in this illusion, this time of grief and are questioning whether it is a trap or blessing. This is answered in the later line “as I sit at this morning table alone and happy,” (30). The speaker at this point comes to term with their loss, most likely the loss of their family, and are happy. The last lines of the poem are very interesting, as they present the speaker to be a sort of ghost, “holding my cindery, non-existent, / radiant flesh.
For example, “with blocks of ice on her feet”. The scenario in the poem is very serious it is filled with sorrow and vulnerability. All 3 people fail to tell one another that they are dying it symbolizes the way people tend to stand back and watch while they should be intruding. The poem is an allegory all the characters have a meaning. The deeper meaning of this poem is how everyone has troubles.
As Engle notes, “In the true way of a warrior, the speaker, in stanza 2, looks her own death in the eye and thereby not only escapes its hold over her, but also achieves that “edge” or tension in perspective essential to living one’s life fully and in the moment. Her attention is squarely upon “Him,” as they ride together in his carriage, and she exhibits no fear.” Whether you believe that the speaker is dead at the end of the poem, or that she has escaped the clutches of Death, this is an important element of this deeply layered poem. I believe that Engle downplays this and writes it off as the speaker being a “friend of death.” I find the speaker to be very anxious and perhaps even very afraid of her demise. Perhaps she hasn’t accomplished all she wanted to do in her
This is significant because it emphasizes the melancholy and mournfulness that he depicts with imagery in the first stanza. Later on in the second stanza, he author describes the tree the narrator would have planted as a “green sapling rising among the twisted apple boughs”. The author uses visual color imagery of the color green to describe the sapling in order to emphasize just how young the newborn was when he died. Later on in the poem, the narrator speaks of himself and his brothers kneeling in front of the newly plated tree. The fact that they are kneeling represents respect for the deceased. When the narrator mentions that the weather is cold it is a reference back to the first stanza when he says “of an old year coming to an end”. Later on in the third stanza the author writes “all that remains above earth of a first born son” which means that the deceased child has been buried. They also compare the child to the size of “a few stray atoms” to emphasize that he was an infant. All of these symbols and comparisons to are significant because they are tied to the central assertion of remembrance and honoring of the dead with the family and rebirth.
The last line in the poem “and since they were not the ones dead, turned to their own affairs” lacks the emotions the reader would expect a person to feel after a death of a close family member. But instead, it carries a neutral tone which implies that death doesn’t even matter anymore because it happened too often that the value of life became really low, these people are too poor so in order to survive, they must move on so that their lives can continue. A horrible sensory image was presented in the poem when the “saw leaped out at the boy’s hand” and is continued throughout the poem when “the boy’s first outcry was a rueful laugh…the hand was gone already…and that ended it”, this shows emphasis to the numbness the child felt. The poem continues with the same cold tone without any expression of emotion or feelings included except for pain, which emphasizes the lack of sympathy given. Not only did the death of this child placed no effect on anyone in the society but he was also immediately forgotten as he has left nothing special enough behind for people to remember him, so “since they were not the one dead, turned to their affairs”. This proves that life still carries on the same way whether he is present or not, as he is insignificant and that his death
"[One] can outlast death not in a divine after life but only in a human one. If the poet dies or forgets his beloved, he murders her" (Ramazani 131); Thomas Hardy's belief of the "poet's duty of remembrance" establishes the basis for his, "Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?". "[Fearing] he abandoned his own wife before her death," Hardy wrote the poem to assume "the memorial responsibilities of the poet" (Ramazani 131). Whereas Hardy tries to atone for his sins "by continually grieving over his dead wife", the fuel behind William Wordsworth's "We Are Seven," is a question of being and existence (Trilling 57). This question stems from the fact "that nothing
The second poem is “Home Burial”, by Robert Frost. The poem is about a couple, Amy and her husband, losing their son causing Amy to go through emotional turmoil. Amy is trying to avoid the situation by trying to leave, but her husband is trying to pull her back, so he can figure out what’s wrong with her and as the poem continues the drama increases. The topic of the poem is sadness, which ties into the theme of Amy and her husband’s relationship is on the rock. The theme in this poem is that everyone goes through sadness, but bottling it up doesn’t help the situation. This is due to the death of their son and as the story continues the husband is trying to understand, why Amy is acting the way she is but she receives the message as rude and offensive. Most of the tension is coming from the graveyard, which resigns on their lot that contains their relatives and son. In lines 1-2, it expresses my theme because it has both
The poem is a reflection from the point of view of a woman who has already been deceased for “centuries” (21), and recalls death as nothing short of gentlemanly, taking her from a life so busy, she “could not [even] stop” (1-2) to die. Her perspective as someone so familiar with existence beyond the grave, and so distanced from whatever vivid emotions and memories might have given life greater appeal, leads to a favorable representation of death. Imagery also supports this almost romantic portrayal, as she recalls the fine garments of luxurious “gossamer [and]… tulle” (15-16) she wore while passing the peaceful
She is so naïve and adolescent that she leaves her worldly activities and gets ready to go out and spend time with her boyfriend. She gives him her possessions: her “labor” and “leisure” too (l. 7) for his politeness.
The concept of mortality is often portrayed in a negative manner by many. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, life is created by man in order to escape and cheat inevitable death. In the poem We Are Seven by William Wordsworth, death is portrayed in two different ways. Through the eyes of an innocent, life and death are described beautifully and is embraced. While in the other hand death is seen as a finality of life.
The reader could come to the conclusion that death is a suitor gently taking the narrator to her grave, which is described as a house in the 5th stanza. There are several quotes in this poem that prove this statement to be true. The most prominent is found in the first
In the poem, the little girl says, “Two of us in the church-yard lie, / My sister and my brother; (Lines 21-22).” Insisting that they are still seven, the young girl shows a lot of grace and mature understanding. This is the majority of the poem because the narrator thinks it is most important that the young girl understands she has still has five siblings, despite two of them have passed and, “their graves are green, they may be seen (Line 37).” The girl is only eight years of age and she understands that her deceased siblings are still her siblings even though they are not still living. Making sure she understands she still has five siblings is exactly what the narrator’s goal is, but the narrator is pretending to believe they are only five. The narrator reinforces his “belief” in lines 35-36: “If two are in the church-yard laid,/ Then ye are only five.” The conversation resurfaces later in the poem, in lines 61-64: “How many are you, then, said I,/ If they two are in heaven?/ Quick was the little Maid’s reply,/ O Master! We are seven.” No matter what is said by the narrator, the eight year old girl insists that they are seven. Two siblings being dead is the most reinforced because the narrator and the little girl know that her siblings at Conway or at sea are anticipated to return home sometime. The other two, the deceased two, will never return home.