The poems “Oh Looking up by Chance at the Constellations” by Robert Frost and “When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer” by Walt Whitman have many similarities and differences in their themes and structures. Frost’s and Whitman’s poems are written in free verse which means that there is no defined pattern or rhyme within the poems. The major difference between the poems structure is the use of end stop and enjambment within the poems. Frost’s poem uses both enjambment and end stop throughout the poem. For example, “The sun and moon get crossed, but they never touch,
Nor strike out fire from each other nor crash out loud.” (5-6). Whitman’s poem uses mostly enjambment until the very end of the poem which is the only line of the poem with uses end
The poem also uses end rhyme to add a certain rhythm to the poem as a whole. And the scheme he employs: aabbc, aabd, aabbad. End rhyme, in this poem, serves to effectively pull the reader through to the end of the poem. By pairing it with lines restricted to eight syllables. The narrator creates an almost nursery-rhyme like rhythm. In his third stanza however, his last line, cutting short of eight syllables, stands with an emphatic four syllables. Again, in the last stanza, he utilizes the same technique for the last line of the poem. The narrator’s awareness of rhyme and syllable structure provides the perfect bone structure for his poem’s rhythm.
What are the rhythm patterns that Frost uses in the poem (include the scansion and technical methods: alliteration, assonance, and consonance)? Frost uses both masculine rhyme and end rhyme. The masculine rhyme is the rhyming sounds that contain only one syllable such as wood, stood, and should. The end rhyme pattern that Frost uses is, A, B, A, A, B C, D, C, C, D E, F, E, E, F and G, H, G, G, H. (Arp & Johnson, 2009). There are lines of this poem that show the alliteration method, two examples are found in line 6-“then took the”, and line 8- “wanted wear” Assonance also
The fact that enjambment is used throughout the poem such as in the lines, “like a colour slide or press an ear against its hive” portrays a lack of structure and therefore emphasizes the initial enjoyment one feels when reading a poem before the chore of analyzing it begins. This is also emphasized through the fact that the poem is a free verse poem.
Aside from the connections and similarities both of these poems are actually quite different. In Cummings’ poem the time cycle such as, “spring summer autumn winter” (3). Has the effect that time goes by quickly and the little things almost are insignificant. Also in Cummings’ poem he had mentioned how children grew to forget, allowing for such interpretations like, once one grows up they loose who they once were. Where in Frost’s poem time slows down to make a choice that will alter one’s life. When he is deciding between the roads he has time to ponder and question his move having each movement being significant rather than insignificant. Also in Frost’s poem it is safe to assume that when making a choice one will use the knowledge and experiences they had as a child to make choices in the future allowing the reader to understand that one doesn’t simply loose who they once were, but one changes who they become through the choices they make.
As the speaker sits in an auditorium, they observe the lecturer’s many notes, “When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me, / When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,” (lines 2-3). This line provides strong visual imagery of complex investigations in astronomy, and a reader can easily imagine a full lecture room with endless notes and charts which aids in providing the mind-numbing mood of the experience. Moreover, the repetitions of what are essentially synonyms in this context make these lines sound like the rambles of the astronomer, contributing to the tone. As the speaker tires of the lecture, he leaves the room and “In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, / Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars” (lines 8-9). Here Whitman again employs imagery to make the night seem appealing and
The two poems “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “Acquainted with the Night” written by Robert Frost are very similar to each other because of the simplistic form of language used and the uses of metaphors. When we first read the poem, it looks like an ordinary poem but once we go in depth and understand the meaning, it becomes so much more. Both of the poem has a very dark, gloomy and lonely setting with a really mysterious tone. There are different metaphors used in each poem to symbolize death; “Sleep” in “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “Night” in “Acquainted with the Night.” The characters in the two poem are both in a journey and has come
Both poems are five stanzas in length, but Dickenson's stanzas are five lines each. Frost's are three lines each. The shorter poem is more lighthearted in tone. Dickenson's poem includes lines of either six or eight syllables each; Frost's are usually ten syllables in each line. Dickenson's metric structure conveys a greater sense of anxiety than does Frost's. Her frequent use of hyphenations suggests that the speaker is not saying everything on her mind. Dickenson embeds pauses in the poem at moments that are purposeful, and yet uncomfortable. Frost's poem is more lighthearted. Frost starts several lines with the same word: the first three lines all start with "I." Dickenson does not start any two lines with the same word. The only time Frost uses hyphenation is in the first stanza, and the effect is different from Dickenson's because the speaker simply states, "I have
There are lots of things in the poems that are similar and different both of the writers are different and similar in many ways .In the poem’s “When You Are Old” By W.B Yeats, and “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” By Dylan Thomas.They have a bunch of similarities and differences.For example in each of the poems the theme of the poems are death and the narrator’s message in the rhyming pattern poems are both similar in the poems ,and the writing style of the poems are rhyme schemes and therefore they use different rhyme scheme in each of the poems.
There are several likenesses and differences in these poems. They each have their own meaning; each represent a separate thing and each tell a different story. However, they are all indicative of Frost’s love of the outdoors, his true enjoyment of nature and his wistfulness at growing old. He seems to look back at youth with a sad longing.
Robert Frost’s poem “Out, Out –“ is about a boy who has his arm sawed off during work and asks his sister not to let the doctor amputate his arm, he then realizes he’s lost too much blood and then dies while doctors try to save him. After his death everyone else continues on with their work and lives. Frost uses a lot of end-stopped lines, enjambment, repetition and personification among others in his lines of poetry.
In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by
On the surface of Planet 7 Plato once stated "Astronomy compels the soul to look upward, and leads us from this world to another". In the short story written by Ray Bradbury, astronomy is not the only reason men have to explore other worlds. Here There Be Tygers relates the story of a group of astronauts who are embarked in a utopian adventure traveling across the universe in search of profitable planets to exploit. The spacemen are mesmerized by the extraordinary beauty and lush green valleys that surround Planet 7 of Start 84. Subsequent to their arrival, they discover the planet is like no other planet.
The poem “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” by Walk Whitman is a short poem
Along with the use of metaphors, the form of the poem plays an important role in uncovering the views of Whitman. First and foremost, this poem was written in free verse which is a form of poetry that lacks structure. The free verse stucture of the poem is shown in the lack of form in the stanzas of the poem. Some stanzas are six lines long while others are only one, and the lines can be either concise or drawn out. The poem also lacks any apparent rhyming scheme or rhythm. Unlike Shakespearean poetry, where the foot of the poem stays the same, the lack of any apparent structure to the poem leaves the reader unable to predict what is coming next. In addition to this, at the time this poem was written, free verse was not common. In fact, Whitman may have been one of the first poets to use this form, showing that he may have been rebelling against the predominant structured form in poetry. The lack of any apparent structure guides the reader towards the conclusion that Whitman did not like structure in poetry, and can even be
The elegy is written in free verse; it does not rhyme or have any regular meter, not employing a consistent pattern. The poem has no structure and is free throughout, which emanates Whitman’s attitude throughout the elegy: the embracement of death. One technique he uses the most is repeating the word “O”, for an example: