Poetry Explication Essay

“Hands” by Sarah Kay: Explication Spoken word poetry is meant to be performed, not simply just read from paper. Spoken word conforms and defies the standards of traditional poetry simultaneously: the same rhetoric devices can be found, but there is much more creative space for the speaker because of the lack of a strict form (Olson). Sarah Kay’s spoken word poem “Hands” is about the significance hands hold in our lives. Kay’s main theme in this poem is that our hands have been put here to create

Clara Kirkpatrick Mr. Woods English 102 CHA 8 November 2010 The Road Not Taken The poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost describes the dilemma in decision making, generally in life each individual has countless decisions to make and those decisions lead to new challenges, dilemmas and opportunities. In Frost’s poem, the careful traveler observes the differences of each path, one is bent and covered in undergrowth (Frost 5) and the other is grassy and unworn (Frost 8). In the end he knows

Poetry Explication In the poem “For That He Looked Not upon Her,” by George Gascoigne, the speaker is tormented by the feelings that he still has for his lover. Gascoigne reveals the speaker’s sorrow and complexity of emotions through the structure of an English sonnet, visual imagery and dejected diction. “For That He Looked Not upon Her” is written in the form of an English sonnet which helps to illustrate the speaker’s desperation in a conversational tone. The first quatrain develops an idea

Explication of “I am a Rock” The poem titled “I am a Rock” by Paul Simon is about a person who is very depressed and alone. The person in the poem is telling the readers why he wants to be alone. He wishes feel no sadness or pain. The author speaks of living in his room, and looking outside to the gloom of a dreary December. He tries to convince himself that he is "a rock, an island" and he does not have to feel anything, anymore. The poem “I am a Rock” uses numerous literary

“Do not go gentle into that good night” Poetry Explication Using a father as his subject, Dylan Thomas utilizes the repetition of the phrase, “Do not go gentle into that good night” to accentuate the father’s weakening. The speaker, the son, dramatizes his father’s “old age...burn and rave” at close of day, to address his father’s “dying of the light.” Thomas’ last line, “dying of the light,” underlines the sentiment that people “die out” or weaken as they grow older. As the poem progresses, the

An Explication of Emily Dickinson's "Loaded Gun" Emily Dickinson's poem "My Life had stood-a Loaded Gun-" is a powerful statement of the speaker's choice to forego the accepted roles of her time and embrace a taboo existence, a life open only to men. The speaker does so wholeheartedly and without reservation, with any and all necessary force, exulting in her decision. She speaks with great power and passion, tolerating no interference, and wills herself to maintain this choice for her

Mariah Burkhardt Laura Kjosen LIT 255: Children 's Literature 14 September 2015 Poem Explication: Shel Silverstien on “Where the Sidewalk Ends” Sheldon (Shel) Silverstien was an American poet, children 's book author, cartoonist, and so much more. His books alone have sold over 20 million copies as of September 10th 2015. “Where the Sidewalk Ends” (published in 1974 as a children 's poetry collection) is the book I have chosen to analyze some his works. I chose the actual poem “Where the Sidewalk

Poem Explication Poetry is one of the oldest arts. Poems come in many forms from songs, ballads, and epics, to haikus. Many poets use elements like similes, metaphors, personification, rhymes, and imagery to get their themes or meanings across to the reader. In the poem “Schizophrenia”, Jim Stevens uses personification of the house to give the poem its overall meaning. Personification and symbolism are the most important poetic elements to “Schizophrenia” because they are used to describe how the

Explication of William Blakes Poem London William Blake’s poem “London” takes a complex look at life in London, England during the late seventeen hundreds into the early eighteen hundreds as he lived and experienced it. Blake’s use of ambiguous and double meaning words makes this poem both complex and interesting. Through the following explication I will unravel these complexities to show how this is an interesting poem. To better understand this poem some history about London during the

STUDENT NAME PROFESSOR CLASS DATE We Real Cool: Poetry Explication “We Real Cool” is a poem written by Gwendolyn Brooks in 1959, and published in her book The Bean Eaters (We Real Cool, pg 1). A simple and light poem, “We Real Cool” is vague enough to allow readers to visualize their own characters and setting, but specific enough to keep a consistent rebellious image. Brook’s attitude toward the characters is undecided, as the tone is neither tragic nor victorious, but more