... "frozen grass" and "frosted breath," explains further the pain of her state. And in the second stanza, the imagery of coldness is related to "The sculptured dead, on each side, seem to freeze" as the whole setting of the coldness symbolizes paleness and death. This is a contrast to the state of experience that Phorphyro will bring as he has a heart on fire for Madeline "Had come young Phorphyro ... , with heart on fire for Madeline" (stanza 9) which means ... that his warmth will later on melt Madeline's chastity-freezing soul. And in stanza 11 Phorphyro "stood, hid from the torch's fla...

• Word Count: 620
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... touches turning into gold, granted he felt powerful and delighted, "like a king on a burnished throne". This didn't last long, for the couple realised that his new ability meant they were unable to touch and/or be intimate with one another, which completely changed their relationship as ... the rest of the poem. Medusa is bitter and angry throughout most of the poem, shown through Duffy's use of metaphors and alliteration, however at the end Medusa seems to show weakness and almost loses her impression as a maniacal, menacing woman overreacting to suspicions. Medusa says tha...

• Word Count: 1489
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... it as a circus act. In the last two stanzas we can see the conflict between the jaguar and the bars that keep it from its real home, and despite the fact that it is physically in a cage; it is not in one mentally. The "bang of blood in the brain deaf the ear" is alliteration, and its sound represents the heart pumping in the jaguar's ears, he is very ... focused, ignoring the sounds coming from the observers and listening ... to the wildness in its blood. "There's no cage to him", his spirit is no more restrained ... ...

• Word Count: 618
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... uses an extended metaphor combined with the narrative structure from the poem to explicate a different interpretation of the horse. The lantern could be a representation of a body that has ultimately lost its radiance – or its essence in terms of life. The frail buggy, is the weak, dying body with the "heavy horse" (3) demonstrating the stress, and the struggle the heart goes through to keep a person ... alive. With these symbols in place, the man could have been a ... manifestation of Death – or more likely a servant, since "the man himself had [someone] to obey." ( ... ...

• Word Count: 943
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... this beautiful woman's sparkling eyes. The last stanza describes that of a "phoenix [building] her spicy nest" (line 18) and eventually finding a home in the woman's "fragrant bosom [where it] dies" (line 20). The phoenix could be taken literally as a phoenix, like the other objects of comparison, or it could be taken figuratively to mean a heart or fiery love and passion. In ... either case, the significance of the phoenix is that when it dies, it is born again ... from within its own ashes. This follows the theme of preserving nature's beauty and that ... ...

• Word Count: 1528
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... Nature presents are unnoticed and unappreciated. Wordsworth's use of irony and allusion further enhances a feeling of despair. For example, the poet's message is conveyed with the paradox, "We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!" As we cannot live without a heart, the poet has been able to effectively deliver the message, that by destroying nature, mankind is destroying their very own existence ... . The "sordid boon" we have "given are hearts" is the materialistic progress of mankind. Humanity has become self-absorbed and can ... no longer think clearly. Furthermore, the narrator...

• Word Count: 1163
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... in a war, no matter for what cause, can be both painful and full of suffering, while Rupert Brooke on the other hand, uses language in The Soldier, to give the reader the impression that dying in war for one's country, is very honourable, and glorious. As both poets have different opinions about ... , he only has three sentences over fourteen lines, and he uses a sentence such as, "And think, this heart, all evil shed away, a pulse in the eternal mind, no less gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; and laughter, learnt of frien...

• Word Count: 1482
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... pastoral poems particularly, it is clear that the artificial aspects are more obvious than the natural ones. However, there is still the ability to argue the poem's natural form. The collection consists of four poems including, "The Mower Against Gardens," "Damon the Mower," "The Mower to the Glow-worms," and, "The Mower's song." This is the order that is printed in the posthumous collected editions of Marvell's poems (1681 ... written by rich nobles and aristocrats who nearly always give an idealized view of the pastoral world rather than a realistic one. The last poem, "The Mower's So...

• Word Count: 1808
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... satire, showing us a society obsessed with superficial splendour, class and social status. The inclusion of the sylphs allows Pope to critique the situation whilst the supernatural quality still keeps the story in the realms of fantasy. When Pope speaks in Canto II of the roles of the sylphs, the juxtaposition of guardians of the "British Throne" with the idea that certain sylphs exist "To change a flounce, or add a furbelow" ... when we are surrounded by such heavenly creatures? We cannot help but read the poem lightly, influenced as it were by the mood of the magical, tiny sylphs, but ...

• Word Count: 2068
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... written in a different form, the religious sonnet, "batter my heart" also depicts these same techniques as in "the sunne rising". The religious poetry is characterised by the presence of a very personal voice creating immediacy and drama that captures the inner struggle between the physical and spiritual. His unique manipulation of the sonnet form in batter my heart my heart allows the striking change of tone and creates the effect of natural speech ... . The use of apostrophe and dramatic statements add to this ... ...

• Word Count: 937
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... here" (46) with nothing left. Lady's beauty influences the knight to an extent, where the knight already believes that "she did love"(19) him, which misinterpretation furthers the extent to which the knight's heart is crushed. Keats' emphasis on the last lines brings the reader to the beginning of the poem, when "the sedge is withered from the Lake and no birds sing" (47-48) and ... these last three stressed syllables sound like the last hit of the drum in a song, thus establishing a strong and definite finale ... ...

• Word Count: 1034
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... in poetry, artwork and literature. The Romantics turned to the poet before the scientist to harbor their convictions. They symbolize what Romanticism stood for. His character expressed feelings from the heart and gave way to a new trend of expressing emotions through individuality as opposed to collectivism. The perception that the Enlightenment was destroying the natural human soul and substituting it with the mechanical, artificial heart was becoming prevalent across Europe ... . The Lyrical Ballads, published in 1798, was a series of poems that examined ... ...

• Word Count: 620
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... ,"" and when read one is likely to make a mistake in the line, due to the complicated word order and diphthong in "thousand,"" as well as the alliteration. In the next line of the quatrain, the persona declares his love for his lady, but in a heartless fashion-- "But t is my heart that loves what they [his eyes] despise."" The final line-- "Who, in despite of view, is pleased to ... dote- has a pun on the word "view,"" which sounds similar to "you."" The persona is saying that despite what ... his common sense nor his five senses can persuade him from "serving- her; "serving- can either...

• Word Count: 692
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... groups, alone in races, even alone in genders." – Maya Angelou. Now imagine a scenario where one man is isolated from the rest of society, having to accomplish all his daily tasks by himself. Slip into this man's shoes and wonder how it would feel ... one can see that Angelou's uses of references are actually very strong and hits the heart. These two lines are an irregular use of diction, suggesting that this person's soul is lost. The protagonist's life could potentially be upside-down and she is stuck in an alternate ... Angelou's words are: "There are some millionaires with money ...

• Word Count: 1766
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... constitutes femininity and masculinity, and how we ought to view the gray areas of gender roles-questions which the speaker grapples with in coming to terms with homosexual feelings, as evidenced by the resignation in the poem following the volta. However, the true heart of the poem lies in the curiosity of its meter, which suffers like our subject with the constraining repercussions of excess. It is written like all ... of Shakespeare's work in iambic pentameter, but to each line is added a single syllable-a weak or feminine ending. This emphasizes the femininity of the subject, highli...

• Word Count: 1124
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... for him his heart gave way" is ambiguous as it describes how he really died, the cold water, and his spiritual death: the people were just "too cold" and unfeeling towards him that his heart died. The short last line "They said" shows a contrast as the poet disagrees with the people's opinion of the man this makes the rest of the verse seem patronising, as the people so obviously ... do not understand. The last verse is purely the emotional isolation of the poet who has ... abandoned hiding behind the persona and shows that she understands how the dead man felt as ... ...

• Word Count: 893
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... " it's sandpaper hands on my head on my head on my heart my naked body sanding my eyeballs" the influence of spirituality seems to engulf the persona as the sandpaper hands are affecting the all the vital body parts: his eyes "sanding my eye balls" meaning the spirituality has an influence on his perception of the world around him, his head meaning it has an influence on his ... thoughts and also an influence on the feeling and emotions that come from his heart. The influence of spirituality on the person's life seemed to enrich it " I may never reach out to touch again as gentle". The ...

• Word Count: 709
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... in diction and imagery in each poem. In both poems, the nurses express their own thoughts and feelings before they call out to the children. In the "Nurse's Song" from Songs of Innocence, "the voices of children" (Line 1) is described laughter "heard on the hill" (Line 2), and it set the nurse's heart "at rest" (Line 3) where "everything else ... is still" (Line 4). On the other hand, however, the other nurse does not hear laughter but ... each poem is in absolute contrast with each other; while the children in Songs of Innocence is visible and more open on the hill, the children in So...

• Word Count: 1939
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... stanza,rhymed abab, the poet criticises Science for being a "true daughter of Old Time" and for changing everything with its "peering eyes". He says daughter probably because Science is feminine in Latin (Scientia) and it has peering eyes because searchs a logical explanation to everything.Also he asks why him,why his heart is Science's prey and compares Science to a vulture,a strong ... metaphor if we remember that vultures feed on the rests of other animals,which sometimes are still alive.Gives the idea of death approaching poetry. The second stanza,rhymed bcbc, questions how the poet...

• Word Count: 294
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... of Rosetti's poetry- that which is a joyful celebration of life and love without any sense of pessimism. The positive feeling in this poem is conveyed through Rosetti's beautifully extravagant use of language. The first verse refers to all the things which the speaker feels in her heart, and many luxurious images are listed one after another to suggest indescribable joy and happiness. All of them ... appeal to the senses and thoroughly engage the reader. Rhyming couplets are used to give the poem a sense of joyful climax after every two lines ... , and underline the theme that the joy w...

• Word Count: 2526
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... of death' not just because the soot has turned them black, the colour of mourning, but also because the soot will soon kill the child. The rhythm of the last verse becomes quicker and lighter as the sweep describes how his parents 'praise God' that everything is fine, but slows right down as the last line exposes the hypocrisy at the heart of state religion. (The law passed by Parliament in 1788 ... to protect child sweeps had failed to make any difference by the time Blake ... published Songs of Experience in 1794.) Another example of the binary oppositions within the collection of po...

• Word Count: 1564
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... red on the cruel bars" that line demonstrates how the poet has tried escaping numerous times until he harmed himself. The line also exhibits olfactory imagery since it makes the reader almost smell the blood on the bars. In the third stanza Paul Dunbar writes "it is not a carol of joy or glee, but a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core" the line shows ... how the bird is not singing a joyful tune but rather a prayer ... to god that he will be free, this can also be linked to the music genre of the 19th century, the blues, which used to be sung in a sad mellow tune to express...

• Word Count: 692
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... that mankind is jaded by materialism, thus they are destroying nature instead of embracing it. When all these elements are considered, it can be seen that the beauty of the universe has a moral, that is, as we are ! more focused on materialism rather than our religious beliefs, we are becoming heathens, thus we must learn to appreciate our surrounding environment. ... In addition, the poet's message is further conveyed with the paradox, "We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!" As we cannot live without a heart, the poet has been able to effectively deliver the message, that by de...

• Word Count: 707
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... hearing these readings, although different in their approach and understanding of the material, they all carried across the same message to me. This message being that these "rebels" died fighting for something that was so near to their heart; they would sacrifice their lives for it. Upon hearing Phillip Levine's recitation, the true power of Yeats's brilliant diction and truly captivating rhyme scheme literally ... jumped out at me. The way that Levine recites the repetition of words in Easter, 1916, allows one to fully grasp all that Yeats ... as a whole ends up standing out as a powe...

• Word Count: 1069
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... themes. At first the reader may be troubled at what the actual meaning of the poem is. The title of the poem itself may lead the reader to the false conclusion that the central ideas from the poem regard Politics. However to understand the actual ideas and thoughts of "Politics," it is important to take the context into account. The context of the poem was during the Spanish Civil War during the late 1930's ... " works can be closely aligned with Yeats himself. The image of a withered old man is described as "a tattered coat upon a stick" and is a clear negatively portrayed image of an e...

• Word Count: 823
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate