Jason Nichols' poem "Our Generation" was written in early February 2014. Nichols was 14 and in eighth grade at the time he wrote the poem. The title "Our Generation" simply brings in readers to see what the speaker has to say. The poem starts off with heavy critique of today's generation. The meaning is later reversed. The tone changes and the reader can potentially be motivated at the end. This is all due to the speaker's last line of the poem. It is what truly unravels the power of this reverse poem. The fact that an eighth grader at the time wrote this, means that it does not take much to p...

• Word Count: 779
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... and attraction of rhyming serves as the meeting point for the adolescent and mature, at which point the analysis of life and death is able to take place. Rhythm is the beat to the poem. In this case the rhythm sounds like soldiers marching on foot. The steady beat conveys a sense ... / It withers quicker than the rose (Housman 10-12). In addition to the effective use of metaphors, inanimate objects are often personified throughout the poem. The most effective example of personification is the phrase After the earth has stopped the ears (Housman 16). Here Housman is simply describing how ...

• Word Count: 1155
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The livid, frustrated poem, "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath, is about a young woman who is forced to remember the death of her father. In the poem, Plath creates a formerly naive speaker, who adored her father, who passed away and was replaced with someone who possessed the same character traits: the speaker's husband. The absolutely cruel diction used in the poem describes the intense nature of the relationship the speaker had with the one she once loved through use of literary elements, such as imagery, metaphors, hyperboles, and rhyme scheme. Plath's imagery throughout the poem is extremely vivid. ...

• Word Count: 994
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Edgar Allan Poe's "A Dream within a Dream" deals with a man's struggle to find out the meaning of life. This poem seems to be about a man parting from his lover. The poem is in first person narrative and the speaker seems to be the man. The audience is mainly the people reading that poem however, Poe may have targeted a more gothic audience. This poem contains nine couplets and two triplets. For example, the opening stanza of "A Dream within a Dream" starts off with a triplet, and then switches to couplets. The setting of this poem is near the sea. This setting correlates to the anguish that t...

• Word Count: 781
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

In the poem, "After Apple-Picking," by Robert Frost, a man has been picking apples all day on a ladder. Night is going to fall soon and he is tired, so he must leave the field for the day. That morning, he had a vision when he looked at a bunch of grass through a sheet of ice he removed from a drinking trough. He thought it looked like the world was melting. He then dropped a thin piece of ice. As he recalls the vision, he is falling asleep. In his dreams that night he will dream of apples. He feels annoyed with the apples needing harvesting, because he has to be careful with them, and making ...

• Word Count: 865
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The use of imagery and figurative language in poetry can be used to add complexity and depth to the plot and overall tone of a poem. Often times an author will incorporate poetic devices in order to stimulate the senses of the reader in a nuanced manner that further enhances the message or theme of the poem. Similarly in Sonnet 12, Shakespeare's use of poetic devices is used in conjunction with the actual words to enhance the idea of the passage of time. Starting from the title (the number "12") the reader is already exposed to the complex way in which the author alludes to time. Furthermore t...

• Word Count: 877
• Approx Pages: 4

William Wordsworth's poem "I wandered lonely as a cloud" is considered one of the best poems in history. The story that the speaker tells in the poem portrays all his emotions brought from nature. He starts by telling that he was wandering like a cloud floating above hills and valleys and then he saw thousands daffodils twinkle in the milky way and the water waves that danced beside them brought him joy and company. He never knew what wealth that image would bring him, until he was feeling "vacant" or "pensive", and this would help him to enjoy and re-feel the same emotions. The structure, lan...

• Word Count: 869
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

John Donne's poem, "The Broken Heart" is composed of a multitude amount of themes, worthy diction, poetic devices, and figurative language that fall into place in order to successfully emphasize on the thoughts of heartache from the speaker. The speaker kicks off the poem by declaring that a man who claims he's been in love for an hour is crazy, "He is stark mad whoever says That he hath been in love an hour, Yet not that love so soon decays, But that it can ten in less space devour;" (1-4). He attempts to say that it's not because love is destroyed in an hour, but because it will destroy the ...

• Word Count: 886
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Kenneth Slessor is commonly regarded by many to be the best Australian poet of his generation, perhaps all time. His poem "Sleep" can be interpreted mainly in one of two ways. One could see it as a personification of sleep, or depiction of childbirth. The poem's textual integrity allows for both interpretations to be supported through techniques founded within the text. Each stanza within the poem provides evidence to support either interpretation although; Slessor may be using one of the said meanings as an analogy for the other. The first stanza supports the personification of sleep with ...

• Word Count: 684
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Unique works of Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker), subtly reflects upon her life. As such a strong figure for Aboriginals, one that fought for equal rights, including the right to be granted full citizenship, many of her poems reflects upon on the emotions felt by many Aboriginals. To do so, in her poem, 'We are going', the desperation and fight for her humble and proud community to receive equality is clearly evident. In her famous poem, "We are Going", Noonuccal reflects on the pain and sadness the Aboriginal people feel after being forced to leave their native lands. The poem is written...

• Word Count: 545
• Approx Pages: 2

The poem "Wind" by Ted Hughes is a free verse following a quatrain pattern. It has a direct title which gives some idea of what the poem is going to talk about. The basic idea of the poem is a description of a storm by the narrator who is stuck in house during the fierce storm. The poet gives a very detailed description of the storm and throws a negative light on it. The poet uses various poetic devices but the recurring use of enjambment suggests that the poet is having an outpouring of emotions and is not able to decide where to end his sentence. The poet maintains a neutral tone throughout ...

• Word Count: 788
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The Tyger is one of the best poems from the romanticism era which was during the late 18th century and the early 19th century. The Tyger was one of William Blakes most famous poems and is still very popular today. During the romanticism era they focused their writing on emotion and imagination but William Blake was more of a gothic writer during this era which is a style of writing that was drawn out of romantic writing. In The Tyger William blake uses many different types of literary devices such as repetition, rhetorical questions and symbolism. When we look at the first stanza of the poem T...

• Word Count: 610
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography

Sylvia Plath was an American poet who wrote many brilliant, yet controversial poems, including her well-known work, "Daddy." In the poem, Plath makes use of heavy, even harsh, words, conveying to her readers her literal hatred towards her father who had made her life miserable. However, during the second reading of the poem, I find that the feeling of love can be easily discovered in between the lines. Therefore, we can say that Sylvia Plath's feelings towards her father are rather confusing. Thus, in the discussion below I will highlight three points on her feeling towards her father which ar...

• Word Count: 838
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Kelly Cherry's "Alzheimer's" explores the life of a man before and during the onset of his suffering from the disease. The poem begins with a tone that one could see as harsh and insensitive. This insensitivity is proven when the poet describes the man as "a crazy old man back from the hospital, his mind rattling like the suitcase, swinging from his hand that contains shaving cream, a piggy bank, a book he sometimes pretends to read" (1-5). In the beginning of the poem, he has just returned from the hospital. The poem suggests that, in his prime, that he was a spritely young man. He had a gene...

• Word Count: 545
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

The central theme in the poem "Mirror," by Sylvia Plath, is self-reflection and appearance. The author uses imagery, diction, and poetic devices to convey this theme. Imagery of water, personification, point of view and shift are applied to emphasize Plath's subject. Imagery and diction are very important tools employed throughout "Mirror". Water and water related diction are repeatedly mentioned in the poem to represent clarity and purity. This reinforces the theme of appearance because with the clarity of a mirror, one can view oneself with ease. The mirror is described as "unmisted by love ...

• Word Count: 533
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

In Emily Dickinson's "There's a certain slant of light," the poet provides yet another glimpse into her world of patriarchal oppression and the overall entropy of the seasons. In this poem, even light is oppressive – the contrast between light and dark is shown to be quite close to the contrast between life and meaning. Through her use of descriptive imagery, syntax and form, Emily Dickinson takes a short poem and manages to eke a tremendous amount of meaning out of it, likening light to the reminder that death will be upon us eventually. Dickinson's level of descriptiveness in these passage...

• Word Count: 562
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

At the basis of every relationship is commitment. Commitment is needed from both sides for the relationship to thrive. With only one side showing commitment, it will not last. In turn, these types of relationships are not worth fighting for. Committing to a relationship can be an issue for many people, whether they afraid or whatever the reason maybe they try to avoid committing by usually ending a relationship before that happens. This idea is portrayed through the lyrics of many different break up songs, when one person leaves another person because of the fear of commitment. Death Cab for C...

• Word Count: 841
• Approx Pages: 3

For my poetry essay, I have chosen Dulce et Decorum Est because it is based on reality. It is about World War I and the constant nightmares that a former soldier lived during that time. He is re-living those awful days by the constant nightmares and memories that will never fade. Imagine having to go through life with the burden on your back of all the people you saw die. Your friends, your comrades, and all those young souls that were lost for defending our country. Imagine the pain and suffering that went on them. And then, compare it to now. Sadness all around us, and we can't help but to l...

• Word Count: 710
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

"The Road Not Taken " by Robert Frost is famous for being misinterpreted. It seems, however, that its fame has failed to reveal its true meaning. If one were to read through the poem only once, it would seem to showcase free will and the beauty in making unique, divergent decisions. When read through again, the facade is lifted and the realism of the poem becomes clear. Frost uses cynical, dramatic irony to convey his opinion that people place too much value on the decisions they make throughout their lives, that they spend too much time worrying about which ones are the right decisions when, ...

• Word Count: 844
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Who Am I? You make me sleep near the animals You don't respect the pride I may have in myself I'm more alone than the rest of y'all Ain't nobody ever cared 'bout me You isolate me from everyone else You make me feel like my skin color makes me less of a man I'm cast out with not a friend in sight I ain't had nobody for a long time You call me a nigger; heck got me callin' myself that now You let me stay because of my bad back and I've seen them all come and got I see no one cares to say Hi to the lil ole colored man Nobody come in a colored man's room You know my back ain't no good but...

• Word Count: 870
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

In the poem "The Jaguar," Ted Hughes is watching a jaguar's cage in a zoo, as he shows both awe and fear towards the large cat. The poem begins by describing other animals in the zoo, not as powerful or as mesmerizing as the jaguar but also found in cages and bored by their monotonous and repetitive life. Then it describes the crowd, people passing by and observing the creature. And finally the poem shows the conflict of the jaguar against its cage, the animal that cannot be trapped mentally. Like many of Hughes' poems, nature rising over mankind is a very strong theme, showing the animal's su...

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

... Poem Analysis – The Draft Horse Emma Tan Robert Frost, author of The Draft Horse wrote this poem in the early to mid-1920's. He's been known for many acclaimed poems that pose complex philosophical, and societal questions about human nature, or ethical issues. A well-known example is his work in The Draft Horse: a narrative poem ... words, he has almost intentionally left a vast space for interpretation, paving the way for endless views, or perspectives in which this poem can been taken. This poem consists of five stanzas that are all complete with four lines; as well as a simple rhymi...

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

... return of the author's childhood memories. The first stanza appears to be the longest, with relatively less punctuation than the following stanzas. The poem is in free verse, and this is especially apparent in the first stanza where the author uses sentence forms similar to that of an ... the sentimental imagery in the third stanza. The larger imager is of the author and perhaps Felicity eating watermelons by a bonfire. However a closer analysis reveals violent images of war. This idea is supported by the choice of diction used in the third and fourth stanza. "Black bullet seeds ... quot...

• Word Count: 809
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... her death, her sister found over 1,700 of Emily's poems. Of these many poems written by Emily Dickinson, many have been passed on for deeper analysis. Three of these are, "I'm Nobody! Who are you?", "Hope is the Thing With Feathers", and "Papa above". "I'm Nobody! ... since her poetry is not published. "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" is an example of a comical poem. As this poem may be comical, at the same point it is a serious poem. Emily Dickinson wrote this poem during her time of failure to become a poet. If she had not listened to Thomas Higginson, she could ... famous poet. Because Emi...

• Word Count: 591
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School