Monday, November 19, 2012

RR10

In "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke" there is two ways it can be viewed specifically what convinced me was " still clinging to your shirt". Because of the beginning lines "The whiskey on your breath/ could make a small boy dizzy" i first assumed his father probably  is an alcoholic. Along with unpleasent words like "death" and "beat" it seemed like maybe his father was abusive and used the word "waltz" as a way to describe the occurrence of  this experience happening in a repeated cycle somewhat like waltzing where the dancers go in circles. But then after reading it more i thought maybe  his father did come home drunk but not in such a negative way. Suppose "but i hung on like death/such waltzing was not easy" actually means the child hung on to his father while he danced around in a waltzing style. Seeing it this way shows a more cheerful manner. Overall what i see more is the more optimistic side of it; to me it mostly seems like a drunk and playful father dancing his kid off to bed.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

RR9 - opt 1

Personally after reading "The Lamb" and " The Tyger" I did not recognize a significant difference between the two. Perhaps it is because of  my lack of reading anything with emphasis or not reading them in a sanguine matter of comprehension. Actually as a side note, I think what partly convinces my brain there is not that much great of a difference is because they are both written by  the same guy. Nevertheless I will still attempt to project what I interpreted from both of the poems. In terms of diction the style of both don't seem incredibly contrasting other than "The Lamb" containing the word "thee" in seemingly every line which keeps it adequately fluent. "The Lamb" has repetition with one word whereas "The Tyger" does not have one distinct recurring word. However they both have a considerable amount of rhyme to them.  It is apparent that they both have questions within them. It seems like the reiterated questions in both are used at the beginning and end to attempt to sum up something about the poem. The reiterated question in "the Lamb" is "Little Lamb who made thee?/ Dost thou know who made thee?" and in "The Tyger" the reiterated question is "...could frame thy fearful symmetry?". As far as imagery, I can accumulate more imagery from " The Tyger"  I think this is mostly because I can relate to more words in " The Tyger" that provoke me to envision some type of picture. It is difficult for me to contrast the views between  the creator in both but I think "The Tyger" incites a more adverse view on account of  the imagery of something burning. 

Sunday, November 4, 2012

RR8 - Poems

Out of the poems given I was drawn to "Here a Pretty Baby Lies" by Robert Herrick. What really intrigues me is that it is so short and makes you think for a little while. As you start reading it it seems like a scenario we all can imagine; just a pretty baby pretty much sleeping. Then it takes a turn "Pray be silent, and not stir/ Th'easy earth that covers her" this part of the poem indicates and makes the audience realize the poem is not nearly close enough to what most we were expecting. For the most part the reader's initial  impression of the poem is drastically changed in just a matter of one final  line. At first when reading the second to last line "... be silent, and not stir"  it images to not disturb the sleeping baby but it provokes more meaning after the last line. It is not simply just the concept of disturbing a sleeping baby but changed to not disturbing the ground that she is buried under "Th'easy earth that covers her". The baby is dead and the poem is no longer sweet as it started out to be. The fact that the poem is able to accomplish all this in only four lines intrigues me and is why I decided to choose it. On the other hand a poem I did not particularly like as much was  "Sir Patrick Spens". Although the rhyming aspects of it are fairly enjoyable in making it easier to read fluidly. Bluntly I did not get the impression of it being as provoking and striving to pertain some type of meaning as compared to " Here a Pretty Baby Lies". To me it seems like some story that has been shortened in poem form. What I mean by this is that it seems like it can be a full out short story but is written in a form to entertain with a rhyme scheme, somewhat like a catchy rhyming child's book. I cannot ignore that the poem does provide some emotions in the last two stanzas to provoke some type of thinking. In the last two stanzas the emotions can make someone ponder about why the poem does not explain exactly why Sir Patrick is sent to sea by the king. Ultimately " Sir Patrick Spens"  is not the kind of style I enjoy. Particularly in my response to "Here the Pretty Baby Lies" it can be assumed it does serve an understanding of how I  formulate my own definition of poetry. In my own definition of poetry it can be in many forms and in order to define it it would take an abundance of in depth analysis.  There are different types of poems, I compare it to music in where there are many ways to define it in depth due to all the different types; along with what fundamentally defines each type in terms differences of instruments rhythm and other factors.