To His Coy Mistress

This poem is about a man urging a woman to tell him she loves him. He knows that they do not have all the time in the world to be coy. He speaks of all the things they could do if they had all eternity, but they do not. He doesn't want to waste time to find out she loves him. Eventually time will run out and they will die. He wants to live with her as his love. He does not want to die before they get to share in their love together. He wants to spend as much time with her as possible and make the most of their time together.

My Mistress' Eyes

When I first read this poem, I thought that the speaker was calling his love ugly. I reread the poem and I understood that the speaker truly loved his mistress. He believes she is as beautiful as the women who are showered with praise. He would not shower her with empty or false praise. He does not exaggerate her looks or give false comparisons. The author is mocking those who shower people with praise and say things like "Your eyes are as bright as the sun." He knows that someone's eyes cannnot be that bright. He is realistic.

Crossing the Bar

This poem has a tone of acceptance. The speaker thinks of his death and how he would want to die. He wanted a peaceful death without sad goodbyes. The sand bar eventually ends and leads to deep water. This means that in death he looks to the afterlife. He hopes to see the 'Pilot', which is God. The pilot of a plane controls the plane and God controls life. He is accepting of his death and is fine with dying.

Getting Out

In the first line of the poem, the couple is being compared to 'inmates.' The 'inmates' should be interpreted as confinement to a mental hospital. Both people did nothing wrong and they did not choose for their marriage to fall apart. They tried to make their marriage work, but could not. They had to get a divorce. In the beginning of the poem, there is a tone of anger and hate. Towards the end, there is almost a sense of regret and love. They both cried when the divorce process was finally over. They finally let go of their marriage to move on with their lives.

Mr. Z

The first line sets the tone of the poem, "taught early that his mother's skin was the sign of error...". Throughout the entire poem, a person called Mr. Z, tries to get past his ethnicity, but society kept throwing it back in his face. I felt that the author was satirizing society. Society is obsessed with the idea of what is considered "normal." Anyone who is different is labelled by that difference. The label is hard to get rid of and many have to live with it for the rest of their lives. Later in his life he finally overcame his ethnic label but in his obituary it stated, "One of the most distinguished members of his race." He thought he had gotten past it, but it was always there.

APO 96225

This poem was my favorite of the section this week. Reading "The Things They Carried" helped me identify with this poem. It just really stuck out to me because a son is writing to his mother from Vietnam and he keeps the letters light and fluffy while she pleads with him to be serious. He eventually writes about the war and the father says he was depressing his mother. Many Americans are not involved with war. They do not keep up with what is going on or pay attention to the soldiers who fight in the war. Many people act like they want to know about the war, but when it becomes to depressing or scary, they have had enough and do not want to hear anymore. The lack of attention of wars hurts the country and especially the soldiers because they may need to talk about it, but no one is there to listen.

"Much Madness is divinest Sense"

This poem contains many paradoxes. The first is "Madness is divinest Sense" which is saying madness is good. The second paradox is "Sense is madness." The author is arguing that assenting to conform is considered sane but she thinks it is wrong. Demurring from conformity is considered madness but this is what she agrees with. She wants people to be different if that is how they are. No one should have to be like someone else just so they can fit into society. This poem also fits in with the other poem, "Barbie Doll." Both poems mention conformity and how it ends in a bad situation. These poems stress that it is okay to be different and never change just to be considered 'normal.'

"Barbie Doll"

"Her good nature wore out like a fan belt." This simile gives the impression of an assemble line or a manufacturing process. The poem is about a girl who was always told she had a 'big nose and fat legs.' Nobody noticed anything else besides her physical appearance. She also had many traits that are praised in men and not women. On line 8 it says, "...[she] possessed strong arms and back, abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity." This also furthered the reason for her to be an outcast of society. She had to pretend to be someone else to be accepted into society and she eventually stopped and cut off her nose and legs. In the casket, she had a fake nose and people said, "Doesn't she look pretty?" Society inhibits a picture of beauty that no one can have.

"February"

The poem begins with the speaker talking about what she likes to do in the winter. I got a sense that the speaker was grumpy and on edge. In the winter, people are more moody because the weather is cold and people are irritable. They are ready for warm weather and flowers and spring. The speaker mentions her cat and describes him as a "black fur sausage with yellow Houdini eyes...". She has to like cats to have one as a pet so this is where I got a sense of her moodiness. He wants her to get out of bed to give him attention, but she wants to eat french fries and watch hockey. By the end of the poem, the speaker seems to get agitated and says, "Off my face! You're the life principle, more or less, so get going on a little optimism around here. Get rid of death. Celebrate increase. Make it spring." She is fed up with staying in bed all the time and she wants to get up and do something with her life. She wants winter to be over and spring to come.

"Pink Dog"

This poem compares a dog to the poor people in Rio de Janeiro. There is a dog that has not fur because of scabies. It has babies and it is starving. The poem states, "It's been in all the papers, to solve this problem, how they deal with beggars? They take and throw them in the tidal rivers." The society does nothing to help the poor. The way of dealing with them is getting rid of them. The poem also states, "Yes, idiots, paralytics, parasites go bobbing in the ebbing sewage, nights out in the suburbs, where there are no lights." This tells the reader not only are poor people thrown into rivers, mentally handicapped people and paralytics are too. People who cannot provide for themselves are outcasts. Society allows this to go on. "Where there are no lights" means that everyone may know what is happening, but no one says anything.

"Bright Star"

In this poem, the speaker expresses why he would want to be a star and tells of the things he dislikes about stars. He likes how stars are steadfast. The word 'steadfast' is repeated several times to enforce that is why he would want to be a star. He is in love and he does not want that to change. In the poem it states, "Not in lone splendor hung aloft the night...". He does not want to be lonely. He wants to lay with his lover forever and their love remain steadfast. He would not want to just stand at a distance and watch the world like a lonely star.

"Toads"

There are two toads portrayed in the poem. The first poem represents work. "Why should I let the toad work squat on my life?" Many people have to work all of their life, living paycheck to paycheck. Not many people are born into money. The second toad represents reality. "...And will never allow me to blarney my way to getting the fame and the girl and the money all at one sitting." The reality of the situation allows the speaker to know that he will work for money. He won't suddenly attain everything he wants in one sitting. He has to work for what he wants and he knows that there are many other people in his same position.

"Dream Deferred"

In this poem, there are five similes listed in a row. They are "like a raisin", "like a sore", "stink like rotten meat", "like a syrupy sweet", and "like a heavy load". The speaker is asking the reader to think what happens when a dream is put off. All of the similes are negative images. Some people live for dreams. Langston Hughes was a poet in the Harlem Renaissance. He was also alive during the Civil Rights Movement. I thought he was implying that people should never give up on their dreams, especially those who wanted their rights. They should never stop dreaming and they should take action or their dreams can never come true.

"London"

When I first read this poem, I was depressed. I instantly thought of Charles Dickens because his many of his books take place in London. The main characters in the book are usually poor and the rich people are snobs who hate the poor. The poem seemed dark and gloomy. It was also sad. The poem begins with, "I wander through each chartered street...". I thought that the word 'wander' meant that the person was lost in their life and there was no meaning. "In every Infant's cry of fear" adds to the tone of the poem. The children are not even happy. "How the Chimney-sweeper's cry every black'ning Church appalls; and the hapless Soldier's sigh runs in blood down Palace walls." I took this to mean that the soldiers are the common people fighting for the rich. There blood is lost whether it be in war or even politics. The common person's view did not matter and they suffered.

"Those Winter Sundays"

I took this poem to have two interpretations. The first is about a son looking back at his childhood. His father was a hard worker and he was not appreciated. Words like "blueback cold, 'cracked hands', 'banked fires blaze' show that his father worked a lot and in harsh conditions. The son was regretful that he never thanked his father for all that he did. Another interpretation of the poem is about God. God gave life to people. He does so many things for people and they do not always realize it or thank him for it. The phrase, "Speaking indifferently to him..." means people pray to Him but only ask for things. They do not thank God for all he does. They take and take and give nothing back.

"The Widow's Lament in Sprintime"

There were a few symbols in this poem. The poem was sad because the woman had lost her husband. The beauty of spring was lost to her after her husband passed away. Even though the season is springtime, she is not happy. "Sorrow is my own yard where the grass flames as it has flamed often before but no with he cold fire that closes round me this year." She is sad and her yard is constricting. Her son wants her to look forward because things will get better. He notices white flowers in the meadow. The meadow represents freedom. It is open space. At the end of the poem she says, "I feel that I would like to go there and fall into those flowers and sink into the marsh near them." The white flowers represent Heaven and the marsh is death. She wants to die to be with her husband in Heaven.

"Spring"

The imagery of this poem is primarily sight. "When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely lush..." (line 2). "...glassy peartree leaves..." (line 6). These two phrases give the reader pictures of spring. The phrases, "descending blue" and "earth's sweet being" help to describe the richness of spring. Spring represents new life because winter is over and the plants are blooming and turning green again. The Garden of Eden is also mentioned and so are children. These all share a common thread. They all represent the beginning. They are innocent and pure. This poem could also be a Christian poem because it mentions Christ which ties into new life. Christ was sent to earth to grant people new life.

Tone

The tone of the poem, "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain," is dark. The poem seems to be about the funeral of the speaker, yet the speaker can still hear. The word 'funeral' has a dark connotation because it means someone has died. Each stanza gives the idea of the funeral. The first stanza is about the showing. The second is the service. The third is about the funeral procession with the fourth mentioning the church bells. The last stanza is the coffin being lowered into the grave. Funerals are rarely happy. The speaker could possibly be losing her mind and that gives a dark tone. The phrase, 'With those same Boots of Lead...", is dark because something is weighing the speaker down. 'Mourners', 'Service', 'toll', and 'wrecked' all contribute to the negative tone.

Poetry

I believe that there are some limitations to poem interpretation. Perrine mentions symbols. He states, "Its meanings ate therefore almost infinite. But they are not unlimited." This means people can still make their own interpretations and they can be right. Many people want a definite answer of what a poem really means. E. A. Robinson said, "If an author interprets a poem of his own, he limits its suggestibility." I agree with this statement because poems promote creativity. The reader has to decide the meaning of the poem.
When I first read the poem, "The Night March," I did not know it was about the stars. Reading the article made me realize I need to pay more attention to the details in the poem. The poem used many words such as 'bright', 'beaming', 'twinkling', and 'shining'. I did not pay close attention to these key words. Poems are like riddles. Whenever I read a poem in school, I know that the poem is hardly ever what it seems. There are usually symbols used in poems which make interpreting the poem difficult. If a poem about flowers was actually about flowers, I would probably waste a lot of time trying to analyze what the flowers symbolize when they do not mean anything at all. Sometimes I believe people analyze too much.