Lonely Hearts

This poem was like a newspaper for personal ads. Each stanza was about a different person, but all of the people have something in common. They are lonely and want someone to be with. Each stanza ends with 'Do you live in North London? Is it you?' or 'Can someone make my simple wish come true?' Each person has very specific needs so their wish is not simple. They have certain requirements. The lonely people say that the person must live in North London so they narrow their chances of meeting someone. They really want to meet someone, but they are leaving it up to someone else to answer their ad.

Edward

In the beginning of the poem, Edward's mother asks him why his sword is bloody. He lies and says he killed his hawk. She asks again and he says it was his red-roan steed and then he admits he killed his father. The mother does not seem surprised Edward killed his father and Edward blames his mother for his actions. She was putting the idea into his head and he cursed her for it. He loved his father. He referred to him as 'father dear' and he just called his mother 'mother.' He regretted killing his father. By the end of the poem, I felt bad for Edward even though he murdered his father.

That Time of Year

This poem contains a paradox on lines 10-12, "That on the ashes of his youth doth lie as the deathbed whereon it must expire, consumed with that which it was nourished by." This is in the quatrain about fire. Wood fuels fire and wood burns down to ashes. The ashes then extinguish the flames. In youth, people are full of life and energy. The older one gets, the less energy one has. Death approaches each day. The speaker begins talking about fall, then twilight, and then a fire. Each image portrays a shorter time period. He is getting closer and closer to death.

Elegy for My Father, Who Is Not Dead

This poem's tone cannot be described as optimistic or pessimistic. There are aspects of both within the poem. The son has a pessimistic attitude towards death and the father has an optimistic view towards death. The father is ready for death and the son is not. The father has an 'itch to see fresh worlds." The son is not condescending towards his father's view on death. He states what his father believes and he states he does not believe it. The son is not ready for death or for his father to die.