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Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Elegy for my Father, Who is not Dead

On the surface, it seems as if, the speaker juxtaposes his father's will to die and his will to live. It is fair to say that his father wants to die, but he wants his son to be ready to die with him. I believe that by "embarking" on this trip his father does not mean a literal death, but the willingness to let him go. In a deeper meaning, I feel this poem contrasts the differences in their beliefs of eternal life. This is proven through the excerpt " I see myself on deck, convinced/ I'll see him standing on the dock/ and waving, shouting, Welcome back." Which basically means the speaker means he'll just die and nothing will happen, while the father believes he'll be waiting for his son in heaven. Although the father's tone is optimistic-it is the speaker's pessimistic tone that sets the complete tone for the poem. The father had faith from the beginning "He's ready./ In the sureness of his faith" the speaker says. Ultimately, it's a matter of the speaker accepting or not accepting his father's word.

Lonely Hearts

The book describes these stanzas as 'Personals' in a classified section. It reminded me of a dating website. Yet, this poem makes it sound as if they are selling themselves. They are so desperate for a companion they make themselves sound appealing. Which does not really describe the real person someone is. I find the structure of this poem interesting. It begins with the question "Can someone make my simple wish come true?" Then, it ends that stanza with "Do you live in North London? Is it you?" After that, each stanza alternates ending between those two questions. Except, the last two stanza repeat "Do you live in North London? Is it you?" This repetition definitely creates a desperate tone.

Delight in Disorder

The poem begins with an oxymoron: sweet disorder. In reality, this is true, the world prefers disorder. It's a proven chemical/biological process called entropy. Entropy measures the amount of chaos in a system, and the world prefers disorder. However, beyond science, this is true of society. many people travel each year to visit the leaning tower of Pisa? Why? Because it has imperfection, there is a chance it might fall. A more prevalent example are today's style of jeans. We don't want them perfect, we want them ripped, teared and with holes. This explains the concept of Delight in Disorder. The author pulls off disorder in his poem by his structure. Many of the rhymes of his poem are imperfect. Only lines 1 and 2, 9 and 10, and 13 and 14 rhyme. The rest of the lines are inconsistent. Overall, this disorder is a natural part of life.

That Time of Year

In this poem the speaker is expressing how he is approaching death. This is not a literal death, but rather a death of his youth. To express death he uses am extended metaphor typical of the ending of fall. From the poem, the reader understands that it is about the death of youth from the line; " I am like a glowing ember/ Lying on the dying flame of my youth". Also, although the speaker to talking about his youth expiring, he is warning his friend about this event. This is presented in the repetition of "In me you can see". The speaker is not repeating I, and talking to himself. These phrases help to also create the tone. A tone, that I would consider foreboding. Basically, the end of the poem suggests loving no because it will soon be gone. Which leaves me wondering if the last two sentences deal with itself or still the death of youth?