The Influence of Nature and Roethkes Father on His Poetry
Dietrich Christina Dietrich Dr. Joanne Gabel Composition and Literature 131 April 13 2011 Essay B The Influence of Nature and Roethke’s Father on His Poetry Theodore Roethke was born among the glorious valleys and streams of Saginaw, Michigan. His parents and his uncle were the owners of a 25 acre greenhouse which is where Roethke spent much of his childhood. These beautiful greenhouses, filled with lively colorful plants are where Roethke and his father spent their bonding time together. At the young age of fifteen, Roethke lost his uncle due to suicide and his father died from cancer only one year after. Feeling abandoned by his father’s death and being completely surrounded by nature as a child would later prove to be the stepping stone and creative vision in which his prize winning poems would be created from. Growing up in Saginaw valley, Roethke referred to the area as a “very fertile flat country that lies at the northern edge of what is now the central industrial area of the United States” (Pagina). As he explored the riverbanks that surrounded his home, he collected ancient arrowheads left behind by Native Americans, all the while dreaming of the stories that each piece held. He also roamed the game sanctuary that the family maintained. Allan Seager mentions in his book that Roethke once stated, "I had several worlds to live in, which I felt were
The poem, "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night", is a poem about dying. Death takes on a new and intensely personal meaning for Thomas . Do you agree ?
* The poem, "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night", is a poem about dying. Death takes on a new and intensely personal meaning for Thomas . Do you agree ? The poem, "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night", is a poem about dying. Death takes on a new and intensely personal meaning for Thomas: "The poem was his own valedictory; it spoke of his own refusal to give away to his deteriorating health and abuse of his peace of mind"(Sinclair 175). "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" was composed in 1945 while his father, D. J. Thomas, was battling cancer. However, it was not published until after his father's death on December 16, 1952. Four of the six stanzas in the poem address different types of men who are close to death. The first of the four types of men are the "wise men". These men might be considered intellectuals or scholars. Thomas says, "because their words had forked no lightning they / Do not go gentle into that good night [,]" which means that because they have not completed everything in life they wish to, that they will not submit to death without a fight (5-6). In the second of the four stanzas Thomas addresses "good men" who, like the wise men, have not lived their life to the fullest and still have things to accomplish. Thomas says, "crying how bright / Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay / Rage, rage against the dying of the light" (7-9).
In her poem "Stanzas," author Charlotte Bronte employs the literary devices of imagery, mood, and repetition in order to successfully add depth and meaning.
Elsbeth Loughrey February 4, 2002 In her poem "Stanzas," author Charlotte Bronte employs the literary devices of imagery, mood, and repetition in order to successfully add depth and meaning. These instruments are aided by careful and skillful word choice as well as by other literary tools such as alliteration and assonance. Together, these devices work together to produce a complex and masterful collection of verse and thus fulfill the author's intentions of creating a thought-provoking and meaningful piece. In this piece, mood is used to develop greater intensity and complexity through its establishment and subsequent shifts in character. The author uses carefully chosen words and phrases in both the creation of the desired sentiment and in the introduction of modifications in its nature. The mood changes several times throughout the poem, and each variation is skillfully planned and implemented through the use of imagery and diction. The composition begins in a soft and soothing mood with the use of words like calm, placid, serene, and sweet. Imagery of this same nature is exemplified in phrases regarding heaven, summer, and "soft and golden light" in the second and third stanzas, and again in the fifth stanza with "sunset soft and moonlight mild." This smooth and mellow ambiance is also established by the use of alliteration in the first stanza with the words
Tulips (Sylvia Plath)
"Tulips" Electroshock treatment, recovery from a suicide attempt and miscarriage are only a few of the times Sylvia Plath was hospitalized. Plath's doctors diagnosed her with a combination of severe depression, acute insomnia and bipolar disorder (Griffin). The time she spent in the hospital and her mental illness are reflected in her poetry. The poem "Tulips" portrays the psychological impacts the narrator experiences after either a surgical procedure or a sickness. Against the patient's will, family, love, and human empathy cause her to return from a complete loss of self and resignation from the living world. Plath uses personification and vivid imagery to describe the patient's detachment from her identity, her loss of desire to live and psychological instability. In the first five stanzas of the poem the patient is slipping away, giving up her identity and spiraling closer to death. She is lying in a hospital, evident from the mentions of the nurses, the anesthetist and the surgeons. She no longer wants to live, for her the narcotic, near-death state she is in is peaceful, pure and an escape: "how free it is, you have no idea how free-". She compares her head to an eye that will not shut. This "eye" has to "take everything in"; which is metaphorical for the overwhelming effect life has on the patient. She pronounces, "I am sick of baggage", revealing she no longer
A Review of In Memory of W. B. Yeats
A Review of "In Memory of W. B. Yeats" "In Memory of W.B. Yeats" is an elegiac poem. Traditionally, elegiac poems deal with the memory of the death and his after-life. However, W.H. Auden adds another dimension to it. In addition to lauding the poetic after-life of Yeats', he placed his poem in the present. At the time when Auden wrote "In Memory of W. B. Yeats", an impending catastrophe, World War II was waiting Europe. The sense of oppression is present throughout the poem. Each of the three parts of the poem represents a specific stage of the poet's life. The first part illustrates Yeats' death; the second part gives an overview of Yeats' early life and the third part speaks highly of Yeats and discusses the inspiration Auden drew from him. The first part consists of five stanzas. Though the form is not consistent, the content embraces emotions tightly: the first stanza is on the death and coldness, the second on the contrast between life and death, the third on the Yeats' sufferings before death, and fourth on the physical death and spiritual immortality, and the fifth on the Auden's concern about the times. The first stanza impresses readers with "death" and "cold". In the first line, "disappeared" is an euphemism for "died" and at the same time forms alliteration with "dead", "deserted", "disfigured", "dying", "day", "death", "dark" and "day", all of which give
The power of imagery
The power of imagery Images are present in everybody's life. Without image, our life would be dull and plain. Everything that we see, hear, smell, or taste brings something to our minds. The picture that is brought to our minds might be associated with one's experiences and memories. Authors of all types of literature, including stories, biographies, autobiographies, and poems, often incorporate a variety of literary devices, such as imagery, into their works in order to express certain feelings, themes, and ideas. In poetry, a poet might use the descriptive words to create a visual 'comparison' or a link, which would enhance the reader's understanding of a poet's work. Imagery can be various. The poet might choose metaphors, simile, or personification. Which image he or she will choose depends on which one is best to express their feelings. In the poem, "Dover Beach" Arnold Matthew presents images using sight and sound; In "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night", Dylan Thomas uses many metaphors, and Sylvia Plath in her poem "Mirror" uses personification. All three poems are full of images, which are used to enhance the meaning of their poem. It also helps the poets to express their true feelings and emotions. In "Dover Beach", Arnold Matthew creates a desired mood of the poem through the usage of different types of images. Arnold appeals to the sense of sight
The Great White Shark
The Great White Shark Carcharodon Carcharias, white pointer, man-eater, white death, or what have you, the great white shark patrols the ocean as one of the world's most ferocious predators to date. Being labeled as a killer isn't a very good way to view a great white. They should more or less be viewed as a misunderstood fish. Great whites are considered solitary predators, but some are currently being studied off the coast of South Africa because of a strange phenomenon that only happens in those waters. This phenomenon is that the great whites hunt in packs of three or more and are often very coordinated. Little is known about the great whites of the world, but some vital statistics have been observed. The great white can grow to 21 feet, but are averaged around 13-17 although reports of larger great whites, some in excess of 31 feet, have been reported, but not officially investigated or tagged.1 On average great whites weigh one to two tons, this makes for a slow swim speed, but these agile creatures can reach burst speeds of up to 15 mph which is fast for a shark this large. In fact, in South Africa the more aggressive sharks have been observed leaping five to fifteen feet out of the water in search of catching the seals that swim there. This is called a breach, which will be covered more in-depth later in this report. Although the official age of a great white
Analyse the Narrative Skills of Graham Greene in his Short Story 'The Destructors' - And show how they enhance their appeal to the reader.
Analyse the Narrative Skills of Graham Greene in his Short Story 'The Destructors'. And show how they enhance their appeal to the reader. Graham Greene was born on October 2, 1904 in Berhamstead, Hertfordshire. The fourth of six children, Graham was a shy and sensitive youth. He disliked sports and was often truant from school in order to read adventure stories by authors such as Rider Haggard and R.H. Ballantyne. These novels had a deep influence on him and helped shape his writing style. In this piece of coursework, I am going to analyse the narrative skills of Graham Greene in his short story 'The Destructors'. When analyzing his narrative skills I am going to look in depth on the various fields such as the plot structure and setting, characterisation, style, atmosphere, and the tension of the story. The information that I gather shall give me evidence to suggest whether or not Graham Greene is an effective and successful narrative author. The plot structure is profound and slightly ambiguous nearly throughout the whole story because we cannot really identify an immediate story line until Trevor introduces the big plan. Although, even from then we cannot really predict what is going to happen next accept just read on. This is an effective use of the plot by the author as it keeps the reader in suspense and as well as entices the reader to read until the end of the
Thomas Sawer - My Life (1541-1580)
Christina Bothwell 15th February 2001 Thomas Sawer-My Life (1541-1580) I was born in 1541 and named Thomas Sawer by my parents. I lived a relatively poor life, attended school and had many friends. At the age of fourteen, I left home and school to become an apprentice to a Cordwainer. In exchange for my work, my master fed and clothed me so throughout this time, I lived a simple life. Though I did not know about Politics at the time, it was quite easy to understand the situation occurring in Western Europe. Due to Martin Luther's 95 Theses, many Catholics in the Netherlands were turning against the will of the Pope and becoming Protestant. The King of Spain (who had a good stronghold on the Netherlands) and his fellow Catholics were persecuting the Protestants, causing them too flee to England. The majority settled in East Anglia, causing outrage amongst the folk of Norwich. 'The Strangers', as we had nicknamed them, were 'stealing' business from many local Tradesmen, causing a dramatic fall in sale prices. People who relied on their income to relieve themselves of poverty were now being swamped into the depths of poor life. All that I could do was to watch on by. How could these foreigners call themselves worthy people of our town? They had no right to deprive those who needed their business. I held a deep resent of their
Utopian Socialists
Danielle Risner 3rd AP Euro Hist .Appearing as they did in the first quarter of the 19th century, it is necessary to identify the Utopian Socialists according to how perceptively they understood and dealt with the massive challenge of industrial society. In this regard, it was Charles Fourier, Saint-Simon, and Own who seemed to have the most impact . It was Charles Fourier, who seems to have been the most utopian of the Utopian Socialists. What I mean by this is that although Fourier was aware of what was happening in England as a result of the Industrial Revolution, he rejected industrialism wholesale. He despised laissez-faire liberalism and the factory system not because of what effects they might have on human society, but because he believed that industrial society was a passing phase. He saw no need to rectify the dangers inherent in industrialism. He simply went beyond industrialism by ignoring it. Fourier's ideas seem quite fantastical and without ground in reality. Indeed, there is much in Fourier's writing that is pure nonsense. Yes, like some of the representatives of the early French communist movement, Fourier exhibits that almost characteristic pretension of the visionary: contradictory, confused, repetitive, chaotic and, of course, long-winded. Fourier wanted to elevate the status of manual labor, to rescue it from a long-standing tradition of