Poetry Notes

The Road Not Taken I chose this poem because it is one of my ultimate favorites and because I think it is an excellent example of poetry. The Road Not Taken was one of the first poems I memorized and since then, I have always enjoyed its meaning and how it derives it through its words. For me, the poem means that often times in life, we come upon a fork in our path in which we must decide which way we choose to traverse. In this choice, I see that sometimes the path less traveled, more difficult, and unknown is the better option as it gives us an opportunity to do something great or change our lives for the better. That is what this poem signifies to me. Robert Frost develops this ideology in several ways. First, he accentuates the dilemma of traveler who has come to a crossroads in his first stanza in saying, And sorry I could not travel them both, and be one traveler, long I stood. In the other stanza he uses commentarial language to compare both roads. He demonstrates that one is more suitable for quick and easy travel than the other, yet he holds curiosity for the latter. Finally, in the last stanza, he concludes his difficult decision by choosing a less traveled path. What brings it all together is when he states, And that has made all the difference. Clearly, taking the chance proved beneficial for him. As well as his choice of words, he uses rhyme scheme to create a rhythm that relaxes the reader and makes the situation much more significant. Frost put a lot of thought and experience into this work of art that has made it into a great example of poetry.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings This poem was chosen because it really made me have a new perspective on what a bird might think when caged as a pet or another situation. The poem gives a viewpoint from the bird of desperation for freedom, yet he is held back. Personally, this poem means to me that whenever we are struggling, maybe caged or in a tight spot, we hold to a glimmer of hope that it is only temporary and freedom will come soon. Maya Angelou does an amazing job in representing this message. Angelou starts out the poem in the first stanza with a description of what a free bird does and what his typical activities are, almost to give a sense of normalcy. But then quickly moves in the second and third stanzas in which the bird is confined, beaten, and neglected. Each stanza thereafter ends with a line mentioning the birds desire to sing, which I see as a continuous symbol of hope. Angelou also presents a small rhyming scheme in her poem that is only located in either the second, fourth, and/or sixth line in a stanza. By inserting this in, she creates a

rhythm that in turn makes the poem seem like the free birds song. All of these technicalities work together to form the meaning that I received and other readers can easily pick up.

When Clouds Upon the Summer Breeze All Rest My choice of this poem came for the unique topic and the many different descriptions of everyday occurrences. It gives an interesting perspective of nightfall that I really enjoyed. The meaning that I captured form this poem is that simple things can bring awe inspiring moments. Sometimes, we just need to take the time to enjoy things and slow our pace down. Through the authors language, he creates a blissful commentary on the beautiful show dusk preforms. Gleb Zavlanov takes the approach by using dramatic images of the sunset to set up the atmosphere of the poem. Really, the whole poem uses artistic and comparative images to make its point. It gives personification to the sky and its nightly activities like giving clouds a faery flight, daytime dreams wilting, constellations with postures, and so on. Truly, he uses a multitude of vocabulary that is not usually associated with the topic. While not a clear rhyme scheme is used, only a few words match such as tear and drear, but also he uses words that appear the same to do so. Overall, this is one of my favorite poems giving an insight into enjoying the night and what beautiful things occur.

A Brook in the City In choosing this poem, I looked and at the title and thought it was an interesting topic for a poem. It told a story about a brook in a developing city, and the simplicity of it caught my attention. I thought it was a good example of some things I see going on in the world today. This poem can be viewed from various angles including an environmental one, but I took this poem as showing how as a society, we often use people and ignore them without considering getting to know them or building a relationship. We can think there is nothing special about them or they are only being an inconvenience, just as the brook was to the growing city. As a society we need to take time to recognize how we were all created equal and have our own contributions to make. Robert Frost developed this meaning by building a relationship between the reader and the brook. He gives the brook innocence and shows how it has done nothing against the city shown in the phrase, And all for nothing it had ever done. He starts in the poem with the beauty of the countryside and the brook, but how they are slowly destroyed over the course of the citys development. He says, The apple trees be sent hearth-stone to flame, and, In fetal darkness still to live and run. These show this idea of covering up and ignoring it. Also in creating the meaning, Frost uses a rhyme scheme to build a progression of throughout the poem. He has done an excellent job in creating a simple poem with a much larger meaning.

Mirror, Mirror I chose this particular piece of poetry because of its very real true life application. Mirror, Mirror showed me how true it is that we focus so much on our outward appearance and desire someone to appreciate it. This poem meant to me how taking care of our body is important, but of all the things we do to try and perfect it, they do not matter as much as what goes on in our heart. I found this true because of how much self-image is important to the average high school student, but that it should not be our main focus. While nothing particularly stands out in this poem, Tom Healy builds up the meaning through listing all the examples of things we do to ourselves to look good. Whether it be in plastering ourselves with makeup and clothing or needles and surgery, he makes a point with this long list. There is no rhyme scheme to the poem, but because of this, the reader is able to stop and pause after each line to reflect it, which I find very important.

Hellen Keller Hellen Keller was a choice of mine because I thought the message was very meaningful. It speaks of Hellen Keller, who was deaf and mute, and how she found herself confidence and beauty even she could not fully see what the world said was beauty and confidence. I think that is absolutely essential to the message. We should not let the world define what beauty and confidence is because it is not ideal. It puts down people and raises others up. Hellen Keller was able to recognize her qualities as significant even when the rest of the world may not have. The writer, Langston Hughes makes this message through a short twelve lines. He uses short stanzas, some with only one word, to create an impactful moment when reading. Hughes has written it in such a manner that it seems only appropriate to read in a quiet manner. While there is no overall rhyme scheme, there are several words paired together in a rhyme that create a short and sweet note. It is a simple poem that should not be overlooked.

The Way Through the Woods This poem was chosen because I had previously read it in poetry reading time in class. I enjoyed its nostalgic viewpoint and seeing change over time. I thought it was a good reminder of how things are only temporary. My interpretation of this poem was that we should not neglect things only because it is too much work and effort or because we do not have a desire to, we should be good stewards of what we have. Also, another meaning is how change can be hard to adjust to because it sometimes does not make sense or seems to radically different compared to our comfortable position. Rudyard Kipling constructed this idea by using his stanzas. In the first, he writes how the road has changed and how it is no longer useable. The second shows how nature has overrun it and things have turned into what they would normally be in the wild, as if the road was forgotten. Language that is used show mysterious and nostalgic vibes and bring you on an adventure through the story of this road. A sporadic rhyme scheme is used matching words in various ways from three lines apart or one line apart. Overall, this poem is also one of my favorites because of its mystique.

A Parsonage in Oxfordshire I chose this poem because I enjoyed the quiet comparison of holy and unholy in their collision at the parsonage. I also liked the title, reminding me of a quiet English countryside with a church and parsonage near town. I thought the meaning as speaking of how difficult is to do good when faced with temptations from the world. The parsonage is seen as holy and being constantly collided with evil. We cannot let ourselves be overcome by temptation but rather to remember to fight evil with good. Distractions will come and attempt to take us from the good in life, but our ability to push them away is what needs to be evaluated. William Wordsworth uses higher vocabulary to make the poem seem as though more heavenly and significant. He uses a metaphor of a shady neighborhoods interaction with a parsonage to demonstrate the good vs. evil. He uses a rhyme scheme as well to make the poem more important and flowing. He uses many comparisons with darkness to represent the evil and various bright, saintly things to represent the light. This poem certainly is eye catching in its meaning.

Sonnet: Respect This poem was chosen because of my high regard in the topic of respect. I think it is something that needs to be constantly shared because it is a forgotten virtue in our society. I interpreted the meaning as respect authority because they do so much for us and give us so many good things that we need to know to continue in life. I think it is important to remember when to humble yourself because you are not always the ultimate authority, which is okay since because we need someone to guide us. Dr. John Celes writes this simple poem with a repetitive beginning with each line which is Respect Obviously, this drives home the point for respect and how it needs to be acknowledged. Throughout the whole poem, he goes through just about every example of who has contributed to us and has been an authority in a persons life. He uses a rhythm with select lines rhyming with each other. All of these elements work together to create a poem as important as its meaning.

What is a Hero I chose this poem as my last one because of how important I think it is to have a father figure in everyones life because I know what a huge difference it can make. While the poem is specifically about a daughter admiring her father as a hero, I think it can be applied with both sons and daughters. I know my own dad fits the description in the poem very well, and I see him as my hero too. I believe the message in the poem is that we need to be thankful and respectful of our fathers because of the large influence they have in our lives. Fathers need to be able to recognize themselves as not any bit more important than the family they lead, which I hope to be able to do with the best of my abilities someday. A hero is exactly that, someone who recognizes others safety and life above their own. Linda Patino created this message with a simple format. She begins each idea with, A hero is a Dad, and continues with examples of how a father helps out his daughter in giving her courage, protecting her, and preparing her for the day she will be handed off to another man who hopefully will do the exact same sacrifice for her. While there is no rhyme scheme, there is the repetitive format that still gives it a rhythm and structure. I hope many others read this poem and recognize how true it is and how they can help make it true.