“To an Athlete Dying Young” by A. E. Housman, 2/23/12

“To an Athlete Dying Young” by A. E. Housman

The time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.

To-day, the road all runners come,
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.

Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields were glory does not stay
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose.

Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears:

Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.

So set, before its echoes fade,
The fleet foot on the sill of shade,
And hold to the low lintel up
The still-defended challenge-cup.

And round that early-laurelled head
Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,
And find unwithered on its curls
The garland briefer than a girl's.

REACTION

This poem is one that makes the reader realize just how short life is and how important it is to live life to its fullest. The poem is slightly melancholy in the fact that it was written to mourn the loss of a great athlete, but it is also happy in the sense that it is meant to celebrate the life of the athlete. The poem seems to be about death and it uses various figurative language devices. This poem is very easy to read and is all around a very well structured poem that it very interesting.

PARAPHRASE

When you won your big race, the whole town celebrated you. Today, however, the racers return, and we are laying you to rest. The glory of athletes does not last forever. Most of the time it fades faster than it came. Now that you are dead, you cannot see or hear the accomplishments of the people after you. Now you are dead, and your name has died as well. A lesson to all: before your name dies because you do, step out of the fame and defend your title. Live your life apart from just the races.

SWIFTT

Syntax/Word Choice- The rhyme and meter are also very important in this poem. The rhyme scheme is in AABB format, producing a then and now feeling. This is how it once was, and now this is how it is and how it will be. The meter is also important. Each line has eight syllables and when reading this poem, it seems to set a pace, much like the footsteps of a runner. This is important not only because the poem is about the life and death of a runner, but because it also shows the pace of life and life after death. It shows that life still goes on, and that life does not stop because of a death. In fact, life can erase any evidence of a deceased person's life. The author makes great use of words and phrases such as “The time you won your town the race” to show that the athlete was a great person who accomplished a lot. Wordsworth then uses phrases and words such as “before its echoes fade” and “The garland briefer than a girl's” to show that those living only briefly care about the dead and memory of such things quickly fades.

Imagery- In the poem “To an Athlete Dying Young,” Housman uses the repeated imagery of victory and death. Housman uses the image of victory when saying that the athlete “won your town the race” and he was a “smart lad to slip…” away from life and maintain his fame. Housman then uses the image of death when describing the athlete’s cemetery: “townsman of a stiller town.” Housman also uses various words having to do with burial. He also uses the image of a young athlete dying but being remembered and revered.

Figurative Language- There are two prominent literary devices used in this poem, personification and apostrophe. Personification can be seen in the lines "Eyes the shady night has shut" and "After earth as stopped the ears". Night cannot shut, and earth obviously cannot stop one's ears, it has no hands. Yet in this poem these two lines provide the reader with the feeling that death is a natural and peaceful bliss for this man, protecting him from seeing his glory fade and his fame forgotten. Apostrophe can be seen in the opening stanza "The time you won your town the race/ We chaired you through the market-place;/ Man and boy stood cheering by,/ And home we brought you shoulder-high." The speaker here is speaking to the runner as if he is still alive. By speaking in this manner throughout the poem, it feels as if he is reminiscing on the young man's life, and then reassuring him that dying young is better than dying after one's prime. This brings the reader into the poem, and makes them feel a connection to both the speaker and the young man.

Tone- Initially one might say that the tone of this poem would be saddening or depressing, but it is more of a mourning, celebratory tone. Housman is mourning the death of the athlete throughout the poem. The celebratory aspect of the tone comes in when Housman says “And silence sounds no worse than cheers”. This and similar quotes from the poem show that the people of the town are not just mourning the loss of a great athlete, but celebrating the great life that the athlete had.

Theme- The theme of “To an Athlete Dying Young” is the celebration of death. Housman makes it obvious that life doesn’t last long, neither does youth nor fame. As time goes on, these things will change. Life is a never ending race to achieve as much as possible before death. If one dies with achievements, they will be remembered and honored. This apparent in this poem because that is what this entire poem is, it is the author saying the athlete accomplished so much, is remembered, and is now dead. However, in being remembered, you lost everything because you died.

CONCLUSIONS

My initial reaction was very close to how I feel now. This poem was structured very well and is very easy to read. This poem is one that makes the reader realize just how short life is and how important it is to live life to its fullest. The tone of the poem is slightly melancholy in the fact that it was written to mourn the loss of a great athlete, but it is also happy in the sense that it is meant to celebrate the life of the athlete. The major theme of the poem is death. Housman also makes great use of various figurative language devices.

“The Solitary Reaper” by William Wordsworth, 2/23/12

“The Solitary Reaper” by William Wordsworth 

BEHOLD her, single in the field,

Yon solitary Highland Lass!
Reaping and singing by herself;
Stop here, or gently pass!
Alone she cuts and binds the grain,
And sings a melancholy strain;
O listen! for the Vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound.

No Nightingale did ever chaunt

More welcome notes to weary bands                          
Of travellers in some shady haunt,
Among Arabian sands:
A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard
In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird,
Breaking the silence of the seas
Among the farthest Hebrides.

Will no one tell me what she sings?--

Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
For old, unhappy, far-off things,
And battles long ago:                                      
Or is it some more humble lay,
Familiar matter of to-day?
Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
That has been, and may be again?

Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang

As if her song could have no ending;
I saw her singing at her work,
And o'er the sickle bending;--
I listened, motionless and still;
And, as I mounted up the hill                              
The music in my heart I bore,
Long after it was heard no more.

REACTION
This poem was obviously written by someone from Scotland. The word choice is such that it conveys the dialect of the local region. This in turn allows the reader to have a general idea of where the poem takes place. Wordsworth also makes good use of exclamation marks and phrases to show the narrator’s strong emotions throughout the poem. The poem also makes great use of figurative language and imagery to give the reader the best understanding of just how amazing the girl in the poem’s song is and just how in tune with nature she is.

PARAPHRASE

Behold the Scottish girl alone in the field. She is all alone reaping the grain and singing to herself. Listen! For the entire area is overflowing with the sounds of her singing. Nothing in nature ever sang such a beautiful song. Will no one tell me what she is singing? Perhaps she is singing of bad things that happened in the past, or, maybe, she is singing of something more recent? Maybe it’s something bad that has happened and might again? Whatever the theme, she sang as though there was no end, and I listened without moving. As I left the music stuck with me in my heart.

SWIFTT:

Syntax-The four eight-line stanzas of this poem are written in a tight iambic tetrameter. Each follows a rhyme scheme of ABABCCDD, though in the first and last stanzas the “A” rhyme is off (field/self and sang/work).

Word Choice- Wordsworth uses words such as “Highland Lass” and “to-day” so that the reader, hopefully familiar with the dialect, realizes that the setting of this poem is in Scotland. He also replaces the v’s  in words with an apostrophe.

Imagery- Imagery is used throughout this poem to help give readers a better understanding of what is actually going on. The poet creates a comparison between "No Nightingale did ever chaunt More welcome notes to weary bands Of travellers in some shady haunt, Among Arabian sands." and "A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard In spring-time from the cuckoo-bird, Breaking the silence of the seas Among the farthest Hebrides." You cannot hear a nightingale in the Arabian Sands, and you cannot hear a Cuckoo-bird in the Hebrides. This comparison is used by the poet to explain to the readers, how beautiful the singing is.

Figurative Language- There is no use of simile in this poem as far as I can tell. There does happen to be irony, however. The irony stems from the title itself which presents the reader with the idea that the poem is about some lonely being, but as the reader we find the girl is not lonely at all, she is totally content in her reaping. Wordsworth also uses the metaphor of the girl sounding like a nightingale.

Tone- The tone of this poem is very calm, emotional, and peaceful. Wordsworth creates a very peaceful and calm scene of a girl reaping some sort of grain while singing a melancholy song. The narrator then becomes emotional and begins to exclaim things such as “O listen” and “Will no one tell me what she sings?”

Theme- One main theme is nature. Wordsworth used solitary characters to show how to be one with nature. The girl is compared to nightingales and cuckoo birds in a positive light, as though she is one of them, which shows her natural side. The "vale profound/ Is overflowing with the sound", and this also shows that she and nature are sympathetic to each other. Other themes touched on are those of loss shown when Wordsworth says, "some natural sorrow, loss or pain". Imagination is another theme, the song takes Wordsworth to the corners of the world, from "Arabian sands" to the "farthest Hebrides".

CONCLUSION

My initial reaction was not very far off. This poem was written by someone from Scotland. The word choice is such that it conveys the dialect of the local region. This in turn allows the reader to have a general idea of where the poem takes place. This allows for Wordsworth to create his great imagery in the poem. He also makes good use of exclamation marks and phrases to show the narrator’s strong emotions throughout the poem. The poem also makes great use of figurative language and word choice to give the reader the best understanding of just how amazing the girl in the poem’s song is and just how in tune with nature she is.

“Ode to a Grecian Urn” by John Keats, 02/14/12

“Ode to a Grecian Urn” by John Keats

Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness,
Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
What leaf-fring'd legend haunt about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both,
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter: therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;
Bold lover, never, never canst thou kiss,
Though winning near the goal - yet, do not grieve;
She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed
Your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu;
And, happy melodist, unwearied,
For ever piping songs for ever new;
More happy love! more happy, happy love!
For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd,
For ever panting, and for ever young;
All breathing human passion far above,
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd,
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.

Who are these coming to the sacrifice?
To what green altar, O mysterious priest,
Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,
And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?
What little town by river or sea shore,
Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,
Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn?
And, little town, thy streets for evermore
Will silent be; and not a soul to tell
Why thou art desolate, can e'er return.

O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," - that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

REACTION

While reading this poem I believe that I actually fell asleep. The poem is very lengthy and well structured. The poem is obviously about a man looking at an urn. Keats uses great imagery to describe the scenes depicted on the urn, but does not dive into enough detail such that the reader is left with no room to image the urn for themselves. Keats also makes good use of figurative language. The man in the poem seems to be reflecting on the themes of time, nature, and innocence.

PARAPHRASE

The speaker addresses this urn that depicts a wild, romantic, intense scene. As he looks at it, he becomes captivated by what he sees. It's as if the pictures have life, and the speaker can imagine their intense feelings/actions. He's enthralled by the way his imagination is triggered by this scene he encounters on this urn, this piece of art. Since the images are alive in his mind, it's even sweeter than it would be if he were actually witnessing something or hearing music. Plus, there's something even more romantic in this frozen moment pictured on the urn. The scene he encounters will never change. It, therefore, will never be changed by time. In that way, he sees that the trees are "happy, happy boughs!" and the couple have "happy, happy love!" That is, it is perfect in its captured essence. By the end of the poem, the speaker relates the joy of this scene on the urn to the joy of his poem. He shows the readers how they, too can experience this frozen moment of joy. The message that both forms of art give to us is that "Beauty is truth, truth beauty". To understand this, you have to translate what "truth" means to you. To me, it's the essence of all that is real and good. And beauty, which comes from an encounter with art, is truth. "That is all...ye need to know." In other words, that simple fact captures this intense feeling that almost seems beyond words. Hope this is helpful.

SWIFTT:

Syntax- Each of the five stanzas in “Ode to a Grecian Urn” is ten lines long, metered in an iambic pentameter, and divided into a two part rhyme scheme, the last three lines of which are variable. The first seven lines of each stanza follow an ABABCDE rhyme scheme, but the second occurrences of the CDE sounds do not follow the same order. In stanza one, lines seven through ten are rhymed DCE; in stanza two, CED; in stanzas three and four, CDE; and in stanza five, DCE, just as in stanza one. As in other odes, the two-part rhyme scheme creates the sense of a two-part thematic structure as well. The first four lines of each stanza roughly define the subject of the stanza, and the last six roughly explicate or develop it.

Word Choice- Many of the words chosen here are meant to purvey the idea that the urn and the pictures printed on it are eternal. “Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,” the repetition of never is meant to show that the pictures are frozen in time, the lover can never reach his love. “For ever panting, and for ever young” is another example of this idea, where the lover is forever chasing and out of breath, and the girl will never age.

Imagery- The rhetorical questions at the end of the first stanza are meant to lead the reader to a description of what is painted on the urn. Grecian urns are painted with pictures, so he is saying there is a story of a chase and maidens and struggles stamped onto the urn. Throughout the rest of the story, the speaker describes the scenes on the urn. A chase scene and a sacrifice are brought up.

Figurative Language-John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is a prolonged apostrophe to an ancient piece of Greek pottery on one side of which is the image of a maiden pursued by an amorous would-be lover. The situation presents a series of paradoxes rich in ambiguity. Keats does not use simile or metaphor in this poem.

Tone- The tone of “Ode to a Grecian Urn” is dignified and serious. This is exemplified in Keats’ use of language. Phrases such as, “What leaf-fring'd legend haunt about thy shape/Of deities or mortals, or of both,/In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?” show this tone.

Theme- “Ode to a Grecian Urn” has the themes of knowledge, culture, and innocence. The theme of innocence comes into play because the urn symbolizes innocence. It is never changing and is unaffected by the suffering and hardship that come with change. The theme of knowledge comes into play because the author is obviously in a melancholy mood and looks to the urn, thousands of years older than the narrator, for advice on what to do. The final theme or art comes into play because Keates goes so far as to suggest that the most powerful truths are to be found only in art.  

CONCLUSION

My initially reaction was not very far off. The poem is very lengthy. The poem was also created to be well structured. The poem is about a man analyzing, to a degree, an urn. Keats uses great imagery to describe the scenes depicted on the urn, but does not dive into enough detail such that the reader is left with no room to image the urn for themselves. Keats also makes good use of figurative language. The man does indeed reflect on the themes of time, nature, and innocence.

“The Wild Swans at Coole”, by William Butler Yeats

“The Wild Swans at Coole”, by William Butler Yeats

THE trees are in their autumn beauty,
The woodland paths are dry,
Under the October twilight the water
Mirrors a still sky;
Upon the brimming water among the stones
Are nine-and-fifty Swans.

The nineteenth autumn has come upon me
Since I first made my count;
I saw, before I had well finished,
All suddenly mount
And scatter wheeling in great broken rings
Upon their clamorous wings.

I have looked upon those brilliant creatures,
And now my heart is sore.
All's changed since I, hearing at twilight,
The first time on this shore,
The bell-beat of their wings above my head,
Trod with a lighter tread.

Unwearied still, lover by lover,
They paddle in the cold
Companionable streams or climb the air;
Their hearts have not grown old;
Passion or conquest, wander where they will,
Attend upon them still.

But now they drift on the still water,
Mysterious, beautiful;
Among what rushes will they build,
By what lake's edge or pool
Delight men's eyes when I awake some day
To find they have flown away?

REACTION

When first reading “The Wild Swans at Coole,” I felt at peace. Yeasts paints a vivid picture of magnificent animals taking the breath away from a young man in a beautiful setting. This gives a strong sense of awe and passion. The swans are perfectly harmonious, having synchronized flight and their swimming paths. I feel as though this poem must have only been written after the author witnessed some sort of spectacular event that caused some sort of realization.

PARAPHRASE

The trees look beautiful in the fall. Paths going through the woods are dry. In October around dusk, still water looks like the sky. On this full body of water and among the rocks are fifty-nine swans. I have come here to watch the swans for nineteen years. Before I could finish counting how many swans there were, they suddenly took flight and scattered away. I feel awed from watching this beautiful sight. I feel changed since the day I saw these swans take flight, their wings beating above me. Still playful, the swans swam in the pond, side by side, or fly in the air. The swans are happy. I wonder where they will travel to, whether from passion or conquest. But for now they are still swimming on the water, mysterious and beautiful. I wonder where they will build their nests. I wonder where they are when I awake some other day to find they are gone.

SWIFTT:

Syntax/Word Choice- “The Wild Swans at Coole” is written with five six-line stanzas, each written in a roughly iambic meter, with the first and third lines in tetrameter, the second, fourth, and sixth lines in trimeter, and the fifth line in pentameter, so that the pattern of stressed syllables in each stanza is 434353. The rhyme scheme in each stanza is ABCBDD. The poem uses specific words to give a sense of nostalgia. Phrases such as “Their hearts have not grown old;/Passion or conquest, wander where they will,/Attend upon them still.” create such a nostalgia.

Imagery- The author uses the image of swans all throughout the poem. This image represents what could have been. The image of the swans is very vivid and makes the read feel they can see the swans. The author also uses phrases such as, “The woodland paths are dry,/Under the October twilight the water/Mirrors a still sky;/Upon the brimming water among the stones” to paint a vivid scenery for the reader so that they feel as though they are present in the setting.  

Figurative Language- There is no usage of simile or metaphor in this poem. However, Yeats uses rhetorical question toward the end of his poem. The narrator is not satisfied with the way his life is going and questions if he will die unsuccessful and without accomplishing any of his goals. There is also personification in Yeats’ description of the swans, which are beautiful and seemingly in love. The swans are able to fly away; they have freedom where the man is stuck in the same, monotonous life.

Tone- Yeats writes “The Wild Swans at Coole” with a tone that can only be described as depressed and pessimistic. In the poem, the narrator is not satisfied with where his life has been going. This accounts for the main depressed tone. The swans’ freedom brings an ache to his heart accounting for the pessimistic tone because the narrator now feels as though nothing can change his life.

Theme- The theme Yeats presents in “The Wild Swans at Coole” is that people should to make the most of their lives. The narrator in the poem is not satisfied with his life, and while seeing these swans he realizes that his life is not what he wants. Yeats tries to show that humans shouldn’t waste their lives away and then regret past decisions.

CONCLUSION

After analyzing the poem I have realized that my initial reaction isn’t that far off. The autumn in the poem shows the man getting close to the end of his life. He has not accomplished his goals and is still unmarried at the age of 51. “The Wild Swans at Coole” compares a lonely man to mysterious swans. Every year the man goes to see the swans, but this year he goes with a heavy heart. The swans in the poem represent freedom. The man yearns for the freedom and simplicity that the swans’ lives include “The Wild Swans at Coole” is about fulfilling one’s dreams before it is too late, before they become mere dreams.

"The Oven Bird", by Robert Frost, 1/30/12

“The Oven Bird”, by Robert Frost 

There is a singer everyone has heard,
Loud, a mid-summer and a mid-wood bird,
Who makes the solid tree trunks sound again.
He says that leaves are old and that for flowers
Mid-summer is to spring as one to ten.
He says the early petal-fall is past
When pear and cherry bloom went down in showers
On sunny days a moment overcast;
And comes that other fall we name the fall.
He says the highway dust is over all.
The bird would sing and be as other birds,
But that he knows in singing not to sing.
The question that he frames in all but words
is what to make of a diminished thing.

REACTION

This poem is really confusing. The author is obviously talking about a bird while he is writing this poem. The bird is also singing some sort of song. The poem is structured into one stanza and doesn’t seem to have an obvious rhyme scheme. The poem seems to have a hidden meaning and the image of the bird seems to be very complex.

PARAPHRASE

Everyone has heard this singer, a loud mid-summer and mid-wood bird, who makes tree trunks sound again. The singer says that leaves are old and that to flowers mid-summer is to spring as one to ten. He says the early petal-fall has happened when pear and cherry blooms have come down in showers to where on sunny days there’s a momentary overcast; and then comes the other fall that we call fall. He says the highway dust is over everything. The bird would be like other birds, but that he knows in singing not to sing. The singer poses the question of what to make of a diminished thing without words.

SWIFTT:

Syntax/Word Choice- This poem is structured into one stanza. Frost uses long, complex sentences utilizing commas and semicolons. Frost has no structured rhyme scheme in this poem. Frost uses certain words throughout the poem to emphasize the setting and the specialness of the bird. Frost uses the words mid-summer and mid-wood to give the reader a time and location special to the poem. He then uses the phrase “The bird would sing and be as other birds,” to show that the bird is special and not like others. Frost also uses certain words such as “overcast,” “fall,” and “dust” to set the tone of the poem. Frost utilizes phrases such as he says or he frames to emphasize the unnatural sound of the ovenbirds call.

Imagery- Frost uses the image of a bird singing during mid-summer in the middle of the woods through the duration of the poem. The bird image is shown best in the second line when Frost says, “a mid-summer and a mid-wood bird”. The singing part of the image is best shown when Frost says, “that he knows in singing not to sing”.

Figurative Language- Frost uses a few examples of figurative language in “The Oven Bird”. For example, he uses simile when saying “Mid-summer is to spring as one to ten”. Frost also uses personification when he says that the bird has the ability to create complex thoughts at the end of the poem. Frost also uses overstatement when he says that the “pear and cherry bloom went down in showers”.

Tone- The tone of this poem is melancholy. The beginning of the poem starts off only slightly melancholy, but towards the middle and end of the poem the tone is strictly melancholy. Phrases such as “And comes that other fall we name the fall” and “what to make of a diminished thing” paint this tone very clearly.

Theme-The main theme of this poem is ovenbird’s song. This song is one as Frost says that asks “what to make of a diminished thing.” This is important because Frost is trying to show that all good things must end. He shows this by the image of the cherry blooms falling to the ground and the transition from summer to fall.

CONCLUSION

My initial reaction is not very different from my analysis. This poem is very confusing until it is reread under the correct pretense. The author is discussing a bird in this poem. The bird is also singing some sort of song. The poem is structured into one stanza and doesn’t seem to have a rhyme scheme. The poem seems to have a hidden meaning and the image of the bird seems to be very complex. This meaning is that all good things must come to an end so why should we sing about something that must end?

“Telephone Poles”, by John Updike, 1/29/12

“Telephone Poles”, by John Updike

They have been with us a long time.
They will outlast the elms.
Our eyes, like the eyes of a savage sieving the trees
In his search for game,
Run through them. They blend along small-town streets
Like a race of giants that have faded into mere mythology.
Our eyes, washed clean of belief,
Lift incredulous to their fearsome crowns of bolts, trusses, struts, nuts, insulators, and such
Barnacles as compose
These weathered encrustations of electrical debris¬
Each a Gorgon’s head, which, seized right,
Could stun us to stone.
Yet they are ours. We made them.
See here, where the cleats of linemen
Have roughened a second bark
Onto the bald trunk. And these spikes
Have been driven sideways at intervals handy for human legs.
The Nature of our construction is in every way
A better fit than the Nature it displaces
What other tree can you climb where the birds’ twitter,
Unscrambled, is English? True, their thin shade is negligible,
But then again there is not that tragic autumnal
Casting-off of leaves to outface annually.
These giants are more constant than evergreens
By being never green. 

REACTION

This poem is depressing and instills a certain fear into its reader. The poem creates an image of these telephone poles as some sort of monster. The poem seems to focus on how man has created something that totally contradicts the nature from which it was made. This contradiction is a major theme of the poem and it is shown in various images throughout the poem.

PARAPHRASE

They’ve been with us for a long time; they will outlast the elm trees. Our eyes, like the eyes of someone hunting for game, run through them. They blend along small town roads like giants that have faded into myth. We look up in disbelief and fear at the bolts, trusses, struts, nuts, insulators, and other parts that compose these electrical machines—each Gorgon’s head at the top of the pole could kill us. Yet they are made by us, and the spikes in the sides of them are made for men to climb on. The Nature of our construction fits the area better than the real Nature. What other tree could u climb that you could here, when unscrambled, English? They cannot provide shade, but they don’t cast-off leaves in the fall. These poles are not consistent than trees because they are never green.

SWIFTT:

Syntax- The author uses one stanza for this poem. Updike also uses very complex sentences separated by commas and dashes. The author also uses question marks in this poem. The poem seems to have no meter and is apparently a free verse poem.

Word Choice- The author uses words in such a way as to stress how unnatural the telephone poles are. For example, Updike capitalizes the word “Nature” to show that he is specifically talking about nature as though it were its own being. Updike also chooses specific words to show exactly just how much the telephone poles contradict nature.

Imagery/Figurative Language- The author uses a vast array of imagery and figurative language throughout the poem. The author uses similes throughout “Telephone Poles.” The first use of simile is when the author says “Our eyes, like the eyes of a savage sieving the trees/In his search for game,” and continues to use similes elsewhere. This initial use of similes creates the image of a modern day person with their eyes looking like that of a savage. Updike also uses allusion when referring to the “electrical debris” of the telephone poles as “a Gorgon’s head.” This creates the image of the electrical debris being a massive Gorgon’s head at the top of a telephone pole. The author also uses the image of the “birds’ twitter” to represent the words spoken over the phones, and also uses the image of the telephone pole as a tree that never losses or gains leaves to represent how much the poles contradict nature.

Tone- The tone of this poem is gloomy and surreal. The poem is both gloomy and surreal because throughout the poem Updike creates a grand image of the telephone poles as these larger than life giants which contradict nature. This is show brilliantly when Updike says, “They blend along small-town streets/Like a race of giants that have faded into mere mythology.”

Theme- The major theme of “Telephone Poles” is how these telephone poles have become something more than just telephone poles. This is a theme throughout the poem demonstrated when Updike says the poles are “Like a race of giants that have faded into mere mythology” It is then repeated when Updike says, “The Nature of our construction is in every way/A better fit than the Nature it displaces”.

CONCLUSION

My initial reaction was not far off from my reaction to the poem after analysis. The poem has a somewhat depressing tone, but it instills more of a feeling of awe instead of a feeling of fear into the reader. The poem does create the image of the telephone poles as larger than life, but not necessarily as monstrous. The poem does centralize around how man has created these things that have taken on their own mythological-like identity, and it uses various images to show this.

“On Reading Poems to a Senior Class at South High”, by D.C. Berry, 1/25/12

“On Reading Poems to a Senior Class at South High”, by D.C. Berry 
 

Before

I opened my mouth

I noticed them sitting there

as orderly as frozen fish

in a package. 

Slowly water began to fill the room

though I did not notice it

till it reached

my ears 

and then I heard the sounds

of fish in an aquarium

and I knew that though I had

tried to drown them 

with my words

that they had only opened up

like gills for them
and let me in. 

Together we swam around the room

like thirty tails whacking words

till the bell rang

puncturing

a hole in the door

where we all leaked out 

They went to another class

I suppose and I to home 

where Queen Elizabeth

my cat met me

and licked my fins

till they were hands again.

REACTION

This poem is very odd to say the least. It is obviously about a teacher or some author reading poetry to a group of high school students. The poem seems to show how the teacher and the students become immersed in the poetry and read it until the bell rings. Once the bell rings, the students leave the room, supposedly still immersed in the poetry and head to another class. The teacher/author goes home where his or her cat licks his or her hands. This poem is written in a structure that is more modernistic, and it utilizes modern language.

PARAPHRASE

Before I opened my mouth I noticed the students sitting there in an organized manor as is they were packaged. Slowly I began to become immersed in the poem, though I didn’t notice it until I began to hear the sounds of fish in an aquarium and then I realized that I had tried to overwhelm them with my words and that they had instead opened up to the words and let me in. Together we went on a trip with poetry like thirty little fish all contributing until the bell rang and caused all the students to leave and go to another class. I then went home and let me cat lick me until I came back to reality.  

SWIFTT

Syntax- The author uses very long, run-on sentences with only three periods throughout the entire poem. The author also does not use any commas or other forms of punctuation except for period.

Word Choice- The author chose to use the word “till” instead of until or ‘til. This is important because that is technically a form of slang which the author would have to use when talking to a teenage audience. The author also chose to use very simplistic words in this poem so that they would be understandable to modern teens.

Imagery- The author uses the image of an aquarium full of fish for most of the poem. The author does a fantastic job of making the reader feel as though they are the person reading poetry to a high school class. The author also makes use of imagery to make the reader feel as though they are being transformed into a fish and swimming.

Figurative Language- The author makes great use of metaphors. The first metaphor is of the students being like frozen fish in a package with represents how rigid they are. The author also uses hearing bubbles in an aquarium as a metaphor for the murmur of the students. The last two metaphors are the hole through the door and the author’s cat licking his “fins till they were hands again.” The author also uses simile when describing how the students open up like gills.

Tone-The tone for this poem is playful. The author starts out by essentially making a joke about the students being rigid like frozen fish. The author then uses a metaphor that was described in such a way that it is becomes playful.

Theme- The theme of this poem is education and a journey. The journey comes in when the author has to take the students from a rigid state about poetry to a more open state. The education theme comes into play because the author is teaching the students about poetry.

CONCLUSION

My initial reaction was not far off at all. This poem is very odd. Obviously some guest speaker has come in to read poetry to a group of high school students. The poem seems to show how the teacher and the students become immersed in the poetry and read it until the bell rings. They students also go on a journey with the speaker while reading the poem.  Once the bell rings, the students leave the room, supposedly still immersed in the poetry and head to another class. The speaker goes home where his cat licks his hands. This poem is written in a structure that is more modernistic, and it utilizes modern language.