The poem We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks focuses on what activities the troubled group of seven teenagers partake in to make them appeal cool. The symbolism, imagery and tone shown in, “We Real Cool” shows how losing one’s identity to become part of a uncaring group in adolescence and social norms will lead one to an early visit to the grave. Gwendolyn uses symbolism throughout her poem to get the readers to perceive the poem in an abstract way. In the subtitle, the word “golden” symbolises daytime and youth. This becomes an ironic name for the pool, because the wandering, carefree lives of the “pool players” seem to be anything but “golden” (line 1). By saying that the seven men “Lurk late,” the poem suggests that they are wandering around…
While in the poem “We Real Cool” the syntaxes are used in a different way than in “Sign for My Father, Who Stressed the Bunt”. I believe the breaks are more evident and have a bigger impact on how the story is told than the syntaxes in the other poem. The breaks impact the way the reader reads the poem and the pauses let you stop and think about each stanza. I believe that the presence of the syntaxes in each line in the poem put an emphasis on what they do to make them believe that they are “cool”. The breaks demonstrate that each specific thing that this group does to consider themselves cool is equally impactful, “We real cool. We / Left school” (1-2). The syntaxes also add to the structure of the poem and allow it to have that song type…
The poems “Hope” by Ariel Dorfman and “Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall display a theme relating to the tremendous love a parent displays for their children and the terrible feeling they experience when they sense their child is in grave danger. In “Hope” the narrator describes the son “missing / since May 8 / of last year” (766). In “Ballad of Birmingham” it describes the story of a mother giving her daughter permission to go to a place where she thinks is safe and in the end, dies in a church bombing that is racially motivated. There are many similarities in both these poems but the one that is clearly present is the grief of a parent when they sense their child is in danger. The authors of both poems are describing real life situations that have taken place in different societies. The grief that the author portrays by the parents is very much real and parents in similar situations can relate.…
The author uses imagery to illustrate and give the reader a clear understanding of his thoughts about injustice. Dunbar uses imagery by stating, “ Till it’s blood is red on the cruel bars” (line 9). This shows the bird’s relentless efforts to escape. The author includes this to relate the bird’s struggles and hardships to his own dealing with injustice. Another way Dunbar uses imagery to relate to injustice is by stating, “ When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore, When he beats his bars and he would be free; It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer he sends from his heart’s deep core”( lines 16-19). Here the author uses imagery to show the reader that even when the bird is in pain he still fights for freedom and justice. The author uses this piece of imagery to relate himself to the bird in the sense of that like the bird, the author fights for his freedom, but along the way is…
The tone of the poem is a combination of anger, despair, and sadness. Dunbar expresses his anger of having to hide his emotions.…
In the first stanza of the poem Murray uses imagery to paint a picture in the readers mind of a busy city coming to a halt, ‘Pitt Street is baked up for almost half a mile.’ At the end of the stanza Murray again uses imagery to make the readers see a man crying. People walk by him and see him crying but they do not stop him. The man in this poem is not crying of regret or remorse but to cleanse himself of all the bad things he has experienced.…
Lastly, Bryant tries to get across to readers that feelings are more important than reason. Death is often portrayed as being sad but the author feels people should forget the stereotypical reason for being sad and listen to the feelings of blessedness. "Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night, scourge to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust," is a good sample of following feelings. The poem says it is not…
The poem is set in Sydney on busy day that has been disturbed by the weeping of a single man. Repetition is used to enhance the fact that, “No one can stop him,”, as the Narrator describes. It becomes apparent that the reason his crying is not stopped is simply because of the way he cries, not with shame or pity, but with a mature dignity that stops any one from stopping him. The next few stanzas of the poem describe the awe, and even reverence that the observers feel towards this man’s weeping. The narrator describes how the crowd feels, “their minds/longing for tears as children for a rainbow,” describing how their fears of expressing emotion are now realized. This poem provides the insight into emotional expression by describing the feelings that the people feel when they are struck with realization of the loss of emotion in modern…
Whitman used repetition of words and phrases and his word choice portrayed a seemingly optimistic way of life in America. Using words like “singing,” “partying,” and “strong melodious songs” all have a positive air about them, which helps develop the writer’s perspective of America. The numerous occupations named in the poem additionally give a sense of appreciation for the possibilities in America, and gratitude for the ability to work and support a family, and in a sense, accomplish the American dream.…
Both Walt Whitman and Ralph Waldo Emerson believed strongly in originality and personal expression;although the different tactics that they used to get their message across were nothing short of contrasting.In Emerson’s case, he was vehemently opposed to a society that he saw to be oppressive and unimaginative. Emerson was convinced that all of modern human civilization was in collaboration to crush his uniqueness and subjugate him to a life of a faceless cog. “Society is in conspiracy against the manhood of everyone of its members.” (P. 153) Conversely, Whitman regarded the common man with much esteem and favoritism. In his epic poem, “Song of Myself” Whitman spoke of the working class with an unusual favoring and support of their ways and lifestyle. “The sun falls on the crisply hair and mustache, falls on the black of his polish’d and perfect limbs, and I behold the picturesque giant and love him.” (P.173) Whitman encouraged the reader to lead an original and unconfirmed life. He celebrated the common man and tells the reader to be happy with their life and social stature.…
The poem “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar is clearly stating that he wants to be free. This poem was published in 1895, and at this time conditions were horrible for African Americans. Dunbar felt trapped like the bird in the cage. There were not many educated African American men at this time, but Dunbar was an outstanding writer. This man wants to be free, and this theme is described through the explication of form, prosody, and symbolism.…
Thus William Blake gives a very tragic and moving view of London and its inhabitancies.The bleakness and the dreary world of London is portrayed here. Indeed (The concept of universal human suffering permeates through Blake's dolorous poem "London," which depicts a city of causalities fallen to their own psychological and ideological demoralization,)which depicts a city of the picture of the exploitation and vulnerability of innocence . Innocence is devastated again and again. It is as if that England has stagnated morally and this moral degradation clearly expresses itself in the form of physically impaired children. Though the poem is set in the London of Blake's time, his use of symbolic characters throughout the piece and anaphoric use…
Poetry is a powerful and moving form of stories, and it can have many different meanings throughout the poems, they can range from happiness to sadness and anger, which help set the mood of the author and how he/she is telling it. Main themes that are present are Racism, War, and Death and how they can be paired hand in hand and help reinforce the message of the Poem.…
In “Ode to a Nightingale,” the most evident characteristic of Romanticism is the feeling and emotion. This is portrayed since the beginning: “My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains / My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk, / Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains” (lines 1-3). The speaker feels as though he has been poisoned or drugged since he can not see the nightingale. The birds’ song has this paralyzing effect on him to where he feels as though his heart aches. It is as if he feels the nightingales’ passion. When he does realize where the song is coming from, he now wants to be drunk and longs to escape reality with the bird in the “world unseen” (14). “O, for a draught of vintage!” (11). Then in lines 55-60, his emotions are so overpowering that he now lets his imagination fully take over. He wants to be like the nightingale and feel no pain, but if he were to die, his ears would be of no use because he would not be able to hear the song of the bird.…
The tone of a poem has a major affect on how the poem is read and understood. The tone of a poem is based on how the speaker feels about a certain object. An old man who is close to dying is the speaker of the poem, and this is shown in lines 1-2: “I sit beside the fire and think/ of all that I have seen.” The tone of the speaker is depressed and morbid. This poem has a main theme of death so it makes sense that the tone would be depressing also. The tone is morbid because the speaker is talking about his death and the life that he has had. Evidence of this tone is in…