Preview

One Hard Life Poem Analysis

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
607 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
One Hard Life Poem Analysis
Brieanna Fredricks

One Hard Life

(A Discussion of the theme Life is Not Always Easy in Spoon River Anthology)

Nothing about life is easy; you work, you try, and sometimes you fail regardless of your efforts.Some people believe in reincarnation, others in some form of an afterlife, and some believe you only have one life. Believing that you’re only able to live one life could benefit the person because they take that idea and they accept it. In that acceptance they choose to live everyday as if it were there last, so that by their last breath they can say they had a good life, even with the many struggles and heartache. Most people live with the belief that we only have one life; although life is a gift with endless possibilities, it's
…show more content…
From an early age Francis was sickly, he contracted scarlet fever, which left his heart diseased. “I could not run or play in boyhood,” Francis’s life was restricted by disease and he missed out on so much. Although his life couldn't have been easy, it was only his to live, and the only one he was given. He spent much of his life missing out, restricted in movement, but somehow he happened to find love. He spent his last breath kissing, Mary, the woman he loved before his soul left his body. His life wasn't easy, some could even argue that it wasn’t a life worth living, but he made the best of what little he did have. Instead of dwelling on what he didn't have, he found Mary and he was happy, even if it couldn't last forever.

Unlike the first two poems, “Nellie Clark” and “Francis Turner” the poem Robert Southey Burke focuses more on the theme only being able to live one life while the others focus more on life not always being easy. In his epilogue, Robert discusses how he spent all of his money trying to elect A.D Blood as mayor only for him to stab in the back. After spending so much of his time trying to elect A.D Blood, he finds out that he’s a liar, that he’s untrue to his words. Robert put so much time and effort into a man that didn't deserve a second of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Nellie Clark Poem

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In life have you ever thought that no matter what you do all life is going to do is get worse? Have you ever had something done to you that you couldn’t or wouldn’t tell anyone because you were scared? In the book Spoon River Anthology there are many poems that show life was hard for people. Most of the people in Spoon River Anthology believe that they only had one life, believing this had many different effects on the people. Some people looked at it as a good thing and made the most of their life but, there were some people that it took negative effect on. Nancy Knapp, Nellie Clark, and Dora Williams all…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Waking Poem Analysis

    • 549 Words
    • 3 Pages

    ‘The Waking’ is a contemporary jazz piece written by American vocalist, Kurt Elling, and features Theodore Roethke’s 1954 poem of the same title. Released in 2007 on the album Nightmoves, Elling uses musical techniques to enhance the message of Roethke’s poem. However, in order to understand the reasoning behind the devices Elling has used, the meaning of Roethke’s poem must first be discussed.…

    • 549 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The wounded heart now enormous tune of sorrow, Skunk breath a force to linger tomorrow. Saint unreal a body-less per poster, Bound by force that will never divide as greater. Benevolent a flaunt of no remorse, Unmistakable tone unruly of course. Patch up the hole in your britches; water new soil, Be thankful thieves ravishes in turmoil.…

    • 57 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Unfortunately the relationship between the speaker and the mother in the poem is unclear as it is stated that her mother has passed away and is in a grave, which is shown here in the following excerpt “… into the grave!” but all throughout the poem she speaks of her mother’s courage, which is shown here “courage that my mother had. Went with her, and is with her still… if instead she’d left to me. The thing she took into the grave!–That courage like a rock” which is not typically something that is said by someone who didn’t have a good relationship with the person who’d passed…

    • 108 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Even as a kid she’d lived in a puzzle world, where surfaces were like masks, where the most ordinary objects seemed fiercely alive with their own sorrows and desires”…

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    on a journey and he can’t stop or sleep until he gets to the destination. “ And miles before I sleep, “ . The theme of this poem would be “ To never give up on your goal you had set “ . “ But I have promises to keep.” For the song “ Live Like You Were Dying “ was about Tim McGraw telling about his friend’s journey. The theme of the song would be “ To never give up and keep going” The similarities of the two texts is that they both describe a journey of two people.…

    • 112 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    One Today- Poem Analysis

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Richard Blanco is a Cuban- American poet who was given the oppurunity to write an inaugaration poem for Barack Obama's second swearing-in. He wrote a poem titled "One Today" that praised the good and unique things about the United States and also the everyday people who's daily routines help to make America the proud country that it is.…

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A tattoo is like poetry, because there is always more to the story than what meets the eye! The sonnet “First Poem for You” by Kim Addonizio is a riveting piece of poetry that uses symbolization to help guide the readers to understand the emotions and feelings the woman has towards her partner. Visual and tactile imagery used within this poem helps readers interpret the meaning of the poem. The theme is longevity and the true meaning of a relationship. In Addonizio “First Poem for You,” Addonizio utilizes literary elements to develop the story and detail a fictional character that is in love with a man that has permanent tattoos. Upon analyzing the symbols, visual imagery and theme throughout this poem the readers will better comprehend the poem to its entirety; these elements symbolize permanence, which is the meaning of the entire poem.…

    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What Saves Us and The Way of Tet by Bruce Weigl are two poems that find the small pockets of beauty in war amidst all of its’ ugliness and elaborates on that beauty with Weigl’s powerful and eye opening writing techniques. Weigl writes with painstaking care and every syllable, adjective, and break is surgically placed here and there to evoke specific emotions from the reader. Bruce Weigl approach to writing is captivating and pure.…

    • 1575 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Loving your daughter and she is the best thing that has ever happened to you and the hardest part is letting her go. In the song, “There Goes My Life” by Kenny Chesney it explains about how there was kid who just found out that him and his girlfriend are having a kid and he was nervous because he was one himself and as they had the kid which was a girl he realized that he loves his little girl so much and the hardest thing he’d have to do was let her go as she got older. The father was nervous at first but then he couldn’t imagine what it would be like without her and like every father he never wanted to lose her, or for her to grow up.…

    • 343 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Listening to Tim McGraw’s hit song: “Live Like You Were Dying,” I love the lyrics, “Like tomorrow was a gift and ya got eternity to think about what to do with it. . . . I hope you get the chance to live like you were dyin '” This song resonates with me because medically I…

    • 1166 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Poetry: Poem Analysis

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The works we studied within Creative Writing were all helpful in creating my own works to submit to the class. Throughout all of the reading, many of the works inspired me in different ways, whether it was short story plot ideas or word usage in the poems. While crafting my work for the final portfolio, I reviewed many of the poems from our poetry packet in an effort to find inspiration and to create new interesting images. I took the most inspiration for my formal poem, which I found most difficult to write. One of the poems that was most useful to me was Jilly Dybka’s “Memphis, 1976.” Dybka’s poem follows the sestina form; I also wrote my last poem in this form, so it helped to follow the form by looking at her poem as an example. Dybka’s…

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    About a Poem

    • 926 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “It’s A Woman’s World” written by Eavan Boland is a poem about how woman should embrace their strengths. It’s a Woman’s World” focuses on issues of female identity and how the contributions of women have been overlooked. The speaker of Eavan Boland’s poem, seems to intend irony with the title of this poem, she is not saying this is a woman’s world, but rather speaks of the world from the woman’s point of view. Boland shows her views that women, who are placed in less harsh jobs than the opposite sex, are by no means less important or have easier lives. Eavan Boland is telling woman by this poem to fight for equality, that men and woman have had it equally hard throughout history.…

    • 926 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the poem “To This Day” by Shane Koyczan he shows that people that get bullied constantly aren’t able to blow stuff off as easy as others. In the poem he shows that some people need motivation and help. He shows this by stating in the poem,”We are not abandoned cars stalled out… and if in some way we are don’t worry we only got out to walk and get gas”. Gas could symbolize getting help from someone they know and trust, or could be trying to get help with therapy or things of that nature. Another meaning could be that they need to get motivation to keep going from something.The dark background colors could mean that they need better things to happen to get motivation from.…

    • 127 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “With every broken bone I swear I lived” is one of the most repeated sentence in the entire song and, I believe, the one that resonates the most. In the song “I Lived” by OneRepublic, it appears that it is the story of a parent telling their child all of the wishes he or she has for them in their adventures and life. The song “I Lived” best applies to my life, not only because of my relationship with my family, but because of my personal beliefs as well. In the summer, my family made the brave and exciting decision to host an exchange student for a year.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays