Poetry V Short Stories

Contemporary poetry and traditional poetry are analogous and diverse in multiple ways. The poems “Vacation” by Rita Dove, and “Introduction to Poetry” by Billy Collins, are both modern poems that can be comparable to the traditional poem, “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. Many people also criticize traditional poetry, and write how they feel about it and what they think the meaning is. When explicating these poems, you start to learn the real meaning of each one. Contemporary poets appear to be more direct in their language, using fewer poetic devices than the traditional poets. Universal themes span across different time periods, however, the language used to convey these themes varies greatly. For example, in the traditional poems there is metaphor, structure, rhyme scheme, symbolism, personification, and imagery, whereas in the contemporary poems there are similes, and imagery.
“The Road Not Taken” has the theme of making decisions that are right for you individually not everybody else, because that will determine your future. While first reading the title of the poem, one cannot understand whether the road not taken refers to the road the narrator did not take, or the road other people have not taken. Once the poem is read, one can comprehend the actual meaning of the title and the poem itself. When Frost says “…and having perhaps the better claim, because it was grassy and wanted wear…” he is saying that not as many people have taken this pathway and that more people ought to use it. Later on he emphasizes that the roads worn about the same (Parini). In choosing the other path, he believes that the second one is less worn (Faggen). A very important line in the poem is “…Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference.” This line is significant because it is the ending of the poem and it explains that since the speaker took this path, it has changed his or her life. The selections that we make during our lives can have both positive and negative consequences that we have to face. These actions become decisions, once we understand the meaning of these decisions (Richardson). Despite the outcome of these choices, people should not be followers; they should be individuals who do what is best for them, not the rest of the world. Making our own decisions should be fairly simple, but this poem suggests that most human choices are irrational. Many Americans believe that nature provides the path to your future, whereas some people believe that God is the way (Faggen). This writing is also very personal to Frost, and can relate to his own life. The poem may be in reference to his friend Edward Thomas because when they went for walks, Frost believed that Edward would always choose the wrong path (Montiero). Frost uses many poetic devices in order to help explicate his poem. This poem is an example of an extended metaphor. It is comparing the situation this person is in, with the real life choice of what one would like to do in his or her future. Unlike the contemporary poems chosen, this poem has both structure and rhyme scheme to help create it. There are nine syllables in each line of the poem and it also uses iambic tetrameter. Iambic tetrameter is a line of the poem consisting of four metrical feet. The rhyme scheme that Frost uses is abaab format. In addition symbolism is a significant part of this poem. He is talking about a road that people are and are not taking, and that road symbolizes the way to their future. The road is also personified in the poem when he says “…because it was grassy and wanted wear…” The road cannot want wear, but by saying this he is inferring that the road had not been walked upon that often. As a traditional poet Frost uses many literary techniques in his poetry. When explicating the poem and using these poetic devices, one is able to find the true meaning of the poem.
“Vacation” by Rita Dove is a contemporary poem written about different people before takeoff. This poem is another extended metaphor, which is interesting because it shows how some literary techniques were used in Frost’s time as well as in the present. The metaphor for this poem is about how some people are “taking” off to their futures, and how different people’s futures have turned out due to their decisions. People take different routes in life but in the end they are all back together. The people represented in this poem have all chosen different directions in life, but they all end up on the same “flight.” Different people portrayed in this poem are “…rag tag nuclear families…the heeled bachelorette… [an] exhausted mother... [an] athlete… [and a lonely] executive…” All of these go into deeper descriptions so one can see how they have turned out due to their choices. The family that is spoken about is “bickering,” and the business man that is lonely, illustrate how sometimes decisions can have negative consequences. They have made these decisions and they may or may not be right for them. The single woman is trying to ignore the cry of the baby, and that baby’s mother is worn out from taking care of him or her. The single woman has not chosen what she wants for her life yet, and an inference can be made that she might not want to have kids if she is ignoring the wailing of the baby. The mother of the baby may be tired because babies are a large responsibility, but in the end she may be very happy to be a mother. The athlete is tired, but alert to what is going on around him. These decisions have impacted their lives in different ways. This flight is the “takeoff” to the rest of their lives. All of these examples of people portray how different people are due to their life decisions. The theme of “Vacation” and the theme of “The Road Not Taken” are congruent because they both come down to the different choices people make in their lives, and the consequences that come with those decisions. Even though the themes of these two poems are alike, the techniques used to generate the poems are diverse. In Frost’s poem, a person chose a road that he or she thought was different from the road other people chose, and in Dove’s poem people chose different paths to benefit their lives. People choose different paths in life base on what they want for themselves. “—A little hope...” is what these people are looking for in their decisions, and they are expecting that their choices will turn out how they want them to, but that is not always the case. In conclusion, this poem describes different people and how their decisions affect them later in life, and how decisions one makes now can impact their lives forever.
“Introduction to Poetry” is also a contemporary poem, and it states that one should explore a poem and art in general. When reading literature, one has to examine it piece by piece and change their perspective of it. Metaphor is also use as a literary technique in this poem. He compares a poem to the dangers of a bee hive when he states “…or press an ear against its hive.” This means that it might be difficult to understand a poem, but one can succeed despite the difficulties. When he says “…walk inside the poem’s room and feel the walls for a light switch,” he is comparing finding the meaning of the poem to feeling around a dark room for the light switch. It also reveals the feelings of uncertainty and frustration because one finds it difficult to explicate the poem. To find the literal meaning of a poem, people should not just skim it, but investigate it’s depths for the innermost meaning. Most people tear poems apart looking for one common meaning, instead of slowly trying to discover the meaning of the poem. This is shown with the contrast of tone in the last couple lines of the poem. When Collins says “…but all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it. They begin beating it with a hose to find out what it really means,” he is saying that people need to stop having a negative connotation towards poetry. Collins is urging readers to explore works of literature to discover what the poem means (Yau). As one can see, metaphor is a huge component in the meaning of this poem.
The literary devices used in traditional and contemporary poetry are both parallel and dissimilar. Both contemporary poems chosen use similes to help express what the poems are saying. When Collins says “…hold it up to the light like a color slide…” he is saying that one has to look at the poem clearly, by comparing it to trying to see a color slide. Dove compares that athlete in her poem to an alert seal getting ready to plunge into the water on command by saying “…listens perched like a seal trained for the plunge.” When one is in the airport waiting to board the plane, all of the seats are connected “like unfolding paper dolls.” That last reference is also imagery because one can create and image of all of the seats linked together and compare it to the connection of the paper dolls. Imagery is used all throughout “Vacation”, “Introduction to Poetry” and “The Road Not Taken.” In “Vacation,” one can picture the different people being spoken about throughout the poem. For example, when speaking about the athlete she uses the words …”one monstrous hand asleep on his duffel bag, listens, perched like a seal trained for the plunge.” You can depict how the athlete is sitting, asleep hanging off the edge of his seat. “Introduction to Poetry” also uses imagery throughout the entire poem. One can picture a mouse trying to run out of a maze when Collins states “…drop a mouse into a poem and watch him probe his way out.” “I want them to water-ski across the surface of a poem…” means that he wants them to not only skim the surface of the poem, but try to understand its central meaning. “The Road Not Taken” also uses excessive amounts of imagery to describe the poem. When pondering about “two roads diverged in a yellow wood…” one can picture someone standing in the forest with a fork in the road. “In leaves no step had trodden black,” he is saying that the leaves did not look compressed, so one can imagine a path where the leaves had just fallen and no one has had the chance to step on them. As one can see, unlike the chosen traditional poem both of the contemporary poems use similes, and all three of the poems use the literary technique of imagery.
Contemporary poetry and traditional poetry are analogous and diverse in theme and literary devices. The poems “Vacation” by Rita Dove, and “Introduction to Poetry” by Billy Collins, are both modern poems that use the literary devices simile, metaphor, and imagery. The traditional poem “The Road Not Taken,” also uses the literary techniques of metaphor and imagery. In addition this traditional poem also uses structure, rhyme scheme, symbolism, and personification. Many people also criticize traditional poetry, and write how they feel about it and what they think the meaning is. When explicating these poems, you start to learn the real meaning of each one. “Vacation” and “The Road Not Taken” both share the common theme of making decisions that will affect your life. As one can see, both traditional and contemporary poetry can be compared trough theme and literary techniques.