Night Crow

When I saw that clumsy crow
Flap from a wasted tree,
Over the gulfs of dream
Flew a tremendous bird
Further and further away
Into a moonless black,
Deep in the brain, far back.
By: Theodore Roethke

Theodore Roethke creates such full compassion in a rather short poem. The poem itself leaves the reader wondering what does the night crow stand for. It suggests through the poem that it is symbol with the usage of such lines like “deep in the brain.” It is more the clumsy of someone’s conscience than anything else. Roethke is a wonderful poet, strong in his writing, and sure in his ideas.

In the “Night Crow” symbolism is heavily used. Even from the title a reader can be clued in that this poem is not just simple but more complex. The poem talks about the difference between reality and imagination. “Over the gulfs of dream” allows us to understand that crow is seen in a dream and how it is a symbol of imagination. I would like to apprentice myself to Roethke for his usage of symbolizing imagination. It is such a free subject and I would be delightful to write about.

The Train

I like to see it lap the miles,
And lick the valleys up,
And stop to feed itself at tanks;
And then, prodigious, step

By Emily Dickinson





The poem is brilliant. The description of the train is inspiring and incredibly creative. Dickinson ability to engulf the reader is so dominant and ensuring. Though it takes a coupling of readings to understand the full context of the poem and the emphases placed through brilliance and inception. It is very captive and entraining to read.

Throughout this poem Emily Dickinson cleverly depicts the life of a train with the use of personification. The used of personification throughout her poem portrays the train performing humanlike behaviors to illustrates the trains motions in actuality. Dickinson describes the train as it “lick[s] up the valleys” and feed[s] itself at a tank. These activities do not mean the train is actually licking the valleys and feeding itself out of a tank. Dickinson creatively describes the act of the train moving through the valley blissfully and quickly, while occasionally stopping to fuel its engine to continue down the road. By illuminating the trains activity with human like characteristics, the author keeps the reader’s full attention as the concept of the train becomes more relate able to the audience. The use of personification throughout a piece can truly captivate the audience’s attention, while also bringing life to a piece.