Park Bench

“I beg a dime for dinner –
You got a butler and maid.
But I’m walkin’ up!
Say, ain’t you afraid”
--Langston Hughes

“Park Bench’s” narrator is a homeless man talking to a wealthy audience. He talks of how he “lives on a park bench” but can see Park Avenue in the distance. He then compares himself to the wealthy, how he has to “beg a dime for dinner” while they have a “butler and maid.” While the poem is relatively short, only three stanza, it has great composition. It’s meaning and depth or endless making it beautifully written.


Hughes creates a story, character, and plot in a relatively poem. His ability to create a in-depth character in a short time is remarkable. From this poem the reader can easily see that the narrator is homeless, needs dinner, and want to eventually live on Park Avenue. But it is not just the hard facts that makes the narrator, it is also the ability see his mood, tone, and dreams. This poem shows how a narrator who is reader friendly is beneficial. Hughes is a great poet to apprentice.

Why I Went to College

“If you don’t,
My father said,
You better learn
To eat soup
Through a straw,
‘cause I’m gonna
Break your jaw”
-Martin Espada

“Why I Went to College,” is a Haiku that at this time of my life I can relate to. From this poem you can infer that the father is strict and pushing for an educational route for his son. Also this poem gives a humors out look of Espada’s future and a funny reason why he decide to go to college. Without the title this poem would be lacking a lot of sense and could be seen in a more serious, abusive way.


This is a good poem to apprentice myself to because it says so much in only a few words. The length of each line only consist of three words making them relatively short, however his ability to express a though through each line is brilliant. Also Espada doesn’t use punctuation at the end of each line allowing for a more fluent reading and also allowing for the lines which do have punctuation to more dominant. The poem is relatable, humors, and witty all wrapped up in one.

Two Sunflowers Move in the Yellow Room.

"Ah, William, we're weary of weather,"
said the sunflowers, shining with dew.
"Our traveling habits have tired us.
Can you give us a room with a view?"

They arranged themselves at the window
and counted the steps of the sun,
and they both took root in the carpet
where the topaz tortoises run.

BY: William Blake


“Two Sunflowers Move in the Yellow Room,” is a terrific example of personification at its finest. The Sunflowers, weary of rain are looking for a “room with a view” where they can take “root in the carpet.” Blake also does great jobs with catchy phrases and brilliant imagery. This poem can easily be enjoyed by any age, making it very versatile. William Blake created an allusion of humanistic sunflowers by applying detailed traits to them.

Personification is a useful technique that can be applied to poetry. Personification is the attribution of human characteristics to a non-human object. Blake applies this technique throughout, “Two Sunflowers Move in the Yellow Room,” by express human traits in sunflowers. They speak, and travel just as a pair of people would. By giving the sunflowers human characteristics Blake allows for them to become more relatable to the reader. These non-human character essentially resemble something very relatable that the reader can significantly connect easier with them. This technique is easily applicable and readers respond well to it.

Nani

I could have been, was. Her insides speak
Through a hundred wrinkles, now more
Than she can bear, steel around her,
Shouting, then. What is this thing she serves?

She ask me if I want more.
I own no words to stop her.
Even before I speak sherves
By: Rios

Rios has beautiful writing form. In “Nani” he only composes the end of each line with one of six words, this is called a sestina. This piece is carefully crafted, you can see Rios’ idea within every line right down to every word. His diction is impeccable. Also this poem is full of the Hispanic culture. It talks about the food, and words such as “arroz” helps the reader understand that it is Hispanic. Also there’s a lot of symbolisms, he talks about the mama that keeps serving him more and more food, but this is also a symbol of her sharing knowledge with him, and how her knowledge is vast.

There is much technical form to learn from Rios. This poem, being a sestina, takes great effort to write, and takes a lot of time. Throughout the poem the six key words are not repeated until all the other words have, and then the last word in the group is repeated to start the nest group; abcdef, faebdc, cfdabe. This ordering of words could be easily applied to my own work; I want to chalnge myself to write a sestina, but also playing around with the order of the words to create my own scheme.

Dreams of Suicide

BY: William Meredith
I
I reach for the awkward shotgun not to disarm
You, but to feel the metal horn,
Furred with the downy membrane of dream.
More surely than the unicorn
You are the mythical beast

This passage consumes the reader with thoughts of suicide. It complete transform the reader’s mindset to the mindset of the writer. Meredith speaks for three different writers you have committed suicide throughout the poem. In the specific passage the speaker dreams of being Ernest Hemmingway, who killed himself with a shotgun. The speaker grabs the “metal horn” of the shotgun and then turns to a beast once died to symbolize the unique talent that Hemmingway possess, “More surely than the unicorn/ you are the mythical beast.” This passage’s embodies the poems ideas of tragic ending for an array of talented authors.

William Meredith is a strong poet. He embodies the greats before his time and also adds his own spin on everything he creates. In “Dreams of Suicide,” Meredith takes three poems and compiles them into one by their common theme of, suicides of writers. Being able to dedicate a poem in the memory of three writers who have committed suicide is something amazing. It takes great skill and his ability for all seriousness shines through. By writing this poem Meredith is not only honoring three great writers but also drawing awareness to suicide. The technique of dedicating a writing piece to a cause is something I want to apprentice myself to.

The Soldier

By: Rupert Brooke

If I should die, think only this of me
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed
A Dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware

“The Soldier” illuminates the true passion and commit a soldier possesses for their country, in this case England. That extreme loyalty can be applied and acknowledged throughout history and around the world. This passage represents the nobility of a soldiers death and the pure honor a solider dies with, carrying his cause even after death. “In that rich earth a rich dust concealed,” signifies the honorable traits a solider dies with and then after carries into his death bed; and “That is forever England,” implies that’s no matter the earth in which the soldier is buried in, even if the land is over taken by an opposing country, that earth will always be England. This passage speaks strongly to the patriotic side of any reader. Even if England isn’t their nationality, the reader is simply moved by the peace from the strong national pride presented.

One tactic the author uses is his ability to use a specific example to spark the ambitions of others with different interests. By explaining the soldier’s genuine pride, spirit, and passion for his country ignites a fire within the reader to build a similar form of genuine pride, and passion for something within their own life. The attitude of pride and belonging to something greater than yourself is a good positive emotion that many desire. This technique intrigues the reader to continue to read the passage, in addition to feeling engaged in the reading. Ultimately, with the use of the method, the reader feels initiative to build pride and a similar connection with something in their life.

Seasons

Seasons play a role in literature by connecting unconscious concept to developing stories. Each season contains a specific conation associated with it that corresponds with natural feelings. Winter correspond with “old age and resentment and death,” while summer is justified by “adulthood and romance and fulfillment and passion.” Notice, in the natural world these seasons exists in opposing time frames with extreme differences in climate. This concept carries over into literature where the feeling they portray is just as contradictory as in the natural world. Spring radiates a joyful feeling of “childhood and youth.” Naturally these joyful feelings are hard wired into your minds and heart due to the blossoming of plants and expansion of life providing a feeling of a new start. Readers logically associate autumn “with decline and middle age and tiredness but also harvest.” While leaves fall of trees and things slowly die off autumn is portrayed as decreasing time period as while as thanks and celebration for another year’s harvest. This directly connected why Thanksgiving is in autumn, during a time of thankfulness before a time of hardship and little comes with winter. Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio by James Wright illuminates on the concepts presented that seasons render specific feelings associated with that season’s duration of time. Throughout the poem the author uses the tactic of autumn’s expected climax of the year. Wright relates this time to the infamous football season in Martins Ferry, Ohio. He explains the parents and fans overwhelming happiness, appreciation, and praise for their star athletes that gain saint status. These exhilarating emotions parallel that of the infamous harvest and all the excitement included with that yearly activity. Just as farmers worked hard to plant, and harvest their crops these athletes trained vigorously to excel during their season, ultimately acting as their time to harvest.