An Everlasting Anthology of Love Poems

“In and Out of Time”

by

Nicole Berrow-James

Table of Contents

Introduction ………………………………………. 1

Explanation of poems …………………………….… 2-8

Works Cited ………………………………………… 9

I Carry Your Heart

EE Cummings …………………………………... 10

Love is Enough

William Morris …………………………………. 10

Sonnet 116

William Shakespeare …………………................ 11

Petals

Amy Lowell …………………………….………. 11

Reluctance

Robert Frost …………………………………….. 12

Time does not bring relief

Edna St. Vincent Millay ………………………... 13

When You Are Old

William Butler Yeats …………………………… 13

In and Out of Time

Maya Angelou ………………………………….. 14

An anthology is defined as a collection of literary works, originally of poems. My

anthology consists of a collection of love poems. I truly believe people are always able to

express themselves through writing. Sometimes it is more difficult to say what you mean to say, therefore writing helps you express exactly what is on your mind. I chose love poems as the basis of my anthology because I feel as though love has many different forms and is not always understood. Most people believe the idea of love consists of two people in love, marriage, children and family, but there is so much more behind the idea of “love” than most people imagine or can see. Love is not always associated with happiness and I chose the collection of poems based on this idea. Poets have written about love as early as Shakespearean days and continue to present day such as Maya Angelou. Love has existed through all time and I believe an anthology of love poems would be very effective in demonstrating to readers that over generations of time, the same basic idea of love is sought out throughout time.

My true motivation for choosing the basis of my anthology was due to the fact that I

recently got married and a poem was read aloud at my wedding. I felt as though all the vows I

wrote could not explain how I really felt towards my husband. I researched some love poems and

I found a collection of poems I had to choose from. I based my anthology on the collections of

poems I read over and over again in order to choose the perfect poem for our vows. The

particular poem in which I honestly felt expressed exactly what I wanted to say to my husband

was “I Carry Your Heart With Me” by EE Cummings. In the poem, Cummings writes,

I fear no fate (for you are my fate my sweet)i want

no world (for beautiful you are my world my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

When I read these particular lines from the poem, my husband told me afterwards that they

meant the most to him. Cummings speaks of a fate in which most people fear because it is pre-

determined and the idea of a pre-destination fears many people. These lines of the poem help

relax the reader when they understand the relationship between the two lovers and the fear that

subsides with the idea of finding a fate that is meant to be. A fate that is comfortable and

reassuring. I think this particular poem is a wonderful beginning for two people in love to read

and enjoy together. It will help them to understand how one should feel if they are truly in love.

Love is Enough is a poem written by William Morris and is included in my anthology. I

chose this particular poem because it is a reflection of what love should demonstrate. Love is in

and of itself enough for a person to endure and experience without any explanation. I think this

poem demonstrates this very fact to a clear point. Morris writes,

And this day draw a veil over all deeds passed over,
Yet their hands shall not tremble, their feet shall not falter:
The void shall not weary, the fear shall not alter
These lips and these eyes of the loved and the lover.

I think Morris is trying to convey the idea that marriage should not be a time for two people to be

nervous or fear. When he writes, “draw a veil over all deeds passed over,” I think he literally

references the veil from a wedding as if a woman should pull over the veil and forget all the bad

that has come before the very day of her wedding. Instead of thinking of the parts of the

relationship that would make you question getting married, you should focus on putting those

behind you and worrying about what lies ahead. This is a perfect poem for a wedding or for a

couple to read prior to marriage. It is a prelude of what is to come in a relationship in a way.

Shakespeare was a poet who was very open in writing about love. In Sonnet 116,

Shakespeare writes about the strong and everlasting love between two people.

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove.

O no! it is an ever-fixed mark

I think Shakespeare is trying to convey the message that true love withstands all obstacles. He

says love is not true love if it changes through all the trials and tribulations of life. This poem is

reassuring for those in love who have already crossed the threshold of marriage. It is the prelude

to an ever lasting love trying to reassure all lovers that true love does exist and continues to exist

when it survives through the good and bad. It does and always will mark its place on the soul and

hearts of lovers.

Petals by Amy Lowell is a poem in which love is compared to that of a flower. Flowers

often die as does love at times, but the petals on a flower that live on are enjoyed for years to

follow.

Petal by petal the flower of our heart;

The end lost in dream,

They float past our view,

We only watch their glad, early start.

Lowell describes how we often look at love and are fooled by love because of the wonderful

beginning we all enjoy. At times we focus on how we feel at the beginning of love but not

enough about the journey of love over the years. Lowell describes this relationship keenly when

she writes, “we only watch their glad, early start.” Although the petals may drift away like that

of love, the “fragrance still stays.” Love can alter and drift at times but the long everlasting and

endearing love will continue to exist in the heart throughout eternity.

While years hurry on,

The flower fared forth, though its fragrance still stays.

Reluctance by Robert Frost is a poem included in my anthology due to its reference to the

end of love. Frost describes love as a season. We undergo seasons each and every year but

seasons end and Frost describes this to that of love. At times love ends by death and Frost

describes this death as the end of a season. The reader can imagine the approach of the death of a

season.

The leaves are all dead on the ground,

Save those that the oak is keeping

To ravel them one by one

Frost describes the season ending and the beginning of another season. When love ends it is not

always the death of love altogether. Another season begins love often does. Frost compares

accepting the end of a season to accepting the end of love. To some, it may seem as though life

has ended when a love ends, but Frost does a phenomenal job in showing that new beginnings

arrive just as seasons do.

Ah, when to the heart of man

Was it ever less than a treason

To go with the drift of things,

To yield with a grace to reason,

And bow and accept the end

Of a love or a season?

Time does not bring relief by Edna St. Vincent Millay is a poem written by a woman

scorned from love or saddened because of the death of a loved one. I chose this particular poem

to include in my anthology because it demonstrates the strength of love. We are often times

blurred by the vision of everlasting and “perfect” love, but it is clear from this poem that love

also ends at times. I thought by including this poem in my anthology it would show that love is

just as effective through the highs and lows. Millay writes of a love that ended but left a scar on

her heart.

Time does not bring relief; you all have lied

Who told me time would ease me of my pain!

I miss him in the weeping of the rain;

I want him at the shrinking of the tide;

Millay speaks to all readers who have ever said the pain would go away after a love has ended in

heartache. It is not clear if the love has ended due to separation or ended due to death. In the end

the same heartache is felt because you miss a love that no longer exists. Either way, the poet

demonstrates how difficult the memory of a terminated or lost love can be. Time does not heal

the pain.

When You are Old is a poem written by William Butler Yeats which explains the love

between a man and woman over years of life. Yeats writes to the deceased as if she is still alive.

He explains how many have loved this individual but one particular man loved her more than

anything else. This is a perfect addition to this anthology because it demonstrates the longevity

of love between two individuals.

How many loved your moments of glad grace,

And loved your beauty with love false or true,

But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,

And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

Yeats describes this endearing love between two people which existed on a level beyond the

surface of love. These two individuals were connected as soul mates and the love existed passed

that of life. This particular poem is a prime example of an everlasting love that ends due to death

but continues on in the spirit and soul of two individuals.

As I try and put an end to my collection of poems, I thought of an ending love poem I

heard and was most inspired by one day. A poem I was most intrigued by was, “In and Out of

Time” by Maya Angelou. When I read this poem, I felt as though it was an ending to a long and

enduring love; an ending that came about by death, but not by separation. Angelou writes,

The sun has come.

The mist has gone.

We see in the distance …

our long way home.

I was always yours to have.

You were always mine.

We have loved each other in and out of time.

In the lines, “the sun has come. The mist has gone,” I believe the sun symbolizes the beginning

of love, while the mist symbolizes the idea of love coming to an end although it can and will live

on in your heart. She writes, “I was always yours to have. You were always mine. We have loved

each other in and out of time,” as if she is no longer his to have or he is no longer hers to have. I

believe this references the fact that one of the lovers has died and the love continues to live on

despite death. When Angelou refers to the persons loving each other in and out of time, this

references loving a person while they are still alive yet loving them just as much when they die.

Works Cited

1. Cummings, E.E. “I Carry Your Heart With Me.” Poem Hunter.<http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-carry-your-heart-with-me-2/>.

2. Frost, Robert. “Reluctance.” Poem Tree. .

3. Lowell, Amy. “Petals.” Poetry Online. .

4. Madea’s Family Reunion. Dir. Tyler Perry. Perf. Tyler Perry, Blair Underwood. Twentieth Century Fox. 2006.

5. Millay, Edna St. Vincent. “Time does not bring relief.” Sonnets. .

6. Morris, William. “Love in Enough.” Poem Hunter..

7. Shakespeare, William. “Sonnet 116.” Shakespeare Online..

8. Yeats, W.B. “When You Are Old.” PotW.org. <http://www.potw.org/archive/potw12.html>.

I Carry Your Heart With Me by EE Cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Love Is Enough by William Morris

Love is enough: though the world be a-waning,
And the woods have no voice but the voice of complaining,
Though the skies be too dark for dim eyes to discover
The gold-cups and daisies fair blooming thereunder,
Though the hills be held shadows, and the sea a dark wonder,
And this day draw a veil over all deeds passed over,
Yet their hands shall not tremble, their feet shall not falter:
The void shall not weary, the fear shall not alter
These lips and these eyes of the loved and the lover.

Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

               Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

               Or bends with the remover to remove:

O no! it is an ever-fixed mark

               That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

               Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.

Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

               Within his bending sickle’s compass come:

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

               But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me proved,

               I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Petals by Amy Lowell



Life is a stream

On which we strew

Petal by petal the flower of our heart;

The end lost in dream,

They float past our view,

We only watch their glad, early start.



Freighted with hope,

Crimsoned with joy,

We scatter the leaves of our opening rose;

Their widening scope,

Their distant employ,

We never shall know. And the stream as it flows

Sweeps them away,

Each one is gone

Ever beyond into infinite ways.

We alone stay

While years hurry on,

The flower fared forth, though its fragrance still stays.

Reluctance by Robert Frost

Out through the fields and the woods
And over the walls I have wended;
I have climbed the hills of view
And looked at the world and descended;
I have come by the highway home,
And lo, it is ended.

The leaves are all dead on the ground,
Save those that the oak is keeping
To ravel them one by one
And let them go scraping and creeping
Out over the crusted snow,
When others are sleeping.

And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,
No longer blown hither and thither;
The last lone aster is gone;
The flowers of the witch-hazel wither;
The heart is still aching to seek,
But the feet question 'Whither?'

Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?

Time does not bring relief by Edna St. Vincent Millay

Time does not bring relief; you all have lied
Who told me time would ease me of my pain!
I miss him in the weeping of the rain;
I want him at the shrinking of the tide;
The old snows melt from every mountain-side,
And last year's leaves are smoke in every lane;
But last year's bitter loving must remain
Heaped on my heart, and my old thoughts abide.
There are a hundred places where I fear
To go - so with his memory they brim.
And entering with relief some quiet place
Where never fell his foot or shone his face
I say, 'There is no memory of him here!'
And so stand stricken, so remembering him.

When You are Old by W.B. Yeats

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,

And nodding by the fire, take down this book,

And slowly read, and dream of the soft look

Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,

And loved your beauty with love false or true,

But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,

And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

And bending down beside the glowing bars,

Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled

And paced upon the mountains overhead

And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

In and Out of Time by Maya Angelou

The sun has come.
The mist has gone.
We see in the distance...
our long way home.
I was always yours to have.
You were always mine.
We have loved each other in and out of time.
When the first stone looked up at the blazing sun
and the first tree struggled up from the forest floor
I had always loved you more.
You freed your braids...
gave your hair to the breeze.
It hummed like a hive of honey bees.
I reached in the mass for the sweet honey comb there....
Mmmm...God how I love your hair.
You saw me bludgeoned by circumstance.
Lost, injured, hurt by chance.
I screamed to the heavens....loudly screamed....
Trying to change our nightmares to dreams...
The sun has come.
The mist has gone.
We see in the distance our long way home.
I was always yours to have.
You were always mine.
We have loved each other in and out
in and out
in and out
of time.

Approaching the edge of Sentimentality

I found this weeks poems more effective than previous poems we have read for the very reason of sentimentality. I think too many writers lose sight of their emotion when writing and sometimes that very emotion is what makes writings, especially poetry, so very effective. When a reader sits down and begins to read a poem that is calling out for attention and compassion, they are drawn to that poet on a different level than any other type of poetry. A particular poem I was fond of in this weeks collection of poems was Plath’s, “Daddy.” I was partially drawn to this poem for personal reasons and personal feelings I have towards my father. I don’t think Plath was successful in avoiding sentimentality in this particular poem. Certain stanzas and lines of her poetry speak to the reader as if she was saying them directly to whoever is reading the poem at that very instance.

Daddy, I have had to kill you.
You died before I had time---

I think Plath was very unsuccessful at avoiding sentimentality and pours her heart out on a personal level when she writes:

Bit my pretty red heart in two.
I was ten when they buried you.
At twenty I tried to die
And get back, back, back to you.
I thought even the bones would do.

In order for a writer to successfully avoid sentimentality, they have to be effective at keeping the reader out and not letting the reader in his/her state of mind emotionally. Plath had a personal relationship with the reader and connected with the reader.

A poem in which the poet was able to successfully avoid sentimentality, in my opinion, is Anne Sexton’s, “The Truth the Dead Know.” In this poem Sexton was able to convey an emotion to the reader, yet not overdo it causing and she was able to avoid the use of sever emotion to make her connection with the reader. She writes to a dead figure, although it is a broad reference. I think she was able to keep her distance from the reader yet still get her point across. In my opinion this was especially apparent in the third stanza.

My darling, the wind falls in like stones
From the whitehearted water and when we touch
we enter touch entirely. No one’s alone.
Men kill for this, or for as much.

To some level she connects with the reader emotionally and by reading these words, I almost felt as if I was there experiencing the touch as she did. However, she does not have that personal sentiment that Plath had all throughout her poem. Plath invited the reader into her mind while Sexton explains her feelings and almost gives the reader the opportunity to connect with her and experience her poem on a different level. The reader can become part of the poem, while Plath draws the reader to her mind and her sentiment as if the reader enters Plath’s mind and can understand her thoughts directly.

There is a direct and indirect difference between the two poems in the way in which they connect with the reader. Plath is more direct while Sexton uses an indirect way of connecting.

Beats vs. NY School

The poem from the Beats period which particularly interested me the most was Gregory Corso's "Marriage." I think the poem was a bit long, but the lines ran together as if the writer was telling a story about a man contemplating the thought of marriage. It was very interesting and the I was able to completely understand it by reading through the poem once. The first three lines of the poem grabbed my attention and from the beginning I was intrigued. Being a married woman, I think I was easily drawn to the poem because of the first stanza.

Should I get married? Should I be good?
Astound the girl next door with my velvet suit and faustus hood?
Don't take her to movies but to cemeteries
tell all about werewolf bathtubs and forked clarinets
then desire her and kiss her and all the preliminaries
and she going just so far and I understanding why
not getting angry saying You must feel! It's beautiful to feel!
Instead take her in my arms lean against an old crooked tombstone
and woo her the entire night the constellations in the sky-

It was as if the writer was insisting that getting married means you are doing the right thing and being good. I particularly enjoyed the first line because it made me want to read the answer to the mentioned question. The lines of the first stanza and throughout the poem ran together smoothly mostly because they were not divided by commas as most lines are. To the reader it was a continuous line or story.

The poem that intrigued me the most from the New York School Poets selection was John Ashbery's "Paradoxes and Oxymorons." What drew me to this poem was the first stanza just like Corso's poem "Marriage." The first stanza of Ashbery's poem spoke of the poem and it was a very interesting way of drawing the reader.

This poem is concerned with language on a very plain level.
Look at it talking to you. You look out a window.
Or pretend to fidget. You have it but you don't have it.
You miss it, it misses you. You miss each other.

Ashbery lets the reader know what he or she is about to read within the first line of his poetry. I thought this was an interesting way of catching the readers attention by getting straight to the point. Corso's poem was similar to this by drawing the readers attention by asking a question. The question was not directed towards the reader but it was still able to catch the attention of the reader because he/she wants to find the overall answer to the proposed question. I think Ashbery and Corso were both very experienced by using a strong first stanza to grab the readers attention and follow through with the remainder of the poem. I enjoyed both poems particularly because they were easy to understand and used "plain" language to convey their thoughts. Plain language is best understood, in my opinion, because I can easily interpret the writing.

The Poetics of PlainSpeech

Free verse is defined as a term that describes various styles of poetry that are not written using strict meter or rhyme but is still recognizable as poetry. At times, poets deviate from the "normal" scheme of poetry by writing freely. I think most readers and most people in general have the idea that poetry consists of rhyming patterns and a style recognized as Modernism. Upon reading the poems of this week, I noticed there are many more poems than I previously thought that consist of free verse. I can relate to these poems much more than other poems for the mere fact that they are easier to understand and the style of writing is to the point.
For instance in Philip Larkin's poem, "This Be The Verse," Larkin uses a rhyme scheme and alliteration to emphasize his use of poetic elements. He tells a short story and writes in stanzas with the last stanza consisting of metrical variation. Any reader will be able to read his work and understand it is a poem because of the poetic elements he incorporates into his writing. His poem was to the point and much easier to interpret than previous poems I have read that consist of the Modernism style of poetry.
I think when poets write of what they feel without using a hidden meaning, it makes their poetry all the more effective and comprehensible. I think most readers would agree that it is more effective to get to the point than to have a message that most people cannot understand. On the other hand, part of what makes poetry so effective is the fact that each individual reader can make his or her own meaning of the poem. A poem can mean anything you want it to mean when it is not straight to the point. I enjoy free verse more than any other style of poetry because I find more meaning from the poetry when it is straight forward and to the point.

Figurative Language

This week's selection of poems focuses on the Black Arts Movement as well as the Harlem Renaissance Era. I particularly enjoyed reading the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes. His entire poem is focused on metaphors, however he clearly gets his point across to the reader. Hughes poem focuses on the definition of a dream in his perspective. He writes,
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
In this line Hughes is comparing a deferred dream to a raisin in the sun by asking the question if it dwindles and becomes smaller over time. It is as if he is saying that a dream deferred will over time become less and less of a dream and not be as big of a dream if it continues to be deferred and not followed through with.
He then compares a deferred dream to a sore that festers and then runs. By this I think he is directly comparing the deferred dream to something that worsens or becomes more aggravated over time and then suddenly takes off.
Hughes asks, Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over - like a syrupy sweet? Hughes gives the upside to a deferred dream by comparing it to a syrupy sweet which the reader can interpret to be a positive ending to a deferred dream or a dream accomplished. His previous comparison followed by the "syrupy sweet" is that of rotten meat. I believe that Hughes views a deferred dream as either a positive obsession in which you can make the best out of by following through with it or a negative obsession in which the dream will continue to be just a dream that is never fulfilled.

The Influence of Others

I believe many poets obtain their ideas and thoughts from previous poetry. Many literature pieces today are "inspired" or "influenced" by literature of the past. In reading the poems of this week, I focused much attention to Robert Frost and his theme of "Nature." In his poem, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," he references nature indirectly throughout the entire poem. He writes about the frozen lake, the woods filling up with snow, a house in the village. All of these references are directly related to the theme of nature. Much like that of Blake from the previous poems we read such as, "From Songs of Experience," where Blake writes about evening dew, dewy grass, ancient trees, "O Earth O Earth return!" Frost like Blake express their writings and thoughts with reference to nature and the "natural world." I think Frost like other peots realized the effectiveness of previous poets works and was directly influenced by it.
Another poet who seems to reference the theme of nature in his poem is E.E. Cummings in "All in Green Went My Love Riding." Cummings writes of the silver dawn, white water, a gold valley, riding the mountain down and a green mountain. I noticed when reading this poem that Cummings referenced the "silver dawn" more so than any other thought of nature. The last line of the first, fifth, ninth, and thirteenth stanza reads, "into the silver dawn." It is a direct reference to the theme of nature once again. I think Cummings like Frost was influenced by previous poets writings of nature. The nature theme seemed to be popular in poetry and many poets from the later years were able to pick up on the popularity of this "natural world" theme and started to write about it after seeing its effectiveness.
I think in all writing it is hard not to be influenced by the writings of others. I first became interested in writing because of authors I have been fascinated with. To say a poet or a writer becomes a writer/poet just because they feel like it, is injust. Most thoughts and ambitions come from somewhere and for writers, in my opinion, it is safe to say they are definitely influenced by the works and writings of others.

Interpretation of The Snow Man by Stevens

The poem I chose to write about this week is “The Snow Man” by Wallace Stevens. The audience is specifically directed to the cold-hearted individuals who tend to focus on the outside beauty rather than the beauty that lies within.

The language is casual which makes it easier for the audience to understand and interpret. I think the tone of the poem is rather melancholy. The writer focuses on the beautiful aspects of winter that the naked eye tends to view and pay attention to rather than the underlying pain of the damage caused to the land. The poet seems to be writing in the midst of emotion rather than at some distance. It seems as if he is angry with those who look at winter and see nothing but the images of frost and trees crusted with snow rather than the underlying hurt of it all. It is as if he has a personal vendetta against those who focus on the outside rather than the inside. I don’t think the poem warrants two readings. It is well written and one reading is enough to understand the content of the poem, however a second reading might help the reader understand the true meaning a little more.

The images truly advance the meaning of the poem. When the poet writes the descriptive details of the images of the pine-trees crusted with snow as well as the junipers shagged with ice and spruces rough in the distant glitter, it gives the reader a sense of being a part of the poem. It helps the reader visualize the beauty of winter and nature. At the end of the poem, the poet explains how all of the visions he previously described are just images alone. He writes of how images of beauty are just that, images of beauty but they do not show the underlying truth of it all and the sorrow that lies underneath.

My initial reaction to the poem was confusing at first because I was so intrigued by the beginning descriptions and images that started off the poem and then turned to such melancholy when I realized the message the writer was trying to convey. I was able to completely understand the poem without having to re-read it, however I was taken aback by the ending and the overall meaning. I think the writer did a very good job in connecting with the reader.

The Interpretation of Poetry ("This Living Hand" and "Adam's Curse"

John Keats was one of the famous poets of the English Romantic movement. Keats wrote with an elaborate choice of words and used sensual imagery to express his thoughts to the reader. One of his poems that particularly interested me the most was “This Living Hand” due to the language and use of imagery by Keats. William Yeats was a modernist poet who experimented with free verse as well as traditional verse forms in which he mastered. A particular poem of Yeats that drew my attention most vigorously was “Adam’s Curse,” particularly because of its reference to the bible along with the use of imagery Yeats was able to convey.

In “This Living Hand” as well as in “Adam’s Curse” the speaker is a reliable source who supports his ideas and beliefs of romanticism and modernism with each line of poetry. In both poems the audience is not directed at a particular person. Although, in “Adam’s Curse,” Yeats uses a biblical reference but the reference is so broad that the reader does not have to be one of a religious background to understand the reference. On the other hand, Keats’ relationship with the reader to endings is a major theme in “This Living Hand.” Usually an end is viewed as a finale or a death even but as Keats expresses, a poetic work is a beginning for a reader and the final death for the poet. Keats contemplates on the integral part of literature, the relationship between the writer and reader to a piece of literature and to each other. In Keats’ understanding it is almost as if he believes, for a writer, the finishing of a piece of literature is similar to death, death of the piece and the writer writing that particular piece. In reference to the reader, it’s as if Keats believes the end of a piece of literature is the beginning, the beginning of their interpretation and thought. Keats tries to express the relationship between the reader and writer as the basis of literatures appeal to the grasping for expression and understanding.

In “Adam’s Curse,” lies a great deal of hard work and structure which Yeats says must be true of poetry. One of the most interesting aspects of this poem is its mirroring of the artistic principles laid out by the speaker in the first stanza.

The speaker of “This Living Hand,” uses more of a casual diction than that of “Adam’s Curse” who uses more of a mixed diction with some elevated as well as casual parts to the poem. The use of word choice for both poems reveals many indirect meanings of the literature. In “Adam’s Curse” when Yeats states, “beautiful mild woman” in the first stanza, he is implying that to be born a woman is to know that one must work at being beautiful but not to the extent of exaggeration as one would expect. Even the very title of the poem illustrates indirect meaning of Adam’s Curse in the biblical sense. As Yeats describes an evening spent with his beloved and her friend, he frames a philosophical argument that because of the curse of labor that God placed upon Adam when he expelled him from the Garden of Eden, every worthwhile human achievement requires hard work. Especially those aimed at achieving beauty, whether in poetry, physical appearance, or love. It is as if the simple speech-like rhythms of iambic pentameter fulfill the poet’s dictate that a poetic line should seem like a moments thought. The bittersweet emotional tone appears entirely natural because it is a natural result of the recollection.

In “This Living Hand,” Keats addresses more of a tone of melancholy. He is writing of an ending to him and a beginning to the reader. He is sad in a way that no other person, especially the reader, will be able to understand or sympathize with because Keats’ addresses his poem as if it is the beginning of a journey for the reader. Other writers can somewhat empathize with Keats in this poem, however Keats wrote the poem for the specific purpose of describing what writing is like for him. Both poets address a sad-like tone. In Yeats’ poem, the sadness is thought of as bittersweet because there is some happiness expressed by the characters of the poem. The happiness of being in love is created by Yeats when describing the scene of the poem, but quickly turned around at the end of the poem describing their hearts to be as weary as shells worn by the waters of time.

The emotional distance of both poems is extremely alike. The writers of both poems connect to the reader as if they are directly reciting the poem to the reader. The readers can recognize that the writers had a direct connection to what they are writing and were both emotionally drawn to their writings. After reading both poems, I felt as though both poets experienced an event in their lives which caused them to write about the experiences and directly connect to the reader in doing so. It seems as if they wrote the poems in the midst of their emotions and knew first hand of every sensation described in the poems. I believe Yeats fell in love with a beautiful woman yet still felt an emotional withdrawal from her and he wrote “Adam’s Curse” in the midst of all the passion he felt from the relationship. This helps connect to the reader more because if a reader can relate to the writer, the literature has more meaning. “This Living Hand” was such a short poem but it warrants more than two close readings to quite understand the intensity of the writers words. The reader has to differentiate between if the writer has a literal meaning in what he writes or if he is trying to convey something completely different. Keats writes of a living hand which a reader can interpret to mean a living being or any living thing, although Keats has a literal meaning to a living hand in which he uses to write as he used to write the poem in itself. Most importantly the living hand can also symbolize the poem itself.

The images used in “This Living Hand” advance the meaning of the poem in many ways. The living hand symbolizes life and when Keats writes the hand is living and “capable of earnest grasping,” he is describing the writing process in which a poet grasps for sufficient wording. This is the point when the work is alive in a reader. However, when the work, or on a larger scale, life, is over, that tool (the hand used to write)is turned cold, “in the icy silence of the tomb.” A writer is that hand “earnestly grasping” as he or she tries to express himself through words, “grasping” for a way to release the ideas and feelings in word form on paper. For most poets only writing can grant the release. There is a relationship between death and birth in which Keats conveys through the image of “so haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights.” His effect on the reader is in describing how the poem lives with, haunting the reader night and day although it is dead to the poet. Keats in a way gives the poem to the reader because it is already dead in the “silent tomb.” At the end of the report, Keats writes, “I hold it towards you” which emphasizes the idea that Keats is giving the poem to the reader because it is now dead to him. The image of Keats actually handing the poem over to the reader is very literal and prevalent to the meaning of the poem being dead. All the images in Keats’ poem are directly connected to one another because they support Keats’ belief of the dying hand of the poet and the beginning of the reading for the reader.

The images used in “Adam’s Curse” somewhat advance the meaning of the poem. I thought Yeats painted a beautiful scene in some stanzas but contradicted it with the melancholy and bittersweet tone. The image of the beautiful woman that Yeats mentions throughout the poem helps set the foundation of the poem. I think most of the images such as the beautiful woman are purely decorative to describe the scene and exactly what Yeats is trying to convey to the reader of the love between this beautiful woman and man. Yeats jumps from one image to the next but I was confused how the uses of images jumped from one scene to another scene so quickly. I think Yeats had a lifetime of personal experience to convey in a short poem so he quickly tried to describe different images to relate them to specific scenes.

Yeats and Keats both write of personal experiences which helps convey the literal meaning of their poetry. Yeats writes of a passionate relationship with a woman he deeply loved and Keats writes of his feelings of death as his writing approaches its end. Both writers convey personal experiences and are able to directly relate to the reader in doing so. In “This Living Hand” Keats writes of death and relates it to the writing of poetry. Every poet has his or her own death after the completion of a poem, but it is bittersweet because it is only the beginning for the reader. The poets convey their purpose for writing the poems through the use of language as well images and symbolism. It makes it easier for the reader to understand the purpose and meaning of a poem if they can understand the use of language patterns as well as the use of images.

I chose to write about both of these poems because they particularly interested me for two completely different reasons. Keats’ poem was more literal for me and I enjoyed connecting with Keats and understanding the sadness behind the end and the death of something important to you but the beginning of a journey to another person. I felt as though when reading the poem I was just beginning an expedition yet I felt somewhat distressed for the writer because it was his death. As for Yeats’ poem he wrote of love and the triumph of loving and being in love. It was of interest to me because I was able to connect with Yeats and understand his purpose for describing his love with a beautiful woman but to be so sad still. My own experiences with love helped me to interpret the poem because I directly connected with Yeats’ idea of love being a happy and joyous experience along with a sad and more melancholy-like feeling because it cannot always be strictly about happiness.

Linebreaks in Poetry

Sometimes in poetry, poets decide to use Free Verse which uses no rhyme scheme or strict metrical pattern. In my opinion, this helps the reader use more focus towards the words of the poem rather than the pattern scheme. I have noticed in many poems I have read that have a certain metrical pattern, I tend to pay more attention to the word pattern than I do to the meaning of the words.
In William Williams, "A Sort of a Song" he uses linebreaks throughout his poem and does not use a rhyme scheme for any part of the poem. I was able to understand the poem better and focus on the idea Williams was trying to convey since there was not a rhyme scheme involved. For instance in our discussion questions the quote, "No ideas but in things" was in between the two words "Compose" and "Invent" as if to tell the reader to invent their own ideas and thoughts. He placed the quote strategically between these two words in order to express the meaning of what the quote is meant to convey. Had he placed the quote within a line of the poem which rhymed with other lines, I think it would not have been as effective. When Williams wrote,
Let the snake wait under
the weed
and the writing
be of words, slow and quick, sharp
to strike, quiet to wait,
sleepless.
he allowed the reader to create an image of the snake awaiting under the weed as well as the image of a writer writing words to a poem quickly sharply and quietly. The break in the lines and words of the poem allow the reader to use their imagination and create the scene. Williams uses imagery in his line breaks and is able to persuade the reader to use his or her own thoughts to create the remainder of what is to be told.
Using line breaks allows the reader to focus on the meaning of the words and the use of language in poetry. A reptitive rhyme scheme only causes the reader to "read" over the words however they tend not to "understand" the words. I think Williams did an excellent job of using images and Free Verse to convey his thoughts in a poem.

The More Things Change ... Or Stay the Same

The poets we have read about this week seem to divert from the idea and beliefs of religion, technology and sciences but yet they still reference the idea and beliefs of romanticism along with a few vague thoughts of religion.
Yeats’ poem “Adam’s Curse,” for example uses reference to the Bible, but not quite as explicit and detailed as the previous poets we have spoken of. In Yeat’s poem, the reader has to make his or her own assumptions of Yeat’s reference to Adam from the biblical story of Adam and Eve. The poets we have previously read about have been more open to their references to religion. In Yeat’s poem “Adam’s Curse,” he draws a direct reference from the bible in the lines,

I said, “It’s certain there is no fine thing
Since Adam’s fall but needs much labouring.
There have been lovers who thought love should be
So much compounded of high courtesy
That they would sigh and quote with learned looks
Precedents out of beautiful old books;
Yet now it seems an idle trade enough.”

Yeats causes the reader to draw his or her own conclusions that the Bible references love as some type of curse due to “Adam’s curse.” The reader can only assume that love is not on overall high feeling of joy, happiness, laughter and perfection but instead is something that must be worked on. People in love must understand that love is not perfection that exists in a constant state, but instead fluctuates. I think Yeats does not draw as direct of a reference to the bible as previous poets have but his writings still assume the works of religion.
Housman’s poem, “Here Dead Lie We Because We Did Not Choose,” is a poem in reference to the war and the soldiers of war whom died. Housman has no reference to religion, technology or science in this poem, but instead focuses on the idea of death. In the line,

Here dead lie we because we did not choose
To live and shame the land from which we sprung.

Housman uses a direct reference to the soldiers who choose to die because they did not want to be “cowards” and shame the nation along with their families by choosing not to go to war. The rise of Industrialization caused wars between nations which in turn caused many deaths of young soldiers as Housman describes in this poem. The idea of expansion and becoming and industrialized nation means we have sacrifices that need to be made such as a loss of lives even if those lives were young soldiers who did not choose to “live and shame the land from which we sprung.”

I think the poets we read this week have a tendency of not using a direct reference to religion, technology or science but if a reference is made it is left up to the reader to determine the relationship that exists.

Dickinson and Romanticism

Emily Dickinson focused much of her poetry on the idea of Nature and places emphasis on the importance of Nature much as Pope did in his writings. In #68, Dickinson writes of birds, bumblebees, hills and the skies which support her idea of Nature in which she conveys to the reader. Also in #269 she writes of the night skies and of the futile winds also contributing to her idea of nature. She writes of the beauties we all see each and every day of our lives when we take a step back and look at nature as it exists freely.
Dickinson also writes about poverty and sadness. The tone in many of her poems strikes me to be more of a tone of melancholy than anything else. It is almost like she is sad throughout each of her writings. In #340 she speaks of death and a funeral. She focuses on the sadness of death and the details of a funeral and to the reader it's more of a sad tone although some readers do not look at funerals as sadness but instead as a time to rejoice. In #372 Dickinson iterates how pain does not always last and it will eventually turn into a "formal feeling." Like a romantic she writes about her belief that all pain is followed by relief in one way or another.
Although I feel like Dickinson's writings focus on a melancholy environment and sad situations, she has a way of assuring the reader that eventually situations will get better and sorrow turns into happiness after a while. Just like romantics Dickinson believes there is a better situation just waiting around the corner from a bad situation.

This Living Hand by John Keats

The speaker of the poem could be either a male or female, however the writer believes that death is approaching. In my opinion most writers are set in the idea that creation impends death just like life will eventually end in death. Only the writer can and does understand his ideas and beliefs of death. The "living hand" is a symbol and representation of life. In a way it is a representation of the writer's actual hand (his tool) and the idea of dying is a representation of how a writer's hand dies with time as the writer expresses this by stating, "and in the icy silence of the tomb." A writer fights for his/her inspiration when finding the right words to write as is mentioned in the second line of the poem, "Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold." The audience can be any and every person since life and death is often thought about and experienced by so many individuals. I believe a writer would understand and relate to the poem more so than any random person. The writer is very reliable in that he is writing of an actual experience. Speaking from first hand experience is always a more reliable source because experience speaks for more than hearsay.
The writer uses imagery to express his thoughts and ideas. Writing of a living hand gives the reader a sense of an actual hand that is utilized each and every day for various purposes by all individuals. When the hand is "living" it is "warm and capable" of various uses and the audience can picture a "healthy hand" full of life that he/she is able to and ready to use. In the line, "so haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights," the writer gives the reader an image of dreary days and chilling nights as if in a horror.
Overall, I enjoyed the poem. I thought it was insightful and I was able to understand the poem much better by using and thinking of the strategies and guidelines of responding to poetry. I think the poet conveys his ideas to the reader very well. He gets his point across and expresses his personal feelings to the reader through his writing.

"Natural World"

The “Natural World” in my opinion is anything and everything that exists without the assistance of mankind. The natural world in and of itself consists of all the elements of life that create their own existence. By this, I mean natural world will exist forever and beyond the births and deaths of our species.
Blake believes in the natural world in the eyes of the inexperienced (innocent) as well as in the eyes of the experienced. In the Songs of Innocence, Blake expresses the nature of innocence through his poem “Introduction.” In this poem Blake shows how the children have not been tainted by the outside world as they dance around and sing without knowing what’s to come. In the “Divine Image,” Blake explains 4 feelings directly associated with innocence. Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love are 4 characteristics that exist in each of our souls, yet the more naïve and innocent part of us tend to believe in these feelings more so than the experienced. It is to say, we are all born with this innocence and it is a natural part of us that exists within our souls and bodies. Mercy dwells in our heart, Pity is expressed in our faces, Love is the human body in and of itself and Peace lives outside of us.
Blake expresses how nature can turn innocence into experience in the Songs of Experience. At first we are born these innocent creatures and know nothing of the experienced world around us. We grow with the natural world and begin to realize there is more to life than the innocence that we were born with. In “A Divine Image,” Blake explains the 4 feelings directly associated with experience. Cruelty, Jealousy, Terror and Secrecy are 4 characteristics that exist in each of our souls, but we do not experience these feelings until we are older and more experienced. Here Blake iterates how Cruelty dwells in our heart instead of Mercy as in the innocent, Jealously is expressed in our faces, Terror is the human body in and of itself and Secrecy lives outside of us.There is a big contrast between these two sets of poem by Blake but they both describe how we interact in the natural world between Innocence and Experience.
Wordsworth is a romantic who uses the beauty of nature to emphasize his ideas on romanticism. He writes about landscaping and scenery that exist in our “natural world” and in turn reveal romantic moods and tones in his writing. Wordsworth describes nature in his poem “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern by Abby, “ by focusing on the landscaping and scenery to express the peacefulness of nature. He expresses the happiness and cheerfulness of nature in his poem, “London, 1802.”

"Natural World"

The “Natural World” in my opinion is anything and everything that exists without the assistance of mankind. The natural world in and of itself consists of all the elements of life that create their own existence. By this, I mean natural world will exist forever and beyond the births and deaths of our species.

Blake believes in the natural world in the eyes of the inexperienced (innocent) as well as in the eyes of the experienced. In the Songs of Innocence, Blake expresses the nature of innocence through his poem “Introduction.” In this poem Blake shows how the children have not been tainted by the outside world as they dance around and sing without knowing what’s to come. In the “Divine Image,” Blake explains 4 feelings directly associated with innocence. Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love are 4 characteristics that exist in each of our souls, yet the more naïve and innocent part of us tend to believe in these feelings more so than the experienced. It is to say, we are all born with this innocence and it is a natural part of us that exists within our souls and bodies. Mercy dwells in our heart, Pity is expressed in our faces, Love is the human body in and of itself and Peace lives outside of us.

Blake expresses how nature can turn innocence into experience in the Songs of Experience. At first we are born these innocent creatures and know nothing of the experienced world around us. We grow with the natural world and begin to realize there is more to life than the innocence that we were born with. In “A Divine Image,” Blake explains the 4 feelings directly associated with experience. Cruelty, Jealousy, Terror and Secrecy are 4 characteristics that exist in each of our souls, but we do not experience these feelings until we are older and more experienced. Here Blake iterates how Cruelty dwells in our heart instead of Mercy as in the innocent, Jealously is expressed in our faces, Terror is the human body in and of itself and Secrecy lives outside of us. There is a big contrast between these two sets of poem by Blake but they both describe how we interact in the natural world between Innocence and Experience.

Wordsworth is a romantic who uses the beauty of nature to emphasize his ideas on romanticism. He writes about landscaping and scenery that exist in our “natural world” and in turn reveal romantic moods and tones in his writing. Wordsworth describes nature in his poem “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern by Abby, “ by focusing on the landscaping and scenery to express the peacefulness of nature. He expresses the happiness and cheerfulness of nature in his poem, “London, 1802.”

Letter of Introduction

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nicole Berrow-James. I was born Nicole Darcel Berrow, however I got married in August 2005, therefore I decided to hyphenate my name to Nicole Darcel Berrow-James. I am studying to become a doctor and I could not imagine all the hard work to use the last name of my spouse. I am very proud of my accomplishments and success, therefore I made the decision when I was younger to keep my last name no matter what.
I am 24 years old and I am a Senior here at U of H. I have 3 hours left after this semester to complete my bachelors in Biology with a minor in Chemistry and Spanish. My goals and inspirations are to become a doctor. Specifically my goal is to become a pediatric cardiovascular surgeon. I have always been interested in the human body, but my interest is set on the heart. I am not that interesting of a person, but I must say the most interesting aspect of my life is that I have been diagnosed with a genetic disorder called Marfans Syndrome. It is genetically inherited, however I am the first person in my family to have the disorder. There is a 15% chance of being the first person to originate the disorder. I happen to be part of that 15%. It is an interesting disorder in that it affects the heart, spine, bones, chest wall and eyes. I have had open heart surgery and I have another on the way in order to correct the problem caused by the disorder. I have scoliosis as well which is related to the disorder. I am extremely lengthy, in that I have long extremities (long fingers, long arms, long legs). I feel fortunate to have the disorder because I have started researching it and have written several papers about the disorder. My ultimate goal is to find a cure or a preventative measure that can be used for generations to come.
I have not taken many writing classes, however I have noticed that I feel an overwhelming sense of comfortability when I write freely or write what is on my mind. I have written some poetry on my own at times. It is not very often that I write because I am extremely busy going to school full time and working full time. I do enjoy reading poetry more so than writing it. One of my favorite writers of all time would have to be Mya Angelou. She was my inspiration when I was younger and began writing. I have taken a few English classes, but mostly just what I needed to take towards my major. I have enrolled in this class because I decided to take a class that would interest me and I think I would do well in.
In previous English classes I have taken, my grades were better with free writing papers or compositions I wrote regarding topics I was interested in. It is much easier and more enjoyable, in my opinion, to write when you are asked to write about a topic you feel passionate about. In writing, passion brings out a person's best work. Researching topics and writing about a topic I have no interest in tends to be difficult for me because I end up repeating myself throughout the essay.
In this class, I hope to learn the techniques of poetry in which I lack. When I write poetry I tend to write in my own style, however I believe if I had a more concrete structure to follow, I am capable of doing much better. I enjoy being a student and I enjoy learning. To me, there is no greater feeling than knowledge because it can be taken with you and used for the rest of your life. I look forward to learning techniques associated with poetry as well as improving my writing.