The River

"The River" is a poem written by Bruce Springsteen about a man and his wife who seem to feel trapped in the life that God has laid out for them. It starts like a love story about the narrator (husband) and his wife Mary when they met in high school their love was passionate and exciting. The flame burning between the two of them seems to be the only exciting thing in his life because he comes from a working class city where the only life waiting for you was the one your father lived. I have always felt this poem was set in a Pennsylvania steel town where if you could not get out on football or some other type of scholarship you would spend the rest of your days working for the mill. "They bring you up to do; Like your daddy done." This lays out clearly that he does not believe there is anything else out there for him but his father's lifestyle of construction worker in middle america.

Like most of Springsteen's poems/songs he is singing to and about middle class; working america the type of lifestyle he grew up with in New Jersey. as he writes this song in 1980 it is right around the time where gas is up, terriorists have 100+ captive citizens from our embassy, and our economy is much like it is today. he writes this saying we are Americans we are tough. Clearly the narrator of this song is tough because he lives a life that he hates with a wife that can not stand him anymore. That passion; the fire that drove those two together late at nights on the river bank is gone and all that is left is haunting memories and resentment. When he writes "Mary Acts like she dont care" it is clear that as time has passed they have split farther and farther apart with it seems no way to reconcile.

He remembers the old days throughout the last third of the song how good Mary looked with her body wet and tan at the resovior. The passion that drove them to the river is gone now and all that is left is him alone in his car as the memories haunt him like a curse. the very last stanza of the song is a message of hope though because even though the river is dry Him and his baby are going to ride down to the river. This could mean he is trying to respark that flame with Mary or that he wants to show his daughter that there was once love here and not to make the same mistake as them.

I think this song was Bruce's first big hit because it spoke to most of america. It did not matter if you where rich, poor, young, old if you knew what it was like to be in love, to fall out of love, or even to have a job you hate then this song speaks to you and lets you know you are not the only one. We all have struggles in our life the real sign of manhood or courage is pulling through those struggles and not let them bring you down.

Homework Jan 15th

One of the poems I really enjoyed reading was Design written by Robert Frost. This poem gives me a great image of life and death not only in nature but also with in humanity. This poem brings to mind the idea of the strong will survive and when we all head out into the "real world" this is a lesson worth knowing. He does a great job describing the spider, moth, and flower so that the reader can picture exactly what he is trying to say. Frost compares the interaction of our image by using a simile showing us that the spider, moth and flower are mixed as one; "like a witches' broth." This idea of a broth is interesting because when looking at a broth you can see all the ingredients that make it up: the beef, stew, veggies, ect. They are however, brought together as one much like the spider and the moth are together in this battle of life that he portrays.

Digging by Seamus Heaney is a poem about generations where the author is showing how a son can follow the footsteps of his father or can abandon his father's work for his own path. The speaker in this poem could be the author himself talking about his life and the life of his grandfather and father or it could be another son who broke away from the family livelihood of farming and forged his own path as a writer. I think it is Mr. Heaney as the son because of when it was written and the fact that he becomes an author. The first line of this poem gives me a great image of just how powerful words can be. He uses the Metaphor "Between my finger and my thumb - The squat pen rests; snug as a gun." this idea of a pen as a gun I think explains the importance of words and literature for any culture. A gun can be a good tool or a devastating one depending on how it is used and I believe the same can be said for a pen. The declaration of independence for example is a monumental piece of literature that carried great weight and consequences for the American people. The gun is an appropriate image for this metaphor because it was probably like "shooting" his father when he told him; "No! I'm going to be a writer."

welcome

Welcome to my blog. My name is Charlie Fox and I am a virgin blogger so I do not really know what to put. Senior at Ohio University in English 250 I played hockey for 16 years in states all over America and I love Hilton Head, S.C. This was Fun