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."
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I also read "Design," so it's nice to hear another's perspective on it. You actually analyzed it, while I only picked out the terms from the list. I've never been good at analyzing poetry on my own, but you did a great job. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree.
ReplyDeleteGreat job.
I just picked poetry terms and listed examples.
Awesome job. I like reading the posts that have analyzed poems as well as applied the terms; they're a lot more interesting. Wouldn't "Between my finger and my thumb - The squat pen rests; snug as a gun." be a simile instead of a metaphor since it uses "as" to compare the pen to a gun?
ReplyDeleteGood job! I agree with you. It was in great detail.
ReplyDeleteI think "Design" was ruined for me once Frost mentioned the spider in such detail. I'm not a fan of spiders so my mind was stuck on that and I had trouble focusing on the poem.
ReplyDeleteAnd I really like your examples with the pen and the gun. Definitely true that there can be greatness or devastation from the same tool. Plus, I guess our society doesn't use swords enough now to say "the pen is mightier than the sword". Now we can discuss it like a gun.
"Digging" kind of explains a generation gap between Heaney and his father.
ReplyDeleteI didn't really think of the pen as a gun because he was killing his father, but it I think it's an interesting idea.
ReplyDeleteThe pen as a gun is very true. Also the pen as his tool, and the fathers shovel as his own. I had the same thing when I told my Dad I wanted to be a writer, he must of felt like hed been shot.
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