Sharon Olds
“The B Network”
by Haki Madhubuti
by Haki Madhubuti
brothers bop & pop and be-bop in cities locked up
and chained insane by crack and other acts
of desperation computerized in pentagon cellars producing
boppin brothers boastin of being better, best & beautiful.
if the boppin brothers are beautiful where are the sisters
who seek brotherman with a drugless head unbossed or beaten
by the bodacious West?
in a time of big wind being blown by boastful brothers,
will other brothers beat back backwardness to better & best
without braggart bosses beatin butts,
takin names and diggin graves?
beatin badness into bad may be urban but is it beautiful & serious?
or is it betrayal in an era of prepared easy death hangin on
corners trappin young brothers before they know the
difference between big death and big life?
brothers bop & pop and be-bop in cities locked up
and chained insane by crack and other acts
of desperation computerized in pentagon cellars producing
boppin brothers boastin of being better, best, beautiful
and definitely not Black.
the critical best is that
brothers better be the best if they are to avoid backwardness
brothers better be the best if they are to conquer beautiful bigness
Comprehend that bad is only bad if it’s big, Black and better
than boastful braggarts belittling our best and brightest
with bosses seeking inches when miles are better.
brothers need to bop to being Black & bright above board
the black train of beautiful wisdom that is bending this bind
toward a new & knowledgeable beginning that is
bountiful & bountiful & beautiful
While be-boppin to be
better than the test,
brotherman.
better yet write the exam.
"Like Totally Whatever, You Know?"
by Taylor Mali
by Billy Collins
Trying to protect his students' innocence
he told them the Ice Age was really just
the Chilly Age, a period of a million years
when everyone had to wear sweaters.
And the Stone Age became the Gravel Age,
named after the long driveways of the time.
The Spanish Inquisition was nothing more
than an outbreak of questions such as
"How far is it from here to Madrid?"
"What do you call the matador's hat?"
The War of the Roses took place in a garden,
and the Enola Gay dropped one tiny atom
on Japan.
The children would leave his classroom
for the playground to torment the weak
and the smart,
mussing up their hair and breaking their glasses,
while he gathered up his notes and walked home
past flower beds and white picket fences,
wondering if they would believe that soldiers
in the Boer War told long, rambling stories
designed to make the enemy nod off.
"First Hour"
by Sharon Olds
That hour, I was most myself. I had shrugged
my mother slowly off, I lay there
taking my first breaths, as if
the air of the room was blowing me
like a bubble. All I had to do
was go out along the line of my gaze and back,
feeling gravity, silk, the
pressure of the air a caress, smelling on
myself her creamy blood. The air
was softly touching my skin and mouth,
entering me and drawing forth the little
sighs I did not know as mine.
I was not afraid. I lay in the quiet
and looked, and did the wordless thought,
my mind was getting its oxygen
direct, the rich mix by mouth.
I hated no one. I gazed and gazed,
and everything was interesting, I was
free, not yet in love, I did not
belong to anyone, I had drunk
no milk yet—no one had
my heart. I was not very human. I did not
know there was anyone else. I lay
like a god, for an hour, then they came for me
and took me to my mother.
Trying to protect his students' innocence
he told them the Ice Age was really just
the Chilly Age, a period of a million years
when everyone had to wear sweaters.
And the Stone Age became the Gravel Age,
named after the long driveways of the time.
The Spanish Inquisition was nothing more
than an outbreak of questions such as
"How far is it from here to Madrid?"
"What do you call the matador's hat?"
The War of the Roses took place in a garden,
and the Enola Gay dropped one tiny atom
on Japan.
The children would leave his classroom
for the playground to torment the weak
and the smart,
mussing up their hair and breaking their glasses,
while he gathered up his notes and walked home
past flower beds and white picket fences,
wondering if they would believe that soldiers
in the Boer War told long, rambling stories
designed to make the enemy nod off.
"Sometimes Silence is the Loudest Kind of Noise"
by Basskey Ikpi
by Sharon Olds
That hour, I was most myself. I had shrugged
my mother slowly off, I lay there
taking my first breaths, as if
the air of the room was blowing me
like a bubble. All I had to do
was go out along the line of my gaze and back,
feeling gravity, silk, the
pressure of the air a caress, smelling on
myself her creamy blood. The air
was softly touching my skin and mouth,
entering me and drawing forth the little
sighs I did not know as mine.
I was not afraid. I lay in the quiet
and looked, and did the wordless thought,
my mind was getting its oxygen
direct, the rich mix by mouth.
I hated no one. I gazed and gazed,
and everything was interesting, I was
free, not yet in love, I did not
belong to anyone, I had drunk
no milk yet—no one had
my heart. I was not very human. I did not
know there was anyone else. I lay
like a god, for an hour, then they came for me
and took me to my mother.
"Sign Language"
by Rives
"The Quest"
by Sharon Olds
The day my girl is lost for an hour,
the day I think she is gone forever and then I find her,
I sit with her a while and then I
go to the corner store for orange juice for her
lips, tongue, palate, throat,
stomach, blood, every gold cell of her body.
I joke around with the guy behind the counter, I
walk out into the winter air and
weep. I know he would never hurt her,
would never take her body in his hands to
crack it or crush it, would keep her safe and
bring her home to me. Yet there are
those who would. I pass the huge
cockeyed buildings, massive as prisons,
charged, loaded, cocked with people,
some who would love to take my girl, to un-
do her, fine strand by fine
strand. These are buildings full of rope,
ironing boards, sash, wire,
iron cords wove in black-and-blue spirals like
umbilici, apartments supplied with
razor blades and lye. This is my
quest, to know where it is, the evil in the
human heart. As I walk home I
look in face after face for it, I
see the dark beauty, the rage, the
grown-up children of the city she walks as a
child, a raw target. I cannot
see a soul who would do it. I clutch the
jar of juice like a cold heart,
remembering the time my parents tied me to a chair and
would not feed me and I looked up
into their beautiful faces, my stomach a
bright mace, my wrists like birds the
shrike has hung up by the throat from barbed wire, I
gazed as deep as I could into their eyes
and all I saw was goodness, I could not get past it.
I rush home with the blood of oranges
pressed to my breast, I cannot get it to her fast enough.
by Sharon Olds
The day my girl is lost for an hour,
the day I think she is gone forever and then I find her,
I sit with her a while and then I
go to the corner store for orange juice for her
lips, tongue, palate, throat,
stomach, blood, every gold cell of her body.
I joke around with the guy behind the counter, I
walk out into the winter air and
weep. I know he would never hurt her,
would never take her body in his hands to
crack it or crush it, would keep her safe and
bring her home to me. Yet there are
those who would. I pass the huge
cockeyed buildings, massive as prisons,
charged, loaded, cocked with people,
some who would love to take my girl, to un-
do her, fine strand by fine
strand. These are buildings full of rope,
ironing boards, sash, wire,
iron cords wove in black-and-blue spirals like
umbilici, apartments supplied with
razor blades and lye. This is my
quest, to know where it is, the evil in the
human heart. As I walk home I
look in face after face for it, I
see the dark beauty, the rage, the
grown-up children of the city she walks as a
child, a raw target. I cannot
see a soul who would do it. I clutch the
jar of juice like a cold heart,
remembering the time my parents tied me to a chair and
would not feed me and I looked up
into their beautiful faces, my stomach a
bright mace, my wrists like birds the
shrike has hung up by the throat from barbed wire, I
gazed as deep as I could into their eyes
and all I saw was goodness, I could not get past it.
I rush home with the blood of oranges
pressed to my breast, I cannot get it to her fast enough.
"I'm Losing You"
by Rat Sack
"The Two-headed Calf"
by Laura Gilpin
Tomorrow when the farm boys find this
freak of nature, they will wrap his body
in newspaper and carry him to the museum.
But tonight he is alive and in the north
field with his mother. It is a perfect
summer evening: the moon rising over
the orchard, the wind in the grass. And
as he stares into the sky, there are
twice as many stars as usual.
“there are two kinds of people in the world”
by eric pellerin
by Laura Gilpin
Tomorrow when the farm boys find this
freak of nature, they will wrap his body
in newspaper and carry him to the museum.
But tonight he is alive and in the north
field with his mother. It is a perfect
summer evening: the moon rising over
the orchard, the wind in the grass. And
as he stares into the sky, there are
twice as many stars as usual.
“there are two kinds of people in the world”
by eric pellerin
book people
and
real people
wake up
start a day
they make decisions
about what to wear
from a walk in closet
full of clothes
colors and fabrics
from well known designers
tommy and ralph and coco
everything contours
accentuates
they eat healthy
organic foods
specially prepared
housed in labeled containers
from container store
everything tastes fresh
so delicious
they never crave fried chicken
they put on pretty athletic gear
sneakers with special shock absorbers
color coordinated
with clean beads of sweat
they run 10ks around the lake
with all their friends
see you next week
they shower surrounded by grecian tile
put on the clothes they laid out for themselves
from that nice walk in closet full of clothes
set out the night before
they go to work
in careers they love
having studied at ivy league universities
get promoted
get bonuses
go on trips in business class
in freshly pressed clothes
just a carry on
they fall in love
with their co workers
or someone they met at a function
or through a mutual friend
or a high school sweetheart
or they have affairs
or get married
or both
they have children
and love them
and care for them
and hire someone to care for them
and love them
and play with them
and love them on the weekends
and the kids love them
and they grow up
and repeat the list above
without resentment
they buy things
oh how they buy things
houses and mansions and fill
oh how they fill them up
dont forget the walk in closet
furniture and paintings and vases
breakfast nook
gotta have a nook
pools motor cycles boats cars
dont forget the cars
hybrids and suvs and porsches
something fun
to drive to the beautiful two story weekend house
by the sea
they have a future
they know it
they will get old
look forever young
they will be visited by those loving children
without resentment
when they die
they die in their sleep
surrounded by
real people
who love them
no pain
no regrets
they go to heaven
they sit next to god
she smiles
and says
welcome home
welcome home
* * *
book people
read literature
like a set of stereo instructions
for a stereo we dont own
turning the pages over and over and over
desperately trying to figure out
how to make it all work out
like real people do
Billy Collins
I find it ingenious that Rives' Sign Language included "subtitles" in sign language. The Boer War pun in The History Teacher was also quite clever. If there is one poetic element loaded with potential and flexibility, it's wordplay. Paradoxes, oxymorons, and irony also pack a lot of punch, as demonstrated in Sometimes Silence is the loudest kind of Noise.
ReplyDeleteLike Totally, Whatever, You know? is very literal. Taylor Mali describes what he notices about how people talk by demonstrating it, which honestly cracks me up. In contrast to the puns, irony, oxymorons, paradoxes, and other wordplay listed earlier, The Quest takes on a more serious tone.
DeleteThe Quest was written by Sharon Olds, but it sounds like the stuff of Edgar Allan Poe. The "Cockeyed buildings could easily pass for dungeons, considering what's inside. The narrator's innocent daughter is vulnerable to the large quantity of madmen in the city, a frequent trope in Gothic literature.
DeleteReferring to orange juice as "the blood of oranges" also sounds very Gothic.
DeleteThis one actually caught my eye because of the Gothic imagery.
DeleteOne of the poems that I found was interesting was “I’m losing you” by Rat Sack. I found it interesting because it talks about a common problem with people, and it talks about how he comes to terms with losing his hair. He then finishes about how he thinks that certain people look better with a bald head, but then he comes to terms and shaves his head. He talks about how after a while his hair will just be a memory. I also liked the poem “The history teacher” by Billy Collins. I liked this poem because it started off being an innocent poem but then talking about deeper thoughts like the bombing of hiroshima and other deeper thoughts. I also like how this talks about how teachers don't really change their students because they will listen in class, but then bully their peers at recess. “The children would leave his classroom for the playground to torment the weak and the smart, mussing up their hair and breaking their glasses,”
ReplyDeleteMany of these poems expressed different types of voices or sounds. The one that captured my attention the most was "The B Network". When I first read the poem, I read it as any other amateur reader would read one, very slowly and tried to hear the soothing melody that one would expect in a poem. But somehow it was just not really working. This poem was clearly not meant to be read like any poems I have read before. After listening to the audio, I was finally able to comprehend not just the meaning behind the poem, but also the voice of the author. It was meant to be read fast, not slow, so all you heard were a mixture of B words. But every now and then a sentence would appear without a B word and that was the sentence that stuck with the audience the most. From listening to the audio, I was able to get that this poem is about maybe the Civil Rights Movement. The line that allowed me to infer this was when he said, "the black train of beautiful wisdom that is bending this bind toward a new & knowledgeable beginning that is bountiful & bountiful & beautiful". He is trying to tell his people that a new future is coming towards them and it will hold the things they did not have before. Another poem that I liked was "The History Teacher". Not only was it easy to read but I found myself smiling at his poem because of the irony. But even though it sounded like it was a happy poem, it really wasn't. Near the end of the poem he had a line talking of how children still bullied each other even after not promoting aggression in the classroom. And that the teachers are oblivious to these actions. Is he trying to say that teachers are not doing their jobs correctly? That even though they strayed away from the topics of war and aggression, they still have not accomplished what they wanted?
ReplyDeleteThe poem that captured my attention the most was “The History Teacher” by Billy Collins. It talks about a history teacher that tries to protect the innocence of his/her students by simplifying and out right ignoring the harsher realities of history. The Ice age wasn’t just a period where everyone wore sweaters. It was a period that caused the extinction of hundreds of species. As we continue line by line, more difficult topics arise and each time, our history teacher fabricates the truth. The Spanish Inquisition wasn’t just an outbreak of questions, but the mass extermination of heretics. The War of Roses, a series of English civil wars between families over the throne of english, just simply took place in a garden and Enola Gay, the plane that is responsible for killing tens of thousands, had only dropped one tiny atom on Japan. The teacher only wanted to protect the children’s innocence and have them play and enjoy life without worry. Yet, the children do not play joyfully, but enter the playground to “torment the weak and the smart.” And the teacher, full of ignorance, returns home wondering how to fabricate the Boer War. This last stanza reveals something ironic. A history teacher who’s trying to detach cruelties from history is completely unaware of the bullies in his/her class. And it seems that he is just as if not more innocent than the children. Collins even describes him walking “past flower beds and white picket fences” to highlight the teacher’s ignorance. The irony of the poem really highlights the quote “those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
ReplyDeleteThe poem First Hour by Sharon Olds is the one that I picked to reflect on and read. This one sticks out to me because as I was reading it struck me as so innocent as a poem. Really nothing seemed very wrong or off or discomforted in the entirety of the poem itself. There was a peacefulness to it knowing that the poem itself did not reflect negativity or problems as some poems do. The overall structure of the poem is what creates the benign atmosphere that it conveys. Lines in the poem like “was softly touching my skin and mouth” and “I was not afraid. I lay in the quiet”. These lines among others really convey that strong but simple sense that I was talking about earlier. These lines emanate the innocent and kind mood of the poem. I think this particular poem offers a good break from some of the darker pieces of literature out there. Again this piece feels very laid back, peaceful, and basking in its innocence, while other poems convey much stronger unfriendlier emotions. This is a good poem to describe the first hour of a newborn baby as is described all throughout this poem.
ReplyDeleteIn the “First Hour” poem, the tone of the author seemed to be very peaceful and gentle. The way the lines were formed, with a lack of rhythm and rhyme seems to have amplified the feeling of peace from this poem. In general, rhythm and rhyme are things used by authors to get the reader more excited and speed up the pace of the story. However, in this poem, the lack of such devices enhanced the tranquility that a newborn would be expected to feel. In addition, the use of similes, metaphors and imagery added to the gentle atmosphere. Sharon Olds’s comparisons to a bubble and the vivid descriptions of the baby such as “smelling on myself the creamy blood” and “the pressure of the air a caress” makes the character seem to be more at peace. However, for me, I had some difficulty breaking down the poem down to its structure. The entire poem seemed to be like storytelling with the author describing the feeling of the first hour on Earth as a baby.
ReplyDeleteI think the structure of these poems is vital to getting their ideas across to the audience. It helps the reader see what is intended to be emphasized and how the poet wanted their words to be presented as. With many of these poems, it is better to actually hear or see them being performed by someone rather than reading them. For example, I cannot imagine reading Rat Sack’s “I’m Losing You” on paper and getting the same experience. The way he runs certain words and phrases together, emphasizes specific lines, makes facial expressions, and even the familiar noise he repeats. Likewise, when “The B Network” by Haki Madhubuti was played in class, I had a completely different experience than when I read it. The poem was read by the poet at an incredibly fast pace and I do not think I would have been able to understand most of it had I not had the written version to reference. However, the lines that were clear when he read it out loud were phrases that I knew were important. I would not have been able to clearly pick out the central message he was attempting to send if I did not hear him perform it, but I also would not be able to understand much if I did not read it myself. One structure that was immediately familiar to me was that of "The History Teacher" by Billy Collins. His modern poem was quite similar to the way a sonnet is structured. It presents a problem or idea in the first 12 (ish) lines, and then responds to it in the last part of the poem. It is fascinating how structures and performances of poems can so powerfully affect how the poem is received by the audience.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem Sign Language by Rives, Rives gives a lot of structure to his poems. There is usually a pause when he uses sign language for each octet, which brings emphasis to the meaning of the poem and creates repition. It’s interesting to see that he mentions how he works at a deaf school and that the school provided poetry slams for deaf students. For every student that has participated, they usually talk about being deaf, some but snips of it into their poems and some don’t mention it all. But I think what’s more fascinating is the way Rives describes the deafness in his poem, in saying that the deafness are able to have a clear voice. He showcases scenarios where his students are able to express their voice and opinion in everyday life by using sign language. This gives it the tone of what Rives intended for his audience to understand about deafness and how it’s not always a handicap to someone. He also uses rhymes and rhythm to convey some of the situations in a humorous manner and to fill space in the poem to sound more put together. I thought this poem was clever in ways that it showcases awareness to those who may not know much about deafness and how it can be a powerful voice in literature.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem "First Hour", the author had a peaceful tone to the audience along with rhyming and similes and metaphors in his writing which added to the gentleness of the poem.The author was not feeling discomforted. An example from the poem, "Was softly touching my skin and mouth” and “I was not afraid. I lay in the quiet”. This is the overall structure that creates the calm and peaceful atmosphere as I read the poem. As stated this piece feels very laid back, peaceful, and innocent, while other poems convey much stronger emotions. This is a good description of the first hour of a newborn baby as is described all throughout this poem.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem "History Teacher" by Billy Collins, light is brought to the underlying fact that history is very dark however children must be educated on history because it teaches us valuable lessons about mistakes people have made in the past and without history the mistakes we make in the past we would repeat in the future, The role of the teacher is also to bring awareness to events that had happened in the past but since the children he is teaching are so young they are capable of handling the full truth and he has to "water it down" as shown in this quote "Trying to protect his students' innocence he told them the Ice Age was really just the Chilly Age, a period of a million years when everyone had to wear sweaters". These kind of descriptions show that as much as we think we know the information we could have been given might be dumbed down or not entirely the truth
ReplyDelete-Aidan Foley
DeleteOne poem that I particularly liked was the “Two Headed Calf” by Laura Gilpin. The poem starts out with a description of the future. The reader immediately knows that the calf doesn’t have long to live. The language in the first half is also ruder, calling it a “freak of nature”. The second half of the poem becomes more hopeful. It describes the calf’s life in the present. The language is calming and pretty, it describes what the calf is seeing. It ends with the calf seeing “twice as many stars as usual”. The structure of the poem changes the mood. If the calf’s present came before it’s future, then the tone of the poem would be sad, but because the calf's future comes first, the second stanza of the poem seems almost nostalgic since the reader knows what comes next. Although the poem is nostalgic, it isn’t sad. The brief moment of peace for the calf makes it more calming, and the last line shows that although the two-headedness makes the calf’s life shorter, it also fills it’s life with more beauty. The poem isn’t about making big changes, or any revolutionary event, but the subject matter still feels important. In a few lines the reader feels real compassion and empathy for the calf.
ReplyDelete-Solace Lockheardt
In the poem, The First Hour, the beginning of the poem seems like a beautiful poem about birth and the miracle of life. The poem revolves around the action of a child after birth. It talks about laying and taking a first breath and sighing. The poem is fascinating to me because it is unique in the fact that the author is writing from the point of view of a child. The poem gives a new view on the world from what a infant would probably feel, the lines about gazing and being interested in everything is a feeling that i get when i look at a child, curious to the world. The poem starts off with a beautiful look at nature, but then turns to what it means to be human. The author says that she was not human yet. These lines make me think a little bit more about life rather than reflecting on the purity and innocence of a child. A new born baby, isn't really human because it is too pure, until you can have a personality, a heart, communication, to process the world around us and to make our own decisions. The poem to me is about beauty, about what i pure human being is like, before they are exposed to the hate of the world. It makes me think about how we all start off as a simple life form, and society shapes us into personalities, opinions and feelings. This poem makes me think about what is really going through a new borns head, wether it is just mindless instinct, or the processing of the environment.
ReplyDeleteA lot of these poems expressed a similar voice or sound, but at the same time each was sort of unique and brought about different feelings. Some of the poems expressed feelings towards certain people the poet may have been thinking of when writing. For example “The Quest” was a poem about a girl, and the author talks about how they try to make the girl happy and want the best for her. This poem shows us the voice of the poet and his feelings towards this girl who she clearly cares about very much. Another poem, “First Hour”, shows us the feeling of independence. Sharon Olds starts the poem by saying that there was a time she felt most herself and that she didn’t need her mother. She describes in detail how she can do what she wants and basically that the world around her was hers, and that she sort of felt a sense of freedom. As the poem goes on she describes her freedom and it seems as though she feels like her life is really just beginning. Other poems by other artists show us the voice inside their own head, and what they see. In the poem “The History Teacher” by Billy Collins we get a sense of what goes on in the teachers head as he teaches a classroom of children. He wants to protect their innocent minds and he changes the really gruesome events that happened in history into smaller less scary events for the minds of the children. Even though he uses this type of teaching method the children still learn and act as though they’re not actually just innocent children as he describes events that happen in the playground.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting how many of the poems seemed to be in criticism or rebellion of life or society in some way. Whether through the tone or words or both, many of the poems implored readers or listeners to examine our society, our speech, or our schools and look at the problems within them. The first poem “The B Network” by Haki Madhubuti wove together sounds and ideas under rebellion and criticism of the unfortunate systems and cycles that Black Americans are forced into. It resembled a lot of the good rap that we see in music today, not only with the rhymes and word play, but with the ideas that were depicted and the emotions of anger and empowerment that they make readers or listeners feel. Similarly, the tone of "The History Teacher" by Billy Collins, seems to question the education system, where atrocities are made easier to swallow to the detriment of students, who understand violence just fine as they commit it against each other. Even Taylor Mali’s poem is in open condemnation of the way that society has changed to make people feel ashamed of their interests and convictions so much so that our speech has been to accommodate those insecurities that we are made to have. These poems are angry and inquisitive, with the kind of language that pushes people to go out and make a change or even just to examine life more closely. Reading these poems also opened my eyes further to the fact that poems can be angry and loud instead of just melodic and soothing as is expected of most poems. Most of them were also surprisingly easy to follow and understand, with a message, or storyline, or purpose.
ReplyDeleteOut of all the poems, I liked the poem "Two headed calf" the most. The poem talks about the future and what the boys will do when they find the calf tomorrow. But then it goes on to talk about the present and how the calf will live in the moment with his mother, and enjoy the night sky. When reading the first part of the poem, I feel that the words portray this cow as a freak, or something hideous. But at the second paragraph it lightens up, saying that the cow sees "twice as many stars as usual". This could mean that the cow has a bright future, even after it is taken and that it has lived life to its full potential. Overall the mood of this poem dramatically changes when reading, it goes from a somewhat evil and careless tone to a deeper, softer and kinder tone describing the surroundings with vivid detail. I think this poem pushes us to live in the moment, and to not worry about the future, but instead appreciate what we have now.
ReplyDeleteAs I began to read all these poems, the first one set a wonderful bar. As I read I thought, "Wow if the first one is this good how are the rest of them?" but none others hit me like this one did. It swam around my head as I tried to focus on the others, but It was no use, and I knew I only needed to write about this one. The way there was no fluff trying to hide the fact it was talking about city dwellers and the poor was very nice, and that theme tied very nicely into his rhyming scheme. Something about it felt very fast-paced just like a real city would be, and that made the act of reading through very enjoyable. Instead of focusing solely on the intricacies of city life like many other city based poems, it also spoke on how black people are viewed and treated in a professional work setting, which helps give us a new perspective on the treatment and condition of poor people
ReplyDeleteIn the poem, First Hour different literary devices and poetic style is used to enhance the meaning of the poem. The first thing that jumped out at me as I read the poem was the odd line breaks that seemed to interrupt the flow of the poem. The breaks in the middle of phrases and ideas created a kind of suspense and anxiety to the poem as you paused more often when reading it. The poem uses tense words to describe the situation to the line breaks help add to this. The part of the poem that stood out the most to me was the 9 lines and how they contrasted each other. First, the baby is described as having nothing and then is called a god, finally to end the poem the baby is brought to its mother which is a very humane action. This back and forth made the poem more striking as the different descriptions were used. On interesting thing about the poem is that the author does not remember this experience as they were just born so this is just their interpretation of what they think their first hour alive was like. The author choose to emphasize the idea that the baby was untouched and unbiased at that stage because it had not experienced anything yet. The main theme of the poem was purity and how delicate newborn babies are.
ReplyDelete-Nalin