Robert Frost "Nothing Gold Can Stay" analysis

1.Nature's first green is gold,

2.Her hardest hue to hold.

3.Her early leaf's a flower;

4.But only so an hour.

5.Then leaf subsides to leaf,

6.So Eden sank to grief,

7.So dawn goes down to day

8.Nothing gold can stay.

1. In the first line of the poem Robert Frost is speaking of new borns and how they are like gold.
2. Right here he is saying that the precious babys wont last forever.
3. Her early leafs a flower, a young girl blooming into a mature woman.
4. It doesnt last long, but only so an hour.
5. Now she is getting older and is soon to leave the house of her father.
6. Eden sank to grief, which could be related to when Adam and Eve left the garden of Eden, as Eden sinks to grief so will the parents of a child who has to leave the house.
7. This line means that now life must go on.
8. Nothing gold can stay means that children grow old and leave and parents grow old and die it happens.

Poem Analysis

The N**** Speaks Of Rivers

By Langston Hughes

I’ve known rivers:

I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.

I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.

I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.

I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I’ve known rivers:

Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers

Line:

1.  Rivers in this poem I think represent the slavery in history.

2. Further elaborating about how rivers are intertwined with slavery in history.

3. He talks about how his soul has grown deep like the rivers. Maybe because he is depressed?

4-6. In these lines he is talking about his race as a whole and how they have been a major factor throughout history.

7. This line is similar to the previous lines except it is more personal. It talks about how when Abe Lincoln went to new orleans the mississippi "sang" and the muddy bosom turned into "a golden sunset" which is talking about how he took out slavery and "transformed" the south.

8-10. It describes here how the rivers "In my interpretation" have become ancient and dusky like the times when his race had equal rights.

     When Langston Hughes wrote this poem, he was on a train headed to Mexico riding along the Mississippi River. He wrote this poem in a time when racial injustice was very prominent in America. Langston uses rivers as a metaphor for slavery throughout history and he speaks about how Abe Lincoln turned it around and turned it into a sunset.

I WANDERED lonely as a cloud

I WANDERED lonely as a cloud

          That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

          When all at once I saw a crowd,

          A host, of golden daffodils;

          Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

          Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

          Continuous as the stars that shine

          And twinkle on the milky way,

          They stretched in never-ending line

          Along the margin of a bay:                                  10

          Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

          Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

          The waves beside them danced; but they

          Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

          A poet could not but be gay,

          In such a jocund company:

          I gazed--and gazed--but little thought

          What wealth the show to me had brought:

          For oft, when on my couch I lie

          In vacant or in pensive mood,                               20

          They flash upon that inward eye

          Which is the bliss of solitude;

          And then my heart with pleasure fills,

          And dances with the daffodils.

                                         

In the first line of the poem Wordsworth uses a simile to compare his wandering to that of a cloud. Later on in the stanza he write the there are daffodils “fluttering and dancing in the wind” which helps create a vivid image in the mind of the reader. In the first two lines of the second stanza the daffodils are like the stars of the Milky Way in how they “shine and twinkle”, this is a great comparison because the Milky Way is filled with almost count less stars and helps create a feel for how massive the field of daffodils is. As the stanza continues it reads “Ten thousand saw I at a glance” which again repeats the idea of how many daffodils are present. The third portion of the poem reminds the reader the of the location of the field being by a lake shore reaffirming part of the first stanza. The line  “A poet could not but be gay” helps set the tone of the poem as a pleasant and enjoyable one. The last stanza of the poem talks about how Wordsworth often lies on his couch in poor mood then “They flash upon that inward eye, Which is the bliss of solitude, And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils”, this ending of the poem is referring to his mood being lifted by him recalling the daffodils in his mind. 

R.F.

A Prayer in Spring by Robert Frost

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfill

First Stanza: We are to find joy in every circumstance, whether the flowers smell good or bad
                   Live in the moment, not worrying about what the future holds
                   Rest in the fact of not knowing what is to come, feel a sense of peace knowing you don't have
                   to control it
                   As we face the "rebirth" of a new year, a clean slate should provide a sense of refreshment

Second Stanza: Find joy even when we can't see the good clearly. When everything seems blurry, focus on
                        the present good in front of you
                        Give thanks at day, gives thanks at night - any time of day, just give thanks
                        Join in rejoicing with others, "buzzing" with excitement to everyone
                        Constantly growing in joyous harmony

Third Stanza: Find joy when things feel rushed, when life becomes full of demands that whiz by
                    Past the easy, everyday life of relaxation, when things become hectic
                    Even when the unexpected times in life strike
                    Or when life just seems like it's at a standstill, when you think all is perfectly fine

Fourth Stanza: Finding joy always is true love for life and a life for God
                      This true love should be pointing to God alone - no other
                      We will not know who God will deem worthy of eternity with Him, only He knows
                      However, we must continue to live and find joy for and in Him at all times

Above is my interpretation of A Prayer in Spring. Analyzing pieces of literature, for me personally, is the best way I can summarize what is being said. So, that's what I did with this poem by Robert Frost (I hope this is okay Mallory - I understand it best by doing it this way). If I had to put my finger on what thing in particular that Frost was implying through A Prayer in Spring, it would be that he desires for himself, and others, to live in the present. Although this has become a cliche task it seems, Frost makes a good point. The utilization of imagery, simile and diction dilutes the cliche feel of the theme. Frost's flowery diction grabs and holds the readers attention, while making the poem sound pretty simultaneously. The vivid imagery he uses goes hand-in-hand with the diction as well; Frost makes it easy to visualize the places and scenes he's writing about. Using simile within the poem helps readers to imagine a comparison - so, basically, Robert Frost provides many literary techniques to aid the reader in understanding his theme of "present-day joy always" in A Prayer in Spring.

Commentary on "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"

Line by line analysis

 -The narrator is in the woods; they do not belong to him though.                                                                                                 -He is alone and far from civilization.                                                                                                                                                   -He does not want to be seen, he wants to be alone.

 -The woods are peaceful, relaxing and tempting.    
 -Something isn't right...                                                               
 -They don't belong there, they should be somewhere else.
 -The woods, while peaceful, are still cold. 

 -Not only are the woods cold, they are dark too.
 -His horse "wakes" him from his daydream.
 -His horse plays the part of his conscience by warning him.  
 -He is still distracted by the solitude of the woods. 
 -He is spell-bound by its tranquil peace.
 -He wants to stay...
 -But he knows he can't, he has responsibilities.
 -He has much to do before he can rest.     
 -He emphasizes this, perhaps to further convince himself.
 

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

-Robert Frost

     Robert Frost used several techniques in his poem, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". He chose techniques such as, diction, imagery, repetition, personification, onomatopoeia, and symbolism. The woods are a symbol in themselves. They represent solitude, temptation or escape. On the other hand, the village symbolizes civilization or security. The woods to the narrator are a means of escape from the responsibilities of everyday life. The darkness and cold of the woods only seem to entice him. The horse, as opposed its master, does not want to be in the woods. This is when personification comes into play. The horse was personified once when Frost says that he "think[s]" (5) and again when he "ask[s]" (10). With words like, "sweep"(11) and "easy"(12), the author adds diction to the poem. Through the use diction and imagery, Frost created a scene that was inviting yet eerie. Frost cleverly used repetition at the end of the poem. By repeating the last line, he was showing that the narrator wanted very badly to stay and lose himself in the woods, yet he knew he couldn't. He had to repeat this to remind himself of the responsibilities he had elsewhere. The theme in this poem seems to be temptation. The narrator becomes so tempted by the dark, lonely woods that he considers leaving all responsibilities behind.  

p.s.   I am sorry that the set-up may be confusing. I have had a lot of trouble with this computer and this was the best I could do.

The Valley of Unrest-- Edgar Allan Poe

The Valley Of Unrest

by Edgar Allan Poe

Once it smiled a silent dell
Where the people did not dwell;
They had gone unto the wars,
Trusting to the mild-eyed stars,
Nightly, from their azure towers,
To keep watch above the flowers,
In the midst of which all day
The red sunlight lazily lay.
Now each visitor shall confess
The sad valley's restlessness.
Nothing there is motionless-
Nothing save the airs that brood
Over the magic solitude.
Ah, by no wind are stirred those trees
That palpitate like the chill seas
Around the misty Hebrides!
Ah, by no wind those clouds are driven
That rustle through the unquiet Heaven
Uneasily, from morn till even,
Over the violets there that lie
In myriad types of the human eye-
Over the lilies there that wave
And weep above a nameless grave!
They wave:- from out their fragrant tops
Eternal dews come down in drops.
They weep:- from off their delicate stems
Perennial tears descend in gems.

Once it smiled a silent dell-- A large portion of this line is happy. You can picture a peaceful, green valley probably filled with people going about their lives. The word "once" is italicized, adding emphasis that something happened, causing the valley to become unsilent and not cheerful. Imagery helps the reader picture the setting.

Where the people did not dwell-- The people who inhabited the happy valley are away. Where they are or what they are doing is to be discovered in the next line.

They had gone unto the wars-- The inhabitants have gone to battle.

Trusting to the mild-eyed stars-- The inhabitants put their trust and future in the stars. The phrase "mild-eyed stars" suggest that the stars are dim and, in the people's view, gentle and kind. This phrase is the first of many examples of personification in this poem.

Nightly, from their azure towers-- Azure is another word for the sky. This line is saying that the stars rule from their watch-towers in the sky. This is the second example of personification.

To keep watch above the flowers-- The inhabitants trust the stars to look after them and their land. I think symbolism is found here. The flowers may represent the people. Flowers are fragile and vulnerable, just like people. The lives of both can be taken easily and can't be given back. Again, the stars keeping watch is an example of personification.

In the midst of which all day-- We don't know what yet, but something is there during the war all day.

The red sun-light lazily lay-- Red is a symbol of blood. The word lay has multiple meanings. Among these definitions are, "...to prepare a corpse for burial...", "...to bury as in a grave...", and "...to incapacitate as by injury..." ("lay" Funk & Wagnall's Standard College Dictionary 767). Both the color of red and the above definitions of lay are war-related. Just as sunlight is everywhere, I believe the line is saying that during the war, blood was everywhere you looked.

Now each visitor shall confess-- Now is italicized, emphasizing the valley's present state during the war. Every person who visits must confess something about the valley, but the confession will be known in the next line.

The sad valley's restlessness-- The valley went from cheerful and peaceful to disturbed and unhappy. The valley is restless now and not at all silent. This valley's emotion of sadness is another example of personification.

Nothing here is motionless-- The war or battle stirred everything. Nothing is still.

Nothing save the airs that brood-- Everything is motionless except the air that sits or incubates something we don't know yet. The air brooding is yet again another example of personification.

Over the magic solitude-- I'm not sure, but maybe the air incubates the solitude that will come concluding the war. The valley may be a place of solitude and loneliness after the many casualties.

Ah, by no wind are stirred those trees-- The wind doesn't stir the trees, but the unrest and fighting does. I'm not sure if this applies to the poem or not, but "tree" is an archaic word for a gallow, which may or may not have been used during the war.

That palpitate like the chill seas-- The trees quiver and tremble like the cold seas. This is the first and only simile in this poem.

Around the misty Hebrides-- The trees quiver like the seas around the Hebrides. The Hebrides are islands off the coast of western Scotland. The waters are cold and the islands are misty, adding to the gloomy, dreadful air about the poem.

Ah, by no wind those clouds are driven-- Like the trees, the wind doesn't move the clouds, but the fighting does.

That rustle through the unquiet Heaven-- Not even the clouds are still, but move through the unquiet sky.

Uneasily from morn till even-- The clouds are not stationary from morning to evening.

Over the violets there that lie-- The clouds move over the violets beneath them. Violets, a bluish purple color, may symbolize the bruises and wounds inflicted by fighting.

In myriad types of the human eye-- I'm not sure what this line means. Maybe a lot of people fought the war, or maybe a few different nationalities did.

Over the lilies there that wave-- The clouds also move over the lilies beneath them. Lilies are white, which may be symbolistic of the innocence of the young men who lost their lives.

And weep above a nameless grave-- The lilies "weep" above a grave of an unidentified soldier. The lilies weeping is another example of personification.

They wave:-from out their fragrant tops-- The lilies wave and from their tops, something happens.

Eternal dews come down in drops-- Drops of dew come down from the tops of the lilies in the form of tear drops.

They weep:-from off their delicate stems-- They weep and something happens from the stems. Again, the lilies' weeping is a form of personification.

Perennial tears descend in gems-- Dew, in the form of tears, come down the lilies' delicate stems. There is a kind of double metaphor here. The "tears" are dew drops and the dew drops are gems. There is a play on the word perennial. Both the lily and the violet are perennial flowers. The word perennial also means eternal or everlasting.

The last three lines are portrayed by personification and imagery. You can picture the scene as the flowers "weep" and dew falls down from them. As for mood changes, the beginning line paints a pretty green valley scene, then you see the valley warped by war, then the poem finishes by a sad remembrance. The theme of this poem is the results of war. War was hard on soldiers, their families and the economy. It was pretty much hard on everything. Poe even wrote about how nature was affected by it. 

    "The Valley of Unrest" by Edgar Allan Poe was a very powerful poem for me. I loved it the first time I read it. It gave me a perspective I have never seen about war. In history classes, I have heard that many soldiers lose their lives in battle and there was a lot of hardship, but those were words didn't have meaning. Don't get me wrong, I felt very sorry for the soldiers and their families because both sides were suffering something very difficult. This poem made me truly realize that these men died. They had their whole life ahead of them, but that was taken away. May they always be remembered for their valiance and bravery.

Dead Man Walking Explication

                                   

 1  They hail me as one living,        --Those who walk and see him as they are

        But don't they know

That I have died of late years,    --- Died emotionally

      Untombed although?            ---- Not in a tomb, like a zombie

2 I am but a shape that stands here,  

      A pulseless mould,     -A mold wiithout a pulse

A pale past picture, screening -- outdated 'picture' Just playing over and over

      Ashes gone cold.  --Ashes are a product of fire and they lose all their color and warmth when the fire goes out. 

3 Not at a minute's warning,  

      Not in a loud hour,   - The statement above plus this one means that his 'passing' was not all at once or in a special way

For me ceased Time's enchantments -- The excitement of life has stopped.

      In hall and bower. -- House words. He was an architect and loved it. 

4 There was no tragic transit, - i.e smoke and lights or anyone making a big deal.

      No catch of breath, -as in he hasn't died yet

When silent seasons inched me - Overwhelmed slowly by misery

      On to this death .... -This death, implying a different kind

4 — A Troubadour-youth I rambled - Young poet with not a whole lot to say

      With Life for lyre, - who took life as music=positive 

The beats of being raging -the natural rhythm of life 

      In me like fire. - he was passionate about life/being

5 But when I practised eyeing -potentially acquiring 

      The goal of men, -other, common jobs

It iced me, and I perished

      A little then.   -his first little brush with death

6 When passed my friend, my kinsfolk, 

      Through the Last Door, -Door to the beyond, death

And left me standing bleakly, -alone

      I died yet more; -chipping away

7 And when my Love's heart kindled 

      In hate of me,   -This statement and the one above express that his love has passion to spite him rather than love him

Wherefore I knew not, died I -unbeknownst to him

      One more degree.

8 And if when I died fully -Like he's not even present, he lost all sense of feeling

      I cannot say, - not sure

And changed into the corpse-thing -when the full transformation took place

      I am to-day, -he is aware of his position but with no desire to live otherwise  

9 Yet is it that, though whiling -waiting through 

      The time somehow

In walking, talking, smiling, -he's a fake pseudo-person acting like a person but with ashes for insides 

      I live not now. -he lives but he is not living

This poem by Thomas Hardy is called Dead Man Walking. It expresses the viewpoint that Hardy, through the tolls of life is now just a walking corpse. In stanzas 1,2 he explains how he sees himself and feels, telling the reader that he feels like a '...pulseless mold..' (2) and that he has' ...died of late years...' (1) therefore giving us the first question: What does he mean dead? Closely following that query is Why? 

Stanzas 3,4 both explain how there was no ceremony or anything special as he slowly eked toward the zombie that he is. That 'There was no tragic transit...' (4) and it certainly did not happen all at once but '...silent seasons inched [him]...' towards his current position when the poem was written. Our first question was answered in the first four stanzas when he tells us that when he says dead he means emotionally, that his '...ashes [have] gone cold...' and that there was 'No catch of breath...' implying he hasn't caught his last breath thus saying he is still alive. Duh. the next 3 stanzas answer our question why. 

Why is he like a dead man walking? At first he explains what he was like before the events that stole his life away occurred. 

'— A Troubadour-youth I rambled

      With Life for lyre,

The beats of being raging

      In me like fire.' 

A troubadour is a lyric poet or minstrel of sort that tells stories using whimsy and charm. Hardy compares himself to such in this transitional passage. He parallels himself to a troubadour-youth because he feels his poetry created when he was young was far too whimsical, with not a whole lot to say. He was passionate about life, with 'The beats of being raging..In [him] like fire.' 

and he didn't take life seriously enough, making it equal with music or, synonymously,  positivity.

  This changed when he started getting the dark poison that life often brings. He takes questions his own career, (5)  loses his love to hate, (7)  family and friends pass on and leave him alone,(6) all these things combined with the unfairness of it all drives Hardy into a slow overwhelming misery that makes him the corpse he expresses in A Dead Man Walking. 

This poem doesn't have much variety when it comes to literary devices. But the three it does have (Alliteration/Diction, Simile, Metaphor) are utilized precisely. A few examples literary devices in Dead Man Walking are:

'They hail me as one living' -comparing himself to the living (S)

' I am but a shape that stands here, a pulseless mold.' -no pulse, no blood, no warmth, a body without a soul (M)

' The beats of being raging in me like fire' -Describing how his passion for life burned (S)

'..Silent seasons..' -Silent seasons creates the most pleasing sounds. Sounds on the tongue like the actual slow passing of time. (A/D)

'And changed me into this corpse-thing I am to-day.' -Not even like a corpse, he is a corpse!

The theme of this poem is the outcome of sorrow. Through the tribulations that Hardy experienced, the only light at the end of the tunnel was the train. There was no grand triumph, his encounters with trials left him feeling like ashes gone cold, like a dead man with a smile every now and again. Life sucked the life from him.

'

homework

Great job on your presentations!

Homework This Week
- Read and do all the work in Chapter 11 of your textbook
-make sure you READ and ANNOTATE the short story in it 3 times.

Blog
Explicate a poem by either the poet you selected OR one of the other 10 poets presented on in class. If you do not pick one of those 11 poets, you will receive no credit for the assignment.

Analyze line by line.
As questions about structure, literary device and theme.
Remember to ask why authors use certain words or phrases.
Interpret the poem. What is going on? What is the poem really about? What proof do you have from the poem to defend your interpretation?

This blog will be worth 25 points instead of the normal 15.


Good luck!

PS- If you are advanced and would like to read ahead, go ahead and start reading Hamlet. You can find it online or at the library. 

A Writers View

 

On Shakespeare by John Milton

 

 

What needs my Shakespeare for his honoured bones,

The labor of an age in pilèd stones,

Or that his hallowed relics should be hid   

Under a star-ypointing pyramid?

Dear son of Memory, great heir of fame,

What need’st thou such weak witness of thy name?

Thou in our wonder and astonishment

Hast built thyself a live-long monument.

For whilst to th’ shame of slow-endeavouring art,   

Thy easy numbers flow, and that each heart   

Hath from the leaves of thy unvalued book

Those Delphic lines with deep impression took,   

Then thou, our fancy of itself bereaving,   

Dost make us marble with too much conceiving;

And so sepúlchred in such pomp dost lie,

That kings for such a tomb would wish to die.

 

 

This poem is made as a tribute to a fellow artists William Shakespeare. The first few lines are mostly about Shakespeare's tome. The poem explains that Milton does not believe the final resting place for a most beloved writer should be a pile of stones. He also recognizes Shakespeare as a great author. He has gives many complements such as "Dear son of memory" and "great heir of  fame" This is my perspective of this poem but I can not say I have a gift for understanding poetry. 

Poetry Stinks.

Acquainted with the Night

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-by;
And further still at an unearthly height
One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
-Robert Frost



     This poem is about leaving a city and becoming "Acquainted with the Night".  The first part is about him walking away from the city. Then as he is leaving he starts looking at city lanes and watchmen. But he is also ashamed because he drops his eyes. Unwilling to explain why he is leaving. It explains how the city is crying for him as he is leaving. But not to call him back or say goodbye, just to show its height. Then it talks about how he can tell the time by the luminary clock in the sky (the moon). Then he says how the clock is not exact (neither right or wrong). Then he becomes acquainted with the night.

A Boundless Moment...

He halted in the wind, and -- what was that
Far in the maples, pale, but not a ghost?
He stood there bringing March against his thought,
And yet too ready to believe the most.

"Oh, that's the Paradise-in-bloom," I said;
And truly it was fair enough for flowers
had we but in us to assume in march
Such white luxuriance of May for ours.

We stood a moment so in a strange world,
Myself as one his own pretense deceives;
And then I said the truth (and we moved on).
A young beech clinging to its last year's leaves. 

Robert Frost

This poem, in my opinion, is about time. How we can easily confuse the miraculous happenings of our present with the ghosts from our past. How we are, like the beech, trying to hold onto something that is already dead and gone. If we slow down and look carefully, we will see the obvious beauty of the things in life that are happening from day to day.

Crossing the Bar

Sunset and evening star
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For though from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.

Life and Death Music

Christian Perspective:

The "moaning of the bar" is the sound of waves crashing against the sand bar that separates life and death.  "The flood may bear me far" is when the person is finally drifting over the sand bar and away from life.  "Twilight and evening bell, and after that the dark!"  Death has come, but "may there be no sadness of farewell, when I embark", here, the person wishes that no relatives or friends will grieve his death.  Most of all, though, the person wishes to see his Pilot face to face when he/she have crossed the bar.  God is the Pilot and when he calls for you, may there be no moaning of the bar when you put out to sea.

Poem Analysis

For every When? There is a Why?

For every push, there is a pull

For every truth there is a lie

For every fall there is a fool

For every Where? There is a How?

For every Heaven, there is a Hell

For every moment there is a now

For every nose there is a smell

For every foe there is a friend

For every smile there are many tears

For every start there is an end

When every day we face our fears 

Gordon David

This poem is about opposites and apposing forces. The overall meaning of the poem is about good vs. evil. David uses contrast to show the different sides of the poem by using words like “truth” and “lie” to evoke an emotional response in the reader. As the poem continues, the author continues to use words that are polar opposites to provoke a response in the reader like “heaven” and “hell”. Overall, this work does a great job contrasting words to create meaning in the poem. 

"Storm Fear" Analysis

Storm Fear

 

When the wind works against us in the dark,
And pelts with snow
The lowest chamber window on the east,
And whispers with a sort of stifled bark,
The beast,
'Come out! Come out!'-
It costs no inward struggle not to go,
Ah, no!
I count our strength,
Two and a child,
Those of us not asleep subdued to mark
How the cold creeps as the fire dies at length,-
How drifts are piled,
Dooryard and road ungraded,
Till even the comforting barn grows far away
And my heart owns a doubt
Whether 'tis in us to arise with day
And save ourselves unaided.

Robert Frost

   "Storm Fear" by Robert Frost can be taken two different ways. On one level, the poem is about the frightening reality of being snowed in. He describes a great storm that traps him and his family in their home. As the fire dies out he begins to question whether or not his family is strong enough to make it through the storm. However, I believe that the poem has another meaning other that the obvious message. I think he may have intended to allude to depression, as he suffered many times of depression himself. Frost uses a clever combination of imagery and metaphor in his poem. Frost uses imagery when he describes "the wind working against..."(1) them, and how the  storm "pelts with snow"(2). With metaphor, Frost adds life to the storm, making the fear feel real to the reader. He makes the comparison of the storm to a beast telling them to come out. He also says that the storm whispers and barks. He then describes the atmosphere with imagery by writing, "How the cold creeps as the fire dies at length" (12). In a way the entire poem seems to be a metaphor to sadness or temptation.

Eulalie by Edgar Allan Poe

Eulalie

I dwelt alone
In a world of moan,
And my soul was a stagnant tide,
Till the fair and gentle Eulalie became my blushing bride-
Till the yellow-haired young Eulalie became my smiling bride.

Ah, less- less bright
The stars of the night
Than the eyes of the radiant girl!
That the vapor can make
With the moon-tints of purple and pearl,
Can vie with the modest Eulalie's most unregarded curl-
Can compare with the bright-eyed Eulalie's most humble and careless
curl.

Now Doubt- now Pain
Come never again,
For her soul gives me sigh for sigh,
And all day long
Shines, bright and strong,
Astarte within the sky,
While ever to her dear Eulalie upturns her matron eye-
While ever to her young Eulalie upturns her violet eye.

     Eulalie is a poem by Edgar Allan Poe about his marriage to Virginia Clemm. When Poe was twenty-seven years of age, he married his cousin, Virginia, when she was only thirteen. They had a happy marriage, despite the age difference. Words such as "girl" and "young" are subtle hints about his wife.
     In the beginning of the poem, the narrator is lonely and doesn't feel a purpose for life. He feels this way until he marries Eulalie. He loves her very much and feels that not even the stars can compare to her. He feels comforted by her and feels that Pain and Doubt will never visit him again. Every day with Eulalie is happy and bright. I'm not quite sure about the last three lines, but I think they are saying that Eulalie "upturns" even the love goddess Astarte's eye.
     I found a few literary devices in this poem, one of them being a metaphor. The narrator states that his "soul was a stagnant tide." This comparison shows the narrator's lack of motivation for life. I think it goes further and means that his soul was not clean and may even be inhabited by sinful desires, just as mosquitos inhabit still waters.  Eulalie had life and made the narrator pure again. On the sixth line, the word "less" was repeated to amplify how bright Eulalie's eyes were in comparison to the stars. An allusion is found on line twenty. Astarte is used to show how special Eulalie was, that even the goddess looked up at her. The words "moon-tints of purple and pearl" really caught my attention. They make me think of the vivid hues of violet, pink and cream of space. Eulalie must be a very unique girl to exceed the beauty of space.
     When I read this poem, I can sense how dear Eulalie is to the narrator, just as Virginia was to Poe. I get a happy, almost day-dream feel about the poem. You can tell that she is his life. If you take her away from him, you take his life away as well.
    

Weather Vain (i.e. Finally did this blog)

The consequences of Vanity is the main theme in Dorian Gray. Dorian starts
out fully innocent and with a very attractive personality to most but as the story 
goes on, his own soul is defiled with the heinous acts that he commits for the 
seeking of his own beauty and personal fulfillment. Lord Henry and Basil Hallward
 were two definite contributors in the feeding of Dorian's conceited flame. 
With Lord Henry profoundly making the statement probably laden with dry 
wit that "..when your youth goes, your beauty will go with it, and then you will suddenly
 discover that there are no triumphs left for you..."(32). This sparked the first crackles
 of Gerard's mindset of self pleasure and the advantages of beauty. Basil was no 
extinguisher of Dorian's destructive ways, throughout keeping him aware of his idol
 worship and admonition of Dorian's inhuman beauty and power over his art and soul. 
Sybl Vane only furthered Dorian's caustic vanity shortly after their breaking ways. Her
 ballistic reaction to the parting of their countenances encouraged the thoughts of a higher
 place among society that Gray already possessed. Vanity is dangerous, as heavily displayed by Dorian Gray's flagrant disregard for his own soul and the extent of his descent into madness.