...or what Shakespeare is wishing to compare. This title sets the tones of love and beauty for the reader to grasp a better meaning of as they continue reading. The personal context finds the author writing about a remarkable beautiful woman. The comparison makes it clear that Shakespeare is infatuated with this woman’s beauty. Written in the seventeenth century the language of this poem is old English, making it quaint and complex. The rhyme scheme is in line with a sonnet. Every line has the ability to stand alone and has its own imagery. The imagery throughout this poem is very imaginative. This descriptive imagery causes the reader to be able to bring to life this beautiful woman as Shakespeare chooses to compare this lovely individual to the glow of a summer’s day. The question Shakespeare raises in the title is rhetorical, meaning that he has already answered it and does expect a response. Shakespeare uses descriptive words to make understanding the beauty of this woman just out of reach, as though she is too beautiful to ever be fully understood. The first quatrain brings about the comparison of this beautiful lady to a summer’s day, yet then denies that even a summer’s day is not as beautiful as she. Shakespeare uses this comparison to show that she is...
Words: 569 - Pages: 3
...The poems Opportunity are both focused on taking opportunities when they are given to you. The ways this theme is represented in each poem is very different. For example in the poem Opportunity by John James Ingalls the poem seems to be written from the perspective of opportunity. They way this is represented s how it says “ ‘MASTER of human destinies an I.. “ This poem talks from first person POV and I think the person talking is Opportunity. In this poem Opportunity Opportunity is given a voice, a way to express itself. This is a demonstration of personification. I think that the subject in the poem Opportunity by John James Ingalls is Life, because it tells how life or opportunities can pass you by and that you should take them when you have a chance. The tone and mood of this poem is possibly anger or regret for the people that weren’t brave enough to take the opportunities that were brought to them in their lives. The way this might be demonstrated is the way it says “Save death; but those who doubt or hesitate, condemned to failure, penury, and woe, seek me in vain and uselessly implore. I answer not, and I return no more!” Opportunity by Edward Rowland Sill is yes, about opportunity, but the way that the title is weaved into the poem is very different than the other poem Opportunity. This poem is from the POV of someone who witnessed this great battle or dreamed of it. The way we know this is because the first sentence in the poem is “ This I beheld, or dreamed it in...
Words: 468 - Pages: 2
...'A Woman to Her Lover' by Christina Walsh and 'A Married State' by Katherine Philips examines the role and position of women in marriage in the 17th century. 'A Woman to Her Lover' is written in four stanzas of irregular length and in free verse. This is indicative of the poet's reluctance to conform to the conventions of her day regarding marriage and poetry. In the first stanza she speaks to her lover in a forthright tone indicating confidence. The use of a question and her own reply captures the readers interest. The poet uses war imagery, 'conquerer', 'vanquished', 'bondslave' which conveys the idea that man is the enemy. The poet also holds a dim view of her lover's expectations and intentions. 'To make me a bondslave To bear you children, wearing out of my life' Many men would expect this of their wives in this period of time. The use of caesura after 'children' balances the two ideas. If she bears him children, paradoxically it would erode her own life. She is resentful. The alliteration in this stanza 'bend', 'bondslave', 'bear' reinforces her resentment and scorn towards her lover. At this point she dismisses conventional marriage 'O lover I refuse you!'. The use of an exclamation mark reinforces the strength of her conviction. Again in the second stanza she addresses her lover directly and is critical of men who treat women as objects of desire and perfection. 'I am no doll to dress'. She is referring to men who believe women are used for amusement and are...
Words: 1008 - Pages: 5
...setting for a writer? Emily Dickinson seemed to think so as it is well known that she spent much of her life in isolation from society. In her poem “I dwell in Possibility” a comparison is made between the house of poetry and the house of prose with favor towards the house of poetry. However, this comparison goes much deeper. The house of poetry actually represents Emily Dickinson’s way of life in isolation, and the house of prose represents a life in mainstream society. Dickinson uses a unique metaphor,...
Words: 881 - Pages: 4
...The Use of Metaphors in Poetry Rachel Kleinholter World of Texts 9 October 2012 The use of metaphor in poetry is one of the most important aspects of poetic style. Metaphor is defined as figure of speech in which a thing is referred to as being something that it resembles. For example, a fierce person can be referred to as a tiger or a lion. In this way, metaphors are used in poetry to explain and elucidate emotions, feelings, relationships other elements that could not be described in ordinary language. Poets also use metaphor as a way of explaining or referring to something in a brief but effective way. Metaphors have many uses within poems, making them have deeper meaning than what the surface words can convey. Imagery may sometimes be visualized through the use of metaphor. The effect this has on the reader is that it functions primarily to increase stylistic colorfulness and variety. There is not a rulebook for poetry claiming that poems must have metaphors in order to be considered “good”. Yet, we consistently see the use of metaphors in many of the poems that we read today. Poets gravitate towards using metaphors in their poems because it creates a new element of understanding that a simple statement could not do. For example, in the poem “Doesn’t he realize”, the narrator could have just stated that she should not have to be expected to bend completely to the will of her lover. However, by comparing herself to the seaweed the reader gets a much better...
Words: 1204 - Pages: 5
...Shakespeare’s sonnet 18- Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day Shakespeare’s use of diction, design, form and tone affect the manner in which the reader and the hearer perceive the poem and understand the argument put forward by the poet which states that comparing his beloved’s beauty to a summer’s day is not a correct comparison. Shakespeare’s choice of words and imagery provides the reader with extensive ground to diverge between two genres of poetry. It is unclear whether sonnet 18 is a love poem or it is in fact a poem about poetry, the poem is expansive in its meaning. The sonnet is structured in an argumentative form whereby the first quatrain introduces and idea, the second quatrain discusses the idea and the final quatrain expresses the poet’s views on what true beauty entails. The use of punctuation in the poem affects how the argument moves form one quatrain to the other. The tone of the poem shifts as the argument progresses. Sonnet 18 is extensive in its meaning; it may be easy to conclude that the poem is the poet’s declaration of love to his beloved. But it could also be argued that the poet’s intention for writing the sonnet may be to express that his poem will live on as long as men have eyes to see it. If the poem is defined as a love poem then the intended effect of the poem to the hearer would be to emphasize that...
Words: 1179 - Pages: 5
...the topic is that... ● When I read this it made me think (insert mental image or connective thought) … ● This reminds me of a time (insert a personal experience)... "In the loose girdle of soft rain." Part Three: Poetry: Page 295 This specific line created a lovely visual of someone loosening their belt to see how much rain they can catch in their pants. This line is an example of a metaphor as well as personification. I believe the author is trying to ask how much room will there be for memoirs. He compares the rain to a loosened belt allowing room for growth. "And liable to melt as snow." Part Three: Poetry: Page 296 This specific line emphasis how fragile the letters are that have been pressed. It is an example of a simile. I started to think about how frail paper can get over decades of time, such as the Declaration of Independence . You don't want to touch it because you're afraid it might break in your hand. "Are your fingers long enough to play Old keys that are but echoes: Is the silence strong enough To carry back the music to its source And back to you again As though to her?" Part Three: Poetry: Page 296 This grouping of words to me is the strongest metaphor in the entire piece. The author is trying to make a comparison between old and young and understanding each other. The author suggests that the person remembering must delve deep into the mind. This reminds me of when my grandmother sang to me as a little girl and me trying to...
Words: 516 - Pages: 3
...that do not end the same. i.e. “asleep under a tree” * Consonance – a common type of near rhyme that consists of identical consonant sounds preceded by different vowel sounds. * Cliché – an idea or expression that has become tired and trite from overuse * Cacophony – Language that is discordant and difficult to pronounce * Caesura – a pause within a line of poetry that contributes to the rhythm of the line * Couplet – Two consecutive lines of poetry that usually rhyme and have the same meter. * Heroic Couplet – A couplet written in rhymed iambic pentameter * Euphony – refers to language that is smooth and musically pleasant to the ear. * Elegy – a mournful, contemplative lyric poem written to commemorate someone who is dead. * Enjambment – In poetry, when one line ends without a pause and continues into the next line for its meaning. * Foot – the metrical unit by which a line of poetry is measured * Spondee – a foot consisting of two stressed syllables but is not sustained metrical foot and is used mainly for variety or emphasis. * Haiku – a style of lyric poetry borrowed from the Japanese that typically presents an intense emotion or vivid image of nature, chich,...
Words: 815 - Pages: 4
...into “honied indolence,” that is, he compares indolence to a food sweet and succulent like honey in order to demonstrate the beauty it has to him, a common trope in Keats’s poetry. Furthermore, not only is the speaker-poet shielded from both pleasure and pain, again reiterated with “shelter’d from annoy,” in which “annoy” means “discomfort,” but also from daily duties and from others, perhaps the reason that guides this world. Perhaps he was not even being that specific, and merely meant that whatever is going on outside is blocked off from the speaker-poet by this frame of indolence; it is his...
Words: 1718 - Pages: 7
...most general genres in literature are (in loose chronological order) epic, tragedy,[1] comedy, and creative nonfiction.[citation needed] They can all be in the form of prose or poetry. Additionally, a genre such as satire, allegory or pastoral might appear in any of the above, not only as a subgenre (see below), but as a mixture of genres. Finally, they are defined by the general cultural movement of the historical period in which they were composed. Genre should not be confused with age categories, by which literature may be classified as either adult, young-adult, or children's. They also must not be confused with format, such as graphic novel or picture book. GenresEdit For more details on this topic, see List of literary genres. Just as in painting, there are different types: the landscape, the still life, the portrait; there are different types of literary works. These types tend to share specific characteristics. Genres describe those works which share specific conventions.[2] Genres are often divided into subgenres. Literature, is divided into the classic three forms of Ancient Greece, poetry, drama, and prose. Poetry may then be subdivided into the genres of lyric, epic, and dramatic. The lyric includes all the shorter forms of poetry, e.g., song, ode, ballad, elegy, sonnet.[2] Dramatic poetry might include comedy, tragedy, melodrama, and mixtures like tragicomedy. The standard division of drama into tragedy and comedy derives from Greek drama.[2] This parsing into...
Words: 3155 - Pages: 13
...q) Define Metaphysical poetry answer) Metaphysical poetry is a form of poetry that has its roots in the 17th century England. The term Metaphysical poets was coined by the 18th century poet Samuel Johnson to describe a loose group of English poets of the 17th century, who were not affiliated with each other in any way. These poets were generally interested in metaphysical issues and even though they never read or saw each others works but all of them had a common method of examining these issues, hence a common ground in regards to the theme or topic of their work . In simple terms, the term Metaphysics is comprised of two words: meta and physics, Meta means beyond and physical means physical nature. Thus, Metaphysical poetry means poetry that goes beyond the physical world of the senses and explores the spiritual world. Poetry which deals with correlation between the real world and the after-world, concrete and abstract, soul and being, as well as reality and perception using philosophical methodology is called Metaphysical Poetry." The work of metaphysical poets was characterized by wit and the innovative use of metaphors, known as Metaphysical Conceits (elaborate and far fetched comparisons of two dissimailar things which have very little in common) and by speculation about topics such as love, life, god, religion and afterlife. The use of conceit in this form of poetry was made to develop a comparison which is exceedingly unlikely but is nonetheless intellectually...
Words: 451 - Pages: 2
...What is Poetry? Poetry can be defined as 'literature in a metrical form' or 'a composition forming rhythmic lines'. In short, a poem is something that follows a particular flow of rhythm and meter. Compared to prose, where there is no such restriction, and the content of the piece flows according to story, a poem may or may not have a story, but definitely has a structured method of writing. Elements of Poetry There are several elements which make up a good poem. Although it is not mandatory for a poet to use all these elements or devices, they form an important aspect of poetry. So what are the elements of a poem? In brief, they are described below. Rhythm: This is the music made by the statements of the poem, which includes the syllables in the lines. The best method of understanding this is to read the poem aloud, and understand the stressed and unstressed syllables. Listen for the sounds and the music made when we hear the lines spoken aloud. How do the words resonate with each other? How do the words flow when they are linked with one another? Does sound right? Do the words fit with each other? These are the things you consider while studying the rhythm of the poem. Meter: This is the basic structural make-up of the poem. Do the syllables match with each other? Every line in the poem must adhere to this structure. A poem is made up of blocks of lines, which convey a single strand of thought. Within those blocks, a structure of syllables which follow the rhythm...
Words: 1895 - Pages: 8
...Students Name Instructor’s Name Course Date The theme of love in Li Qingzhao's poetry Li Qingzhao is one of the best-known poets in China and the entire Asian community who wrote several poems in the 12th century. She was born in 1084 in J’nan, Shandong province to an aristocratic and scholarly family that was dedicated to educating their daughters. Her father was a professor at the Imperial Academy and also a prose writer whereas her mother was a writer of poetry. Qingzhao acquired extensive knowledge of literature and classics in her teenage as she also remained devoted and focused on her academics. Literary work was part of her life; even as a young girl she wrote delightful little lyrics on her outings to the near beauty spots. She stood up in a literary world that was dominated by men in an unusual way at that particular period as Chinese women were actively discouraged from any form of writing. She pressed on and her determination of creating her space in the male literary tradition never died (Ring). At eighteen, she got married to Zhao Mingcheng-a student at the Imperial Academy- in the year 1101 and lived in Shandong; he later died in 1129. Fortunately, they both had a mutual interest in art collection and epigraphy, and they collected many books as a result. They enjoyed touring the city and the neighborhoods and many other places in quest of favorite antiques and the ancient books that helped in refining of her poetic style. Zhao was mostly absent after he started...
Words: 1906 - Pages: 8
...Poetry Analysis Essay for “Road Not Taken” By: Robert Frost Course # and Title: ENGL 102: Literature and Composition Semester of Enrollment: Spring 2012 Name: Timothy Bayless ID #: L22915807 Writing Style Used: MLA Timothy Bayless L22915807 ENGL-102 C04 Poetry Analysis Essay Outline I. Introduction A. Facts: Robert Frost thought a poem should start with delight but end in wisdom and has also won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry four times. B. Title and Author: “The Road Not Taken” By: Robert Frost C. Thesis: The poem displays the difficult decisions people make in order to progress in life and how one choice can alter the future for better or worse. II. Body A. Meaning and Message i. Surface Meaning: A person comes to a “y” in the road and has to decide which way to go. ii. Deeper Meaning: Internal debates are overwhelming when deciding what the right decision to make is. iii. Theme: The choices made in life can alter the future for better or worse. B. Tone i. The person speaking in the poem seems to have a certain level of maturity and it shows in the debate about which road to take. ii. The tone of the speaker is solemn in nature. iii. The reason the tone seems solemn is because the speaker is left with...
Words: 1400 - Pages: 6
...glish literature How to Write an A* GCSE English Literature Poetry Response Copyright © 2008 www.englishteaching.co.uk + www.english-teaching.co.uk How to Write an A* GCSE English Literature Poetry Response 2 The Poetry Component of the GCSE Literature Paper The poetry task is the second question on the GCSE English Literature exam paper. It is perhaps the more demanding of the tasks on the paper, because unlike the question on the prose, in this section you are being asked to compare four poems simultaneously throughout your answer. In the exam you should spend one hour on this section of the paper. Given the greater demand of the task, your response to the poetry is worth more marks than the response to the prose. In order to perform at the highest level on this paper, it is important that you develop a nuanced and sophisticated comparative written style. However, this is achievable if you adopt a systematic approach to ordering and writing your responses. It does, however, demand considerable practice prior to the final examination. What is the Examiner looking for in a response to the Poetry? The exam is designed to test your ability to do the following things: Can you respond to the poems critically, in detail, and sensitively using textual evidence? Can Can you explore language, structure and form contribute to the meaning of texts? Can Can you compare the ways that ideas, themes and relationships are presented in the poems by...
Words: 5638 - Pages: 23
