"Crossing the Bar" Alfred, Lord Tennyson

This poem is about a man who is extremely accepting of death. He knows it's going to happen, so he somewhat embraces it. In the first stanza, he says "may there be no moaning of the bar/ When I put out to sea." I took this as the speaker not wanting people to mourn his death, because he feels like it is his time to go. In the second stanza, the last line says, "that which drew from out the boundless deep/ Turns again home." This is showing that he is dying and going to heaven with God, because it speaks of returning back home. God created us in heaven, and that is where he plans to go when he dies. Again in the third stanza, the speaker says, "may there be no sadness of farewell/ When I embark," further proving the point that he does not want people to be sad about his death. Then finally in the last stanza, he says, "I hope to see my Pilot face to face/ When I have crossed the bar." In this sentence, the "Pilot" is God; He even capitalizes the "P" in the word. I would say the tone of this poem is accepting.

"The Apparition" John Donne

So first of all I looked up apparition, and the dictionary.com definition is a supernatural appearance of a person or thing, esp. a ghost. The speaker is upset by the way that this woman has treated him in the past. It seems as though she has dumped him, and he is obviously not taking it well. He has died now and is now threatening to haunt this woman. I want to know how he died. There is not much evidence, but maybe he killed himself, because he couldn't take the heart ache. The last stanza is the creepiest, in my opinion. He says that he "will not tell thee now,/ Lest that preserve thee." In those lines, he is saying that he is not going to tell her when he is coming or what he is going to do. He wants to leave her in the dark, so that she has no way of preparing for it. The tone of this poem is quite vengeful. He wants to get back at her for breaking his heart.

"Getting Out" Cleopatra Mathis

For me, this poem is relatable, because I feel like it is talking about two people that care about each other a lot and want things to work out, but they just never do. I have been in a relationship like that, and it's terrible. The first line speaks of "waking like inmates," which makes one wonder whether the speaker is referring to inmates in a jail or inmates in a mental hospital. But the next line says, "who beat the walls." This sort of clears it up somewhat, because when I think of someone beating on the walls, I think more of a mental institution than a jail. Throughout the poem, she speaks of how the two are somewhat trapped in this relationship. The second stanza tells of how the husband "tried to pack up and go," but by using the word try it shows that this person was unable to successfully leave. I think this shows that they were both in it, and he couldn't make himself leave. Finally in the the last stanza, she speaks of the "last unshredded pictures/ of our matching eyes and hair." I always think that when couples are together for a long time, they begin to look alike, and that's what I thought of, but talking in class, you said that it could symbolize immaturity. I don't really know what to think about that. Beside from that, she says that she is still startled when she sees men who look like him and that he writes her every year still, so obviously they're still holding on. The very end talks about the day in court where they finally got divorced. It says that the lawyer was shocked when they cried, and they held hands tightly until their arms couldn't stretch any further, then let go. This gives the poem a regretful tone. You can see the apparent love between them. It's really a sad poem.

"My mistress' eyes" William Shakespeare

When I first read this poem, I thought that the man was calling his "mistress" ugly. He says that her eyes are nothing like the sun, and her lips aren't as red as coral, and that her hair is black wires. None of this is appealing. He goes on to talk about her cheeks, her breath, and her voice and how they don't compare to other things. Then I realized that this is satirical, and he is making fun of all the men who say the sun can't shine as bright as their lover's eyes and things like that. He's being realistic more than anything. He doesn't want to lie to his woman and say things that aren't true, when he can compliment her in other ways. In lines 13-14 he says, "I think my love as rare/ As any she belied with false compare." In a way I kind of took this poem as the speaker giving his mistress a backhanded compliment, but we talked about it in class, and decided it's a forehanded comliment, because he points out these things that seem wrong, but then fixes it by saying she is just as rare, or beautiful, as those other women.

"APO 96225" Larry Rottman

In my mind, this poem was written by one of the soldiers in "The Things They Carried." It just reminds me of exactly the situation they were in. Ironically, the questions after the poem in the book verify that the title of this poem is a mailing address of the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam. In the first stanza he leaves out all details from the war and just says "Dear Mom, sure rains a lot here." When his mother responds, she asks what it's really like, and, yet again, he avoids the truth. That cycle repeats once again. Then he finally tells her " Today I killed a man. Yesterday, I helped drop napalm on women and children." After this letter, his father writes him back and asks him not to tell his mother such depressing things. So he goes back to where he started, "Dear Mom, sure rains a lot." I love the way this poem ends. It is a great expression of the ignorance of everyone at home during war. All the people pretend to be so concerned, but when they hear the truth, they wish they hadn't.

"Batter my heart, three-personed God" John Donne

I took this poem as a the speaker asking God in the form of the Trinity to save him from temptation and sin. In lines 2 and 4, he lists verbs and then a final action. In line two he says "knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend." Then in line 4 he says "break, blow, burn, and make me new." I think these two lines are parallel to one another where the first is associated with God, the second verb is associated with the Holy Spirit, the third verb is associated with Jesus, and the final action is the outcome of what happens after They all do Their work. It is as if he wants God to break him down before he can build him up again. He hit rock bottom and needs an intervention from the Lord. Lines 12-14 say "Take me to you, imprison me, for I,/ Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,/ Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me." This statement seems almost contradicting, but he means that God mus completely take him over in order for him to be saved from the devil.

"next to of course god america i" e.e. cummings

The whole poem, minus the last line, is the speaker vocalizing a long string of thoughts in a speech. The last line, "He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water," emphasizes my point of it being a speech, because after public speakers get finished talking they usually take a drink of water. The lack of punctuation indicates the speed and disorganization. There are many references to patriotic songs, such as "America, the Beautiful" and the "Star Spangled Banner." Then he uses cliches, such as "by jingo by gee by gosh by golly," which makes me think that either the speaker is old or he has an old audience. When I put all of these things together, I realized the speaker is a politician. This poem is satirizing political figures saying that they don't really know what they're saying, they just sort of ramble on. Line 13, speaking of the soldiers, says "shall the voice of liberty be mute?" In this line, he is trying to tell his audience to be loud and proud like he is, even though he has no idea what it's like in war, further asserting his ignorance.

"Much Madness is divinest Sense" Emily Dickinson

This poem is sort of confusing. The speaker uses juxtaposition in lines 1 and 3, saying that madness is sense in line 1, and sense in madness in line 3. In the speaker's opinion madness is a good thing, because madness is judged by the "discerning eye." In other words, having sense and being "normal" is just conforming to society. She says if you "Assent," or agree, then you are sane. If you "Demur," or take exception to, then you are mad. If one is mad, this person will be "handled with a chain," which means punished, imprisoned, looked down upon, etc. Great people in our history have been considered mad and achieved great accomplishments, such as Jesus and Galileo. I think Emily Dickinson is one of those people who tries to be abnormaly weird on purpose, just so she is not like others, and I feel like this poem shows it well.

"February" Margaret Atwood

So when I first read this poem, I was totally lost. Once we discussed it in class, I got a much better understanding. She starts of the poem by saying, "Winter. Time to eat fat and watch hockey." First of all, how much more masculine can you get? Then she starts going on about her cat. She talks about how it tries to get on her head to see if she's alive. She says, "If I'm not, he wants to be scratched; if I am he'll think of something." This line refers to how cats seek attention, but if one does not give it to them, then they will find something else, such as rubbing against the couch. Then she starts linking cat behavior to human behavior. She says, "It's all about sex and territory," and says that we should "snip a few testicles," like people do with cats, if we are wise. This gives the reader a negative outlook on men from the speaker's standpoint. At first, I thought it might be a feminist thing, but after reanalyzing everything, I realized that she is just sad that she doesn't have a lover. The title of the poem is "February;" what is the first thing that pops into your mind when you think February? VALENTINE'S DAY! She is upset because she has no one to celebrate with. Most people can relate to this at one time or another. At the end of the poem she begins directly talking to the cat, which makes this an apostrophe. She says "Cat, enough of your greedy whining and your small pink bumhole... get going with a little otimism around here. Get rid of death. Celebrate increase. Make it be spring." This is actually a call to herself to get up and do something! Nothing is going to change if she just sits around and waits. She needs to overcome this internal conflict and help herself.

"Dream Deferred" Langston Hughes

The author of this poem, Langston Hughes, is a poet of the Harlem renaissance. His African American background and the time in which he wrote this poem may suggest that this dream had something to do with the obstacles he faced because of his race. He starts the poem out with a question: "What happens to a dream deferred?" Then he goes on to explain different outcomes, personifying the dream, which makes this an apostrophe as well. He says it could "dry up like a raisin" and possibilites will dwindle. It could "fester like a sore," where anger just keeps building and building. It could "stink like rotten meat" and linger on forever. It could "crust and sugar over" while people sugar coat it. It may just "sag like a heavy load" and weigh everyone down. OR it could explode! He italicizes the last line: "Or does it explode?" I took that as everyone getting fed up and starting a riot that would spread. I think he made this option stand out, because that's what he thought would happen if nobody took action. This dream could symbolize Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream..." speech.

"A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" John Donne

After reading the poem once, I looked up the word valediction, because I didn't know what it meant. The definition, according to dictionary.com, is: the act of bidding farewell or taking leave. Understanding the title made the poem make much more sense. I read it multiple times and recieved the speaker as someone who has lost their soul mate. He says "no tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move," which brings me to believe that he does not want to be depressed by it. When he says "Men reckon what it did and meant," I think he is thinking about what their love meant now that she is gone. He says that their love cannot "admit absence," which I took as their love is so strong that they have grown together as one. That thought is reassured when he says "Our two souls... which are one." He speaks of how he is going to miss her eyes, hands, and lips. In the second to last stanza, I believe he is talking about their two souls, and as her soul leaves, his will still depend on hers. Then in the last stanza, I feel like he is saying that he cannot go on without her. "[W]ho must/ Like th' other foot; obliquely run." Oblique can mean more than one thing; it can mean to be morally, ethically, or mentally wrong OR indirectly aimed at or reached, as ends or results; deviously achieved. Either way, I interpret it as him wanting to die too.

"Pink Dog" Elizabeth Bishop

This poem sort of confused me. I think that there is an interesting rhyme scheme, or lack there of. In the first three stanzas, the last words of each the three lines in the stanza rhyme. Then there is more random rhyiming. In stanza six, the last words in the last two lines rhyme. In stanza seven the last words in the first two lines of the stanza rhyme. There seems to be no more rhyming; this just sort of struck me. Is there a reason why? Aside from that, the speaker's tone for the dog changes throughout the stanza. At first, when speaking about the dog, the speaker just talks about the dog's appearance, "naked and pink." Then the speaker starts talking directly to the dog, making this an apostrophe as well. He says, "You are not mad; you have a case of scabies but look intelligent." I cannot tell why the speaker said that the dog looks intelligent. Then she goes on about it's appearance, "hanging teats" after giving birth. The speaker tells of what "they" do with beggars: "throw them in the tidal river," then asks what they would do to a "sick, four-legged dog," saying the dog couldn't last in the river. In order to take care of this problem, the speaker says to dress up for the Carnival. I think this poem is putting down the people in Rio de Janeiro, saying that a dog is equal to or better than the people.

"Bright Star" John Keats

This is a poem of direct address, because the speaker is talking to the star; therefore, it is an apostrophe. He speaks of the things he likes and dislikes about the star. He likes how "steadfast" and permanent the star is. He also likes how the star can see all, but at the same time he does not like how it is so lonely. By saying these things, he is saying that he wants to be unchangable, but he does not want to be alone. He wants to just lie there with his lover "pillowed upon... [her] ripening breast" forever. If that is not possible, he would like to be "swooned to death," which does not sound like a bad death. It reminds me of the question,"Would you rather have loved and lost or never love at all. His answer would definitely be loved and lost. I think "Forever" by Ben Harper captures his feelings quite well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o96r6qr9CEw

"Those Winter Sundays" Robert Hayden

Most people interpret this poem as a boy who is afraid of his father, because of a rough life at home, but I got a completely different idea when I read it. I took it from a religious standpoint. Sunday is a holy day of obligation for Christians. I received the father as God, because God is our Father. The first stanza tells of all this work that the father does for everyone, but then says, "No one ever thanked him." I took that as His people being ungrateful for the many gifts he gives us. Stanza two tells of the fear the boy has of his father and "the chronic angers of that house," which I saw as hell. When Hayden says, "speaking indifferently to him," I thought that was referring to prayer when people never thank God for the many blessings he bestows upon us, yet, instead, we ask for things. It may be a stretch, but I am pretty sure that nothing is contradicting my theory. I did a little research on Robert Hayden, and he was raised a Baptist, which is a Christian denomination, but later converted to Baha'i faith when he married his wife. Baha'i faith is a monotheistic religion emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind (wikipedia).

"After Apple-Picking" Robert Frost

I think that apple-picking represents life, and after life is death; therefore, I think that this poem is an extended metaphor for looking back at one's life after death. I think that climbing the ladder represents time in purgatory while God looks over one's life and decides whether this person should go to heaven or hell. The "two or three apples... [he] didn't pick" are experiences he never had. Frost says in line 6 that he is done with apple-picking now, which means he has passed away. I think in saying "The scent of apples: I am drowsing off" is saying that he is losing his memory. But this man is old in age, because he said that he is "well upon... [his] way to sleep before it fell." I believe that the "magnified apples appear[ing] and disappear[ing]" are different scenes from his life flashing before his life. I think Frost describing his foot aching and the pressure of the latter further exemplifies my theory of purgatory, because he has to wait for God's decision. The "ten thousand thousand fruit to touch" are the many opportunites of life. When he says to cherish every apple, even if it's bruised, he is saying to learn from one's own mistakes. Finally, I think that he compares this sleep to the sleep of a woodchuck, hibernation, because it is an extended amount time that he is sleeping. This could also be time in purgatory.

"I felt a Funeral, in my Brain" Emily Dickinson

This poem can be interpreted in different ways, but I think that it is extended metaphor of someone that is going insane. Dickinson uses the sense of sound throughout the work to give the impression of being inside a coffin during a funeral; I think that she is actually trapped inside her own mind with all of these thoughts running through it. The "mourners to and fro" would be the people in her life, but doesn't communicate with because they don't understand. They "kept treading" and going on with their lives while she couldn't. In the second stanza she refers to the beating of a drum, which could be the consistent pains that she has and cannot control. She comes out and says "My mind is going numb" in line 12. She hears "Boots of Lead" lift "a box," her coffin, and "creak" across her soul in stanza 3, further exemplifying the use of sound. Still in stanza four, she refers to the Heavens as a bell. She says she is in "some strange race" with silence. I think this is her trying to fight the thoughts inside her head. "And then a Plank in Reason, broke," AKA she loses the fight and snaps falling into the insanity.

"The Widow's Lament in Springtime" William Carlos Williams

I feel like many people can relate to this poem, because the central theme is sorrow being so overbearing that one can't focus on anything else. Even if one hasn't lost a loved one, most everyone has had a time where he/she is overtaken by anguish. It seems as though she cannot find happiness in anything because everything reminds her of deceased husband when she says "sorrow in my own yard" and "though they (flowers) were my joy formerly, today I notice them and turned away forgetting." It's almost heart breaking. I, for one, can understand where she is coming from to a certain extent. I have been lost in heartache to the point where I couldn't sleep and when I was alone I thought of nothing else. It's a terrible feeling. I think Williams gets this feeling across well with his tone. He even says "I feel that I would like to go there" after her son tells her about the place in the meadow. It is as if she cannot even force herself to do anything, but mourn his death. I have never been to this point of depression by any means, but one can almost feel the pain.

I think that this poem is an easy read; I like the format. Williams uses juxtaposition when describing how the widow wants to "fall into those flowers and sink into the marsh near them." The flowers give a sense of happiness, while the marsh has a negative connotation. I interpreted this as the widow wanting to die to be with her husband, which would be bitter sweet indeed.

"Spring" Gerard Manley Hopkins

While reading "Spring," I began interpreting that this poem was about pregnancy. I may be completely off, but I tried making everything match up so that nothing was contradicting my theory, as Perrine said to do in his essay. It is common for people to say that pregnancy is beautiful-"Nothing so beautiful." "Thrush's eggs" refer to the fertilized egg. The "rinse and ring" could refer to a woman's cycle. In saying the "peartree leaves and blooms" could mean the baby is growing. I interpreted line 11, "In Eden garden. --Have get, before it cloy," as the innocence of the mother in father before they conceive the child. The "cloud" and "sour sinning" could be the man and woman getting lost in the meaning or the hardships of the pregnancy, such as morning sickness, mood swings, and whatnot. I thought that line 13, "Innocent mind and Mayday boy and girl," was ironic, because the boy and girl are now having their own innocent child. Then line 14 talks about the "choice and worthy winning" of the "maid's child," which I interpretted as the baby being born, and the parents being pleased with their decision to have the child. Like I said, that may be all wrong. Just throwing it out there!

Perrine Poetry

I believe that Perrine has an interesting approach to determining "correct" interpretations of poetry, but I believe that it is his opinion. Although he makes valid points, I do not fully agree with him. He thinks that there are certain poems that have only one exact meaning, but others that can be interpreted in different ways as long as the meaning is similar. How are we supposed to know which one is which? On the other hand, the idea that no can explain the meaning of their own poem struck me, because it makes great sense. Perrine said it was like "admitting failure." I can agree with that, because the poet is supposed to have created this image for us to interpret, and if he/she has to explain, the different assimilations of readers are ruined. For me, it has been a long time since I have dealt with poetry. This article makes me realize that interpreting a work is much more particular than I remembered. I will try to make my analysis fit every detail of the poem as best as I can. This article makes me feel dumb, because I feel like I would never think of those things on my own sometimes.

The idea that "if it is contradicted by any detail it is wrong" somewhat confuses me. I feel like there are ways in which anyone can say that you are contradicting yourself, but to you it makes perfect sense. It's interpreting a poem, not solving a math equation. Contradicting Perrine, I feel that poems can have different meanings, but math equations have just one answer. I do agree, though, that the most satisfactory interpretation "relies on the fewest assumptions not grounded in the poem." However, I feel that this statment makes shallow interpretations seem okay, instead of digging for something deep. I think it is kind of annoying how he goes through and matches plurality versus singularity, but it makes me think to do the same thing from now on. I think Perrine presents accurate points, but, at the same time, this article should not be a rubric for how our interpretations should be graded.