Blog 2
In Just- by E.E. Cummings
1. The poem in Just- by E.E. Cummings was different than any of the poems we have read yet this semester. His style of writing and way of organizing his text and verses is different in that I found the poem did not flow easily when reading it aloud and to myself. I didn’t find there was an underlying message in the poem in that the meaning and content of the poem was easily understandable. I believe it was about childhood and innocence. The words he uses to describe spring and the balloonman brought about different emotions. I felt the words he used to describe spring, “mud-luscious” and “puddle-wonderful”, made me feel like he was talking about spring in a happy and playful way. The words he used to describe the balloonman, “lame”, “queer”, and “goat-footed”, made me feel like the author wanted to portray this man as somewhat creepy. I picture the balloonman as being a clown figure almost who enjoys handing out balloons to young children.
2. E.E. Cummings style of writing in the poem in Just- is unique because he breaks up the poem is odd spots, blends words together, and adds punctuation in spots where one would usually not. In this particular poem the author uses dashes (-) after the title in Just- and between various words throughout the poem. By adding dashes in between mud and luscious, puddle and wonderful, and goat and footed, it gives the reader the sense that the two words are now one and have one meaning. The author also breaks apart phrases by putting only one or a few words in one line instead of stringing them together to allow the poem to have a natural flow when reading it. This aspect of the poem adds to the feeling the reader gets when reading it and how the reader reads it. The poem as a result is read in a disconnected manner, pausing after only saying one or a few words. I found also that his style of writing in this poem is very descriptive and the adjectives he uses to describe the balloonman add to the creepiness of the poem. The balloonman’s characteristics break up the innocent feel the reader may get when reading. The author also joins the names together in the poem. By saying eddieandbill and bettyandisbel I think the poem becomes more childish. It hints to the fact the maybe eddie and bill and betty and isbel are inseparable childhood friends. This adds to the lightheartedness and playful feeling the reader gets from the poem. The different feelings the reader may experience regarding the balloonman and the children playing in spring are in reality presenting an imaginary border between childhood innocence and adulthood.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Kubla Khan
Blog 1
Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
1. The poem Kubla Khan was a somewhat easier poem to read compared to some of the others assigned. I thought that the author of the poem, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, used a lot of descriptive language that engaged me as a reader and also brought the poem to life. He used vivid imagery when talking about the river Alph; it allowed me to form a picture in my mind of what the river looked like. The rhyme scheme in the poem made it easier for me to read because one line flowed into the next line. I could not relate to the poem on a personal level; however, I recognized the Mongolian emperor’s name Kubla Khan and the place where he lived, Xanadu. I learned about him in a World History course that I took last spring semester.
2. The author of the poem uses contradictory descriptions throughout the poem regarding the river Alph near where Kubla Khan lives. In the first two stanzas, Coleridge describes the sacred river in a positive way. This long river flows through “gardens bright with sinuous rills” and enfolds “sunny spots of greenery.” In line twelve the author takes a turn and says “But oh!” After this line the author begins to use contradictory statements that go against his positive ones. Be begins to discuss the river and where is leads to in a negative way using lines such as “beneath a waning moon was haunted” and “ceaseless turmoil seething.” He describes a woman screaming and flailing for her demon-lover. Coleridge uses these images of contradiction to force the reader to think about the various settings of the poem; the different places the river leads one to. In the poem it is described both in a positive way and in a more negative way. The river leads to appealing and pretty places where there are gardens and greenery, but it also leads to a “savage place” that is haunted. Towards the end of the poem the river noisily sinks into a dead ocean and causes Kubla Khan to hear ancestral voices. These images used in the poem create a somewhat disturbing atmosphere and are used to arouse emotion within the reader. The contradictory images in the poem relate to the last stanza in that the first line of the last stanza “And close your eyes with holy dread” contains contradictory words; holy and dread. The poem turns to first person and the author describes his vision of Kubla Khan. The two words holy and dread create two different emotions. The word holy pertains to something that is divine and blessed, but the word dread pertains to anxiety and fear. The words holy and dread contradict one another because holy has a positive connotation, and dread has a negative one. Coleridge intends to create this contradictory image of Kubla Khan as he did with the river earlier in the poem.
Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
1. The poem Kubla Khan was a somewhat easier poem to read compared to some of the others assigned. I thought that the author of the poem, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, used a lot of descriptive language that engaged me as a reader and also brought the poem to life. He used vivid imagery when talking about the river Alph; it allowed me to form a picture in my mind of what the river looked like. The rhyme scheme in the poem made it easier for me to read because one line flowed into the next line. I could not relate to the poem on a personal level; however, I recognized the Mongolian emperor’s name Kubla Khan and the place where he lived, Xanadu. I learned about him in a World History course that I took last spring semester.
2. The author of the poem uses contradictory descriptions throughout the poem regarding the river Alph near where Kubla Khan lives. In the first two stanzas, Coleridge describes the sacred river in a positive way. This long river flows through “gardens bright with sinuous rills” and enfolds “sunny spots of greenery.” In line twelve the author takes a turn and says “But oh!” After this line the author begins to use contradictory statements that go against his positive ones. Be begins to discuss the river and where is leads to in a negative way using lines such as “beneath a waning moon was haunted” and “ceaseless turmoil seething.” He describes a woman screaming and flailing for her demon-lover. Coleridge uses these images of contradiction to force the reader to think about the various settings of the poem; the different places the river leads one to. In the poem it is described both in a positive way and in a more negative way. The river leads to appealing and pretty places where there are gardens and greenery, but it also leads to a “savage place” that is haunted. Towards the end of the poem the river noisily sinks into a dead ocean and causes Kubla Khan to hear ancestral voices. These images used in the poem create a somewhat disturbing atmosphere and are used to arouse emotion within the reader. The contradictory images in the poem relate to the last stanza in that the first line of the last stanza “And close your eyes with holy dread” contains contradictory words; holy and dread. The poem turns to first person and the author describes his vision of Kubla Khan. The two words holy and dread create two different emotions. The word holy pertains to something that is divine and blessed, but the word dread pertains to anxiety and fear. The words holy and dread contradict one another because holy has a positive connotation, and dread has a negative one. Coleridge intends to create this contradictory image of Kubla Khan as he did with the river earlier in the poem.
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