The Raven...

I happened to bring in The Raven on Monday so I already had a little jump start on this blog, but I think that the response has changed since I read it a second time.  At first, and the reason I brought the poem in, I wanted to contrast the short, silly, cutesy poems that I had brought in before with the dark and "dreary" tone of The Raven which is one of the random poems that I tend to enjoy.

The rhythm of The Raven is what first brings the reader into the poem, then once you are there you get stuck into the rhyming scheme, and before you know it you have read the entire three-page poem.  The other point that I would like to mention about why I like The Raven is that it tells a full story starting with the man sitting in his chamber, then the rapping on the door, he goes to answer it an no one is there, then there is tapping n his window and when he answers that tapping, a raven flies in a positions itself above the door, and when the man questions the raven as to the memory of Lenore, the bird replies with Nevermore.  Now the raven sits above his chamber door, to taunt him of the late Lenore, and his spirits shall be lifted nevermore.

Top Ten...

1. Messy Room - Shel Silerstein
2. seeker of truth - e.e.cummings
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
4. Men - Maya Angelou
5. Dream Deferred - Langston Hughes
6. Dora Diller - Jack Prelutsky
7. The Raven - Edgar Allen Poe
8. The Dead - Sylvia Plath
9. Sea Shell - Amy Lowell
10. Kissass - Allen Ginsberg

Of these ten, the two that i would have to favor most are The Raven and Dora Diller. I think that The Raven is a dark and deep poem (one side of poetry) and Dora Diller is very light and silly (the other side). Having these two polar opposites on the same list is an oddity, but i feel that they really express the way that I feel about poetry; I like the depth that poetry can expose and the expression of emotion used, but then again I think that it has to be leveled out with something that can pull you out of that dark place that poems like The Raven take you to. If all poetry was one way or the other, I think that the genre, as a whole, would fall apart. No one can stand the sunshine of a poem like Dora Diller all day long, but the same has to be said for the depression that The Raven expresses.

I feel that poetry should be used to convey the author's emotions at the time, so both of the two that I chose reflect that. Dora Diller is very silly and talks about a little girl who ate a caterpiller. The Raven is very deep and discusses a mans interaction with the haunting image of a raven. The thing I just realized is that they are both linked to animals, very odd...

Wednesday Class...

Banana Peel Haikus...
-------------------

A banana peel
On the floor, it smells
I wish she would slip

A monkey sits up
And asks politely please
Banana peel off


Inspired by Song of Myself...
----------------------------

I celebrate and sing of summer grass

Invite my soul and I assume that you assume,

Every good atom of me belongs to you, every atom of my blood

Born of parents from parents, and their parents the same,

Never forgotten, vows for sickness or health, strength at every hazard

I, now thirty-seven years old in perfection begin, hoping to cease not until our death.

Pick Your Poetry..

Being that Lewis Carroll is one of my favorite poets, I chose three of his poems for this assignment: The Walrus and the Carpenter, A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky, and How Doth the Little Crocodile.  They may be somewhat simple in terms of literary analysis, but they are fun and light in terms of topic and easy to read.  They seem to fit, very well, into what I enjoy reading and keep in the back of my mind as favorites; especially The Walrus and The Carpenter because I absolutely love the way that it rhymes and is childish, but can still grab the attention of adults all over.

The other poems that I picked: To My Wife- With a Copy of My Poem by Oscar Wilde, As Soon as Fred Gets Out of Bed by Jack Prelutsky, and Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein are mostly light, fun, and easy to read.  The whole series of Shel Silverstein's poetry books were ones that I was hooked on when I was younger and still think of when I am asked about my favorite poetry because they make me think about life, but not to the point where I am depressed about what I see.  As Soon as Fred Gets Out of Bed is one that my mom used to recite to me when I was being silly as a child, so it sticks with me because of that.  

Haikus...

Oh, the Haiku.  The most basic of all poetry forms, that most of us were taught how to write when we were very little but, I also feel that due to their short nature they have to be deeper and more creative than other poems. 

With prose poetry, the author doesn't have to conform to any one way of writing.  In those types of poetry, the words don't have to rhyme in any pattern, or follow any rhythm in terms of beats, so there is much more freedom as to the words that the author can use and the length of their poems equaling an ease in expressing the meaning of their poem.  With a haiku, the words have to fit into a rhythm so length of the words and the syllables used in them are limited; and I feel that because of these limitations on the format of the poems the authors need to be more focused on what they want to convey to their audiences in contrast to the authors of prose.

That Girl...

That Girl

She was a tall girl, long blonde hair and big brown eyes. I would have normally categorized her as the popular chick we all knew in high school, but she didn’t have that skinny model body type. She was full, I don’t know how else to say it, not fat, not muscular, not sporty, and just kind of full. Anyway, she came into my office, all bubbly and cute, to ask for my help.  I didn’t think that there was much i could do but I offered.  She met me later, wearing just jeans and a hoodie, in this little hole in the wall coffee joint she suggested. The funniest thing was when she pulled up; I could see her through the window.  This bright yellow, 2-door hatchback focus parks right in the first spot.  The black decaled flames popping out and the matching black and yellow leather racing seats inside were just too funny.  To complete this outer pimpage of the little car, the head and taillights had both been switched out for the more European type with a little more flare. At this moment I knew I was in love, I mean come on what type of girl pimps out her focus?

Sometime, take a third person look at yourself and evaluate whether or not you like who you see...

Oh, love poems....

The simplicity of "love poem" is something that I haven't seen in the genre of love poems on a regular basis, but it is something that I really enjoyed when I am faced with it.  There was not a complicated rhyming scheme, nor is there long and drawn out stanzas with flowery, lyrical words used to describe the author's emotions.  You get the same idea, that they are in this magical state, without being sucked into the stereotype.

The way that the poem "How Do I Love Thee" discusses the emotions that are inspired by falling in love are a smooth expression in words.  The rhyming scheme is easy to follow but does not do the obvious matches such as love and above, but instead uses sets like Grace and day's.

In terms of what I think of when I hear the words "love poem" I think that it fits the stereotype.  It is very mushy-gushy, and lyrical in terms of the words chosen to express the emotions that this person is feeling once they find their match in life.  I normally don't gravitate to something like this, but I have always counted this poem as an exception to my distaste for the happy love poem.  I tend to like ones that are questioning their love choice and then things turn out in the end.  You get more of a realistic view of life and how things are in reality, rather than the picture of perfection that being in love can present.