LIGHTHEARTED I walked into

the valley wood

In the time of hyacinths ( imagery)

Till beauty like a scented cloth ( similie)
Cast over, stifled me. I was bound
Motionless and faint of breath ( imagery)

By loveliness that is her own eunuch.(Metaphor)

Now pass I the final river
Ignominiously, in a sack, without a sound, ( imagery)
As any peeping Turk to the Bosphorous. ( similie  and symbolism)

  Wow! I must say that when I initially read this poem I was all sorts of confused. There are so many poetic and rhetorical devices, and words and references that just didn't quite make sense to me at first. Now fully understanding what the poem means, my mind has been blown to a million little pieces! 
  One very interesting thing to take note of is that the tense in this short 10 line poem changes. Lines 1-7 are in the past, and lines 8-10 are in the present.  With the change over of tenses you can infer that Hulme's physical and even psychological presence, in lines 1-7, are different than lines 8-10. Imagery is the most often used poetic device in this poem. Hulme uses it to set the scenery of springtime in the forest in lines 1-3, and he uses it again in line 6 to describe his physical reaction to great beauty. I would also like to clarify that the word hyacinth is one not known by many unless you've studied horticulture. Hyacinth is the plant also known as Baby's Breath.  Line 7 is also one that really gave me a challenge when analyzing it. What makes this a metaphor, are the clauses "by loveliness" and "her own eunuch". Metaphors compare two things that are seemingly unlike. Eunuch, is simply a man who is castrated for religious purposes, opera purposes, or class system purposes. The sight he saw was not actually pleasant but one that frightened him and maybe even disgusted him. In lines 8-10, the tense changes to the present. My interpretation of this might be a bit outlandish, but I believe that Hulme is dead. When he says that he's "passes the final river" it's a symbol for passing through the final stages from life to death. Ignominiously is another word for shamefully. I believe that the entire poem is describing the feeling of dying. The last line is relating the motion of passing through the river to Turks passing through the body of water that separates Europe from Asia.

You Are Old, Father William Poem Analysis

'You are old, Father William', the young man said,
'And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head --
Do you think, at your age, it is right?

''In my youth', Father William replied to his son,
'I feared it might injure the brain;
But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again.

''You are old', said the youth, 'as I mentioned before,
And have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door --
Pray, what is the reason of that?'

'In my youth', said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
'I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment - one shilling the box -
Allow me to sell you a couple?'

'You are old', said the youth, 'and your jaws are too weak
For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak -
Pray, how did you manage to do it?

''In my youth', said his father, 'I took to the law,
And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,
Has lasted the rest of my life.

''You are old', said the youth, 'one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose -
What made you so awfully clever?

''I have answered three questions, and that is enough,'
Said his father, 'don't give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I'll kick you downstairs!'

This poem is a parody of Robert Southey's "The Old Man's Comforts and How He Gained Them"

In this poem, the son is very age-obsessed because he keeps reminding his father of how old he is. The son repeatedly tells the father that he is old and asks him why he does the things he does now. The father tells his son that when he was young, he was scared of doing things that are risky or scary but now, his age does not matter to him and is just a number. The son is very arrogant in a way because all the thinks of his father is a age and questions his actions. Despite the fact that the father is old, he seems pretty content with the fact he is getting older and at the end seems annoyed with his son. This poem has end rhythm, the rhythm scheme is ABAB, the poem has anapest, and it is burlesque it also has hyperbole in it. This poem is repeative in the sense that the son tells the father he's old, the son questions the father, the father rebuddles back and shuts the son up.

We are going back again
To the mud and the rain
Where the guns complain
And the stones stain.

We are leaving the mountain snow.
Once more it is our turn to go
Back to the advanced foe.
It is just we know . . .

We are going back again
To our comrades' graves on the plain,
To the graves sunk in the rain

We do not complain.

We say nothing: but think only
(Heart-constricted, a moment lonely):
"Who will be killed this time
And for what crime?"

-John Gawsworth

As I Walked Out One Evening Analysis

As I Walked Out One Evening is not the traditional love poem. The first time I read it, it was obvious that the main subject was love. But just like every poem I read, I knew it was much deeper than that. While reading the poem a second time, I realized that the tone changes twice; each time representing a new narrator. The three different narrators have their own opinion about the battle of love versus time. The first narrator is the lovers. They believe that their love is timeless as if time was an avoidable object that could be ignored. They make their love seem perfect as if it could only be stopped when “China and Africa meet.” At the point where they say they hold “The Flower of the Ages, And the first love of the world” the clocks ring as if their love was a lie and time intervenes. The clocks speak for time and they believe that time is unconquerable and it will spare nobody. The love that the lovers share will not be able to last forever because time will take its toll on it. The “t” in Time is capitalized which personifies it and gives it a place in society. Lines such as “Time watches from the shadow and coughs when you would kiss” show Time’s human like qualities and how it can ruin love. The lovers’ “Flower of the Ages” will not be around forever because Time says “Into many a green valley rifts the appalling snow; Time breaks the threaded dances and the diver's brilliant bow.” The last narrator is the narrator of the poem whom I believe to be Auden himself. He believed that neither time nor love could be conquered. Time is constant and cannot be changed but it is not cruel as suggested by the clocks. His perception of love was probably more lenient than most for it is said that he was homosexual. “You shall love your crooked neighbour with your crooked heart” is his opinion of love. I believe that he thought love was an occurrence that happens on its own. A person cannot choose whom they love.

This poem which is told from a 1^st person point-of-view makes use of many poetic devices. The most obvious is imagery. Auden uses lines like “The crowds upon the pavement were fields of harvest wheat” to create the setting of the poem. His use of personification is what makes the element of time an intriguing figure. The poem has an “abcb” rhyme scheme in every stanza which flows with the meter of the poem. There are a few acts of alliteration throughout and he uses repetition at key points during the poem.

-BOOMTOWN

William Blake's Devine Image

William Blake’s “The Divine Image” reveals how he sees God in our world. In the poem, Blake express man prays when he/she is in distress or in need of something. There are four words Blake makes huge emphases on. Mercy, pity, peace, and love are all words God says we should live with. Then Blake makes these words as a human that we pray to. When you pray to this human of the four words, these words and God will live permanently in your life.

To Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love (alliteration) (repetition)
All pray in their distress; (end rhyme)
And to these virtues of delight
Return their thankfulness. (end rhyme)

For Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love (alliteration) (repetition)
Is God, our Father dear,
And Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love is man, (alliteration) (repetition)
His child and care. (consonance)

For Mercy has a human heart,
Pity a human face, (personification)
And Love, the human form divine,
And Peace, the human dress.

Then every man, of every clime,
That prays in his distress,
Prays to the human form divine,
Love, Mercy, Pity and Peace. (stanza)

And all must love the human form,
In heathen, Turk or Jew;
Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell
There God is dwelling too.

Analysis of John Milton's "On His Blidness"

The poem that I have chosen to analyze is “On His Blindness” by John Milton. The main theme of this poem is John’s exploration of his emotions. The subject of this poem is how John has wasted his sight and how he disregarded his spirituality. The basic meaning of this poem is that while he was able to see John wasted this ability he also neglected his spirituality now he is surrounded by darkness.

On His Blidness by John Milton

When I consider how my light is spent (Metaphor)
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide (Alliteraiton),
And that one talent which is death to hide,
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest He returning chide,
'Doth God (Allusion) exact day labor, light denied?'
I fondly ask. But Patience to prevent
That murmur soon replies (Personification), 'God (Allusion) doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts. Who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed,
And post o'er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait

Imagine

In this poem, John Lennon is basically asking us to imagine a world without many of the things that cause problems in the world. Even though this poem was reflecting the times in which it was written, these problems are still prevalent today. In the poem, Lennon asks you to imagine a world with no religions, no countries, nothing to kill and die for, no possessions, no greed or hunger, and no heaven or hell. The poem explains that if this were possible, “the world will be as one.” The poem says that people will be living for today and living in peace as we share the world. Though this is a wonderful idea, I don't think it could ever become a reality. I join Lennon as a "dreamer;" however, I feel that this idea will remain only as a dream.


Imagine there's no Heaven (parallelism)
It's easy if you try (end rhyme)
No hell below us
Above us only sky (end rhyme)
Imagine all the people (repitition)
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries (parallelism)
It isn't hard to do (end rhyme)
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too (end rhyme)
Imagine all the people (reptition)
Living life in peace (alliteration)

You may say that I'm a dreamer (internal rhyme)
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one (alliteration)

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can (end rhyme)
No need for greed or hunger (internal rhyme)
A brotherhood of man (end rhyme)
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world (parallelism)

You may say that I'm a dreamer (internal rhyme)
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one (alliteration)