Dream Deferred

This poem by Langston Hughes, an African American writer during the Harlem Renissance, is constructed of all similies and one metaphor. Each simile asks a question exploring what happens to these deferred dreams. "Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" This is illustrating that if we do not chase our dreams now, it will dry up and no longer be available later. "Or fester like a sore and then run?" If sores are untreated, they get bigger and eventually become infected. Hughes is comparing sores to our dreams; if they aren't pursued then they will bubble up inside of us. "Does it stink like rotten meat?" This simile compares dreams to rotten meat and that if they are kept inside, they will haunt us forever. The last line, "or does it explode?", is the only metaphor in the poem. I am not positive if Hughes does this to set the comparison off from the others. The explosion is similar to what would happen if we left our dreams alone for a long period of time.

Life and Apple-Picking

Robert Frost's poem Apple-picking really strikes me as a poem about morality. I think the whole poem represents life. He mentions the ladder sticking up through a tree towards Heaven. This symbolizes that life (apple-picking) is all about getting to Heaven and spending eternity with God. "There may be two or three apples I didn't pick.." may represent the choices someone makes in their lifetime. Either they chose not to do something for the good, or they missed out on some great opportunity. The speaker also talks about "sleep" after a long day's worth of apple-picking. This sleep may foreshadow the eternal sleep given to one when they complete life on earth.

Widows Lement

Today in class there were so many interpretations of the poem "Widow's Lement in Springtime" and I have several opinions on the meaning. First of all, my main inference is that the widow wants to ultimately be with her husband by experiencing death herself. She wants to "fall into the white flowers" and "sink into the marsh". The white flowers represent the joy and peace of the Kingdom of Heaven - an overall positive feeling. The marsh seems to have a more negative meaning. The dirty marsh represents death. No matter the reason (like being with a loved one) death is never a pleasant thing. I also believe the author chose this event to occur in the springtime because of its irony. Usually spring is parallel to new life or birth. In this case, death is the theme set in an unusual spring setting.

Diction of "Spring"

Perfect diction is incorporated in the poem "Spring". No matter what the actual deeper meaning of the work is, the author uses right on target word choice that simply represents the springtime. "Garden of Eden" is mentioned in one stanza, which to me, illustrates a beautiful setting full of flowers and plants in bloom. Also, Eden was the first sign of life created my God on the earth. It represents new life, or youth, which is also an example of spring. The word "rich" is used as well. In my opinion, "rich" means bountiful or plentiful. Everything - flowers, fruits, plants, even positive attitudes - arise during the springtime. The author uses this diction to really put emphasis on the spring, which can be inferred from the title, the overall theme of the poem.

Imagery

Emily Dickenson uses great imagery in her poem "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain". She most prominently touches the sense of sound. In the second stanza, she illustrates the congregation and the funeral service by saying "..like a Drum -- kept beating -- and beating.." She then illustrates the casket being moved -- "..And then I heard them lift a box and creak across my soul." Finally, the third stanza is all about the auditory sense. Dickenson uses the diction "bell", "ear", and "silence" to show the desent into Heaven and the reaction of the congregation/loved ones. The use of the auditory (and not sight) imagery gives the reader the idea that the speaker may be the one inside the casket.

Those Winter Sundays

The poem "Those Winter Sundays" seems to have an overall negative tone. There are many words that can describe the tone including: guilt, regret, fear, and distance. The speaker may regret not thanking the father for everything he has done for the family. This also leads to the speaker feeling guilty for causing an angry household through ungratefulness. The "chronic anger", coming from the father, most likely results in the fear of the children. The children are afraid of their father's anger which causes distance between them. The negative tone is achieved through the diction used in the poem. The words "harsh", "pain", and "cold" are used in the first stanza to describe the work the father did. "Chronic anger" is also mentioned, which describes the father's attitude toward his family. This also puts a negative feel to the poem.

YOU ARE WRONG.

Remember the days when poetry was broad and generalites could be made? When the most far-fetched ideas were possibilities of interpretation? After reading Perrine's article on interpreting poetry, I'll look at poems from a whole different perspective. I thought we were doing perfectly fine analyzng what we were reading, comng up with symbols and finding the rhetoric strategies. Now Perrine tells us that we were wrong. I completely dsagree with the article. I believe that poetry cannot be interpreted completely correct or completely incorrect. No one but the author of the poem knows exactly what is being said, not even the smartest literature professor in the world.

I don't like being told that I am wrong, especially when there is no clear answer. Literature isn't math class where one plus one is always two. There must be room for educated guessing and high level analyzation. I do not understand the concept that if one thing is off track when in figuring the meaning, then the whole meaning to you is wrong. Bits and pieces of literature can work together to come up with a common, general theme. In my opinion, simply having an educated idea about the meaning and symbols of the poem should be considered correct. No one but the author of the poem can tell me that my interpretation is 100 percent wrong.