Ways of Reading: Gray uses the metaphor of a "gem" to perhaps describe people who have unrecognized, positive qualities, likened to undiscovered gems in dark caves at the bottom of the ocean. The next lines continue this idea as well, using yet another nature metaphor(flowers unseen) to describe the unappreciated beauty of some people, with "sweetness wasted on desert air. This could also harken back to Gray's allusion to classes and the "penury" being suppressed by the nobility. https://www.enotes.com/topics/elegy-written/in-depth

Ways of reading: As the title suggests, this is an elegy (poem mourning the dead) and it was written in a country churchyard. However, this poem manipulates the elegy form in that it is not about the mourning of one specific person/persons. In this poem, Gray describes the life and death of many people and things buried in the country churchyard, and the entire poem could be read as an elegy to mortality in general.

Ways of Reading: Gray makes another allusion to a tree, however this time he carefully refers to the "beech tree" which is traditionally associated with history and knowledge of the past. Gray could be talking about how he will be remembered after he is dead, alluding to how he would sprawl himself out under a tree to read and write. I think Gray is definitely thinking about his legacy as a poet here, as he spends much of the poem discussing the ideas of death and remembrance. Picture of a beech tree: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Fagus_sylvatica_Purpurea_JPG4a.jpg/1024px-Fagus_sylvatica_Purpurea_JPG4a.jpg

Patterns: "The Elegy" is full of allusions to what would have been very relevant topics at the time; the late poet John Milton who famously wrote about life and death in his long poem "Paradise Lost." He goes on to compare Milton to yet another "topical" dead figure, revolutionary leader Oliver Cromwell who helped to overthrow the English Monarch during the long, bloody, English Civil War (1642-1651). Gray brings up these two figures to contrast their undeniable significance to English culture, both famous and infamous.

Ways of reading: This could be read as an allusion to class divisions of the period in 18th century England, with the "Penury"being the very poor, impoverished class, illustrating dissatisfaction amongst the lower class being held down by the nobility turning them to feelings of bitterness, "froze the genial current of the soul."

Patterns: The first several stanzas in this poem are written in an almost "pastoral" tradition, with many allusions to the seasons, nature and the natural progression of time. He describes several characters living out daily life (the children, the housewife etc) describing the beauty that is part of all of their lives, to contrast with the harsh reality of inevitable doom.

Context: During his time composing the "Elegy," Gray spent a great deal of time alone, contemplating not only grief and lament but conceptual ideas such as the fate of all humans, which he incorporates into the elegy. However, it should be noted that Gray never intended to publish the "Elegy,(he only published it because it was about to be "pirated" and published by someone else) and this poem was perhaps originally written as a sort of personal catharsis for him, documenting his own journey of coping with loss and life. http://www.thomasgray.org/resources/bio.shtml

Context: An elegy is a poetic form usually expressing lament, remembrance or mourning of the dead. Gray's "Elegy" was written during a period where the poet was coping with the deaths of his aunt Mary as well as his friend/potential lover, Richard West. This "Elegy" was written over a period spanning as much as ten years, and follows Gray as he embarks on a "meditative journey" exploring lament over the loss of those dear to him, as well as the concepts of life/death and the fate of all humans. http://www.thomasgray.org/resources/bio.shtml

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After the hearts/heads were removed from the victims, the bodies of the sacrificed were often thrown down the temple's stairs, or into a giant pit at the base of the temple. Body parts such as the heart and head were often placed on display for the gods and spectators to see.

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In Teotihuacan, human sacrifices were performed in a variety of different ways. Some people were decapitated, buried alive, hit over the head multiple times, or had their hearts removed. Each type of sacrifice payed tribute to a specific diety/dieties.

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Huitzilopchtli, god of war, the sun, and human sacrifice. He was one of the main Aztec dieties, carrying a serpent(Aztec diety of fire) as a weapon, leading to him being associated with fire and the sun.

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Animals that were considered sacred in Aztec culture, or viewed as possessing special or mythic powers were often sacrificed by being buried alive. Other animals such as poisonous snakes and reptiles were kept in cages.

Avenue of the Dead, facing north towards pyramid of the moon.

http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/teotihuacan/teotihuacan-90.jpg

"Avenida de los Muertos" refers to the ruins of the Aztec city Teotihuacan, outisde of Mexico city. The city is made up of ancient structures and pyramids, while the Avenue of the Dead serves as the main roadway through the city. There are structures and pyramids all along the Avenue that were once used for religious rituals during the Aztec heyday.

This line stuck out to me. Diaz uses a contemporary allusion that modern readers would understand. Generally speaking, people shown wearing a baseball cap backwards are associated with someone rebellious. It's interesting that it is described as his crown, or his symbol for his status as the "Aztec, god-like king."

I immediately thought of the "sparkling spoonfuls" as a reference to the brother's drug addict type behavior, along with the description of his odor and appearance. "The sparkling spoonful" could refer to one drug specifically, or perhaps 'drugs' in general.

Similar to the tone of Langston Hughes's "Harlem"

Reminds me of one of Langston Hughes's "blues" poems.

It's interesting that spring is identified here as being "the cruelest month." Generally speaking, spring is used in poetry to represent rebirth, youth or romance. T.S. Elliot sees spring a different way

Concrete Jungle

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I like the structure of the first three lines. The comma separating the verbs at the end of each line makes the opening of this poem read in a very poignant sort of way

This almost reads like an old telegram, very fragmented.

I like these three conflicting verbs followed by the repetition of an uncapitalized name. The "meaning" of this poem seems to be very cryptic, and possibly irrelevant to the purpose of the poem

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The poet remarks here how this once great man has been lowered into the ground. The poet goes on to allude to the concept of nothingness, that this man could not become nothing after death, that he is now in the ground, and not among the dust that blows. This image is made very powerful by the words, "cut down" and "silenced" to describe someone who has found no victory in death, but is rather confined to the ground with no one to mourn him. Very uplifting, happy poem.

The first lines of this poem tell us what love cannot do. Love doesn't provide anything physical or material for the poet. We get the impression that the poet has somehow lost an appreciation for the concept of love. She goes on to say that she "may" consider trading her love for something real, yet contradicts herself by the repetition of the word "may," concluding "It well may be. I do not think I would." The poet is clearly very conflicted about her "love," and the value of it.

Reminds of some of the ideas discussed in Henry Adam's "Dynamo and the Virgin." Makes me think in particular of the idea that history is a way of connecting ideas and events in a linear way

Makes me think of D Bois's concept of doubleness, or double consciousness.

This poem has very prominent sense of musicality, a sort of a "bouncing" kind of effect with the rhythm of the poem as the lines repeat themselves back and forth.

The idea of a "double consciousness" is further elaborated. This particular passage implies that this double life for the American negro is completely involuntary, while Adams would suggest a double consciousness is simply a way of choosing to view the world in two different perspectives.

One similarity between Du Bois and Henry Adams is the perspective of a historian. According to Adams, historians find connections between sequences of events in a linear and logical process, which is evident here in the writing of Du Bois, relating a current and personal struggle of the author with historical context relating to the story of the American Negro. This passage also brings up the idea of a double consciousness that exists uniquely for the American negro.

Interesting how the author views this technological innovation as a result of "society's triumph over sex."

It is interesting how art is contrasted with a piece of technological innovation such as the dynamo, the dynamo have more properties of a machine, or functioning for a specific purpose in material terms. By contrast, art functions to fulfill a far less practical purpose, a purpose convoluted with human emotion and expression

New man-made inventions and technologies that function with as much efficiency and consistency as the dynamo are like the cathedrals and churches designed and built by man, they eventually replace the original institutions or symbols of faith or spirituality, such as the cross

The image of the oil stained earth hidden but burning is very powerful, and adds to the sense of inevitability the author constructs throughout the poem, that everything described eventually leads to this cycle of "They feed they Lion and he comes."

Each stanza concludes with the repeated phrase "They Lion Grow," this stanza is the first to make an additional allusion to animals, as well as imagery associated with eating or devouring. It is also interesting that the poet adds the image of a pig, juxtaposed by the next line "From the furred ear and the full jowl come," marking a return to the image of a lion in repose after it's "purpose" is fulfilled.