This stanza really sticks with me for some reason and I’m trying to put my finger on why as well as how...The vivid imagery of this scene gives me a feeling of such relief. The relief of being cold, tired, and hurting then being invited into some warm shelter offering you a numbing agent. This 0-100 experience of going from miserable to hazy relief is utterly visceral to me, and rather universal when lumped into the motif of relief.

I feel like hospitalization, “insanity”, inhumane psychological treatments, and such were a very popular topic of this time. I’m curious as to why...I’m guessing it was a widely publicized social issue at the time or perhaps just a problem popularly known amongst the Beat Generation.

I love a good asyndeton that turns into a polysyndeton. Good stuff, Ginsburg. These devices make the people he is describing sound so incredibly active, like they are just constantly going, doing, and taking up space in this world. Even making their mark in a way, whether it’s in silly, drunken stupor or intentional, meaningful purpose.

I interpret the “bridges” as interracial relationships, since it connects two people of distinct cultures through the purity of love. I think the author desires these interracial bridges for race relation improvement.

I interpret this poem as discussing interracial relationships, so this line “nearer the reaches of the heart” makes me think the writer admires the bridges built through romantic relationships especially. Being able to get closer to each other’s hearts allows for more understanding and empathy.

The title infers that the struggle presented in this poem is a common one amongst black women.

This line coincides with ideas mentioned prior as usually you stir the depths/bottom in order for the contents lurking there to rise to the top. In this case, there’s some love she’s hidden that she wants to express.

I think she’s frustrated with the way women had to be more passive participants in their life as well as society back then, and even sometimes now.

I’m getting major “Men are from Mars” vibes

Sewing is definitely NOT a “useless task”!! This makes me think about the struggle of invisible labor.

I know this isn’t a reference to it, but this use of “strange” makes me think of “Strange Fruit”. Since “Strange Fruit” was written after this, maybe the author read Bennett’s work.

She’s used this word, “minstrel”, twice now. Here and in the poem prior. It’s definitely a choice use of words. I think she makes this connection to point out the way black people are used like puppets, especially for entertainment.

This line reminds me of the opening line in Hughes’ poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”. Maybe this line is a nod to it?!

I believe this poem is the epigraph of Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun”.

The darker brother of who? For some reason, I imagine he is the “darker brother” of the American “golden boy” archetype.

The opening repetition of “I” with a past tense verb in lines 5-8 is highly reminiscent of jazz, as it is pretty common to croon about your past and things you’ve done.

This reminds me of the piece, “Circus Dwarf” from the gallery walk we looked at a few weeks back. I remember the subject looking rather indifferent, but there was a certain pain behind the eyes. I assume he is an example of this comparison.

This is a very poignant description of that feeling of trying to make light or move on from something painful through creating. I love it.

Maybe I’m reading this at face value too hard, but I interpreted this poem as the doctor being disliked by the local parents until they became more familiar and realized his intentions were only to help. I believe there is more to discuss, such as the potential bridging of two socioeconomic classes since doctors are usually well off financially and the patients of the doctor are referred to as “poor” through the title. However, my connection from the poem to the image regards this overall change from being disliked to obtaining acceptance by those around you. I imagine the subject of Yeats’ image has felt this change before through the process of growing up then finding friends as well as a place amongst circus people.

This line made me think about someone or some people needing help or direction for a problem no one else may know about. “La Débâcle” by Theodore Robinson encapsulates a similar mood. The subject of the painting looks caught up in thought as she focuses on some aspect of nature around her as opposed to the book in her lap. Given the title, she is probably thinking about an issue on her life and what she is to do about it. As said in the poem, no one is around “to witness” or “drive” her out of the situation.

I appreciate the way this calls attention to the effort behind writing and some different forms of poetry which do take intention to create. Talking about writing reminds me of “The Yellow Wallpaper” since the narrator discusses her attempts to write and it’s tiresome effects at times.

The heavy use of verbs help support her concluding idea that living and doing is what gives life meaning and value. I like how she put enjoying and working next to each other, since those two actions tend to be opposites. It seems to suggest that in the end, both the actions you liked and disliked provide growth or accomplishment.

Thinking of this discussion of the house as a metaphor for her marriage, the narrator is admitting there are various problems, however, the only one really disabling her is the disapproval of her writing from her husband.

He seems to be attacking her strengths of creativity and imagination in order to limit her. This is probably influencing her imagination to become something darker.

Perhaps she is subconsciously, or even ironically, diagnosing herself right now with anxiety and depression...

Then change it, girl! // This ties in with the vibes I was getting from her allowance of the greenhouse staying broken.

This acceptance of not fixing something broken that could be beautiful can be applied to her outlook towards her illness. Maybe she is hesitant to “get better” or “fix” things because of the effort it requires whether it’s making new boundaries, having difficult conversations with her loved ones, and/or more.

So is the house gonna be a metaphor or what!? hehe

Having the word “work” in quotes makes it seem like her husband and/or brother directly demanded she doesn’t get a job, which is a total restraint on her economic freedom. This concept of limiting someone’s economic freedom based on race or gender reminds me of context discussed in DuBois’ piece from our last Thursday reading.

It’s ironic she thinks his job as a physician has a logical correlation to her feeling of being unwell.

I think this ties in with the crisis motif since he’s making it known that black people, such as himself, are going to make change for themselves happen through their voice.

I like this imagery to express feelings of happiness. It’s cool how he’s obviously saying the sky was bluest as in “things were really good when...”, despite blue being a color with sad connotations.

“The other world”= the white world? A completely different life situation which Du Bois is aware that he will never understand, even if he gets somewhat “close” to it at times or “accepted”.

is the world “wholly” maybe also a pun of the word “holy”?! ¯_(ツ)_/¯

saying this mechanism is “occult” seems to show that this machine is very new and a highly impressive breakthrough to the science world at this time. Especially since Adams makes religious references about the viewing of this machine as well.

so even then quiet energy sources were impressive in the same or a similar way as people can be impressed by the first time they hear the quietness of a Prius engine...

So is this what Adams meant by “stripping” the exhibition to its skin? The personification was used to show him and Langley’s focus on learning new scientific breakthroughs?

I’m really interested in dissecting and trying to figure out who is “they”. I interpret “they” as the human race and their invasive progression. Concurrently, I’m curious as to the author’s purpose to using “they” and avoiding a more specific noun/subject. Maybe it’s to give off a feeling of the subject being more of an entity or conglomerate than just people?