44 Matching Annotations
  1. Oct 2016
    1. The broken fingernails of dirty hands.
    2. Dragging its slimy belly on the bank
    3.                Oil and tar

      True Waste Land

    4. He who was living is now dead We who were living are now dying

      These two lines indicate that the wheels are always turning. The circle of life. The only thing constant is change!

    5. He passed the stages of his age and youth

      Changing over the years, these different stages he encountered are his memories from his past. Up and down and back and forth. Ultimately ending in death.

    6. Sweet Thames, run softly till I end my song

      This repetition in words seems to be a song or chant of some sort. The writer is describing all this trash around him but then jumps to the perspective of others.

    7. “Speak to me.

      This line gives me a sense of loneliness and despair. She's seeking for comfort of some sort from somewhere. Maybe she's waiting for someone to come to her. Again hard to follow

    8. A heap of broken images

      The poem itself is a "heap of broken images." Hard to interpret but it seems as it's telling a story of from different perspectives. Maybe this means that in life we only experience these broken images in hope to interpret them.

  2. Sep 2016
    1. Rose

      Rose is multiple things in this poem. It's a person and then an actual rose. Then he uses the rose to say "a rose is just a rose" as if he's simply using it to say things are what they are!

    2. Happy

      The tone that this poem is giving is one of being 'happy" and you can clearly see the author list all of these subjects that must bring her content.

    3. Pause

      Perhaps this term is used to change the tempo of the writing. This pause allows a transition in the piece. In the last text Pound says to use rhythm in regards to creating a sequence.

    1. snow

      snow covers everything and makes it undistinguishable. endless white

    2. And miles to go before I sleep

      he's talking ultimately about death.. endless white

    1. Eight

      She's referring to many things here and almost listing them here. She uses numbers a great deal to describe her experience, age and social standing. She also looks down upon the current generation through comparison and competition. She's proud

    2. public square

      The public square here is driven by personal influence and acceptance.

    3. inquiring minds

      it looks as though the "inquiring minds" in this context are those that are using they're moral compass in finding out what's right or acceptable in the "village."

    4. , tick, tick, tick, Tick, tick, tick

      The repetition of this one word has meaning in terms of change. The way its used refers to time and the seconds passing by but it also refers to different writings that are being read. The different poems I believe.

    1. sublime

      The use of this word in context shows the attempts of a group to fit in and have a sense of excellence. Admiration in a sense,

    2. ache

      The use of this word in context describes a sense of being almost. "Ache so much to be sublime" refers to someone wanting to be good enough and seeking acceptance.

    1. I am glad my case is not serious!

      The narrator is telling herself that her condition isn't too serious but in reality she's definitely quite ill. I think she's crazy or a schizophrenic.

    2. I lie here on this great immovable bed—it is nailed down, I believe—and follow that pattern about by the hour.

      I believe that this solidifies the idea that she's in a locked room. In my opinion the "immovable bed" refers to a quarters in a mental hospital. The pattern on the walls signify the white walls perhaps.

    3. At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candle light, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars! The outside pattern I mean, and the woman behind it is as plain as can be.

      This part really gives an idea into how she's really feeling about this home and especially in the room with the wallpaper. At first she shows her feelings and thoughts about her "new" room but as she continues to spend time there she sees its significance as a prison cell. "It becomes bars" refers to the changing in patterns she explains and finally describing herself as the plain woman.

    1. The innate love of harmony and beauty that set the ruder souls of his people a-dancing and a-singing raised but confusion and doubt in the soul of the black artist; for the beauty revealed to him was the soul-beauty of a race which his larger audience despised, and he could not articulate the message of another people.

      In speaking of the "oppressed" African American in the United States at this time, this part gives light into the "human" aspect that everyone has despite color. "The beauty" in the people he's describing is amazing and how they "love" and "dance" and are human!

    2. The holocaust of war, the terrors of the Ku-Klux Klan, the lies of carpet-baggers, the disorganization of industry, and the contradictory advice of friends and foes, left the bewildered serf with no new watchword beyond the old cry for freedom.

      This part of the reading dives into the fact that multiple instances in history reveal inequality for people of color and pretty much anyone who's not white. The last part saying that there's "no new watchword beyond the old cry for freedom" means that this "oppression" is nothing new and that that continuous calls for help are being unanswered.

    1. Satisfied that the sequence of men led to nothing and that the sequence of their society could lead no further, while the mere sequence of time was artificial,

      This statement gives meaning into the fact that there's an end to everything. The "men" led to nothing as well as their "society" no further means that their at a stand still of some sort and that the end is near.

    2. Where he saw sequence, other men saw something quite different,

      This gives an idea into the way his thought pattern was different from others. His point of view was advanced and unique as he seemed to be a perfectionist but the main thing being said is that everyone sees things different and plays different roles such as a machine does.

    3. Adams haunted it, aching to absorb knowledge, and helpless to find it.

      You can really see his passion in this sentence. It almost paints a picture of his interest and dedication to this place. It makes him seem as though its his whole world.

    4. Among the thousand symbols of ultimate energy the dynamo was not so human as some, but it was the most expressive.

      This describes how vital the steam engine that powering industry truly is in this setting. its "ultimate' energy refers to it as a foundation for progress. Referring to the dynamo as a human, this shows the real role this machine plays.

    5. As he grew accustomed to the great gallery of machines, he began to feel the forty-foot dynamos as a moral force, much as the early Christians felt the Cross.

      It seems as though he's finding his identity through these machines and engines. He's drawn to this as though its his religion of sorts. His fascination with the industry is strong.

  3. Aug 2016
    1. Maybe he's talking about horses here and their work loads.

    2. From all my white sins forgiven, they feed

      Things are learned from the past and what's been sacrificed for the greater good.

    3. Come they Lion from the reeds of shovels

      Growth from labor

    4. From the oak turned to a wall

      The building of walls using wood

    5. This clearly gives light onto the oppressed in this piece.

    6. From the furred ear and the full jowl come The repose of the hung belly

      The "furred ear" and "full jowl" refer to ones health and physical state. The "hung belly" is the aftermath of having enough sustenance.

    7. Earth is eating trees, fence posts, Gutted cars, earth is calling in her little ones

      These lines describe "mother nature" and how change is constant in life.

    8. Mothers hardening like pounded stumps

      These "mothers" are gaining strength through tribulation. They obtain this strength by constant struggle.

    9. West Virginia to Kiss My Ass

      Clearly this line discusses leaving the state of West Virginia with obvious hostility towards the area. You can feel the hostility and dislike.

    10. They Lion grow

      "They Lion" refers to these people and their struggles being seen overtime.

    11. the candor of tar

      Perhaps the "candor" of tar is his origin of labor in regards to industry

    12. bearing butter

      The "bearing butter" is his definition of wealth.

    13. Out of the acids of rage

      I feel like the "acid" he is explaining is the feeling and reaction to his current state of mind and reality.

    14. black bean and wet slate bread

      These foods he lists show the reality of his situation in regards to status and amount.

    15. Out of

      The multiple uses of "out of " in the piece mean both in lacking materialistic things as well as the means to do so.