in my dreams you walk dripping from a sea-journey on the highway across America in tears to the door of my cottage in the Western night
it seems that the cottage is the end dream location after the sad struggles of doctors and nurses and the madness they have lived
I’m with you in Rockland
the constant repetition of the support needed no matter the situation or location
They broke their backs lifting Moloch to Heaven! Pavements, trees, radios, tons! lifting the city to Heaven which exists and is everywhere about us!
Moloch seems to be the "person/item/almost deity" that the "who" gives itself up too in order to reach the Heaven which can mean their happiness.
last furnished room emptied down to the last piece of mental furniture, a yellow paper rose twisted on a wire hanger on the closet, and even that imaginary, nothing but a hopeful little bit of hallucination—
this section reminds me of "The Yellow Wall Paper" in which the theme was mental health. Here it seems Ginsberg is telling us about the "who" in his letter/poem and the struggles the "who" has had that destroyed the best minds.
The especially cultural recognition they win should in turn prove the key to that revaluation of the Negro which must precede or accompany any considerable further betterment of race relationships.
in hopes that when changes occurs it occurs for the better and cultural relation will improve
His shadow, so to speak, has been more real to him than his personality.
there is an obvious battle in this paragraph of the future vs the past. us vs them. the subject of the term "the new negro" vs the "old negro" and where it should stand.
“I want to be a poet–not a Negro poet,” meaning, I believe, “I want to write like a white poet”; meaning subconsciously, “I would like to be a white poet”; meaning behind that, “I would like to be white.”
at a young age there is already a realization of the racial mountain and the need to being "white"
We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too. The tom-tom cries and the tom-tom laughs. If colored people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn’t matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves.
The road and way to overcome the mountain. it is almost like a call to freedom to do what anyone desires to do. to grow strong and freeing themselves of the prejudice and racial structure that was created.
Dere wasn’t much more de fellow say: She jes’ gits hold of us dataway.
it seems the Ma Rainey is more than just a singer for most of the people. she seems to touch and understand her audience
some folks sits dere waitin’ wid deir aches an’ miseries, Till Ma comes out before dem, a-smilin’ gold-toofed smiles An’ Long Boy ripples minors on de black an’ yellow keys.
so far it seems that people from far and wide come and see Ma Rainey. And they have traveled in various ways knowing full well they have a lot to do they drop everything all the "aches an' miseries" to come see her. she is obviously very loved for her music and it makes many people happy.
he weary, weary feet
the constant repetition and image of weary feet is a reminder of what Mckay is trying to tell us in his poem. he gives the image of "the fallen race" his people working in prostitution and living in poverty. making them weary and tired but still continue to work.
I shall return, I shall return again, To ease my mind of long, long years of pain.
the repetition of "I shall return" speaks of hope. Perhaps the speaker is hoping to leave where he is currently and desires to return to a place that seems more like home. it can also be seen as the speaker trying to convince himself to leave his current situation.
Or does it explode?
what would happen if life is put on hold? dreams and hopes that are put on hold because of the changes and constant struggle of African Americans. It is almost like a prophecy for those people who lived during the 1950's. Prophesying the prejudice, students and family hardships and the limitations of African Americans.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
this line can represent how his life has been very difficult. there has been a transformation in his life where he has seen changes and tried to keep up with the changes in his life and the world, but towards the end he seems tired but aware of the more changes that are to come
But I am not a dog and can understand That now is the time to end capitalism.
the narrator here is saying that he no longer wants to be controlled nor treated as if he was a dog. there is a hope that capitalism will end. comparing it to his own pet which was treated like a fool but he understands he can be like the frog and make capitalism the fool instead.
The world is our room!
this line is very memorable for there are people from various countries who know of Comrade Lenin and they are all alike and from the same world. they are all comrades to each other
Dempsey, Dempsey.
dempsey being the figure who was wished to be the hero? and because the desire of him being the hero pushed dempsey to hard almost to his death?
Nothing has been lost. The photographic plates grow clear in solution –
while here the memories of war have not been forgotten and are very well known, in eliot his memories are called "fragments" and filled with hopelessness.
O comrades of my dawns and my days and nights O you who live with me you at my side in battle and at midnight talk after the fruitful day learning to meet the challenge of tomorrow’s foe – – welcome this spring!
again unlike eliot, in this poem those who have gone to war will return and live a fruitful life and they hope for the happiness and "spring" a revival of their life.
cold with dying names emasculate marks for our lives the new year. Only spring arrived at its fulfillment, at the peak or verdurous blossoming connotes the quick deep breath of hope again – – the sharp release of man grown tense with winter, now set free to soar again
unlike eliot poem where winter and death worked hand in hand. here winter is over and spring has arrived where "grown men...can soar again"
empty chapel
lack of faith. after various references to religion and gods there is now a lack of the belief in faith perhaps.
Who is the third who walks always beside you? When I count, there are only you and I together But when I look ahead up the white road There is always another one walking beside you Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded I do not know whether a man or a woman —But who is that on the other side of you?
is this the image of a loved one. or perhaps a more spiritual or religious representation. because the poem is about death there can be a chance that there is a religious connection for they are walking up a white road towards a figure they can no longer see, God? Jesus? or is it truly just the loved one?
He who was living is now dead We who were living are now dying
no matter the riches, the calm, and even love. death will find a way. people are dying and theres not much that can be done.
Death by Water
perhaps an encounter with drowning or someone dying changed his idea of how to river and water can bring his calmness
A current under sea Picked his bones in whispers. As he rose and fell He passed the stages of his age and youth
earlier in the poem it almost seemed like rivers and water made him feel calm and relaxed and now the sea is an image of death. his calm is now also a storm
Endeavours to engage her in caresses Which still are unreproved, if undesired. Flushed and decided, he assaults at once; Exploring hands encounter no defence; His vanity requires no response,
illustrating how love is undesirable and no longer supports the idea of romance. the woman no longer defends herself against the man and it is a battle of the lack of intimacy.
Under the brown fog of a winter noon
again the image of winter and now even fog, perhaps something is occurring in this stanza that has to be hidden then forgotten.
Unreal City
the unreal city is brought back to the poem? now where is this unreal city?
But at my back from time to time I hear The sound of horns and motors,
reminisces the livelihood that once existed in the canal. there is a constant back and forth in the poem where there is life and death. sanity and insanity. Hoping for life but always getting peace in death.
Sweet Thames, run softly till I end my song, Sweet Thames, run softly, for I speak not loud or long.
not only is this repeated but the thames river consoles our narrator. making him happy and relaxed no longer focusing on luxury. he even mentions winter again, and in winter most things are dead
While I was fishing in the dull canal
wherever this canal is. it seems very dead lack of livelihood , dull. are there even fish in the canal for it seems dead
Silk handkerchiefs, cardboard boxes, cigarette ends Or other testimony of summer nights
no riches nor luxury when on the river thames.
t’s them pills I took, to bring it off, she said. (She’s had five already, and nearly died of young George.)
this keeps going on with the theme of men domination but this time women deciding what to do with her power. in these lines she takes the pills because of the risk of losing her life while young because she was pregnant.
He’s been in the army four years, he wants a good time, And if you don’t give it him, there’s others will, I said. Oh is there, she said. Something o’ that, I said
There is an unhappiness in the marriage of Albert and Lil. By giving Albert "a good time" there is the image of manliness and control Albert has over his wife. Previous lines state that Albert will pay because he can no longer look at her.
What shall I do now? What shall I do?” “I shall rush out as I am, and walk the street “With my hair down, so. What shall we do tomorrow? “What shall we ever do?”
this can be the a reference to the lady or even the narrator and the descent into madness. a person talking to themselves and questioning what to do.
I remember Those are pearls that were his eyes. “Are you alive, or not? Is there nothing in your head?”
or is this perhaps a reference of the woman who lived in luxury. she recalls, perhaps someone who has died, but instead of naming who it is she remembers pearls and rags. she briefly mentions the death and mostly wonders about her life.
“My nerves are bad tonight. Yes, bad. Stay with me. “Speak to me. Why do you never speak. Speak. “What are you thinking of? What thinking? What? “I never know what you are thinking. Think.”
repetitive questioning. to himself perhaps?
Glowed into words, then would be savagely still.
after a wondrous description of luxury and extravagance it is ended with the "withered stumps of time" and how the luxury was held still. even luxury will not make happiness or bring livelihood.
The glitter of her jewels rose to meet it, From satin cases poured in rich profusion; In vials of ivory and coloured glass
describing pre war riches and luxury. a life filled with glitter, jewels, decadent items that still led to barbarous kings. an unhappy life?
A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many, I had not thought death had undone so many
an assumption or disbelief that death is so powerful that our narrator did not believe "death had undone so many."
“That corpse you planted last year in your garden, “Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year? “Or has the sudden frost disturbed its bed?
the constant reminder of death even in grand cities. unlike the may flowers part after the april showers. will life no longer come again?
Hyacinth
hyacinth is a flower which its legendary because it is part of a greek story which a lover of Apollo tragically dies. so is love dead for the narrator?
for you know only A heap of broken images,
broken images can also be a reference to his memories. so are there traumatic events that has happened that cause him turmoil? or what has changed in the world for him to have broken images as memories?
Marie, hold on tight. And down we went. In the mountains, there you feel free.
the freedom and happiness the narrator felt before the cruel April month .
April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow, feeding A little life with dried tubers
this section reminds me of the idea of April showers bringing may flowers. April being gloomy rainy weather and the earth slowly coming back to life.
Cordially yours. Pause. Cordially yours. Not sooner together. Cordially yours.
is she saying she belongs or wants to be with someone but cant?
Jane.
she names various people in this poem so what is their significance. are they people she knows? random characters?
Next to barber. Next to barber bury. Next to barber bury china. Next to barber bury china glass. Next to barber china and glass. Next to barber and china. Next to barber and hurry.
repetition is read within the poem various times but here she repeats within the lines itself.
and we degraded prisoners destined to hunger until we eat filth
or perhaps the "devil may cry men" and the "rich young men" are the men who destroy the earth looking for any riches in the soil and when nothing is found the earth is left there to fend and care for itself. the "men" doing nothing to care for the problem they have created.
some Elsie— voluptuous water expressing with broken brain the truth about us—
elise is not mentioned until this point but what is mentioned is the promiscuity, lust, and perverse culture she is in. to work at 15 and who is being lusted by some "rich young men with fine eyes."
“This is just to say”
a very simple poem that almost seems satirical for the various ways it can be interpreted.
The apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough.
ezra is using the image of a the metro in comparison to nature. a ghostly image in a form of a flower petal. is this a symbol of how fragile humanity is in a city.
Criticism is not a circumscription or a set of prohibitions. It provides fixed points of departure. It may startle a dull reader into alertness.
this is good for anyone who wants to be a writer a bit of criticism can help expand and broaden writing that can help the writer
It well may be. I do not think I would.
the poem suggest that the narrator is questioning what love is. if a man is alone only surviving with the basic necessities that he loves and desires it is basically a meeting with death. she states towards the final lines of the poem that she would not trade her love for anything even for her own basic needs and wants.
“Love Is Not All” (1931)
a sonnet consisting of 14 lines in iambic pentameter
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”
there is a rhythm sing song like pattern in the poem
The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep,
our narrator has some type of loneliness and perhaps longs to return to where he came from but he has to keep going.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
is there regret for choosing the road less traveled by. there was a difference made but we as readers are not sure if the difference was good or bad.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler
the regret of not being able to take both roads for he is only one person
What is this I hear of sorrow and weariness, Anger, discontent and drooping hopes? Degenerate sons and daughters, Life is too strong for you– It takes life to love Life.
she shows discontent over the people who complain about life. she learned to enjoy the life she has lived even after losing children and by living for 96 years she is still happy
“Lucinda Matlock”
a short wonderful poem of lucinda who has lived her life happily and to the fullest
the circulating library Which I built up for Spoon River,
was he gathering the knowledge to teach others life lessons of good vs evil. truth vs lies.
I am out of your way now, Spoon River, Choose your own good and call it good. For I could never make you see That no one knows what is good Who knows not what is evil; And no one knows what is true Who knows not what is false.
people can now choose their own path and search their own meaning of what is good and what is evil. what is the truth and what is false.
SEEDS in a dry pod, tick, tick, tick, Tick, tick, tick, like mites in a quarrel–
constant repetition of the ticks and seeds
He raised again the jug regretfully And shook his head, and was again alone. There was not much that was ahead of him, And there was nothing in the town below– Where strangers would have shut the many doors That many friends had opened long ago.
the poet is back home in his town and is a stranger because no longer are his friends there and he is getting drunk thus everyone who sees him no longer pay attention to him.
Where friends of other days had honored him, A phantom salutation of the dead
are his friends now dead, so he has to no one to speak too even in the town that he lives in? perhaps an older man and poet.
“Well, Mr. Flood, we have the harvest moon Again, and we may not have many more; The bird is on the wing, the poet says, And you and I have said it here before. Drink to the bird.” He raised up to the light The jug that he had gone so far to fill, And answered huskily: “Well, Mr. Flood, Since you propose it, I believe I will.”
a drunk poet who perhaps is talking to himself?
And you that ache so much to be sublime, And you that feed yourselves with your descent, What comes of all your visions and your fears?
is the narrator wondering what has become of the people who desired greatness.
there they stood, As in the days they dreamed of when young blood Was in their cheeks and women called them fair.
perhaps a group of people he is meeting that he has not seen in a long time. or are they the brotherhood? or the poets and kings?
There’s sister on the stairs!
the constant back and forth between the obsession and nightmare world she is living in. the world of the wallpaper and her reality are clashing together.
There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down.
her obsession over the wallpaper and the buildup to her sanity is starting to show. it is almost a nightmare type of image she paints even though it is just wallpaper.
REASON
capitalizing certain words and phrases to pay more attention to what she is trying to say. making a heavy emphasis in her struggle, suffering, and her trying to get our attention.
To him, so far as he thought and dreamed, slavery was indeed the sum of all villainies, the cause of all sorrow, the root of all prejudice; Emancipation was the key to a promised land of sweeter beauty than ever stretched before the eyes of wearied Israelites. In song and exhortation swelled one refrain—Liberty; in his tears and curses the God he implored had Freedom in his right hand. At last it came,—suddenly, fearfully, like a dream. With one wild carnival of blood and passion came the message in his own plaintive cadences:— “Shout, O children! Shout, you’re free! For God has bought your liberty!”
a lot of biblical allusions. both Israelite and African-Americans desire for freedom and prayed to God and even Gods to be free. For the villainy to be removed and then they are led to their promise land.
The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife,—this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self.
merge: two merge his two identities to make the better more ideal self.
One ever feels his twoness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.
the constant struggle of two identities. going hand in hand with his previous statements of questioning why god has made him and outcast and "different". is he one or two people? the one of being himself and the two of how he is viewed by other.
The force of the Virgin was still felt at Lourdes, and seemed to be as potent as X-rays; but in America neither Venus nor Virgin ever had value as force–at most as sentiment. No American had ever been truly afraid of either.
perhaps the clash of science and religion. the virgin/religion is still "felt" in a way to many people. the belief is as almost as strong as the acceptance of science and religion. to find that balance of accepting both but still being afraid of the new.
No more relation could he discover between the steam and the electric current than between the Cross and the cathedral.
two very important symbols here. the cross between science and technology hence the steam and electric current, and then the Cross and cathedral. Both very powerful, prominent, and important symbols and belief of the society that keeps changing and developing.
Great Exposition of 1900
world fair exposition held in Paris which showed the development and supported various achievements of that time