She's a killer, CREEEPP

I pictured a sort of Scooby Doo sort of set up here. The narrator of this story is tired of this girl's constant nagging. He then threatens to threaten the girl if she keeps doing it (MWAH HA HA HA HA *insert lighting crash*). Later he's found out and is caught "due to those meddling kids and their dumb dog". This poem's is foreboding and creepy. I mean if this guy doesn't the girl's nagging then why is he haunting her later? He obviously doesn't like her, and why does she have to tell other men about him? Also the fact that he's threatening to haunt her is creepy and a little possessive on this guy's part. It just seems a like a really dark threat for something as minuscule as nagging.

Time to watch the hours slow down

The poem "To his coy Mistress" reminds me a lot of the first couple of scenes of the musical "7 brides for 7 brothers". In this musical the oldest brother and his brothers live a day's travel from the town, so he doesn't go often. So when he goes to town and sees a pretty girl he convinces the girl to marry him claiming that he didn't have time to court her, to sway her, to dwindle. Instead he calls her to seize the day and marry him, and she does.
This poem is in between to lovers and how the male wishes for the female to give into him. To not waste time in what he would of done if he had time (which is what the entire first half of the poem is spent explaining). He claims he wouldn't love her less if she would succumb to his ways, and begs her to join him in his race against time.
This poem carries a tone of urgency, but perhaps even some regret as the they has to forgo those things due to time

Pass the point of no return

Yet another poem spent talking about death. A journey to the "boundless deep" or a "home". In this poem Tennyson seems to paint this picture where death is a journey on the sea. He spends his life but at some point the tide causes to reach his destination. He doesn't wish to have a painful death. Also wishes to go without sorrow (similar to the poem we read earlier but this time the end of the poem is death). But this guy is on a boat, living his life and he just makes death seem as another adventure, the next journey. It isn't negative, thus the tone of this poem is hopeful of death, and not scared. So once this man embarks on this journey, called by the sun stars and sea may he rest peacefully. For when he crosses the bar.

Roses are red

Violets are blue,
This poem is lame
and is used by a fool

I enjoyed the overall idea of "My mistress' eyes'". Although I'm not going to hide in my bed with my cat on Valentines I'm not a fan of the overly cheesy love poems that come out of couple's mouths. This poem is real, and it protrays real-er love. I'm not saying I'm not flattered when someone calls me beautiful, however I know I'm not perfect. Don't pretend that I am. Also the other love poems that talk about their perfect women forget that their poem isn't original. So while it's nice that you call my eyes as "bright as the sun", whose to say that you won't give the same line to the next person?
Shakespeare knows what he's talking about yo

USA USA USA

the entire point of the allusions of this poem are to show the overall bland-ness why the speaker says them. he/she runs through our patriotic tunes (not without the little drummer boy I'm sure) as we do today. the whole point of her even bringing them up is to show that we just say the words of "God bless america" and "the star spangled banner" without meaning it. how we then influence our youth to jump into war as lions and to get killed instantly. this poem starts off as a patriotic slogan but by the end the reader is left grasping a glass of water and wondering where the nation's pride went (other then slaughtered with the lions). how our minds are so focused on the tradition of the songs that we don't even follow what we're so proud about. We need to create real lions and real pride, other wise we might be slaughtered as well.

Argh there be an Emily Dickinson poem I like, Fire on the Poop deck

Even amidst the random capitalization and dashes I was able to find meaning from this poem ALL BY MYSELF! This poem focuses on a theme of individual sanity and group madness. While society teaches us to go with a group or leaders opinion, Dickinson is crying for the world to do otherwise. To stand out against the ideas of the time and to be a individual person. She then talks about how the world hates people that stand out and how it strikes them down and beats them up (look at Martin Luther Kind Jr. or Dumbledore both spoke of love and equality and both got shot down). Overal a good messege to produce.
An example of another type of madness that is created is the ninja and pirates debate. In reality pirates have dominated the world for a great deal of time, however ninjas have become increasing more popular due to many loud people liking them thus causing others to follow in their mad ways. Let's be individual, prevail and be sane by bringing back pirates! Savy?

I wonder who it's from?

This poem struck me with two things. First is that Americans as a whole can't handle wars (seen in WWI WWII Korea Vietnam and Iraq). Although Americans nationwide don't have any trouble flying their flags and their yellow ribbons, they can't handle any real war facts other than "sure rains here a lot" and this is seen with the parents that beg their son to tell them "everything". We can't handle it and we just want to stay in our peaceful world.
2nd this son is acts just like many kids would towards their parents. He almost knows that his mom won't be able to handle it, so he doesn't give her a real answer until after she begs and pleads for it. In this way he doesn't get in trouble and he almost shows his parents up in a way.

Evil, Hair brush breaker and Barbie girl

The scene that kept playing in my head was from the movie mean girls. At the end of the movie one of the mean popular girls gets hits by a bus, (seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT7os-ymfW4) thus everyone in the school realizes that they don't need to care about what they are rather who they are.
I think that's the entire point of this poem is to make the reader step back and reflect on their lifestyle. I'm glad that my small personal world isn't as judgmental as this girl's seems. Also what is wrong with a big nose? I mean better a big nose then no nose at all! This poem talks about the girl dying at the end but I found (by reading and my small group) that this girl has just gone under some plastic surgery and has gotten rid of her true self, thus becoming another Barbie girl.

The Pink dog of the Night

So this poem claims to be a dog but I just kept seeing this prostitute that the church-going ladies of the town looked down upon (perhaps I took the word bitch to literary (in line 11)). So after they're done insulting this women/dog I found that this poem had everything, yet nothing to do with the dog. I think that this dog was used to show the terrible treatment of the poor in this population. I mean they're throwing them into the river, then saying that they have to dress up/disguise themselves from the crowd in order to celebrate. They make snitty remarks (like calling you pink and bald, I don't think my balding grandfathers would like that one bit) and tell them to wear life preservers. This treatment isn't fit for dogs (why this poem is about the dog), yet the mistreatment of the humans is terrible (why this poem isn't about the dog, rather it uses it to soften the blow). The tone of this poem overall is condescending towards the poor population, and honestly I would hope that anyone celebrating Ash Wednesday (so logically they're of a religious background) wouldn't be treating their brothers and sisters that bad. I guess confession was made for a reason.

Mr. Toad and his Fat Ugly Cousin

Hoping for a poem of woodland creatures I opened my lit. book to a poem of fat ugly squatting poison filled toads. The speaker actually doesn't wish to insult the toad population (although I would enjoy reading a poem of said content) he is using the toads as an allegory and symbol of his life. The first amphibian companion of the speaker is a symbol of work. How the speaker wishes to be free but is trapped by this toad's endless squatting, and how he wishes to throw it all away and just live. Enter the 2nd toad who is the speaker's pride. As much as any human wishes to be relieved of all responsibility, we can't due to our pride. I mean I would love to live without worrying about college or a future occupation, but I don't wish to be the uneducated bum on the side of the road (along with the toads). This poem spoke a great truth that you can't get rid of one toad with the other toad squatting (and possibly pooping) on your head. One final line from this poem spoke of the overall theme of this work, and that can be found when the speaker says " To shout Stuff your pension/But I know, all too well, that's the stuff/That dreams are made on". I took this "stuff" to money and if only this man (and the world in general) to just forget it (ah the chaos that would bring mwah ha ha ha), but really we can't. Interesting thoughts

Stay, just a little bit longer- Bright Star

Dear Reader,
As of now I'm writing from the school library, noting my take on "Bright Star". This poem spoke greatly to me as I tend to overstay my welcome and stay connected with people. Many times in my life I whip out my 6 year old persona and beg for "5 more minutes" (although never with a lover, Keats you naughty boy). I loved the calm tone of this poem with it's "splendor hung aloft in the night" and "snow upon the mountains". I saw this shining star within the night sky as a light of hope rather a lonely sleepless being. The speaker of this poem doesn't wish to be like the "moving water" in this poem but rather to live in one spot forever. However I don't know why this man would wish to swoon to death. First off how would the speaker know if that moment would be the right moment to swoon. Who knows his lover could of created a time machine the next day and they could of stayed together forever. 2nd fainting to death seems a painful way to die (as I imagine having to faint, and fall off a building to "swoon to death"). Personally death by rotten meat (created by dead dreams) would be more pleasing.
Yours in Song

Perhaps dreams curdle like leftover cottage cheese- Dream Deferred

This poetry's tasteful imagery really paints an image for the reader. The format of this poem allows is formatted so that the final line "or does it just explode" stands out from the rest (or than the fact that it was italicized). The final line is a metaphor rather than a simile. With this fact I think this opens that final line as a more open interpretation than fester like a sore. While this might be outside the cone of meaning I still think that this explosion is a positive thing. The reason I saw this is because an explosion is seen/heard more than rotting meat (which sits in the back of the refrigerator). So while the other outcomes of the dreams were personal and pertained to one person, I view the explosion as this violent "stepping out of the closet" moment. So while it might seem like this is the worst thing that can happen, I think sometimes an explosion is needed to make dreams come true.

I'm more of a dog person-February

This poem summarizes my feelings in February, especially when the speaker talked about staying in bed all day. Once Autumn is over I get lazy, I loose most of my mental fortitude to go through the school day. So when this poetry talked about french fries, kicking cats out of the house and staying in bed I was rather pleased. It wasn't until English class that I discovered that this poem was more than cat's bum holes.
The entire focus of the speaker is her lack of motivation in February. Apparently she wasn't a good girl, and Cupid didn't pay her a visit. She wishes to cut off the testicles of her neighborhood cats (and neighbors) and just eat her children. I'm glad that she calls herself to move at the end of this poem because otherwise I think her cat would find her dead somewhere. people complained that February is the the worst month for those without love, but really it's annoying when people wallow as well. So on Valentines day is turned into two groups of people. There's the happy couples AND the annoying people that wallow in self pity. Perhaps we should all just move for Spring, let the couples have their day and move on.

The Worst Streets in London

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of see "Sweeney Todd" ( a interesting work to say the least) and that is the only thing I could see while reading "London". This poem just seemed like a world where the people we're trapped by their own laws. Everyone is sorry and making noise in some way (an interesting point by Christian Powers). I mean I just see the city as this dirty sorrow filled place as infants cry in fear and soldiers sigh. I half expected Todd's name to pop into the poem. However it doesn't seem that the people are stuck under one one ruler, but under many (the chartered streets). So perhaps they were making their own laws to live by (similar to O'Brien's army that lived under different rules while at war), and these English are stuck in this London right out of the mind of Jack the Riper. This isn't a place to live, but a place to fear

What's lurking in the water?

Hardy seems to carry a disappointed tone against human vanity through out this poem. Through each stanza the first two lines seem to describe the boat and the long line is the sea and with a twist of imagination one could claim that the stanzas even look like a boat on water (at least this is what my small group claims, I have yet to see it). I liked how dark this poem was, especially the line "In shadowy silent distant grew the Iceberg too." The Titanic was a scientific marvel of it's time and was a pinnacle of vanity along with science. I agree with the poem's suggestion that an Immanent Will or a God was stopping this vanity that this boat created (and apparently sea-worms crawl all over). Which reminded me of Noah's Ark, or really the flood in Noah's ark, although a boat saved Noah it didn't kill him.

A is for Apple, P is for people that pick the Apple's

This poem at a first glance seemed to be about picking apples (a cool thing to do at Adrian's Orchard in the fall for those who are looking to do something outside this fall), and the imagery painted this barrel of apples that was picked by standing on a "two pointed ladder sticking through the tree" but I Frost was trying to paint another picture. Through this poem one can also see the apple picker, who retires from apple picking ("I'm done with apple picking now), who used to dream of life ("magnified apples appear and disappear") who lead a great life ("for I had to much") and is awaiting great the apple orchard in the ("long sleep")
As I read this poem I pictured this old man, a lonely old man who was losing his apple business to robots (...that might be a stretch but still) he's somewhat lamenting his retirement. Which I find amusing because as people grow older they wish to retire, yet once this magical moment comes people are wishing for the next thing. What does a man do after apple-picking?

I was ready to kill something after reading this poem

I would like to spend one of my "personal" blogs talking about the ridiculous-ness of Emily Dickinson. After reading this depressing and mind boggling I went to Wikipedia to look up Emily (alias Ima Creeper). Did you know that of the hundred of poems that Emily wrote only a couple were published in her lifetime because her poems didn't follow her time periods (the 18th century) poems. For example her poems had short lines, typically lacked a title, she used slant rhyme AND she capitalized to many words. I think these 18th century publishers were onto something. If it wasn't for English I would never EVER waste my time with Miss Dickinson

winter SPRING summer or fall

This poem reminded me of the Church at Easter. Although this poem didn't include scratchy dresses or chocolate bunnies images of gardens blooming danced in my head. I think the audience that this poet wanted to reach was the church going folk who are afraid of sin and follow the thought of the after life. The last stanza of this poem really emphasizes the point of salvation by asking Christ to help and save the children. Also the alliteration of this poem gives it a bouncy feeling (with thoughts devoted to the Easter Bunny I'm sure). Furthermore the rhyme sequence also has a certain beat to it, making the poem light and fluffy. May this poem with it's alliterated "Christ saves" fill the Easter mind baskets for young children everywhere!

A lens without a focal point

One aspect I liked about this article was when Perrine said: "but where the comments of a critic may raise the curtain on a reader's understanding of a poem, the poet's own comments drop the curtain". While I am not a poet myself I enjoy reading poetry because usually I can apply it my own life or experiences (something a good reader should do). Let's take "The Sick Rose" for example, while I might of seen this as a poem about my troubles with garden pests many other readers probably saw this a poem about lost love. I love looking through poetry through a lens and finding something, not discovering what was already there. Also I like reading other interpretations of other poetry readers because they see something that I usually don't see, however I feel like if the poet himself were to tell me what they saw in the poem then I would feel wrong in my interpretation.
Perrine really hits the nail on the nail when it comes to poetic interpretation. "Problem of Interpretation" passage does a great job of explaining how poetry can only be read within a certain area. Although I'm a fan of applying the poetry to my life, I'm glad that poetry can't be read where "anything goes" (otherwise we would spend days discussing poetry in school). Poetry is more abstract than a novel, but it is still a piece of work confined in an area. The words may be richer but they're still confined