Of the Elegy’s we read in class, Frank O’Hara’s “The Day Lady Died,” seems at first as if it was the least mournful of the group, but upon multiple readings, one can see how deeply upset O’Hara is by the death of Billie Holiday. By remembering the exact date and time of when he first heard of the death, we see that O’Hara did have a strong connection to Holiday, and that the exact moment will not be forgotten by him. Although he does not mention anything regarding Holiday until the end, the audience can see that he wants to avoid mentioning her death because it saddens him so much, but by focusing on the minute details of his day, we see that he truly misses her. By the end of the poem, he shows how great of an effect Holiday had on him, because he can remember the feeling that she gave him the first time that he saw her live.
Villainous Villanelle
Close Reading Week 11
In A.R. Ammons poem, “Corsons Inlet,” the reader get’s to see a man coming to terms with the fact that his life will change daily. We get to see the author viewing the changing landscape, and as it changes, so does the author. This changing of the landscape allows the author to come to terms with his life, as he suffers with the fear of his life being meaningless. Also, he uses many nature terms to describe his frame of mind.
Close Reading Week 10
In John Keat’s “Ode to a nightingale,” the audience get’s to see the way that Keats is able to deal with his own suicidal thoughts. The audience gets to see how depressed Keats was during the waning years of his life. Because he was composing this only a year or two before he was consumed by tuberculosis, he would obviously have rather taken himself out of this world, then let the disease do it. We can truly see his depression in line 41 when he says “I cannot see what flowers are at my feet.” We can see that he does not see anything beautiful in the world anymore.
Close Reading Week 9
The poem “Ozymandis” by Percy Bysshe Shelley is a poem about the fall from grace that people will feel if they do not treat their fellow friends correctly. In this poem we see Ozymandis as a cruel leader, who forces his men to erect huge structures to honor the king. Eventually though, the entire honor that this man has bestowed upon himself will crumble to dust. This is evident by the term, colossal wreck. The reader gets to see that the statues he had built, have collapsed.
Close Reading Week 8
Bob Dylan’s Ballad “Boots of Spanish Leather” is a clear look at how a man can be eaten by the pain that a woman leaving him can cause. Here, we can tell by following the two voices that the woman is the one who left Dylan. He shows how truly he is hurt because he puts so much emphasis on Spain in the last line. By repeating the word the audience gets to see that Dylan is obsessed with the woman that left him. Also, by focusing on the beauty of Spain, we can see that Dylan truly misses the beauty that he used to see in his ex-love.
Sonnet – wHAT?
Stay Classy, San Diego is a song I truly love
It’s about a dinosaur or something
The Air I Breathe, His Voice sounds like a dove
It’s kind of creepy, they sometimes where bling
I made that last part up to sound cooler
But seriously I want to marry
The owner of the that baby stroller
Also thinking back, Cool movie: Carrie
Family guy is on my television
I also lose my attention Spanish
My friend wants to create nuclear fission
Do I know any words…oh wait Vanish
So these last two lines are supposed to rhyme
But I probably have some certain time….
Close Reading Week 7
In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “The Snow-Storm,” the audience get’s to see Emerson’s dual feelings for snow, and what a snowstorm results will be. in the first stanza, we see the storm as a masking force, hiding prominent parts of nature, such as hills, rivers, and woods. We also see it as a delaying force, keeping friends at a destination longer than intended. This entrapment though causes the friends to get closer together in the warmth of a fire. In the second stanza, Emerson uses personification to portray the snowstorm as a great mason, crafting his art, beautifully. Emerson also focuses on how quickly nature is able to carve such an incredible landscape, because when people try to replicate natural artwork it takes them quite longer to create something that isn’t as beautiful.
Close Reading Week 6
Emily Dickinson’s poem, 145 (59), uses a number of poetic styles that help the reader uncover a meaning aside from the one that is obvious. Most obviously, Dickinson uses common meter, as she does in most of her poems. This was probably because this is what she found easiest to write with. Also, Dickinson uses strong imagery of a gymnast physically struggling with an angel, showing her feeling for religion. She is not sure whether to accept it or not, so she will fight with her feelings. By fighting with her religion, she has ultimately decided that she has spat in the face of God. Because of this, she feels that she is going to hell.
Iambic Pentameter
I don’t have been into this gibberish
Sentence preceding makes no sense to me
Fourteen lines can’t come to my brain quickly
Read closely to understand crack head words
Lines have slowly been coming from my brain
Sunday Football Sota Vikings play bad
Number of lines equal close to the eight
Left to write but in past language barri-
-er, Swell work done by cats in hats with bats
Glass bell smashed well the time I tried to hide
Count to Boston every time I don’t die
I can’t think straight cause drinking won’t save stuff
After this line I won’t write stuff much more
This time I tried to eat brains that are people
Ryan Dembek's Blog 