The poem The love song of J. Alred Prufrock first gave me a usual expression when I see a long and potentially meaningful poem. The first time I tried to analyze the poem, there weren’t much meanings. It just seemed like a simple time and love poem, but after some detailed analysis, it now holds so many aspects. It’s not even about love or time, and if I were asked what this poem was about, I could write so much. The poem began as himself walking down a deserted streets in a cheap neighborhood, in a very dreamy setting, having no specific destination, but as if moving in a monotonic road of his life. The first stanza has not yet indicated his age or time, only to compare his dull world and the world of the high class. Later he proceeds on to the concept of time, indicating that there is time for everything; do not rush to do everything in your life. This stanza gave an idea that he is giving an advice to a young reader, that there is no need for a rush, because in the next stanza, he gave a physical description of himself, such as "how his hair is growing thin!" and "But how his arms and legs are thin!". With that in mind, he asks if he should dare attempt to move back in time, to act young again or "disturb the universe", or accept the present and move on. Now looking back the first stanza of himself comparing his own life to the high society, the poem started to have a tragic tone.
One of the lines I primarily found meaningless has so much messages behind after the analysis; "I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;". The "coffee" in the line represented morning, or a routine, perhaps of his daily routine, but nothing is changing and he is only asking himself, "should I?". He is old and his life is measured out with little coffee spoons that represent his hopeless desires, fantasies and dreams. This interpretion is supported by the next line, "I know the voices dying with a dying fall beneath the music from a farther room.", saying that the world of the young and sophistication is moving and fading away from him. Then the next stanzas, he expresses his life being looked at by everyone while he is helpless and hopeless.
There is a reference to the concept of crab from Hamlet by Shakespeare. As a crab, he would be stretching out on the beach and sleep, which almost wastes his time. He asks whether he should put this moment into crisis, meaning rushing to do something, or stay the way he is. So in a way, he is again saying that there is no need to rush time, but he also fears death.
From the part where he indicated his life measured in coffee spoons, the poem is filled with the same question; would it be worth to have it all? Would it be worth to live in luxury drinking tea in cups and marmalades, to live in high soceity?
The poet kind of rambles on at this point, until he makes another reference from Hamlet, which is assumed to be Polonius. Polonius is not Hamlet, nor any part of the loyalty, yet he keeps trying to sound smart and imporant and be included in the group, the high society, like how the poet attempts to move back in time. In the last couple of stanzas, the poet admits his oldness. He speaks of the mermaids, possibly the women of the high society or his fantasies, who would not sing to him, leaving him lonely. Lastly, all this time he would be floating in his fantasies thinking that he could move back in time and act young again, until the reality strikes in and his life would go down the drain.
The overall tone and theme of this poem is very sad, and after reading this, I feel the same fear as well, that even though I may be young now, eventually I would be old, and that the world would no longer revolve around me. It has implied to me that it is important to do the best I can when I can, so that I may live the life I want when I grow up. The poem is great, not only because of its writing structure or the theme, but because of the poet's ability to really embed the feelings and fear the poet tries to indicate.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
,.~*' My reaction '*~.,
The poem was a bit hard to understand because each line seems to be describing something else and the poem was digressing alot, but all making some sort of a similar point. Some parts of the stanza seemed to describe himself getting old, by using a sense of time, or physical descriptions such as when he said "'How his hair is growing thin!'". The poem begins as himself and possibly his lover walking down the deserted and tedious street in a cheap neighborhood. In one stanza he continually repeats the phrase, "there is time", implying that even though he may be walking in deserted streets and that he may be getting old, there is no rush for a better life, possibly of the woman who he describes "the woman come and go, talking of Michaelangelo." His aging is physically described by the thin hair, limbs, and he asks the question rather or not he should try to act young again, but he indicates that, "there is time." In an another interpretion, it could be implied that he may be giving advices to readers who are young and that there is nothing to rush about.
In the later part of the poem he makes a reference to the crab, which was also used in Hamlet by Shakespeare, by Prince Hamlet subjected to Polonius. In the play it was interpreted that he meant to describe Polonius or the situation by the crab's ability to walk backwards or shed its skin, as if turning back the time or shedding Polonius or Hamlet's uncle's crime. In my opinion the poet seems to mean just sitting around and sleeping like a crab and dreading the time moving on, therefore being afraid. Besides, the poem partially seems to use the idea of aging. Also he makes another reference to Hamlet, "No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;", which seemed to portray Polonius, since he was "Politic, cautious, and meticulous", just like when he always spies on people. The line "Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;" also portrays Polonius's habit of talking and acting lenthgly and foolishly, therefore dying in the end. I wasn't really sure what that reference related to his concept or idea but in an indescribable way, it did make sense.Lengthy but great poem.
The poem was a bit hard to understand because each line seems to be describing something else and the poem was digressing alot, but all making some sort of a similar point. Some parts of the stanza seemed to describe himself getting old, by using a sense of time, or physical descriptions such as when he said "'How his hair is growing thin!'". The poem begins as himself and possibly his lover walking down the deserted and tedious street in a cheap neighborhood. In one stanza he continually repeats the phrase, "there is time", implying that even though he may be walking in deserted streets and that he may be getting old, there is no rush for a better life, possibly of the woman who he describes "the woman come and go, talking of Michaelangelo." His aging is physically described by the thin hair, limbs, and he asks the question rather or not he should try to act young again, but he indicates that, "there is time." In an another interpretion, it could be implied that he may be giving advices to readers who are young and that there is nothing to rush about.
In the later part of the poem he makes a reference to the crab, which was also used in Hamlet by Shakespeare, by Prince Hamlet subjected to Polonius. In the play it was interpreted that he meant to describe Polonius or the situation by the crab's ability to walk backwards or shed its skin, as if turning back the time or shedding Polonius or Hamlet's uncle's crime. In my opinion the poet seems to mean just sitting around and sleeping like a crab and dreading the time moving on, therefore being afraid. Besides, the poem partially seems to use the idea of aging. Also he makes another reference to Hamlet, "No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;", which seemed to portray Polonius, since he was "Politic, cautious, and meticulous", just like when he always spies on people. The line "Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;" also portrays Polonius's habit of talking and acting lenthgly and foolishly, therefore dying in the end. I wasn't really sure what that reference related to his concept or idea but in an indescribable way, it did make sense.Lengthy but great poem.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Immigration blues
By Li-Young Lee
Immigrant Blues
People have been trying to kill me since I was born,
a man tells his son, trying to explain
the wisdom of learning a second tongue.
It’s an old story from the previous century
about my father and me.
The same old story from yesterday morning
about me and my son.
It’s called “Survival Strategies
and the Melancholy of Racial Assimilation.”
It’s called “Psychological Paradigms of Displaced Persons,”
called, “The Child Who’d Rather Play than Study.”
Practice until you feel
the language inside you, says the man.
But what does he know about inside and outside,
my father who was spared nothing
in spite of the languages he used?
And me, confused about the flesh and the soul,
who asked once into a telephone,
Am I inside you?
You’re always inside me, a woman answered,
at peace with the body’s finitude,
at peace with the soul’s disregard
of space and time.
Am I inside you? I asked once
lying between her legs, confused
about the body and the heart.
If you don’t believe you’re inside me, you’re not,
she answered, at peace with the body’s greed,
at peace with the heart’s bewilderment.
It’s an ancient story from yesterday evening
called “Patterns of Love in Peoples of Diaspora,”
called “Loss of the Homeplace
and the Defilement of the Beloved,”
called “I Want to Sing but I Don’t Know Any Songs.”
,.~*' My reaction '*~.,
The poem seems to be free verse, because it does not maintain any sort of poetic forms, but rather like a story. Through this poem, the poet uses the phrase “be inside” couple of times. First when his father told him that he must feel the language inside him, it means that he needs to fully understand and accept the language at heart, not just memorizing and speaking it. I supposed it was like studying, that unless you are really into it and try to enjoy it, it would be more effective than simply memorizing. In the second time it was used, the man or poet himself asked a woman if he was inside her, meaning, is he in her heart? It is a very common saying when someone wants to know if his/her lover really loves them or not, rather than just pretending or acting. Then the man asks the same question when he does it literally, and she said that he if he does not think he’s inside her, then he is not, because if he’s doubtful, that means he is hesitant about giving her the most he can offer. Each stanza is very short but direct to the point, which is what I like. The poet composed the lines very well to allow the short stanzas to either send a big message and ideas or change the direction for dramatic effect. He seems to be a wordsmith because he used many words I have not heard of or do not see occasionally, but they sound sophisticating, such as, “Diaspora” and “defilement”, and “melancholy of racial assimilation”, which I suppose means “racism” in a way. The poem was more like a story written in shorter paragraphs, but it was done appropriately for its purposed effects.
Immigrant Blues
People have been trying to kill me since I was born,
a man tells his son, trying to explain
the wisdom of learning a second tongue.
It’s an old story from the previous century
about my father and me.
The same old story from yesterday morning
about me and my son.
It’s called “Survival Strategies
and the Melancholy of Racial Assimilation.”
It’s called “Psychological Paradigms of Displaced Persons,”
called, “The Child Who’d Rather Play than Study.”
Practice until you feel
the language inside you, says the man.
But what does he know about inside and outside,
my father who was spared nothing
in spite of the languages he used?
And me, confused about the flesh and the soul,
who asked once into a telephone,
Am I inside you?
You’re always inside me, a woman answered,
at peace with the body’s finitude,
at peace with the soul’s disregard
of space and time.
Am I inside you? I asked once
lying between her legs, confused
about the body and the heart.
If you don’t believe you’re inside me, you’re not,
she answered, at peace with the body’s greed,
at peace with the heart’s bewilderment.
It’s an ancient story from yesterday evening
called “Patterns of Love in Peoples of Diaspora,”
called “Loss of the Homeplace
and the Defilement of the Beloved,”
called “I Want to Sing but I Don’t Know Any Songs.”
,.~*' My reaction '*~.,
The poem seems to be free verse, because it does not maintain any sort of poetic forms, but rather like a story. Through this poem, the poet uses the phrase “be inside” couple of times. First when his father told him that he must feel the language inside him, it means that he needs to fully understand and accept the language at heart, not just memorizing and speaking it. I supposed it was like studying, that unless you are really into it and try to enjoy it, it would be more effective than simply memorizing. In the second time it was used, the man or poet himself asked a woman if he was inside her, meaning, is he in her heart? It is a very common saying when someone wants to know if his/her lover really loves them or not, rather than just pretending or acting. Then the man asks the same question when he does it literally, and she said that he if he does not think he’s inside her, then he is not, because if he’s doubtful, that means he is hesitant about giving her the most he can offer. Each stanza is very short but direct to the point, which is what I like. The poet composed the lines very well to allow the short stanzas to either send a big message and ideas or change the direction for dramatic effect. He seems to be a wordsmith because he used many words I have not heard of or do not see occasionally, but they sound sophisticating, such as, “Diaspora” and “defilement”, and “melancholy of racial assimilation”, which I suppose means “racism” in a way. The poem was more like a story written in shorter paragraphs, but it was done appropriately for its purposed effects.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Dandelion
By Julie Lechevsky
My science teacher said
there are no monographs
on the dandelion.
Unlike the Venus fly-trap
or Calopogon pulchellus,
it is not a plant worthy of scrutiny.
It goes on television
between the poison squirt bottles,
during commercial breakaways from Ricki Lake.
But that's how life
parachutes
to my home.
Home,
where they make you do
what you don't want to do.
Moms with Uzis of reproach,
dads with their silencers.
(My parents watch me closely because I am their jewel.)
So no one knows how strong
a dandelion is inside,
how its parts stick together,
bract, involucre, pappus,
how it clings to its fragile self.
There are 188 florets in a bloom,
which might seem a peculiar number,
but there are 188,000 square feet
in the perfectly proportioned Wal-Mart,
which allows for circulation
without getting lost.
I wish I could grow like a dandelion,
from gold to thin white hair,
and be carried on a breeze
to the next yard.
,.~*' My Reaction '*~.,
The poet compared quality of a person’s life to a life of a dandelion, and I've always thought that weeds were somewhat beautiful, not because its appearance but for the similar reason the poet presented. Even though weeds, like dandelions and anything people do not favor, are not pretty as flowers that attract bees or as contributive as big trees that produce air, they are pretty strong. I really liked the poet’s use of personification on the dandelion, as she said, “It goes on television”, and is squirted with a poison bottle as a part of the commercial. Also this poem was written in free verse, without using any type of true or off rhymes, or even couplets, but informality and fluidness of the poem stimulates an imagery of a dandelion as a real person, always weeded, sprayed with poison, and stepped on but he or she always seem to grow back no matter how hostile their environment is. So if someone were a dandelion, he or she may not be so attractive or special on the outside, but they are strong and determined in the inside. Whenever I look at a weed, I first think why it's there and stealing nutrition from the yard's grass and flowers, but then I feel like the weed is disliked too much and it's lonely. It's not praised for its beauty or given nutritious food for better growth, but just stared at and called an annoyance. In reality, it doesn't mean harm, but it just wants to live. So sometimes I feel sympathy for it, but it seems to flourish no matter what circumstance, and sometimes I wish I could be like a weed. Not that I want to be annoying or leech others, but even though I may not be so special in people's eyes, I want to have such strength and will to move on. Even though this poem lacked metaphors or similes to express and describe the concept, the poem was simple yet direct to the point, not by words but by images. I loved the last stanza of the poem, and this poem shows that someone's quality is not always determined by outside beauty or what you are to others, but how much will and strength you have.
Monday, February 11, 2008
The introduction to poetry
By Billy Collins
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
,.~*' my reaction '*~.,
I've always thought that poems were difficult to understand and interpret and I thought it was just me, but I guess not. Collins is trying to tell the reader to just appreciate and let the poem be, and that trying to extract the true meaning out of it is not the purpose of its existence. This poem itself have various meanings in each stanza, even with clear images of it, it could be interpreted in many ways. The general meaning of this poem is probably what I and others know already, but it is written in such simple yet somewhat artistic way. The poem may seem easy to understand but it still makes you wonder if he meant something else, and such thoughts makes this poem indeed beautiful.
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
,.~*' my reaction '*~.,
I've always thought that poems were difficult to understand and interpret and I thought it was just me, but I guess not. Collins is trying to tell the reader to just appreciate and let the poem be, and that trying to extract the true meaning out of it is not the purpose of its existence. This poem itself have various meanings in each stanza, even with clear images of it, it could be interpreted in many ways. The general meaning of this poem is probably what I and others know already, but it is written in such simple yet somewhat artistic way. The poem may seem easy to understand but it still makes you wonder if he meant something else, and such thoughts makes this poem indeed beautiful.
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