Responding to a Poem
Watch the screencast on Elizabeth Bishop’s “The Fish.”
Also, choose a poem from our class page (I’ve been posting poems of the day since the school closure). Read it aloud and respond to it on the discussion page (include the poet, poem title, and a question, observation, connection, inference, etc.).
Example:
I read "The Enkindled Spring" by D.H. Lawrence. I found the imagery in the first two lines to be a vivid description of what I'm noticing when I go outside these days.
This spring as it comes bursts up in bonfires green,
Wild puffing of emerald trees, and flame-filled bushes
When I squint at the tennis ball green buds on the maple trees these days, it does look like "bonfires green."
I read the poem Tulips, by A. E. Stallings. It seems like the tulips inspire this person, but I wonder why exactly. Stallings says, "Something about the way they drop" which is very vague and says "Something about the way they..." a couple more times.
ReplyDeleteThis is Kimball
DeleteI think that the speaker is admiring some cut tulips that are starting to "drop" their petals. She says, "The tulips make me want to see," and this wish reminds me of how paying close attention to something (such as a vase of tulips) can open up new ways of thinking or seeing or understanding.
DeleteI read “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost. The first 2 lines stuck out to me, which were, “Nature’s first green is gold — Her hardest hue to hold.” I like how this is saying that we lose appreciation for nature as we get used to it. When flowers first start to bloom in spring, we pay them lots of attention, but as spring leads into summer, we stop noticing them, as it’s normal.
ReplyDeleteI read “Keeping Quiet” by Pablo Neruda. I feel like this poem fits this moment of time because many people have the time to stop for a moment and think about unity and understanding one another.
ReplyDelete“Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victories with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.”
This stanza stood out to me because I think Neruda expresses how unnecessary violence is, and although everyone has different opinions, unity is achievable only if people accept or try to understand others beliefs.
I read, KEEPING QUIET by Pablo Neruda the second to last stanza stood out to me as a way to try to open up and see things in a different lens. try to learn form the earth because it had survived so long.
ReplyDeleteI read D. H. Lawrence's "The Enkindled Spring". Something that really struck me was that the poet repeatedly compared spring to fire, which is seen even in the title. D. H. Lawrence uses vocabulary/phrases like "bonfires", "flame-filled", "wreaths of smoke", "fumes", "flickering", "fires", "blaze", "sparks", "combustion", and more. It's interesting to me because I never thought to compare spring to fire, so that's a new idea for me. I guess what it means is how fast spring comes, how fast everything turns green, and maybe connected to that, how fast time/life moves? After all, the poet writes, "Faces of people streaming across my gaze." Maybe he meant the many, many people he knew during his life, and how quickly they come and go. The poem also says, "My spirit is tossed / About like a shadow buffeted in the throng / Of flames, a shadow that's gone astray, and is lost." My interpretation of this is that the speaker feels that life has moved fast, and he/she feels regrets. Maybe the speaker made mistakes that he/she doesn't have enough time to change, and is now "lost". I think that, overall, this poem is about how fast time moves, and how short life is. It's compared to how fast spring comes and goes; fire is a temporary thing that will burn out.
ReplyDelete-Anya C.
I read, "A blurry photograph" by Martha Ronks. The line, "one thing shelved after another, as if they were already in the past" stood out to me. It made me realize that sometimes we see things, but don't really process them. We just file them away in the back of our minds instead of taking a closer look to try and see the beauty of the moment.
ReplyDeleteI looked over the digging poem (I forget by whom) and felt that it related to one of the big ideas from our last unit- that sometimes we have to do things our own way instead of following the previous generation.
ReplyDeleteSeamus Heaney's "Digging" does relate to ROMEO AND JULIET in the way you've described. Great connection!
DeleteI read "A blurry photograph" by Martha Ronks. One question I had was about the line "and the glass hardens into glass". I'm fairly confident that there is a meaning that I don't understand, and I would like to know, as I think it would help me understand the poem better.
ReplyDeleteA great line! When I look at it in context, it follows a "turn away" from something. I wonder about the glass as a window. Looking out of a window, I might see something that seems clear to me. But the line is a great reminder that glass isn't just transparent; it's also a barrier between me and what I'm seeing.
DeleteI read the poem The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop. The poem shows so somebody catching a fish and seeing how much pain the fish is in. The person notices every detail of the injuries the fish has and out of sympathy lets the fish go back into the water.
ReplyDeleteI read "women's voting rights at one hundred (but who's counting?)" by Evie Shockley. I like the lines, "one vote can be hard to keep / an eye on :: but several /a / colony of votes/ can’t scuttle / away unnoticed so easily". These lines use imagery to demonstrate that even though it may not seem like one vote can make a difference, it has a large impact. I think this brings attention to the poet's opinion of the importance of everyone having the right to vote in our country.
ReplyDeleteI read Brendan Kennelly's "Begin" and one line that stood out to me was, "Begin to the loneliness that cannot end/ since it perhaps is what makes us begin". I'm not sure exactly what the author was expressing with this poem, but I interpreted it to mean that beginnings come from endings. What drives us to begin again is our loneliness, loses, and desire to grow. So I like how the poem goes into depth at the end and talks about the importance of acknowledging and appreciating the world around us (and our relationship to it).
ReplyDeleteI read "A blurry photograph" By: Martha Ronk. The first line immediately makes me think of late spring, summer, "The azalea overwhelms the evening with its scent, defining everything and the endless fields." The fact that the scent overwhelms the evening makes me think of a warm evening in the end of June.
ReplyDeleteI read “Today” by Billy Collins. A line that stood out to me was, “that it made you want to throw open all the windows in the house”. I though that it evoked the feeling of one of the first days of spring and made me smile today. While there weren’t any very string descriptions, the words together made me feel the poem and relate to it.
ReplyDeleteOops- I meant “strong” not “string”. :)
DeleteI read “A Blurry Photograph” by Martha Ronks. I loved the first section of the poem because it really defined the azalea tree. The field only had one of these, and yet it took over all of the field that it was in. People don’t often see beauty right away, even though it’s right in front of them. The author is trying to convey that you should look around you and really think about the beauty of nature.
ReplyDeleteI read "A blurry photograph” by Martha Ronks. I like how the poem details that often just as you give up and look away you can finally see the beauty in things, a good metaphor for life and photography
ReplyDeleteI read "Errancities" by Quincy Troupe. The word "errancities" sprouts from the french word, errance, meaning "risk" and "living one's life", and is used in the poem to describe how human possibility is a marvelous thing. I had a connection to my World history class where we are studying humanism and human potential during the Renaissance. It is so interesting to see all of the ideas that have still made it hundreds of years later, into modern society. I think Troupe is trying to convey those ideas, and it makes me think about how great human life is. It makes me take a step back and realize how much we can do as people, and how much we have already done.
ReplyDeleteI read "The Sweetness of Dogs" by Mary Oliver. This poem shows that the moon inspires this person and makes her think about the world and its beauty. Just as she is gazing at the moon and its beauty, her dog is doing the same but to her, showing that to the dog she is what the moon is to her.
ReplyDeleteI read “A Blurry Photograph”by Martha Ronks. The author is suggesting to the readers that beauty is always around you. Look around the world, beauty is everywhere. And I like how she used the title.
ReplyDeleteI read "The Sweetness of Dogs" by Mary Oliver. I really enjoyed the simile between how a human would look at something beautiful and perfect like a full moon to how a dog would look at a human. She makes it clear that no matter what you do, your dog will always admire you.
ReplyDeleteI read "Today" by Billy Collins. I really like the structure of the poem - I think it is understandable and seems like a conversation, but still gets across a message. I think the author is trying to say to fully enjoy what you have when you have it, which I think is very relevant to now. All you can do at the time is to do the best you can with what you have.
ReplyDeleteI read “The Fish”. One observation I had was that the person let the fish go, which goes to show how guilt conscience is in a all humans, no matter how small, and everyone can feel remorse for something.
ReplyDeleteThough it was short, I liked reading the excerpt from Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s novel, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. A line that stood out to me was “There’s only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.” Because even though I don’t know the total context that this poem was written in, I can appreciate the simplicity of the poem and it’s message. That kindness is like a beacon of light, a guiding lesson that will be forever relevant throughout one’s lifetime. Plus, it’s funny to me how the speaker is addressing the newborns so straightforward, and I like the contrast between telling them to be kind but also sort of addressing it to them in an assertive way.
ReplyDeleteI read "Keeping Quiet" by Pablo Neruda, and I think it has a very valuable lesson to learn, which is that sometimes the world around us moves so fast that it is important to occasionally stop and appreciate it. He writes, "For once on the face of the earth, let’s not speak in any language; let’s stop for one second, and not move our arms so much."
ReplyDeleteI read “A blurry photograph” by Martha Ronks and a line that stood out to me was “then clarifies just as you turn away” because i think what its trying to say is when you are taking a picture or your not in the moment things can be unclear or blurry, and you can miss out on things when you aren’t present.
ReplyDeleteI read The Waking by Theodore Roetheke, and reading the poem, I noticed the lines "I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow." and "I learn by going where I have to go." Come up often in the poem. The author seen seems to be writing About how he likes to take things slowly and his enjoyment of life, but also bringing a cyclical nature into the poem by often using the same words repeatedly and describing how he wakes to sleep.
ReplyDeleteI read “Tulips” by A. E. Stallings. What does Stallings mean by “Tomorrow they’ll be missed” does Stallings mean there might be a chance that the tulips die? And there is no way of bringing them back, causing her to lose her creativeness? I also think that tulips, and flowers in general are beautiful. -Angelica
ReplyDeleteI read “A Blurry Photograph” and thought it was really beautiful and really emphasizes how you have to always be aware and appreciate your surroundings and recognize it’s importance.
ReplyDeleteI read "Keeping Quiet" by Pablo Neruda, I was confused by what he meant when he said , "and you keep quiet and I will go". was he saying that he did not want to live any more, and he wished that people would in his passing, be able to see how they should slow down, how they should think about more than just work and progress. Or is he just saying that all he wants is for people to slow down for a while, and take a break, and he would stop asking for them to.
ReplyDeleteI read “A Blurry Photograph” by Martha Ronks. I think it really shows that just when you choose to walk away, you finally begin to see the beauty in things. One thing I was wondering about was the line “and the glass hardens into glass”. I feel like it has a deeper meaning but to me it doesn’t make sense.
ReplyDeleteI read “The Waking” by Theodore Roethke. The second stanza is meaningful to me:
ReplyDelete“We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.”
This tells me how it is best to take time and explore around, getting to know the surroundings and therefore being able to think about it more clearly. The stanza also uses multiple senses to show how it is good to be resourceful and make the most of everything.
I read "women’s voting rights at one hundred (but who’s counting?)" by Evie Shockley. The majority of the stanzas start with the words, "one vote." This helps connect the stanzas it's stories together. I think the author trying to show the progression of female representation in politics as well as overarching idea of how change caused by many people.
ReplyDeleteI read Mary Oliver's "The Sweetness of Dogs". It follows the mind of someone sitting on the beach with their dog, contemplating the universe. At the very end, while she is being grateful for the moon's beauty, she realizes her dog is looking up at her like she is as beautiful as the moon. This caused me to observe how deep the relationship between a person and their pet can be, and how pets can love people just as people can love pets.
ReplyDeleteI read the poem “Begin” and I think the point of the poem is to explain how people forget the beauty to observe everything that is beginning to happen. We get too focused on things that will end when there is things starting all around us that can be special and meaningful to our lives.
ReplyDeleteI read "The Landlord's Tale. Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I was reminded that I read this in elementary school. This poem was really memorable because it tells a story in the shape of a poem also like Elizabeth Bishop's "The Fish". This makes it very exciting and fun.
ReplyDeleteI read "The Sweetness of Dogs" by Mary Oliver. I think that the structure of this poem is very interesting because it ends each line in what seems to be the middle of a thought or sentence. This affects the way the poem is read, both silently and verbally. It reminds me of the time that I spend with my dog and shows the value of their companionship.
ReplyDeleteI read "Tulips" by A. E. Stallings. This poem takes a simple object like a tulip, and describes it in incredible detail. It uses a series of comparisons, and near the end it begins to describes the tulip in a way that reminds the reader of a human. By describing it in this way, you can understand the tulip in a new way, and it makes the tulip seem like an incredibly complex object.
ReplyDeleteI read Brendan Keneally's “Begin” and I thought it was interesting the different phases of the poem, it starts off by reminding us the beginnings of the day what we’ve been accustomed to as a normal day like traffic then later it makes a comparison to sun rise and sun set as light and darkness then it begins to talk More into detail about things we don’t necessary realize on how are losses loved ones continuously come to mine and then he question us! There so much going on and I think it really connects to the idea of paying attention to all things that start up in the day whether in our minds or around us.
ReplyDeleteI read the first stanza of the "General Prologue" of The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer. I really liked the detail of the setting of the scene (beginning of April) and his description of the flowers' response to the showers. It reminds me of the walks I've been taking my dog, where I've been observing and noticing a lot more of my surroundings because everything is so quiet now. I pay a lot more attention to the trees and plants and appreciate them more.
ReplyDeleteI was reading the poem “remember” and I thought it was really beautiful. It reminded me of what we are going through now and how we all have to rememeber that we are all in this together and that none of us are alone. A line I really liked was “Remember you are all people and all people
ReplyDeleteare you.” All of us are alike in this experience each facing our own difficulties. We each have things to worry about that we never had to before but we are not isolated in this situation. Although technically isolated we are all experiencing this pandemic together.
I read Mary Oliver’s Wild Geese and thought that it was in parts shocking and very comforting. It delivers- declares, bluntly, the “harsh and exciting” message that “You do not have to be good.” at the beginning, going against what most people would say, but softens it by explaining “You only have to let the soft animal of your body/love what it loves.” , which is a comforting message in that goodness and perfection are near impossible while love is not. It also concludes with affirmations that you matter, closing by assuring you that you have a “place/in the family of things.”
ReplyDeleteI read ‘Begin’ by Brendan Kennelly and found it interesting how the author chose to compare the beginnings of spring to the start of any action in life. By the end even saying, “not [to] acknowledge conclusion insists that we forever begin.” Showing how we must not skip to the end without aknowledging the possibility of trying or starting.
ReplyDeleteI read "The Trees" by Philip Larkin. The poem felt pessimistic in my eyes. There were a lot of negative words like "trick", "grief, "dead", etc. that bring a dreary tone. I wasn't sure if that was Larkin's intention or not? I thought that this darkness could have been present to emphasize the harsh bare trees of winter to those in bloom during spring.
ReplyDeleteI read "Did I Miss Anything?" by Tom Wayman and it was interesting to me how the poem progressed beginning with something that I could see a fairly sarcastic and annoyed teacher saying through highly improbable situations that despite being highly unlikely are fascinating to think about all the way back to a line intended to accurately answer the original question.
ReplyDeleteI read “April is a Dog’s Dream” by Marilyn Singer. It stood out to me because when I read it, the feeling it gave when read is almost one of normalcy of an old spring day. It brings me back to a simpler time where I didn’t have to worry about anything. It’s a fixed moment that everyone has felt.
ReplyDeleteI read: Tulips by A.E Stallings. What stood out to me, was the way the poet described the flower. “Something about their burnt-out hearts, Something about their pallid stems” I never heard someone express their thoughts on a flower like A.E Stallings, and it shows that people value flowers in many different perspectives. Some people may admire flowers by their scent, or people admire flowers by their characteristics.
ReplyDeleteI read Begin by Brendan Kennelly, it made me think about how much Humans dwell on the past. Brendan Kennelly brings up how every day is a new beginning and how you always have a chance to make a difference or be a better person.
ReplyDeleteI read “A Blurry Photograph” by Martha Ronks. I found it interesting how she talks about how beauty can be found in small things, yet life is so fast paced that you don’t take time to notice it.
ReplyDeleteI read "women's voting rights at one hundred (but who's counting?)" by Evie Shockley, and the reason I liked this poem was because I feel like it demonstrated the impact of voting, and how even if it may seem insignificant, the act of voting, and the right to do so is very important and has a profound impact not only on the country, but also on individual people, too.
ReplyDeleteI read “A Blurry Photograph” by Martha Ronk. The imagery in the poem was very good and descriptive. It’s an interesting poem and the imagery and word choice convey a major part of the message. The word choice gives it a blurry feeling and it feels almost half told like a blurry photograph.
ReplyDeleteI read “The Landlords tale. Paul Revere’s ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In the poem the British Navy’s ships are described as,
ReplyDelete“The Somerset, the British man-of-war;
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon like a prison bar,
And a huge black ink, that was magnified”
The way Longfellow describes it using negative words depicts the ships as evil and the “antagonist” in the poem. Which helps Longfellow depict Paul Revere even more as a hero in his poem.