"If" by Rudyard Kipling
This is my favorite poem because of the way I feel it can serve as a guideline of how I should act. Not only that, but there is not one guideline in the poem that I disagree with. To me, being a man has always been more than just turning eighteen, getting your license, or doing "manly" things. I always believed it had to do with maturity and character. This poem is my favorite because I find that it captures my idea of manhood in a way I never could.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
"Fire And Ice" by Robbert Frost
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
Analysis:
a) A peson is just saying that others believe the world will end in fire or ice. They agree with those who say fire because of human desire. They also say that ice would work as a way to end the world as well.
b) The theme is that both hate and desire have the ability to destroy humanity. After veiwing desire, he says that "fire" would work, but, knowing hatred, he understands that "ice" could end the world too.
Personal Connection:
I liked this poem because it speaks literally of an end of biblical proportions, but is actually giving real ways for the world as we know it to end.
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
Analysis:
a) A peson is just saying that others believe the world will end in fire or ice. They agree with those who say fire because of human desire. They also say that ice would work as a way to end the world as well.
b) The theme is that both hate and desire have the ability to destroy humanity. After veiwing desire, he says that "fire" would work, but, knowing hatred, he understands that "ice" could end the world too.
Personal Connection:
I liked this poem because it speaks literally of an end of biblical proportions, but is actually giving real ways for the world as we know it to end.
"Should You Go First" by Albert Kennedy "Rosey" Rowswell
Should you go first and I remain,
To walk the road alone,
I'll live in memory's garden, dear,
With happy days we've known.
In Spring I'll wait for roses red,
When fades the lilac blue,
In early Fall when brown leaves call
I'll catch a glimpse of you.
Should you go first and I remain,
For battles to be fought,
Each thing you've touched along the way
Will be a hallowed spot.
I'll hear your voice, I'll see your smile,
Though blindly I may grope,
The memory of your helping hand
Will buoy me on with hope.
Should you go first and I remain,
To finish with the scroll,
No length 'ning shadows shall creep in
To make this life seem droll.
We've known so much of happiness,
We've had our cup of joy,
And memory is one gift of God
That death cannot destroy.
Should you go first and I remain,
One thing I'd have you do:
Walk slowly down that long, lone path,
For soon I'll follow you.
I'll want to know each step you take
That I may walk the same,
For some day down that lonely road
You'll hear me call your name.
To walk the road alone,
I'll live in memory's garden, dear,
With happy days we've known.
In Spring I'll wait for roses red,
When fades the lilac blue,
In early Fall when brown leaves call
I'll catch a glimpse of you.
Should you go first and I remain,
For battles to be fought,
Each thing you've touched along the way
Will be a hallowed spot.
I'll hear your voice, I'll see your smile,
Though blindly I may grope,
The memory of your helping hand
Will buoy me on with hope.
Should you go first and I remain,
To finish with the scroll,
No length 'ning shadows shall creep in
To make this life seem droll.
We've known so much of happiness,
We've had our cup of joy,
And memory is one gift of God
That death cannot destroy.
Should you go first and I remain,
One thing I'd have you do:
Walk slowly down that long, lone path,
For soon I'll follow you.
I'll want to know each step you take
That I may walk the same,
For some day down that lonely road
You'll hear me call your name.
Analysis:
a) This poem is about a woman who is telling her love what she will do, and what he should do, if he goes first. She says that she will remember their good and bad times, his face, smile, and voice. If he goes to war, she will keep every place he has been in her mind, and use it to fuel her hope of his return. She also tells him that, if he dies first, she will not be sad for she will soon be with him.
b) The theme of this peom is that even if someone is gone, memory and love keep them alive until you see them on "that lonely road".
Personal Connection:
This poem means a lot to me because it was the poem that my grandmother wanted read at my grandfather's memorial. I had read the poem before the memorial (because my mom made the copies), and I thought it was very sad and dreary. When my aunt was reading it at the memorial, I realized why my grandmother chose it. She chose it because of the message that death cannot seperate anyone who truely loved and knew that person.
"To This Day" A Spoken Word Poem by Shane Koyczan
Whatch/Listen to the poem here.
(You have to scroll down a little bit, but the video is there.)
Analysis:
a) This poem follows the story of many people who were bullied in school and details their troubles and agony. It also points out that this is still going on and it needs to be stopped.
b) The theme of this poem is that bullying is not only wrong, but it has limitless effects on the victim, and that it can be stopped. The theme was not burried deep into the poem like others, and I belive that that adds to the importance of the message because it was so easy to understand.
Personal Connection:
This is one of my favorite poems just because of the way it was able to move me so much. The way the volume builds and suddenly falls back to a normal speaking level. I also like the fact that the poet knew how important his messasge was so he did not hide it.
(You have to scroll down a little bit, but the video is there.)
Analysis:
a) This poem follows the story of many people who were bullied in school and details their troubles and agony. It also points out that this is still going on and it needs to be stopped.
b) The theme of this poem is that bullying is not only wrong, but it has limitless effects on the victim, and that it can be stopped. The theme was not burried deep into the poem like others, and I belive that that adds to the importance of the message because it was so easy to understand.
Personal Connection:
This is one of my favorite poems just because of the way it was able to move me so much. The way the volume builds and suddenly falls back to a normal speaking level. I also like the fact that the poet knew how important his messasge was so he did not hide it.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
"I Knew A Man By Sight" by Henry David Thoreau
I knew a man by sight,
A blameless wight,
Who, for a year or more,
Had daily passed my door,
Yet converse none had had with him.
I met him in a lane,
Him and his cane,
About three miles from home,
Where I had chanced to roam,
And volumes stared at him, and he at me.
In a more distant place
I glimpsed his face,
And bowed instinctively;
Starting he bowed to me,
Bowed simultaneously, and passed along.
Next, in a foreign land
I grasped his hand,
And had a social chat,
About this thing and that,
As I had known him well a thousand years.
Late in a wilderness
I shared his mess,
For he had hardships seen,
And I a wanderer been;
He was my bosom friend, and I was his.
And as, methinks, shall all,
Both great and small,
That ever lived on earth,
Early or late their birth,
Stranger and foe, one day each other know.
Vocabulary:
-Wight-a living being (especially a human being)
Analysis:
a) The poem is about a man who at first only knows this other man by his appearance. They later meet again 3 miles from home and they just stare at eachother. Further from home, the two men meet again and bow to eachother. When they meet the next time, they chat as if they have been friends their whole lives. Finally, the original man helps his new friend in the wilderness. The poem ends with the plea that nobody should be unknown to anybody.
b) The theme of the poem is that knowing someone just by sight is not good enough, and that a deeper relationship should exist. This idea is illustraded in the story the poet creates in the poem.
Personal Connection:
This is one of my favorite poems because it tells a great story of how two strangers become great friends. I also enjoyed the idea that the last stanza illustrates. It says that everyone should get to know everyone, and by the story of what comes from knowing someone, it sounds like a good idea.
A blameless wight,
Who, for a year or more,
Had daily passed my door,
Yet converse none had had with him.
I met him in a lane,
Him and his cane,
About three miles from home,
Where I had chanced to roam,
And volumes stared at him, and he at me.
In a more distant place
I glimpsed his face,
And bowed instinctively;
Starting he bowed to me,
Bowed simultaneously, and passed along.
Next, in a foreign land
I grasped his hand,
And had a social chat,
About this thing and that,
As I had known him well a thousand years.
Late in a wilderness
I shared his mess,
For he had hardships seen,
And I a wanderer been;
He was my bosom friend, and I was his.
And as, methinks, shall all,
Both great and small,
That ever lived on earth,
Early or late their birth,
Stranger and foe, one day each other know.
Vocabulary:
-Wight-a living being (especially a human being)
Analysis:
a) The poem is about a man who at first only knows this other man by his appearance. They later meet again 3 miles from home and they just stare at eachother. Further from home, the two men meet again and bow to eachother. When they meet the next time, they chat as if they have been friends their whole lives. Finally, the original man helps his new friend in the wilderness. The poem ends with the plea that nobody should be unknown to anybody.
b) The theme of the poem is that knowing someone just by sight is not good enough, and that a deeper relationship should exist. This idea is illustraded in the story the poet creates in the poem.
Personal Connection:
This is one of my favorite poems because it tells a great story of how two strangers become great friends. I also enjoyed the idea that the last stanza illustrates. It says that everyone should get to know everyone, and by the story of what comes from knowing someone, it sounds like a good idea.
"If" by Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!
Vocabulary:
-Knave-a trickey decietful fellow
Analysis:
a) The poem is saying that, if you can stay calm when eveyone else is going mad and trust in yourself when others do not, but still acknowledge their doubts, then you are a man. It goes on tho say that, if you can win everything, then lose it all, then start over again without a second thought about your defeat and realize that triumph and disaster are just illusions, then you are a man. The poem continues to give many qualities of a man, and each has a restraint or a "but".
b) The theme is that being a man is not just being very smart, powerful, rich, or turning a certain age; but it instead has to do with your character and how you act.
Personal Connection:
This poem really spoke to me because of the criteria it gives of being a man. I feel that this poem serves a a very good model as to how I should act. I know that I do not meet a lot of these criteria and I aspire to be the man that Rudyard Kipling describes.
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!
Vocabulary:
-Knave-a trickey decietful fellow
Analysis:
a) The poem is saying that, if you can stay calm when eveyone else is going mad and trust in yourself when others do not, but still acknowledge their doubts, then you are a man. It goes on tho say that, if you can win everything, then lose it all, then start over again without a second thought about your defeat and realize that triumph and disaster are just illusions, then you are a man. The poem continues to give many qualities of a man, and each has a restraint or a "but".
b) The theme is that being a man is not just being very smart, powerful, rich, or turning a certain age; but it instead has to do with your character and how you act.
Personal Connection:
This poem really spoke to me because of the criteria it gives of being a man. I feel that this poem serves a a very good model as to how I should act. I know that I do not meet a lot of these criteria and I aspire to be the man that Rudyard Kipling describes.
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