I enjoyed reading ‘A Blog to Pass the Time’’s blog the most. It had a nice format and the theme they chose was very relaxing and went along with the poems. They used alot of good details when analysing the poems chosen. I absolutely loved the poemand the analysis of the poem, ‘The Dream Keeper’ by Langston Hughes. I like how they put a quote under the blog name. The quote is inspirational.

A Blog to Pass the Time

I need some wings because these feet are keeping me down.

Awesome Job! 9/10

‘Super Human’ by Chris Brown


Weak
I have been crying and crying for weeks
How’d I survive when I can barely speak
Barely eat
On my kneesYou did that to me
Super human heart beats in me
Nothing can stop me here with you, superhuman
Superhuman
Superhuman
Superhuman

But that’s the moment you came to me
I don’t know what your love has done to me
Think I’m invincible you see
Through the me
I used to be

You changed my whole life
Don’t know what your doing to me with your love
I’m feeling all Super human

Strong
Since I’ve been flying and righting the wrongs
Feels almost like i had it all along
I can see tomorrow
But every problem is gone because
I flew everywhere with love inside of me
It’s unbelievable to see
How love could set me free

Its not a bird
Not a plane
Its my heart and its gonna go away
My only weakness is you
Only reason is you
Every minute with you I feel like I can do
Anything

Going going I’m going away
In love
You changed my whole life
Don’t know what your doing to me with your love
I’m feeling all Super human
You did that to me
Super human heart beats in me
Nothing can stop me here with you, superhuman
Superhuman

 

 

 
I chose song lyrics from one of my favorite songs as my last blog post because to me songs are the best kind of poetry. With this song, the lyrics go well with the beat of the song and make it enjoyable and relaxing. If you have ever been in love, you can relate somewhat to most love songs. This one in particular, I just can’t get out of my head. I love how love is the cause of being superhuman and feeling as if you can do anything in the world. Because of that one other person, you feel powerful! You feel strong! That person makes you better. That person makes you the best you can be. I like how the chorus repeats the word superhuman more than once to emphasize that feeling given to them by their significant other. My favorite part of this song is,

‘Its not a bird
Not a plane
Its my heart and its gonna go away
My only weakness is you
Only reason is you
Every minute with you I feel like I can do
Anything’

This part is just beautiful to me. If someone ever said something like that to me, I would feel amazing. I like how the verses start off with one specific word or feeling [Weak, Strong] and then explains it a little more throughout the rest of the verse. This song just shows what love can truly do to someone.

Life Is Fine by Langston Hughes

I went down to the river,
I set down on the bank.
I tried to think but couldn’t,
So I jumped in and sank.

I came up once and hollered!
I came up twice and cried!
If that water hadn’t a-been so cold
I might’ve sunk and died.

But it was Cold in that water! It was cold!

I took the elevator
Sixteen floors above the ground.
I thought about my baby
And thought I would jump down.

I stood there and I hollered!
I stood there and I cried!
If it hadn’t a-been so high
I might’ve jumped and died.

But it was High up there! It was high!

So since I’m still here livin’,
I guess I will live on.
I could’ve died for love–
But for livin’ I was born

Though you may hear me holler,
And you may see me cry–
I’ll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.

Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!

The poem starts off when the author goes to sit down by the river to think. He is unable to think because he is so frustrated and he just ends up getting more depressed. Throughout the poem he talks about ‘almost’ doing things, but doesn’t because he is trying to control himself and keep his cool. When he talks about jumping in the water and sinking he says, ‘I came up once and hollered! I came up twice and cried!’ then again when he is talking about jumping from the sixteenth floor he says, ‘I stood there and I hollered! I stood there and I cried!’ In both examples he uses the words hollered and cried to emphasize his feelings. In both examples, the author also repeats certain parts, but just changes a word or two in order for it to apply to his example. ‘If that water hadn’t a-been so cold I might’ve sunk and died.’ and ‘If it hadn’t a-been so high I might’ve jumped and died.’ tell what ‘might’ have happened IF it hadn’t been so cold or high. In both it makes it seem like he is on the edge of giving up and is contemplating whether or not to throw it all away. That is why he uses terms like ‘if it hadn’t’ because he is contempleting and is finding excuses to why he doesn’t do something.

‘So since I’m still here livin’,
I guess I will live on.
I could’ve died for love–
But for livin’ I was born’

This stanza tells that he could’ve given up many times before, but never did. He was born to live and that is what he finally realizes he needs to start doing..Living. I really liked the lines ‘Though you may hear me holler, And you may see me cry–’ because it is something everyone can relate to. Nothing is perfect in life and there are hard times we all have to go through and at those times we may yell and cry and feel like we should give up, but we never do. However, my favorite line of this poem has to be the final one. ‘Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!’ I just like the way he ended the poem and I like how he repeats ‘Life is fine!’ at the beginning and at the end of the final sentence. Also, I like how it rhymes and it sounds good together. The poem starts off with a kind of depressing tone, but as it progresses the tone changes to hopeful and determined. He was depressed with life and then he realizes he has to move on and keep living.

“Rain Before Dawn” by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The dull, faint patter in the drooping hours
Drifts in upon my sleep and fills my hair
With damp; the burden of the heavy air
Is strewn upon me where my tired soul cowers,
Shrinking like some lone queen in empty towers
Dying. Blind with unrest I grow aware:
The pounding of broad wings drifts down the stair
And sates me like the heavy scent of flowers.

I lie upon my heart. My eyes like hands
Grip at the soggy pillow. Now the dawn
Tears from her wetted breast the splattered blouse
Of night; lead-eyed and moist she straggles o’er the lawn,
Between the curtains brooding stares and stands
Like some drenched swimmer — Death’s within the house!
 

In the poem “Rain Before Dawn” by F. Scott Fitzgerald a strong message is presented. In the very first line, “dull, faint patter” is not rain but the foreshadowing of death. The quote, “drifting in upon my sleep…the burden of heavy air is strewn upon me where my soul cowers, shrinking like some lone queen in empty towers dying.” is saying that while asleep and unaware the shadow of death is coming over the speaker. His soul, however, can feel death coming and is to old, weak, and heavily stressed to fight it off. In lines six through eight, the quote, “Blind with unrest I grow aware: the pounding of broad wings drifts down the stair and sates me like the heavy scent of flowers” is telling the reader that now the speaker himself is becoming aware of the impending death and its not just his soul that is aware. Not only this but that he feels the sensation of an angel of some sort journeying down to his body to take his soul from it. The feeling of knowing that an angel is coming to take his soul away pleases him however like a “heavy scent of flowers” too much is overwhelming and he is also sickened by this thought. In the next two lines, “I lie upon my heart. My hands grip at the soggy pillow,” the speaker is saying the he has a heavy heart and is depressed. He does not want to die and he fights to stay alive. These are the final moments of his life. The remaining portion of the poem explains the death and parting of the speakers body and soul as it travels to the afterlife. “Death’s within the house!” amplifies the fact that the speaker is now dead, his soul has left, and only his body remains as an object lying on his bed, in his room, inside of his house.

Not only is this poem about death but it also carries many other meanings. The poem embodies hardship, suffering, and pain, not just in death but in life; the struggle of life. All people have to overcome adversity no matter how rich or poor and how horrible or great life may be. This poem is for those who have to overcome the hardest of adversities, the ones that are on the lowest end of the social “totem pole,” and the ones that no matter how determined, hard-working, or good of a person; they just cant succeed. The imminent death, the stressful, depressing, and desperate feelings that transform into unrest and into overwhelmingness and finally failure that this poem expresses defines lives of troubled individuals. Yet with such an afflicted and heavy heart the speaker fights to stay alive dispite a losing situation which leaves the reader with a sort of “moral to the story” that is: no matter how hopeless a situation there may be you must always strive to overcome adversity and be always faithful that success and a high quality of life can be accomplished.

Messy Room by Shel Silverstein

Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
His underwear is hanging on the lamp.
His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair,
And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp.
His workbook is wedged in the window,
His sweater’s been thrown on the floor.
His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV,
And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door.
His books are all jammed in the closet,
His vest has been left in the hall.
A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed,
And his smelly old sock has been stuck to the wall.
Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
Donald or Robert or Willie or–
Huh? You say it’s mine? Oh, dear,
I knew it looked familiar!

After reading one of Shel Silverstein’s poems, I knew I had to go back and read some more. His poems are absolutely amazing. This poem in particular gives me the feeling of happiness as I read. It did this because the tone is so mellow. It made me laugh and it did a great job of giving me mental images. The author uses so much description, practically every line gives you a picture of what he is taking about. When poems are like that, it makes it more enjoyable because you can actually pretend you are there at that moment seeing the exact image of what he is talking about down to a T. He rhymed some lines which made those parts of the poem flow more and just roll off your tongue. He starts off with ‘Whosever room this is should be ashamed!’ Then he goes into 11 lines of detail and description of the this person’s room. After reading those 11 lines, I too agreed that whosever room that was should indeed be ashamed. The poem ends off perfectly. After all the comedy throughout it, the last couple of lines are the final touch, the final laugh so to speak. ‘Donald or Robert or Willie or–
Huh? You say it’s mine? Oh, dear,
I knew it looked familiar!’

And BAM! the poem is done.

Whatif by Shel Silverstein

Last night, while I lay thinking here,
some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
and pranced and partied all night long
and sang their same old Whatif song:
Whatif I’m dumb in school?
Whatif they’ve closed the swimming pool?
Whatif I get beat up?
Whatif there’s poison in my cup?
Whatif I start to cry?
Whatif I get sick and die?
Whatif I flunk that test?
Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
Whatif nobody likes me?
Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?
Whatif I don’t grow talle?
Whatif my head starts getting smaller?
Whatif the fish won’t bite?
Whatif the wind tears up my kite?
Whatif they start a war?
Whatif my parents get divorced?
Whatif the bus is late?
Whatif my teeth don’t grow in straight?
Whatif I tear my pants?
Whatif I never learn to dance?
Everything seems well, and then
the nighttime Whatifs strike again!

I think this is a very comical poem. I absolutely loved reading it. Right off the bat, starting with the second line, the author begins to use literary devices.

‘Some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
and pranced and partied all night long
and sang their same old Whatif song:’

The author gives the complex question ‘What If’ human capabilites. He personifies it and uses terms such as crawled, pranced, partied and sang to describe actions that this question cannot do. I like the questions that he asks. There is a mix of serious and funny ones which makes the poem not all one tone. ‘Whatif I flunk that test?’ and ‘Whatif nobody likes me?’ are lines that are more serious. When i read those lines I thought of high schoolers and thoughts they may have as they enter high school for the first time. Those ‘Whatifs’ in the back of their minds. Then the author moves on to some humorous lines such as, ‘Whatif my head starts getting smaller?’ ‘Whatif I tear my pants?’ ‘Whatif I never learn to dance?’ These are just nonsense questions that you don’t really hear many people asking about; or at least not in a serious manner. I found it interesting how the author put the word ‘What if’ as a combined term. I’m not to sure on the reasoning for it, but I found it interesting and I actually like it better like that. The poem tells a story. The author starts off normally, laying in bed and then he begins to think…[what if?] then all these questions are running through his brain and then ‘Everything seems well, and then the nighttime Whatifs strike again!’ It is just something we all can relate to. Everyone wonders ‘What if’ every now and then. What if I did this instead of that? There are a million ‘What ifs’ that people wonder about all the time. The poem is easy to connect to. It is multi-toned in the sense that it does have comedy, but the meaning is deeper and more serious. The meaning is about life and the thoughts and wonders we all think about. There is always something on our minds. Once we think about it, it’s fine, it’s done with…until something else comes to mind.

Famous

By Naomi Shihab Nye

The river is famous to the fish.

 

The loud voice is famous to silence,

which knew it would inherit the earth

before anybody said so.

 

The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds

watching him from the birdhouse.

 

The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.

 

The idea you carry close to your bosom

is famous to your bosom.

 

The boot is famous to the earth,

more famous than the dress shoe,

which is famous only to floors.

 

The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it

and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.

 

I want to be famous to shuffling men

who smile while crossing streets,

sticky children in grocery lines,

famous as the one who smiled back.

 

I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,

or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,

but because it never forgot what it could do.

I think the author of this poem is not writing about actual famous things but things that are important to others, something that is vital to the others existance. Naomi writes that “the river is famous to fish” because without the river the fish cannot survive. This supports her later phrases saying she wants to be famous because she wants to be as important to someone else as the river is to the fish.

Ways of Talking

By Ha Jin

 

We used to like talking about grief

Our journals and letters were packed

with losses, complaints, and sorrows.

Even if there was no grief

we wouldn’t stop lamenting

as though longing for the charm

of a distressed face.

Then we couldn’t help expressing grief

So many things descended without warning:

labor wasted, loves lost, houses gone,

marriages broken, friends estranged,

ambitions worn away by immediate needs.

Words lined up in our throats

for a good whining.

Grief seemed like an endless river—

the only immortal flow of life.

After losing a land and then giving up a tongue,

we stopped talking of grief

Smiles began to brighten our faces.

We laugh a lot, at our own mess.

Things become beautiful,

even hailstones in the strawberry fields.

              This poem is about two individuals who used to talk about their grief with one another. It describes some of the topics they discussed. Even when grief wasn’t felt they would talk somberly as if they enjoyed being depressed and continue to complain. When they ran out of describing their current conflict they would continue on to the next complaint, and on, and on. They just kept talking and more came to mind endlessly like no matter what something was wrong. This brought the two closer and bonded them. I think “After losing land and the giving up a tongue” with the following content means that after talking about so much grief and sharing it together, the space between these two individuals was closed and they got together. The connection they felt brought them happiness, brightening their world and “Things became beautiful,” even the grief. When I read this I actually found it weird the first time around. When I hear the word ‘grief’ I think of sadness. I think of pain. The way the speaker writes is as if grief is a good thing. I found it very awkward because grief is a powerful word and it is a word I don’t like to think of. The author writes, ‘Even if there was no grief
we wouldn’t stop lamenting,’ and ‘Then we couldn’t help expressing grief,’ it was as if grief was the only word they knew. It was the only thing on their mind even when there was nothing wrong. They just could not get past feeling bad. I love the ending the best. I like when the things became beautiful to them and they finally stopped talking about grief and realized there is more to life.
 

 

Song in Spite of Myself

By: Countee Cullen

 

Never love with all your heart,

It only ends in aching;

And bit by bit to the smallest part

That organ will be breaking.

 

Never love with all your mind,

It only ends in fretting;

In musing on sweet joys behind,

Too poignant for forgetting.

 

Never love with all your soul,

For such there is no ending,

Though a mind that frets may find control,

And a shattered heart find mending.

 

Give but a grain of the heart’s rich seed,

Confine some under cover,

And when love goes, bid him God-speed,

And find another lover.

 

They say never give your whole heart away. Honestly, it is hard to believe that to be true. If you love someone, I mean really love someone, you are obviously going to give your whole heart to them. ‘Never love with all your heart it only ends in aching,’ Love is never guaranteed and you never know if something is going to work out or not, but you have to trust yourself and trust your feelings that in the end everything will work out how it was meant to. Yeah, there are some relationships that do not work out and when that happens you need to not keep reliving the past and wishing you could go back, but you also should not throw those memories away because at that time those memories were the best times of your life. Love is wonderful! But love does hurt. You have to decide who’s worth the pain. The last line says it all; ‘And when love goes, bid him God-speed and find another lover.’  What that is saying is if you find someone who is not worth the pain love may bring, move on and find someone new. There’s plenty of fish in the sea.

Waving Goodbye

By Gerald Stern

 

I wanted to know what it was like before we

had voices and before we had bare fingers and before we

had minds to move us through our actions

and tears to help us over our feelings,

so I drove my daughter through the snow to meet her friend

and filled her car with suitcases and hugged her

as an animal would, pressing my forehead against her,

walking in circles, moaning, touching her cheek,

and turned my head after them as an animal would,

watching helplessly as they drove over the ruts,

her smiling face and her small hand just visible

over the giant pillows and coat hangers

as they made their turn into the empty highway.

 

 

I really liked this poem because I feel like I can really relate to it. It reminds me of the relationship me and my mother have. We are very close and I couldnt imagine going away to college or anything because I know she would be just like the speaker in the poem.

When I read this I can picture a teenager leaving to go off to college. The speaker is the mother and she is watching helplessly as her baby girl goes away. Its a part of life though leaving the home, so there is nothing she can do. Thats why the speaker says she is watching helplessly. My favorite part of this poem are the first four lines. ‘I wanted to know what it was like before we had voices and before we had bare fingers and before we had minds to move us through our actions and tears to help us over our feelings,’ Those lines showed me how saddened the mother was because her daughter was leaving. What would she have done and what would she have said if she was not able to show her emotions. I especially like the line ‘before we had minds to move us through our actions and tears to help us over our feelings.’ There are alot of sad moments throughout life and the author wonders what it was like before we were able to express our emotions. To just think and wonder what it was like before we had no tears to express ourselves and no thoughts to help us act was a strength of this poem because it made you think about life. It made you think about love. It made you think about emotion. I like the relation she gives to an animal. There are two points in the poem where she states, ‘as an animal would.’ [When she is hugging her daughter and when she turns her head toward the car as they drive away.] You get an image of a baby and mother animal at the time when the baby is to become and adult and learn to live on its own. The author pressed her cheek against her daughter’s face and walked in circles as if capturing and savoring this moment in time. She turned her head after them and watched helplessly because she knew it was time for her daughter, like a baby animal, to learn to live on its own.