Pastoral
Pastoral poems are about how the country side is the perfect place to be. They describe it as a utopia;
this is a common theme throughout the multiple themes. There are four different themes that one can write a
pastoral poem about. The first one is love and seduction. When writing about this theme the poet is directly
addressing someone they want to be with. The second theme is the value of poetry in which the poet describes
how valuable a poem can be. The third theme is about death and mourning in which the poet writes about a
loves one they have lost and how they are dealing with it. The last theme, which is the one I will be focusing on
with my poem, is the corruption of the city in the country life. In which the poet addresses how the city is corrupt
and not good for the perfect country life. Here is a list of a couple of poets that have written Pastoral poems;
Christopher Marlowe, Sir Walter Ralegh, and Mary Herbert.
In my pastoral poem, “The Beautiful Green Backwoods”, I used three literary devices, simile,
personification and allusion. The first literary device I used was personification which is when you give an
inanimate object human like qualities. In the second stanza I say that “The radio roaring” here I have given the
radio the ability to roar like when we scream. This is personification because a radio can’t really roar it can only
have the volume on very loudly. An allusion is when there is a brief reference to some person, historical event,
work of art or mythological situation or character. In the second stanza I allude to the song “Boys 'round Here",
by Blake Shelton because in this song he describes how the country life is the best place and how they do not
let the city change their values. This is why I also alluded to “Maroon 5”, because they are a very popular band,
something that not many people that live in the country would listen to. The last literary device I use was a
simile in which a direct comparison of two unlike things using like or as. In the second stanza “Or how Justin
Bieber is like King Kong,” I have compared a human being, Justin Bieber, to having the strength of King Kong
which is very unlikely because not only is King Kong a mythical creature but is enormously tall and strong.
The Beautiful Green Backwoods
Out by the crystal clear river,
Out by the backwoods mountains,
The green full of life mountains,
You see four wheel trucks come to life,
Come to life on the freshly cut grass,
The radio roaring with the "Boys 'round Here",
Men with their ice cold beers,
They don't talk about "Maroon 5",
Or how Justin Bieber is like King Kong,
Big and powerful (ha!)
They stay in the green backwoods,
Enjoy the smell of the fresh cut grass,
Admire the crystal clear river,
with their four wheels and ice cold beer,
the backwoods is the place to be.
Carpe Diem
Carpe Diem is more commonly known as “seize the day”. What this means is that we should
enjoy life and its freedom while we still have it. If we don’t enjoy it now we will just let it pass us. Carpe
Diem is about enjoying what each moment in life has to offer and recognizing how powerful and valuable
life is. This style of poetry also touches upon how fast life goes by which is why we should appreciate
each moment. Carpe Diem is like a modern day “YOLO”. Some well know poets that have written Carpe
Diem poems consist of Robert Frost, William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, and Walt Whitman.
In my Carpe Diem poem, “Music the Powerful”, I use two literary devices, metaphors and allusion.
A metaphor is a direct comparison between two unlike things where one become the other. In the first line
of stanza number three,” My music is a lion,” I am saying that my music has now become the lion. These
are two unlike things because music we listen for pleasure and a lion is extremely dangerous. The other
literary device I use is allusion in the fourth stanza. Allusion is when there is a brief reference to some
person, historical event, work of art or mythological situation or character. In my fourth stanza I make
three allusions to three different songs in order to show how music makes me want to do crazy things.
The three allusions were Scream & Shout by Will.I.Am and Britney Spears, Like Nobody's Around by Big
Time Rush and Whip My Hair by Willow Smith.
Music the powerful
While I walk I listen to music,
When I'm happy I listen to music,
When I'm bored I listen to music,
Time goes by and music never dies,
It makes me want to fly,
I enjoy what music has is offering now,
I just let it take over,
Because what's here today might be gone tomorrow,
My music is a lion,
Strong and loud and seeking prey,
I don't put up a fight,
I just give in,
My music makes me want to scream & shout,
Dance like nobody's around,
People can stare,
I don't care,
I'll whip my hair
My music makes me dance,
And I will tell music take over my body,
Seep slowly so softly and steadily
All through my veins
Like it’s my last day.
American Romantics
American Romanticism has two different points of view, positive and negative. The pessimistic
point of view revolves around being lonely, isolated, and strong sense of being trapped. The pessimistic
view deals a lot with the sense of loss, nighttime, and is obsessed with death. This is also the opposite of
a pastoral poem because nature becomes a place of loneliness. Edger Allen Poe is a well know
pessimistic American Romanticism poet. On the optimistic side, we celebrate individual and make the
body and soul become one. Here everything in nature is important because the presence of man’s soul is
seen I nature and the world is always in the process of recreating itself. Walt Whitman and Emily
Dickinson are well known for writing optimistic American Romanticism poems.
In my poem, “The Music in Me”, I used two literary devices, synesthesia and metaphor.
Synesthesia is the blending of intermingling of different senses in description, a cross-sensory
description. The two senses I mixed were sound and feeling,” The music is heavy,” in the first stanza.
Here I am saying that the sound is physically heavy in weigh; this would be considered synesthesia
because I am mixing two senses. A metaphor is a direct comparison between two unlike things where
one become the other. In the second stanza I say,” My body is the music,” in which I am comparing my
body to be an actual sound and saying that it is the music.
The Music in Me
I stand so still on stage sore sight I see eyes,
I look down,
The music comes on and we are now one,
The music is heavy,
And the wind guides me,
My body is the music,
With every move I make,
Every breath I take,
I create a beat,
I dance my heart out,
And leave it on the stage,
Opinions are no longer needed,
I did what I like,
That is enough,
I know what's best for me,
And being the music is in me
Odes
An ode in Greek means tossing and chanting which usually was accompanied by music in dance
in the past. An ode is dedicated to someone or something. It often celebrates a person, place, thing or an
idea and praises them. Odes are commonly referred to as celebratory poems and Walt Whitman, Pablo
Nerunda, and Beethoven are well known for written odes.
In both, “Odes to Earbuds” and “Ode to my iPod” I used the literary devices of apostrophe and
hyperbole. An apostrophe is when the author is speaking directly to a real or imagined listener or
inanimate object, addressing the person or thing by name. In “Ode to Earbuds” I am directly talking to my
“earbuds” throughout the entire poem telling them how much I love them and what they have done for
me. In “Ode to my iPod” I do the same thing, I address my “iPod” and tell it thank you for always having
my music in hand. A hyperbole is when the author intentionally exaggerates in order to add an effect. In
“Ode to Earbuds” I say that if I did not have them “I would just die” is an exaggeration because the only
way I would die would be if I stopped breathing. I exaggerated in order to prove my point of how important
my earbuds are to me. In “Ode to my iPod” I say “you have my life” to my iPod, this is an exaggeration
because I am the only one who has my life. I exaggerated to show how much my life revolves around
music. In “Ode to my iPod” I also use personification, in which I have my iPod (an inanimate object) the
ability to “hold my homework”. This is personification because I reality only humans can hold something,
my iPod only contains files.
Ode to Earbuds
O earbuds how I love thee
I would be lost if it weren't for you,
I would just die,
You give me music,
Music keeps me alive,
When I'm hurt it heals me,
O earbuds how I love thee,
You make me want to dance,
You allow me to express myself,
You are the only one who listens to me,
O earbuds how I love thee,
You connect me to millions,
You let them sing to me and only me,
Sing softly sweet sound song,
O earbuds how I love thee.
Ode to my iPod
O iPod you are amazing,
You hold my homework,
You have my contacts,
But most important you hold my music,
O iPod you have my life,
My melodies,
My beats,
My lyrics,
My music,
O iPod you hold eclectic amounts of music,
Country tunes,
And pop tunes,
You make me sing to death,
O iPod I have become a bafoon,
A bafoon for your tunes,
I would die without you,
O iPod I love you. (75)
Lyric
A lyric poem is a Greek root for sung, which is similar to an Ode. The difference is that a lyric is
not meant to be sung but spoken. Lyric poems are written in the first person point of view and are in the
present tense. A lyric must express personal feelings in order to evoke emotion to the reader. William
Shakespeare, Pablo Neruda, and Robert Graves are some well-known lyric poets.
In “Feeling the Music” I used two literary devices, oxymoron and metonymy. An oxymoron is a
combination of word that appears to contradict each other. In the last line of the second stanza I use an
oxymoron, “To hear their loud whispers”. This is an oxymoron because a whisper is meant to be in a very
low tone of voice and saying that it was loud contradicts the whisper. The other literary device I used was
metonymy which is a figure of speech in which a person, place or thing is referred to by something closely
associated with it. In the first line of the second stanza I use metonymy, “I lend them my ears”. I can’t
physically take off my ears and give them to the music. Here I am saying I am listening to what they have
to say this is represented by me “lending my ears”.
Feeling the music
I can feel it
So soft and comfortable,
The soft touch takes me home,
It hugs me and I don't want to let go,
I begin to smile and blush,
They are singing the words I want to hear,
I lend them my ears
Without any fear,
To hear their loud whispers,
I see the beautiful music,
I appears in an elegant manner,
With a guitar outside my window,
Now it has come to life,
It asks me to dance,
I can't say no,
We are dancing and it smells so sweet,
We dance slow all around the room,
The music looks in to my eyes and says
"I'm in L-O-V-E"
I am now content,
I feel the music in me.