Jacob Evenson/ B2 / 12-5-2013
Poetry Analysis: (PICK 5) Using the worksheets from the Poetry Set (November), select 5 poems and do
the worksheets. Write a 1 ½ - 2 page essay analyzing the techniques used in these poems.
Abandoned Farmhouse By Ted Kooser
Analysis of Literary Techniques : conveys a lonely and sad sentiment throughout the poem. The
characters, who are present only through their material possessions and surroundings, are revealed to
the reader through a close reading of all they've left behind.
Anthem for Doomed Youth By Wilfred Owen
Analysis of Literary Techniques : In the poem "Anthem for Doomed Youth" by Wilfred Owen, the poet
asks "what passing bells for these that die as cattle" will ring, but more particularly, will ring in churches.
All the way through the poem he brings the similes and metaphors home to either religious or abbatoirlike environments. In this, we see a light but nonetheless strong criticism of the establishment, more
particularly the church. Doubtless, Rupert Brooke was present a many a school chapel/cathedral where
bishops preached about the glory of giving up one's life as a sacrifice for stopping a perceived evil from
abroad. He was gullible due to his lack of real-worl experience, whereas Owen was closer to the horrible
bloody truth. His choirboys,orizons,bells and music act as a sad indictment of those who glorify war from
the pulpit - the sacrifice wasn't worth it.
“Alone” By Edgar Allan Poe
Analysis of Literary Techniques : This poem evokes emotions of sadness and maybe loneliness,
depending on the personality of the reader. It might even instill fear of being alone, of not being
understood very well by others.
When I have Fears That I May Cease to Be By John Keats
Analysis of Literary Techniques : Here's the problem: the speaker is also pretty sure that his life will end
long before he'll be able to achieve any of these goals. That's why his description of his desires is so
tinged with desperation – chances are, his life will be over far, far too quickly.
The Widow’s Lament in Springtime By William Carlos Williams
Analysis of Literary Techniques : Our speaker, a widow, compares her sorrow to her yard, making note
of how the new growth of spring seems different at this point in her life – colder and isolating. She
mentions how long she lived with her husband, then quickly changes the subject to her description of
the flowers on the plum tree, the cherry tree, and the bushes in her yard. The bright colors of the
flowers, she tells us, are not as strong as the grief she feels. She no longer takes joy in them. Then she
mentions that her son told her about a place out in the meadows, where there were trees with white
flowers. She declares that she would like to go out there and sink into the marsh.
Jacob Evenson/ B2 / 12-5-2013
"Abandoned Farmhouse" is a descriptive poem that describes a farmhouse
previously occupied by a family, including a man, a woman and a child, according
to the narrator. The poem begins by describing the man based on clues found
lying around the house, such as large shoes, a worn Bible, the size of his bed, and
his poorly cared-for fields. The poem then goes on to describe a woman living
with him, based on more clues around the house, as well as evidence of a child. It
continues on to describe the state of the farmland, with its poorly maintained
field and "leaky barn." The poem ends by describing the state of the farm now,
abandoned and overgrown.
"Anthem for Doomed Youth" is a well-known poem written by Wilfred Owen that
incorporates the theme of the horror of war.
It employs the traditional form of a Petrarchan sonnet, but it uses the rhyme
scheme of an English sonnet. Much of the second half of the poem is dedicated to
funeral rituals suffered by those families deeply affected by World War I. The
poem does this by following the sorrow of common soldiers in one of the
bloodiest battles of the 20th century. Written between September and October
1917, when Owen was a patient at Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh
recovering from shell shock, the poem is a lament for young soldiers whose lives
were unnecessarily lost in the First World War. The poem is also a comment on
Owen's rejection of his religion in 1915. While at hospital, Owen met and became
close friends with another poet, Siegfried Sassoon. Owen asked for his assistance
in refining his poems' rough drafts. It was Sassoon who named the start of the
poem "anthem", and who also substituted "doomed" for "dead"; the famous
epithet of "patient minds" is also a correction of his. The amended manuscript
copy, in both men's handwriting, still exists and may be found at the Wilfred
Owen Manuscript Archive on the world wide web.
The poet is deeply sad and feels left out throughout the poem. He compares his
life with that of the others and the feeling of being deprived of happiness and
love which other people surrounding him had made him all the more sad and
hurt.
Jacob Evenson/ B2 / 12-5-2013
He is comparing what he do not have with what other people, comparable with
him, loves and enjoys. He is so deeply impacted by the cruel sites of his childhood
loneliness, that it has become hard to become positive now. In the beauty of life
as well, he could only imagine the evilness and cruelty. In the beginning of the
poem the poet tells us that even during his childhood he was different than other
people. Poet talks about his personal sense of feeling which was very much
different from other people, even from a very early age. He not only feels
different from others; he sees (or thinks) differently and also feels differently. His
emotions are not the kinds of emotions most other people feel. Poet says that he
have viewed things from a different perspective than other people did. “I have
not seen as others saw.” Also, he states he was unable to feel deep strong love
from the same source as other people. Also his source of passion has never been
the same as those around him. It means that when other children got love from
his parents and other near and dear ones, he was not the same. He was aloof,
alone, sadist and felt deserted.
While many poems and sonnets present death as an evil clock driving the artist
and human insane, Keats acknowledges and responds to this phenomenon.
“When I Have Fears” presents death as less of the clichéd limit and more of a
freedom from anxiety. The fear is therefore not just about death, but about failing
during the limited time alive. In the poem, death turns everything into nothing,
making such high hopes for fame and love not worth such intense stress, and
making the art apparently not even worth discussing in terms of (im)mortality.
This somewhat nihilistic and existential perspective that unlimited values are
rendered meaningless by a limited life actually calm the speaker’s angst and
despair. This can be applied not only to the life of an artist or a poet but of every
mortal, as death is both the cause and solution of our problems, the fear and the
remedy.
Jacob Evenson/ B2 / 12-5-2013