Robert Lowell

I found Lowell's use of the 54th Infantry in the poem For the Union Dead interesting. Since I have some background knowledge on the 54th from the moive Glory, I was unsure why Lowell would use their image in his poem. After doing some research, I found out that Lowell was the distant cousin of Robert Shaw, was the commander of the 54th and was burried with his troops whic was uncommon itself and remarkable because all of his troops were black. I wonder if Lowell would have used their story in the poem if he wasn't related to Shaw and knew his story.

Plaith v Sexton

I found both of these poets, whom both committed suicide, to show signs of depression and exclusion in their poetry. In Plaith's Tulips I get the sense that she wants to stay in this hospital and that the tulips at her bedside table remind of the outside world she wants to avoid. In Sexton's Her Kind she compares herself to a witch. I believe that Sexton felt like an outcast and shows signs of depression in her works that probably lead to her suidice.

Berryman - Life influences Art?

I though that both of the Dreams Songs that we read (#29 and #45) had the feel a person struggling with alchohol or drug addiction. #29 to me, felt like a person trying to remember the events from the night before after a drinking or drug binge and decided if what he remembers really happened. The last line of poem feels like he is realized that no one is missing and he hasn't commited the acts he remembers.

O'Hara v Brooks

In comparing Frank O'Hara's The Day Lady Died to Gwendolyn Brooks The Boy Died In My Alley I found that I enjoyed O'Hara's poem much more. I found the rhythm and verses to me easier to follow and the story to be strong, yet simple. Brook's poem was slightly tangled and too erratic for my taste. O'Hara conveys a sense of desperation in the time period of his poem that really hit home for me. I felt the emotion of the poem without having to digest over multiple readings.

My Papa's waltz

Was Theodore Roethke abused as a child? This does not seem to be a happy waltz. The father appears to be drunk and the mother does not seem happy about the situation. They are knocked pots and pans down and the father is "beating time" on his head. To me this appears to be be a poem by an abused child who is trying to connect his pain to something happy, like a dance.

One Art

While I thought this was a well written poem, I couldn't decide if she was discussing losing a loved one to death, or losing a lover. I've read it over and over and cannot decide which. I also am not sure what the stanza about the cities is talking about. I get the overall theme of the poem, but do not understand it's smaller points.

I Stand Here Ironing

I thought that Eudora Wetly did a wonderful job in this story of getting across the emotion of the mother. This is one of the few pieces I've read this semester in which I truly felt connected emotionally. I really felt sad for the mother, who was forced into single-motherhood at an early age and during a difficult economic time in our country's history.

Two of my best friends growing up were raised by single-mothers. Both of their fathers had died when they were young. I got only a small glimpse of how difficult it is on both the mother and the children of a single-mom family. I think this story deals so much with the grief of the mother, that the feeling and emotions of Emily can get lost in the shuffle. We hear about her difficulties, but we don't understand the emotions that lead her to her decisions. I would love to hear Emily's side of this story.