by Walt Whitman
O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done, The ship has weather'd every rack,
the prize we sought is won, The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring; But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.
O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; Rise up- for you the flag is flung- for
you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths- for you the shores
a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.
My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
The speaker of this poem is a deck hand. He seems to look up to the captain who has fallen. The poem's diction is very exited for the most part. In the beginning, the poem definitely seems happier, then the speaker seems to get desperate with his words near the middle. At the end the speaker's words are very sad. This poem has great imagery. The poem really describes the crowds, ship, and captain really well. It uses words like "his lips are pale and still" (Whitman) and "he has no pulse or will" to describe the captain and "for you the bugle trills" (Whitman) and "for you the shores a-crowding (Whitman) to describe shores. This poem was written right around the time of the Lincoln assassination and is thought to be written about it. The captain is Abe, the ship is the end of war, and the crowds are all the happy people excited for the end of the Civil War. He dies right before he reaches the shore and is not able to hear all the cheers for him.
Because I could not stop for Death
by Emily Dickinson
Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.
We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –
We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess – in the Ring –
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –
We passed the Setting Sun –
Or rather – He passed us –
The Dews drew quivering and chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only Tulle –
We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground –
The Roof was scarcely visible –
The Cornice – in the Ground –
Since then – 'tis Centuries – and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity –
The speaker in the poem Because I Could not Stop for Death is Emily Dickinson herself. She is taken on a carriage ride around familiar places. The poem's diction is at first peaceful and calm, but then later it gets faster and sounds almost worried. Emily Dickinson gets on a carriage with a man who, in the poem is known as 'death'. They pass things that seem familiar to Emily Dickinson, then once the 'end' of the ride comes closer things begin to change. They pass this old house that looks old and almost in ruins. When the end of the ride comes for her it stands for the end of her life. She says "Were toward Eternity" (Dickinson) meaning how that once life ends for someone it doesn't just stop, it goes on for eternity. Images like her gown and her house are both figurative language in the poem.
Tour
by Carol Snow
Near a shrine in Japan he'd swept the path
and then placed camellia blossoms there.
Or -- we had no way of knowing -- he'd swept the path
between fallen camellias.
The speaker in the poem Tour is someone who is looking a man near a shrine. He or she is looking a man who is sweeping the path. The diction of this poem is very calm and soft.
The author, Carol Snow uses the words such as "camellia blossoms." We can feel soft while reading that words. i can clearly see image in this poem. I can see a man is sweeping the path near the shrine.
The Bagel
David Ignatow
I stopped to pick up the bagel
rolling away in the wind,
annoyed with myself
for having dropped it
as if it were a portent.
Faster and faster it rolled,
with me running after it
bent low, gritting my teeth,
and I found myself doubled over
and rolling down the street
head over heels, one complete somersault
after another like a bagel
and strangely happy with myself.
The speaker of this poem is a person chasing after a bagel that the speaker dropped. His dropped bagel was rolling away, and as he chased after it, he fell and started rolling. The diction of this poem reminds me of a roller coaster in that it is exciting and fast moving. In the beginning, he seems annoyed and not happy, but this changes at the end because he says that he is "strangely happy with myself." The speaker uses the word portent to show that something will change, and this change was his annoyance changing to happiness. I think that this all contributes to the meaning of this poem, which is that bad things can always become better.
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