Bright Star by: John Keats

I found this poem to be mediocar. I'll begin with the positive. I found this poem easy to relate to. If you have ever been in love it is easy to get carried away in the happiness of it all. You want it to be steadfast and to never end. This is the qualities the author wants to have in his love. However, the heartbreak is almost unbearable. If it were possible to just disapear at the moment love is the very best and never have to deal with the falling out, love would be perfect. I have never thought of this idea before but it really sounds appealing. On a more negative note, I was not really relating to the star comparison. The author begins saying how he wants to be like the star because it is steadfast and patient but he doesn't want to be like it because the star is always alone. I can see how this works but there are so many better comparisions that could have been used to symbolize the love this author has and the anxiety that goes along with it.

The convergence of the Twain by: Thomas Hardy

This poem was discussing the sinking of the Titanic and description of it at the bottom of the ocean. The organization of this poem was very interesting. each stanza consists of two short line followed by a long like. The two short lines are description of the boat while the long line is description of the ocean. Although this may be a bit of a stretch the lines also seem to look like a boat floating on water. Poetry is different than other forms of writing because the poet can be creative with the format of the writing, the capitalization,dashes, and other ways grammar can be used in artistic forms. This poem was very descriptive but it really caught my attention because of the format.

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain by: Emily Dickinson

This was by far my most favorite poem to read. First of all this poem told a story from an interesting point of view; inside a cofin at a funeral. But what makes this poem the most interesting is that while is does literally discuss the events of a funeral, it also has a symbolic or allegory type meaning. In class we discussed a few theories on what this poem could truely be describing. some of these included the idea that she was describing going mentally insane while others spoke of drug addiction, loss of faith, and a mental break down. I found reason to support all of these ideas but i personally thought the mentally insane and loss of faith we the best suggestions. In the poem she says "the plank of reason broke" suggesting that her sense of reason or mental state has been lost. Also, this may imply that she has lost the reasoning she once had in her faith, or the explanation of religion has lost its meaning. This was a very ambiguouse poem and i found it to be the most creative.

London by: Willian Blake

This poem reminded me of the movie/musical Sweeny Todd. Both poem and movie took place in London and the setting is dreary and sad. London and england in general, was one of the first locations of modernized government. However, the government was much harsher and unfair during the time period of this poem (1757-1827). Through out the poem the word chartered is repeated, meaning law, and is used in a negative connotation. The poem also points out how the working class is not satisfied. "how the chimney sweepers cry....the hapless soldier's sigh." Such imagery creates a feeling of poverty and unhapiness with the society these people live in. A poets imagery can invoke a setting and feeling along with it if used properly.

Those Winter Sundays by:Robert Hayden

The tone of this poem was a central to the feeling it is meant to imply. The storyline seemed simple enough; a man looks back on memories of his father and regrets not realizing how much his father loved him. The author uses details in his diction to describe the father's hard work. Some of this diction includes; he got up early, cracked hands, labor, and ache. Other diction states that the boy was scared of the anger in the house, suggesting that his father may have been the source of this anger. In the end the author seems to realize how much his father must of loved him and how ungrateful he had been as a child. The diction in this poem and the tone it creates allows the reader to understand the way the man felt both as a child and looking back. The reader can also see the strain and hard work this father put forth for his family.

Spring by: Bernard Manley Hopkins

This was the first poem I read and there were a few things I noticed right of the bat. First of all, this poem is describing spring and the new life that goes along with it. However, with the second reading I found that this poem had some sort of religious aspect. This is apparent through the reference to the garden of Eden, Christ, and lambs. This may be a reference of how all humans started out as innocent but were corrupted by sin. yet, I don't think this poem was in fact very religious. I believe the point of this poem is to explain how as children we are innocent and pure as it was in the garden of Eden and we must appreciate it before it is over run with sin and impurity. This poem appears to be mostly symbolic and meant to point out the importance of remaining innocent.

"The Nature of Proof in the Interpretation of Poetry"

Poetry has always been a frustrating subject for me. A large part of this is due to the ambiguity poetry leaves for the reader. However, with Perrine's guidelines it appears there a very few ways one poem can be interpreted. According to Perrine, the criteria for interpretation of a poem is this; (1) the interpretation must account for every detail of the poem and (2) if there is still more then one interpretation then the one that has the fewest assumptions is correct. I can see good points and bad points to this theory. Later in the article, Perrine demonstrates his theory by interpreting a poem by Emily Dickinson. When I first read the poem I interpreted it in the way Perrine said most of his students had; however, he goes on to use his theory to show how this interpretation is in fact false. Using his method did work out in this case and his interpretation was much more interesting and possibly more accurate.
While Perrine's method did work fairly well, I still found a few debatable flaws. I've always felt that English teachers and readers in general often over analyze a reading. Yes, there are some very symbolic and deep works of literature but maybe the author was just trying to say something simple. Maybe Emily Dickinson wanted her poems to be ambiguous so that everyone would have a different interpretation or maybe she was describing flowers, or maybe Perrine is right and she was describing a sunset. this is where poetry becomes confusing for me. In my opinion, poetry is meant to be left to interpretation. The author wants you to imagine your own interpretation and feel your own feelings.