Pattern Poems 4

"Edward"'s progressive pattern helps to clarify what is happening. He goes from killing a small animal, to a large animal, and eventually to his own father. And when he finally admits that, his mother stops questioning hi, meaning she knew who he had killed all along. And at the end, he says it was the "counsels she gave to [him]" that caused him to do it. Although he now has to run away for the crimes he did, his mother is the one who will have to live with the "spiritual" consequences. It is a strong poem about how other people can influence you to do things you otherwise would never think of. He has to abandon everything he's ever known to escape punishment while his mom gets off free and clear. And yet all she is concerned about is herself.

Pattern Poems 3

"That Time of Year" is very romantic because he is very ill and knows that he has many flaws which might make him unbearable to love, but his lover knows this and still stays with him anyways. He says that he is like the late fall when the beautiful things in nature are gone for the season. He also says that the fire of death is inside of him. His lover has even greater love for him because of all of these things. Throughout the course of the poem, the author uses three different images of fall, fire, and sunset. All of these repesent the ending of a lifetime. And even though they could have a positive connotation for their beauty, they do not. This author views death as a bad end.

Pattern Poems 2

"Death, be not proud" uses diction to present the effect of death. The speaker is not afraid of death. He actually seems to be challenging it, or enticing it. He says that "nor yet canst thou kill me" and thou art slave to fate", showing that even death is not invincible. His use of words such as "poison, war, and sickness" shows the negative side of death, but not necessarily it's power. In the last line of the poem, he says that eventually even death will die. This made me think that the poem may have had religious undertones. Christians believe that death will be destroyed and we will have everlasting life. Because of this, we say that we should not fear death, even though everyone still does. Maybe the speaker is just trying to call death's bluff, but he really is still afraid of him.

Pattern Poems

The poem "Lonely Hearts" is written as a villanelle. It gives the poem a very structured similarity through each stanza even though they are all very different "preferences". The speaker speaks about how people are all looking for a different kind of companion with specific attributes, but they are all looking for one common thing, love. It is this "simple wish" that connects all people. Another pattern in this poem besides it's repetition of the lines "Do you live in North London? Is it you?" and "Can someone make my simple wish come true?" is its newspaper ad stanzas. They are all based off of the ads found in newspapers or magazines. They are not complete sentences, but are very short descriptions of exactly what they are looking for. This pattern adds to the tone of the poem, which is the desperateness of searching for someone to love.

Tone Poem 4

"My mistress' eyes"

This poem seems to have a negative connotation, but is in fact a very good compliment. Most girls would love to hear this. He says that he is not going to lie to her and say that she is as beautiful as all of nature's greatest works of art. But he says that she is as beautiful as all of the girls who ARE complimented by being compared to these things. And the love that she receives from him is more sincere than those other girls receive because he isn't going to lie to her. Through his honesty at the end of the poem, you realize that his lover is not ugly. She could in fact be very pretty. But her features should not be compared to sunsets of coral or snow because those things are of nature, and she is simply a human being. It gives a real sense of humanity to the poems. We are not perfect, no matter how much we want to believe. The speaker realizes this.

Tone Poem 3

"The Oxen"

This poem reminded me of when my mom told me there was no Santa Claus. At the beginning he remembers a tale from his childhood about oxen. He talks about how much faith he had in the fact that the oxen really would be kneeling if he went and checked on them, so much so that he didn't feel the need to. Towards the end of the poem, he says that if someone told him that story now, he would try to cling onto the feeling he had as a small child. He would hope that it might be so. However, he also notes that he would go with the storyteller to check and see if it was true. He can never regain that blind faith that he had as a child because time and experience have taught him that it is wrong. People are so anxious to grow up, but then when they do, they are just as anxious to go back. We must learn to appreciate childhood, and try to preserve the innocence of those who still believe that the oxen would be kneeling in the barn if they went out and checked on Christmas Eve.

Tone Poem 2

"Getting Out"

What is the central purpose of the poem, the poet's fictional point?

The central purpose of this poem is to show that love does not necessarily work out. You can still love someone, even if you are not able to stand being around them. She mentions the man trying to leave, but for some reason or another we know that he came back. Both of them were trapped by this feeling of loving each other, but not being able to get along. She also mentions still having a picture of him and how he writes her every year. People who get divorced generally try to avoid each other at all costs. But these two are completely different. They want to make sure to keep in touch. Even when they were parting ways, they tried to hold onto each other. The two contrasting feelings are very evident in this poem.