The Sick Rose

I think this a very simple, straightforward poem to interpret, but it can be either literal or symbolic. The poem is structured with two quatrain stanzas and a rhyme scheme of ABCB DEFE. I think this was intended to keep the poem organized, but retain 2 separate ideas within the poem. The first stanza talks about how the rose is sick and the perpetrator that caused its sickness and then the second stanza is more admirable of the dying rose. This poem, though, seems to be more than literal. With a little help from Google, I figured out that the rose is a symbol for love, and well a worm is symbolic of...you know. I think this poem is sort of showing how love is sick and distorted by such actions done unto it by sexual pleasures that the worm represents in this poem. Specifically when the poet puts in the line Has found out thy bed, there is a play on words and it can play between both themes in the poem-- the rose and the lover's bed. This poem is really cool when you move past the initial picture!

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

I just want to start off by saying that this poem reminds me of both an artist names Bon Iver (who went into the woods and wrote and album) and my own "Innisfree" next to a lake in Idaho. With that out of the way, this poem is three separate quatrains. The rhyme scheme of this poem is ABAB CDCD EFEF, so in other words, pretty orthodox. Also, the first six words in the first and third stanzas are parallel. I think this is to remind the reader with redundancy that he is ready to go, almost like saying goodbye for a second time to the reader, letting he or she know that the Yeats is going to wrap up what he's saying. I thought the name "Innisfree" was just a fictional place made by the poet as a play on words, but I Googled it and it turns out that it is a quaint lake with some sort of resort next to it, so Innisfree is actually a reference to a place in Ireland. This was also said to be inspired by Thoreau's writings about Walden Pond, possibly giving view into Yeats style of writing. This poem is just a great peek into paradise and, when it is read, just makes one think of every descriptive word that the poet uses, such as imaging the "...lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore," is like a little piece of heaven. I think this poem was  sheerly written for enjoyment annd that feeling that is received when it is read. Here is a nice picture of Innisfree and another of Walden Pond:

The Explosion

This poem is composed of eight tercets followed by the concluding line being singular. There seems to be no apparent rhyme scheme. The sixth stanza is written in italics, assuming importance or a quotation. So in the beginning, this poem makes me think of a bunch of men hiking down a mine, because it refers to the word "pit" twice, and miners oftentimes use explosive dynamite to mine. As the poem went on, it confused me and I retracted the idea of them being in a mine. The eggs seem very symbolic somehow, as they are found in the third stanza and are again brought up in the last stanza of the poem. Maybe the explosion happening and this giant tragedy happing in the middle of what they're doing is symbolic for what we do today. Example: we heard about the earthquake and nuclear disaster and tidal wave in Japan, but we gave a quick shocking thought to such a humongous event, and then turned around and started back at our routines. I think the fact that the men go back to their interest in the egg after the explosion was specified to possibly killing a lot of people shows how caught up they are in themselves and their own lives--just how we are in ours. Few amounts of people dropped everything they had--jobs, families, lives--and went to Japan and just started volunteering to help. We just got right back onto our routine 5-9 jobs and let someone else handle it. I believe this is definitely one way that this poem can be interpreted, but it could also be seen way diffferently with a different frame of mind.

The Golf Links

Seeing as I have no knowledge or interest in golf, I chose this as the poem to analyze. This poem is only for lines long, but there are 2 indentations that break the poem into two couplets. The 2nd and 4th lines rhyme but the first and third don not. Maybe this is just to parallel the four lines into two couplets again using this tactic. I get a very strong visual from this short poem. This poem gives a giant contrast in perspective just as good as any other. The first line starts the reader out right in front the tee on the fresh green, and then like that, the poet changes the perspective in a 180, to the poor children watching the rich men playing golf. Poor is implied here through the word "laboring." I think this is a wonderful display if the conflict of class in today's society--the long-treaded war between the white and blue collars. Come to think of it, this poem has nothing to do with golf and I'm glad I picked it. It's sort of ironic, too, that the golf links are near the mill--that the golfers probably manage or own. This poem does not have a complete message, but is simply just an argument. I really love tis poem!

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Mrs. White! I don't know if I am past the deadline, but I commented on Wacker and Kaya's posts. :)

When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer

The first thing I noticed about this poem was actually its structure. The first four stanzas start with "When" and have paralleling description of something that would be found in a NASA laboratory. Then in the most solid stanza from lines from 9 to 11, Whitman says he becomes tired and sick, and then he starts to describe himself in a place--"...rising and gliding out by myself,/ In the mystical moist night air...Looked up in perfect silence at the stars." The poet makes it to seem as if he falls into a daydream or falls asleep, but what is described is actually the image of what being a true astronaut would be. Maybe he is setting this image next to the preceding comments in the poem about charts and diagrams and proofs and figures in order to mock the profession, possibly suggesting that imagination is the tool that should be utilized, or possibly that this dream of space should continue to stay in our dreams and imagination. It is very clear where the line is that separates the two ideas: 1-8 and then 9-11. There also seems to be no rhyme scheme as well, but I just forgot to add that into the structural specs. I think this poem can definitely be one to come back and look at in some time, as added perspective may let me find a different view into this poem.

The Guitarist Tunes Up

I really like this poem because I can relate to it in the fact that I play the guitar, but I think anyone who plays an instrument or composes some types of music can relate to this. I think Cornford is talking about the art of music, or in this case, the guitar. He is saying that is not something to be conquered, but is something that is to be  relished as a beautiful thing--in this case he uses the analogy of comparing the guitar to a woman. It seems like he compares the playing of the guitar to making love with a woman, that it is a beautiful thing derived from pure and intense emotion, not being able to have power over the guitar...or woman. The poem had an AABBCCDD rhyme scheme, which I think the poet used to make it lyrical, as a song might be. It also gives the poem better rhythm. There is only one stanza, but the rhyme scheme made the lines pop out like couplets, which gave a lot of organization to Cornford's ideas throughout the poem. I really enjoyed reading this poem because of the way I was able to relate to it, but now I should be off to Calc Camp!