Mid-Term Break

Mid-Term Break by Seamus Heaney

I sat all morning in the college sick bay

Counting bells knelling classes to a close.

At two o'clock our neighbors drove me home.

In the porch I met my father crying—

He had always taken funerals in stride—

And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.

The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram

When I came in, and I was embarrassed

By old men standing up to shake my hand

And tell me they were 'sorry for my trouble.'

Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,

Away at school, as my mother held my hand

In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.

At ten o'clock the ambulance arrived

With the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.

Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops

And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him

For the first time in six weeks. Paler now,

Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple,

He lay in the four-foot box as in his cot.

No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.

A four-foot box, a foot for every year.

One thing that I liked about this poem was the emotion described in this poem. Heaney had very good description of what people go through when a loved one is lost.

One thing that I disliked about this poem was the story being told. It was a good story overall, but it is a very sad subject. If I had a little brother, I would be very upset by this event.

One thing that confused me about this poem was if the little kid was actually dead or not. I was not familiar with this type of funeral where they bring the body upstairs, so I was confused by that.

The main poetic device used in this poem is a paradox. A paradox is an apparent contradiction that is nevertheless somehow true. The paradox used in this poem is the last line in the poem, "A four-foot box, a foot for every year." This seems bizarre, but it is the narrators little brother.

Siren Song

Siren Song by Margaret Atwood

This is the one song everyone

would like to learn: the song

that is irresistible:

the song that forces men

to leap overboard in squadrons

even though they see the beached skulls

the song nobody knows

because anyone who has heard it

is dead, and the others can't remember.

Shall I tell you the secret

and if I do, will you get me

out of this bird suit?

I don't enjoy it here

squatting on this island

looking picturesque and mythical

with these two feathery maniacs,

I don't enjoy singing

this trio, fatal and valuable.

I will tell the secret to you,

to you, only to you.

Come closer. This song

is a cry for help: Help me!

Only you, only you can,

you are unique

at last. Alas

it is a boring song

but it works every time.

One thing that I liked about this poem was of how it was talking to the reader. Many poems are just stories, but in this one it was trying to gather the audience in by repeating the word 'you' six times.

One thing that I disliked about this poem was the unhappiness throughout the whole poem. Everybody was unsatisfied with where they are and what position they are in with their lives. This made it a dark and gloomy poem, which I do not particularly like.

One thing that confused me about this poem was why everyone in this poem was dressed as birds. The siren is typically in a bird suit, but there were "two feathery maniacs" besides her.

The main poetic device used in this poem is the use of allusions. An allusion is a reference to something in history or previous literature. This poem is alluding to Greek mythology. A siren is a woman/creature with bird. This siren has characteristics that lure sailors in by their beauty, and the siren is killing these people.

in Just—

in Just— by e. e. cummings

in Just-

spring when the world is mud-

luscious the little

lam balloonman

whistles far and wee

and eddieandbill come

running from marbles and

piracies and it's

spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer

old balloonman whitles

far and wee

and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's

spring

and

the

goat-footed

balloonMan whistles

far

and

wee

One thing that I liked about this poem was the allusion used in this poem. It was very interesting to see how the two connected to each other.

One thing that I disliked about this poem was how it was set up. I guess the author did that for a purpose on how to read it or something, but I did not like it.

One thing that confused me about this poem was why these kids kept going near this skeptical balloonman. He is a very skeptical character in this poem.

The main poetic device used in this poem was allusions. An allusion is a reference to something in history or previous literature. The allusion in this poem was the reference to the balloon man being goat-footed. This refers to Pan who was half man/half goat. He played the pipes to bring attention to himself from other people just like the balloonman is doing.

Barbie Doll

Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy

This girlchild was born as usual

and presented dolls that did pee-pee

and miniature GE stoves and irons

and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy

Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:

You have a great big nose and fat legs.

She was healthy, tested intelligent,

possessed strong arms and back,

abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.

She went to and fro apologizing.

Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.

She was advised to play coy.

exhorted to come on hearty,

exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.

Her good nature wore out

like a fan belt.

So she cut off her nose and her legs

and offered them up.

In the casket displayed on satin she lay

with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on,

a turned-up putty nose,

dressed in a pink and white nightie.

Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said.

Consummation at last.

To every woman a happy ending.

One thing that I liked about this poem was how she was very nice about it and tried apologizing to everyone. She was a very nice girl, but in the end she did something tragic.

One thing that I disliked about this poem was how sad it was. It was a very depressing poem, and in the end the girl takes her life because one person bullied her and she listened.

One thing that confused me about this poem was if she actually had a big nose and thick legs. In the end, everyone thinks she is beautiful. I couldn't tell if only one person saw that or if it was actually true.

The main poetic device used in this poem is the use of verbal irony. Verbal irony is simply saying the opposite of what one means. An example of this is the line in the poem, "You have a great big nose and fat legs." This was actually false in my presumption of the poem. Everyone but this one person thought she was beautiful. Maybe this one classmate was using verbal irony.

Harlem Hopscotch

Harlem Hopscotch by Maya Angelou

One foot down, then hop! It's hot.

Good things for the ones that's got.

Another jump, now to the left.

Everybody for hisself.

In the air, now both feet down.

Since you black, don't stick around.

Food is gone, the rent is due,

Curse and cry and then jump two.

All the people out of work,

Hold for three, then twist and jerk.

Cross the line, they count you out.

That's what hopping's all about.

Both feet flat, the game is done.

They think I lost, I think I won.

One thing that I liked about this poem was was the last two lines to the poem. It was a good summary of the whole poem and it summed up what the poet was trying to say in the poem.

One thing that I disliked about this poem was how it was about hopscotch. I was never good at the game of hopscotch.

One thing that confused me about this poem was the number of jumps, and how it increasingly got larger as the poem went on and on. I didn't know if that represented the steps in life or what it represented.

The main poetic device used in this poem is the use of symbols in figurative language. A symbol is something that expresses something greater than what it actually is. The symbol that is in this poem is the game of hopscotch. I believe that this is more than just a game of lines. I believe that the lines in the hopscotch court represent more than just a game. I think they represent the boundaries of racism. The part in the poem that pointed this out to me was, "Cross the line, they count you out./ That's what hopping's all about./ Both feet flat, the game is done./ They think I lost, I think I won."

Weighing the Dog

Weighing the Dog by Billy Collins

It is awkward for me and bewildering for him
as I hold him in my arms in the small bathroom,
balancing our weight on the shaky blue scale,

but this is the way to weigh a dog and easier
than training him to sit obediently on one spot
with his tongue out, waiting for the cookie.

With pencil and paper I subtract my weight
from our total to find out the remainder that is his,
and I start to wonder if there is an analogy here.

It could not have to do with my leaving you
though I never figured out what you amounted to
until I subtracted myself from our combination.

You held me in your arms more than I held you
through all those awkward and bewildering months
and now we are both lost in strange and distant neighborhoods.

One thing I liked about this poem is how the author of it got straight to the point. He said, "and I start to wonder if there is an analogy here." He tries to get across the point that he is throwing in an analogy into this poem. He is very straight forward.

One thing I disliked about this poem is in the last stanza, how they separate to their different ways.

One thing that confused me about this was what the author was trying to portray through the dog. The dog symbolizes something, but I can't figure out exactly what he's talking about.

The main poetic device used in this poem is the use of symbols in figurative language. A symbol is something that expresses something greater that what it actually is. A symbol in this poem is the dog and the weighing of the dog. "It could not have to do with my leaving you though I never figured out what you amounted to until I subtracted myself from our combination." This quote is a good example that there could be greater meaning to the dog than

Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice by Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

One thing that I liked about this poem was the fact that it rhymed. It rhymed, plus it had good meaning to the poem.

One thing that I disliked about this poem was the fact that it is a depressing topic to talk about. The world ending is a big subject and it is very deep and dark.

One thing that confused me about this poem was the reasons in which the author wanted the earth to perish because of fire or ice. They mentioned a few things about it, but I couldn't tell exactly what his reasoning was.

The main poetic device used in this poem the use of symbols. A symbol is something that expresses something greater that what it actually is. An example of this is, "Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice." Ice can be a symbol for something and so can fire. The world can also be something that is significant.

Meeting at Night

Meeting at Night by Robert Browning

The grey sea and the long black land;

And the yellow half-moon large and low;

And the startled little waves that leap

In fiery ringlets from their sleep,

As I gain the cove with pushing prow,

And quench its speed i' the slushy sand.

Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach;

Three fields to cross till a farm appears;

A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch

And blue spurt of a lighted match,

And a voice less loud, thro' its joys and fears,

Than the two hearts beating each to each!

One thing that I liked about this poem was the imagery used in this poem. You can picture what the author is talking about in this poem. I liked imagining what this looked like as I read along with it.

One thing that I disliked about this poem was the last line of the poem, "Than the two hearts beating each to each!" I didn't think that they talked about two people in that poem. They only talked about the journey of one person and they don't mention anything about another person.

One thing that confused me about this poem was where this person is coming from. They start on the ocean, but it makes it seem like this person came out of the grey sea.

The poetic device used in this poem that I found interesting was, the imagery used in this poem. I liked the use of the visual imagery. An example of the use of visual imagery is, "The grey sea and the long black land; And the yellow half-moon large and low;"

Those Winter Sundays

Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden

Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,

then with cracked hands that ached

from labor in the weekday weather made

banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.

When the rooms were warm, he'd call,

and slowly I would rise and dress,

fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,

who had driven out the cold

and polished my good shoes as well.

What did I know, what did I know

of love's austere and lonely offices?

One thing that I liked about this poem was how descriptive it was. The author uses good imagery in this poem.

I didn't really dislike anything about this poem. The description was great, and it was a good poem overall.

One thing that confused me about this poem was the story being told in this poem. I did not know whether it was talking about slavery, or what it was actually talking about.

The main literary device used in this poem was the use of auditory imagery. Auditory imagery is an image that represents a sound. An example from the poem that describes this is, "I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking."

To His Coy Mistress

To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell

Had we but world enough, and time,

This coyness, lady, were no crime.

We would sit down, and think which way

To walk, and pass our long love's day.

Thou by the Indian Ganges' side

Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide

Of Humber would complain. I would

Love you ten years before the Flood,

And you should, if you please, refuse

Till the conversion of Jews.

My vegetable love should grow

Vaster that empires, and more slow;

An hundred years should go to praise

Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze;

Two hundred to adore each breast,

But thirty thousand to the rest;

An age at least to every part,

And the last age should show your heart.

For, lady, you deserves this state,

Nor would I love at lower rate.

But at my back I always hear

Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near;

And yonder all before us lie

Deserts of vast eternity.

Thy beauty shall no more be found,

Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound

My echoing song; then worms shall try

That long-preserved virginity,

And your quaint honor turn to dust,

And into ashes all my lust:

The grave's a find and private place,

But none, I think, do there embrace.

Now therefore, while the youthful hue

Sits on thy skin like morning dew,

And while thy willing soul transpires

At every pore with instant fires,

Now let us sport us while we may,

A d now, like amorous birds of prey,

Rathe at once our time devour

Than languish in his slow-chapped power.

Let us roll all our strength and all

Our sweetness up into one ball,

And tear our pleasures with rough strife

Thorough the iron gates of life.

Thus, though we cannot make our sun

Stand still, yet we will make him run.

One thing that I liked about this poem was the use of different poetic devices in the poem. There were two main poetic devices that were used, metaphors and metonymies.

One thing that I disliked about this poem was the length of it. The longer poems are to be, the more it seems to confuse me and have me not know what is going on during it.

One thing that confused me about this poem was the actual meaning of it. I couldn't exactly tell what the poem was truly about and what the author was trying to say in the text.

The poetic device used in this poem that I found interesting was, the use of a metonymy. A metonymy is the use of something closely related for the thing actually meant. An example of a metonymy used in this poem is the line in which they say, 'Deserts of vast eternity.'

The Author to Her Book

The Author to Her Book by Anne Bradstreet

Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain,

Who after birth did'st by my side remain,

Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true,

Who thee abroad exposed to public view;

Made thee in rags, halting, to the press to trudge,

Where errors were not lessened, all may judge.

At thy return my blushing was not small,

My rambling brat (in print) should mother call;

I cast thee by as one unfit for light,

Thy visage was so irksome in my sight;

Yet being mine own, at length affection would

Thy blemishes amend, of so I could:

I washed thy face, but more defects I saw,

And rubbing off a spot, still made a flaw.

I stretched thy joints to make thee even feet,

Yet still thou run'st more hobbling then is meet;

In better dress to trim thee was my mind,

But nought save homespun cloth in the house I find.

In this array, 'mongst Vulgars may'st thou roam;

In critics' hands, beware thou dost not come;

And take thy way where yet thou art not known,

If for thy Father asked, say, thou had'st none;

And for thy Mother, she alas is poor,

Which caused her thus to send thee out of door.

One thing that I liked about this poem was how she described her poem and how she basically told a story through the poem. She thought her book was very bad, and she tried to correct things, but the more she corrected the more flaws she saw in her writing.

There wasn't anything in the poem that I didn't really enjoy. I liked pretty much everything about this poem, and also the way the author used her metaphors wisely

One thing that confused me about this poem was the use of older words. The author of this poem was alive in the 17th Century, so the language is a lot different from today, and this

confused me a little bit.

The main literary device used in this poem is the use of metaphors. One of the metaphors that I really liked, and thought was pretty neat how she used it was, " washed thy face, but more defects I saw, and rubbing off a spot, still made a flaw." This was very interesting to me and I really liked it because the more and more the author corrected things, the more flaws she saw in her writing. The way she used this metaphor was very smart.

Metaphors

Metaphors by Sylvia Plath

I'm a riddle in nine syllables,

An elephant, a ponderous house,

A melon strolling on two tendrils.

O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!

This loaf's big with its yeasty rising.

Money's new-minted in this fat purse.

I'm a means, a stage, a cow in calf.

I've eaten a bag of green apples,

Boarded the train there's no getting off.

One thing that I liked about this poem was the fact that each line had nine syllables in it, and how she put the words together to achieve this.

One thing that I did not like about this poem was all of the references that the author used in the poem. She referred to herself as many different things, and that made it difficult to actually figure out what she was talking about.

One thing that confused me about the poem was the structure of how the poem was worded. Many of the sayings in the lines confused me and it was hard to understand what the author was talking about in the poem.

The main literary device in this passage is the use of metaphors. A metaphor is an analogy between two objects or ideas, conveyed by the use of a word instead of another. A prime example of a metaphor in this poem is, "A melon strolling on two tendrils." Melons do not walk, so therefore this is an example of a metaphor used throughout this poem.