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.