Black Out Poem

On a sunny morning

My brothers came around

Hundreds of men with them

Everyone gets plenty of books

And moved out towards the door

The big guy

Went back to the doorway

Scratching his bald

Looking embarrassed

With anger

Gate (by Robyn Schiff)

The quality of the rhythm is very nice through the words which make the poem to rhyme according to the author's intentions. The rhythm used makes it very possible and simple to understand and also remember the flow. The flow of the words enhances the poem through making it follow a particular pattern rhythmically. The words composed make the reading of the poem to be fun and more enhanced in a way that it is more memorable to any reader. The stressing of the words in the poem creates the rhythm. From the poem, ‘As a child, I played on a gate’ the words: as, child, I, played, and gate are stressed which bring out the rhythm in these sentence. An author is a skilled person and who applies different strategies in the poem to bring out the meaning and the rhythm of the poem to the readers. The lines basically do follow a line which is known as the poetic meter to generate a clear understanding of the words (Teitelbaum et al., 885). The mood of the poem is discoverable and memorable which allows the readers to connect and get a clear understanding of the true meaning. The rhythm of a poem really affects the meaning. If a person or readers stress certain words, then the poem will have a different meaning. The poem meaning is based on the reader and the author due to the difference in stress syllables. While reading through the lines in a loud voice, one can note the difference with reading silently which ultimately brings a difference in each reading (McCurdy et al., 441).

 There are unstressed and stressed words in the following line and they indicate which words are of great importance to the reader through the stressing. ‘With a reed of the grass’, stressing is on the words with, reed and grass which show the manner in which the particular character hid in the grass while waiting for the doe to show up. The poem is brought into life by the presence of the rhythm and this in most cases assists in understanding the poem more clearly. Even from the music context, the reader cannot gain any pleasure through reading through a poem which does not have a particular rhythm which ultimately makes the music boring even though the meaning is very deep and detailed. The poem, however, lacks the rhyming which enhances the particulars of the poem to the readers. In a poem, rhyming words or lines create the mood and helps establish the rhythm and most probably, the reader reads only the lines to get the real meaning (Teitelbaum et al., 889). Having the rhyming words assists in keeping the poem very harmonious and according to the intended purpose. Every pattern in the poem helps in making sure that the poem is lively and entertaining.

Visual imagery is also created within the poem through the different visual techniques used by the poet. In the poem, the author describes the various ways in which from the beginning he got into a forest setting. While hunting for the doe, the poet uses the setting of the forest to indicate how to lure the target out of the hiding place. The best technique is by the use of the rabbit sounds which attracts the target out. From the poem, one can easily connect and create the visual images in the mind while trying to get the meaning of the poem. The rabbit sounds and the grass somehow indicate setting at which the poet is while writing the poem. The images created are a person clearly hiding in the grass and raising the whistling voice in order to attract the target animal. In the poem, one can identify the dogs and the garbage which is lying just on the pathway. The dogs have taken the garbage and torn it apart to get the content which is the meat from the garbage. This imagery is clearly presented by the poem (McCurdy et al., 442). The descriptive language used in the poem creates the images which are then used in making the poem more entertaining. It would be very hard for a reader to connect the details of a poem and get a clear meaning if the poem has no imagery. The visual effects of the poem help create the placements and this is a clever way for the poet to invite people to read the poem and understand the meaning. The poem does not have any shape created but the visuals facts in the poem help in making the poem lively and understanding.

The sound effect is used by the poet in creating the poem. Sound effects are noted from reading the poem loudly to incorporate the meaning of the poem. Sounds are created through the rhyme in every line. The poem does not contain any rhyming words but the sounds created are notable through the rhythm of the poem. Different sounds contain different meanings and sound effects produced also vary according to the poet (Teitelbaum et al., 885). The readers of the poem can only identify specific sounds through reading aloud unlike the poets who can identify their works through minimal sound production from the mouth. From the poem, ‘I cried, cried, until and said’ are used very well to bring out the meaning for a deeper understanding of the line. The repetition of the words ‘I’ in the sentence indicates the sound effects combined to bring out the meaning and understanding. The assonance sound created in the poem make the poem enjoyable to read aloud. Auditory imagery is also created in the poem through the same words. When reading aloud, the poet ensures that the reader can be able to get another picture in the mind of what sound is created by either the animal or human voice if there is one. The crying voice in the poem is heard and also created in the minds through reading the poem aloud. These are some of the features and commands used by the poet to make the reader understand and create a rhythmical poem. Melody is also a vital part of the poem which is created by the rhyme and assonance which is the sound (McCurdy et al., 440). The rhythm developed through reading the poem is well enhanced by the various sounds in the poem. Lines in this poem are irregular but apply the different line structure and length to create the regularity of the poem to the readers. Through the different wording in the different lines, the rhythm is created which ultimately creates the meaning of the poem for the reader. The combination of different lengths of the lines assists in reducing any confusion while reading the poem.

Works cited

Fuller, John. The sonnet. Vol. 25. Taylor & Francis, 2017.

McCurdy, Nina, et al. "Poemage: Visualizing the sonic topology of a poem." IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics 22.1 (2016): 439-448.

Rosu, Anca. The Metaphysics of Sound in Wallace Stevens. University of Alabama Press, 2016.

Teitelbaum, Ezra N., et al. "Peroral esophageal myotomy (POEM) and laparoscopic Heller myotomy produce a similar short-term anatomic and functional effect." Surgery 154.4 (2013): 885-892.

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

Introduction

‘Wild Geese’ is a poem which was published in 1986 by Mary Oliver. The poem mainly touches the life of human being and how life is connected with natural world. Oliver is speaking directly to the reader and she informs the reader about how life should be and in specific she tells the reader that instead of struggling to be good, human beings should do what they love to do with respect to the nature and its beauty. Generally, Oliver informs the reader that it is not necessarily to follow the society rules in order to get a reward but rather a person should be part of the world and follow the nature.

‘Wild Geese’ is a free verse poem with eighteen lines and it does not contain internal or external rhyme. The author employs soft and sensual tone and repetition to capture the reader’s attention and let him or her understand that there is no need of struggling to show goodness to the world but rather people should follow the will of the heart. Oliver uses a soulful mood and puts emphases on how to handle life despite of challenges and difficulties (Fry, 2005). She says that ‘you do not have to be good’ and at this point she urges the reader to open eyes and see the beauty of life and free from burdensome rules which might be followed by negative consequences (Oliver, 1986).  Oliver employs metaphor when she says that ‘meanwhile ‘the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain’ (Oliver, 1986). She tells the reader that in natural world, there are times when things are fine and good and other time things are bad. Thus, it is important to take life as it is in order to survive and thrive. In addition, Oliver uses imagery to inform the reader that he does not need to walk on knees many miles to show humility and find acceptance, since these things will  turn to suffering and pain. In the poem, Oliver is interested with the natural world and wishes if people could become connected with the nature in order to live a happy life. She urges the reader to open eyes and be imaginative and foresee how life would change by being closely connected to the nature and its beauty. Oliver uses an inspiring language which pulls the reader toward what the world offers (Fry, 2005).

 The author introduces a historical context back in 1980s, a period which was connected with traditional values in the context of political and social cultural practices. During this period, President Ronald Reagan brought changes in society values and emphasized on the need for individuality and materialism (Fry, 2005). On political and economic arena, Ronald focused on eradicating federal regulations and allowing business to increase production for high consumption. On social and cultural areas, Ronald focused on applying traditional values and morals standards. However, racial groups, feminists and other minority groups were underprivileged as they could not fit in the societal convections. This means that the underprivileged group suffered and passed through challenges and difficulties but the poem urges on forgetting the past things and moving forward. There is no need to strive to be good since natural world does not require goodness (Fry, 2005). In addition, the society shifted to civilization standards which would be characterized by development, advanced culture and social domination.  However, being connected with natural world   provides satisfaction and happiness and there is no need to struggle in order to fit to the civilization standards. Indeed, happiness is provided by natural world than the society standards (Fry, 2005). Being a free verse poem, the information flows and the reader captures the key issues which are being stated by the other. The author urges the reader to see the landscape and be connected with the nature and its beauty

In her poem, she employed conversational and conventional styles in emphasizing on the need to be connected with nature. The author urges the reader to free from materialist things and stick to the nature and its beauty. For human beings to gain a sense of peacefulness and free from wars and violence, he or she must be connected with nature (Fry, 2005). When the author say that ‘ you only have to let the soft animals of your body love what it loves’, she means that  rather than struggling to be perfect, human beings should  follow the desire of the heart and enjoy the beauty of the nature (Oliver, 1986). 

Conclusion

Oliver wrote a nature poem which changes people’s life through understanding the beauty of nature and its role in providing peace of mind and happiness. Importantly, nature becomes the subject of the poem and the need to show human beings that they should have a strong sense of nature where they will develop their identity and live a happy life while enjoying the family of things in the nature. The main message which the author is delivering to the readers is that rather than striving to be good people should enjoy the physical pleasure and loneness, guilty and repentance should not be a barrier to happiness.

Reference

Oliver, M. (1986). Dream work.

Fry, S. (2005). The ode less travelled: Unlocking the poet within. Place of publication not identified:

Arrow Books.

Question

What makes poetry good literature?

Poetry is a good literature simply because it enables the reader to critically think in order to be able to understand what the author is talking about. Moreover, poems tend to have hidden themes, and it is therefore the work of the reader to critically analyze the poem in order to be able to understand the main theme of the poem. In addition, due to the use of assonance, consonance and rhythm, the reader can also be able to understand the tone of the author, and thus be able to comprehend the message being passed by the author. When it comes to, ‘How I became a Socialist’ by Hellen, the poem has been written in a very unique way, such that not only does it enable the reader to critically think, bit it enables him or her to also understand how the society functions and operates, and how sociology tends to affect life (Hellen, 2000).

Is all poetry worthy of study? Why or why not?

Not all poetry is worth of study, simply because not all poetry contains positive information to the reader. Some types of poetry works are written for business purposes, and so they do not focus on educating the reader. In addition, some poetry works have been written by musicians, whose aim is to reach their fans, thus they only contain information which might be praising themselves or even their fans (Hellen, 2000). Good poetry should therefore be studied, since it contains information which can impact the reader positively. On the other hand, before studying a poetry work, one needs to understand the theme of the poetry work, thus making it easy for him or her to clearly understand the message being passed. Hence, all poetry should not be studies due to the type of message being passed.

Reference

Hellen Keller. (2000). How I became a Socialist: The New York Call.

Dora Franco

The speaker in the poem is speaking about the love of her life. Where he says that out of the three girlfriends that he previously had, he had never seen a girlfriend like her lover. He therefore praises his lover because of her beauty and uniqueness as compared to other girls (Yevtushenko & James, 6). In addition, the speaker shows how beautiful the girl is, through telling her that out of the three girls, he has never seen one who very beautiful, and the Indian girl who is also very different from the rest. The speaker generally gives a confession of his past life before falling in love with Dora Franco. He also tries to show her how he was not happy with the other ladies, saying that he did not kiss them well as he had done to Dora. This consequently shows how the speaker is trying to communicate to Dora differently, in order to tell her how much he really loves her.

The poem is trying to develop a relationship which had only taken place within the shortest time possible, spanning for a period of three days. The relationship between Dora and the speaker had only lasted for three days, a period within which their relationship had not developed fully (Yevtushenko & James, 14). They two love birds fell in love within the shortest time ever, and within no time, they were already in a cold war. This cold war was attributed by the speakers move to dive in on the first night that the two met. The relationship therefore matured for the very shortest time, thus making the speaker and Dora to do things which they were not supposed to be doing before their relationship matured. In addition, the speaker had not known Dora all his life, and it was therefore the first time they were meeting.

Due to anxiety, when Dora walked into the stage, the speaker could not see the stalking that she was wearing, but she could only the beauty of her lover to be. On the other hand, the poem tries to create irony in the poem, whereby he compares the night that the two lovebirds had as a war which was taking place in the room. In addition, there was a cold war waging inside the speakers heart, simply because he was enjoying life, and had been caught on camera doing naughty things with a foreign girl (Yevtushenko & James, 22). They were in Russia, and Russia is a country which does not entertain any forms of nonsense, whereby if you are caught doing nasty things with a lady of a foreign country, then this means that you could be both castrated and beheaded very early in the morning.

According to my point of view, I think we are supposed to take the positive message from the poem which is, we should be hasty in making decisions, and we should also learn to do the writing thing at the right time. The speaker fell in love with Dora even before knowing her, a thing which later led to a cold war, after the two were caught on camera hugging, a thing which was an abomination in Russia. Moreover, the speaker new very well that doing certain actions was going against the laws of the country, but he decided to do them. This consequently explains why the speaker landed into trouble, since he was not doing the right thing at the right time.

Work Cited

Yevgeny Yevtushenko, & James Bachman. Dora Franco: The Bear and the Humming Bird. (n.d)

Trumpet Player

Scansion and Analysis

Langston Hughes in his poem ‘Trumpet Player’ explains how music can be used to ease the sufferings endured during hardships but cannot easily fade away the memories during those hardships. The poem showed out how many African Americans suffered in the era of slavery even after it was abolished. They used music to ease the memories they endured during that time even though music would not fade away the awful memories.  The poem is made up of four eight line stanzas and then followed by two six line stanzas. The poem only adheres to the two dashes as the only punctuation marks used. The poem uses capitalization appropriately since they are heavily seen on the first stanza and less on the other stanzas. The poem is a narrative type of poem since it narrates what African Americans endured during slavery.

Explication

The main idea of the poem is describing how African Americans used music to ease the pain and memories they endured during slavery. The themes addressed in the poem include discrimination and music. Discrimination is used to show how African Americans were discriminated and are still discriminated since even the poet calls them Negroes. Music is used to show how people use different ideas in easing their daily pains and trying to fade away awful memories. The poet uses stylistic devices in his poem such as symbols, metaphors and personification. For instance he uses the word Negro to describe the African Americans. The speaker of the poem is a hopeful person who sees hopes in the music used to ease the pain. The African American faces discrimination and is still hopefully that eventually things will work out. The poem lacks a relevant rhyme scheme. The speaker of the poem is a talented trumpet player since he describes the act of playing the trumpet well. The tone of the poem is sympathetic where one sympathizes with the African American who faces discrimination and is still hopeful.

Work cited

https://allpoetry.com/Trumpet-Player

Reflection #1 Essay #1 “On Evaluating Black Privilege”

The poem contributes greatly to an understanding of the experience of the African American in America. The poem by crystal valentines is interesting to me as it helps me in understanding the black privilege that is considered to be the huge elephant. This implies that the lives of the African American have been characterized with a lot of challenges. The easiest part of the story was evaluating. This is because it is easy to relate to. The challenges and the discrimination faced by the African American is something that I have witnessed. It is interesting as it is an eye opener of the struggles they go to and what they have to do in order to fit in. the poem helped me in developing my literary analytical skills in order to come up with the deeper meaning in the poem.  I was able to unveil the significant of the story.

However there were challenges in analyzing the poem. The most difficult thing was understanding some of the vocabulary used in the poem. The poem sentences had more meaning that had deeper meaning that was not easy to identify. This slowed down my analysis of the problem as I had to check on the meaning of the vocabulary and assess whether they were giving the right meaning in the context used.

The teacher feedback was of great importance as it helped me overcome the frustrations I had especially with the issue of deriving the right meaning for the poem. First the teacher required me to add definition of the words by a way of explaining them. I further provided background information from other sources analyzing the poem in order to help me gain a full understanding of the poem. I was able to see how the African American face the racial inequality from the slave trade that happened many years ago is still felt to date. I credit the poem to be of great importance as it has helped me in literature skills as well as analyzing it to gain the better understanding of the discrimination of the African American

            Ballad of Birmingham

Ballad of Birmingham poem is authored by Randall Dudley which is mainly centered on the actual bombing that occurred in the year 1963 in a church that belonged to African Americans.  The poem is centered on the general attempt of an African American woman trying to offer protection to her daughter by denying her the right to participate in the ongoing march and sends her to church to participate in the choir.  The protection ends up being unsuccessful as the church which was a source of protection is bombed (Armstrong, and Schmidt, 120).  I believe that the main message of the poem is particularly centered on racism which had dominated the western nations in the 19th century (Armstrong, and Schmidt, 121). Based on the setting of the poem and the manner in which the mother tries to protect her daughter this, therefore, portrays the theme of racial discrimination.

The use of the child innocence helps in connecting the situation that was in existence.  The portrayal of the innocence respondent of the child generally shows that the innocence may not stay based that the setting in the battleground of Birmingham (Armstrong, and Schmidt, 121). The narrator states that the daughter leaves to head to church and the mother smiles develop a sense of emotion.  This is mainly because she runs to church only to miss her daughter in the rubbles. The format of the poem is symbolic naturally as it shows that the ending of the poem may not be positive. In addition, the poem utilizes the images of both lights as well as darkness in generating the civil rights fights with the innocence individuals.  For instance, the mother carefully brushes their daughter’s dark night hair thus placing white shoes on her daughter’s feet. After the mother hears of the explosion her eyes are grown wet as well as wild which is a symbol of devastation foreshadow (Parini, 450).  The mother cannot find her daughter but she can only trace her white shoes that her innocence had already been devastated. The use of literary devices in the poem helps in connecting the theme of the poem which is racism effects.

            Work Cited

Armstrong, Julie B, and Amy Schmidt. The Civil Rights Reader: American Literature from Jim Crow to Reconciliation. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2009. Print.

Parini, Jay. The Wadsworth Anthology of Poetry. , 2006. Print.

Dramatic Interpretations of Poetry

Class is about to start

 The video is about preparing students’ mind for learning through poem and dramatic interpretations. The poem is relevant to the lives of students in that, they are encouraged to have a positive attitude toward learning and behave like other students. Particularly, the message of the poem is directed to students who have low self-esteem and who do not accept the way they are.  Many students get challenges in development (Teaching Channel, 2016).The peer influences affect the development and so it is important for students to value the age group and form a close relationship with others. The dramatic interpretation connects students with learning by gaining factual knowledge and social experiences.

            Mr Wasee makes this lesson applicable in that through drama, students are connected with learning and the drama acts as a powerful tool in the constructive process. The teacher forms a relationship with students through sharing viewpoints and through creating instructional environment.  Students are empowered by gaining new skills and deepening their understanding (Teaching Channel, 2016). The teacher allows the students to interact and due to psychological differences, students are able to gain interpersonal skills, self-expression and understanding.

 Tableau is an effective form in that it has a focus and expectation. Group members are focused and eagerly waits on what will happen next. Tableau shows both high and low levels where higher levels are associated with low status and low levels with low status (Teaching Channel, 2016). Tableau presentations reveal a clear picture of the individual character. Tableau form allows students to collaborate where they presents important thing like people and symbols.

Based on peer and self-assessment, Mr. Wasee asserts that age group is important in creating essential life decisions.  Peer defines who you are and who you will be in adult life.  Thus, self-assessment increases metacognitive skills and teacher are able to create effective setting of classroom (Teaching Channel, 2016). Students should value peer and self-assessment in order to gain deep learning, learn from success and mistakes of others in order to succeed in life.

Article: The discourse of drama supporting literacy learning in an early years classroom.

Summary

 The article presents the dramatic events and the pedagogical results of literary analysis, dialogue analysis and the writing behaviors. The overall results are derived from dramatic approach.  The functional linguistic research is the background of the discourse analysis   where children language is described as interactional, instrumental, regulatory and informative (Adomat, 2010).  Though teaching discourse is associated with studies, early childhood education research has introduced the drama sessions as a domain of learning. A drama event   named ‘The fossil find, May 2007’ was planned for the purpose of developing literate activities through discovering and observing fossil bones (Adomat, 2010).

Strength

Literate practice in the drama flowed well in the dramatic play and children showed competence and actions. Positive attention was used in regulating actions and imperatives were used to unify the dramatic roles. Instruction was connected with action of particular individual. The scientist in the dramatic event used the oral language competently (Adomat, 2010).  In addition, students who were scientists acted as active contributors hence created a consistent knowledge in the drama event.

Weaknesses

The analysis in this article has some weaknesses in that drama event in socioeconomic context used small sample of discourse. Some children were not active participants and they did not show interest. This is as a result of cognitive assumptions and distinct differences with the discourse. Teachers-in-role failed to use linguistic adaptation hence they did not explore the real world in providing different approaches in engaging children (Adomat, 2010).

The article has a useful content which will be applied in classroom. The drama transcript showed some important features such as interpersonal features, textual features and writing in-role.  This concludes that drama can support children in gaining writing skills and oral language. In addition, Dramatic dialogue can help students in gaining literate roles where they can employ the roles as voice thinkers (Adomat, 2010). Dramatic context provides students with mechanical tasks, typical modes and generalization. Dramatic interaction can be applied in classroom particularly in indigenous setting and help the student gain literacy modeling and engage in cross-cultural context.

References

 Adomat, D. S. (2010). Dramatic Interpretations: Performative Responses of Young Children to

Picturebook Read-Alouds. Children's Literature In Education, 41(3), 207-221.

Teaching Channel (2016). Dramatic Interpretations of Poetry. 

Retrieved from: https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/dramatic-interpretations-of-poetry

POETRY

“DIGGING AND BLACKBERRY PICKING”

Background

The poem is about a Heaney childhood who was brought up on a farm of blackberry picking. When the conditions were ripe there was heavy "rain and sun" and the blackberries would ripen (Noel-Tod & Hamilton, 2013). It was compelling and children would assembled many cans and harvest up the blackberries that were enough to fill a bath. The blackberries were in plenty as they could not finish them which were a repeat pattern every year (Collins, 2003). Both Heaney father and grandfather were farmers and it was no exception that Heaney would become different as he would venture into the same field when he grew old. However, as fate would have it Heaney was fairly good in his studies that earned him a place in a high-status boarding school. He graduated with a first class honors degrees proving it otherwise as he would not follow the footsteps of the father and the grandfather. He later became an English teacher (Collins, 2003).

Structure

The structure of the poem is alienated into two sections that describe a assemblying of the blackberries and their utilization and the other half concentrated on the ruins of the reminder (Noel-Tod & Hamilton, 2013). In this poem, Heaney makes use of his customary enjambment as he uses rhyme that portrays the unavoidable process of life “clot and knot” and the half rhyme that proposes frustrations that we feel through the experiences of living “sweet in it”.

Title

The blackberry title by Heaney does not give a full indication of what the poem is all about but indeed it talks about the blackberry picking at least on one level especially at the first stanza. However, the title has a deeper meaning in the second stanza as it shows the restraint part of Heaney. Instead, the poem slowly helps the reader reveal the more possibilities of the title as it progresses (Collins, 2003).

Themes

The poem is concerned with a recognition process of nature when the blackberries grow before they eventually rot. The significant and the personal theme of Heaney is the disappointment with the lifestyle that was based on agriculture as he desired to do more with his life. He also felt guilty about the feeling of wanting to do something more as he would be diverting from what his family expected of him (Noel-Tod & Hamilton, 2013). This is an exploration of dissatisfaction due to the object of desire that shows Heaney as unveiling greed. In the blackberries poem, there has been an extension of metaphor in the agricultural lifestyle as Heaney is seen to enjoy his rural life as a child supported by the vivid excitement of the blackberry picking but still he was is seen to be disillusioned when the blackberries began to rot (Collins, 2003).

There is an idea of the transitory nature of pleasure in the poem of how good things do not last for long as they have a limited lifespan that relates to his childhood experience of picking the blackberries. Moreover, there is a celebration of delight and the childhood innocence that is illustrated to be short lived. It can be said that great amount of fulfillment results to the destruction of desire. It is detached from its habitat in the sun and stored whose existence is later shattered, changing extremely beyond identification and the celebration of the hostile power by time (Noel-Tod & Hamilton, 2013). A lesson has not been learned as there is a frequent fantasy that takes hold where there is continuous awareness of life. The children do not sustain the delusion but there is a temptation for another that is always succumbed to.

Language

The words in the poem are densely packed as they are liberal with adjectives and verbs in order to establish a tone. It is intentional that it is too affluent as the epic fill up the jaws with blackberries and there is plenty that is left and stored (Collins, 2003). The poem is hypnotic due to its unrelenting linguistic concentration. The thickened wine is an example of the rich linguistic as it suggests a sophisticated taste. It also implies the effect of intoxicating it has on children creating enthusiasm. However, despite the rich use of linguistic, there is a plentifully sonorous expression of words that has a negative version towards the reward of the blackberries (McConnell & Palgrave Connect, 2014). Heaney makes a limited application of pronoun such as us, we and our in an impersonal educational manner. However, the blackberries dominate the first stanza of the poem while the second stanza consents to Heaney with his anonymous cohorts to encroach in the wealthy environment of the blackberries.

Tone

The “lust” of the blackberries “Summer blood” in it is a tone that contrasts the juice of the berries to that blood of the summer reminding the reader of the vibrant red color, the rich taste, the sensual pleasure that came by picking and tasting as well as the violent and the guilt that Heaney had due to the association of the berries (McConnell & Palgrave Connect, 2014). Their flesh is regarded to be as sweet as blood that results to the children willingness to suffer the pain in order to satisfy the hunger. Henley tone then becomes decidedly worrying when he says that the blackberries are “like the plates of the eye”.

The last section of the second stanza, there is an secluded description of gluttony blackberries pickers who were half innocent as their horror and jealousy ruin the prize (Noel-Tod & Hamilton, 2013). The use of "hoard" to the blackberries was a way of glut. It further continues with a huffy nature of a distressed child who said “it was not fair” as the “lovely cans” which were full “smell of rot” of the blackberries. This concludes with a distance of accepting tone, grave disclosing the acknowledgment of the children that the berries would no “keep” up with time.

Mood

The verbal communication of the poem and the rich rhythm leads to a non-judgmental poem but faintly shows an oppressive mood due to the immense of the intense “rains” and the “sun” in the concluding month of August. The half sickening of the blackberries desires and hunger is supplementary of the mentality than the appetite that compels the pickers. The mood describes possessiveness and greediness that made them pick even the unripe ones in order to fill a bath. The “rat-grey fungus” is a disgust that shows half of envy and horror (Collins, 2003). The question of destruction to the sweet flesh shows desperation for more generating a mood to the reader. Each progressive year there was a more desire for the blackberries while they knew their fate.

Poetic Devices

Heaney has extensively used poetic devices in the poem. The flesh, pricks, palms, sweet and sour had a deeper meaning that incorporated much in the poem. Heaney also used vocabulary that has varying sounds that would create an image to the reader (Noel-Tod & Hamilton, 2013). Instead of eating the blackberries Heaney put it like thickening wine to generate a deeper meaning. Similar sounds of hayfields, "milk cans, at pea tins", have been frequently used to illustrate the rich harvest of the blackberries.

Imagery

Imagery has played a significant role in the poem. “Big dark blobs” has been used to suggest a spongy formless stability of the ripe berries in the container. “Like a plate of eye” is a simile used to describe the blackberries filled by the children in the container. This implies that the berries are round, spongy, luscious and squidgy (McConnell & Palgrave Connect, 2014). The imagery continues as it references to blood and flesh in the first stanza. The image of Heaney guilt of the agricultural life can be vividly seen as he is disappointed. The use of “eyes” that are described to be watching him burn into himself they are seen to silently judge Heaney as he lacked loyalty to his rural life whose weather is described by the “wet grass”.

The image of the health berries is devoured by the “rat-grey fungus” as the moulds in a manner which they spread quickly all over the bathtub that further contaminates his earlier rural lifestyle enjoyment. “Filled with fur” is an alliteration that draws attention to the speedy disintegration of the rotting berries (Collins, 2003). There is a deeper significance of the image “I always felt like crying” as it shows events of the agricultural life from a child’s perspective. The use of “cache” portrays an image of a precious storage of the blackberries that has shown the value the children placed on the berries. ‘milk cans, jam pots, pea tins” reinforced the image of a rural environment as there was handmade jam and there were cows that were milked.

Agent and Victims of Change in the Poem

There are prominent objects and characters in the blackberry picking.  First, the children pickers used the milk cans and other types of cans that would take away their wealth and the blackberries. The image of the brood represents uncontrolled yearning as they give in to "lust" of the sweet taste that later they were hoarding as too many to be exhausted (McConnell & Palgrave Connect, 2014). The children are managed by their desire as they symbolize humankind in the poem, jealousy which is gutted by “cache” and prejudice as “it isn’t fair”.  The blackberries had special connotations one of which it was a yearly summer ritual and the other as an item of satisfaction due to “trekking” and “picking”.

Secondly, the use of the blackberries was strongly pleasing as the berries are “glossy purple” and are “sweet flesh”. The richness of the blackberries is desirable due to the content of the “summer’s blood”. Heaney is also challenged by the nature of the law of “hope” and “keep”. The berries then inexorably change to the “smell of rot” (Collins, 2003).

Lastly, the blackberries are shady as they can merely be “first just eaten”. The delight of consuming the berries is overtaken by the greediness which finally they are lost with time as they should have remained in the bush. The pain is further multiplied when the berries are affected by an external power “fur” (Collins, 2003).

Reference

Collins, F. (2003). Seamus Heaney: The crisis of identity. Newark [u.a.: University of Delaware Press [u.a..

In Noel-Tod, J., & In Hamilton, I. (2013). The Oxford Companion to Modern Poetry. Oxford University Press

McConnell, G., & Palgrave Connect . (2014). Northern Irish poetry and theology. Palgrave Macmillan

The hip hop

“Rapper’s Delight” is a poem based on ballad form of poetic because in the music there is an incremental repetition of one line and it has ballad stanza that consists of four lines. The music led to memorization and musical performance to itself which shows the poetic form of the ballad. The four line stanza consists of four and three pieces which characterized by an abcb rhyme scheme and occasionally abab rhyming scheme. The two beats punctuated with hand claps that emphasize measure of music in Rapper Delight the first is I said 1, 2, 3, 4, come on, girls, get on the floor and the second I said 1, 2, 3, 4, tell me Wonder Mike what are you waiting for? Fatback Band and Run-DMC poets have long been a source of inspiration to all kinds because kinds are nurtured by the real magic while gathering bits through books.

I have chosen my own instrumental track from Boom Boom Boom Boom in the style of empire cast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egdcL4eM3uY.

Lord I pray, Lord I pray

That all my days,

I may live to your promises,

According to your love,

I remember I was a little kid with no hope,

God, you saw me and you head me,

Thank you for dying on the cross,

The devil and his angels,

Thought that everything was over,

But you proved not.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

            The Gawain poem is considered to be a moral growth lesson or simply a rollicking romance of magic and adventure. The literary genre of the poem is known to be romance though not from a love story as it refers to the European language from the language of the Roman Empire. With the story being written in the roman languages the element of magic and fantasy is present (Leitch, 2015). There is also the inclusion of monsters and dragons to the battle, mysterious places, curses and peculiar spells to be broken. There is a frequent appearance of Damsels in distress as seen in the plot whereby victims needs to be rescued. The story of romance begins where the knight is faced with a challenge before embarking on a journey to accomplish their task. The test is seen to originate from a mysterious guest (Forsberg, 2015). The knight had to move far from home where they encountered dreadful hardships and the battles they fought before they had achieved their goal and their return to the courts to tell their stories (Gardner, 2011). There is a basic piece for every romance where the hero is aimed at and the presentation of the famous knights.

Sir Gawain

Gawain seeks to advance the inner self in the poem which is evident by his reputation that is widespread. Gawain considers public reputation more important which is symbolized by the green girdle to show disgrace at the story comes to an end as he believes that sins should be visible as virtues (Forsberg, 2015). The Green knights trick Gawain by hiding about the supernatural capabilities whereby Gawain refuses to leave the honored deal.  Gawain stands by his commitment even when his life is at stake “he straightened up his stirrups, handsome to see” (Gardner, 2011, 14). Despite the deep fears of Gawain and anxieties that are frequently reiterated in the poem Gawain maintains his zeal for personal integrity by all means that has helped him conquer the fears of the green knights.

In the poem, Gawain is portrayed as a ideal of virtue in part 1 and 2 but in part 3 he is seen to hide from his swarm of the mysterious green girdle of the host wife showing that regardless of his valor he considers life to be of more importance in comparison to honesty (Leitch, 2015). He confesses to his sins and begs to be pardoned by the knight whereby he thereafter voluntarily wears the girdle as a sign of his sin. Although he repented his sins honorably there is an indiscretion of his basic goodness at the end of the poem.

Gawain is not a still character because he recognizes the problematic nature of the courtly morals. An example of this is when he returns at Camelot to the Arthurs court where the lords and the ladies looked at him as lighthearted children but he was weighed down by the fresh somberness (Leitch, 2015). At the end of the poem Gawain emerges as a humble man who is able to acknowledge his own mistakes and is able to cope with the truth that he will never be able to live to his personal lofty principles “a captive he had become, his life is care, many joy he had lost and all his mastery” (Gardner, 2011, 19).

The Green Knight

The Green Knight is also known as the Host who is a supernatural and a mysterious creature who rides in Arthur’s court to tell his marvelous story. The supernatural characteristics that involved the aptitude to live on decapitation and the green cast portray him as an ominous figure (Forsberg, 2015). The Knight in the poem symbolizes fertility, wildness, and death that typify a primeval world and the courts signify a commune of evolution in the wilds.  Green Knight support values in the justical system of the courts. The long hair of the host symbolized an unchanged state of nature (Leitch, 2015). The cut made to the hair into the form of a courtly item of clothing shows that there is that part of his role that institutes a link among evolution and the wilds, current and the past.

During the planned beheading of Gawain, the emerald Knight discloses that he is the multitude that stayed with Gawain through the journey in the wilds and he is known as Bertilak de Hautdesert. Bertilak is portrayed as jovial and a courteous man who takes pleasure in hunting sports and playing games.  The host contrasts with a middle aged and a well-respected lord with the beardless Arthur (Leitch, 2015). The feature of his beard is associated to the green knight with the host. The green knight and the host are connected in that they both place an importance on the power of verbal contracts as it is seen at the end of the poem where each one of them makes a Covenant with Gawain and the two agreements overlap.

There have been different systems in the poem that has governed morality. Nature and human society have been a center of conflict due to the internal and the external forces in the form of the winter landscape, green knight, sexual desires and the fear of death (Leitch, 2015). The morals have been governed by the well distinct codes of behaviors. Chivalry as a code of behavior particularly shapes the action and the values of sir Gawain. The principles of the Christian morality, as well as the knightly chivalry, have jointly brought out Gawain symbolic shield. The pentangle shows the virtues of the knight that includes friendship, chastity, courtesy, generosity and piety (Forsberg, 2015). On governing morality Arthur’s court depends on the code of chivalry which is criticized by the both Gawain and knight as it symbolizes value and truth and where Arthur looks at it as the most courteous of all. Gawain moral behavior is also governed by nature where he abandons the chivalry codes in the wildness and adopts his animal nature to enhance survival for physical comfort of his survival (Gardner, 2011).

Gawain system of the human society is seen to dominate at the end of the tale. His moral superiority plays a big role throughout the poem. In the final scenes, Gawain encounters Bertilak where he perceives his own flaws and his acceptance of the green girdle. His behavior is the most noteworthy due to his understanding of sins that most individuals would not accept especially if propelled in their love life “a woman of so much might so wicked a wheel-wright” (Gardner, 2011, 17). The acceptance act boosts his stature to that of paragon of chivalry. He is derelict in his duties in the crumbling house of Arthur and he also lives up to his good name as he is able to resist the temptation of lady Bartilak in various encounters which can be considered unbearable “sir so sweet, you honor the trysts you owe” (Gardner,2011, 20). Gawain dominates the end of the tale because the reader can easily forgive him as he has repented fully and he goes a step further to impose a penance on him. In order to crack Gawain, the green knight takes a mild rebuke confident valor of Gawain in pretense hence his significance.

Reference

Forsberg, L. (2015). Christina Rossetti and Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight. Studies In English Literature, 1500-1900, (4), 861.

Gardner, J. (2011). Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: In a modern English version. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Leitch, M. G. (2015). 'Grete luste to slepe': somatic Ethics and the sleep of romance from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to Shakespeare. Parergon, (1), 103.