DDCPoetry

Original poem reprinted online here: "In Vitebsk There Lives a Cow" by Nuala Ní Chonchúir Originally read: March 14, 2013 More information about the Poet:  Nuala Ní Chonchúir So this is an eckphrastic poem about the March Chagall painting "I and the Village."  I'm going to write down something I haven't done in a long time -- write my first impressions of the poem, what I wrote on the page: - Male figure taking care of the cow - Inside further in the painting, kind of humourous - Peace through sound and pesence And since there's three quatrains, I think I should explore each part that I previous wrote down and see if my mind has changed. "Male figure taking care of the cow" Again, there's a poem in which the first line is the title.   To keep the quatrain form, the writer did this -- also since the first line refers to the cow -- it's safe to assume that the cow will play a big role in the poem, at least the first stanza.  There's a...

Original poem reprinted online here: "Surface Tension" by Chelsea Rathburn Originally read: March 8, 2013 More information about the Poet:  Chelsea Rathburn The poem is in quatrains and there is no particular rhyme scheme.  There are moments of sound in this poem that has a lingering effect, "close" and "lows" in stanza two; however, there's also some repetition that doesn't fit for me, "pleasure."  And this is what I think the goal of the poem is in a sense, that there's some sonic good times that pushes the theme of awkwardness, but there's awkwardness in the repetition which comments on how the theme is utilized.  Awkward. Any the set-up the poem is a 1st person collective we narrative and this is why I find the form interesting.  With quatrains, there's always a sense of togetherness, balance in a sense -- with the awkwardness there's also the comfort (familiarity? complacency?).  So I feel the quatrains strengthens an...

Original poem reprinted online here: "When You Are Old" by William Butler Yeats Originally read: (a long time ago, but for this blog) February 18, 2013 More information about the Poet: William Butler Yeats I just listened to this poem read aloud by Colin Farrell , and then I read some of the comments for this poem -- a very dreamy, nice touching eulogy for a loved one.  And yes I can see that.  The tone of this poem is very loving (because love is repeated multiple times = love, right?) and how the speaker is so tender to the subject.  Not really. A couple of things, even though the subject is probably near death, the subject is capable of reading and/or taking down a book -- or this is the construction the speaker is addressing.  Also,  the second stanza kind of focuses the love idea to the a singular focus that disperses at the end which fits with the rhyme scheme (a b b a)  rhymes in the middle and rhymes at the end.  And, yes, the poem is in iambic...

Original poem reprinted online here: "Follower" by Seamus Heaney Originally read: January 26, 2013 More information about the Poet: Seamus Heaney So the poem is in rhymed quatrains that works sort of like a question and answer poem.  The first three  stanza sets up a certain question and the last three stanzas answer the question. The first three stanzas define the "Follower" as the father.  A person who, for generations probably, worked the field.  The single statement of "An expert" actually made me see the poem in a different way when I reread this today.  Past me wrote, "The fragment sets up a distinct definition, and the following sentences -- discussing of technique with no description shows expertise."  Maybe I'm not looking at the poem at this angle at this time. Currently, I'm thinking how to be an expert at something, and placement.  For a horse-plough there's the horse, who is in front, and the person who is in "contro...

Original poem reprinted online here:  "The Universal Prayer" by Alexander Pope Originally read: January 26, 2013 More information about the Poet:  Alexander Pope The poem is constructed in quatrains with alternating rhyme scheme (abab).  I wrote that first because I don't know what I should write about this one.  Yes, I did choose this poem, and I think I chose it because of the inconsistencies or, maybe, humor in the poem. The last line in the first stanza, "Jehovah, Jove, or Lord!"  shows a sense of desperation or rather overstatement (over-dramatization) of need.  From here on out, I get a sense of sarcasm from the poem.  In stanza two, "To know but this -- that thou art good, / And that myself am blind: / Yet gave me, in this dark estate to see the good from ill"  Within four lines there's a quandry.  An omnipotent being is good, but made me blind, but in my blindness, inflicted by a good omnipotent being, I am able to see the good in th...

Original poem reprinted online here:  "Beauty" by Elinor Morton Wylie Originally read: January 16, 2013 More information about the Poet: Elinor Morton Wylie So I read this poem after "She Walks in Beauty" by Lord Byron ; however, I don't remember if I analyzed them at the same time.  Judging by the line marks, I'm pretty sure no.  Anyway, reading the poem and then thinking about what Byron wrote brought a new perspective for me. Form first, this poem is written in quatrains with an alternating rhyme scheme (rhyme scheme similar to Byron), and still the technique.  There's something separate and off in the poem. Let me write down what I first thought about the poem: "Summary time!  If stanza 3 was put in place in stanza 1 -- I think the poem would be less of a definition of beauty but how beauty is defined." Although I don't agree with past me, I do see the point.  If I looked at this poem as a definition poem (title being the word to be def...

Original poem reprinted online here:  "In Memoriam (VII)" by Alfred Tennyson Originally read: January 14, 2013 More information about the Poet:  Alfred Tennyson This is another hesitation by me.  I like the poem (why would I choose to do this if I didn't).  However, looking around the internet, a simple search shows more detailed analysis of the poem from people like me (mostly readers) to scholars who write the context, the history, and the meaning behind every rhyme scheme and word.  I can also see why this would be a turn off for people trying to get into poetry (for such a short piece why is there so much context?).  So, I'm going forward the best I can. Do I know the context behind this poem?  Somewhat.  You'd probably find more information here , or here .  This is part 7 of a 17 year elegy.  There's so many nuances and allusion in the poem that I possibly cannot get.  I think for a reader of poetry (with any amount of backgro...