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Thread: Poetry Reviews and Analyses from the Reconstruction Era

  1. #46
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    Lulu

    A Brave Sir Remembered
    Poetry Analysis by Lulu C

    “In hearts at peace, under an English heaven,” means a mighty soldier would die for England. The poem, “The Soldier” by Rupert Brooke, gives inspiring insight into the mind of a soldier with imagery, tone, and a life lesson that ignites thought. In the first stanza, Brooke uses imagery to express how the soldier sees England. He states, “Washed by the rivers, blest by the sun…” Rupert also says, “…Flowers to love…” These statements mean that England is this soldiers home, with every step he takes, he owes his life to England and this lines also give you a mental image, when he walks throughout the streets of England he embraces nature and what England has given to him. Additionally, within the tone, Rupert Brooke is saying how he will die for his country. “… breathing English air,” and “If I should die, think only this of me:” What could be interpreted from these lines is that England gives him land, air, and a life, so he feels that it only fair that he protects her, goes to war for her, will die for her. The author is using the word “her” in place of England because the soldier doesn’t look at England as just land and buildings, he sees England as a care taker, almost like a mother because she provides for him and is the reason that he is living. Furthermore, there is a great life lesson, if you look a little deeper than the surface. The soldier would die to keep his country at peace, “all heart, all evil shed away,” meaning that he wants England and everyone in it to live at peace, to not be scared to walk outside of their homes, to feel protected no matter who they are or where they are. This brave soldier is fighting for what he believes in, even if no one else will. He believes that the “children” of the “motherland” should be at peace because if you believe in something, you should fight for it, no matter how big or small. In short, the poem, “The Soldier,” is inspiring, thought provoking and an overall life lesson.

  2. #47
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    Hannah

    The Sea City
    Hannah

    “Lo! Death has reared himself a throne, in a strange city lying alone”. This is just the beginning of a powerful and memorable poem. “The City in the Sea”, by Edgar Allan Poe, uses mood, tone, intriguing vocab, and a twisted theme to write a powerful and moving poem. To begin, Poe creates a dynamic story line by incorporating mood and tone in his poem. The mood of the poem is in a way is gloomy. For instance, the line: “No rays from the holy heaven come down” (Stanza three), seems to state that the city is always dark. Then, in stanza four: “The melancholy waters lie”, the tone is sad. But in stanza six, the tone changes from sad to almost hopeful by crying: “…a stir is in the air!” Furthermore, the vocab in nearly every stanza makes you think what Poe means in the poem on a deeper level. “The City in the Sea” makes you think what it really symbolizes by using intriguing vocab like: “lurid” (Stanza three), “pendulous” (Stanza four), “serene” (Stanza five), and “reverence” (Stanza seven). Also, Poe appeals to a variety of emotions like horror, decay, peace, and awe with the vocab in “The City in the Sea”. In addition, the theme of “The City in the Sea”, is Death will be waiting. The theme Death will be waiting for you is supported by the lines: “Lo! Death has reared himself a throne” (Stanza one), and “The hours are breathing faint and low” (Stanza seven), because they state that Death rules when you die. There are also similar themes throughout the poem that are smaller in meaning, but still connect to the overall theme: Death will be waiting for you. Finally, “The City in the Sea” hints at a bigger picture in life that you should always have. By incorporating tone, mood, an understandable theme, and powerful vocab, Edgar Allan Poe writes a memorable poem.

  3. #48
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    Kati

    Let it go(and not in the Elsa way)
    “Turn the key and bolt the door, sweet is death forevermore.”
    (line 6-7)
    The poem “The Past” by Ralph Waldo Emerson has an inspiring message to not live in the pain of the past , but also that you cant fix the wrong you did. Emerson has a unique of expressing his emotions, and that’s through poetry. Over all, his poetry speaks of the Reconstruction era and how it effected people.

    You cannot revise the past for it has already been set into stone. Emerson reveals the truth and pain that was experienced during the Reconstruction era. To start off, Emerson speaks in agony of the torture many went through using lines such as, 'the dept is paid' and, 'furies laid' to explain that this generation of rehabilitation is hard on the many people in that era, color aside. He indicates the past as an 'adamantine door' where no one can gain entree and all is done.”No Satan with a royal trick'(line 16) can change what has already been accomplished, whether good or bad, it cannot be corrected.

    Furthermore, you cant add more to your life in the past. In the same way, you cant take away any misfortune from it. Line 18 of “The Past” only gives more understanding to this, 'To bind or unbind, add what lacked.' What Emerson means by this is that you cant go back to add or 'unbind' anything. Emerson voices that it is as an eternally locked door that holds within it memories that you can't take back. “All is now secure and fast; not the gods can shake the past”(line 10-11). hatred and hope have passed along with the successes and scars that will only live on in our memory. Emerson's poem is believed to mean that the pain you have done(in this case slavery)is not to be soon forgotten and you cant change what you did.

    To explain, Emerson has a sorrowful tone, but speaks to you in its sensitive manner of speaking that many can relate to. For example, Emerson declares how nothing can enter in 'nor haughty hope, nor swart chagrin, nor murdering hate can enter in.' This means that no stuck-up hope, no madness or frustration on the African Americans, and no terrible hate can bother you in the future. For instance, nothing of your past can haunt you anymore; you start every day as a new day and you shouldnt hold grudges.

    To finalize, Emerson created a deep, meaningful, poem to explain the pain people went through during and after the Reconstruction era. You cant change the past but you can use it to better the future. You might be able to 'mend eternal fact'.


    Poem by- Ralph Waldo Emerson
    Essay by- Katiana

  4. #49
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    Josh N

    Soldier
    In my poem ‘soldier’ by Rupert Brook was inspirational because the way he wrote his poem. He made our emotions blend after we read this. We had emotions for this because he talked about peace. He talked about how the soldier knew if he died everything would be ok because he lived in peace.
    The author talked about how he lived on a farm and lived in England. The way he would use his emotion in wringing. As soon as I finished reading this poem it didn’t make sense then I realized how he was talking about how he left his freedom to make others free. This poem made me feel happy about people wanting to leave peace to make others peaceful.
    The soldier had me thinking about that if he was from England why would he want to leave to help American slaves. Maby because America didn’t have enough soldiers to fight the south. Then I realized that he was a good man and only wanted to help

  5. #50
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    Jordyn

    A Battle through Hard Time
    By Jordyn H
    The poem “The Slave’s Complaint” by George Moses Horton uses a plethora of poetic devices and vocabulary. For example, alliteration is used in line 13 that says, “Something still my heart surveys…” And condescend, which means, to behave as if one is conscious or descending from dignity. “Worst of all, must hope grow dim…”
    “Forever! Forever?” Is used approximately twice at the end of the first four stanzas. “Am I sadly cast aside, on misfortune’s rugged tide? With the world my pains deride forever?” “Something still my heart surveys, groping through this dreary maze; is it hope?—they burn and blaze forever!” This means that the slave is trying to get through a hard time, and that not everything is going to go your way, there’s always a challenge you have to face. Further, the slave could be seeing something, and that something is giving him hope. Hope to move on and see the world in a different perspective.
    “The Slave’s Complaint” uses a large amount of advanced vocabulary. For instance, feeble; which, means lacking physical strength, especially when aging or being ill. Alongside, an unfortunate condition or event is misfortune. To illustrate, I was at a misfortunate event last week because my grandfather past away. George Moses Horton is not lacking the amount of jargon used in “The Slave’s Complaint” There are many unfamiliar words that, not a lot of us middle schoolers are used to; like, servitude, which, is the state of being a slave.
    Figurative language and poetic devises are used throughout “The Slave’s Complaint” thus, this kind of language enhances the poet’s reading. There is a major change in tone throughout the first two stanzas, and the two after that. Specifically, the slave says “Forever!” and “Forever?” a multitude of times in this poem. That is also parallelism and repetition. There is a variety of poetic devices that George Moses Horton uses that makes “The Slave’s Complaint” more interesting to read and analyze.
    This poem means that every challenge you face, there is always something to look forward/up to. Or even a more cliché reason, look at the brighter side of things. In essence, “The Slave’s Complaint” by George Moses Horton uses a multitude amount of advanced jargon, and figurative language.

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    Brenden

    The Freedom in a Song
    Report By: Brenden N
    Poem: I Hear America Singing
    Poem By: Walt Whitman

    “I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear” are the impacting words that start Walt Whitman’s poem I Hear America Singing. The poem is was written about the reconstruction era so it can mean different thing in different eyes but the main idea is freedom. A song is the definition of freedom and all people are free to sing their own song. “Each singing what belongs to him or her” “Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.” Each person has their own rights and with that they the freedom to speak of them.

    Equally important, each and every person has their own personal belonging witch belong to them. “The boatman singing of what belongs to him on his boat” “The day belongs to the day.” The people in this poem are singing of what belongs to them and them only.

    People are very glad to have work and they are singing of how proud they are to have money to feed their family. “The mason singing as he makes ready for work or leaves off of work” “The shoe maker singing as he sits at his bench.” The men are singing of their wonderful work and the pride they take in that work. Given these points, all people have freedom and this poem sings of how magnificent that is.

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    Echo

    Echo

    “And from my throbbing blossoms came the words and fear and gloom what shall be our country’s dooma” ~ Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
    The poem “Lines” by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper portrays sorrow and the ability to repent; to truly appreciate who you are, who you have become, and why you are who you are today. Frances explains “that is you let someone bother you so much you will only be brought down and taken out of the world that you’re happily living in,” which means just be yourself and express yourself the way you want or the way that you fell happy with your attitude look and how you act. In addition, she writes “every jewel is a life drop;” the interpretation of this is that when you have something amazing that you worked hard for, you aren’t going to just give it up that easily. Furthermore, Harper states, “I am like a throbbing blossom shall the wings of darkness destruct,” which means that there is always darkness watching for the right time to bring you down, but if you let yourself grow and not worry what anyone else thinks you will become a beautiful person. At the same time Frances speaks from the heart: “in his hand he held the banner all festooned with blood and tears t’was a fearful ensign woven with the grief and the wrong of years;” reading this stanza, you know that Frances has gone through the bad such as slavery segregation being teased hurt and beaten or has witnessed the bad and the when you have done something bad in life it follows you till your days are over, and you can never change where you came from or the story behind you. The moral of this story is that life isn't as bad as you think it is. This poem has a lot of frivolous word to bring strong emotion. This poem has symbolism, personification, and similes.

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    Adia

    Peace in Society
    Peace can change attitudes, people, but most importantly it can change society. The poem’s claim portrays the theme, “Peace is in society, we just have to find it”. Wars are common in nearly everywhere because of the lack of peace. In the poem, “As I Walk These Broad, Majestic Days”, it says, “For war the struggle of blood finish’d in tragic deal”. I think this means the price to get what we want is too high and will bring war and disagreement. A partial part of the poem is a life lesson about war. War is nothing new and threadbare but it can effect things and people in multiple ways. Therefore, war can lead to change. Change is what we have been used to our whole lives. We have --as it states in the poem-- “vast factories” and “Perhaps to engage in time in still more dreadful contests, dangers, longer campaigns, and crises, labors beyond all others”. Change is an evolution. It can lead to greater things or it can lead to a possibly worse future. Either way, change has an outcome or aftermath. Approved growth of cities and spread of new invention is our aftermath of change. In “As I Walk These Broad, Majestic Days” it says,” Endorsement of all and who do not object to do it” means that if we do not question our fate, good things will have a reward. “But to announce solid things; science, ships, politics, cities, factories, are not nothing—I watch them.” Is this referring to all the things that we have accomplished throughout the years? Perhaps, it is the aftermath. An aftermath is everything that’s happened after the main event. In this poem, it sums up what’s happened and what’s new to the United States. This poem reveals out flaws so that we can perfect them. If we can perfect ourselves, we will live in a peaceful place.

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    Charise

    IN THE EYES OF MY SURROUNDINGS
    BY CHARISE
    “Let a new earth rise. Let another world be born. Let a second generation full of courage issue.” “For my People” by Margaret Walker, is a poem that uses a plethora of poetic devices to explain the world around her, such as apostrophe, symbolism, and tone. For instance, she uses apostrophe but, it can also be interpreted as symbolism. In this line, “For my people lending strength for the years” she could be using both symbolism and apostrophe to refer to people in the military/soldiers.” For my people standing, staring trying to fashion a better way from confusion” this line is based towards people that possibly lost someone in the military. Furthermore, she also uses symbolism to enhance reader’s understanding of the point she is trying to get across. For example, ‘for my people walking spreading joy”: people that are generally happy, that make others happy. In addition, the author uses tone to imply the emotions that the character or narrator is feeling. Such as, “Dragging along never gaining, never reaping, never knowing and never understanding.” Clearly the character is feeling confused or sad. Margaret walker evidently claimed that unless you put yourself in someone else’s shoes, you will never know or fully understand”. Margaret walker’s poem ” For my People” defines many points of view of her surroundings through symbolism, apostrophe, and tone.

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    Colton N

    Eagle of Heaven
    Eagle of heaven! Such fall was thine. If you want a poem with deep meaning a Sun Struck Eagle is the right poem for you. This poem has a deep back ground with a life meaning all in one. It about how slaves where at the bottom and then came up to the top. The part of the poem then the eagle sores throw the sky with dark plumes quivering upon his neck. Furthermore it has a lot of metaphors. Like how the eagle and how it is has black feathers. Also “the sword in war.” they fought the war to help the African Americans rise agent there slave owners. At points this poem is very confusing. There are word like Thine, o’er, and divine. Some words aren’t familiar with most students. Over all this is a very meaning full poem and it has a lot of life lessons.

  11. #56
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    Colton W

    Nothing is lost forever it is simply transformed into thought myth and legend. Edgar Allan Poe indirectly discusses the importance of life in “The City in the Sea” using symbolism, poetic devices, and a very dark theme to convey this. To Begin with, as expected in a poem symbolism is incredibly apparent helping convey the theme. For example, in stanza 1 line 1 Poe said “Lo! Death has reared himself a throne.” Where he symbolizes death with war. Symbolism is also used in stanza 7 line 7 where he says “Hell rising from one thousand thrones.” Which symbolizes congress. As exemplified, the poem “The City in the Sea.” To continue, poetic devices are integrated into this poem. Poe alludes to Babylonia in stanza 3 line 7 “Up fanes like Babylon walls.” Poe’s uses the cliché of death as a person by saying “death looks gigantically down.” Edgar Allan Poe uses rhymes in sequence in a pattern of 2, 3, and 2 which represents a city flying higher than ever before and falling farther and farther than ever before. All of the symbolism and poetic devices form a dark theme to this poem. The overall theme of this poem is very dark and creative it will leave you with questions. The theme is that all things die and war just bring the causalities higher and higher. This is evidenced by his over use of the word death. This poem does not directly teach anything to you it instead leaves you to think about the importance of life and not to waste what little time we have fighting. To theorize, live life love yourself and spread like the message Poe did with symbolism, poetic devices, and a dark theme.

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    Jessica

    Fingering the Plastic Leaves

    “I’ve never forgotten the charred bitter fruit of holiday’s poplars, nor will I.” In “Where you are planted”, the poet Evie Shockley uses multiple ideas that get you thinking about how it was written. She uses symbolism, many poetic devices, and depending on how you look at it, multiple themes that have different meanings.
    To begin, the symbolism in this poem is just out of the world. For example, when it says “100 degrees in the shade”, it made me think about looking at a thermometer or thermostat and the red line in the middle all the way up to 100 degrees. In the same line, it says that there are “still pools of humidity”. That phrase could explain how it is a hot summer day and the thermometer is over 100 degrees to where you just need something to cool your body down. The symbolism in “Where you are planted” gets you thinking and yearning you grew up where the author grew up and experience the same entity.
    Furthermore, the many poetic devices available to use, Evie Shockley uses more than just the ones that I have listed. For example, in the first line of the poem, it says “He’s as high as a Georgia Pine”. How many trees do you know about? Is this one of them? It is used in a simile form. She also used personification when saying that it was best to “settle into still pools of humidity”. The more poetic devices you put into a poem, the more engaging the story is going to be and the readers will want to read more than just the first two sentences.
    Overall, the main theme can be anything that relates to the poem, but in a way that you can understand it. When she has “southern trees” ending each line, I think of the theme as being where she grew up in the south which could be next to the ocean or in Florida. When she explains that “I grew up in the shadows of the southern trees” makes me wonder if she is relating to her childhood memories and wants other people to live her childhood. There could be multiple themes, it just depends on the person that reads it, and how you understand the poem. This poem is important and has a life lesson because it shows you that childhood memories are good to cherish when you are older. Clearly, “Where you are planted” has symbolism, multiple poetic devices, and multiple meaning themes.

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    Logan

    Overcoming


    Obstacles don’t have to stop you, if you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up, figure a way to overcome it. Francis E.W. Harper (1825-1911) reaches out and tells people “just because you’ve been given an obstacle, doesn’t mean it’s the end, overcome it” in his poem “Learning to Read”.


    To start off with I found it Clever and unique they way he uses his rhymes. With his rhymes we could say a word in one verse of the line and about two versus in that same line he would rhyme that word. For example “very soon the Yankee teachers came down and setup school; But oh! How the rebs did hate it, it was against their rule”. So the rhyme there would be school and rule. Furthermore the best way to think about this poems meaning would honestly be overcoming. “And I longed to read my bible, for precious words it said; But when I begun to learn it, folks just shook their heads and said there is no use trying, oh! Chloe you’re too late; but as I was rising sixty there was no time to wait.” see? People are saying she’s too old and she’s basically out of time but she ignored them and overcame them and basically said ‘’I might be getting old and my eyes getting wary, But I will ‘learn to read’. Another example of overcoming is at the end she says “Then I got a little cabin, a place to call my own, and I felt as independent, as a queen upon her throne”. Last but not least, Francis uses extremely well words and phrases to go perfectly along with overcoming. For instance “Our masters would try to hide, book learning from our eyes; Knowledge didn’t agree with slavery, twould make us all too wise”. Another example is “so I got a pair of glasses, and straight to work I went, and never stopped till I could read all the hymns and testament”.

    So I hope throughout this review I taught you about Francis E.W. Harpers “Learn to Read “and how it taught a little lesson of overcoming obstacles.

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    Nathan

    To Live and Not to Live

    Writing
    “To live and not be Thine Own, Like Springtime when birds are flown;” is the first two stanzas of the poem “Thine Own” by Josephine Delphine Henderson. In the poem “Thine Own” by Josephine Delphine Henderson there is a lot of imagery, it has a deep meaning, and a tone quiet understand able. First, Josephine’s poem “Thine Own” consist of an array of imagery. To start, “Thine Own” by Josephine Delphine Henderson consist of a lot of wonderful and very descriptive imagery. For example, in stanza 3 it says “Or liberty in prison bars,” that stanza gives lots of imagery. To continue, “Thine Own” has a down reaching meaning with in the poem. To move on, Josephine has a short and to the point meaning. The meaning of “Thine Own” is slaves being held back from their abilities. To illustrate, in stanza 7 is says “like lovely flower that has no scent,” saying that the African Americans were able to do thing but weren’t allowed to. Furthermore, Josephine has a frank yet deep full and meaning full tone. The tone of this poem is sad and held back. In addition, in stanza 6 it says “Or rest when there’s no weariness” is a good model of the tone of the poem. Finally, “Thine Own” is a good life lesson because it shows that all men are created equally. In conclusion, “Thine Own” is a great piece of poetry because of its imagery, deep meaning, and a short, to the point tone.

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    Zac S

    Learning to read with a helping hand
    “Learning to read” by: Francis Harper
    Zachary S
    Reach out your hand and let someone grab it for you are lending a reading hand. In the poem “Learning to read” by Francis Harper you will find a multitude of metaphors, imagery, and an amazing tone. With the imagery of this poem it adds a whole new meaning to it. For example: “and greased the pages of his book” adds a great sense of tactile touch. An amazing sense of auditory is: “who heard the children spell.” The imagery pulls you into the poem and makes you feel like you are one of the many voices calling out for a hand to pull them out of the deep dark void that is the segregation era.it makes you reach out and lend a much needed helping hand to pull the African Americans out of the void. In addition, the metaphors add a whole new perspective to the poem. For example: “but as I was rising sixty, I had no time to wait.” This adds a great sense of feeling that you need to do what you want before you lose it all. And a sense of independence would be: “and I felt as independent as a queen upon her throne.” The metaphors will put a much needed smile on your face and encourage you to keep reading further into the poem. To include, the tone of this poem makes you feel happy that thee whites are giving the colored a source of education and quote-on-quote “freedom with chains.” Line 1-4, first stanza, the tone makes, you too, that you hate the rules. Lines 41-44, last stanza, the author make you happy that the colored now have freedom. Even though there is now freedom from slavery, there is still lots of strings to be taken away for people to be truly free. All in all, the poem “Learning to read” by Francis Harper

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