Poetry Reviews and Analyses from the Reconstruction Era

LONGING FOR FREEDOM


Freedom allows people to dream, and be whatever they want, and everyone is allowed to want it. The poem “Love Letters” by Josephine Delphine Henderson Heard uses symbolism, theme, and different tones in stanzas to portray a slave going through being a slave, and missing and longing to be free the whole journey. What this wonderful poem does is show that people can’t take away your want to be free.
To begin with, the use of symbolism opens the reader’s eyes to see a slaves desires. In the first stanza the poet writes “…must with you I part…” the poet is implying that the person in the poem doesn’t want to part with the love letters. In the second stanza the love letters have put a “…strange mystic spell” on him that “… O no power on earth can break…” the poet must be implying that the person cannot live without them. In the third stanza, the poet writes “ … Don't you tell it anyone-Let it live and grow” the poet is implying that the person has gotten back with the love letters and wants to keep it a secret from someone. The love letters must represent something greater, possibly freedom. The poet implies this throughout the poem, because at first the person doesn't want to part with them. Then, the person is longing for them, and finally, at the end of the poem the person wants it to be a secret that he is back with them.
In transition, the authors use of tone helps uncover the poem's true meaning. For example, many lines in the poem seem to indicate that it is a slaves journey. The first stanza the poet writes, “ … must with you I part … “ it seems he is being taken away from his freedom. In the next stanza the poet writes “ … O no power on earth can break this strange mystic spell” seems as if the slave is wanting to be free. Finally, in stanza three the poet writes the line “ … Don't you tell it, anyone … “ seems as if the slave is done with his journey and has finally become free.
Finally, the different tones in stanzas give a sense of logical order to the poem. For example, in the first stanza, the poet writes , “ … Must with you I part … “ the person is parting from his freedom , which makes the tone sad. In the next stanza the tone changes again, with the poet writing “ … What a tell you tell … strange mystic spell” to depict the seeming of a remembrance in the tone. In the final stanza the line “ … Don't you tell it, anyone … “ shows secrecy in the tone.
In conclusion, the poem “Love Letters” gives the life story of a slave wanting to free, and this teaches us a lesson. Even if someone is a slave, everyone has the want to be free, so no matter how hard you try, you can't make someone not want to be free. The poem “Love Letters” mentors us that you can't make someone not want to be free through symbolism, theme, and different tones in stanzas.

Find Your Freedom

In this reconstruction area poem “as I walk these boards, majestic days”
The Author use many different poetic device, like rhetorical questions, and alliteration. And slaves and what you think slavery means throw rhetorical questions.
When the author first stats alliteration, when he states “times towards a denser war”. Also when he say that, he wants you to think what is that denser war? Well that for you to find out on you on. When you the author is use something called a rhetorical question, which he want you to think on your own.
Throw out the poem the author wants you to think about what is going on throw out the time called the reconstruction area and what is heaping around that time period. When the author states “I see ships (they last a few more years)” that grabbed me and amused me. But I think the ships were war ships because when he said “they last a few more years”.
When the author clamed “then in vast land factories lost their works” I thought the works were the slave because they stopped there work because they heard they were free.
I thought that when the author stated “freedom to every slave on the face of the earth”
He as asking a rhetorical question. “And that slave deserve their freedom and if anyone was going to take it away they don’t deserve it” from ab Lincoln.
I think that this poem means everyone deserves freedom and don’t be afraid to stand up for it.


That freedom for everyone ad poetic device are easily to use.

Death is not giving up

“The horse comes over the flower covered hill, after a long day pulling a heavy wagon the horse eats the green grass and thinks I am finally free.” The poem “Death of an old carriage horse” is a symbol that even in times of darkness, hope never dies. It is a metaphor that all the work the slave is put through a reward will come sometime in the future or closer than t slave thinks.

When the poem uses these references it signals that it creatively makes a type of repetition and rhyme to enhance the way it’s perceived by the reader. Along with that the poem is a way to send a message that can be interpreted through different meanings. When the author used “push along, push along” it’s a message encoded into the words and means after all this work the slave is finally free!

The poem is a type of poem that has a deeper feeling, even if the slave is not free. Also the poem can mean it’s like if it meant that the slave was not freed he could also be freed by death! The limits are endless to what the reader or how he or she interoperates it’s meaning. The slave that was imprisoned by the master is being forced not matter what if the slave dies no one would care except for family!

Finally, this inspiration piece is amazing to read. The poem beings a sense of peace to the readers mind after the horse has done so much work and is finally free. With that the poem is representing what happens next during the dark times. The south has done horrible to everyone that SHOULD BE TREATED EQUAL!!!!!!!!!!!!

The poem “death of an old carriage horse” is a symbol of freedom and meaning it is brought by the reconstruction era. This poem brings meaning to describe what is happening.

It’s Time to Rise


“Let a new earth rise, let another world be born, let a bloody peace be written in the sky.” This poem brings sadness, guilt, and happiness to the table, with the ability to bring tears to one’s eyes, from the heart breaking thought of the blacks being tortured but finally free, I give you the poem “For My People “ by Margaret Walker.

It has such a sad tone to it. For example, “for my people everywhere singing there slave songs.” or when it says, “praying their prayers nightly to an unknown god, bending on their knees humbly to an unseen power.” It is so sad that people went through this and this poem is great at describing the sadness and struggle of living like a slave.

“Dark churches and schools, miss understanding the fashion of gore people.” It’s like the way the wording is changed, its explaining the guilt and pain people are feeling. “ for my playmates in the clay and dust and sand of Alabama backyards.” Or, “Distressed, devoured, and deceived by money.” Thus describes the struggle and guilt within the torture there was.

In the end there is a happy ending, for instance “let a people loving freedom come to growth. Let the martial songs be written let the digres disappear.” This poem was very touching and based off of what has happened in your life, you might take the theme of the poem a different way. “ For My People.”

A Time of Death and Abandonment
By: Leah L
“Resignedly beneath the sky the melancholy waters lie. So blend the turrets and shadows there that all seem pendulous in air, while from a proud tower in the town death looks gigantically down.” This poem uses poetic devices such as a rhyming scheme and imagery, engaging the reader to read more about “The City in the Sea”, written by Edgar Allen Poe. It is about a city in a sea which is abandoned and broken down. People don’t live in it anymore: “Far down within the dim rest, where the good and the bad and the worst and the best have gone to their eternal rest…” This is linked to the Reconstruction Era when the good people and the bad people are not known for much anymore. They’re just like any other neglected person on the street where the world is too busy to stop for anyone who can’t keep up. “No rays from the holy heaven come down on the long night time of that town.” This city is in eternal darkness, with the occasional change: “But lo! A stir in the air! The wave-- there is a movement there!” Poe gives the reader a slim chance of hope to assure the reader that there is still hope in this lonely and disrepaired city.
Edgar Allan Poe writes this poem as a time of Deaths’ reign in this “City in the Sea”, later called “City of Sin”. He uses his choice of wording to engage the reader of his poems to read till the end of the “City in the Sea”, wanting to read on to see what will happen to the city: will it be recognized or will it be forever forgotten by passersby? Poe tries to use the most descriptive words to convince the reader of this fact: no one lives here, it is abandoned, and it will stay that way till further notice. Until Poe writes the end of the short and interesting story with either a happy ending or the doom that this city dreads: the eternal reign of death.
To conclude, this poem and the title are expertly linked together by the famous, descriptive, and loved-by-all poet, Edgar Allan Poe. He tries his best to tell a story, but only through a heartfelt and descriptive poem without flat out coming out and telling the story. He makes people think about the world that we live in: how it works, what we can’t change, and what we can in this cruel world.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Death rules a lonely city in the far west, where the buildings are unknown and everything comes to rest by melancholy waters. Nighttime prevails here. Although in eternal darkness, light from the sea shines on the tower and death looks down from his tower. The graves lie open, but none of their riches tempt the still waters. Then, suddenly, a breeze causes some movement in the sea, which gains a red glow as if to resemble the coming of the underworld as the city begins to sink.
In the poem “The city by the sea” Edgar Allan Poe uses diction, symbolism, and imagery to create an effective and engaging piece. By beginning with the personification of death, “City in the Sea” quickly sets the tone of darkness and sorrow for the remainder of the poem. This exemplifies the gothic setting that Poe establishes in this piece. The city does not have a realistic location and instead takes place in a more romantic setting. The land promotes mystery for all. Poe’s Gothicism deals mainly with atmosphere and mood, and the loneliness of the city and its closeness with death help to set the increasing horror.
In “The city by the sea” the main meaning of the poem revolves around hard labor and death. Death rules the city, and from his tower he emphasizes the increasing death in the city. The city is located “far down within the dim west” which represents the direction of the setting sun and that symbolizes a large amount of death. The dead are “gaily-jeweled” which implies happiness and celebration, but they lie in open graves and they only have the energy of the waves. Eventually, the first sign of movement fails to save the city and it ands up sinking slowly. The city’s lack of willpower positions it as destined for doom and it begins to sink.

Rights and Knowledge
By: Yushi

“But some of us would try to steal a little from the book”. “Learning to Read” by Frances E.W. Harper reveals how slaves wanted to read, but their owners kept the books away from them so they could not educate themselves, although the northerners supported the slaves to read.
To begin with, the poem had emotions. In the poem it said, “Well, the northern folks kept sending the Yankee teachers down; and they stood right up and helped us, Rebs still sneer and frown”. The poem also says, “Our owners always tried to hide book learning from our eyes. The slave owners didn’t want slaves to read; therefore, they attempted to educate themselves. The poem shows how difficult it is to do certain tasks without freedom, and everyone deserves to learn.
Furthermore, Frances Harper used outstanding language in her poem. Most of the time, the poem had rhymes. In each individual stanza every other line rhymes. The rhymes go abcb. A slave’s life story, and the struggles to educate yourself was revealed. In the 10th stanza, it said “But I was rising sixty, I had no time to wait. So I got a pair of glasses, and went straight to work. The author wanted the reader to understand what harsh things the slaves had to go through. “Knowledge didn’t agree with slavery,” “Twould make us all to wise”. Every line in the poem had excellent language usage to unravel a history.
In addition, “Learning to Read” had historical references. Back during the Reconstruction Era, slaves did not have rights, like the people in this poem. Events in the poem happened during the Reconstruction Era. Having a historical twist may give readers a good idea of what took place during the era. Overall, the poem had a remarkable layout and great language usage, which also left readers hanging, wanting to know more about the historical events in the poem.

The past is the past and will never come back. The Past by Ralph Waldo Emerson is a pome that has many poetic devices such as, repetition, rhyme, and alliteration. These poetic devices all make his pome the best of the best.
Ralph Waldo Emerson has a line of repetition in his poem called the past. In line six it states “turn the key and bolt the door.” He uses the word the twice and that could be considered repetition because it is used twice in the same line. Ralph has very powerful words to make his poem just right.
Furthermore, he also uses rhyme in his poem. In lines one and three there is rhyme at the end, “paid and laid” rhyme. When the author uses rhyme it makes the reader want to read more, because it is important to put poetic devices to catch the reader’s attention.
Lastly, the reader uses alliteration in his pome. He says “nor haughty hope” and when I saw that I thought that that could be considered alliteration because the words have similar beginning sounds.
In conclusion the pome the Past by Ralph Waldo Emerson is a life carrying experience that will make you think harder about life.

In the poem “Charge of The Light Brigade” Alfred Lord Tennyson shows how hard life is for a soldier in antebellum America. First and foremost, it is very dangerous to charge blindly into battle. Tennyson depicts this when he says, “into the jaws of death, into the mouth of Hell” next, lines 17-19 show our heroes being trapped by cannons. At the end stanza 5, many men have died. These selections show in themselves that war is extremely treacherous. To continue, a soldier is not permitted to question orders. Gives good insight on how a good soldier reacts to his order, “Their’s not to make a reply, Their’s not to reason why. Their’s to do and die.” The repetition of “their’s” shows ownership to the soldier. Also, being a soldier is both physically and mentally demanding. In stanza 3 we see the soldiers must fight for awhile with sprints in-between. Tennyson ends the poem with the “noble six hundred” returning home as heroes.

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 is a great life lesson because it teaches you that your life, education, and freedom will always come at a price. In conclusion, this poem has an amazing tone, engaging imagery, and metaphors that give it the final touch.

Amaranthine Love
In the poem “The Soldier” by Rupert Brooke, the poet engages his audience to continuously read this poem and wish there was more. Some of the lines are very alluring, yet seem so simple. An example of this could be, “Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam; A body of England’s, breathing English air.” This line is very descriptive and overall, just engaging. Brooke does a good job of explaining the theme of the poem throughout it and does not state the theme exactly. In fact, Brooke discloses the theme, in a very subtle way, throughout the poem. “The Soldier” can engage a profusion of audience members no matter whom or where they are. Rupert Brooke uses poetic devices in a very exquisite style on all accounts in this poem. A list of these devices may include: symbolism, personification, tone/mood/voice, and many more. Brooke also has an engaging theme. All of these devices are used to enhance this significant poem. Inescapably, Brooke uses very many poetic devices to grapnel the reader in the poem “The Soldier”

To begin, Rupert Brooke uses symbolism in his poem to explain and engage the audience. One of his lines states, “A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,” This line is explaining that England is making a person who was not aware, more aware that death comes at a price, but love is always free. Even though England is not alive, it is still a really powerful line. Brooke uses this to emphasize this amazing poem. The poem “The Soldier” has a deluge of significant symbolisms in “The Soldier” to help contract the pursuer to continue reading the poem. Also, in “The Soldier” Brooke uses symbolism to change the tone in the poem very subtly. Brooke clearly symbolizes that when the soldier dies, he will always be with his lovers. This is going more in depth with the line “A pulse in the eternal mind, no less” and Brooke really emphasizes this.

Proximately, Rupert Brooke also uses personification in “The Soldier” to catch the audience among his poem. Brooke gives England human qualities to explain how “The Soldier in the poem is with England and how England is depressed at his death. Even though England is a country withholding three million people (estimate from early 1900s), this country was given human qualities. Brooke did a very good job at using very little personification lines and still showing how important it is in the poem. In fact, this poem has 1-2 lines with personification and those lines are some of the short ones. Even with the amount of personification used, Brooke made this device visible in those lines in “The Soldier”.

Equally important, the overall theme and tone/voice of “The Soldier” by Rupert Brooke is a good theme for a great poem. For starters, one of the many thought out themes of “The Soldier” is that even when death comes, love will always be by your side. Even with how hard the times are, love can always find time for its favorite person in the whole entire world, YOU. Love is endless, it will never go away even if you think no one loves you, no matter what you’re always being loved. Brooke does explain the theme a little bit more throughout the poem; some of the lines from “The Soldier” explain this theme as well. One of those lines might be “If I should die, think only this of me: That there’s some corner of a foreign field That is forever England.” This line is very descriptive in what the theme might be and gives a clear example of it.
Altogether, “The Soldier” by Rupert Brooke is an overall outstanding poem that uses many poetic devices including but not limited to: symbolism, personification, theme, and tone/voice. In conclusion, the poem “The Soldier” is a very engaging poem using multiple techniques to grasp readers of any kind no matter the person.