Killah…  for completely slaying the competition.

by Edgar Allan Poe

Gaily bedight,

A galiant knight,

In sunshine and in shadow,

Had journeyed long,

Singing a song,

In search of Eldorado.

But he grew old-

This knight so bold-

And o’er his heart a shadow

Fell as he found

No spot of ground

That looked like Eldorado.

And, as his strength

Failed him at length,

He met a pilgrim shadow-

“Shadow,” said he,

“Where can it be-

This land of Eldorado?”

“Over the Mountains

Of the Moon,

Down the Valley of the Shadow,

Ride, boldly ride,”

The shade replied-

“If you seek for Eldorado!”

This poem is about the journey that a man takes to Eldorado.  Eldorado was a legend.  No one knew if it actually existed.  Therefore the man was riding towards Eldorado with the hope that he would find it.  Eldorado in many ways is the dream that we chase throughout our life.  Sometimes our dreams seem achievable and close and other times they seem difficult and far away.  I think that Poe refers to these good and bad times using the imagery of light and natural landmarks.  He says that the knight journeys “in sunshine and in shadow.” He also says that when he met the shadow, “his strength failed him.” When he meets this shadow he is giving up on his dreams.  Everything has caught up with him and it all seems too much.  He doubts himself and he does not think he can continue forward.  The shadow then describes how there will be “mountains” and “valleys” on the way to Eldorado.  These again are the ups and downs in the ride that we take toward our dreams of Eldorado.  The shadow gives the man encouraging words. He says, “Ride, boldly ride.” I think this is the message that Poe gives to his audience.  He encourages us to follow our dreams no matter how difficult they seem.  

I can definitely relate to this poem because I have my own dreams and aspirations as a student in college and I run into peaks and valleys all the time.  My dream is to graduate in my field and possibly go to graduate school.  Sometimes when I am sitting in traffic on my way to school I get discouraged and I want to quit.  Sometimes on the weekends or weekday nights when everyone else is having fun and I’m working, I want to quit.  When gas prices are sky high and I’m not making enough money, I get discouraged and I want to quit.  But the thing that keeps me going is my mom.  She is like the “shadow.”  She won’t let me give up so I keep going to school.  Then eventually gas prices plummet and suddenly I have enough money to help out my mom and still pay my own bills. This is when I reach a “peak” and it feels like it is all worth it.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  When finals are over, I will again see a light at the end of the tunnel.  The shadows and valleys slow us down but the sunshine and the peaks help us through the hard times and give us hope for the future.  So if you feel like you are in the “Valley of the shadow,” remember the words: “Ride, boldly ride,” to the land of Eldorado.

By Dylan Thomas

My tears are like the quiet drift

Of petals from some magic rose;

And all my grief flows from the rift

Of unremembered skies and snows.

I think, that if I touched the earth,

It would crumble;

It is so sad and beautiful,

So tremulously like a dream.

This is probably the most confusing poem I have ever read, but  I think I understand what Thomas is saying.  First of all, I think that the title of the poem, clown in the moon, is actually the speaker of the poem.  This would make sense on a literal level.  His tears are the rain that fall in a “quiet drift” and there are, “unremembered skies and snows” instead of unremembered years.  Also, he says, “if I touched the earth.”  This must mean on a literal level that he has not touched the earth.  Therefore, it is a reasonable arguement to say that the speaker of the poem is the clown in the moon.  So why did Thomas pick a clown in the moon as the speaker of the poem?  A clown is often associated with children and wheres a mask that always has a smile upon it yet this clown is not happy.  The clown in the moon is crying.  This must mean that he is masking his true feelings from the world.  He claims that the reason for his “grief” is “unremembered skies and snows.”  This must mean to the moon unremembered years.  I take this as years of his life that he has blocked out from his memory.  He doesn’t remember these years because he does not want to remember them.  They were a time of sorrow.  The clown associates these times with childhood so I assume that the speaker was either abused or neglected as a child. 

The next stanza is quite interesting.  He says that if he touches the earth it would crumble.  I think there is a connection being made to King Midas here.  Everything King Midas touched turned to gold as the story goes.  He therefore could not love because he could not hug or kiss his wife and children.  Since he is the moon he is too far away to actually touch humanity.  He is unable to love as King Midas for what he touches will crumble.  This history of neglect or abuse must have contributed to this feeling of being unable to love.  So I think that this poem is about a man or woman who has grown up trying to forget and also trying to hide from others their past history of abuse.  Also, this past history of abuse has made them an outsider who is unable to love as a result. 

I chose this poem because it was just so well put together in my opinion.  It describes the state of mind of an abuse victom so perfectly.  It describes how they feel by using very abstract almost dream-like ideas.  This is interesting to me because the speaker describes how they feel as “a dream.”  Also, we don’t usually remember much of our childhood.  It is almost like a blur so it is a little like a dream in itself.  Suppresed memories only add to this dream-like state.  So the poem is written very appropriately for this reason. 

“In Broken Images”

by Robert Graves

He is quick, thinking in clear images;
I am slow, thinking in broken images.

He becomes dull, trusting to his clear images;
I become sharp, mistrusting my broken images.

Trusting his images, he assumes their relevance;
Mistrusting my images, I question their relevance.

Assuming their relevance, he assumes the fact;
Questioning their relevance, I question the fact.

When the fact fails him, he questions his senses;
When the fact fails me, I approve my senses.

He continues quick and dull in his clear images;
I continue slow and sharp in my broken images.

He in a new confusion of his understanding;
I in a new understanding of my confusion.

In this poem, Graves describes the way in which he thinks.  He compares his reasoning to that of another person.  He says that the other person is able to solve problems faster than he is able to, however, he regards this as a weakness.  It is a weakness to Graves because there is too much trust placed on the so called “facts.”  I understand what Graves means by this because I also think in “broken images.”  In school, they often teach rules that students use without even thinking.  The rules become second nature to the students, and the students succeed as a result.  However, the important thing is to actually be able to understand why something is a rule or a “fact” because many rules have exceptions to them.  I didn’t like school very much for this reason because I would often see people succeed without ever really learning anything.  They just followed the rules.  School was mostly memorization and nothing more. Thats why I like this poem.  Graves highlights the point that eventually the rules you were taught or the “facts” you were taught will fail and that is when it will have paid off to have analyzed every piece of information that was received.   It will have paid to have been critical and to have analyzed everything piece by piece.  It will have paid to have thought in “broken images.”

by: Sir Walter Raleigh

•  

  Go, Soul, the body’s guest,

  Upon a thankless arrant!

  Fear not to touch the best;

  The truth shall be thy warrant:

  Go, since I needs must die,

  And give the world the lie.

   

  Say to the court it glows

  And shines like rotten wood;

  Say to the church it shows

  What’s good, and doth no good:

  If court and church reply,

  Then give them both the lie.

   

  Tell potentates they live

  Acting by others’ action,

  Not loved unless they give,

  Not strong but by a faction.

  If potentates reply,

  Give potentates the lie.

   

  Tell men of high condition

  That manage the estate,

  Their purpose is ambition,

  Their practice only hate:

  And if they make reply,

  Then give them all the lie.

   

  Tell them that brave it most,

  They beg for more by spending,

  Who, in their greatest cost,

  Seek nothing but commending:

  And if they make reply,

  Then give them all the lie.

   

  Tell zeal it wants devotion;

  Tell love it is but lust;

  Tell time it is but motion;

  Tell flesh it is but dust:

  And wish them not reply,

  For thou must give the lie.

   

  Tell age it daily wasteth;

  Tell honor how it alters;

  Tell beauty how she blasteth;

  Tell favor how she falters:

  And as they shall reply,

  Give every one the lie.

   

  Tell wit how much it wrangles

  In tickle points of niceness;

  Tell wisdom she entangles

  Herself in over-wiseness:

  And when they do reply,

  Straight give them both the lie.

   

  Tell physic of her boldness;

  Tell skill it is pretension;

  Tell charity of coldness;

  Tell law it is contention:

  And as they do reply,

  So give them still the lie.

   

  Tell fortune of her blindness;

  Tell nature of decay;

  Tell friendship of unkindness;

  Tell justice of delay:

  And if they will reply,

  Then give them all the lie.

   

  Tell arts they have no soundness,

  But vary by esteeming;

  Tell schools they want profoundness,

  And stand too much on seeming:

  If arts and school reply,

  Give arts and school the lie.

   

  Tell faith it fled the city;

  Tell how the country erreth;

  Tell manhood shakes off pity;

  Tell virtue least preferreth:

  And if they do reply,

  Spare not to give the lie.

   

  So when thou hast, as I

  Commanded thee, done blabbing,–

  Although to give the lie

  Deserves no less than stabbing,–

  Stab at thee, he that will,

  No stab the soul can kill.  

   I think this poem is about hypocrisy:  “Say to the court it glows and shines like rotten wood; Say to the church it shows what’s good, and doth no good.”  Since “rotten wood” does not glow, I think Raleigh is saying that the court is not as upright as it portrays itself to be.  He also says that the church tells everyone what is good but doesn’t do any good itself.  It doesn’t listen to its own advice according to Raleigh.  This idea of hypocrisy is illustrated over and over again throughout the poem.  He says love is lust and time is just motion etc.  The interesting thing is the way he chooses to expose these hidden ills of society.  He has his soul tell everyone because “no stab the soul can kill.”  Since a soul cannot be killed,  he sends out his soul to tell these lies. 

   I really like this poem because Raleigh puts everything in its place.  My favorite line is, “Tell zeal it wants devotion; Tell love it is but lust: Tell time it is but motion; Tell flesh it is but dust.”  I have never been in love but i definetly have been in lust.  I think a lot of people confuse the two so I have to agree with Raleigh on this point.  When he refers to flesh as dust, I think he is bashing lust.  When we die we will eventually turn into dust, so I think hes saying that its kind of crazy to be goo goo eyed over skin.  Skin turns to dust.  I agree with Raleigh.  Looks aren’t everything.  When we get older, everything starts sagging!  So why do we put such a high value on skin in this country?  Whats the big deal?

My Prime of youth is but a frost of cares;

My feast of joy is but a dish of pain;

My crop of corn is but a field of tares;

And all my good is but vain hope of gain:

The day is past, and yet I saw no sun;

And now I live, and now my life is done.

My tale was heard, and it was not told;

My fruit is fall’n, and yet my leaves are green;

My youth is spent, and yet I am not old;

I saw the world, and yet I was not seen:

My thread is cut, and yet it is not spun;

And now I live, and now my life is done.

I sought my death, and found it in my womb;

I looked for life, and saw it was a shade;

I trod the earth, and knew it was my tomb;

And now I die, and now I was but made:

My glass is full, and now my glass is run;

And now I live, and now my life is done.

This poem was written by Chidiock Tichborne. Tichborne was executed on September 20, 1586 because he was a conspirator in the plot to kill Queen Elizabeth.  He wrote this poem to his wife, Agnes, on September 19, 1586, the night before we was executed.  He was only twenty-eight years old at the time.  (http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/144.html)

When I first read this poem, I put myself in Tichborne’s place.  I looked back on my life and I asked myself, “What if I were to die tomorow?”  Would I have any regrets?  Would I feel as though I hadn’t served a purpose? I think these are the questions that the poem proposes to its reader.  Tichborne continually states that his life has just begun and now it’s ending: “And now I live, and now my life is done.”  This possibly signifies that he has a new value for life and would have lived it more fully if he had the chance to.  This is a sentiment of many people who discover that their days are limited.  They suddenly treasure every breathe of air they take and enjoy life more fully.  Tichborne says that he has seen the world but has not been seen.  This line conveys that Tichborne feels as though he has not left  much of an impact upon the world.  He has not left his mark on the world: He will not be remembered.  I think this is what most people dread to think of when they die because we usually want to leave behind something of value to the world when we part.  I hope I don’t feel the same way as Tichborne when I die.

 by Edgar Allan Poe

From childhood’s hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view.

Poe gave this poem the title, “Alone,” however, I don’t think this is a poem about solitude.  I think it is more about the sensation of feeling alone in the world.  We have all at one time or another felt like we don’t belong.  In this poem, Poe talks about why he feels like an outsider:  “I have not been as others were; I have not seen as others saw.”  My favorite line in the poem is when Poe says, “and all I loved, I loved alone.”  I often feel the same way.  Sometimes I love things that other people could just careless about.  For example, I love sharing a meal with my family on the holidays.  There is something about it, when your there, and everyone is joking around.  I just feel safe.  I feel like I’m a part of something and I know they’re the only people who truely care about me.  Another example is when a girl gently strokes your back with her hands and this tingly feeling runs through your entire body.  I love that.  Most people will say they love money or cars or somthing that is at least less simplistic.  This is why I feel the same way as Poe does; I love alone. 

 The last lines of the poem really sum up why Poe feels like an outsider: “From the thunder and the storm, and the cloud that took that form when the rest of Heaven was blue of a demon in my view.”  Poe is saying that most people see the blue skies while he sees a cloud that looks like a demon.  Poe had a hard life.  He didn’t look around and see blue skies and rainbows.  He saw death.  I learned in school that his wife and his mother both died of tuberculosis.  Since he has had a lot more hardship in his life than most people, he saw himself as an outsider.  I feel the same way because I have also seen “a most stormy life.”

by Alexander Pope

Happy the man, whose wish and care

A few paternal acres bound,

Content to breathe his native air,

In his own ground.

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,

Whose flocks supply him with attire,

Whose trees in summer yield him shade,

In winter fire.

Blest, who can unconcern’dly find

Hours, days, and years slide soft away,

In health of body, peace of mind,

Quiet by day,

Sound sleep by night, study and ease,

Together mixed; sweet recreation;

And innocence, which most does please

With meditation.

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown,

Thus unlamented let me die,

Steal from the world, and not a stone

Tell where I lie.

I think that Pope does a wonderful job explaining why he values solitude.  He uses the life of a farmer to describe how peaceful and unstressful a life of solitude can be.  He also connects solitude with nature saying how his “flocks” supply him with his “attire” and the trees give him shade and “winter fire.”  He  then talks of how the farmer is healthy and mentions that at night he sleeps soundly.  I think that this is not the case for me because I grew up in the city.  It is a fast pace lifestyle.  Everyone eats at fast food places and beeps as soon as the light turns red.  We often forget to take some time to enjoy the simple things in life.  I think that this is the focus of the poem.

I especially like the line where Pope says that he is “content to breathe his native air, in his own ground.”  I like this line because I think a lot of people are quick to put down where they’re from and they can’t wait to leave when they get older.  I think Pope is trying to say that we should be proud of our background as humble as it might be and by the end of poem he conveys just how humble he wishes his lifestyle to be:  He says that he wants to die without having a tombstone or being mourned for.  This last stanza of the poem helped me tie in the total meaning of the poem.  I think that Pope is trying to convey that a person, who does not value solitude, is a people pleaser.  A people pleaser is someone who trys to make everyone like them and strives to be popular or famous.  If you are not a people pleaser, you can use moments of solitude in order to live a peaceful life that is void of stress.  I believe that this is what Pope is trying to tell his audience.

I think that this poem is about a girl who has been either abused or raped by her lover.  It captures the feelings of a lot of girls who have had this happen to them.  She talks of having ”tainted dreams.”  I think that this refers to how she thought of love and how these horrible experiences have changed how she used to think of it.  Maybe she thought of it as it is in the fairy tales where theres a knight in shining armor and so forth.  These hopes and dreams of true love were crushed or “tainted.” She talks of how she still continues to hold out her heart or extend her love to him even after these acts of violence.  This is illustrated in the second stanza.  The author writes of how her fingers are unsure and her hands are shaking as she ”holds out her heart.”  She then talks of how she drops her heart on the floor.  I think this symbolizes her inability to ever love or trust another man again.  She then says that she will soon loose her soul in the same way.  I think that this line conveys that he has taken everything away from her.  

I thought this poem correctly captured the feelings of a woman who has been a victim in an abusive relationship.  I have known women who have been in such relationships and it always baffaled me how they would continue to “hold out their heart” hoping things would change in the future.  This poem correctly yet sadly portrays this all to common phenomenon and its final result.  If you want to see more poems by this author her username is tornpaperdoll at darkpoetry.com.  I am not sure what her actual name is.