Works Cited

Barnes, Jessica. "UniversalJournal/AYJW - Articles, Papers, Essays - Association of Young Journalists and Writers." The Association of Young Journalists, AYJW - News Media, Travel, Games, and More - College and Media Directory. Web. 21 July 2011. http://www.ayjw.org/articles.php?id=552452

Meyer, Michael, ed. Literature to Go. Bedford/st Martins, 2010. Print.

Miner, Paul. "Blake's 'Tyger' as Miltonic beast." Studies in Romanticism 47.4 (2008): 479+. General Reference Center Gold. Web. 24 July 2011.

"I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died." Web. 27 July 2011. <http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/fly.html>.

"Poe's Life by Edgar Allan Poe Museum." Edgar Allan Poe Museum : Poe's Life, Legacy, and Works : Richmond, Virginia. Web. 20 July 2011. <http://www.poemuseum.org/life.php>.

"Wake Me Up When September Ends." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 26 July 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake_Me_Up_When_September_Ends>.

I heard a Fly buzz－when I died－by Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson
I heard a Fly buzz－when I died－

I heard a fly buzz－when I died－
The Stillness in the Room
Was like the stillness in the air－
Between the heaves of storm－

The Eyes around－had wrung them dry－
And breaths were gathering sure
For that last onset－when the king
Be witnessed－in the Room－

I willed my Keepsakes－Signed away
What portion of me be
Assignable－and then it was
There interposed a Fly－

With blue－uncertain stumbling buzz－
Between the light－and me－
And then the windows failed－and then
I could not see to see－

Comment:



The poem is written by Emily Dickinson, and the title of the poem is the first line of the poem because lack of title is one of features of Dickinson's poems.

The most significant element in this poem is the fly. Why does Dickinson not use other insects like bee or gnat in the poem? Compared to bee or gnat, fly is more associated with death because they are easy to be found around dead bodies.

There are four stanzas in the poem. The first stanza describes the moment before death.

I heard a fly buzz－when I died－
The Stillness in the Room
Was like the stillness in the air－
Between the heaves of storm－ 

The word "Stillness" has two different implications. First, "stillness" means calmness which shows the dying person is relatively calmer. However, "stillness" could also mean death because stillness has the feature of coolness and no moving. From the watchers' perspective, the word "stillness" could use to describes the death of the person because death body could not move any more and just quietly stay there. The fly makes buzzing sound in the room. The stillness in the room and the buzzing sounds become a strong contract between life and death. Even though the stillness and calmness are in the room, something is going to come. "The heaves of storm" may depict the struggles just right before death. The chest raises and fails in order to obtain more air to keep the dying life.

The second stanza:

The Eyes around－had wrung them dry－
And breaths were gathering sure
For that last onset－when the king
Be witnessed－in the Room－

This stanza is still from the dying person's perspective or angle to observe the surroundings. The friends or family members are sad. The breaths of the dying person is getting rapid and short. Getting more air become the "last onset." However, facing death there is nothing can win. In my own interpretation, I think the king is the king of the death. While the dying person is struggling to get more air, the king of the death is watching her in order to witness the death.

The third stanza

I willed my Keepsakes－Signed away
What portion of me be
Assignable－and then it was
There interposed a Fly－

All the possessions become useless and meaningless when one is dying because one bares one's hands enter the world, and one will be leave with a bare hands as well. The lines tell the readers that the dying person is willing to cut her attachments to this world. However, instead of the kind of the death, a fly appears before she dies. It may represent that the fly is the king of the death. Or, the appearance of the fly reveals the certain death is going to come.


The final stanza

With blue－uncertain stumbling buzz－
Between the light－and me－
And then the windows failed－and then
I could not see to see－

I really like the last stanza of the poem. With the buzzing sound, the dying person is gradually losing her life. The buzzing sound is fading out, and the light is getting feebler. The windows are always used to represent the eyes, and when the windows failed, the eyes are close, which indicates the end of the life. The most emotional line is the last line of the poem: "I could not see to see－"  I think there have two totally different meanings. First, it shows Dickinson believes there is no more life after death because the windows is closed, and there is dark and no one can see. However, there are some hopes because "I could not see to see" for me is stilling seeing and watching. "I could not see" means the function of the body is failed, so she is not able to see. Yet, "to see" gives people a feeling that even though is not able to see, people still can see after death, even just seeing darkness.

I think it is the most profound poem I have ever read. Or, maybe I just have read too few.
Keep reading.

Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day

Green Day
Wake Me Up When September Ends

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
wake me up when September ends

like my father's come to pass
seven years has gone so fast
wake me up when September ends

here comes the rain again
falling from the stars
drenched in my pain again
becoming who we are

as my memory rests
but never forgets what I lost
wake me up when September ends

summer has come and passed
the innocent can never last
wake me up when September ends

ring out the bells again
like we did when spring began
wake me up when September ends

here comes the rain again
falling from the stars
drenched in my pain again
becoming who we are

as my memory rests
but never forgets what I lost
wake me up when September ends

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
wake me up when September ends

like my father's come to pass
twenty years has gone so fast
wake me up when September ends
wake me up when September ends
wake me up when September ends

Commands:



I do not know that many American song, but "Wake Me Up When September Ends" is one of my favorite song. It is a song by American rock band Green Day released as the fourth single from their seventh album, American Idiot.

At first, I was thinking the meaning of song is about September 11 attacks because setting of the the song is in September, and the song is also used to commemorate losing love ones. Another coincidence, according to WiKipedia, "In the liner notes, the song is dated September 10, and it is track 11 on the album."

However, the songwriter, Billie Joe Armstrong has clarified that the song is a memorial song to his father who was a jazz musician. The father died in September 10, 1982 when Armstrong was only ten years old. Armstrong mentions that the song was also dedicated to the guitarist, Johnny Ramone because Ramones has a great influential power to Green Day.

The Lamp by William Blake

William Blake
The Lamp

Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
Gave thee life & bid thee feed.
By the stream & o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing wooly bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice!
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee

Little Lamb I’ll tell thee,
Little Lamb I’ll tell thee!
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb:
He is meek & he is mild,
He became a little child:
I a child & thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb God bless thee.
Little Lamb God bless thee.

Comment:



First of all, the poem, "The Lamb," was published with William Blake's collection Songs of Innocence. This poem is contrasted with his another poem, "The tyger," which was collected in Songs of Experience.

The poem has two stanzas which seem to be arranged in a question and answer format. Similar to "The Tyger," "The lamb" is also asking about the creation of God. The lamb is a common metaphor for Jesus Christ because he is also called the "The Lamb of God" in John 1:29. Moreover, the image of child is also related to Jesus in the Gospel.

This poem Blake seems to have more positive aspects of conventional Christian belief. However, it avoids to depict or mention the suffering and evil in the world.The language usage of this poem and the rhyme of this poem are very childish, which match the characteristic of innocence.

Even though "The Lamb" describes more positive images of conventional Christian, it reinforces the question asked in "The Tyger" when people analysis "The Lamb" and "The Tyger" together. Child and innocence could embody pure and origin of creation, but child and innocence could also mean immature and lack of knowledge. Blake did not give people an answer, but he left a space for people to think from the perspectives of innocence and experience to observe their faith and belief.

The Tyger by William Blake

William Blake
The Tyger

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?


And what shoulder, & what art.
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Comment:



Hello!
First of all, the poem, "The Tyger," was published with William Blake's collection Songs of Experience. This poem is contrasted with his another poem, "The Lamp," which was collected in Songs of Innocence.

The rhyme of this poem has an interesting power which is able to draw people into a realm of the fantasy world. The meter of this poem is mainly trochaic tetrameter; however, at the end of the each trochaic lines Blake uses a catalectic ending. According to Jessica Barnes, "This, along with the insertion of several iambic tetrameter lines, allows every end syllable to be stressed – thus forming a forceful beat to the poem, reminiscent of the tiger’s power. The set beat goes along with the words of the first stanza to create an image of a tiger prowling steadily through the dark forest." The rhyme works as the role them music in a play and create the moods of terror in the forests.

This poem asks a theological question that why a virtuous creator, the God, create a horrific creature, the tiger? It reflects on the reality of the world we are living in. The world contains both beauty and horror, and what kind of a God could create such beautiful world and something so evil and violent at the some time? It is a very profound question to be asked.

The are six stanzas in this poem, and all of which elaborates on this conception, the question about God, the creator. However, the answer of the question is not given throughout the poem. I think the poet wants to leave a room for people to think and seek their best answer by their own imagination and experience in order to fulfill and satisfy various people's craving for knowledge of the creation or the God.

In this poem, there are three vital symbols which are tiger, smithy, and lamb. First, tiger is the most significant symbol in the poem because the representation of the tiger is not only perfectly beautiful but also perfectly destructive. The combination of both beautiful and destructive features is also the core question toward the creator. Second, Blake uses smithy to represent the creation of the natural world. I also think the process of forging is the process of create the tiger. And then, creating the tiger represents the creation of the world. Finally, according to Jessica Barnes, "it both reminds the reader of God, about whom the question is posed, and reminds them that Blake has another poem of a similar nature, “The Lamb,” in which it could be argued that the Lamb is Christ."

A Dream within a Dream by Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe
A Dream within a Dream

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow-
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep- while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream? 

Comment:




In class, we know Poe's writing style has two features one is a morbidity and darkness. His miserable childhood affects his life directly. His parents were died when he was three, and later on he was adapted by the wealthy tobacco merchant, John Allan. However, Mr. Allan anticipated Poe to become a businessman rather than a poet. Poe still desperately wanted to be a writer. Even though Poe has already had enough poetry to publish a book, Mr. Allan did not allow him to do so. When Poe went to college, he did not have enough money. He even burned furnitures to keep warm.


The poem is 24 lines, divided into two stanzas. The title of the poem, "A Dream within a Dream," tells the readers how Poe views his life or the important events. Are they reality or fantasy, or every both reality and fantasy. In general, people know dreams are not real. When people have a nightmare, they wake up and comfort themselves by saying, "Don't worry, it is not real." "A Dream with a Dream" creates an atmosphere which the reality and fantasy are blend together. The world should be real when people wake from a dream. However, when people wake a dream which within another dream, they may think they are in the reality but it is not. They are just from another unreal world into the other unreal world. For Poe, sad and miserable events and  experiences in his life like dreams but he seemed never be able to jump out of the dreams. A dream within a dream is a non stop and inescapable circle. Even though dreams are unreal, they become real when people cannot distinguish what reality and fantasy are and live in the dreams never wake up.

The first stanza is told by the first-person point of view. Apart for a lover and lose any hope are the vital elements in the first stanza. The line "Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now," may reflect the death of Virginia Clemm. The marriage between Poe and Virginia was the few lovely and sweet moments in Poe's life. Her illness affected Poe revert to alcoholism, and the death of Virginia even caused Poe could not write for months.

Compared to the first stanza, the second stanza is more external. The scene takes place at the shore. The short lines like "How few!", "O God!" and "O God!" show the the helpless emotion Poe has. The golden sand may refer to the few happy moments he had, but he could not hold the moments forever. They were all gone.

And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep- while I weep!

Because Poe is considered a prominent author in the Romantic Movement. He cooperates natural elements into his writing. Sea and shore are the important elements he uses in the poem.

You're Missing by Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen
You're Missing

Shirts in the closet, shoes in the hall
Mama's in the kitchen, baby and all
Everything is everything
Everything is everything
But you're missing

Coffee cups on the counter, jackets on the chair
Papers on the doorstep, you're not there
Everything is everything
Everything is everything
But you're missing

Pictures on the nightstand, TV's on in the den
Your house is waiting, your house is waiting
For you to walk in, for you to walk in
But you're missing, you're missing
You're missing when I shut out the lights
You're missing when I close my eyes
You're missing when I see the sun rise
You're missing

Children are asking if it's alright
Will you be in our arms tonight?

Morning is morning, the evening falls I have
Too much room in my bed, too many phone calls
How's everything, everything?
Everything, everything
You're missing, you're missing

Comment:



Before I read the poem, I did not know it is also a lyrics for a song. The sing version of the poem is much touching than the reading version. Mrs. Patton mentioned that in general the poem is used to sing. According to Michael Meyer, "Although the most widely read verse is found in greeting cars, the most widely heard poetry appears in song lyrics" (367). Mrs. Patton also asked some students you show the lyrics of their favorite songs. Some lyrics works out as a poem, but some do not.

The poem or the song is to commemorate the victims of 911. The poem create a strong atmosphere of  absence of love ones by depicting the scenes and elements from everyday people's life. Be more specific, the arrangement of all the objects and people corresponds to certain places. For example:

Shirts in the closet, shoes in the hall
Mama's in the kitchen, baby and all
Everything is everything
Everything is everything
but you're missing

These lines lead people to visualize the poem. If a thing exists, it must occupy a physical space. We can imagine what a music video the poem could be. When the camera move from place to place, shirts, closet, shes, hall, mother, kitchen, and baby, the last scene stops at a place where the missing person was used to be. This arrangement of the objects and people reinforce the feeling of someone absents. The repetition of the line, "you're missing," also truthfully reflects the sorrowful emotion within people when they lose someone.

When I first read this poem, I did not know it is a poem to commemorate the victims of 911 because of the last two lines of the poem:

God's drifting in heaven, devil's in the mailbox
I got dust on my shoes, nothing but teardrops

I thought it was about a war that young people join combats and never return. "Devil's in the mailbox" tells us the death notification is in the mailbox. However, the only hint which tells people it is about 911 is the word "dust." Because of the great explosion and collapse, the remains of the victims become fragments. In order to identify the victims, running DNA check is necessary. When the test finishes, there will be a latter sending to the family to confirm the death of their love ones.

Finally, I think this poem not only about 911. It also can use to other situations which about missing and losing someone, or even works for romantic purpose.

My Last Duchess by Robert Browning

Robert Browning
My Last Duchess
Ferrara
That's my last Duchess' painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Fra Pandolf’s hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Will’t please you sit and look at her? I said
“Fra Pandolf” by design, for never read
Strangers like you that pictured countenance,
The depth and passion of its earnest glance,
But to myself they turned (since none puts by
The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)
And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,
How such a glance came there; so, not the first
Are you to turn and ask thus. Sir, ’twas not
Her husband’s presence only, called that spot
Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek: perhaps
Fra Pandolf chanced to say “Her mantle laps
Over my lady’s wrist too much,” or “Paint
Must never hope to reproduce the faint
Half-flush that dies along her throat”: such stuff
Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough
For calling up that spot of joy. She had
A heart—how shall I say?—too soon made glad,
Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er
She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.
Sir, ’twas all one! My favour at her breast,
The dropping of the daylight in the West,
The bough of cherries some officious fool
Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule
She rode with round the terrace—all and each
Would draw from her alike the approving speech,
Or blush, at least. She thanked men,—good! but thanked
Somehow—I know not how—as if she ranked
My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name
With anybody’s gift. Who’d stoop to blame
This sort of trifling? Even had you skill
In speech—(which I have not)—to make your will
Quite clear to such an one, and say, “Just this
Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss,
Or there exceed the mark”—and if she let
Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set
Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse,
—E’en then would be some stooping; and I choose
Never to stoop. Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt,
Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands
As if alive. Will’t please you rise? We’ll meet
The company below, then. I repeat,
The Count your master’s known munificence
Is ample warrant that no just pretence
Of mine for dowry will be disallowed;
Though his fair daughter’s self, as I avowed
At starting, is my object. Nay, we’ll go
Together down, sir. Notice Neptune, though,
Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity,
Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!


Comment:

Lucrezia de’ Medici, by Bronzino, generally believed to be My Last Duchess from Wikipedia.com

 
The poem is about Duke of Ferrara and his last duchess. The poem is a narrative poem and uses the method of dramatic monologue which the narrator is the duke of Ferrara. For me, I feel the approach of dramatic monologue is similar to stream-of-consciousness because both of the methods are able to draw readers into the narrator's conscious and directly listen to the true voice deep in the narrator's mind.


In the history, the death of the last duchess was a mystery, and many people suspected that the duke was the murder. The poem reveals many negative characters of the duke. His characters of control and jealousy are vividly depicted in the poem. I even think the duke may have some kind of mental morbidity.

The duke seemed to not able to obtain total control over the duchess when she was alive. He was jealous of her appreciation to everyone. The inability to take control of the duchess leads to her death.

--E'en then would be some stooping; and I choose
Never to stoop. Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt
Whene'er I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands
As if alive. Will't please you rise? We'll meet

The smile of the duchess could represent the the duchess' happiness is based on the freedom without the duke's control. However, this smile seems to be a humiliating laugh at the duke. In order to take total control, he must kill her. The smile stopped, and she died. And the duke won. The word "commands" reveals the duke plays the role of god who can decide the life and death of a person.

We can take back from the end of the poem to the beginning of the poem. The duke is talking about the painting of the Duchess' portrait:

That's my last Duchess' painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call

and

But to myself they turned (since none puts by
The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)

Both of the sayings may embody that the duke can control over the duchess after she died. Moreover, we also can sense that the duke's attitude toward women is treating them as objects instead of human.

Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins

Billy Collins
Introduction to Poetry

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want then to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with a rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.



Comment:
In my impression, writing and understanding poetry is an impossible mission for me. However, this poem is very approachable. There are the reasons. First, the poet uses the common diction to describe the poem. Furthermore, this poem does not have a rhyme. The rules of the rhyme is difficult for my to identify because there are many words I have hard time to pronounce.
The poem could be divided into two sections. The first section is about the happy and enjoyable way to learn and interpret poetry. It simply tells us we can use all of our senses to experience what the true meaning of a poem. Some people may learn from visual images, some people may prefer listening rather than reading, and others may want to learn throughout their physical experiences.
The second section is opposite to the first section. This section begins with: "But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with a rope." Even though the learning process of the section section seems very painful, it is still a way to understand poetry.