Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas Do not go gentle into that good night, Old

age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Wild men who caught and sang the sun in ight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night. Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. And you, my father, there on that sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your erce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. ! ! The theme of this poem is simple, and it can be clearly seen in nearly every aspect of life as we know it: dont give up. The speaker in the poem is preaching how you should ght death with a burning rage, and not allow death to take you away from everything you love so quickly. He is speaking to his father, who is dying, and he does not want him to give up, but his father is old and has reached the end of his life. There is a difference of opinion between the speaker and his father; the speaker wants his father to stay with him and continue living, but his father knows that the end is near and is gripped by deaths peace with a will not to ght it. The shift in this poem occurs in the last stanza, when the speaker lets us know that this poem is about his father, and the speakers voice fades into sadness as, presumably, his father passes. ! While this poem is about not giving up to death, its theme holds value to circumstances other than dying. The author is trying to teach people to never give up, no matter how nice it may seem just to let go. The poem has a rhyming scheme, in which every other line rhymes, and uses a lot of descriptive language to allow the reader to envision and feel the emotions of rage and death that the author is attempting to express. Photo credit Jake A. Glass

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the rst for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and II took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. ! The theme of this poem is that sometimes, it is best to follow the pack, and not to go off on your own. In it, the speaker reects on how he made the wrong decision at a fork in the road one day. He chose the more appealing road, the one that had seen less travelers and that was less worn from people passing. Presently, he regrets his decision, because it has drastically changed his current life for the worse. ! There is an inconsistent rhyming scheme in this poem, and it is a narrative poem. The main shift in the poem happens in the 16th line of the poem, when the speaker turns away from reecting on his past misguidance and speaks in the future. I chose this poem because it shows what many social challenges people face today. Sometimes, its best to stick with everyone else and follow the rest of the group, but it may also be best to go off on your own occasionally.

A poison Tree by William Blake I was angry with my friend; I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow. And I waterd it in fears, Night & morning with my tears: And I sunned it with smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles. And it grew both day and night, Till it bore an apple bright. And my foe beheld it shine, And he knew that it was mine. And into my garden stole. When the night had veiled the pole; In the morning glad I see, My foe outstretchd beneath the tree. ! The theme of this poem is that you should not let your anger or hatred fester and boil inside of you until it becomes deadly. In the poem, he author becomes angry with his friend, and his anger grows into a gurative apple tree, which his friend sees and steals an apple from. It is a poison apple, and therefore his friend dies, having eaten it. This poem appeals to me because of how often I nd myself connected with this theme in real life. Sometimes, your emotions of jealousy or anger become so strong that you just have to sit down, calm down, and let those feelings go, before you do something that you cant take back, like what the author did in this poem. ! This poem has a very apparent rhyming pattern, with each line rhyming with the line below it. Its written from the rst-person point of view, with a very manic tone, as the author has obviously gone mad with his feelings toward his companion. The author uses personication by symbolizing his wrath with a tree, which he waterd...in fears...with [his] tears and sunned...with smiles. The fact that he sunned it implies that the speaker allowed his wrath to ourish, instead of merely growing. One very important key notes to this poem is that at rst, the author calls the subject of the poem his friend, but by the end of the poem, when the subject is dead, the author bills him as his foe. Blake writes in old-English, but that is simply because he wrote this poem in 1794.

I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou

A free bird leaps on the back Of the wind and oats downstream Till the current ends and dips his wing In the orange suns rays And dares to claim the sky. But a BIRD that stalks down his narrow cage Can seldom see through his bars of rage His wings are clipped and his feet are tied So he opens his throat to sing. The caged bird sings with a fearful trill Of things unknown but longed for still And his tune is heard on the distant hill for The caged bird sings of freedom. The free bird thinks of another breeze And the trade winds soft through The sighing trees And the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright Lawn and he names the sky his own. But a caged BIRD stands on the grave of dreams His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream His wings are clipped and his feet are tied So he opens his throat to sing. The caged bird sings with A fearful trill of things unknown But longed for still and his Tune is heard on the distant hill For the caged bird sings of freedom.!

! This poem expresses the lesson that you should not take what you have for granted, and that no one can truly realize and appreciate the greatness of what they have until its gone. The author personies songbirds with human emotions. A caged bird is sorrowful, and philosophizes and longs sadly with his freedom-seeking song. On the other hand, a free bird is carefree, and ies happily, knowing that he has everything that he needs. Basically, people that can truly make a difference are the ones that have suffered hardship, and those that know what its like to long for justice and freedom. We can see this theme in the lives of many famous historical gures that have made a difference in numerous peoples lives today, most prominently in advocates for rights movements throughout history, both past and present. This poem takes the reader on an emotional roller-coaster of empathy, teaching of sadness, hope, cruelty, and even death, and shows what kind of determination and suffering is required to achieve freedom for all people.

Seeker of Truth by e.e. cummings seeker of truth follow no path all paths lead where truth is here !

! The message that e.e. cummings is trying to portray in this poem is to live in the present. Cummings is trying to tell us that you dont have to go anywhere else or do anything different to be happy; you can be happy right where you are, in the present. I think that Cummings meant for the word truth in this poem to be a symbol for happiness and fulllment. If you replace all of the words truth in this poem with happiness, it makes even more sense: seeker of happiness follow no path all paths lead where happiness is here ! Additionally, Cummings makes the poem more interesting by using more punctuation, making it seem like its so important that it is not worthy of commas or periods. It also allows the author to convey his message much more concisely, as you can obviously see by the fact that this is only a four-line poem. This is really one of those works that are so vague to the point that the interpretation of the poem is almost entirely up to the readers imagination or opinions.

If by e.e. cummings If freckles were lovely, and day was night, And measles were nice and a lie warn't a lie, Life would be delight,But things couldn't go right For in such a sad plight I wouldn't be I. If earth was heaven, and now was hence, And past was present, and false was true, There might be some sense But I'd be in suspense For on such a pretense You wouldn't be you. If fear was plucky, and globes were square, And dirt was cleanly and tears were glee Things would seem fair,Yet they'd all despair, For if here was there We wouldn't be we. ! The theme of this e.e. cummings poem is that everything is the way that it is for a reason, and that if you wish for something to change in an impossible way, you have to realize how counterintuitive your desire really is. The speaker is talking to the reader, you, to show that God made the world the way it is for a reason, and that if you were to change one thing, nothing else would make any sense. This piece has a rhyming scheme, and employs opposites to make the writing more interesting to the reader. Another theme that may be interpreted from this poem is that you cant change anything about yourself without losing who you really are inside. You must be who you really are and show your true self instead of trying to change it; God made you who you are, and you cantand dont need tochange who you are for any reason.

Fast rode the knight by Stephen Crane Fast rode the knight With spurs, hot and reeking, Ever waving an eager sword, "To save my lady!" Fast rode the knIght, And leaped from saddle to war. Men of steel ickered and gleamed Like riot of silver lights, And the gold of the knight's good banner Still waved on a castle wall. ..... A horse, Blowing, staggering, bloody thing, Forgotten at foot of castle wall. A horse Dead at foot of castle wall. ! This poem is about determination and courage in the face of danger or war, and that dying a noble death for your just cause is sometimes okay. In the poem, a horseriding knight runs into battle, only to be killed. The obvious shift in the poem starts on line 11, when the ellipses signal a passing of time, and the omniscient narrator transitions to a view of the knights horse, dying (and dead) at the foot of the castle wall. From this, we can draw that the knight has died and has lost his battle. Crane, the author, uses vivid imagery and similes to put the reader directly into the middle of the battle, as you can see in the 7th and 8th lines of the poem. ! This poem is interesting, because the author writes it in a way that uses the symbol of the dying horse to show the death of the knight, as a knight and his horse are very good companions. The reader becomes quite attached to the horse and suffers with him in his death, having been ghting to his last step, and the horse dies a noble death of honor, having fought for his cause, almost as surely as the knight did.

Funeral Blues by W. H. Auden Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone. Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, Silence the pianos and with mufed drum Bring out the cofn, let the mourners come. Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead Scribbling in the sky the message He is Dead, Put crpe bows round the white necks of the public doves, Let the trafc policemen wear black cotton gloves. He was my North, my South, my East and West, My working week and my Sunday rest My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; I thought that love would last forever, I was wrong. The stars are not wanted now; put out every one, Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun. Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood; For nothing now can ever come to any good. ! In this poem, the author is grieving for a friend that has recently passed away. He wants to stop everyone, everywhere, so that all of the focus is on him, his grief, and the legacy of his dead friend. When you read the poem, you can empathize with the author, knowing exactly how he feels about a lost companion, but looking at it from someone elses view makes it sound silly. The speaker wants everything happening to stop to focus on him, and thats really quite selsh, but we all feel the same way in his place, and the reader realizes that. The theme of the poem is that while you may feel terrible emotions of sadness and feel, for a moment, that everything must simply disappear or stop to feel the same horrible emotions, you are wrong; life must go on, and it can go on. Each pair of lines in this poem rhyme with each other. The author uses metaphors to show the reader how important this person was to him, and that his life will never be the same without it. ! If you read more deeply into the theme of this poem, it is almost a satire, as is hinted in lines 13-15: The stars are not wanted now; put out every one... It might be a satirical piece because the author is poking fun at the idea that everything should stop to commemorate one death; and he may very well be correct, as long as the deceased was not his friend. !

The Bells-A collaboration -Edgar Allan Poe The bells! ah, the bells! The little silver bells! How fairy-like a melody there oats From their throats. From their merry little throats From the silver, tinkling throats Of the bells, bells, bells Of the bells! The bells! ah, the bells! The heavy iron bells! How horrible a monody there oats From their throats From their deep-toned throats From their melancholy throats! How I shudder at the notes Of the bells, bells, bells Of the bells! ! This poem is about the sounds of bells ringing. The author, Poe, uses personication to make the bells seem like living creatures with feelings, as if the sound of their ringing were the songs of their emotions ringing out to the world. His descriptive language and imagery allows the reader to hear the deep, emotional sounds of the bells in their imagination. There is a rhyming scheme in this poem, but it is inconsistent, since most of the words are the same words repeated over and over for most of the lines of the poem. In writing the poem, I think the author wanted to highlight the difference between the two types of bells that he wrote about; the little silver bells are happy church bells, whereas the heavy iron bells are funeral bells to mourn for someones death. ! Another interesting thing is how the author feels about the different types of bells, the sounds they make and what they ring for. By the authors feelings towards the funeral bells, it would seem that he enjoys the sadness and depression that accompanies the deep, regretful, and rich tones of the bells.

A Brook In The City by Robert Frost The farmhouse lingers, though averse to square With the new city street it has to wear A number in. But what about the brook That held the house as in an elbow-crook? I ask as one who knew the brook, its strength And impulse, having dipped a nger length And made it leap my knuckle, having tossed A ower to try its currents where they crossed. The meadow grass could be cemented down From growing under pavements of a town; The apple trees be sent to hearth-stone ame. Is water wood to serve a brook the same? How else dispose of an immortal force No longer needed? Staunch it at its source With cinder loads dumped down? The brook was thrown Deep in a sewer dungeon under stone In fetid darkness still to live and run -And all for nothing it had ever done Except forget to go in fear perhaps. No one would know except for ancient maps That such a brook ran water. But I wonder If from its being kept forever under, The thoughts may not have risen that so keep This new-built city from both work and sleep. ! This poem is about the development and destruction of nature to make way for the building of cities. The author explains how they have paved over the grass and cut down the trees, but they cannot truly get rid of a river; they just build the city over it. Frost personies the river as if it had feelings, and with his omniscient narration he makes the reader empathize with the river, so we can truly imagine what the world this poem is detailing is like. ! I chose this poem because I really feel that it reects modern society, where everyone thinks that humans are better than nature, and that we have the right to do whatever we want with it or to it. Its also interesting for the reader to compare and contrast, or try to imagine, what the land that theyre on presently might have looked like before it was developed, and to consider what had to be removed to allow for the development of this land. Additionally, the author leaves you with a curiosity to whether the natural world will ever be returned to its former glory, back from a time before it was developed. The end of this poem leaves the reader with the thought, What if nature does have feelings?