Analysis of My Favorite Poems

The theme of Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare is love, either between two people or between an individual and the natural world. Should I compare thee to a summer’s day?, asks the ’Bard of Avon,’ who then spends the next eleven lines trying to find a response. It’s interesting how the poet gradually creates a picture of his beloved through words rather than expressing his love in a straightforward manner. Shakespeare examines his friend’s true beauty and compares him to summer in an effort to help his friend defeat death and cement his place in history for all time. In the second line, Shakespeare differentiates his friend, a young man, from the summer’s day, saying that he is “more lovely and more temperate”. He does it intentionally, as summer days have some extreme features, like “rough winds”, the sun (“the eye of heaven”) and short days. As summer also means the end of autumn, the poet further highlights the difference between the beloved and the summer to ensure that his beauty will last forever (“Thy eternal summer shall not fade”). In other words, beauty of the poet’s friend will not perish, as it is preserved in the poem. So, he will live “as long as men can breathe or eyes can see”. In Sonnet 18, Shakespeare makes a serious attempt to defy time only to preserve his young friend’s beauty for all time. That is why he says “So long lives this, and this gives life to thee” in the last line of the sonnet.

Eliot, T S. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” Gardner et al., pp. 516-20.

T S Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is basically a narrative poem, which presents a moment in the life. It has all the characteristics of love songs, like repetition, rhyme, and rhythm. In The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, the poet focuses mainly on the womanly love that eludes Prufrock. The modernistic poem is widely considered as one of Eliot’s great works in which he reinvented the form of a dramatic monologue. Through the dramatic monologue, the speaker presents a moment and reveals his personal feelings to a listener. Here, the speaker’s personal information is more important than the topic.

The main theme of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is the thought of a balding, insecure middle-aged man about his dull, uneventful and mediocre life. And he is living such a life because of his fear of making decisions, inability to seize opportunities and taking risks. “Time for you and time for me, And time yet for a hundred indecisions, And for a hundred visions and revisions, Before the taking of a toast and tea.” In these lines, the speaker admits that he tries to make progress, but avoids taking actions due to fear of failure. In The Norton Anthology of English Literature, M H Abrams says that the three main characteristics of the poem are: the statements of a specific individual (and not the poet) at a specific moment in time, the presence of listeners is not directly referenced and the development and revelation of the speaker’s character. By modernizing the form of monologue, Eliot sends an important message to the readers - focus on Prufrock’s interiority and isolation. We find the interesting part of the poem at the end, where Eliot (read Prufrock) assigns himself the role in one of Shakespeare’s plays - Hamlet. “No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be.” By doing so, Eliot tries to make one thing clear: there is a continuity between Shakespeare’s world and ours. That is why Hamlet is still relevant to us or we are part of Shakespeare’s world.

Hughes, Langston. “Harlem.” Gardner et al., pp. 528.

Langston Hughes’ Harlem is a short poem in which the poet portrays the African Americans’ post WWII mood. Harlem or ’A Dream Deferred’ not only narrates frustrated dream of freedom, equality, dignity, opportunity and success, but also explores consequences of allowing a dream to go unfulfilled.

In the first three lines of the poem, Hughes wonders what happens in case our dream dries up. “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” In the next lines, he tries to find an answer, saying that it might smell like rotten meat or develop a sugary crust. In this famous work, Hughes exposes limitations of the African Americans dream. Noted playwright Lorraine Hansbury believes that the “racially segregated” American society encouraged Hughes to write the poem in 1951. (A Raisin in the Sun) Even after the end of WWII, African Americans were not allowed to overcome the legacy of slavery and even the law of the land considered them as second-class citizens (especially in the southern part of the country). Hughes, who was highly influenced by the Harlem Renaissance of 1910-20s, decides not to reveal the identity of the speaker in Harlem with a certain purpose. It may be the poet or a professor or a black man or woman. It is up to the reader to decide who has “unfulfilled” dream. Also, the speaker does not refer to a specific dream. Instead, s/he suggests that African Americans cannot dream due to the environment of oppression in which they live. Noted critic Arthur P Davis rightly said: “When (Hughes) depicts the hopes, the aspirations, the frustrations, and the deep-seated discontent of the New York ghetto, he is expressing the feelings of Negroes in black ghettos throughout America.” (Cavalcade: Negro American Writers from 1760 to the Present)

Alexie, Sherman. “Postcards to Columbus.” Gardner et al., pp. 560-61.

In his Postcards to Columbus, renowned poet and filmmaker Sherman Alexie tries to explain the character of Christopher Columbus, the great inventor, in a different way. In a sarcastic way, the poet proves that Columbus is not a hero and what the common American people think about him is wrong. In America, it is being taught that Columbus is a hero because he “discovered” the great nation. However, Alexie deals with the issue from a Native American’s point of view. He raises an important question: How can a person “discover” an already occupied land?

In his poem, Alexie not only portrays a picture of modern America that includes the White House, San Francisco, basketball and electricity, but also describes Columbus as a common man, who is only concerned for himself and not for America. In the first four lines, the poet makes his intention clear. “Beginning at the front door of the White House, travel west for 500 years, pass through small towns and house fires, ignore hitchhikers and stranded motorists, until you find yourself back at the beginning of this journey.” Later, Alexie wishes that Columbus could see the affects of his “discovery” after 500 years. “Christopher Columbus, you are the most successful real estate agent who ever lived, sold acres and acres of myth, a house built on stilts.” Perhaps, this is the most powerful line in Postcards to Columbus. It helps us know why the native Indians feel cheated because of Columbus’ decision to sell a lie to the entire world that he discovers America. As it was not the case, the poet uses the words “a house built on stilts”.

Marlowe, Christopher. “The Passionate Shepherd and His Love.” Gardner et al., pp. 424-25.

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love is a pastoral love poem penned by Christopher Marlowe. In this poem, the poet or a love-struck shepherd urges his beloved to spend her life with him in the countryside. We discover the essence of the poem, published six years after the poet’s death in 1599, in the very first line: “Come live with me and be my love”. The tone of the poem is not only thoughtful and contemplative, but also dreamy. So, the entire poem reads like a daydream description. However, the central theme of the poem is that although love and nature are beautiful, they don’t last forever.

Some critics believe that The Passionate Shepherd to His Love is a pastoral lyric and it is aimed at creating an idealized vision of rural life. Interestingly, the poem is static in time, as Marlowe concentrates only on the present. Here, the shepherd is not expecting a long-term commitment from his love and also not offering marriage. He is only asking her to “come and live” with him and enjoy the moment together. At the same time, the shepherd is making various promises and many of them are impossible to fulfill. Also, there is no response from the woman, as she is absent in the poem. She is present only as the object of the shepherd’s desire. Marlowe portrays a picture of the sixteenth century, when madrigals were highly popular in England and other parts in Europe, in this poem. Because of the universality of its theme, we can assume that the poem could be about any shepherd of any age in any country.

Ralegh, Walter. “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd.” Gardner et al., pp. 425.

The central theme of Sir Walter Ralegh’s The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd is that love and nature are beautiful, but they do not last forever. Sir Walter penned the poem in 1596 as a parody of Christopher Marlowe’s poem The Passionate Shepherd to His Love. Through this poem, the poet tries to explore the mind of a realistic person. Marlowe’s poem tells the story of a man, who is trying to convince his beloved lady to spend her whole life with him. In The Passionate Shepherd to His Love, the man believes that the happiness surrounds them and they can live the rest of their lives together happily. Sir Walter tries to explore Marlowe’s idealistic shepherd from a different angle.

In the first stanza, the nymph or the shepherd’s love presents an argument against the shepherd’s views, saying that if their love is young and immortal, then their world will never change. Later, she explains why the reality is different and what will happen, if they spend their lives together. “Time drives the flocks from field to fold, When Rivers rage and Rocks grow cold, And Philomel becometh dumb, The rest complains of cares to come.” In the last paragraph, Sir Walter explains through the nymph why it is not possible for them to stay together. “But could youth last, and love still breed, Had joys no date, nor age no need, Then these delights my mind might move, To live with thee, and be thy love.” Sir Walter’s nymph has the ability to think about real because she knows that she cannot rely on the shepherd, who does not have a lot of money or material things to make her happy. Sir Walter’s strong message to his readers is: things could never work out to be anywhere near the way a person makes it sound.

Robinson, Edwin Arlington. “Richard Cory.” Gardner et al., pp. 502.

Arlington Robinson’s Richard Cory is a narrative poem, which reestablishes the truth that wealth and status cannot ensure happiness. Basically, the poet develops two themes in this poem: poor people envied Richard Cory because of his wealth and social status. But, he was a not at all happy and that’s why he commits suicide. In the first three paragraphs, Robinson describes the public perception of Cory. Only in the last paragraph, readers reveal that the public perception was wrong and wealth and privilege failed to bring happiness for Cory. As a result, the gentleman commits suicide.

The poet also portrayed a perfect picture of celebrity lives in our society in Richard Cory. “And he was always quietly arrayed, And he was always human when he talked; But still he fluttered pulses when he said, ”Good-morning,“ and he glittered when he walked.” Cory was an educated person and proper education made him a perfect man. Despite knowing the fact that his position was above “the pavement” of ordinary lives, he used to say “Good-morning” to common people. Still, he was an unhappy person and decided to end his life in a summer night. Through Richard Cory, the poet sends an important message to readers: it is impossible to know all that dwells within another’s mind. The existential aloneness exists in each person, including in celebrities.

Dubar, Paul Laurence. “We Wear the Mask.” Gardner et al., pp. 502-03.

Paul Laurence Dunbar’s We Wear the Mask is all about a mask through which we hide ourselves in a modern society. In this poem, Dunbar finds out the reason for using a mask that helps people hide their true feelings behind a false expression. In a straightforward way, the poet says: “It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes.”

Peter Revell believes that Dunbar treated the blacks’ pain in American society objectively. (Paul Laurence Dunbar) He portrayed the blacks’ experience in a completely different way, as his poem helps us realize the heart of suffering. In America, we often discover blacks as “happy-go-lucky” type of creature. But, it is not the fact. We fail to realize that these people are hiding their emotions. “We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,-- This debt we pay to human guile; With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, And mouth with myriad subtleties.” These lines allow readers to get a clear picture of the black man’s plight in America. “Dunbar left aside the falsity of dialect and spoke from the heart in this poem,” said Revell.

Frost, Robert, “The Road Not Taken.” Gardner et al., pp. 504-05.

Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken deals with a particular problem that we face daily. Here, the poet comes upon a fork in the road while walking through a yellow wood. The problem is that he can choose only one path at a time. However, he considers both paths and concludes that each one is equally well-traveled and appealing.

“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.” As it is difficult to see what lies ahead of him, the poet examines both the paths and tries to identify one that is less worn by passersby. Only after realizing that both paths are equally traveled and one cannot return to take the other path, he decides to share his experience with readers. According to Frost, his decision to choose the road (which he perceived “to be less worn”) “has made all the difference”.

Williams, William Carlos. “The Red Wheelbarrow.” Gardner et al., pp. 511.

William Carlos Williams’ The Red Wheelbarrow is a single sentence poem that is broken into fragments. The poem is about the significance of a red, rain-glazed wheelbarrow that is placed alongside white chickens. All the four fragments of the line encourage readers to imagine the poet’s view that the red wheelbarrow is the most significant object of the scene.

“so much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.” The Red Wheelbarrow, written by Williams in 1923, is an imagist poem in true sense. Almost 10 years after the beginning of the “imagist movement”, the poet decided to focus mainly on the objective representation of objects. The central themes of the poem are the red wheelbarrow and the white chickens. Williams’ success lies in choosing two objects in contrasting colors. Both red and white are symbolic colors, as red represents power and passion and white represents purity or innocence. Williams’ style of portrayal makes sense, as red is also the color of power. In The Red Wheelbarrow, wheelbarrow describes the power at the farm because of its red color. On the other hand, the white color shows purity of chickens. It means while wheelbarrows do all of the work, the chickens lay the eggs.

Parker, Dorothy. “Resume.” Gardner et al., pp. 522.

Resume, the little eight-line poem by Dorothy Parker, is widely considered as a masterpiece of American Literature that is based on the poet’s first experience in attempting suicide by cutting wrists in 1923. She concentrates on various means of committing suicide in this poem, instead of highlighting the actual act.

By saying “razors pain you” in the very first line, Parker presents a shocking visual imagery and then explains the act through blood, death and despair. Her message to the person, who attempted suicide (but failed), is that s/he will have to live with its consequences even after going through a painful experience. Parker describes the act of suicide as “painful”, “unlawful” and “awful”, but still admits the fact that “you might as well live” - what her friend Benchley told her at the time. In this poem, Parker rediscovers the eternal truth - life must go on despite the tragedies occurred with us. We also find a tone of resignation in Resume, as the poet accepts the fact that committing suicide is a mode of escapism or people, who commit suicide, want to avoid complexities of life. By using of the word “might” in the last line, she allows readers to choose the right option: life or death. Parker knows that some people have the ability to overcome the crisis and they do not choose death.

Cullen, Countee. “Incident.” Gardner et al., pp. 529.

Countee Cullen’s Incident is a short poem with a huge punch. In this poem, the poet tells the story of an African-American man who encountered racism as a child. And it’s a different kind of racism. So, the speaker still remembers the “incident”.

In Incident, Cullen narrates racism through an eight-year-old child because children are hurt by so many things and no one can prevent them from being hurt. “Now I was eight and very small, And he was no whit bigger, And so I smiled, but he poked out, His tongue, and called me, ’Nigger.’” These lines remind us of the reality of racism. The second paragraph of the poem helps us know the mind of a child, who is a victim of racial abuse. It’s amazing description of a child, who realized the cruelty of the world for the first time. Although the poem was written in 1920, it is still relevant.

Auden, W H. “Funeral Blues.” Gardner et al., pp. 530.

W H Auden’s Funeral Blues is a four-stanza poem that is difficult to judge. In the first stanza, the poet portrays a picture of mourning or sorrow. However, he changes the tone quickly and the poem becomes comic and playful. Later, he once again changes the track in the 12th line and encourages readers to take the phrasing at face value.

“Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, Silence the pianos and with muffled drum, Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.” Interestingly, Auden begins with the phrase “Stop all the clocks” to make a great impact on readers, as we know that the strongly accented verb “stop” suggests an ending. After explaining the central theme of the poem in its title, the poet informs readers about a death and then sets the tone and pace of the poem in a different way. Auden successfully manages to give the poem an effect of breathless hurry without dealing explicitly with time. After describing the mental situation of a lady (who has lost a beloved person), the poet narrates their love in the third stanza. “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.” The last stanza prompts readers to show their sympathies towards the speaker because they can feel the speaker’s experience and what she has to go through.

Auden, W H. “Musee des Beaux Arts.” Gardner et al., pp. 531.

W H Auden’s Musee des Beaux Arts is all about a common experience: when bad things happen to a person, other people look the other way. As Auden penned the poem just before the start of WWII in 1938, he hinted an important change in our way of life. He concentrates mainly on the human heart and social trends in this poem.

“About suffering they were never wrong, The old Masters: how well they understood, Its human position: how it takes place.” Musee des Beaux Arts can be considered as an informal commentary on the bizarre human situations found in older paintings, like “The Fall of Icarus”, which is preserved at the Musees Royaux des Beaux Arts in Brussels. In this poem, the speaker expresses his opinion on various paintings that portray human suffering. He also expresses views on the plight of those, who suffer, and those, who don’t. By mentioning other paintings in the poem, Auden narrates the strange and contrasting human experiences. The paintings allow him to deal with the main problem: when one person suffers, others carry on regardless with routine activity. The poet’s attempt is to find an answer of the great philosophical question: why some people ignore others’ cry for help?

Thomas, Dylan. “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.” Gardner et al., pp. 540-41.

Dylan Thomas wrote Do Not Go Gentle Into That Night’ at a time (1945), when his father was seriously ill. Here, the poet uses nighttime as a metaphor for death. Although the poem was published after his father’s death, Thomas opposed the idea of accepting death quietly in this poem. That is why he discusses a number of ways to approach death in old age and urges readers to struggle against death till the last. Here, the tone is urgent; as Thomas wants his father to fight against death (or to “rage against the dying of the light”.

“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.” Later, he argues that even wise men, like philosophers and scholars, do not accept death, while “good men” or moralists want to live an upright life. In the fourth stanza, Thomas describes wild men’s reaction towards death, saying that these men forget to realize the fact that they are mortal. In the sixth and last stanza, he asks his father, who is in “sad height” or “closeness to death” to bless him and to fight fiercely against death before leaving the world. Thomas’ strong message to his readers is: live boldly and fight death. Even at the end of life, we should try to burn with life. In other words, fight against death can help us realize the importance of being alive. The poet is of the opinion that goodness comes from fighting against the death with full force and might.

Works Cited

Abrams, M.H. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. W.W. Norton & Company, 1993. pp. 2140-2143.

Davis, Arthur P. Cavalcade: Negro American Writers from 1760 to the Present. Houghton, 1971.

Revell, Peter. Paul Laurence Dunbar. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1979.