Analyses of 13 Poems
The opening line of this
This is an excerpt from the paper...
The opening line of this poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning is in different meter than the poem as a whole, emphasizing the question seen in the title, while the iambic pentameter of the poem as a whole provides the answers to the question in a lengthy listing. The first word of the poem is given an accent a dactylic foot, while the next is a trochee. After that, the remainder of the line is iambic. The regularity of the rest of the poem links each line in terms of meaning--each line is an answer to the initial question, and the accretion of all these lines indicates how deep the love of the poet for the subject addressed really is. The poem is a sonnet and follows the sonnet pattern, with fourteen lines. This is an Italian sonnet and does not end in the couplet that a Shakespearian sonnet would. The theme of the work is love, and the list offered shows how great this particular love is. The tone is matter-of-fact rather than passionate, however, and the list method contributes to this tone. Jarold Ramsey's poem is also a love poem, and here the poet uses as a symbol the mahogany stick that is used to tally up the sum of the married life of this husband and wife. Indeed, the stick comes to symbolize that life, and as the life proceeds toward its end, the stick becomes smaller and smaller as the husband whittles it away, engraving in the wood the events of the life of he and his wife. The strength of love is made into a
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cture of the poem and the way the lines lay out on the page are evocative of a report card. The short sentences that carry from one line to the next also have a certain matter-of-fact tone which shows that the woman has analyzed her situation and is now reporting on it, giving the essentials of her relationship with husband-son-daughter in terms of how they view her, then making her statement about dropping out. Everything in this family is seen in terms of how the wife and mother is to be graded. No one is interested in what she thinks about them or their behavior, which is why they will be surprised when she drops out.
"A Red, Red Rose"
Robert Burns uses images of nature, images of beauty, and images of extraordinary actions on the part of a lover to emphasize how strong are his feelings for the woman to whom this poem is addressed. The stanzas are in an ABAB rhyme scheme, with the first and third lines being in iambic tetrameter, and the second and third being in iambic trimeter. The language is made to emulate a strong Scottish accent, seen in the spelling, in the use of contractions, and in some of the words selected. The poem opens with two similes to compare the woman to things the poet likes, a rose and a melody,
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2800
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)
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The opening line of this
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