A Detailed Look at the Second and Third Stanzas in Wallace Stevens".
Of Mere Being .
The poem, "Of Mere Being," by Wallace Stevens, describes the image of a golden bird singing in a palm tree. The first stanza describes a palm tree, standing "at the end of the mind." Continuing the poem through solar imagery, a singing bird is pictured in the tree. Stevens then proposes to the reader that we do not need to understand the bird's song, or why it gives us emotional responses. The reader is lead to except the fact that the bird just exists in the palm tree, in space. .
In the first line of the second stanza, the bird is described as "gold feathered." The significance of a golden bird could symbolize one's soul, or inner spirit. On the other hand, the bird could be completely outside of us. Its existence is an occurrence that we have no control over. Gold is a precious metal, which could signify life, importance, purity, or something desired. The fact that the bird is gold could signify that the bird's existence is something that the reader could desire. .
In the second and third lines of the second stanza, Stevens tells the reader that the bird sings in the palm without any context of human meaning or feeling. The bird is completely alien from our world. This could be a reference to the introverted personal life, which Stevens lead. Stevens had few close friends, and rarely ventured out in the public eye. In Steven's essay, "The Noble rider and the Sound of Words," Stevens explores the role of the poet. Similar to the Greek views of the Philosopher, Stevens sees the poet as a noble person who is sensitive to reality. "[The poet's] role, in short, is to help people live their lives. Time and time again it has been said that he may not address himself to an elite. I think he may" (Stevens 5). This implies that the poetic Stevens might have seen himself as alienated from the rest of society, similar to the golden bird.
In Shelley's poem "Ode to the West Wind," the wind is the force that has all the power. ... Throughout the poem, the speaker seems to love nature and enjoyed being out in it. ... In conclusion, these two poems are similar but yet different in many ways. ... Both poems make reference to this. ... In both poems, he is completely in awe of the power of nature. ...
Pastoral Poems "Come live with me and be my love." ... Marlow's poem is thought to be one of the greatest pastoral poems ever written, and has resulted in many responses. ... The first poem is Marlow's "The Passionate Shepard to His Love". ... Throughout the poem, the Shepard is actually kind of shallow. ... In this poem, the nymph pretty much shoots down all of the shepherds advances with reasoning and logic, but makes her own radical term at the end of the poem. ...
The poem "Chicago" by Carl Sandburg introduced me to someone I had known about for years, but had never really known. ... Personification, simile and synecdoche are used throughout the poem to bring the description of a city to life. Personification, the representation of an abstract quality or idea as a person, is found throughout the poem. ... "Chicago" is a poem written about a vibrant spirited city that is growing and learning. ... I"m glad I read this poem. ...
Langston Hughes" poem "Harlem" written in 1951 is an interesting poem that attracted me because of its hidden meaning. It is a confusing, but detailed poem that outlines the true meaning of losing faith. The true definition of obstacles and succeeding are clearly addressed in this poem. ... At the beginning of the poem Hughes" describes the possibilities of a dream shot down. ... This poem addresses that fact that many black Americans are no longer trying so hard to succeed. ...
It appears in the poem that Keats is tempted into the nightingale's world of beauty and perfection. ... As the poem progresses the speaker explores multiple ways to join the nightingale. ... Keats not only writes this poem gracefully, but it reads fluently while using a discrete rhyme scheme. Illusions are the main idea of this poem. ... This poem displays a complex form of end rhyme scheme unique to the poem. ...
Matthew Arnold and Ernest Dowson write emotional, mood-altering poems about the monastic order called the Carthusian regimen. ... Differences also come about in the mood and subject of each poem as written. ... Both poems talk of the solemn and dark manner of life lived in solitude. ... In Dowson's poem, this word comes up in the second of nine stanzas in the poem and reads (1896.5-6): Within their austere walls no voices penetrate A sacred silence only, as of death, obtains; As in Arnold's poem, this stanza contains the word "death-. ... The last line in his poem (18...
The speaker begins by giving an allusion of a very violent past in this poem. ... "My Arkansas" is a poem written by a woman who was witness to the atrocities done against the black person. ... This poem is letting society know that we must begin to realize that people's civil liberties is something that we can no longer take advantage of and abuse whenever we feel. ...
The eighth stanza of Baudelaire's poem kind of sticks out like a thorn, it doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the poem. ... This seems to be a shift in tone at the end of the poem. ... This poem is kind of a reflection on how Keats feels about art, and in this poem, the art on a Grecian Urn. ... This hint at nature reinforces how this poem is a part of Romanticism. ... This in a way shows the sadness in this poem. ...
The intention of both William Blake and William Wordsworth is to portray their own deeply felt views in their poems. ... The poem is written in the mood of contentment and bliss. ... His style is rather hyperbolic and this tends to reinforce the concept of social coercion in the poem. ... Wordsworth's poems are in conflict between nature and humanity. ... Blake was more ingenious in his poems by enclosing a painting to enhance the readers understanding of the message enclosed. ...
In the poem "Good Times" written by Lucille Clifton; the author reminisces on the pleasant days of her childhood. ... The poem uses simplistic terms to identify a complex dynamics of family and its" ups and downs. ... Repetition plays a major role in Clifton's poem of highlighting the significance of the happier times in her youth. ... The word good times in the poem also represents the negative aspects of her life such as "the insurance man is gone and the lights are back on." ... In the poem "Good Times", Lucille Clifton reflects on the happier days of her youth. ...
