External Strucutre: [My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun] by William Shakespeare

This is my favorite Shakespeare poem, as it is humorous yet has an important message. Shakespear is remarkeable becasue he has an entire book of poetry in the sonnet formation. There is not really much to out of hte ordinary about the external structure of [My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun], as the ryme scheme follows the a b a b, c d c d,e f e f, g g pattern of ryming, and the poem has 14 lines as well, which follows the structural rules of a sonnet.

The comparisons Shakespeare uses provide the reader with a great ammount of imagery the allows the reader to picture his "mistress". His stanzas describe her as not the most desireable woman around, wit her "eyes nothing like the sun" and "black wires grow on her head". Yet in the couplet, which is known to end hte poem and provide an overall message, Shakespeare does just that. He writes: "And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare/As any she belied with false compare" which provides a change of heart. He realizes she may not be perfect, but hte rare love they have for each other allows him ot see past her appearence and allows them to be togeather out of pure love.

Interior Structure: [The Wind begun to knead the Grass-] by Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson is known for her unorthodox use of grammar and poem structure, which made her stand out in the mid 1800's of poetry. [The Wind begun to knead the Grass-] is even an interesting title in how she only capitalizes "Wind" and "Grass", as if they were important or people. Also, this is probably a streach, but the word choice of knead could also allude to the same sounding word "need", giving hte title a different meaning. This analysis could work because Emily compares many things that need each other, such as the "Leaves and hte "Trees", "Wagons" and "Streets", and "Birds" and "Nests".

The dashes at the end of her lines imply an unfinnished thought, as if her thought proccess to the poem's internal structure is a stream of conciousness of comparisons. Emily uses personifications to describe the majority of ther events at her "Father's House", such as "Thunders gossiped low" and "Lightning showeda Yellow Head". Personifications contribute to the internal structure by making the events easier to understand and more relateable.

Internal Structure: Sonrisas by Pat Mora

The author describes the activities of her household through the interior structure of the poem Sonrisas, which means "smiles" in spanish. By "living in a doorway" she is able to examine the activities of the people surrounding her. The onomatopoeia's used, "click click" and "sh sh" contribute to the overall tone and interior stucture of Sonrisas. The contrast between the "two rooms" is clearly displayed throughout the poem, contributing to the duality of the internal structure. The comparison is between rich women who should be happy, but their smiles "seldom sneak into their eyes", and "senoras" who have "faded dresses", yet are happily chatting amongst themselves.

Language: Sex without Love By Sharon Olds

Contrary to the title, this poem has nothing to do with sex.

The poem is all over the place- figure skaters, steak, runners, cardiovascular health, universe- yet it has one simple message.

The poem uses language to disguise its meaning of the poet's feelings on religion and God. Olds is flabbergasted by the people who have "sex without love", the people who "love the priestinstead of hte God" and other falsehoods of religion. The language alludes to the "wine" (communion) and the "wet as the children at birth" (baptism), which are both common religious practices among churches. The languge is consistant about the authors discontent about how people can go through the motions, go through the religious practices, without the accual love for their religion.

I believe that her refferences to common instances is an attempt to make her language and poem relateable. God preaching poetry is becomming more and more uncommon as people are exploring many aspects of religion, spirituality, or the lack of it.

Language: Rorschach by Jeanna Marie Beaumont

Rorschach by Jeanne Marie Beaumont, page 936

A Rorschach is one of those ink-blot test images that has all this random ink and then your asked what does it look like to you, and many people's interpretations are diferent. The test is not about what the image acually is, more like interpritation and the way the mind works in seeing different images.

My Orriginal Analysis:
The poem, by Jeanne Marie, works in similar ways by the use of her language. A formulaic poem, she states facts- about items that she sees, and adds her own interpretation of the images (just like a Rorschach). I am not quite sure what the entire poem's meaning is, but her languages gives it a bitter tone. The phrases that Jeanne Marie put in italics are her own thoughts- "Too simple", "Go on.","Next.", "Tell me again"makes her seem jaded and uncaring about her setting, where the last line implies is an "island". The constraints of hte island probably make her bitter.

After Reading Classmates Comments:
My orriginal post, above, provided the class wiht a limited understanding on my part becasue Idid not understtand the poem fully, and learned alot from my classmates comments. I found it interesting that an interpretation is the words in italics represent what the pshychiatrist is telling the woman about her interpretations, as that idea never crossed my mind upon reading the poem.

Background:
Upon reasearching Jeanne Marie, i came accross the same old stuff: Where she was born (Philidelphia), where she went to college (Coulumbia), and how her literary works were in dozens of anthologies. This is interesting, yet not what I am looking for. The ususal does not tell us about her phsyce of why she wrote what she did, which would be far more interesting.

Peeling an Orange by Virginia Hamilton Adair

At first, I thought that the situation of this poem would be sad, as "through my tears" does not imply a happy poem. I soon realized that it was not saddness, but of laughter those tears originated from. I immideiately felt better that I picked out a happier poem to read, as Daystar wasn't that uplifting. The setting was not so clear in the poem, but then again i did not think it mattered since the couple was having so much fun together, I was really just focusing on them. It is interesting to see how Adair used so much description for one orange, "disks of gold" that relates to the "golden words" at the end. Just talking about oranges is unique, as it is a word that has no ryme, and in being unrymeable it needs other ways of being used in poetic instances. It is as if hte orange itself was the setting for the poem, and the people were its characters and bring out the tone.

Daystar by Rita Dove

The situation and settign is set up for the reader to pity the lone mother vying for a space of her own. This poem sets up the situation of a woman who is completely unahppy and needs a break, where is her husband? The reader does not know, but can infer that she is a single mother. Totally kidding, I re-read line seventeen and realized Thomas was her husband, not a child. That puts a very different spin onto the text. Anyway, her life seems like it is not her own, and she is living for other people, i.e. caring for her child in the day and then satisfying her husband at night. The setting is really focused on the womans "nothing" she creates, which is described as a "palace", as it is her only escape from the unsatisfyingly misrable life she leads.

Speaker Response: A Certain Lady

"A Certain Lady" by Dorothy Parker speaks to ladies who are considered a "bst friend" by their male friends who the ladies happen to fall in love with, and the guy has no clue. The speaker plays the girl who is always there to be pretty and listen, as she "can laugh and marvel, rapturous-eyed" and pay attention to the man while he tells her stories of his other love interests.

The speakers knows what she means to the man, even though he does not know that she is in love with him. She understand that is all she will ever be, yet she longs for him to want her, and realize what is infront of him. The poem is a classic story of this situation.

Speaker Reflection "Hanging Fire"

"Hanging Fire" by Audre Lorde is a poem about a 14 year old girl, who narrates the stanzas. Her voice is worrisome, as she questions her death in every stanza.

She introduces her worries by atributing the awkwardness of teenagers, to a common worry of "what if I die". The speakers introduces the thought as if it were a statement, followed by "and momma's in the bedroom/with the door closed". The use of "and" instead of "if" gives the speaker a sad tone. She implies that her mother is often somewhere else, "with the door closed" not only meaning her beedroom, but other situations with the dorry being a blocker, and rarely around the girl.

The speaker goes on to worry about typical teenage problems such as dancing, until her death wanders back into the poem, and she elaborates on the idea of her distant mother, as she seems vulnerable when she thinks up the scenarios about her death and her future.

The third stanza shifts from sorrow to anger. She is mad that "nobody even stops to think/about my side of it". Implying htere is another side to her sorrow, possibly her mothers. I get the impression that everyone is concerned with the problems of her mother that no one stops to think about her problems.