All I Have To Say

All I Have to Say

-parody to "This is Just to Say"

I'll buy you

plums if

you wanted

some

Does the plum

taste good

in that

sarcastic mouth

why waste your

days here's some seeds

now you have

all you can eat.

Ozymandias

In December 1817, Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote Ozymandias, one of the greatest poems in the English language. His poem was inspired by seeing a guest of his, Horace Smith, write a poem on a similar topic. The central theme of "Ozymandias" is the inevitable decline of all people, and of the empires they build, however mighty in their own time.

Ozymandias (also spelled Osymandias) is another name for one of Egypt's most famous rulers, Ramses II (or Ramses the Great). He was born in 1314 B.C. and ruled Egypt for 66 years as the third king of the 19th Dynasty. His exact age at death is uncertain, but it was between 90 and 99. Ramses was a warrior king and a builder of temples, statues and other monuments. He was pharaoh at the time Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, as recounted in the second book of the Bible, Exodus(derived from the Greek word for departure).

"Ozymandias" has two settings. The first is the place where the narrator meets the traveler (Line 1); the second is the setting in the traveler's tale about a crumbling statue of an Egyptian king (pharaoh). The statue is at the site of the ancient Egyptian capital, Thebes (about 420 miles south of Cairo), which was divided by the Nile River. On the eastern side of the river was the city proper. On the western side was a vast cemetery, or city of the dead, where statues, temples, and tombs memorialized the pharaohs. Living at the site were priests who conducted religious services and artisans and laborers who designed, built, and maintained the monuments.

The reign of Ramses II marks the last peak of Egypt's imperial power. After his death Egypt was forced on the defensive but managed to maintain its suzerainty over Palestine and the adjacent territories until the later part of the 20th dynasty, when, under the weak kings who followed Ramses III, internal decay ended its power beyond its borders.

Dream It, Accomplish It.

Langston Hughes' "Harlem," there are a series of questions being asked about dreams. Knowing the significance and history of Harlem itself, one can realize that this poem is dealing with African Americans. These questions being asked are not looking for an answer, but simply trying to make readers reflect on the history and lives of African Americans. The tone of this poem is a mixture of a few. The poet shows a sense of anger because the American Dream was not for everyone, especially not for the African Americans. America denied freedom to African Americans and throughout this poem, one can sense the frustration along with hatred.

Six out of seven sentences in this poem are questions. By formatting his poem this way, Hughes is able to depict the many questions African Americans had about their lives, and the one line that is not a question in this poem, shows not a definite answer to the questions- resembling how African Americans never received a solid answer as to why they were forced to endure the worst. Each question allows the reader to see and smell the frustration of African Americans. The second question asked whether or not dreams fester like sores and then run; in other words, referring to African Americans trying to escape no matter what condition they're in, thus leading to "Does it stink like rotten meat." This question can create an image of the many dead bodies of African Americans and the infections or diseases they encountered, and the poor health that they were in which lead to some deaths. Following this question comes the very powerful question that directly impacts the others. "Or crust and sugar over- like a syrupy sweet" can be directly related to how White Americans tried to cover up the racism against African Americans, the pain and sufferings, the dead bodies and how America herself was involved in the cover-up.

Hughes' continuous questions creates a sense of tension along with the anger and frustration that develops with the different stressed syllables in each line. The use of such similes and strong choices of diction creates disturbing images and images where you can clearly see what is going on. "Maybe it just sags like a heavy load" showed the burden that African Americans had to carry and in order for a dream to come true, does one have to explode in an outburst of violence? Or is it that when one finally realizes that a dream does come true, explode in tears of joy?

Seek the Truth - Thesis

The History Teacher - Billy Collins

Trying to protect his students' innocence
he told them the Ice Age was really just
the Chilly Age, a period of a million years
when everyone had to wear sweaters.

And the Stone Age became the Gravel Age,
named after the long driveways of the time.

The Spanish Inquisition was nothing more
than an outbreak of questions such as
"How far is it from here to Madrid?"
"What do you call the matador's hat?"

The War of the Roses took place in a garden,
and the Enola Gay dropped one tiny atom on Japan.

The children would leave his classroom
for the playground to torment the weak
and the smart,
mussing up their hair and breaking their glasses,

while he gathered up his notes and walked home
past flower beds and white picket fences,
wondering if they would believe that soldiers
in the Boer War told long, rambling stories
designed to make the enemy nod off.

In "The History Teacher" by Billy Collins, history repeats itself. The constant lies and deceptions, hiding what is really going on in the world, allows similar events to reoccur. Each stanza consists of a period or event in history where the truth is being kept from the students for their "own good." Collins uses clever ways to try and prove a point- each important part in history is mentioned, and then he tries to cover it up with something "silly" or irrelevant. Collins points out that by hiding the truth, the history teacher will be able to protect his students' innocence; however, from this poem, one can argue that the history teacher is simply trying to "hide" the truth and teach his students to "seek" the truth on their own and not live by what others tell them.

Beauty Lies Within

In the poem "In a Station of the Metro," Pound creates many different images and gets straight to the point with just fourteen words. When many people first read this poem, it was difficult for them to grasp a meaning from the poem with just two lines. They try to pick out certain parts of the poem to find the meaning and beauty within this poem. However, Pound was able to prove his point that beauty lies within everything and not just one thing.

With the creative use of the word "apparition," Pound describes the many different faces he sees in the crowd in a subway in Paris as a group, a crowd. Apparition alone means the sudden appearance of something, usually dealing with a ghost. Knowing this, "apparition of these faces in the crowd" becomes the shocking appearances of these blurred beautiful faces in the crowd that he had never noticed.

The choice of the word "petals" was used to show how petals resembles flowers, and how a flower is made up of many petals, and how there are a wide variety of flowers. When one buys flowers, they are usually sold as a collection of many different flowers in a bouquet. Like flowers, there are many different colors, race, shapes and sizes of humans. In order to appreciate the beauty of life and the diversity of people, one has to look at them as a collection, not individually. A "wet black bough" simply refers to the subway station; however, one can view this as when it rains or when someone is going through rough times, it is when everyone works together in a group to help out that one notices the true beauty of humans.

In the fairly short poem, there is a contrast between life and death, light and dark. The ghostly appearances of these faces can resemble death because when one walks by an individual, one would not really care to notice who it was or try to find the beauty in s/he. the person then just becomes nothing, as if s/he was dead, and along with the rest have just become the walking dead. On the other hand, if one just stops and takes the time to see the big picture, view everything as a whole, then the ghostly appearances blossom into petals, bringing life and color into the world- revealing their true beauty.

The image of the flower depicts the meaning of this poem. In the midst of the crowd, one is not noticed, but blends in. The dark spaces represents the individual people- the ghostly figures- just being space fillers, just being random everyday people at the subway station. However, when viewed collectively- like petals forming a beautiful flower- one will notice the beauty that lies within the crowd. Thus beauty stands out more when one sees the whole picture and not just an individual aspect. Everything has beauty within, regardless of their type.

Pound's choices in diction was a very effective tool in creating vivid images of what the underlying meaning of the poem is. The use of apparition and petals contrasts one another but links the two ideas together. The beauty of this poem lies within the whole poem itself, not in individual words or sentences.

Death Itself Is Not Almighty

Death is a concept that can be viewed from many different perspectives. Some might see death from a negative aspect- that is, their time in this world has come to an end. Some might see death as a powerful "thing" waiting to take over one's life, or impact many other lives. Even the thought of death lurking around every corner just waiting to take action might scare a few. But for others, "Death" itself is not scary at all. They know that Death will eventually come for everyone, so that motivates them to live their lives well, to use their time wisely. A few might even view death from a positive aspect and believe in the afterlife, believe that once people die, they no longer have to suffer, they no longer have to go through pain, and they will live happily and peacefully in a better place, or Heaven. Furthermore, death can be seen as an escape from reality-or the easy way out- and maybe one will have a second chance at life.

No matter how one views Death, Death is inevitable- there are just many different ways one can approach this, and try to convince themselves that death can keep being prolonged. In "Sonnet 73" by William Shakespeare and "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas, both poets approach death from two very different and creative views. "Sonnet 73" is yet another sonnet written in iambic pentameter. This sonnet contains five feet per line- with an unstressed, stressed pattern, three quatrains with a rhyming couplet. With this, Shakespeare is able to depict time coming to an end. He starts the first quatrain off by showing that the beginning of one thing slowly comes to an end. As he continues onto to the second quatrain, the beginning of one thing comes to an end sooner than the previous event. Last but not least, the third quatrain shows the beginning of an event coming to an end rather quickly, which is where his quatrains comes to an end, and he leaves us with a twist in the rhyming couplet.

"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" is an example of a villanelle- a poem with five three line stanzas with an ABA rhyme scheme and ending with a four line stanza with an ABAArhyme scheme. Although the rhyme scheme may seem simple, this is a very strict form of poetry; needless to say, the message itself can be quite complex. Unlike Shakespeare's "Sonnet 73," Thomas realizes that time is coming to an end, but wants to fight against it, prolong it. The complexity of this poem can also help readers feel the frustration that Thomas had to deal with in this poem, and the strong powerful words he chose to use helps create an imagine of fighting against death.

Both poets are well aware of death's existence, and they are both writing their poems for individuals who are dying. However, their views, approach, attitudes and feelings differ greatly. In "Sonnet 73," Shakespeare starts off with the ending of autumn/beginning of winter. This can be because during the winter, it becomes very cold which can lead to health problems for some, hardships for others. Throughout life, there is always going to be the phase where one goes through difficulties, where one has to suffer, and during this downfall, it may seem like the longest time period. But no matter how difficult the situation, once s/he overcomes the situation, that period has come to an end. With the end of one season, comes the beginning of the next season. Next, Shakespeare shifts the setting from seasons to days. With the sun rising on a brand new day, everything good that happens in life will always have some sort of darkness that follows- whether it be the consequences for certain actions or situations, or the negativity from others that tries to bring one down. Whatever the circumstances may be, one must be reminded that once day shines bright, night will soon take over, so one must use the time they have wisely. Furthermore, we have the last scene of a burning fire, fighting for it's remaining moments. Once the fire is out, that's the end of its time. Shakespeare shows how with each season changing, life is changing, with each day that passes by, one is aging, and with each night that falls, one might fall deep in sleep, thus leading to death's second self. Shakespeare not only tries to make his friend realize he's dying and his time is up soon, but he is also telling his friend that parts of his life have already died and have just become memories because he's aged to this point where his youth and everything he's done in the past can not be changed in any way. Being reminded of this, and how time waits for no one, Shakespeare quickly turns the situation around and change the focus to himself. He says that his friend is the one who is leaving him, so his friend should cherish and love him while he still can. On the other hand, Shakespeare takes this as a reminder to enjoy his own life while still can.

In "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," Thomas is writing to his father who is ill and dying. He alternates the repetition of the lines "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" to constantly remind his father to not just give up so easily and let death take over. His father knows that he will die soon, so Thomas finds this as more of a reason why his father should be fighting for everyday of his life, showing that he wants to live and he's willing to put up a good fight before he dies. Thomas' father is aging and getting closer and closer to death; therefore, he should be appreciating life more and wanting to fight for everyday. The second stanza of the poem mentions "wise men" which Thomas probably refers to old men who understands that death is inevitable; however, they have used their time wisely and did not waste a day. They "do not go gentle into that good night" because they do not let the night take over and just sleep it away. They took over the night by knowing that they have lived everyday as if it were their last and lived it well. In their minds, they have won because they used the time that was given to them, but still seek more in their life. Next, Thomas describes "good men" as those who have lived a purposeful and meaningful life, who have helped others, still do not give up on life and continue to fight for another day because they know they could do more. "Wild men"- those who do not have their priorities straight and waste their time and days- will only realize it when it's too late and live with regrets, but they too, should not give up on fighting for their lives, rage for that matter. In the fifth stanza, Thomas talks about the last type of men, which are "grave men." Those who even on the verge of dying still continue to rage, continue to fight the night because they know there could still be more to their lives. Thomas points out these type of men to say that his father is unlike any of them. His father shows no signs of wanting to live. He sheds no tear, and shows no rage. Thomas wants his father to fight for his life and not show signs of weakness and let death take over. Thomas wrote this poem to plead his father to resist death, to show that he still wants to continue to live, and with all his might, try to prolong his life.

Shakespeare and Thomas both realizes that death comes closer and closer as each day passes by; however, Shakespeare tries to make the point that time is short and soon one's life will come to an end, whereas Thomas is not willing to let death take over and tries to make the point that one must fight for his life, fight to resist death. Both poets touch on the topic of time and how it waits for no one. One should always cherish every moment s/he gets and live a strong lived life. Shakespeare briefly adds a twist at the end to make another point about how the people dying are leaving their loved ones behind, and it is their loved ones who suffer the most. Eventually, one will be forgotten and their time in this world will come to an end, but it is the things they leave behind, the people they have touched, helped, taught- those intangible things that will remain forever. It has made an impact on someone, has changed something, and that is what made their life a well-lived life. For Shakespeare, his dying friend has made him realize the importance of his life, his present moments that he has to cherish. Both poets are the ones being left, but Shakespeare is able to accept it. Thomas on the other hand is frustrated because his father is not trying to fight for his life. The only thing his father will leave behind will be the image of weakness, of surrendering to death, and of not wanting to continue living, even for his own son.