A Dangerous Game

"well-washed dollars, legal tender
for all debts public and private,
intact despite agitation;"
("Sorting Laundry" - Elisavietta Ritchie)

Well, this poem was a little bit bitter.  I can totally understand where this woman is coming from, and I thought it was clever how the author revealed this attitude to the reader.  Instead of directly stating how the speaker feels, images of clothes and other things put into the laundry are described.  My favorite image is in the quote above.  I think the "dollars" in this scenario represent the two people in the relationship.  Both were well worn and accustomed to each other.  Both parties took care of each other in public and private even when times were tough.  The "tough times" are referenced through the word "debts."  The speaker says that the money was intact despite going through the wash just as relationships can put us through the ringer. However, true love stays in place even through complications.  The woman thought her relationship was perfect until the one day when she discovered it had all been a lie.  I like how the author subtly mentions this through the "strangely tailored shirt."  The speaker seems to show indifference; however, the reader can tell that the speaker is depressed because all the clothes that she posses could not fill "the empty side of the bed."  I think this side of the bed represents her heart.  The speaker believes that no one person can fill the part of her heart she has lost.

Ask Me in the 21st Century

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings;
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair."
("Ozymandias" - Percy Bysshe Shelley)

This picture is obviously real.

Ozymandias seems like a pretty mean dude.  He is characterized through many details such as "cold," "frown," and "wrinkled lip."  Personally, I would not want to be under his command.  However, the above excerpt is pretty ironic.  These words have stood the test of time; however, that is the only thing that has made it through the many years.  Around the statue is a "colossal wreck" which contains nothing.  No great power or empire exists from Ozymandias' time.  His statue stands alone among the sand - no person despairs at his work because all of it is gone.  Words may be eternal, but being eternal does not always mean they are true.

I'm not exactly sure what the image of the "hand" and the "heart" is referring too.  I was thinking that "the hand that mocked him" was a metaphor to the people that never thought that he could cause such destruction or have such a powerful rule.  Maybe "the heart that fed" is the people who served this tyrant.  The "hand" and "heart" are synecdoche because one part of a person represents an entire group of people.  A synecdoche is effective because the speaker is placing the blame at the "hand" and "heart" of those who mocked the tyrant.

Under Pressure

"To every woman a happy ending."
("Barbie Doll" - Marge Piercy)

The central theme of this poem is:  society's view of "perfection" can not be realized.

Evidence of imperfection exists throughout the poem.  First of all, the girl is said to be a "fat nose on thick legs."  In the poem, the girl is said to be intelligent, healthy, and strong.  However, not one person looks past her looks.  Also, the girl is said to be like a "fan belt" that wears out over time.  This simile is appropriate because women in today's culture are seen as objects over and over again.  Over time, this harsh view can wear away self confidence.  This can eventually lead to the suicide of many young women.  In the poem, the girl "cuts off her nose and legs."  This overstatement serves to show that the young girl killed herself by ridding herself of her "imperfections."  Unfortunately, many women see death as a happy ending away from all the pressures of life.

Today, society focuses way too much on looks.  From magazine to tv shows, the perfect body is always flashed in young girl's faces. The author is criticizing society's view on women.  This "perfect" image can never be accomplished realistically.  This poem reminded me of an ad we watched in AP Spanish.  When told to reflect on the commercial, I pretty much had the same reaction to the commercial as this poem.  Anorexia, bulimia, self-confidence issues, and depression usually all boil down to one cause:  societal pressure.

 

Questions, Questions.

"Or does it explode?"
("Dream Deferred" - Langston Hughes)

This poem only consists of rhetorical questions.  When I was first reading it, all I could think of was an annoying first grader who asks a millions questions.  However, these questions actually have a purpose.  These questions create images of things that slowly decay over time.  For example, a raisin that is left in the sun eventually will dry up.  Each image is connected to the question of how a dream is deferred.  The author is really asking:  How does a dream end in a person's life?  The slow-tempo images are juxtaposed with the question stated above.  This quote also contains an example of a metonymy.  The action of exploding is used to represent a bomb without directly mentioning the bomb.  This is effective because in the previous stanzas, imagery and similes are used to back up the reasoning.  The image of a bomb is powerful in and of itself to explain how a dream can die quickly and effect many people.  Rhetorical questions allow the reader to see the thought process of the speaker.  The last question is sudden and the opposite of the rest of the poem.  This really emphasizes that the speaker feels as if dreams can be taken from a person suddenly.

Love, that's enough for me

"But it's love that does us in."
("February" - Margaret Atwood)

We all know that feeling right after Christmas break - the anticipation for warm weather and spring break to roll around.  To me, February is a dull month with little to be excited for (besides Jimmy and Lizzie's birthdays of course!).  I honesty spend half of my time wishing it was spring.  This poem grasps that negative feeling through the symbol of the black cat.  I think this cat is a looming image of the misery the speaker feels about the late months of winter.  It is interesting that the cat sits on the speaker's chest; maybe the cat represents the depression on the mind and heart of the speaker throughout the dreary month.

The excerpt above is a paradox presented in the poem.  Before, the author blatantly states that humans should not have young in order to have a worry-free life.  At first, I was extremely shocked (after all, the author uses the image of a shark eating her young);  however, this paradox reveals something true about love.  Love brings humans happiness and joy in life; however, love can also bring heartache and worry.  For example, parents love their children, but if this child gets into trouble, this can cause heartache and worry for the parents.  Without children, there would be no love; on the other hand, there would also be no worry or stress in life.

Lipstick on a Pig

"Didn't you know?  It's been in all the papers,
to solve this problem, how they deal with beggars?
They take and throw them in the tidal rivers."
("Pink Dog" - Elizabeth Bishop)

The central idea of this poem is the poor treatment of those who appear to be impoverished, and the remedies (or lack there of) used to "solve" these problems.  The poem starts with light, carefree diction of a lovely day on the beach.  The sun is out, the sky, a bright shade of blue...and suddenly, the description is interrupted by a naked pink dog walking across the beach.  I admire how the author just nonchalantly states this like nothing is new or surprising.  Personally, I would be totally shocked.

After this stanza, the poem takes a turn toward the negative side of things.  The people automatically judge the dog and assume that she left her children to find food for herself.  I think the dog represents the poor in society; most people scoff and consider these people to be dirty and worthless. 

In the excerpt above, Bishop uses a hyperbole to show how the government only puts ridiculous plans into action that never have a chance of actually succeeding.  Bishop is encouraging the government to find a better solution to this huge problem.  Also, the community can not just dress up the beggars for Carnival and act like they are okay.   Putting lipstick on a pig does not solve anything.  Both the government and the community need to work together to find a solution. 

"Woe is Me"

"Six days of the week it soils
With its sickening poison - 
Just for paying a few bills!"
("Toads" - Philip Larkin)


Larkin combines both sarcasm and wit to criticize the middle class of his day.  The toad is used throughout as a symbol of the hardships in the average person's life.  Many feel as if they can not escape from their working reality.  The symbol of the toad is obviously negative; for example, the toad squats on his life with "sickening poison."  The middle class man is complaining because he has to work six days a week with no means of escaping his fate.  He even goes as far to say that the poorest of the poor have a "better life" because they do not have to work.  Even though they live in the worst of worst conditions, the speaker goes as far to say that "no one actually starves."  I'm assuming that the author is being sarcastic here.  Obviously, many people have died of starvation.  No living person has actually ever died from working day in and day out.  A second toad is mentioned later that is said to be inside the speaker.  This toad limits the speaker from money, girls, and fame.  Larkin is criticizing the working class here for only striving for fame and fortune out of life.   Many people do not care about having a family or purposeful life.  At the end of the poem, the author presents irony.  The speaker says that he possesses spiritual truth.  However, in the stanza before this statement, the speaker talks about fame and money.  The author establishes that through the desires of the middle class, spiritual truth is actually absent from their lives.