Literature Essays

In this paper I will be discussing two poems of the Polish poet Wislawa Szymborska – “A Thank-You Note” and “The End and the Beginning” – and how she uses the element of irony in her works. Szymborska’s work has been considered grim poetry because she tackles on the subject of war and its aftermath, […]

When I first read “Proem: to Brooklyn Bridge,” by Hart Crane, I felt some difficulty in understanding the poem, but I wanted to probe its images and use of language to try to develop a better understanding of the poem. A reading of secondary sources informed me that the poem is actually the introduction or […]

Dionne Brand’s “Blues Spiritual for Mammy Prater” opens with a note: “On looking at the photograph of Mammy Prater an ex-slave, 115 years old when her photograph was taken”. This note points attention to the still-life that is photography and poetry, the distances between subject, object, and artist that are already in place – set […]

“Figure of Speech” is a literary term that encompasses several poetic devices. It is defined as a “word or group of words utilized to underscore a specific idea or feeling” (Encarta). The application of figures of speech in “My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose” by Robert Burns, “The Victory” by Anne Stevenson, and […]

Poets everywhere choose themes that concern the most intimate matters of the human soul, the universal themes that every human being can relate to. Naturally, one of the themes most often referred to is love, as something all have experienced at some point in their lives. From the greatest to the meekest of poets have […]

In the poem’s “Ode, Intimations of Immortality” by William Wordsworth and “The Tyger” and “The Chimney Sweeper” by William Blake from Songs of Experience, the poets use light and dark imagery to give the audience a picture of life and, ultimately, death. The poems all have the idea of death in common but most importantly, […]

Can the poem beif necessary? Yes, it can. The poem depicts an individual reflecting on their various past occupations and asserts that the one job they would not repeat is being a telemarketer due to the discomfort caused by disappointing the people on the receiving end of their calls. Who is the speaker in the […]

Through his poem “Theme for English B”, Langston Hughes expresses his will to exterminate discrimination by proving that despite different skin colors, Americans all share similarities and learn from each other. Langston wrote the poem in 1900, when black Americans were not considered Americans. He talks about a black student being assigned to write a […]

When we attempt a general assessment of Robert Browning’s poetic caliber and overall achievement, his multi-faceted genius and his rarer treatment of love and its myriad moods and manifestations, all this strike our mind and heart intensely. The most characteristic of Browning’s poetry is his love-lyrics which remains the first and foremost of his total […]

The universe we live in is filled with a perplexing array of diverse perspectives which may often confuse us. Our understanding of the world, rooted in our common sense, could possibly be flawed with biases and errors unknowingly. We gather information about our surroundings through aspects like language, emotion, observation, and reasoning, yet none of […]

“Blackberry-picking” by Irish poet Seamus Heaney is about the futility of human life and the misfortune in its quickly passing nature. This poem, rich in vivid detail and diction tells us how young Heaney, who is the speaker in this case, begins to realize that nothing in life can last, especially the things we love. […]

In The Pink presents the same strongly antiwar theme as most of Siegfried Sassoon’s poems do. However, the message he conveys is subtle. It does not entirely depict the gruesome horrors of war, but rather the impact of war on every soldier and his loved ones. The poem follows the thoughts of a soldier, Davies. […]

Search for my Tongue and Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan both show people thinking about their ‘roots’. How does each poem convey their thoughts and feelings? In “Search for my Tongue” and “Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan”, the poets are conveying to the reader the strong feelings they have about their roots, and […]

The poem “A Tree Telling of Orpheus” by Denise Levertov is an interesting poem that explains how a man with such a beautiful voice and such skill on his lyre that his crazed fans tore him limb from limb. His talent was so rich and amazing that even the trees would uproot themselves from the […]

I had a lot of interest in this poem because it signifies the importance of learning and the resourcefulness of books. I myself have a passion to read and share this enthusiasm with Giovanni. The poem is written in the first person which gives it a personal feel. The library into which Giovanni enters is […]

Presented much like a spontaneous journal or diary entry, Allen Ginsberg’s “A Supermarket in California” is a complex and multifaceted poem that stands as an indictment against American government and culture. The opening lines of the poem forward the aforementioned journal-like quality and also present the central focal point of tension in the poem as […]

In the poem Anyone Lived in a Pretty how Town E. E. Cummings plays with jumbled syntax, a seemingly random rhyme scheme, and the paradox of non-identical repetition to convey his message about the ordinariness of daily life, the passing of time, and the inclusive anonymity of people we encounter in our lives. Anyone Lived […]

For me, the study of Emily Dickinson’s poetry was the most memorable part of poetry this year. The fact that all of Dickinson’s poetry is highly personal and filled with meaning and sentiment adds to the enjoyment of this renowned poets work. Dickinson is a highly elusive poet and we are given the knowledge of […]

Analysis of the short story “The Escape” by William Somerset Maugham. I`d like to reflect upon the short-story under the title «The Escape”, written by one of the best known English writers of 20th century – William Somerset Maugham. He was not only a short-story writer, but also one of the most successful dramatists and […]

Robert Frost was born in San Francisco on 26 March 1874. He moved to New England when he was a teenager and attended high school there. He was honoured as an exceptional student. He fell in love with Elinor White and later went on to marry her. The two began a family while Frost worked […]

The most effective poems convey the poet’s idea and influence the Reader’s Response. This is certainly true when considering the poetry of John Foulcher is a contemporary Australian poet who writes about his observation of everyday life, people and places, as well as religious history. The poet’s voice is distinctive and he writes in a […]

One of the indications of T. S Elliot’s bleak and pessimistic approach to “The Wasteland” is the brief citation he opted to use to initiate the poem. To underline the decayed and diminished state of a formerly thriving world, Elliot borrowed a quotation from Petronius Arbiter’s “Satyricon”. This sets the poem’s tone when Elliot selects […]