Poem Essay Examples

The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner – Summary In the poem’s first line, we meet its protagonist, “an ancient Mariner. ” He stops one of three people on their way to a wedding celebration. The leader of the group, the Wedding Guest, tries to resist being stopped by the strange old man with the “long […]

Not every portrayal of Roland presents him as a perfect hero. What does Roland’s heroism lead to his own and others’ failure, and what does it reveal about the culture in which The Song of Roland originated? This heroic epic portrays the downfall of Roland, the brave commander of Charlemagne’s troops. Although Roland is not […]

“The Song of Roland” is a renowned epic-poem in world history, which depicts events during the first Crusade in the reign of Charlemagne around 778 A.D. This poem showcases the oral tradition utilized in epic poetry. Although various versions of the poem have been found, it is not necessarily a definitive version, and “The Song […]

The background of Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886) Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet of the 19th century. Her writing style is quiet weird at that time. Here is a description of Emily Dickinson from the book The recognition of Emily Dickinson: selected criticism since 1890[1], “Her poetry is not like any other poetry […]

From the outset MacCaig uses shocking images to create sympathy for the beggar. The first image occurs at the beginning of the first line, which induces a feeling of shock within the reader. The beggar is described as a “dwarf”, and goes on to say his “hands [were] on backward”, which is at the end […]

The poem is written by Fiona Farrell but voiced by Charlotte O’Neil and is set in the latter part of the nineteenth century. The poem is taken from the play Passengers which investigates the lives of young women as young as fourteen who emigrated from Europe to New Zealand. O’Neil’s name was picked out from […]

I chose to do the comparison between ‘The Tyger’ and ‘The Lamb’ because they both have similar themes but are concerned with very different aspects of life. ‘The Tyger’ concentrates on the dangers to be faced in life and nature while ‘The Lamb’ celebrates nature as seen through the innocent eyes of a child. Blake […]

‘The Sun Rising’ poem analysis by John Donne The poet addresses the sun as a person and rebukes the sun because it has wakened him and his lover from their sleep. He demands to know why lovers should obey time. He also shows his dominance over the sun, calling it a ‘saucy pedantic wretch’ and […]

Commentary on the poem- ‘My Grandmother’ by Elizabeth Jennings The poem ‘My Grandmother,’ is a recount of a childhood memory of the poets’ grandmother who “kept an antique shop”, and there are many underlying meaning and thoughts in the poem, which illustrate the strong attachment of the grandmother towards her shop and the relationship between […]

The poem “Ozymandias King of Egypt”, being a very powerful poem, is generally a poem about power and is written as a short, structured and rhyming story which discusses the meaning of life and the changes going on in the world all the time. “Ozymandias King of Egypt” is actually a sonnet. It has fourteen […]

Theme of Stopping by the wood s on a snowy evening The poem “stopping by the woods on a snowy evening” is written by Robert Frost. The poem is set in the woods and the speaker here is the stranger who stopped there, admiring what his eyes saw, the beautiful view. In the opening stanza, […]

This poem dramatists the importance of individualism, especially since the poem was a Romantic poem which was the era which individualism was introduced in. Individualism is a very important theme of the poem as it draws the importance of the basics of individualism. Through the focus and beauty of nature, which was also a very […]

What did you think of the poems that you just read? Which one are you going to choose for this final assignment for the Poetry module, I want you to choose either the poem ‘Green Memory’ by Langston Hughes OR ‘St. George’ by Nancy Senior. Once you have chosen which poem you would like to […]

Some poems I have written in the past such as ‘For the Fire’, ‘Martin and the Hand Grenade’ and ‘Summer Rain’ contain a deliberate, overlying theme. The theme of violence is clearly evident, in ‘For the Fire’ we read about a vicious encounter between a kookaburra and a lizard. In ‘Martin and the Hand Grenade’ […]

Heroes of our great epics and legends of great artistic flavors were not ordinary human beings, but were the gifts of divine powers to redeem thirsty and bloody earth from our sins. Morton W. Bloomfield rightly said, “The original hero in early literature was probably based on the king who died for his people, the […]

The short poem “Forty Acres” by Derek Walcott, compares the heroic figures during the slave era to President Barack Obama. Walcott’s poem is a bout a heroic figure in the African American community and how he overcame all obstacles and rose to power, much like President Obama. He discusses the stereotypical thoughts of the white […]

In 1963 Sylvia Plath wrote a poem called Mirror. The poem revolves around the truth of reflections in the life of an individual. It captures the frustration of people as they look at their reflection watching themselves age. Sylvia Plath uses a unique blend of symbolism, imagery, and repetition to tell a story from the […]

Paul Laurence Dunbar created a work of literature that captures the pain and suffering experienced by someone who was once enslaved. The poem is especially moving because it was written during a period when former slaves were fighting for justice, fairness, and equal rights in America. Through his words, Dunbar portrays how people often hide […]

In Tennyson’s poem ‘Mariana’ he uses the imagery of decay to help suggest the extreme isolation in which the female character exists in. The description of her surroundings ‘… rusted nails. .. broken sheds looked sad and strange … Weeded and worn the ancient thatch… the lonely moated grange.. . ‘ let us see that […]

“The Ballad of Billy Rose” by Leslie Norris is a thought-provoking poem where the poet reminisces about a particular incident in his childhood. Throughout the poem the poet employs a variety of poetic techniques to enhance the imagery such as rhyme, enjambement, figurative language and alliteration.The poem “The Ballad of Billy Rose” begins with the […]

The theme of deception and seduction is presented in both Eileen McAuley’s poem Seduction and Thomas Hardy’s story The Arch Deceiver, as both reflect a male character tricking a female character. Through the use of language techniques like similes, repetition, and alliteration, both writers in Seduction evoke an attitude of deceit and manipulation, ultimately eliciting […]

Robert burns creates a joyous mood in his poem “Tam O`Shanter”. The poem deals with a drunken mans journey to a church, where he finds a dance of witches and warlocks, his emotional involvement with one of the witches and his escape from them. Although the moral of the story deals with the serious effects […]