Home Burial- by Robert Frost

This poem portrays the failure of communication between the married couple, and failure to appreciate the way in which each is grieving. In this poem Frost described an anxious conversation between a rural husband and wife whose child has recently died. Wife is standing and looking at her child’s grave through the window. It is a poem about the love of a mother to her child. She has lost her all hopes. She becomes very excited and sorrowful but her husband is very normal. He think that, it is the rule of nature and nobody can escape it. So, he is very easy and normal but his wife does not agree with him. She does not want to stay with him in this house because his husband has buried her child in this house.

This poem seems to be addressing the theme of how humans respond to death and emotion. We know that death is unavoidable and happens to everyone, yet we still experience extreme sadness when we lose a loved one. Humans crave comfort and understanding from one another during times of grief; however, we’re with can’t provide these needs, we almost instantly feel angry and want to separate from that person.

As we approach the end of the poem, we can see how the husband finally runs out of patience and tells her to stay and if she does do it, he will go after her and bring her back by force. He is willing to do everything it takes to make her wife stay at home, even against her will.

Death Be not Proud- by John Donne

In the poem “Death, Be Not Proud”, poet John Donne’s inclusion of personification,irony, and indirect characterization depicts the speaker’s opinion of death. In doing so, Donne suggests that death is simply an obstacle in the long – term of eternal life.  The poem is begins as challenging but as the narrator’s one – sided conversation with Death goes on it turns to blatant belittlement and disregard.

Death, be not proud, though some have called theeMighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

The speaker is telling Death should not be proud, even though some have called death mighty and scary, but it is not so.

For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrowDie not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

   Death believes that it is “overthrowing” people, when actually one does not die. Although death claims to kill people, people cannot die and neither can the narrator.

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,

    In this stanza Donne compares death with rest and sleep, which are not scary. He says that Death will bring pleasure, not pain.

And soonest our best men with thee do go,Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.

    Even when men do die, Death can only acquire the bodies, not the souls. The souls will transcend to heaven. So, the best men willingly go to death and they rest their bones and their should go to heaven.

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell

    Donne says Death is a slave because it is under the control of mortal individuals (kings and desperate men). Death is also vulgar because it uses poison, war, and sickness to get what it wants.

And poppy or charms can make us sleep as wellAnd better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?

    Poppies and charms cause sleepiness too. Donne questions Death how it can feel so pompous of itself when other harmless objects create the same effects as it creates. This means Death is at the same level as poppies and charms.

One short sleep past, we wake eternallyaAnd death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

    Death gives a short sleep. We should not worry because we will be resurrected into another human being so we will “wake eternally” Therefore Death will die. In heaven, where a person’s soul stays there, death does not exist which causes Death to “Die”.

    So, we can say that the purpose of the poem is to convey a sense of comfort when discussing a topic like death, which certainly has some uncomfortable and even frightening associations. The document explains that death need not be feared, and through logical conclusions the speaker removes Death’s power.

The Flea- by John Donne

John Donne the master of metaphysical written by a poem “The Flea” The Flea poet uses to biological image of this poem in the order to idea with the theme of love. This poem is a plea from a man to a woman for her to sleep with him. Donne uses the flea as a vessel that has mixed their blood and thus a reason having sex with him is no longer sinful.

The poem is divided into three parts which are the processes of the whole poem. The flea that sucked their blood, the death of the flea, and the turning thought of the author. The speaker is using a flea as a means of convincing his lover to sleep with him. There is no setting provided, the speaker and his lover are alone. This whole theme to this poem is about sexual desire. The speaker points out a flea to a woman that he desire. She rejects him and he points out that the blood of each of them is already “mingling” inside of the flea.

The speaker points out the flea and tries to relate it to something very trivial, but the woman thinks of it as a big deal. He points out that their blood is now mixing together inside the flea. The speaker tries to relate sex to their blood mixing saying that it is not a sin nor is it shameful. He then complains that the flea gets to do more than they do.

The woman kills the flea, but the only thing that happens is she gets blood on her fingernail. The man claims that the flea is innocent and the only harm done is that it took a single drop of blood. The woman man’s argument. The man agrees that his argument has fallen apart. The speaker then says that his whole argument was a way of proving that having sex with him would not be as disastrous and shameful as she thinks.

The poem ends before the woman responds to the speaker, we are left wondering if she will succumb to him or deny him and remain chaste.

Ode On a Grecian Urn

The theme in the poem is how time moves on yet the Urn is remaining unchanged and will forever be beautiful; unlike everything else that will change get older and eventually die.

The title refers to an ancient Grecian Urn that describes different scenes and different lives of people who are all entrapped in beauty, pureness, and agelessness. This poem effectively mirrors the image of a Grecian Urn Keats not only describes the physical appearance, but he also relates the symbolic meaning of the Urn as well as the images. The Urn represents, to the speaker, the concept of immortality and eternal life. The purpose of the poem is to explain that the only Truth that humans can understand is Beauty.

Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness,Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,Sylvan historian, who canst thus express....

In this stanza, Keats addresses a Grecian urn, which he describes as married to quietness and "adopted" by silence and time , because the urn is unable to tell stories on its own. The urn is compared to a Sylvan historian, because they both tell stories pertaining to nature. Keats says that the urn tells stories better than he does with his poems. He wonders if the urn, decorated with leaves, depicts gods or humans. He also asks where the scenes are set - in Tempe or Arcady (places in Greece). He tries to figure out the first image on the urn, where men are chasing after women. He wants to know what the reason is.

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheardAre sweeter; therefore,..

Keats notes that the pipe music he imagines playing in the image on the urn sounds better than music in real life. He says that the piper cannot stop playing his song, just as the trees in the image cannot lose their leaves because they are a permanent part of the urn. Because of this, the piper cannot kiss his lover next to him, but that he should not be sad because neither she nor her beauty or their love can disappear either.

Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shedYour leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu;And, happy melodist, unwearied,For ever piping songs for ever new;More happy love! more happy, happy love!For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd,For ever panting, and for ever young;All breathing human passion far above,That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd,A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.

Keats describes the trees as happy because the images of them will never lose their leaves. He calls the piper happy because he song will not end, and neither will he love with the maiden. He says that love in real life is much different, and requires suffering - it ends with a hurting heart, as well as "A burning forehead, and a parching tongue."

"Beauty is truth, and truth is beauty."

So, whole poem is an example of personification because it describes that urn as if it were pure, throughout the poem it refer to the urn as a living being well.

Ode to a Nightingale- by Robert Frost

“Ode to a Nightingale” is Keats most famous famous work. An ode is a traditional Greek form of poetry that celebrates what the poem is dedicated too. Ode to a Nightingale was a part of the collection of 1819 Odes. Ode to a Nightingale is a Horation ode named after, the Roman poet Horace. Horation ode’s have a consistent stanza length and meter. 

The poem is set both in and out of the woods. In the beginning the speaker is sitting outside the forest and the birds song ‘draws’ him into the middle of forest. He goes back in time to others who heard the song. Then to the woods. Just as quickly as he slips into the dream. He is called back to reality and the woods become idylie. But inaccessible as the nightingale flies away.

The song of the nightingale is important as it symbolizes ideals and perfection that Keats finds lacking in society. Keats describes the song as timeless, especially in his description of the nightingale continuing to sing after his ( the narrator’s) death.
Keats uses a multitude of figurative language to convey his tone throughout this poem. The speaker describes his numbness and heartache hearing the song of the nightingale somewhere in the forest. He toys with the idea of the oblivion that alcohol could lead him to. He speaks softly to death, embracing the idea of painless death and the escape from humanity. Alas with the departure of the nightingale, the speaker cannot distinguish between reality or a dream. The nightingale is important as it symbolizes immortality and freedom. Throughout the poem, Keats describes this idea of the nightingale being free and timeless, emphasizing his own desire to be free of society and humanity.

So, we can say that throughout his poem, Keats makes allusions to figures of Greek and Roman mythology. This is important in that it demonstrates the timelessness that Keats thinks of when imagining the song of the nightingale.

Fire and Ice- By Robert Frost

"Fire and Ice" is one of Robert Frost's best-known poems, but it feels more modern than some of his other famous works, like "The Road Not Taken" and "After Apple-Picking." You get no sense of the quaint New England lifestyle that many people associate with Frost.

This short poem outlines the familiar question about the fate of the world, wondering if it is more likely to be destroyed by fire or ice. People are on both sides of the debate, and Frost introduces the narrator to provide his personal take on the question of the end of the world. The narrator first concludes that the world must end in fire after considering his personal experience with desire and passion, the emotions of fire. Yet, after considering his experience with “ice,” or hatred, the narrator acknowledges that ice would be equally destructive.

"Fire and Ice" is set up as a choice between fire and ice. Which force will bring about the end of the world? Based on the wisdom gained from his experience, the speaker decides that desire and the other forces of "fire" would probably bring about the destruction of the world first. "Fire," after all, is the realm of the passions, which are spontaneous and impulsive. But the cool deliberation of "ice" would be no less effective at bringing about destruction. The speaker makes a choice but avoids choosing one over the other. "Fire and Ice" is notable for the lack of fear on the part of the speaker, who responds to the prospect of the end of the world with few traces of emotion or worry. He takes it all in stride. There is something uncomfortable and even frightening about a guy who can analyze the pivotal moment in human history like a lawyer or judge weighing two arguments. Nonetheless, from his personal knowledge of desire and hate, we know the speaker is not just naïve. Maybe he knows "fire and ice" so well that he has moved beyond fear to resignation. Or maybe the fear is still lurking beneath the surface.

Design- by Robert Frost

The poem begins with a simple setup—the first three lines introduce us to the main characters. We have a big white spider on a white flower, poised to eat a white moth. The speaker sees this bizarre little albino meeting as some weird witches' brew, as all three are brought together for some awful reason.

The poem begins with a simple setup—the first three lines introduce us to the main characters. We have a big white spider on a white flower, poised to eat a white moth. The speaker sees this bizarre little albino meeting as some weird witches' brew, as all three are brought together for some awful reason.

 That observation leads the speaker to a series of questions: Why is this flower white, when it is usually blue? What brought the spider to that particular flower? What made the moth decide to flutter by right then?

"Design" isn't a ghost story. Really nothing all that awful happens. A spider gets ready to eat a moth. It's the circle of life—get over it. But the philosophical argument that Frost develops begins to play with some of our deepest fears. Frost moves from telling a story to asking questions, questions that become increasingly more urgent. It is as if he is slowly uncovering all the possible implications of the scene and he is terrified of what he discovers.a

  

 Frost concludes that if it were "design" that brought these three together, it must be some pretty dark design. In other words, it's not a comforting thought to think that God went out of his way just to make sure this moth got eaten. But that's the crucial "if" of the last line: if design does govern these small things.