B.+Rizzo

Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts. She was the second child of Emily Norcross Dickinson and Edward Dickinson. She received her education from Amherst Academy. Dickinson lived her life alone in her parents house reading and writing poetry, but she did know the current events that were occurring around her. It is hard to tell why her depression shows throughout her work because the real reason of her depression was not known. Dickinson passed away on May 15, 1886 from a kidney disorder. **
 *  Emily Dickinson

[[image:FROG0406.jpg width="308" height="358" align="right"]]
= 260 =

I'm Nobody! Who are you?
===Are you - Nobody  - too? ===

To an admiring Bog!
=**Analysis**=



 * This poem literally sees to pertain to Dickinson's life. "260" is about a person that knows they are nobody, an outsider perhaps. This outsider meets another person who is a nobody. They sit and talk about how awful it is to be a somebody. Dickinson uses a different form where she singles out certain words such as "Nobody" or "Somebody". This poetic device puts more emphasis on that one word so that it really sticks out. She also uses a simile when she says, "How public - like a Frog"(line 6). Some of the ambiguous parts of the poem would be line 6. I don't really think I understood the meaning of the frog in this poem. I believe this poem is actually about Dickinson's life because she was an outsider considering she did live with her parents her entire life with the exception of one year. I think this poem is Dickinson readily admitting to being an outsider and she is happy because of it. Now if you look at it from her point of view, she doesn't want to be a follower, or an insider, just like everyone else. I'm sure everyone growing up in high school and grade school looks to be accepted by there peers. It's a common human behavior to thrive for acceptance of others. With this thirst of fitting in, also comes the chance of disapproval and rejection. Dickinson chooses to be an outsider which shows in line five when she says, "How dreary - to be - Somebody!". Dickinson is saying that being an insider has more of a negative affect on a person. It shows that being an insider, a popular person, is more of a job than a gift. It takes an effort to remain popular and that means you may hurt people on the road to acceptance. Now the reference of the frog was a difficult part to understand. What I got out of lines six through seven was that a frog is a creature that makes an obscene amount of noise for being so small. Now it seems that what Dickinson is trying to say is that the frog can make itself heard as much as it can, but only the "admiring Bog" will hear it. I saw this as a popular person can be as obnoxious as possible and make themself know to the public but only society chooses if you are popular or not.**

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzMeaICn9m8 **The song Jeremiah was a Bullfrog**

=**591**= The stillness in the Room**
 * I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -

[[image:emily-dickinson-400.jpg width="320" height="320" align="right"]]

 * Was like the Stillness in the Air -**



 * Between the Heaves of Storm -

The Eyes around - had wrung them dry -**


Be witnessed - in the Room -
 * For that last Onset - when the King

I willed my Keepsakes - Signed away What portion of me be Assignable - and then it was There interposed a Fly -**


Between the light - and me - And then the Windows failed - and then I could not see to see -**
 * With Blue - uncertain - stumbling Buzz -

=Analysis= **This poem is about a person who had died but still hears a fly buzzing around the room. The dead person wrote a will and gave away what she owned. The person seemed to have trouble dieing but in the end her death finally came. Dickinson always uses many poetic devices. First of all she uses a few metaphors. The first metaphor would be the use of the Fly symbolizing death. The second metaphor would be the use of a King symbolizing God. Another poetic device Dickinson uses is an oxymoron in line seven when she says, "last Onset". Last means the end of something and onset means the beginning. This poem had one main ambiguous part that really takes some thinking. It's the when Dickinson says, "And then the Windows failed"(line 14). It really makes no sense to use windows in this poem. I believe this poem is about a person who is dieing a slow but painless death. The image of the fly symbolizes this death. For example, when you see a dead animal, most of the time it will have flies all over it. This is why Dickinson is giving us a visual that the fly is buzzing around the room waiting for the individual to die. This person is ready to die which is shown when he or she says, "I willed my Keepsakes - Signed away"(line 9). The person has their will all signed and ready to go, so they obviously know that death is right around the corner. To me it seems like the person in the poem is trying to die but the fly keeps pestering the individual. I think Dickinson uses the failure of the windows to represent the closing of the deathly person's eyes. It represents the final moment that the person in the poem lived until the lights began to fade. The last thing the individual heard was the buzzing of the fly.**

=**Robert Frost**=

beloved poets of all time. Although he faced some very tough times in life, it began to show in his works. Frost became agnostic as his life got worse and worse. First his son committed suicide, then his daughter had a complete mental collapse. Frost was seen as a modernist poet. His work got known ** = = **because he sent his poems to fellow poet Ezra Pound. Pound read over Frost's**
 * Robert Frost was born in 1874 and passed away in 1963. He is one of the most
 * work and thought it was remarkable and sent it in to American editors. **

=**Fire and Ice**= But if it had to perish twice, ** = = To say that for destruction ice ** = = And would suffice. **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Some say the world will end in fire, **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Some say in ice. **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">From what I've tasted of desire **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> I hold with those who favor fire.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> I think I know enough of hate
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Is also great

= =

reminds me of the song slow dancing in a burning room by John Mayer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX-nuY9LJAs = = =**Analysis**= **This poem by Robert Frost seems to show the comparison between fire and ice. It's talking about whether the world will end with the destruction of fire or ice and which has a greater force. The narrator agrees with the people that are in favor that fire will overcome ice. However, ice can cause a great deal of destruction as well. Some poetic devices used by Frost would be the use of a rhyme scheme such as the words "great" and "hate" and "twice" and "ice". The ambiguous part of this poem would be line five when Frost says, "But if it had to perish twice". This just didn't make sense to me because the world can only perish once. Right off the bat, I thought this poem was really about the end of the world, and it very well could be, but I have other thoughts in mind. I believe this poem is about the world of dating and relationships. I see this poem as which is a worse way to end a relationship with someone. When Frost says, "I hold with those who favor fire," I believe he is saying that most relationships end with fury as in a fight or an argument. From my personal experience, most of my break ups have ended in a final dispute that led each other to part ways. I believe when Frost mentions ice, he is talking about the individuals heart freezing over in a sense. Ice would represent the loss of feelings towards your partner in the relationships.**

=William Carlos Williams=
 * William Carlos Williams was born in 1883 and passed away in 1963. He was a modernist writer but he was different because he tended to disagree with all other modernist writers. He thought he wasn't given enough credit for his poetry during his generation. His poems tend to be very simple. They are short and sweet and fit the modernist idea perfectly because it is what it is. What you read is what you get. Another aspect that made Williams unique was that he tried to use everyday occurrences in his poetry. This means he would write about what he sees. **

=**The Dance**= spin upon the long axis that concerns them most intimately two and two to make a dance
 * When the snow falls the flakes

the mind dances with itself, taking you by the hand, your lover follows** ==
 * there are always two,

yourself and the other, the point of your shoe setting the pace, if you break away and run the dance is over

Breathlessly you will take another partner better or worse who will keep at your side, at your stops

whirls and glides until he too leaves off on his way down as if there were another direction

gayer, more carefree spinning face to face but always down with each other secure only in each other's arms

But only the dance is sure! make it your own. Who can tell what is to come of it?

in the woods of your own nature whatever twig interposes, and bare twigs have actuality of their own

this flurry of the storm that holds us, plays with us and discards us dancing, dancing as may be credible.**

=Analysis= **"The Dance" by William Carlos Williams is basically plain and simple. This poem is about people dancing outside in nature. He compares dancing by using snowflakes when two flakes attach. The people dancing are switching partners and becoming more carefree. One poetic device used was a metaphor by comparing people dancing to two snowflakes falling in the air and coming together as the wind blows them. Another poetic device was the structure of the poem. The majority of the poem continues on without any periods much like the falling of a snowflake. The ambiguous part that I didn't understand was when Williams says, "twig interposes, and bare twigs"(line 31). I have no idea what twigs have to do with this poem. I think this is literally about people dancing having a great time. It seems to take place during Christmas time because Williams talks of snowflakes and everyone seems so cheerful. The snowfall sets a romantic scene of people dancing to try and find someone to love, possibly go home with. This shows in line 28 when Williams says, "what is to come of it?" This means that love is in the air and who knows what will happen by the end of the night. There is also alcohol involved in this poem. Most of us all know that most of the time alcohol and dancing come hand in hand at a party. He describes the dancing people as becoming "gayer, more carefree" which implies that they are becoming more and more intoxicated as the night goes on.**

=Countee Cullen= many poets the represented the Harlem Renaissance. He was also a modernist poet that used free verse that was derived from jazz. Most of his poetry demonstrated the struggle of the African American people. He helped make sure that black poets were heard in America. He was adopted by a minister which is why he beliefs toward God are the way ** became his nickname in college. He was seen as a prodigy of poetry. **
 * Countee Cullen was born in 1903 and died in 1946. He was one of the
 * I will discuss shortly. He was established as the "black Keats" which

=**Yet Do I Marvel**= To struggle up a never-ending stair. Inscrutable His ways are, and immune** With petty cares to slightly understand What awful brain compels His awful hand, Yet do I marvel at this curious thing: To make a poet black, and bid him sing!**
 * I doubt not God is good, well-meaning, kind,**[[image:cullen.jpg width="389" height="253" align="right"]]
 * And did He stoop to quibble could tell why**
 * The little buried mole continues blind,**
 * Why flesh that mirrors Him must some day die,**
 * Make plain the reason tortured Tantalus**
 * Is baited by the fickle fruit, declare**
 * If merely brute caprice dooms Sisyphus
 * To catechism by a mind too strewn

=**Analysis**=
 * This is about a black poet talking about the stuggle black people are dealing with in society. The poem shows that the black people are getting looked at differently. It shows that it is a tough world for African Americans because their skin color is different than white people. The poetic devices used by Cullen is that there are no periods used to stop a sentence. This could represent that the struggle is continuious and will never end. The one ambigious part of the poem that is difficult to understand is in line three when he says, "The little buried mole continues blind". I believe this poem is about the struggle that this black man is having within himself. He seems to be questioning God about why he made the world the way it is. He knows God has reasons for everything that occurs in the world even if these so called rasons cause hardships for some. In the last line, Cullen says, "To make a poet black, and big him sing". This shows that the man in the poem did not choose to be a poet nor did he choose to have black skin. God was the one that made him a black man and a poet as well. It was God that gave him the ability to write poetry to be read by others. This poem fits Cullen's style because he is a modernist. He is basically saying it is what it is, God made the world this way and that's how it's going to be. **