Davis+A

**__EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON__** Edwin Arlington Robinson was born in 1869 and raised in Gardiner, Maine. He includes in numerous poems the town of Gardiner, but doesn’t necessarily reveal to you the name of the town. Robinson began writing poetry in the “search of an alternative world of elegance and beauty,” but many of his most recognizable literary works deal with the subjects of a more “impoverished” livelihood. With his use of regular verse and rhymes, the sadness of his subjects and their search for something missing in their lives becomes very evident as his message is constructed to his audience.
 * 1869-1935**

Robinson grew as a scholar as well as an avid lover of books. He worked hard to attend Harvard, but was only able to afford two years. Shortly after returning from his formal schooling, he aspired to earn a Pulitzer Prize in 1922 which in turn was able to bring some financial stability to his life. Robinson continued to study and expand his knowledge of many works in numerous languages. His success as an author continued to grow as he would later receive two more Pulitzer Prize awards. Although compared to Robert Frost and Edgar Lee Masters, the thing which set Robinson apart was the “ever present sense of a lost, glorious past.”

Luke Havergal **

Go to the western gate, Luke Havergal, There where the vines cling crimson on the wall, And in the twilight wait for what will come. The leaves will whisper there of her, and some, Like flying words, will strike you as they fall; But go, and if you listen she will call. Go the western gate, Luke Havergal— Luke Havergal. No, there is not a dawn in eastern skies To rift the fiery night that's in your eyes; But there, where western glooms are gathering, The dark will end the dark, if anything: God slays Himself with every leaf that flies, And hell is more than half of paradise. No, there is not a dawn in eastern skies— In eastern skies.

Out of a grave I come to tell you this, Out of a grave I come to quench the kiss That flames upon your forehead with a glow That blinds you to the way that you must go. Yes, there is yet one way to where she is, Bitter, but one that faith may never miss. Out of a grave I come to tell you this— To tell you this. There is the western gate, Luke Havergal, There are the crimson leaves upon the wall. Go, for the winds are tearing them away,— Nor think to riddle the dead words they say, Nor any more to feel them as they fall; But go, and if you trust her she will call. There is the western gate, Luke Havergal— Luke Havergal. //E.A. Robinson//

Upon first reading “Luke Havergal,” it was very difficult to try to understand what was actually taking place within this poem, as well as what was taking place in Robinson’s mind. Robinson speaks of Luke Havergal traveling to the Western gates. It is here where he is to wait for someone or something. It is here that the message of a woman coming into the picture begins to become apparent. His use of imagery is apparent when he speaks of the continual falling of leaves. He states that “God slays Himself with every leaf that flies.” Upon arrival at the “Western Gate,” the crimson leaves seem to be torn from their branches by sudden winds. Once again to be noticed are his use of “metrically regular verse, rhymes, and elevated dictions.” Also noticed was his use of imagery when describing the color of the leaves as well as the scenery at the Western Gates.

There is, however, ambiguity embedded in “Luke Havergal.” It was very apparent to me that when he spoke of the Western Gates, he was eluding to the Western Gates of Hell. Upon previously reading about Edwin Arlington Robinson, I found that he was somewhat similar to Robert Frost, and n my eyes, somewhat similar to Edgar Allen Poe in the subject matter of his literature. Some might interpret these Western Gates as just some gated area, where others, as I do, might see it as representing Hell. I feel that the crimson leaves also begin to depict a red scene which can be tied to the fiery red color of what we tie to our depiction of hell. When he states that “God slays Himself with every leaf that flies,” I got the sense that God is very angry as well as sad about some event which as taken place or is going to take place.

I feel that there are numerous ways in which “Luke Havergal” could be interpreted. I feel that the woman in the poem is either Luke Havergal’s wife or lover. The fact that she is “Out of the Grave I come to tell you this, --- Out of the grave I come to quench the kiss,” she is speaking to Luke to try to get him to join her in the grave. I feel that she has made God mad by taking her own life, and from the grave is trying to get Luke Havergal to join her. “God slays himself with each leaf that flies” in my eyes meant God is hurt each time Luke thinks of actually following through, or each time his lover attempts to get him to follow her actions. She is telling him that “Hell is more than half of paradise” meaning that Hell is not so bad as she invites him to join her.

** Mr. Flood's Party ** Old Eben Flood, climbing alone one night Over the hill between the town below And the forsaken upland hermitage That held as much as he should ever know On earth again of home, paused warily. The road was his with not a native near; And Eben, having leisure, said aloud, For no man else in Tilbury Town to hear: "Well, Mr. Flood, we have the harvest moon Again, and we may not have many more; The bird is on the wing, the poet says, And you and I have said it here before. Drink to the bird." He raised up to the light The jug that he had gone so far to fill, And answered huskily: "Well, Mr. Flood, Since you propose it, I believe I will." Alone, as if enduring to the end A valiant armor of scarred hopes outworn, He stood there in the middle of the road Like Roland's ghost winding a silent horn. Below him, in the town among the trees, Where friends of other days had honored him, A phantom salutation of the dead Rang thinly till old Eben's eyes were dim. Then, as a mother lays her sleeping child Down tenderly, fearing it may awake, He set the jug down slowly at his feet With trembling care, knowing that most things break; And only when assured that on firm earth It stood, as the uncertain lives of men Assuredly did not, he paced away, And with his hand extended paused again: "Well, Mr. Flood, we have not met like this In a long time; and many a change has come To both of us, I fear, since last it was We had a drop together. Welcome home!" Convivially returning with himself, Again he raised the jug up to the light; And with an acquiescent quaver said: "Well, Mr. Flood, if you insist, I might. "Only a very little, Mr. Flood-- For auld lang syne. No more, sir; that will do." So, for the time, apparently it did, And Eben evidently thought so too; For soon amid the silver loneliness Of night he lifted up his voice and sang, Secure, with only two moons listening, Until the whole harmonious landscape rang-- "For auld lang syne." The weary throat gave out, The last word wavered; and the song being done, He raised again the jug regretfully And shook his head, and was again alone. There was not much that was ahead of him, And there was nothing in the town below-- Where strangers would have shut the many doors That many friends had opened long ago.

//E.A. Robinson//

For the second poem to examine, I chose Edwin Anderson Robinson once again. In “Mr. Flood’s Party,” Robinson tells of a man traveling alone over a hilltop at night. He is overlooking what seems to be a small town near his home. The character’s name in this poem is Eben Flood. It seems that Mr. Flood is wandering with a jug of which one can assume to be alcohol. Upon wandering through the moonlight, Eben continues to drink from the jug. It is here that Eben begins to have a conversation, but the conversation seems to be with himself due to the fact that Robinson states he is alone. Towards the end of the poem, the conversation seems to end as “he raised again the jug regretfully, And shook his head, and was again alone.”

In the poem, some ambiguity arises in a number of instances. As stated before, the conversation Eben Flood is having seems to be with himself, whether it be in a drunken stupor, or just an old man growing old. He is remembering friends when he states “Where friends of other days had honored him, A phantom salutation of the dead.” He seems to be dealing with old memories of past times through the consumption of this magical elixir in this jug that he cares for “as a mother lays her sleeping child.” It is here that you can see how much Eben Flood cares about the contents of his jug.

Upon a personal examination of ‘Mr. Flood’s Party,” it seems as though Mr. Flood is a lonely old man who has seen his prime come and go. It seems as though he might have been well liked and respected in previous years, but when he speaks the friends of other day who had honored him “A phantom salutation of the dead”, I feel that all of his friends have passed as he also speaks of the “uncertain lives of men.” It is by no accident that his name is Mr. Flood as he is Flooding himself with alcohol as he has his own party with himself while drinking along the hillside. One can assume that he has lost not only his friends, but his family as well due to his lonely state. He realizes that “there was nothing in the town below--- Where strangers would have shut many doors, That friends had opened long ago.” He realizes there is nothing for him in the town below where his friends once dwelled, but is now only occupied by strangers.


 * __WALLACE STEVENS__**
 * 1879-1955**

Raised in Reading Pennsylvania, Wallace Stevens began pursuit of his literary career in 1897 after his three year term at Harvard. He later attended law school and also tried a short career in journalism. After later marrying, he and his wife moved to Hartford, Connecticut. They decided that they would make Hartford “their lifelong home”. His first poetry was published in 1923. His multiple poems in this book bye the name of, __Harmonium,__ “are dazzling in their wit, imagery, and color”.

Stevens continued to write, but had little work published after __Harmonium__ until the early 1930’s. In the 1930’s came a “surge of creativity, beginning with the republication of __Harmonium__ in an expanded version in 1931.” Stevens in years to follow began to become “increasingly abstract and theoretical”. The book of his collected poems released in 1954, shortly before his death is “celebrated as one of the most important books of American poetry in the twentieth century.”

The Snow Man One must have a mind of winter To regard the frost and the boughs Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time To behold the junipers shagged with ice, The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think Of any misery in the sound of the wind, In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land Full of the same wind That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow, and, nothing himself, beholds Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

//Wallace Stevens//

“The Snow Man” is a short, but very vivid poem which was published in 1931. In the poem, Stevens writes from the perspective of a snow man. There is a great deal of imagery used where he speaks of the “pine-trees crusted with snow” and the “junipers shagged with ice.” Stevens describes the wintry scenery which one would imagine through the eyes of a snow man. He also appeals to multiple senses when he speaks of the “misery in the sound of the wind, In the sound of a few leaves.”

It is somewhat difficult to try to interpret Wallace Stevens’ message he is trying to get to the reader. He is speaking of a very cold and desolate place where there is no real action of significance taking place. True, the wind is blowing, and the trees are covered with snow, but I feel to really get a feel for the message, one has to imagine being in this cold place looking out. It is in an instance in a cold, quiet, calm place that people are said to really find themselves of find something important in life. I feel that this is something Wallace was trying to get the audience to identify with.

Stevens says that “One must have a mind of winter, To regard the frost and the boughs, Of the pine-trees crusted with snow”. It is as if Stevens is saying that for one to truly enjoy nature in the winter, one must have the eyes and the sense of the snowman. Winter tends to be a miserable time for many due to the cold and the snow. Stevens is trying to state that winter is not miserable through the eyes of the snow man, but in fact is a beautiful event. The snow man is at peace and perfectly content in this lonely and frigid environment. One must let themselves go completely to understand this beauty in something so simple as snow on the trees, or the cold wind rustling through the leaves. The meaning of the poem in my eyes seems to be somewhat far fetched, but at the same time seems to be so simple that it is very effective. People are so caught up in their everyday busy lives that they don’t get to appreciate some of the great things that they would if they looked at the world through the eyes of the snow man. After researching this poem, I have learned that many regard this as one of the best poems of all time. I found that one really has to use their imagination to gain this insight!



Claude McKay was born in a rural Jamaican village in 1889. His grandfather had been brought to Jamaica as a slave. He was a “West African Ashianti” who passed his values and rituals to Claude Mckay’s father, who in turn passed these same Ashianti values and rituals to Claude McKay. In 1912, McKay published “Songs of Jamaica” and “Constab Ballads”. These literary works were two “ground-breaking books of dialect poetry.” Money from these two books allowed McKay to come to the US to study agriculture, but later was drawn to New York City to follow his literary ambitions.
 * __ CLAUDE MCKAY __ ** 1889-1948

McKay’s literary works took him to England, Spain, France, and Morocco where he expanded his literary works and was welcomed as a celebrity in Moscow. This was due to his radical politics as well as his connections to the Communist regime. These connections and politics later caused him to become a target for the FBI. He was finally allowed to return to the United States in 1934 where he continued to write. He later moved to Chicago where he converted to Catholicism in 1944, and died there for years later. Claude McKay was “unquestionably one of the most important black writers of the 1920’s. He was not an American citizen until the 1940’s. His book, “Harlem Shadows” of 1922 is considered to be the “book that initiated the Harlem Renaissance.

If  we must die, let it not be like hogs Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs, Making their mock at our accursed lot. If we must die, O let us nobly die, So that our precious blood may not be shed In vain; then even the monsters we defy Shall be constrained to honor us though dead! O kinsmen we must meet the common foe! Though far outnumbered let us show us brave, And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow! What though before us lies the open grave? Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack, Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!
 * If We Must Die**

//Claude McKay//

Without knowing the background of Claude McKay and the tribulations which plagued his family, one might not know exactly what the message of this poem is. In this poem, McKay is speaking of death. I feel that the imagery utilized in this poem as well as the passion and motivation which is deeply rooted in his words is what makes this such a strong poem. It is not necessarily as ambiguous as previous works by Robert Frost or Edwin Arlington Robinson.

McKay states “If we must die, let it not be like hogs.” Although the ambiguity is not as evident as other poets, portions of “If We Must Die” might be ambiguous to some readers, especially if they are not familiar with the events which were taking place during the early 1920’s with regards to the race riots and civil rights. Where he speaks of being “Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, while round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,” I would have to say this is dealing with being taken as slaves and forced to a new land with the dogs being the new slave owners. When he states, “And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow,” he is talking of the pain and suffering which was taking pace at the time. He is asking for death rather than having to go through the thousand blows of a violent and painful death.

This is a very moving and touching poem. The words of this poem remind me of videos and pictures I have seen from the race riots and cruelty of the early 1920’s. The “mad and hungry dogs” he speaks of in my eyes could mean numerous things. Whether it be the slave owners of previous years, or the police officers who used their dogs to attack the African Americans in the race riots. The dogs represent cruelty and mistreatment of African Americans by whites. During this time, there was a great deal of lynching of African Americans occurring. McKay is using this poem as well as other poems as a calling to African Americans to stand up against the people who are committing these acts upon them. We see this when he states, “O kinsmen! We must meet the common foe! Though far outnumbered, let us show brave. Ad for their thousand blows deal one deathblow! What though lies for us lies the open grave? Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack, Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!” He wants his people to stand up and fight back against their oppressors which proved to be a very influential piece in American poetry.

**__EDNA ST.__** **__VINCENT MILLAY__** 1892-1950 Edna St. Vincent Millay was born in 1892 and raised on the coast of Maine. Here she was raised by her mother, who although divorced, was able to raise three daughters on her own while working as a nurse. Edna Millay became interested in poetry and began writing in high school. After attending Vasar College from 1913 until 1917, she published her first book of poetry, //Renaissance and Other Poems// in 1917. Millay later moved to New York City where she continued writing, and eventually acted and wrote plays for the Provincetown Players Group.

Millay briefly lived in Europe from the years 1921 until 1923. She then returned to the United States where she married a businessman and they soon moved to upstate New York. She was an “early advocate of early U.S. entrance into World War II,” and wrote numerous anti-fascist literary works. Her poetry has been looked to be about love and sexuality, but really seem to “be founded on the failure of love than in the joy of sex.”

// "**Apostrophe to Man"** (on reflecting that the world is ready to go to war again)//

//Detestable race, continue to expunge yourself, die out.// //Breed faster, crowd, encroach, sing hymns, build bombing planes;// //Make speeches, unveil statues, issue bonds, parade;// //Convert again into explosives the bewildered ammonia and distracted cellulose;// //Convert again into putrescent matter drawing flies// //The hopeful bodies of the young, exhort,// //Pray, pull long faces, be earnest, be all but overcome, be photographed;// //Confer, perfect your formulae, commercialize// //Bacteria harmful to human tissue,// //Put death on the market;// //Breed, crowd, encroach, expand, expunge yourself, die out,// Homo //called// sapiens.

//Edna St. Vincent Millay//

In this poem, Edna St. Vincent Millay is painting the picture of war time, and the scenes and issues which arise during the time of war. In many of her works, she used “closed stanza forms and regular metrical lines, she displayed a high degree of technical virtuosity within quite deliberately chosen limits.” In “Apostrophe to Man,” you see the use of imagery as well as her trying to appeal to other senses. We see this where she states “Convert again into putrescent matter drawing flies.” I feel that she wants the audience to not only picture this, but also to smell the odor of death and imagine the swarms of flies.

This is another poem which is far less ambiguous from previous poems discussed. There is a definite clear message, and Millay has no trouble getting her message to the reader. Millay seems to be absolutely disgusted at the fact that “the world is ready to go to war again.” This is very blunt in her first line where she states, “Detestable race, continue to expunge yourself, die out.” Although it seems as though she is disgusted by the fact that war is imminent, this is very peculiar in my eyes due to the fact that she pushed for early U.S. entrance into World War II. It is possible that she is not as disgusted as her literature makes her out to be, but on the other hand, she may just be getting her message to the public of just how gruesome war actually is. Most of her audience would have seen war through the eyes of a camera lens or through the speakers of radios. Through her poetry, she might possibly be trying to inform the audience of the unseen war which is occurring in a far off land.

Personally, I feel that Millay was attempting to voice her opinion in both ways. I feel she wanted to announce her disgust and disbelief that the world was once again arming itself after the first World War had already taken place, while at the same time announcing the barbaric nature or war in itself. The last line in the poem, “Homo called Sapiens” seems to state that humans are not better than other species in the world, but we are still barbaric and do harm when we should be above this. Upon research of this poem, there was not a great deal to be found, but I feel this would have been a highly criticized poem in the time. She seems to have been a very outspoken and influential woman author. You can really see how the times had changed from years past when woman would not be allowed to write literature of this nature, and if they did, it would have been under a false name.media type="youtube" key="_d8C4AIFgUg" height="344" width="425"

__Lyrics Which are Relevant to "Apostrophe to Man"__

"WAR! I despise, 'cause it means destruction of innocent lives, War means tears to thousands of mother's eyes, When their sons gone to fight and lose their lives."

-Edwin Starr - War!

Works Cited

Baym, Nina. //The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Shorter Seventh Edition, Volume 2 1865 to the Present//. Vol. 2. New York: W. W. Norton, 2007. Print.