C.+Porter

Theodore Roethke (1908-1963)  He was born on May 25, 1908 in Saginaw, Michigan. His father, along with his uncle, owned a local greenhouse and this is where Roethke spent much of his childhood. During his adolescent years he became very upset and disturbed. In early 1923, at the age of only 15, he had to endure the pain of his uncle's suicide and his father's death from cancer. He also suffered from ma ny accounts of illnesses throughout his life. These deaths and illnesses helped to powerfully shape Roethke's mental and creative life. He attended the University of Michigan and Harvard University, where he studied under the poet Robert Hillyer. However, he was too poor to continue on with his graduate studies so he quit and began to teach English. In 1953, Roethke married Beatrice O'Connell and in 1963 he suffered from a heart attack and died. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1954 for his book, "The Waking".  // Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy.
 * My Papa's Waltz** The whiskey on your breath

We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; My mother's countenance Could not unfrown itself.

The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle; At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle.

You beat time on my head With a palm caked hard by dirt, Then waltzed me off to bed Still clinging to your shirt.// The poem "My Papa's Waltz" is a poem about a father who comes home after having a little too much to drink to play with his son before putting him to bed. There is much that can be unclear and take on different meanings throughout this poem. One might ask why Roethke chose the word ‘death’ in the third line of the first quatrain instead of another description word or in stanza three when Roethke makes a reference to the waltz causing the young boy's right ear to graze his father’s belt buckle. Many people see these details as a sign of abuse from the father. However, if you were to read closer, then this detail could also be used as a way to indicate the boy’s age. He is still young because he only comes up to his father's belt buckle. The father does not mean to scrape the boy's ear but that's just the way it is because of the height difference.This poem can be looked at to have two different meanings. Some who read the poem see it as a tale of abuse and alcoholism and the boy's fear or hatred toward his father. However, by looking closely at word choice, tone, symbols, and the rhythm of the poem, then it can also be looked at as a hard working man who enjoys a little whiskey at the end of the day and then comes home to play with his son. "My Papa's Waltz" can be seen as the boy's description of what he willingly endures from a loved parent. Roethke was emotionally upset about his father's death by heart attack when the poet was fifteen and this could be a poem about their relationship.  Robert Frost (1874-1963)  He was born on March 26, 1874 in San Fransisco, California. During his adult years growing up in the city, Frost published his first poem in his high school's magazine. He then attended Dartmouth College for two months. Frost returned home to teach and to work at many different jobs but he felt that poetry was his true calling. Robert Frost's personal life was filled with grief and loss. His father died of tuberculosis in 1885, when Frost was only 11, leaving the family with just $8. Frost's mother then died of cancer in 1900. Mental illness ran in Frost's family, as both he and his mother suffered from depression most of their lives. However, despite all the hardships in his life Robert Frost was a popular and often-quoted poet and he was honored many times for receiving four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry during his lifetime.

//**Fire and Ice**// //Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice, From what I've tasted of desire// //I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice.// 

In the first two lines Robert Frost’s poem “Fire and Ice” the speaker presents two options for the end of the world, one by fire and the other by ice. These can be seen as opposite ends of the extreme or as opposing reasons of religion and science. The speaker goes on to relate fire to the human emotion of desire and passion and ice to hatred, war, and a cold-hearted society. Looking back at the third line, the use of “I” shows a personal connection to the emotions of desire and hate. Putting this poem in the context of a relationship, desire and hate are emotions that people often feel. The final line of the poem shows that human emotions of fire (desire) and ice (hate) are equally harmful and can easily bring about the “end” of a relationship. The speaker uses images of fire and ice and the destruction that they can cause to help emphasize a person’s feelings in a relationship. The first image of fire is used both in the title and twice in the poem. Fire, when uncontrolled, can spread and destroy all that's around it, wanting more and more as it grows. In a relationship, this fire can be set off instantly in the form of desire, or jealousy. The second image of ice is also used in the title and twice in the poem. Hate forces the other person away, driving the life out of a relationship. When left uncontrolled, these emotions can bring about the end of a relationship just like fire and ice can bring about the destruction of the world.

Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000) She was born on June 7, 1917 in Topeka, Kansas. When she was just six weeks old her family moved to Chicago, Illinois. Growing up as a young girl in a major city she had a very loving and stable home life although she encountered a lot of racial prejudice in her neighborhood and school. She attended Hyde Park High, the leading white high school in the city, before transferring to all-black school, Wendell Phillips. Brooks eventually ended up at Englewood High, an integrated school. Then she graduated from Wilson Junior College in 1936. These four schools gave her a perspective on racial dynamics in the city that continued to influence her work throughout her life. Her enthusiasm for reading and writing was encouraged by her parents. Her mother even took her, when she was in high school, to meet Harlem Renaissance poets Langston Hughes and James Weldon Johnson. [|We Real Cool] //**We Real Cool** THE POOL PLAYERS. SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL.// //We real cool. We Left school. We// //Lurk late. We Strike straight. We// //Sing sin. We Thin gin. We// //Jazz June. We Die soon.//

This poem is about seven young teenage boys who are skipping out on school and spending their time at the pool hall, doing things like drinking, singing, and just anything they can to feel free and full of life. The entire tone of the poem is very upbeat; however, the tone changes dramatically at the end with the following statement: "We die soon." This one line alone says a lot. The subtitle of the poem can tell the reader a lot about the tone. It states: THE POOL PLAYERS. SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL. The number "seven" has the characteristic of good fortune while the boys shoot pool and the word "golden" signifies prosperity and happiness which is what the boys are feeling. However, the word "shovel" signifies a sign, relating to death, a casket, a funeral, and later a burial. They have no education, they live a carefree life, and they can care less about school because they find it pointless.They have no sense of themselves and are not aware of the importance of education, which will sooner or later become their downfall. These young men are clearly dropouts and probably black, because of the lingo of the poem. In fact, the title, "We Real Cool," starts out the poem in slang. Gwendolyn Brooks does an excellent job with this piece by using alliteration and the jazzy rhythm of the poem. "We Real Cool" is strait to the point that no education or skipping school and living a carefree lifestyle as a dropout leads to most likely death. <span style="background-color: #00ffff; color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 200%;"> Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">She was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts. As a child Emily was a well-behaved girl who spent much of her time with her sister and attended primary school. At a young age Dickinson had to deal with many deaths of those that were closest to her. As a writer she drew her strength from Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman. Throughout her life, she rarely left her house and never really had any visitors come over. However those few people that she did talk to had a huge influence on her thoughts and poetry. By the 1860s, Dickinson lived in almost complete isolation from the outside world. Her poetry shows her loneliness and the speakers of her poems usually live in a state of loneliness and depression. Emily Dickinson died on May 15, 1886.

//'Tell all the Truth but tell it slant- Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth's superb surprise As Lightning to the Children eased With explanation kind The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind-//
 * //Tell all the truth but tell it slant//**

<span style="color: #000080; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;">The first line "Tell all the Truth but tell it slant" is showing that the topic of the poem is about truth, and when telling the truth sometimes it is always easier to not tell the whole truth because it can be harmful to someone. However, instead of telling it "straight" on Dickinson says to "tell it slant". Telling it slant means that the truth is easier to handle if it is told not all at once. "Success in Circuit lies"is saying that it is easier to slowly tell the truth and take extra time out to do so because slow and steady wins the race, and by slowing circling around the truth, it will be easier to tell. "Too bright for our inform Delight" means that the truth can be too much to handle at times. "Inform Delight" (our ego) can only handle so much. "The Truth's superb surprise"- some may be suprised if told at once, and this leads into the next line "As Lightening to the Children eased" Which is saying that as children, it is harder to understand the reality of life, and the truth behind certain situations. Children tend to have a harder time understanding the truth. "With explanation kind"- explanation for children can help ease children into understand why something is the way it is, and that the truth is not always an easy thing to handle. "The Truth must dazzle gradually"- it is easier for the truth to be gradually told, if it dazzles all at once, it can be too much to handle- a gradual introduction to the truth will help people to understand the meaning behind it. "Or every man be blind"- if it the truth is told straight on, with no "slant"- the meaning behind it may blind or crush someone, accepting the truth completely can harm people and cause a lot of pain if bluntly revealed. <span style="background-color: #00ffff; color: #000080; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 200%; text-align: left;">Lucille Clifton (1936- ) <span style="color: #000080; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;"> <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 100.8%;">She was born on June 27, 1936 in Depew, New York. At age sixteen, Lucille started college early majoring in drama at Howard University in Washington, D.C. After transferring to Fredonia State Teachers College in 1955, Clifton worked as an actor. Poet Robert Hayden entered her poems into competition for the 1969 YW-YMHA Poetry Center Discovery Award. She won the award and with it the publication of her first volume of poems titled //Good Times//. She was inspired mostly by her own family, especially her six young children. Clifton's poems are celebrations of African American ancestry, heritage, and culture. Her early poems are talking about praising the African Americans for their strength and ever going attitude throughout life, even having to deal with racism and slavery. She wrote of her ethnic pride and her womanist ideas about race and gender. Her achievements include fellowships and honorary degrees from Fisk University, George Washington University, Trinity College, and other institutions; two grants from the National Endowment of the Arts; and an Emmy Award from the American Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. She is still alive today.

//**<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Homage to my hips **// <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> //<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 14px;">these hips are big hips. they need space to move around in. they don't fit into little petty places. these hips are free hips. they don't like to be held back. these hips have never been enslaved, they go where they want to go they do what they want to do. these hips are mighty hips. these hips are magic hips. i have known them to put a spell on a man and spin him like a top // <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 14px;">

//**Homage to my eyes**// //<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 14px;">these eyes are bright eyes // //<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 14px;">they need colors to // //<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 14px;">look around at. // //<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 14px;">they don't close for anything // //<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 14px;">special, these eyes // //are open eyes. they observe all that's around them. these eyes have cried many tears, they can see the actions they can feel the pain. these eyes are great eyes. theses eyes are caring eyes. i have known them to always be watching and know what's ahead//

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">In "Homage to My Hips", Lucille Clifton creates imagery of this woman and her hips. She seems to have a lot of confidence specifically about her hips. She makes it a point to say that her hips are strong or powerful by the lines "they go where they want to go. /they do what they want to do. /these hips are mighty." (9-11) She talks about how no one can hold them (her) back, and how they can even seduce men. She doesn't let herself be compared to other women in society. Although this poem is quite simple and short it says a lot. This poem reveals the beauty and imagery of a woman. It shows the symbolism of the body and illustrates who is in charge.This woman is obviously proud of her body and tries to turn it into an advantage, rather then conform to the woman that she is supposed to be in society. This poem have a very carefree and confident tone. She is praising beauty and celebrating her individuality as a woman.