C+Manoski

when i watch you wrapped up like garbage sitting, surrounded by the smell of too old potato peels or when i watch you in your old man’s shoes with the little toe cut out sitting, waiting for your mind like next week’s grocery i say when I watch you you wet brown bag of a women who used to be the best looking gal in georgia used to be called the Georgia Rose i stand up through your destruction i stand up -Lucille Clifton** Lucille Clifton grew up in a very poor yet stable family. In her poems, she reflects her upbringing by using mostly lowercase letters showing the informality of her writing. In this poem the only words that are capitalized are “Georgia Rose”. I believe Clifton chose these words to capitalize because she is emphasizing the downfall of the women in the poem from what she used to be to what she has become. The literal analysis of this poem begins with the narrator watching a women who is “wrapped up like garbage” who is followed by a smell. The narrator watches the woman who is sitting around and wearing her father’s worn in shoes. The narrator watches this woman who she calls a “wet brown bag” and says she used to be the prettiest women in Georgia. The woman was called “Georgia Rose”. The narrators insist that through this lady’s mistakes she will “stand up”.
 * __miss rosie__

Clifton is very straight forward with her writing and expresses her feelings very matter-of-factly. However, when you take a closer look at this poem, you will see a deeper meaning that you may not have caught by skimming the surface. Clifton says that the woman is “wrapped up like garbage”. This is a symbol for a dilapidated woman who has lost interest in taking care of her appearance. Clifton also refers to the woman in the poem as being in her “old man’s shoes”. This is a symbol for following down the same path the woman’s father did, and obviously it wasn’t a good one. She also says the woman is “waiting for your mind”. Here she is referring to the woman as not being able to think for herself or make her own decisions. I believe she is saying that this lady is making her father’s mistakes and reliving his life and not making anything out of herself. At the end of the poem, Clifton says, “through your destruction I stand up”. Here she is making it clear that through this lady’s misfortunes, mistakes, and failures, that she will be a better person. She will not go down the same way as this lady and that she will strive to be somebody.  I believe this poem is about a woman who used to a beautiful respected woman. Clifton even says that this she used to be called the “Georgia Rose”. I think that some things must have happened in her life and she ended up following in her father’s footsteps. She made some wrong decisions that led her to a place where she no longer thinks for herself. Her life is in shambles. I think that the narrator uses this lady’s story to inspire and motivate her to not become what this lady has become.  **__Anecdote of the Jar__** -Wallace Stevens ** Wallace Stevens is a direct writer. He rarely uses a rhyme scheme, to make certain it does not take away from what the words in the poem are trying to say. The literal analysis of this poem is the narrator putting a jar on a hill in Tennessee. The jar then made the wilderness grow all around the hill. The wilderness grew to the height of the jar and became cultivated. The jar grew taller and took over the hill. It was not part of nature and was new to Tennessee.
 * I placed a jar in Tennessee,[[image:forest.jpg width="277" height="269" align="right"]] **
 * And round it was, upon a hill. **
 * It made the slovenly wilderness **
 * Surround that hill. **
 * The wilderness rose up to it. **
 * And sprawled around, no longer wild. **
 * The jar was round upon the ground **
 * And tall and of a port in air. **
 * It took dominion everywhere. **
 * The jar was gray and bare. **
 * It did not give of bird or bush. **
 * Like nothing else in Tennessee. **

The ambiguous analysis of this poem from my perspective is that the jar is a symbol for a man-made industrialization. I believe the “jar” was placed in the middle of nature and at first it seemed to tower over everything. However, as time went on I believe nature began to adapt to this foreign object and grow up and around it. As nature became more abundant the “jar” seemed to grow and expand as well, taking over in a sense. I think this poem is saying it was “gray and bare” and nothing like this state had ever seen before.

My interpretation of the poem was a little confused. I am actually not sure what this poem is really talking about, I may be way off with my ambiguous analysis. But I can’t help but seeing the symbol of man-made industries and their impact on nature. I think this poem is speaking of the beauty of nature and the destruction we are doing by creating all these things that are taking over the earth. They are “gray and bare” like the poem refers to them, and give nothing to this earth but harm, pollution, and the demolition of nature. ** __Fire and Ice__ ** Some say the world will end in fire, ** -Robert Frost **
 * 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. **

Robert Frost endured a lot of pain and heartache throughout his lifetime. Through his poetry, he expresses his thoughts and feelings and certain things that have happened to him. Death was one thing that was not a stranger to Frost. In numerous poems he writes, he often uses symbolism to portray death, sickness, and suicide. In this particular poem Frost discusses the end of the world, another morbid topic. The literal analysis of the poem begins with the narrator speaking of ways people believe the world will in, in fire or ice. The speaker goes on to say that he is partial to the idea of the world ending in fire. However if the world could end twice ice would also get the job done.

The ambiguous analysis of the poem is comparing fire to the emotion of desire and ice to hatred. Frost uses these natural disasters to describe human emotions that can also be destructive to people. Fire is powerful and can consume you, just like desire. Too much desire for one thing can consume your thoughts and mind and end up ruining relationships. Ice on the other hand, is cold, harsh, and unforgiving. This can easily be related to the human emotion, hatred. Hate for another person can make you turn into a bitter and vindictive person. When Frost speaks of the world ending by fire or ice, he is saying that desire and hatred are equally powerful in their own ways, and can destroy relationships.

I believe this is a poem Frost wrote, to describe feelings and emotions that may have caused him to lose loved ones or people he had some kind of relationship with. I think in this poem he is showing just how strong and effective these feelings can be on a person. I think he uses the ending of the world to symbolize the ending of a relationship.

__If We Must Die__ ** ** If we must die, let it not be like hogs ** While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs, ** -Claude McKay **
 * Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
 * 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 through 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! **

Claude McKay’s grandfather was brought to Jamaica as a slave; he passed his stories and life challenges down through McKay’s father. His father then relayed the stories to him. Claude uses stories of his grandfather and his ancestors in his poetry. In this poem, he paints a picture of the cruelty and the realism of these events. The literal analysis of this poem begins with the speaker saying they will not die “like hogs” hunted down by vicious dogs. The narrator says if they must die, then they will die nobly. They will die with bravery even if the “dogs” overpower and outnumber them. They will fight back and die honorable.

The ambiguous analysis of this poem is comparing “hungry dogs” to racist white men, who murdered and lynched African Americans. This poem is spoken through slaves’ eyes. This speaks of a prominent time in history where whites and blacks were not equal. Black people lived in constant fear. Huge groups of brutal and horrifying white men would kill harmless black people for no reason, outnumbering them, and showing them no mercy. This poem describes the thoughts and feelings of a black person at this time. The narrator states that no matter how many punches he receives he will not sit back and allow them to kill him. He will put up a fight show all the bravery he has. If this does happen to be the death he serves, than the “monsters” must honor him through death for the fight he will put up. I think this is a powerful poem, showing the gallantry and strength hundreds of African Americans had during this time period.

I believe this poem was written while thinking about his Grandfather’s past. This maybe words his Grandfather spoke directly to him. Either way, it expresses the daunting and malicious acts of the fight against whites and blacks. As you can see through this poem, the real cowards are the unrelenting murderers. The heroes are the ones who endured this personally, seen it happens, or known someone this happened too. I believe this poem shows the amazing will power that African Americans had during this time period. __We Wear the Mask__ ** ** Why should the world be overwise, **
 * We wear the mast that grins and lies,[[image:mask.jpg width="303" height="235" align="right"]] **
 * It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,-- **
 * This debt we pay to human guile; **
 * With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, **
 * And mouth with myriad subtleties. **
 * In counting all our tears and sighs? **
 * Nay, let them only see us, while **
 * We wear the mask. **


 * We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries **
 * To thee from tortured souls arise. **
 * We sing, but oh the clay is vile **
 * Beneath our feet, and long the mile; **
 * But let the world dream otherwise, **
 * We wear the mask! **

In this poem, the literal analysis starts off by the narrator commenting on how we wear mask that show fake emotions. He also goes on to say that we smile with hearts that are bleeding and frayed. He then questions why the world would count “our tears and sighs”. He says the world should only see us when we are wearing our mask. The speaker then says that we smile through our cries “from tortured souls arise”. The poem finishes saying that we wear the mask for the rest of the world to see. ** The ambiguous analysis of this poem describes how black people we a “mask” toward white people. Dunbar’s father was a slave and traveled on the Underground Railroad. This poem is a reflection of the way slaves felt during that time period. The poem uses a mask as a symbol for the all of the emotions that the black people felt towards the white people. I think that the slaves felt like they had to wear a “mask”, because in order to survive they had to be brave and strong at all moments. One moment of weakness and the white people would take advantage. This whole poem is examples of the feeling that black people were forced to hide. ** In my opinion, this poem is written from an African American’s point of view. I think this poem describes the struggles black people felt at this time of segregation and slavery. For such a long time, black people did not have freedom of speech or freedom of much of anything. This poem expresses the real feelings black people felt at this time, “in counting all of our tears and sighs?” At the end of the poem Dunbar says, “But let the world dream otherwise, we wear the mask!” I think here he is trying to say that the world may dream of unity, but the black people still wear their feelings on the inside. **
 * -Paul Laurence Dunbar **