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ALL NEW POETRY
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ALL NEW POETRY
ALL NEW POETRY CLUB!!!!!!!!
Okay, I started one a long time ago, but that one died, and then I started yet another one, and THAT ONE DISAPPEARED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This time, I am confident my thread will not disappear or die.
So here's how it'll go. If you join, you'll vote between these random three poets: Robert Frost, Edgar Allen Poe, or Emily Dickinson. You must vote for ONE OF THESE, though you may, ALONG WITH YOUR VOTE, suggest nominees for the next time we vote (which wont be too far away).
If you dont know any of these poets, just vote for a random one or go with the majority.
Once we have voted for a poet, I will present some of their poems and discuss them a and explore their meaning, and at some point, I'll give you a prompt related to the poem, and we may write our own poetry inspired by the poems.
Oh, and can we have someone to be a "Word Wizard" and look up words you thinkwe wont know.
I cant wait to start!
I vote for........R-no, I vote for Edgar Allen Poe!
submitted by Owlgirl AKA Elena O., age 11, Texas
(July 11, 2015 - 5:32 pm)
(July 11, 2015 - 5:32 pm)
Sydney, Aubrey, Rosebud, please vote.
(July 24, 2015 - 4:44 pm)
Mary Oliver (free verse!)
(July 24, 2015 - 8:40 pm)
Poe!
(July 24, 2015 - 9:31 pm)
TOP!
(July 25, 2015 - 5:37 pm)
Okay...one more day to vote!
So far Poe is in the lead!
(July 25, 2015 - 5:07 pm)
Sorry guys! My family just returned from a camping trip. I vote for Edgar Allen Poe! (Although he is already winning. :)
(July 25, 2015 - 8:04 pm)
Shel Silverstein!
(July 26, 2015 - 10:54 am)
Aaand, the votes are in:
Edgar Allen Poe: 4 votes
Mary Oliver: 1 vote
Shel Silverstein: 2 votes
Edgar Allen Poe it is!!!!!!!!!!!
Yay, he's one of my favorites!
I think we'll do two of his poems, since they are so varied.
"A Dream Within a Dream" by Edgar Allen Poe
Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow —
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand —
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep — while I weep!
O God! Can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
(July 26, 2015 - 1:11 pm)
Okay, I'm going to talk about the second part (beginning with "I stand amid the roar...") because I'm still dissecting the second part.
The second part is a metaphor. Poe is comparing time to golden grains of sand that slip through his fingers. He tries to hold on to them:
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand —
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
but they slip through his fingers. in other words, time slips away.
O God! Can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
He wishes he could hold onto the grains of sand tighter, and save them from the waves below that consume them. The passage of time is the waves.
He weeps when the grains fall....but why? I pose a question to my fellow poetry fanatics: Is it that he does not want death to come, that he is afraid of death, or is it sheer woe that you cannot control time?
(July 26, 2015 - 7:59 pm)
This poem is about time.
Here are the definitions:
avow: to confess
deem: to consider
amid: surrounded by
tormented: caused to experience suffering (so a surf-tormented shore is a shore constantly hit by waves)
grasp: seize
pitiless: (pretty self-explanatory) showing no pity; cruel
(July 26, 2015 - 1:15 pm)
I am finally getting my notes in on Owlgirl's poem. Here they are!
When you say "An object omen" I think "An object;
an omen." May fit better. Also, I like the rhythm of the poem, but a lot of one-word-lines make the rhythm choppier. Used sparingly, they can have a dramatic effect, but you may want to use less of them in your poem. Over all, I was enthralled by your storytelling!
(July 26, 2015 - 1:31 pm)
Thanks for critiquing my poem. You really understand poetry.
(July 26, 2015 - 3:37 pm)
Thank you! The best way to learn is to read, read, read.
(July 26, 2015 - 4:37 pm)
I still don't know what Poe means by "a dream within a dream".
All I can think of is a dream about dreaming, but that doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the poems.
Daaaaaah, any ideas?
If you have a thought, Admin, do tell.
Well, line five says "my days have been a dream." To me that says that the narrator's real life has been dreamy, idyllic, like a dream. When he encounters troubles or challenges in his life ("if hope has flown away") it may be harder to see the dreamy qualities of life, and he has to imagine them and the future as "a dream within a dream."
We're really enjoying this poetry club, Owlgirl and other participants!
Admin
(July 26, 2015 - 8:00 pm)
Hmm...Owlgirl...to answer your question...uh....
I think Poe is telling us that all of life is one big illusion—a dream within a dream. Reality doesn't really exist, or we have no way of knowing what is real and what is not.
I think that part of the poem is really really super duper deep, and very abstract, and makes me think of Einstein...
I still am having trouble getting my mind around it...I mean, I guess I could stop and think and peel it apart and come to understand it, but my brain is lazy?.....argh, its one of those things.
my summary
The narrator kisses the listener in parting. He tells the listener that he agrees that his life has been a dream, but he suggests that everything "is but a dream within a dream." He stands on the shore of the ocean, holding grains of sand as he cries. He cannot keep the sand from running out of his hand, and he wonders if he cannot save even one grain from the waves.
I think the poem starts out with the narrator saying his last words/thougts to his loved one...they're parting...not dying parting, just saying goodbye. "Take this kiss upon the brow/And, in parting from you now..."
I also think the two parts of the poem depict different moods, the first part, thinking about the "dream"s, or memories the loving couple has shared together, and remembering happy times...
The second part is a much different approach. The speaker is desperate and angry about parting, and woeful that time cannot be controlled.
(July 26, 2015 - 8:10 pm)