“The Sleeper” by Edgar Allen Poe was the poem I chose to analyze this week.  Before I had read this poem, the only other thing I had read by this poet was “The Raven.”  So I was kind of expecting the style to be somewhat the same, however I feel differently about that now.  One thing I do love about Poe is his way of describing things.  I love the line, “opiate vapor, dewy, dim exhales out from her golden rim.” I just think the way he puts emotions and thoughts into words in amazing.  He also uses a lot of personification like “the rosemary nods upon the grave and lilies role upon the wave.”  Just the image that brings to mind creates something so beautiful.  I also noticed the ryhme scheme Poe uses.  It seems to be the most common ryhme scheme.  It follows the pattern AA BB the whole way through.  I actually began thinking about how complicated it must have been for him to think of all the ryhming words considering the legnth of the poem.  That was another thing that I had noticed i had never seen before.  The legnth of this poem has got to be one of the longest poems I have ever read in my life! However, the way Poe writes turns the poem in to a story.  As you read you begin to put together a story of your own that fits the description the poem bleeds out.  This one to me, made me think about a girl out by herself and she’s lonely and maybe afraid.  It just amazes me how some poets have the ability to captivate you so much. I really like the 19th century poets!

For my third poem to analyze, I chose to read one by one of my favorite authors Lewis Carroll.  The poem was entitled “A Nursery Darling” and I chose this particular one because I read through it and it gave me such a strong sentiment of love for my mom.  The poem describes a child and their mother in the nursery and it seems as though Carroll has the infant narrating the poem.  Although the poem sounds nothing like how a child would speak, it does describe from the point of view of the child.  I noticed that with this particular poem of Carrolls, he has each stanza end with the same formatted closing. For example, the first stanza ends with, “In Love: for Love is Rest,” and the second stanza ends with, “At Home: for Home is Bliss.”  I really like this idea of closure because it brings forth a different way of looking at things like “love” or your “home.”  I also noticed that Carroll sets up his stanzas in order of what he wants to describe.  The first stanza is about “A mothers breast” and the second is about “A darlings kiss.” This poem just really touched me on a personal level.  My mom and I are really close and when I’m around her it is a bit like being “home.” I love the way all of Carroll’s writing gives the same feeling of closeness to something or helps the reader make a connection.  The description is amazing and the word choice brings the poem to life.  I had no idea Lewis Carroll was a 19th century poet but I’m so glad I got to analyze one of his poems!:)

“The Road Not Taken,” by Robert Frost is a very common and well-known poem. In this poem the author seems to try and translate the feelings of humans overall and the choices we make throughout our lives.  It also brings forth the idea that the choices we make will affect how we end up living our lives. In the poem, Frost compares the views of a road that is worn and old and over traveled to one that is green with grass and a smooth path. So which one would a person choose?  The poem ends by saying the traveler chose the road less traveled. I feel that this poem has a very decent message for everyone to follow.  Not only does it help to point out that you should take the road less traveled, but it also makes you step back and look at your own life to see naturally which road you would take.  I found myself questioning how I live my life because many of us end up taking the road that has been traveled and we almost always follow that crowd. Robert Frost is also a mastermind at description. The way he will describe almost anything so beautifully reminds me of the way Emily Dickinson writes poetry. The both have such a talent for bringing nature to life and really drawing the reader in to see what their own eyes are seeing when they write the poem.  I love Frost’s style and how he helps to bring to mind the important lessons in life, which are also the things most overlooked.

“With a Flower” by Emily Dickinson is by far one of my favorite poems of all time.  In this poem there are quite a few obvious literary techniques and then a few that add to Dickinson’s personal style.  I would say the most noticeable and frequent technique is metaphor.  She loves to use comparison to bring out the true connection of the phrase.  One of my favorite examples from this poem is, “I hide myself within my flower.”  I know that this specific phrase is used as the theme/repetitive phrase, but it is one of my favorites because it can be interpreted in many different ways.  When someone reads an Emily Dickinson poem, there isn’t just one way to interpret it.  Depending on the person, she creates a personal story for every single reader.  I feel like when she talks about hiding in “her flower” it can mean something different to everyone.  Dickinson also has a way with mystery.  It feels as though you want to know exactly what she’s thinking when she writes or what her story is that goes along with a poem.  I tried to look for some kind of pattern in the stanza format, but there was no such luck.  I feel like Emily isn’t real big on the format of a poem, but focuses more on common thought.  I began to wonder what she was describing when she said, “the angels know the rest.”  Possibly a secret?  Personally I love this poem because of the ability to translate it in a way that relates to you.  She is an amazing poet and my personal favorite of all time.