“A Farewell,” by Amy Levy is a unique poem that I found to be written in more of a modern tone.  The first thing I noticed about this poem was that every other sentence in the stanza follows a masculine rhyme scheme. I felt that this type of scheme was used in order to emphasize the stanzas and the point they represent.  I also noticed that a bit of cataloging was used when it listed, “With the birds, and the greyness, and the greenness.” I love how when there is a description of something, a list technique is used.  One of the main things I noticed about the way Levy writes is that she brings forth the traditional voice and words used in the early centuries.  I had never actually read any of Amy Levy’s work, and so this being the first time, I really appreciated the traditional poetry.  I feel that this poem focuses strictly on some sort of sailing voyage. It talks a lot about honor and friendship, which I feel is a very unique topic to write a poem about.  I also noticed the interesting fact that Levy opens the poem with the line, “The sad rain falls from Heaven,” and also closes with this line.  I can’t help but to wonder how much religion is actually tied into this poem.  After reading a bit into Levy’s biography, I saw that her family was Jewish.  I don’t know a whole lot about the Jewish religion, but I do feel that some of those beliefs were spewed throughout the poem. Overall, I liked the theme of this poem and the sailing setting it put off.  I feel that Amy Levy is a very in depth type of writer and that she pin points specific settings that make the reader wonder how or even if the situation is related to her life in some way.

“By the Sea,” by William Wordsworth, was my choice for my tenth blog.  I chose this poem by noticing the title.  I think that poems describing the sea in anyway are amazing.  I have not read a lot of Wordsworth because I’ve been stuck on mostly 19th century poems and poets, but I decided it was time for a change.  This poem appeared to me to be very religious because it had a lot to do with comparing God to the mighty sea.  I noticed there was a lot of comparison in this poem, using similes and metaphors.  For example, “The holy time is quiet as a nun.”  It starts out slowly by describing someone walking by the ocean, and then progresses to realizing that God is always with us, even when we don’t realize it.  Also, cesuras are placed in the most perfect spots. There is one in particular that struck me, “A sound like thunder-everlastingly.”  I love how the pauses make the reader stop, and realize what the author is really describing.  As far as the rhyme scheme goes, it was a very unusual one. I noticed that the first and last lines rhymed, and then the two in the middle rhymed.  This is for the stanzas that have four lines total, but then there are some lines that only have three lines and no rhyme scheme.  I personally like how Wordsworth mixed this up a little bit because it gives the reader a different taste of poetry.  The last thing I did notice was how the words that had to do with God or religion were capitalized.  That seemed like a neat way to emphasize the big picture of the poem.

“We Wear the Mask,” by Paul Laurence Dunbar is an interesting poem I chose to read for my ninth blog entry.  The very first thing I did before reading this poem was read the biography on Paul Laurence Dunbar, just because I noticed he was African American.  I wasn’t entirely sure how they were treated during this time period, so I wanted to see if there was any information leading to an influence on this poem. I did read that he was a former slave, but his parents schooled him in history and he became very smart.  I feel that, even looking at the title, this poem has a lot to do with slavery and perhaps how they are exactly the same as everyone else, they just wear some sort of “mask.” So I am going to say that the “mask” in the title is a symbol for being a slave. The second thing I noticed was how strange the rhyme scheme appeared to be. It follows an AA BB C masculine format, but doesn’t quite follow that format throughout the whole poem. I also noticed that there are a couple places where cesuras are used. For example, “Nay, let them only see us, while…”  I found this to be such an excellent technique to include in this particular poem because it really helps the reader to stop and think about the words. It also helped me to picture an African American giving a speech or reciting this poem, and really being able to connect with his passion about who they are. The last stanza is a bit of a sonnet just because it flows about negative things, and then the last two lines are bright and seem to be a change in attitude. I really enjoyed this taste of culture and history in the poem and I thought it was very well written.