Berryman

These selections to me remind me of that show criminal minds. They profile serial killers, psychopaths etc. I feel like that's what I'm reading the diary of a crazy person. I also read his bio and it seemed that his father's death had a big impact on him as it would anyone. As the lines go on, it seems he is getting crazier and crazier. "but never did Henry, as he thought he did, end anyone and hacks her body up." This is so morbid and creepy...but at the same time interesting. It makes me wonder what was really going on in Berryman's mind as he was writing this. Was he in such great turmoil that this was his only way of expressing it? The numbers on top also made me curious. What do they mean? There seems to be no logical order on them. I wonder if he wrote the poem in parts. He starts with lower numbers and works his way up. Maybe that's how many days it took?

I Stand Here Ironing

I do know, I liked this story but then again I did not. I'm not exactly sure why I did not. I feel like the mother is just letting time pass when she could have been more involved in her daughters life. She was a busy mom trying to provide for her family, but if your struggling why are you having more children? I'm not the oldest child but I could see how I my sister would say I was treated differently from her. Most older siblings think that in general and tend to disagree more with the younger child. This mother tried to give Emily all she could, but Emily becomes withdrawn. I think Emily gets the feeling that her mother really does not like her. As the man says to the mother.."you should smile at Emily more." Emily does not realize how much her mother loves her. So in turn she pushes her away. She is a typical girl who analyzes herself based on other people. She compares herself to other people to determine her worth. It is not until she is older and wins the talent show that she really takes off. It is like you see a different person emerging from what she one was. She now has dreams and is not that shy girl she once was. She realizes that just because her mother cannot give her everything, that she can go after it and get everything she wants.

Howl

This resonates a lot with the conformity of people to society's ideals and not being their own person with their own thoughts. It's like a person is to afraid of what society will think or do to them if they have their own thoughts and feelings. "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked." The generation of conformity has driven the people to madness. Were so concerned with everyone else, that it has literally driven us insane. "who were expelled from the academies for crazy & publishing obscene odes" People get expelled from universities for thinking outside the societies norm, and making people really think. It is like were a brainwashed society. We cannot think on our own. The poem goes through crazy act of people that are trying to not be conformed to society. I wonder is this not somewhat true of our society right now. Do we not get shunned for going against the crowd?...Questions to think about.

One Art

I think Bishop is trying to say that loss is not a big deal in life. It's like she is trying to convince herself that losing things is not all that disastrous. She takes losing as a skill and you have to master it. It is like she is learning to become numb to losing things, or even people. The poem starts out with her losing mundane things such as "lost door keys...mother's watch." These are material things that you can live without. As the poem progresses she losses things that are of greater and greater significance to her, but still she brushes it off. The last stanza is probably the most important one. "Even losing you(the joking voice, a gesture I love)...It's evident the art of losing's not too hard to master though it may look like (Write it!) disaster." She lost someone she loves, and she's struggling with the pain of it. It's like she is trying to rationalize the pain she is feeling by saying the other things I have lost were not a big deal so this is not either. In reality, she's hurting inside so much and really feels lost without this person. Loosing people is not the same as loosing your mother's watch.

"Today"

Today was written in 1950 just after the war was over. It's like he's grouping random things together in the beginning. These things have always been their before the war, but maybe they are more exciting now that the war is over. People were heavily rationed during the war, so maybe now, today they are appreciating the little things in life, or the luxuries of life again. It then seems to have a more serious vibe when alluding to beachheads and biers. Beachheads being common places to fight during WWII. The meaning is never clear, he could be linking these things that could potentially be in his next poem. He leaves it largely up to the reader to find the meaning of the poem.

My Papa's Waltz

This poem also could mean different things. I think it depends on who you are what and what decade you were brought up in. In our decade I see child abuse. With words like battered and death he leads me to believe it is child abuse. Child abuse is common these days, unlike back then. If you grew up in an earlier time period I believe you see a father coming home after a long day at work. Back then the man worked long twelve hour shifts unlike the typical eight today. He probably stopped by the bar and had a few drinks. The father is drunk so he is clumsy knocking over kitchen shelves. His right ear scarping the belt buckle does not have to be a sign of abuse. This could be a comparison of height from father and son. The boy does not have to enjoy the waltz but he enjoys his fathers attention. As he goes off to bed he is still clinging to his father's shirt. As if he doesn't want the time with his father to end. There's not a clear meaning to this poem, I think it really depends on who you are and what time period you grew up in.

of De Wii Williams on his way to Lincoln Cemetery

The poem gives the first image as a plain black boy, but then as it progresses it is like a funeral fit for a king. "Don't forget the Dance Halls...Where he picked his women, where he drank his liquid joy." It goes from the image of just a plain insignificant man to someone that was very high standing and important. He goes from picking in the fields to drinking in a club. It is like he broke out of the limits imposed by other people. He started out a plain black boy, but made something of himself. He broke the limits others set for him. He could be a rich man or a poor man it is not really clear. I think this is what Brooks was going for. To be able to see something both ways...he could be this or he could be this. You do not really know. Lines such as "Where he picked his women" could be a throwback to living on the plantation.